Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

That night, he was walking down a quiet corridor. Toto had just let Kimi have some extra rest after a relentless day full of back-to-back schedules and reporters. It had been exhausting. He shouldn’t complain when everyone was just eager to celebrate Kimi’s P2 finish in São Paulo. But doesn’t everyone have their daily energy limit?

No wonder Kimi immediately jumped onto his hotel bed as soon as he got to his room. The silence in here sharply contrasted with the chaos outside. Chaos, really chaotic. Alcohol everywhere, endless questions, cameras, and all eyes suddenly on the rookie. Max was the treasure of the night, sure, but that didn’t mean the media would just ignore their new diamond.

After freshening up, Kimi wandered around the room, still wrapped in a small towel around his waist. Water dripped onto the floor, and the scent of Brazil shower gel filled the air. The mix of cacay oil and floral acids, he quite liked it. His pink lips hummed a cheerful tune while searching for his body lotion, which had somehow disappeared.

“Didn’t I leave it here?” the young driver grumbled.

Maybe it slipped under the bed, he thought. Kneeling down with his cheek almost touching the floor, Kimi groped the narrow, dark space blindly. His phone was dead, and he had no other light source to help. A small irritated grunt slipped out. No backup lotion. If he didn’t find it, his skin would dry out fast.

Just when frustration was about to take over, his fingers suddenly touched something hard.

“Huh?”

Pulling it out from under the bed, Kimi frowned as he realized he’d found an old book. How on earth did this end up in a hotel room? Maybe left by the previous guest? Those questions buzzed in his mind.

In Latin. The book was written in Latin mixed with strange symbols and letters. Its cover was made of animal leather, rough and a bit eerie to the touch. His curiosity grew stronger. Without second thoughts, he opened it. Most words were unreadable, honestly, he couldn’t make sense of a single page.

But wait! Kimi blinked fast as his finger accidentally flipped to a page with red ink scribbles. Coincidentally, those marks were in English.

“Shape-shifting spell?”

His head tilted right, squinting at the stained yellow paper, trying hard to understand what it meant. Scanning down, a Latin sentence stood out, circled in red ink. If his tongue slipped and accidentally pronounced those words, no one could blame him.

For a moment, nothing happened. The young Antonelli snorted, feeling utterly silly. What did he expect? Just some weird scribbles, probably the ramblings of a fantasy-obsessed nerd. Besides, his body lotion was still missing!

He was just about to straighten up when suddenly a bright golden light burst out. It was so intense it blinded him. Kimi’s heart raced double time. Before he could figure out what was going on, dizziness knocked him hard. The world spun, sparkling lights flashed all around, and he lost his balance completely—pretty sure he just fell flat on the floor.

He cursed loudly in Italian. But... why did the sounds that came out sound like a cat's meow?

Meow!

Kimi yelped again, and just like before, the voice was that of a tiny kitten. It sounded so loud it was hard to believe a kitten could be outside his bedroom door. Who’d sneak a furry little animal into an F1 driver’s hotel room? Another Ollie prank?

Ugh, and why does everything feel so big? He blinked repeatedly, trying to focus the scattered lights in his eyes. And what did he find? Kimi swore he's not that short, never this short, where the sofa across looked like a throne for gods. Why did his arms and legs feel so flimsy? And, oh, what was that poking right where he sat?

Wait...

No way...

It can’t be...

Oh my god!!

Did I just turn into a cat?!

Chapter Text

“Toto, have you seen Kimi?”

The middle-aged man turned, raising one eyebrow at George, who suddenly appeared holding a blue cap. “He should be in his room. I told him to rest earlier. Is that his cap?”

Russell nodded. “I forgot to give it back to him.”

“Make sure he goes to bed.”

With that, he walked off. Kimi hadn’t been seen since they split after dinner. His phone was off, maybe he was showering or something. But wasn’t it odd? He wasn’t the type to leave messages unread. George knew that because the Mercedes group chat was always full of his stickers. Typical Gen-Z thing.

George’s steps stopped in front of Kimi’s door. He pressed the bell and waited. Seconds passed with no answer. He pressed again, waited for three minutes, still no response. George frowned. Had Kimi left his room? But he’d asked almost all the staff, no one had seen the kid. Bono had even confided he was worried Kimi might be secretly staying up gaming again, something he’d done before.

“Kimi? Are you in there?”

He sighed deeply. Looks like Kimi was wandering again, making everyone panic. George was about to leave the area when a faint meow caught his ear. He turned, looking confused to his left and right. Where was that coming from? How could there be a stray kitten in a five-star hotel?

Meowww!!

This was weird. George might be crazy for thinking the sound came from Kimi’s room. Or maybe the kid was crazy enough to sneak a stray kitten inside.

