Chapter Text
When Lando first moved into his highrise apartment about a stone’s throw away from the River Thames, it had been because he wanted somewhere of his own to build his streaming career. He hadn’t really cared about location, in fact he and Max had pulled out an old paper map of London and had thrown darts at it until one stuck. From there, Lando had gone through all the residential buildings until he found one that he was satisfied with.
The only reason why he picked this particular tower was because, with a large enough downpayment (and a little bit of convincing), the owners of the building let him soundproof his office walls, a necessity when you are a streamer particularly inclined to scream whenever you concede a goal in FIFA and whatnot.
Lando knew he was lucky to be able to afford such a place solely off of the money he makes from streaming. The moment his bank account had enough zeros to allow him to move out of the shoddy flat he used to share with Max, Lando was gone. His viewers seemed happy with his new home, especially since he was now free to shout and carry on as much as he wanted without disturbing his neighbours.
Speaking of his neighbours, he was aware that he didn’t quite fit in with the rest of the highrise's residents. The majority of them were fancy doctors and lawyers, and the rest were almost certainly living out of their family wealth. If Lando had known that his neighbours would include the snobbiest of people this side of London, he probably would have picked a different place. Whenever he would brave a trip outside his apartment for groceries amongst other things, he could feel them staring down their noses at him.
It bothered him a little. Who gave a fuck that being a streamer wasn’t exactly the most high brow and well respected job in the world? Who gave a fuck if it isn’t a ‘real job’. It paid him more than enough money to live with them. The richest people in the world don’t even work real jobs either. In fact, he works more than they do.
He had given up on trying to make friends with his neighbours about a week in after moving. The family across the hall were composed of a barrister mum, orthopedic surgeon and law student son and all three of them had regarded Lando with contempt when he had knocked on their door with a gift. He only had one neighbour beside his apartment but he had never seen them.
When he had gone to drop off a gift for them, just a small basket filled with the most popular of London’s chocolates, he had gotten no reply at the door. Lando had been prepared to wait for a while but a passing resident had warned him against that.
‘There’s no point in waiting for Piastri.’ The man had said with a sniff. ‘His firm requires him in early and he works until late. Kid doesn’t know what it means to take a rest. Guess that’s what it means to be one of London’s best lawyers.’
Lando had winded up just leaving the gift outside the door, hoping that the residents of the building had enough self respect not to take it. When Lando had left his apartment for his morning run the next day, the gift was gone and a note handwritten on the nicest paper Lando had ever felt had been slipped under his door:
Welcome to the building Lando.
From Oscar
P.S Thank you for the chocolate.
Lando had startled when he read his name written in the neatest handwriting he had ever seen. He had forgotten that he had left his own note with the chocolate introducing himself.
And yes, a week in after moving, Lando was still yet to meet the man. He had looked him up on LinkedIn on a whim, confirmed that the other resident that had called him London’s best lawyer was, in fact, correct. And, more importantly, he had discovered that Oscar Piastri was cute.
He had figured that a man who was waking up before 5am and not getting back to his apartment until after 9pm would be ugly and wrinkly but no. Instead, the profile picture on the account was of a young man with pale skin, pink lips, a face covered in freckles and the most floppy hair he had ever seen.
It had surprised him how much he had found himself endeared by a picture of his neighbour. Lando had never been prude about being attracted to both genders but his preferences in terms of men had always leant towards the muscly athlete kind rather than a nerdy looking lawyer.
Not that it mattered really, considering he hasn’t actually met the man. For all he knew, Oscar was just like everyone else in this goddamn building and thought that Lando was nothing more than trash for not having a real job.
His note had been incredibly short, completely different to the scenes of new neighbours in the old sitcoms he used to watch. Well, to be fair to Oscar, Lando’s had only consisted of a very brief “Hi I’m Lando I just moved in next door”. He had kept it short to not embarrass himself the moment he moved in by exposing his dyslexia to a bunch of strangers. He doubted that Oscar had the same excuse though.
