Chapter Text
Max was sitting through another agonising meeting with the team, it seemed like they were constantly having these emergency meeting that led no where and yet had mandatory attendance.
A glance towards GP nearly made Max burst out laughing as he saw how absolutely done the man was with this. His face blank and eyes far away, yet somehow maintaining a look of concentration, nodding at the right intervals.
Max looked at the clock that hung on the far side of the hall, wondering if time had decided to flow backwards today. This was a waste of time, time that Max could have been spending in the SIM or perhaps discussing his preferences with the engineers.
Dr. Marko was droning on about some factor, Max had learnt to tune the man out a log time ago, he had nothing of value to add to the conversation for quite a while now.
The first trickle of warmth on the back of his neck went nearly notice, it was warm in the room, despite the air condition working on full blast, and Max had just got back from time at the gym, working out his frustrations.
As the sensation built up however, Max took note. A burning sensation travelled down from the nape of his neck to his lower back, making Max let out a choked out moan.
The sound managed to grab the attention of those nearest to him, however Max didn’t have a moment to spare for anyone else.
The pain had become nearly blinding at this point and had Max hunched over the table. The last thing he remembered was a searing ice cold pain between his legs, all the way from his thighs to his feet, before the blissful darkness of unconsciousness whisked him away.
⋆.ೃ࿔*:𓇼⋆.ೃ࿔*:⋆
Max woke up to the familiar sensation of cold water lapping at his bare chest as he was sat propped up. For a moment he wondered if he fallen asleep cooling down after the race before the memories rush to the forefront of his mind.
Max scramble to get up from the tub only to flail and fall back down, pulled by an unexpected weight. Looking at his feet — at his feet????? Where were they ?????
Max barely held back the urge to scream. The lower half of his body had become completely strange, starting from his belly button, where tiny shimmering scales - pretty pearlescent scales grew inn number and size, leading down to a long fish tail ?
Max tried to flick his left foot, still struck with disbelief, and was fascinated to see that the tail also flicked its left fin up. The pretty iridescent blue shining with the little light that entered the room. With undertones of orange and streaks of shimmering blue that appeared only when the light hit at the perfect angle, it seemed the perfect rendition of a tail made for Redbull.
The thought brought to mind that perhaps this was a new marketing strategy by the team? Perhaps they had grown so frustrated with how he didn’t really participate much in their pr events and so made him part of the pr event.
Max shook his head as if he could physically remove those ridiculous thoughts from his mind. Redbull wouldn’t risk their star driver for a silly pr event. This was probably the work of someone intent on sabotaging the team and him. It wasn’t a thought that was meant to bring about comfort but at least it meant that there would be others trying to rectify the situation and he wouldn’t have to deal with it alone.
Soon max had forgotten all about his panic at the new predicament and was instead playing with his new mer-tail, childlike glee accompanying each strong splash of water. The sound seemed to have alerted whoever had been put in charge of him. The door to the room opened letting GP in.
“Max, how are you feeling buddy?”
“Like a fish out of water.” Max replied, the sass automatic at this point.
“Of course. So it falls to me to tell you what happened.”GP said, tone uncharacteristically uncertain. The man had always been a pillar of firm understated confidence, to see that wavering put a trickle of fear through Max’s mind, however he covered it with false bravado, nothing good ever came out of showing his fear or weakness.
“Out with it GP. This four time world champion can handle anything.”
GP gave Max a questioning look but continued none the less. “As far as we have been able to ascertain, you have been cursed.”
“Geee I wouldn’t have guessed…”
GP ignored Max’s interruption with practiced easy and continued “It was actively cast and so far we haven’t been able to break it. The in house curse breakers have suggested that there might be a specific antidote to it.”
Max stared at GP as the other man went uncharacteristically quite, usually when he’s on a flow the man is impossible to stop.
“Well…. Go on … what’s the cure?” Max asked, idly flicking his tail in the water.
GP looked like he had been forced to eat a whole lemon, lips pursed and eyes squinting in distaste.
He seemed to rally himself up before he spoke.
“True Love’s Kiss.”
Max burst into delighted laughter, breath coming is gasps as he held onto the tubs edge, tail splashing water into the air.
“Good one Mate!!!! I was so invested too!!”
Max’s laughter faded as he realised GP wasn’t joining him in mirth. In fact, the older man looked apologetic and yet somehow smug?
Perhaps he was glad that Max finally got to experience something like this, and not be the one terrorising the others. Or perhaps he bet on Max’s reaction and won, that seems more likely.
“True Love’s Kiss?”
“Yes Max. Our research suggests as much. With highly positive results reported across the globe. If we get started tomorrow morning at the earliest, we can get you back into shape to race for the weekend.”GP sounded earnest, and while he had always had Max’s best interests at heart, there seemed to be an undertone of mischief in his words this time.
Max cursed the fact that GP knew him so well, the prospect of not being able to race would definitely motivate him to try even the most outlandish solutions to his current predicament. And apparently now that involved him trying to find his True Love and being bestowed a kiss by them.
“Uhhhh Mate, there is one problem, I am not dating anybody at the moment.” Max had no trouble admitting to the fact considering it was common knowledge at the paddock and beyond, seeing as it was also one of the facts that made him seem “untouchable” according to F1 media.
“Don’t worry about that Max!! We have a solution for that! Just rest up tonight, we’ll have you back to normal in no time!” With those cheery parting words GP left Max to his own devices, playing with his new found tail, while a subtle sense of unease filled his heart, wondering what he had in store for tomorrow.