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Kimi has been aware of an increasing amount of eyes on him since he was announced as a Mercedes driver for 2025, but it has become ridiculous. As he walks through the paddock with Ollie, their fingers intertwined, everyone seems to stop and look at them. He can smell curiosity and interest, derision and envy, and a lot of want. He makes sure to say hello to the fans who stop them and want a picture and he is careful not to touch them. Ollie does the same with his usual friendly smile. No one tries to cross that boundary with them which he is grateful for, though he knows that it will not last.
These eyes are still on Kimi when he leaves the paddock later and heads to the pack’s hotel with Ollie. Ollie laughs when they’re asked why they’re going there.
“Because we’re invited,” the Omega replies easily.
Kimi squeezes Ollie’s hand, proud of his Omega’s genuine sweetness and straightforwardness. Ollie believes himself to be too nervous and giggly on camera. He’s wrong, Kimi reminds him of this almost every day. Kimi brushes off any further questions about who they’re seeing at the hotel and why. Thankfully, there’s only a few media people waiting at the hotel itself. Lewis had warned them that there would be more interest in them from now on and more questions, and they’d have to find their own way of dealing with it.
“Everyone’s ways are different, you need to find what works for you and for your Comms Team,” he told them. “Daniel jokes and laughs but he’s serious when it’s really serious. Kimi Raikkonen just gave one word answers and it really worked for him, he got a lot of fan love for that attitude.”
“I don’t think I can do that,” Ollie had admitted with a laugh.
“You don’t have to, I don’t think anyone else would have gotten away with that, back then or now. That was all him.”
Kimi leads Ollie to the elevator. He cannot smell Ollie’s mood because of the heavy scent-blocker the Omega is still wearing after a day in the paddock, but Kimi can see that nerves are starting to emerge in Ollie. He can see it in how Ollie’s mouth is twisting and in how he is hunching to make himself appear less tall, a nervous tick of his for many years now, grown from how often people told him he was a very tall Omega as soon as he hit his first teenage growth spurt.
“This will be fine,” Kimi reminds his Omega. “They want to talk to us, like Lewis did.”
“I know, it’s really nice of them. They’re just…”
He trails off, his anxiety increasing in his scent. Kimi draws closer, making a comforting sound deep in his chest, “What?”
Ollie shakes his head and forces the words out, “They’re Omegas, who’re really good at all of this, they look amazing doing it too. They’re, like, the top. It kind of makes it more scary.”
“They’ve been doing this for a long time, they’re not gonna expect you to match them straight away. And you’re good at it too,” Kimi tells him, touching his fingers to the nape of Ollie’s neck and kissing him, as the elevator doors open.
Ollie startles but presses into the touch of Kimi’s hand. There’s an Alpha security man waiting for them, as Max had told them there would be. But the Alpha isn’t staring at them, which is a change from the many people Kimi has encountered during these last few weeks of the F1 season.
Kimi nods at him, “Alpha Antonelli and Omega Bearman to see Omega Verstappen and Omega Leclerc.”
The man nods, checking something on his phone before standing aside, “Third door on the right.”
He isn’t wearing any scent blocker, Kimi notes. The Alpha security man smells curious and powerful. He has a Mating mark on his neck and doesn’t smell interested in Kimi or Ollie. A couple of the hallway doors are open, the driver scent is very strong. Kimi can easily pick out Lewis and George, he sees Ollie’s nostrils flare and assumes that his Omega has found Kevin and Hulk’s scents.
The third door on the right is open and there are Max and Charles, sitting on one of the room’s beds, laughing together. Charles is prodding Max in the arm before his eyes fall expectantly on Ollie and Kimi. Charles sits up from where he’s sprawled, revealing that he’s wearing a t-shirt so big that it falls down over one of his shoulders and shorts that look like they could be pyjamas. Max stands, also dressed casually in a muscle vest that smells strongly of Daniel and is big enough to bag and reveal flashes of his bralette through the arm holes as well as a black and Day Glo skirt that hits his knees.
“It’s good to see you, you got here okay?” Max asks.
He shakes hands firmly with Kimi and then pulls him into a brief hug and scent-marking. Kimi sees Charles do the same with Ollie, kissing Ollie on the cheek. Ollie smiles, as Charles tells him,
“This doesn’t make you uncomfortable? It’s okay if it does. Kevin does not like much touching.”