Lando was getting ready for his daily morning run now, about an hour earlier than he usually went. He had a streaming commitment with another streamer who lived overseas and so Lando had moved stream up earlier into the day to cater for him.
It was still dark outside when he closed and locked the door to his apartment. He was dressed in his usual running gear; a loose shirt paired with some very short shorts.The hallway was completely empty when he stepped out and headed towards the lift. He was busy trying to negotiate with his running app, moving on autopilot to step into the lift, when a voice called out to him.
‘Hold the door for me, mate!’
Lando looked up in surprise at the Australian accented voice. Looking perfectly put together and taking long strides down the corridor was Lando’s mysterious neighbour Oscar Piastri. Lando had not expected the Australian accent. He scrambled to put his foot in the door.
‘Thanks mate.’ Oscar exhaled as he stepped into the lift beside Lando. ‘You’re Lando, yes?’
‘Uhhh, yes.’ It was something about Oscar’s accent paired with Lando noticing that the other man was ever so slightly taller than him that made Lando’s brain malfunction. The lift doors slid shut and began to descend slowly.
‘Nice to finally meet you.’ Oscar said with a small smile. Lando felt his heart flutter.
‘Yeah, you too.’ He answered awkwardly. Oscar seemed to take it in stride as he settled beside Lando. They waited in silence as Lando did his best not to fiddle with his phone. Oscar was dressed immaculately in a perfectly pressed suit. Lando was almost jealous that he was able to look so well put together so early in the morning.
Suddenly, there was a large thunk above them and Lando felt the lift grind to a halt.
‘Uhhhhhhh.’ Lando said, stupidly. Oscar looked up with a frown, as if trying to determine why they were no longer moving. ‘D’you think it’s broken.’
‘I hope not.’ Oscar muttered. He pushed the ground floor button once, then a few more times. Nothing happened. ‘Fuck.’
Lando held back a snort at the curse. It was so Australian in a way he couldn’t explain and so out of place with the depiction of Oscar that he had curated in his head. Lando sighed and slid down against the lift wall to sit cross legged on the floor.
‘Where’s the emergency call button?’ Oscar demanded, mostly to himself. He fumbled around with the buttons until he eventually found it.
‘Hello?’ A bored voice on the other side called out, tinny through the speakers.
‘Yeah, hi, our lift has stopped moving.’ Oscar answered, voice short and sharp and entirely too sexy for it to be fair.
‘Do you have the lift number?’
‘Yes, it’s 04981.’ Oscar glanced at Lando who was relaxing on the floor. The lawyer raised a slightly judgmental eyebrow at him. Lando just shrugged.
‘Right. We’ll send someone to help you. They will be there soon.’ The call was cut off. Oscar sighed, annoyed.
‘They don’t sound all that urgent, do they?’ He said off handedly to Lando. Lando snorted.
‘You could join me on the floor.’ He offered. Oscar eyed him, slightly disgusted.
‘No thank you. Who knows when they last cleaned this thing.’
‘Your loss, mate.’
‘No, I don’t think it is.’
Lando hummed, trying to distract himself from the fact that he was stuck in a lift with someone he and only just met and had found instantly attractive. His mind drifted to ways that he could spin this into a positive situation.
He could skip his run, which, while bad for his physical fitness and probably mental health in the long run, would save him from getting all sweaty today. He was finally able to meet his mysterious (and attractive, did he mention that he found Oscar attractive) neighbour. He also found out said neighbour was Australian. Of all nationalities, Lando hadn’t thought that he would have a thing for Australians. He wasn’t entirely opposed. He could ask his lawyer neighbour whether he could sue the apartment building for millions of pounds. He could also kiss his attractive, Australian lawyer neighbour.
Hang on, backtrack, skip over that last one, pretend that he hadn’t briefly fantasised about making out with a man he just met and who was also socially several levels above Lando. He could ask his lawyer neighbour how he could sue for millions of pounds.