Right. Kimi once gave George his spare room card, which George still kept in his wallet.

“You better have a good reason for ignoring me, Kimi.”

The door opened. The kitten’s loud meow intensified inside, George almost stepped on it as he entered. He tilted his head as something fluffy tickled his feet. Oh, look, the kitten was now whining at him.

“Did Kimi steal you, little guy?”

Meow!

“You’re so tiny, did you get separated from your mom?” Russell crouched, gently scooping up the little cat with both hands, careful not to squeeze the fragile creature.

Aw, he was adorable!

George didn’t know much about cats, but this one was clearly special. Not just calico, it had a rare milky brown fur color he’d never seen on any cat before. Its big round eyes blinked at him with so much emotion. He was pretty vocal for such a pocket size.

“You look like Kimi,” he said, suddenly remembering something. “By the way, where’s the kid? Kimi, are you in the shower?”

Still no answer, and no shower sounds either. No way was he hiding in the closet.

George glanced around the room, frowning when he saw Kimi’s dead phone on the nightstand. Several folded clothes lay neatly at the foot of the bed, while a small towel was tossed on the floor. Water puddles from the bathroom were still there, showing Kimi had been here earlier. But where did he go? Without even tidying up? He knew Kimi wasn’t the messy type.

Oh, there was an open book down there.

Meow!

For a moment, George ignored the kitten’s whining and stepped towards the book. He wasn’t sure what it said, everything was in Latin. Doubtful Kimi could understand it, especially since the pages looked ancient. Probably something stored here for decades.

Meeoow!

The kitten nudged his leg again, making George chuckle. Did the little guy really think he weighed enough to do that?

“Alright, alright, you’re hungry, huh? Let’s get you out of here. Hopefully Kimi finds you soon before he causes another problem.”

Chapter Text

Outside was quiet now. Most people had chosen to rest after a long tiring day. But Charles wasn’t ready for sleep yet, not physically drained, but mentally spent. Two DNFs for one team was more pressure than he expected. Ferrari hadn’t offered much support either.

What a rough day.

And he wasn’t alone in feeling that way. Charles raised one brow when he noticed familiar faces in the hotel lobby: Carlos, Alex, Yuki, and Pierre.

Carlos noticed him first. “Good, another night owl.”

Charles smirked, nudging his shoulder. “Looks like some of you got here before me.”

“We were just grabbing coffee,” Pierre replied from the sofa end. “And Alex, as usual, had too much energy to sleep.”

Charles nodded and took a spot on an empty couch. A nice chat might help him sleep better, something light, nothing about racing. He was fed up with criticism and questions, he didn’t want to hear more.

Luckily, they all seemed on the same page, and no one brought up today’s events, thanks to Alex and Yuki, who were great storytellers.

They shared tales, from Alex’s funny goose chase back home in Thailand, to Carlos’s brief speech on what he hoped for in life, not careers, since Charles had made it clear to avoid that. Just general dreams like time with family, watching his kids grow, and dream homes for retirement.

We're talking about Carlos here, so no surprise if he sounded 20 years older than he was.

As Yuki animatedly described fishing salmon in Japan, Charles faintly heard a kitten’s cry. He glanced around, seeing if anyone else noticed. Alex definitely did, judging by the way he looked left and right like a father of 12 cats. Well, he is a father of 12 cats.

No need to look for the source, George appeared before Albon could even stand. Carrying a tiny furry bundle that looked more like a furball than a pet. Yuki almost thought he was holding a mole.

“George, you brought a cat?!” Alex asked, eyes sparkling with excitement.

Albon was over the moon, even pushing Carlos down just to sit next to Russell. Too bad for him, because Russell chose the seat next to Charles.

That didn’t stop Alex from going a little wild. He jumped over Yuki’s blocking leg to greet the kitten, not smoothly enough since Tsunoda cursed while clutching his bruised shin.

“Yeah, found it in Kimi’s room. Alone and whining.”

“Kimi?” Charles repeated. How did a kitten end up in the kid’s room?

He watched Alex petting his soft fur. Cats don’t usually have brown fur, right? Charles was more a dog person, but he had seen plenty of cat pictures online. None of them were brown-ish, though this little one had two other colors mixed in.

“By the way, where’s Kimi?” Pierre asked.

Suddenly, George’s face changed. “So you haven’t seen him either...” he sighed, resigned, as Alex continued to cuddle the kitten.

Carlos took advantage of the pause, standing up. “What do you mean? Kimi is missing?”

“Exactly. I’ve been trying to reach him for an hour with no answer. When I got there, I heard the kitten’s cries. Thought he might be locked in, so I used Kimi’s spare card. But no one was in the room except this cat. His phone’s there, dead, and no clue where he went.”