“No, I know, it’s okay,” Ollie answers.
Charles nods, “Okay, and Kimi?”
“I’m okay with it too.”
“For you both?” Charles shakes Kimi’s hand and hugs him then. “If you don’t like it, tell Max or Lewis.”
Kimi nods, wondering why they’re discussing this. He has already talked about this with Lewis and George. They settle down between the two beds, Ollie and Kimi on one, Max and Charles on the other. Max and Charles sit close together, their legs touching, Charles’s hand resting on Max’s arm or leg as they all talk. They’re a picture of friendly close pack, and their scents are full of affection whenever they look at each other. There’s nothing else in their scents, though some of the press insist there is either hatred or sex or both.
“So, how have your weeks been? At the end of the season?” asks Max.
“Strange and busy,” offers Kimi. “We’re not part of the grid yet but we are being treated almost like we are.”
“A lot of media,” Charles guesses with a knowing smile.
Kimi nods with a slight roll of his eyes. He finds the media questions very exasperating but he has been glad to wear scent blocker so that they cannot tell. Max reaches for a bedside cabinet and hands over a packet of scentless wipes.
“It is not a pack rule, but when we are at the hotel, we take off our scent blocker. The security team is organised by Lewis, they are all Mated Alphas and it’s in their contract to maintain a personal distance from us. If they overstep the boundaries that have been contracted, they are fired immediately.”
“What sort of boundaries?”
“Nothing unusual. They’re not permitted to touch anyone in the pack unless it’s an emergency, like a fan or someone who says they are a fan is not leaving. The security team knows that no one except for the pack or our Mates has permission to touch the pack’s Omegas without checking with their Alpha or Mate first. But there is a signal you can give, if it is a friend or team member that also has permission.”
Max taps his own wrist with the opposite hand, like he’s checking his watch.
“And there’s never been a problem with them?” asks Kimi.
“No problems since Lewis took over as leader,” Charles confirms. “He takes it all seriously. He did before he and George became Mates as well. That’s an untrue story you’ll hear, that Lewis only became seriously interested in Omega rights and comfort once he and George got together.”
He rolls his eyes and Ollie looks at the wipes in Kimi’s hand with a question in his eyes. Kimi takes a deep breath, the security man out in the hallway doesn’t smell greedy, jealous or even interested in what’s happening in the hotel room. So Kimi nods and hands the wipes to Ollie, watching as his Omega wipes his scent gland clean. It’s very good to smell Ollie again, Kimi takes a couple of deep breaths before wiping his own scent gland clean. He can smell Ollie’s pleasure at being able to smell Kimi again too. They’re smiling at each other for a couple of seconds before Kimi remembers they are not alone.
When he turns back to Max and Charles, the two Omegas smell pleased. Max asks with interest, his scent edged with concern, “Do you always speak so much for Ollie when you are together? Or is this because of us?”
Kimi pauses, off-balance and surprised. He did not realise he had done that, but he supposes, as Ollie leans into him reassuringly, that it does make some sense, “I…When we are interviewed together, we both talk. I did not make the decision to talk for him here today, I think maybe I was reacting protectively.”
“You need to protect him from us?” asks Charles, surprised. “I would expect that around the Alphas maybe, before you know them, but not the Omegas.”
Before Kimi can say anything more, Ollie rests his hand on Kimi’s. When Kimi turns his head, Ollie smells nervy, his mouth twisting, but he nods.
“It’s because of me. I told him I was nervous about this meeting,” Ollie explains to Charles and Max. “You guys are really good at everything in the paddock and in the sport and that’s…I don’t know how I’m going to do that too.”
Charles’s eyes and scent soften with empathy and he moves to sit beside Ollie, flicking a glance towards Kimi and then taking Ollie’s hand at the Alpha’s nod.
“We’re not meeting you to judge you. New pack members always meet with both pack leaders before their first F1 season starts so that they can be prepared and integrated into the pack. You’ve met with Lewis already?”
“It was a very short meeting in his motorhome,” Kimi confirms. “He is very busy.”
Max sighs, “Yes, he did say he hadn’t had time to tell you everything so he’ll arrange another meeting with you. He’ll have a separate one with Ollie too, he takes the protection of the pack Omegas very seriously. If you’re okay with Lewis meeting with Ollie alone?”