‘Hey, you’re a lawyer right?’ Lando asked, as if he hadn’t stalked Oscar’s LinkedIn. Oscar raised both of his eyebrows.
‘Yes.’ The Australian was definitely wondering where Lando was going with this.
‘Do you think I could sue for like, a million pounds.’ Lando blinked up at Oscar, putting on his most hopeful face. Oscar snorted and rubbed a hand down his face.
‘Is that really what you’re thinking about right now?’ Well no, Lando was still thinking about how Oscar was the perfect height for Lando to push against the lift wall and snog senseless, but he digresses.
‘Yes?’ It came out like a question, inviting Oscar to confirm that Lando’s idea would work and that he could become rich off of this misadventure. Or richer, really.
‘I don’t know. Are you predisposed to severe claustrophobia that triggers life threatening panic attacks? Do you have trauma related to being trapped in tight spaces?’ Oscar asked, a twinkle in his warm brown eyes.
‘Well no but-’ Lando cut himself off at Oscar’s sharp look. He was telling the truth! He didn’t have all those things- oh. Yeah Oscar definitely wanted him to pretend he did. ‘Yes. I absolutely am terrified of lifts. Don’t you know, when I was 10 a lift killed my mum.’
A lift has not, in fact, killed Lando’s mum. She was perfectly still alive and living in comfortable retirement with his dad. But the amused look on Oscar’s face made the lie absolutely worth it.
‘You’re gonna have to lie better than that if you want to be successful in court, mate.’ Oscar said dryly. Lando decided that he definitely did not want to be Oscar's ‘mate’ and would much prefer mating with him instead. Ew, no that was a horrible thought even by his standards.
‘I can lie very well, thank you very much.’ Lando sniffed, offended. He couldn’t help but preen at the way Oscar chuckled at his joke.
‘Sure you can, mate.’ Okay, in all seriousness, Lando has had enough of this mate bullshit. He needed Oscar in his bed yesterday. It was unfair how attractive the man was. Not only was his face pretty, but he was tall as well. And to top it off, he had the sexiest accent Lando had ever heard. And presumably a pretty penny saved up in his bank account. Not that money was important though. Lando’s got plenty on his own. ‘By the way, you never told me what you did for work.’
‘Uh, well, you know.’ Lando trailed off. Would telling Oscar that he was a streamer ruin this? Was he better off lying? Even when was admittedly a horrible liar. Oscar was watching him still, expectantly. ‘I’m a streamer.’
‘Huh. What, like video games?’ Oscar asked, interested. That was not what Lando was expecting.
‘Yeah. Amongst other things, but yeah, mostly video games.’ He had never had to explain his job to someone in this building before. Usually they just stopped talking to him after he told them his job. It surprised him that Oscar seemed genuinely interested in his job.
‘That’s cool. I was never really any good at video games. My sisters would tease me endlessly about how bad I was. Moved to London to escape them.’ The humour was back, though Lando could tell that there was some truth to that story.
‘I could teach you, if you had time.’ Lando bit his tongue. He was not supposed to blurt that out. He waited for Oscar to deny him, to shut him down and tell him that he was too busy with his real job to waste time playing video games with his neighbour.
‘I would like that.’ Oscar said instead. There was a soft smile on his face as he looked down at Lando.
‘Maybe after we’re done suing the building owners for “a million pounds”, as you put it.’ The Australian tacked on. Lando grinned at him.
‘Yep. Actually make that two million, so that I still get a lot after you take your cut.’ That’s what happens, right? Lando wasn’t all that familiar with the civil justice system, thankfully. He was fairly sure that lawyers took a cut of the winnings though.
‘For you Lando, I’ll do it for free.’ Oscar winked and oh. Was he flirting with Lando? Was Lando being flirted with? He could feel his cheeks warm.
