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Red Bull Ring, Austria, August 16th, 2025
Kelvin leaned against the railing of the small private grandstand above the pit lane, looking down at the bikes entering and riders exiting their garages, the South African smiled as the pleasant rumbling sounds of the MotoGP bikes’ engines reached his ears. He had been surprised how loud the machines were when he heard them for the first time in real life, when the teams started warming them up during the morning. Despite them being way smaller than the GT3s cars Kelvin raced all year long, they were definitely way louder. He smiled, remembering his two podiums at Magny-Cours just two weeks ago, he would’ve loved to win but the damn #59 McLaren had just been too fast all weekend.
He had always tried to keep one eye on the motorcycling championship, not really managing to, being more interested in cars and single seaters anyway, but ever since he had teamed up with Valentino for the WEC Championship, the old racing stories and watching MotoGP sessions alongside the Italian had convinced Kelvin to finally attend a race. He had managed to convince KTM to invite him to their garage, courtesy of their joint Red Bull sponsorship with the track and his shared nationality with Binder, some words about supporting his fellow South African and his entire weekend costs were covered.
Kelvin had met Binder and Acosta in the black and orange garage, the spaniard seemed a bit wary of him at first but quickly opened up after Kelvin cracked a few jokes and butchered some spanish trying to ask him about something on the bike, switching back to English when Acosta laughed at the way he had massacred his language.
He stopped thinking about the earlier interactions as a baby blue and chrome bike pulled in front of the garage under Kelvin, the rider revving its engine loudly as he came to a stop in front of his mechanics, the South African had picked a random spot in the guest area, not realising he had been standing right on top of the Gresini box.
Álex Márquez raised his head, looking at Kelvin through his dark visor, the dark blue of his helmet shining under the sunlight. Kelvin was only few people in the guest area in the morning, and perhaps the only one who was not trying to catch a glimpse of the current championship leader, the bloody and vibrant red box next to the blue one already overflowing with journalists and the other guests gathering above it, some shouting to try and get Marc’s attention.
But Kelvin was only looking at Álex, the Spaniard flipped his visor up, his eyes narrowing at him, and the South African waved at him with a smile. They had met each other at Red Bull events a few years ago, well, meeting was a big word, they had just been in each other’s vicinity. The boy from Cervera had stayed close to his older brother, Marc, giving shy smiles to investors, still looking like a tall, lanky and awkward teenager, —despite being the same age as Kelvin—, very much alike Sheldon.
It had been Kelvin’s younger brother’s first sponsor event and he had stayed glued to him the entire night. As much as he had wanted to kick his brother away to go introduce himself and flirt with the pretty Spaniard, he couldn’t bring himself to do so, he cared too much about Sheldon to leave him to the wolves for a potential fling.
Kelvin doubted Álex even remembered him.
A hand settling on his shoulder brought him out of his thoughts, Kelvin saw Álex frown, quickly turning away and hopping off his bike to enter the garage, out of the South African’s view. Kelvin turned his head to whoever nudged him to get his attention, finding Valentino looking back. Ah, this was why the younger Márquez scampered away.
He obviously had heard of the events that happened between Valentino and Álex’s older brother, first through the media at the time and a second time through the Italian’s drunken rambles about his ex, or supposed ex, Vale had never referred to Marc as such, but with what he told Kelvin and the evident yearning in his voice every time he got sad drunk, reminded him a lot of Sheldon after his girlfriend had broken up with him. And if the Spanish man was as protective over his brother as Kelvin was over his own, then it made perfect sense such a simple thing as the sight of Valentino would make him want to leave.
“Ciao Kelvin” Vale greeted him. “Hey mate !” Kelvin answered, pulling the older Italian into a quick hug. “I want you to meet the boys, come on.” Vale smiled, patting his shoulder before turning away, expecting his teammate to follow him. Kelvin glanced at the pit lane, perhaps hoping to catch a glance of a blue bike, he huffed out a small self deprecating laugh at his action before following the Italian.
As the day ended, Kelvin strolled through the darkening and emptying paddock, the only people left being a few mechanics and some riders. It was always Kelvin’s favorite moment in race weekends, walking through silence as the sun set, perhaps it was because he was used to night races, walking through empty paddocks, most often being up late into the night only sleeping in the morning.