Kimi nods immediately, “Of course.”
He already trusts Lewis. The pack leader has spent a lot of time with Kimi to discuss working in Mercedes as a driver and as an Alpha and what to expect. It’s all been very helpful, and Lewis has said that Kimi can contact him at any time to talk about any of it. He’d meant it. Kimi is in awe of that, he’s seen a little of how busy Lewis is. He can’t imagine that the Alpha is left with much time to himself.
Charles smiles and squeezes Ollie’s hand, “It’s very flattering that you think we have it all figured out. There’s always something new to challenge us in some way. You heard about Yuki’s suppressant problem this year?”
Both Ollie and Kimi nod, Kimi saying, “Ollie gets his dosage checked monthly now.”
Max nods approvingly, “That’s very good. It frightened the whole pack. Lando and Oscar were the first of the pack to find out, they smelled Yuki in pre-heat. The RB Team who were guarding the motorhome wouldn’t let them in because Michael had said no one should go in. It wasn’t until Lily shouted that they were there that Michael realised and got them in.”
“Lily,” Ollie frowns.
“Alex’s Mate,” Charles supplies. “Michael is Yuki’s Performance Coach but you’ll see him around Max and Daniel just as much.”
Max grins, his scent enrichening, and he laughs, “I think we’ve gone in the wrong order here.”
Charles laughs too and turns to Ollie and Kimi, “Yes, what were we talking about?”
“I don’t speak for Ollie, he’s free to speak for himself,” Kimi says, wanting to make sure that’s clear.
Max’s eyes brighten, “Okay, that’s good. It’s the same for the rest of the pack, even though we have some more Alphas who are a little more traditional. Checo is the one everyone talks about.”
Kimi hasn’t talked to Checo yet, but he has heard how the media talk about him. He’s heard a few paddock staff and people from the garages talk about Checo too. What they say doesn’t seem to fit the contented and smiling older Alpha that Kimi has seen in passing in the paddock.
He can smell Ollie’s confusion too, Max must as well because he says, “You can ask, you're pack.”
The happy warmth that fills Ollie’s scent makes Kimi smile. Ollie asks carefully, “I don’t know Checo but he always seems very nice and kind? Why do the media think he’s not?”
Charles laughs, “Because he was brought up in a very traditional culture so the media have expectations. He didn’t drive with many Omegas until F1 and he said he wasn’t sure about Omegas racing, if they could keep up, you know. And he didn’t want any Omegas to get hurt. That part is still true but he also knows now that Omegas can definitely keep up and he’s said more than once that any gender should race if they are skilled enough.”
“There’s nobody in the pack who will expect you to speak for Ollie or expect Ollie to behave traditionally,” Max adds reassuringly. “And if anyone says different, they’re talking bullshit.”
Ollie laughs in surprise and Kimi asks, “Is that from the press?”
“There’s always bullshit from the press,” confirms Max. “But also, and this is the one you need to watch out for, there are the bullshit things said by people who visit the paddock or by people who work in the paddock, even people who work in the garages. You would not believe the bullshit some of them talk.”
“People like to gossip and we are the centre of the attention so they gossip about us,” continues Charles with a roll of his eyes. “Some of them maybe believe what they are saying, a lot of them want to believe what they’re saying.”
“What are they saying?” asks Ollie, fascinated.
“Probably the kind of thing you’ve heard from the media since you were announced as 2025 drivers, you know, asking how you’re going to fit into the pack and deal with that because Max and Lewis used to fight all the time or Max and Lando fight now, that the pack isn’t needed really and that it causes problems, that the pack keeps too much distance from the press, that the Omegas distract the Alphas, that there’s too much importance placed on the pack, that the Alphas share around the Omegas in the pack and they share with the former drivers too.”
“They don’t,” Max says immediately, his scent full of honesty and annoyance. “Jenson is with the pack a lot because Fernando is his Mate, Mark you will see with Lando and Oscar and their Mates because he manages Oscar, and Nico is dating Lewis and George.”
“You can know that now, no one outside the pack knows it for sure. There’s rumours. Kimi, you might know already?” asks Charles.
Kimi shakes his head, though he is not surprised. Nico is in the Mercedes garage a lot, “Lewis and George haven’t said anything.”