That was strange, even for Albon, who was distracted enough by the little creature (the cat was quite talkative, by the way). He wasn’t aggressive or scratching, just restless for reasons no one understood. Alex tried soothing it by stroking its head and jaw, which seemed to help, the crying lessened, though faint trembles remained.

Yuki joined in petting the kitten. Pierre looked torn, struggling between ego and the urge to join, something Charles could totally sympathize with.

“Have you asked Ollie? Maybe they went somewhere,” Pierre suggested logically.

George thought for a moment. Right, why hadn’t he considered that? Kimi and Ollie were inseparable, like ducklings without a mother watching. “I’ll call him.”

While George was distracted, Alex and Yuki turned the poor kitten into a plaything. One tried bribing it with a piece of meat (no idea where Alex got that), the other working hard to win his attention. Pierre just shook his head, not expecting two F1 drivers to bicker over a kitten.

Charles happily took the cameraman's role, his phone clicking nonstop to capture more photos and videos. “They’ll go crazy over this,” he chuckled.

Leclerc was saving all those when he felt a soft brush against his heel. Looking down, he saw the kitten curling under his legs. What was he doing there? Weren’t Alex and Yuki still fighting for his attention?

Looking forward, he figured it out. This poor little thing was overwhelmed by all the attention and escaped under Charles's feet. Absolutely adorable. Used to seeing Leo get hyper from attention, watching this helpless kitten nestle under him sent a strange warmth through Charles’s chest, like a silent urge to protect and keep it safe in his pocket.

Unable to resist, he scooped up the kitten and sat it on his lap. “Sweetheart, are they bothering you?”

“Hey, he was playing with me!” Yuki protested, while Alex put on his most pitiful face, like he’d just been rejected by his lifelong crush.

Charles grinned. “He picked me, buddy.”

Meow!

“See? He likes me.”

Pierre looked unimpressed. He was certain the kitten wasn’t choosing anyone, just looking for shelter since Yuki couldn’t stop playing with his tail. Plus, Charles shouldn’t get cocky like he’d just won first place in the last race, all thanks to a stray kitten curling up in his lap.

“We need to give him a name,” Carlos jumped in, suddenly remembering the cat was there. “You know what his name, George?”

“Nope. Just saw him today while looking for Kimi. That boy never said he had a cat.”

Alex frowned. “Maybe he picked it up around here?” If so, he’d be seriously jealous.

“Who knows,” Russell shrugged, scratching the kitten’s head, which purred contentedly. “But he definitely looks like Kimi.”

Leclerc blinked, looking back at the tricolored cat. Wait, George was right. Now that he said it, they all saw a little resemblance between the kitten and their youngest driver.

Meow! Meow!

“What are you trying to say, hm?” Charles smiled. He’d heard kittens were usually chattier than adult cats. Seeing it in person was hilarious.

Carlos, suddenly beside Charles, tried to grab the kitten. Too bad Charles was quicker and held his cat firmly in place, giving a mockingly mean look.

“You’ve had him long enough,” the Spaniard complained.

“He picked me first,” Charles shot back.

“Come on, let me hold him for just a bit.”

“If he chose you, he’ll walk over to you.”

“You’re holding him too tight for that.”

Chuckling at his stubbornness, Charles knew Carlos wasn’t an animal lover, so why was he suddenly so intent on snatching Kimi’s kitten? The same kitten that had clearly picked Leclerc as his protector.

If Leo were here, maybe they'd all be friends. Charles had seen sweet cat-dog interactions on Instagram, there is no reason Leo wouldn’t adore this little guy with all his heart.

“You can’t hog him, he belongs to Kimi,” Yuki reminded.

Pierre nodded beside him. Secretly curious about petting animals, especially this cute little one that George has brought. He suggested, “Maybe put him in the middle so we can all pet him.”

Reluctantly, Charles agreed. How could he not? Alex was already ready to pounce and grab the kitten back. Looks like Albon hadn’t had enough of his 12 cats and might try to take Kimi’s too.

Now with the kitten on the table, they all swarmed around like ants on sugar. Carlos held his breath when the soft fur brushed his fingers. Wow, were all cats this soft? Like touching a cloud, not a fragile squeaking creature. Pierre was mesmerized. Neither of them were animal lovers, so this was quite fun for Charles.

Only George stayed sane enough to not crowd the poor cat. He rubbed his tired nose, maybe bringing Kimicat here was a bad idea. He should’ve just stayed in the room, keeping the little guy safe till Kimi returned from wherever.

Yet, all night, Russell couldn’t stop thinking about Kimi. Bearman was offline, probably asleep. Reporting Kimi’s disappearance now would stir chaos and keep everyone awake, they all needed rest. He kept staring anxiously at Toto’s contact on his phone, unsure whether he need to call him or trust Kimi would come back soon.