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1
Max has been cursed when he was young, very young. Some people would say it isn’t a curse, just a minor inconvenience, but for Max it's a curse. Because thanks to the magic mishap that happened when he was just nine years old, people have treated him differently his whole life.
Not because he’s talented, fast on track or a bit more stubborn and honest than others. Oh no, they’ve treated him all differently because of those goddamn cat ears.
His father has tried everything to get rid of them, not sparing time nor money, thinking that the additional ears and tails make him an abomination, an imperfect person. And his father can’t have that, not for his World Champion son.
Specialists have said that his body doesn’t want to get rid of his cat ears and tail, of the additional things like slit pupils, canines and a rougher tongue. His body wants to keep his flexibility, the strong sense of hearing, tasting, smelling. Since he had those before he even went through puberty, his body has decided to keep the ears and tail and everything around it, deeply ingrained in his DNA. Something akin to a mutation.
It had been a hassle to even get into the higher series of racing, the FIA not wanting to permit him to racing, constantly arguing that his sense and reflexes must be enhanced due to his cat features. They are right of course, but his father wouldn’t have it.
So he had paid a specialist, bribed him really, to convince the officials that Max can race and they don’t have to push additional rules for him. In the end, he was allowed to enter as driver, but Max had to constantly be aware of his behavior around others.
People constantly doubted his results, completely disregarding his age and instead pointing towards his hybrid form. Despite many specialists, having come forward and proven that he is innocent in it, that his cat features have nothing to do with what he’s delivering, there are still doubts.
Of course there is, since that is human nature, magic or not.
And even his own father, in his quest to make him a World Champion, always spat on his fluffy cat ears. They hadn’t found a way to get rid of them, so Max learned to live with them. One way or another. His father had too but he had grumbled about everything but especially his bushy tail when he would tape it against Max’s back. His father didn’t care that he would always rip out fur, sometimes even making him bleed with how harsh he would remove the tape.
And Max continued to hate his cat features, never having learned differently.
2
Max grows and his cat features grow with him. His cat ears darken over the years, slowly revealing dark brown stripes. The same thing happens to his tail, losing its fluffiness, just like kittens do, and the fur growing a bit coarser. It’s still soft to touch, but he remembers it much more softly beneath his fingertips when he was younger.
He has a fondness for meals with meat and fish, but he also likes crunchy snacks like nuts or apples, something he can chew on longer. Throughout the years, he has been severely dehydrated a few times, due to his lower thirst drive, so his team pays special attention that he drinks enough. Small things like this, his preferences thanks to his added genes, have impacted his life.
He hates it. Every little thing that makes Max different from normal humans, how people around him have to adapt to accommodate him. It’s more than his additional ears and stupid tail being an annoyance. And it doesn’t matter that he is a grown man, sometimes towering over some of them—
They immediately treat him different when his ears wiggle, when his tail perks up because of stupid fucking reflexes. Every progress he has made, showing people to treat him like the grown man he is, all undone because he can’t control his additional features.
He really really hates it.
3
Max loves caps. He especially loves his Red Bull caps. They’re in his favorite color, most times, and they give him a sense of protection, almost like a shield. He will never admit it out loud, but there is a reason why he likes a cap or a helmet on his head, hiding one of his vulnerabilities away from curious eyes.
But sadly, his Red Bull caps are special, all of his caps are, they need to be. Each of them has two holes cut out, in the perfect shape of his cat ears. It has taken a few months of product development until he had been happy with them, until he was fully comfortable wearing them.
Red Bull is happy with the free promotion, because apparently there are thousands of fans who want the exact same cap Max Verstappen wears, despite the ear holes being completely unnecessary for them.
And sure, Max couldn’t care less about that, since it doesn’t harm him and keeps marketing and PR happy. But then he has to do the same thing for his own merch, people wanting these caps signed by him. Max won’t complain, his fanbase is loyal and supportive despite his additional features but…
Sometimes he wishes they would support him more for being him . Max Emilian Verstappen, teenage prodigy, race fanatic, generational talent, dutch driver and not just— the man with cat ears.
He loves his caps, but he hates what they stand for.
4
Another thing Max despises about his curse is the fact that his emotions and thoughts influence the movement of his additional limbs. And on its own, it should be fine, really, he has learned how to hide away what he thinks and show it on his face, only to be betrayed by his cat ears and tail.
Max is always too late to notice it, his swishing tail when he gets excited, wiggling ears when nervousness creeps in. How he wants to bare his fangs when someone annoys him, he now knows how to suppress the urge, only to realize seconds later that his cat ears are flat on his head.
Too many times people have called him out for his bullshit but also for his feelings. It leaves him vulnerable, incredibly so, because the whole world and some more are watching how everything he thinks and feels is just… laid bare.