“Well, you will probably be asked about this a lot. The pack line is to ask something like if they have asked George, Lewis or Nico about it. And if they have, ask what they say and then say you’re not going to know more than them.”
“I’m new to the team, but they will ask me about that?” frowns Kimi.
“That’s why they’ll ask you, they’ll think they can get information from you because you’ve only just become a fixture in the paddock and so they’re hoping you don’t know what drivers do and don’t usually talk about,” Max warns. “Being asked about your personal life and our personal lives, about everyone on the pack, is always something you will face from the media.”
Kimi’s frown deepens, he doesn’t want to answer questions about his personal life or about anyone else’s. Ollie smells sad about having to deal with that too so Kimi draws him closer and Ollie rests his head against his Alpha’s shoulder. Charles’s smell melts with pleasure as he gazes at them.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m bringing this down, aren’t I?” apologises Ollie.
“No, it’s a natural reaction,” Charles reassures, stroking Ollie’s arm.
“None of us like answering questions about our personal lives or about anyone else’s. And if you say ‘why are you asking me this? I don’t want to talk about any of it’, they’ll say that you’re angry about whatever situation they’ve asked you about.”
“What about if we say no comment?” asks Ollie.
“Oh, they won’t stop asking you but you can say it, and find your way of dealing with it,” Charles replies.
Kimi smiles slightly, that matches what Lewis said about dealing with the media. Max looks at him quizzically and Kimi explains, “Lewis said the same thing about talking to the media.”
Max laughs, “Yes, and he has more attention than anyone. He has the most experience with dealing with this so he’s a very good person to talk to. He’ll be in the garages a lot, so use that resource.”
“Max and Lewis don’t hate each other by the way,” teases Charles. “Neither do Max and Lando.”
Max rolls his eyes, “Lando is one of my best friends. And Lewis and I, we are not best friends, but we lead the pack together no problem.”
Having spent time with Lewis, Kimi can see him and Max working well together. There’s an honesty to them both, and a concern for the pack which they show in very different ways, which probably helps as they coordinate the pack.
“Now, if any journalist asks you something completely inappropriate, your Comms Team should step in and stop the interview. But you can stop it too, and call for your Comms Team,” Max instructs. “The journalist will claim they have a right to ask and we can all say we have the right not to answer. The pack will support you.”
Ollie smells reassured. Kimi says though, “Our teams will support us too.”
“They should, yes, publically,” agrees Max, after a glance at Charles. “Sometimes, privately, they will say we should not make a big deal about the media. Not all teams, but there have been times.”
“The pack should not influence our work,” Charles says. “People will say, oh someone has joined a team because their Omega persuaded them to or because their Alpha ordered them to or clearly this was a decision to benefit the pack. No. You should discuss any important decision with your partner and with the pack, but the decision itself is not a pack one, not ever.”
Kimi thinks about Lewis moving to Ferrari, forcing Carlos to find a new team. He thinks about Logan being removed from Williams midseason and Daniel being fired from Red Bull just after. He cannot imagine that the pack influenced any of that, it does not benefit the pack at all.
“Teams, sometimes, feel as though the pack gets in the way of the relationship a driver has with a team. They can feel the pack is given priority, not them,” Charles shrugs. “When a pack member is distressed or needs us, we are there, without question. The team might say it is a team issue and that having a driver who is not part of the team in the garage or motorhome is a serious problem, because we could gather private racing information. But we are focused on our pack only and they do not always understand that.”
“The rule, from the FIA, is that pack should have access to each other and that in any ‘team onl’y area, the pack member who is part of that team can explicitly say that they want the other pack members there,” Max states firmly. “We still have issues with that.”
Kimi tries to imagine going into another team’s garage, smelling their distrust and anger about him being there. He would if Ollie was in danger, without any hesitation. He is still getting to know the pack though. Would they be offended if he did not immediately go to them? Would Haas refuse him access to Ollie?
Ollie stirs and tilts his head up so that he can look at Kimi, nuzzling him gently, “Are you okay? What’s wrong?”
Kimi breathes his Omega in and nuzzles him back, “Would I have trouble going into Ollie’s garage if he needed me?”
“I’ve talked to Ayao already, he’s said you coming into the garage and our motorhome is fine,” Ollie assures him earnestly, holding Kimi’s hand. “And Toto said the same about me being in the Mercedes garage.”