‘Really? You, uh, you don’t have to. I can afford you.’ He stammered out. Oscar, politely, covered his mouth as he laughed at Lando. ‘Surely your boss wouldn’t let that slide.’
‘Lando. I am my own boss.’ Okay, Lando really wasn’t familiar with the power dynamics of the law industry but that must mean that Oscar was like, a biiiiiiig shot lawyer, right?
‘Oh.’ He said stupidly. Oscar couldn’t help his laugh this time and he didn’t even bother to give Lando the dignity of covering it.
‘You can “afford me”, huh?’ Oscar continued to tease.
Fuck that had been more flirty than Lando had intended. He could practically hear Max laughing at him in his head. Smooth talking, playboy Lando Norris gets flirted back with once by a pretty Australian lawyer and promptly loses control over his mouth. Embarrassing.
‘I can afford your price, I mean.’ Lando tried to cover himself but even he knew that the damage was done. ‘Lawyers are expensive, right. Everyone says lawyers are expensive. I can afford to pay your price.’
‘I don’t know Lando, can you?’ Oscar was towering over him now, a smug smirk on his face. It was annoying how attractive Lando found it. Not only was Oscar, Australian, attractive and a rich lawyer, he was confident too. How was Lando meant to function in these conditions?
Lando’s eyes were immediately drawn to Oscar’s pink lips. Oscar almost seemed like he was inviting Lando to kiss him. He could, Lando realised. He could stand up and press himself against Oscar. He could skip out on his streaming commitment, ask Oscar to call in sick to work. He could have it all.
The lift jolted suddenly and Lando jumped. The moment broke.
Oscar looked up as the whirr of the lift’s pulley system came to life again.
‘They have excellent timing.’ He muttered, sounding more than a little bit miffed. Lando understood. He couldn’t believe he got cockblocked by an elevator of all things. He picked up the briefcase he had left on the floor, one that Lando hadn’t even noticed he had been carrying. Lando didn’t dare say anything as the levels on the LED display ticked down and he stood up. He didn’t want to open his big mouth and find out Oscar was only playing along because he was bored.
He could feel his heart sink as the lift reached ground level and the doors slipped open. Maybe he would go on his run after all, if only to get Oscar’s lopsided smile out of his head. The foyer of the building was full of people preparing to go on their daily commute to work. If he was lucky, he could escape Oscar into the crowd.
He was not lucky.
‘Lando, wait.’ Oscar’s hand caught his wrist as Lando attempted to flee. He pulled Lando to a spot beside the lift, perhaps the only secluded area in the whole foyer. ‘Give me your phone.’
Lando blinked.
‘What?’
‘Your phone, Lando. Give it.’ Lando mindlessly did as he was told.
Maybe Oscar wanted to put some lawyer bug into his phone. No, that was decidedly the most stupid thought Lando had thought this entire morning and he had that whole mate thing earlier. Meanwhile, Oscar was busy tapping away at Lando’s phone, a smile on his face.
Eventually Oscar gave Lando back his phone, still wearing that smile.
‘I’ve got to go to work to meet with a client, but Lando,’ Oscar reached out and squeezed Lando’s bicep. The skin on skin contact made him shiver. ‘I look forward to gaming with you.’
And then Oscar was gone, disappearing into the crowd of people. Lando watched his broad back go, slightly dazed. He looked down at his phone, still open on his contact screen. Specifically to a new contact that read Oscar 🛗⚖️❤️.
It was so stupid but also so Oscar and Lando could feel his heart explode in his chest.
It wasn’t until he finished his, slightly shortened, run that he sent his first text to Oscar.
Oscar 🛗⚖️❤️
Lando 🛗🎮❤️
so abt that 2 mil
Oscar 🛗⚖️❤️
On it
You said a lift killed your mum, right?
Lando 🛗🎮❤️
and my cat
<3
Oscar 🛗⚖️❤️
And your cat
<3