It makes Max uncomfortable, how people have started to look at his ears or tail, rather into his face, as if they’re talking to that part of him. It’s as if they have an advantage over him— no, they do have an advantage over him.
Max has always known that he will be in the public eye as a driver, as a champion. He had made his peace with that a long time ago. But that was without being stuck with this curse, that was before they became a part of him and never let go.
He just wished that this wouldn’t define him so much. He just wants people to look at his achievements, his wins, what he does, and not how he looks. People fixate on what his ears do and how his tail moves, they don’t even listen to what he has to say anymore.
It’s annoying. And Max hates it.
5
Despite all the times Max has raged on his curse, hated it because it made his life more complicated— there were a few moments where he actually appreciated his… additions.
He could easily slip into a nap and wake up refreshed, all he needed was a warm spot and a bit of peace. And after all those years, napping on or against heated tyres has become something Max likes to do. His team leaves him be, he is freed from PR responsibilities, because Red Bull wants their star driver well rested, so when he needs an escape, he just finds a stack of tyres and closes his eyes.
Max is still vaguely aware of what happens around him, but he couldn’t care less what his mechanics and strategists do in these moments.
In the end he really should have, shouldn’t have lowered his guard, because someone managed to get footage of him napping. On its own, it’s not that bad. Sure, Max is a bit annoyed some asshole managed to get that on video and decided to spread it on the internet. But that’s not the worst part of it.
Because not only did they get video footage of him napping, his tail gently swishing around, clearly enjoying the warmth of the stacked tyres while curled around them. They also got additional audio, showing the world that he is capable of purring.
And if Max is honest, he has had many years to come to terms with his curse, he has accepted the fact that he sometimes acts a bit more cat than human but he didn’t need the whole world to know. Some things are better tucked closer to his chest and with how people reacted to it…
Now he’s suddenly back where he started, back when his furious father had towered over him, denying any claims the officials made. Now he’s back at the start, the FIA suddenly raising concerns again. Now he’s back to zero, any progress destroyed, everything he has ever achieved being doubted.
Some, or even several, assholes on the grid, had taken the video that clearly had disrespected his privacy, and labeled it as ‘proof’. Proof that Max is not human enough to compete in Formula One, where human drivers race.
All because he purred once and by chance someone managed to catch the whole thing on video. Max really, really hates those goddamn cat ear and tail, his cat behavior and just— the whole fucking curse that won’t leave him alone.
+1
One of the few people, outside of Red Bull, his family and close friends, who actually respect Max, is Charles. Maybe it’s because Charles has known him before he got cursed, maybe it’s because Charles couldn’t care less about his additional limbs. Because Charles has always driven him off track, without any hesitation, as if he was the fierce kitten between them.
Charles has never touched his tail or even his ears. Not even a brush of his fingers, not even a fleeting touch— nothing.
Max sees that Charles always watches him with wide, open eyes, seeing all of him and not just— that. He watches and adjusts, he sees that Max despises touch that is not his own near or on his tail, and he never even asks.
He’s the only one, who goes that far, who is so… considerate. But still the same. Because Charles wants to win, wants to make Max lose, wants to drive him off track and not because of his cat ears. It’s because he’s just Max .
Max notices of course, but he never voices it out loud. He never mentions it to Charles, it simply just is the way it is between them. He likes it like this. He never wants it to change.
In the end, it still changes, making Max stumble, because if he had one constant thing in his life that was positive, it was the way Charles treated him. Despite the Ferrari almost murdering him several times on track—
Because Charles finally, finally voices this big unspoken thing between them. It’s after the FIA publicly came forward and said they would investigate Max, again, despite him driving in this sport for many years now. Charles finds him a few hours after this, the paddock still loud and restless. And in all seriousness, in front of the public, his own garage and a few cameras, Charles does what Charles does and is unapologetically honest with him.
“You do know this changes nothing, yes? It never has. Whoever has raised these concerns are just jealous and think the FIA would be stupid enough to be pressured like this— anyways, Max.” Max blinks at Charles, who’s staring him down very fiercely.
“You are World Champion and not because you got hit with some magic. You are World Champion because you’re Max Verstappen and I race against you not because you have cat features, but because you are the best and I want to beat the best.”
“Charles–”
“Non, non, you will not talk now, I’m doing the talking–” Charles opens his mouth again, probably to go on another tirade, but Max steps forward. He has seen for years what Charles has said just now, he doesn’t need him to actually say it, no matter how flattering it is.
“I know, Charles. Thank you”, Max says and wraps him into a hug. Charles is clearly surprised by this, and before he can say anything else, Max steps back again.
He would say so much more, maybe even let Charles say much more. But they’re in public and the FIA is still after him. Maybe Max will dare to utter those words when they’re under four eyes, maybe he never will. It doesn’t even matter that much right now, because he knows Charles would always stand by his side, even when they’re battling on track and fighting for wins. And that’s what all that matters to him right now.