“Yes, but we do not know how the rest of the team will react.”
“That’s true, there’ll be people joking about signing you to a contract because you’re there so much, or people will joke that you spend too much time together, only they’re not joking,” says Charles, rolling his eyes. “And there’ll be the people who think you should be Mated to someone in the team, maybe them. They’re the ones you need to be most careful of.”
That all sounds invasive. Kimi frowns and feels a growl in his chest, “That’s none of their business.”
“Exactly, and I’ve been told that Toto and Ayao feel the same way,” says Max. “So if you take any concerns to them, you should be taken seriously. If you don’t think you are, come to me or Lewis about it.”
“I still get comments about how young Pierre and I were when we Mated, it is very annoying,” Charles shakes his head. “They think they can make a better choice for me, as though everything that goes wrong at Ferrari is because I am Mated to the ‘wrong’ person.”
Ollie laughs in disbelief, “That’s so weird!”
Charles laughs too, “It is, thankfully Ferrari management agrees. You will get questions about how serious your relationship is, by the way, because you are not Mated. Oscar and Logan got this a lot, although I think Oscar got asked more about his relationship with Carlos.”
“The only relationship there was friendship and Carlos being his Alpha,” confirms Max. “Have you thought about having an Alpha in your first year here?”
Kimi and Ollie haven’t really discussed this, other than to say that they just want each other. Ollie asks, “I’m sorry, what would that mean?”
“It just means that in your first year as you both settle into the grid, there’s an Alpha in the pack that you both choose to help support you so that Kimi does not need to worry so much about you when he is fitting into Mercedes and learning how to deal with the paddock and everything else F1. Oscar chose Carlos because he had gotten to know him a little before his first season and it made sense, with Carlos visiting the McLaren garage so much for Lando.”
“Carlos also looks after me in the same way,” Charles adds, smelling content and nostalgic. “He says I’m not getting rid of him that easily, but he will be looking after Alex too in 2025, because Lily cannot be at every race.”
“That sounds like more pressure for an Alpha, not less,” Kimi points out.
He doesn’t like the sound of this either. Life on the grid sounds more like it will be more questions, more invasiveness, even from his own team, and more pressure. And he needs to focus on racing.
“But Carlos is not my Alpha, he offers support. Lewis will support me too, but he won’t be my Alpha either,” Charles explains, reassuringly. “It is a support system, only we know what it is like to drive in F1 at this time. If you cannot ask for or offer support from someone because you are clashing on track, then you ask someone else. You tell Max and Lewis about the problem.”
“Kevin does not want support from anyone but Hulk, but he offers touches to the pack,” Max adds. “Hulk supports me, and is available to support any Omega who asks. It’s not the same for everyone.”
“Lewis won’t expect you to be George’s Alpha, though you’ll be asked about that, a lot,” warns Charles. “He’ll probably just ask if you can offer George pack touches and be a listening ear if he needs it. You don’t have to hang out in your spare time if you don’t want to. George will offer all of that to you too, he’s told Lewis already.”
Kimi digests that. Pure pack support, the support he has already experienced from Lewis and George, especially when dealing with everything that F1 brings, not all of which he knows about yet, does sound very helpful and soothing. He likes the idea of the pack helping calm Ollie’s nerviness too. He also knows, despite what the press say, if there were serious issues with the drivers forming a pack together, if Omegas were seducing Alphas and Alphas were using Omegas, this would be very obvious in the races, in the paddock, and in the press pen. Everything would fall apart.
He looks at Ollie, “I would trust Lewis with you.”
Ollie’s face lights up, “I mean, if he’s available.”
“He will be, it would make sense,” Charles points out. “And Mick will be in the Haas garage a lot to look after Esteban.”
Kimi nods, he has gotten to know Mick and he is very mature and even. He has to deal with so much press interest and invasiveness. Kimi is going to talk more about that with him the next time he sees Mick, if Mick is open to it.
Ollie nods too, “Having support would be really great, thanks.”
He smells so grateful, Kimi kisses him briefly. Ollie kisses back and nuzzles against Kimi, asking, “Does that sound better?”
Kimi smiles ruefully, “It still sounds like a lot of pressure. I was not warned about any of this.”
Max frowns, “The pack is not meant to be more stress and pressure, it is meant to help and support, you know, having Omegas around you who you can trust only want to help you. It should be a comfort. But if you need something different, we can step back so you have what you need.”