Suddenly someone emerged from in between two team trucks, accidentally bumping right into Kelvin, stumbling back with a small surprised yelp. Kelvin grabbed his arm to stop the person from falling. “Shit, you okay man ?” Kelvin asked the man, finding doe eyes looking back at him as Álex regained his balance.
“Ah, sorry.” Álex apologized, blinking in confusion for a second before a hint of recognition passed in his gaze, the Spaniard’s muscles tensed up a bit under where Kelvin had grabbed him, he quickly looked around the South African, probably expecting an Italian to show up again. “Vale isn’t.. Valentino isn’t here.” Kelvin said, raising his hands in a placating gesture with an awkward smile.
The Spaniard narrowed his eyes at him, looking up at the South African, up ? Kelvin thought. “I remembered you being way taller than me.” Kelvin blurred out loud without thinking, clicking his mouth shut when he realised how awkward and stalker-ish it sounded. “Ah, uhm, sorry- we met a few years ago, I don’t know if you remember me-” He mumbled with a nervous chuckle, a little embarrassed blush rising to his cheeks as he looked away.
Álex snorted, letting out a small unexpected chuckle, a smile tugging at his lips. Kelvin immediately cursed internally, it only took him a few words to completely make a fool of himself.
“Sorry I’m not-, not making fun of you, I just didn’t expect you to be..” The Spaniard trailed off, shrugging with a smile. “I remember you yeah, Kelvin right ? Nice to meet you.” The South African nodded, rubbing the back of his neck in embarrassment as Álex raised his hand for a handshake, Kelvin took it and shook it. “Nice to meet you.”
“I’ve heard a lot about you from my brother.” Álex started walking in direction of his motorhome, Kelvin falling into steps next to him. The taller man tilted his head in confusion. He was sure he hadn’t ever interacted with Marc. “Your brother ? Marc talks about me ?” Kelvin asked, seeking some clarification.
“He’s been ranting and complaining about Rossi’s new, hot and young teammate.” Álex eyed him up and down with an exaggerated gesture and a smirk. Kelvin perked up at that, a little shiver going up his spine as the Spaniard’s gaze raked over him.
“Is he jealous of me ? Because I race with Vale ?” The South African wondered, causing Álex to stop in his steps, Kelvin also stopping and turning around, opening his mouth to ask what was wrong. “Why would you think that ?” The Spaniard asked, wary of Kelvin again, a defensive tone in his voice, he just wanted to be protective of his brother, Kelvin reasoned. “Ah well, when Vale rants about him he still seems very infatuated, I just assumed it was the same thing for Marc.” Kelvin shrugged, showing Álex he meant no harm to his brother.
Álex hummed, side eyeing Kelvin before resuming his steps. “Okay well just don’t..” “Don’t tell Vale yeah, I won’t tell him Marc thinks I’m sexy, he’ll probably clock me in the face and call me a twat.” The taller man joked, earning himself a genuinely amused laugh out of Álex’s mouth, he elbowed the Spanish man and raised his hand presenting his little finger. “For real though man, brother to brother, I won’t say shit to Vale, pinky promise.” He gave Álex a warm smile, the Spaniard returned it and wrapped his own finger around Kelvin’s. “Okay.. okay, I trust you.”
They reached the steps of Álex’s motorhome, the Spaniard quickly going up them and looking down at Kelvin, who had stayed at the bottom of the metal stairs, as he put his hand on the door handle, he said ; “I hope you’re not expecting me to let you in my room because you accompanied me back to my motorhome.” A teasing tone in his voice, Kelvin blushed a bit as raised his hands, shaking his head. “Ah ! No ! I wouldn’t assume-” “I’m just teasing you.” Álex chuckled, opening his door. “See you tomorrow ? I assume you’ll still be here after the race.” He tilted his head at Kelvin, the South African nodded, a huge grin on his face. “Yes, yes, I’ll still be hanging around, see you tomorrow.” He waved, turning around, intending to leave until the Spaniard called him back.
“Kelvin ?” The South African turned his head towards Álex, waiting for him to speak up. “Just for the record, I think Marc is right.” The Spanish man winked at him with a mischievous smile before disappearing in his motorhome.
If Kelvin’s entire face wasn’t red before, it definitely was now.