He and Charles smell disappointed but also understanding. They don’t smell upset or offended. Kimi appreciates being able to detect their honesty.
“I like the lack of scent blocker,” he tells them. “That is with all pack gatherings?”
“Not in the paddock,” Charles replies. “But when we are here, when we are at social events together, we do not wear scent blocker. It’s wonderful, yes?”
Kimi nods, it really is a nice relief. Max adds, “You can have as much space as you want, as long as you tell me and Lewis and we let the pack know. Most of us, we all sleep in each other’s rooms during the season. In hotels like this, we can have a safe space to completely relax. But it is not for everyone, Fernando never sleeps with the rest of us unless Jenson comes here for a night, and he keeps quite separate from the pack outside of the paddock. And Kimi, the other Kimi-.”
“Seb’s Kimi!” declares Charles gleefully.
Max rolls his eyes but smiles, “Seb’s Kimi, he spent his free time with Seb, Antonio, Pierre and Charles, and that wasn’t always at the hotel. He never slept in the same bed as anyone but those four. He was available if Omegas needed a pack Alpha but he had his boundaries. It was clear from the start, I don’t think anyone was hurt.”
Charles shakes his head, his scent fond and wistful, “No, or they were not hurt enough for Lewis to talk to Kimi about it.”
Ollie presses a kiss to Kimi’s shoulder and asks quietly, “Is that what you need, boundaries like that?”
Kimi thinks about it, “I think so, maybe at the start anyway. I need to…weigh the pressure first.”
Max looks and smells intrigued, “I don’t know if anyone has done that before but I can see why it would work for you.”
“Kevin has had different needs over his career here,” Charles points out. “He has relied on Hulk more than anyone, obviously, and now he likes Max close, because Hulk has adopted him. He likes touches from Carlos and Daniel because they were both teammates with Hulk, and he likes touches from Mick as they were teammates. It has been a progress as his career continued, like Seb’s Kimi.”
Yes, Kimi can see the benefit. It sounds like Kevin perhaps only wanted to rely on Hulk and he wasn’t forced to be a comfort to anyone else, but he grew to know and appreciate some of the other drivers that he and Hulk drove with and found comfort and calm with them. That is the sort of pack that Kimi is used to, in the lower formulas. A pack made of friends, rather than an almost mandatory grid-wide driver pack, living in each other’s pockets. But the drivers are truly the only ones who can know what the pressures and challenges of driving in F1 are like. It does make sense to relax and find comfort with them.
“I think I am like Kevin,” he says slowly. “I mean, I am here if a driver Omega needs an Alpha, but-.”
“But it will be your people for your pack,” Max translates, smelling understanding. “The pack will understand that. I will tell Lewis, but he will want a proper not-rushed discussion about it.”
The worry that was starting to build in Kimi starts to retreat instead and he smiles, “That is fair.”
“And you should talk to Oscar, the media will talk to you two about why you are not Mated yet,” Max warns. “Oscar got asked that a lot, then they assumed Carlos was building a harem and that Oscar was just with Logan until he could find someone ‘better’.”
Ollie’s mouth drops open in shock, “They said that?!”
“Many times,” Max replies grimly. “We all knew that Oscar and Logan were, and still are, serious about each other. But the press wanted confirmation of when the Mating would happen or why it hadn’t happened yet when so many of us are already Mated.”
Kimi frowns, he’s not looking forward to those questions every week. But he smiles at Ollie, glad that the most important part of this isn’t a worry, “Well, we are serious too and we have talked about Mating.”
Ollie smiles beautifically, his scent rich and warm with love, “Yeah, we think after our first F1 year at least.”
“Don’t tell anyone outside of the pack that,” Max says instantly.
“Yeah, it will come out in the media somehow and there will be a countdown for it,” Charles agrees. “Just say you’ve talked about Mating, it is something you plan on at some point in the future and that's all you will say about it.”
Ollie looks at Kimi still smelling of love and Kimi smiles back. He is incredibly glad to have Ollie with him in F1, he cannot imagine doing this without him. It’s what he needs.
“You will get asked about being teammates in F2 and boyfriends,” Charles warns with a grin. “Max has to talk about that all the time.”
Max checks his phone, “We can talk about it at dinner. Pierre and Daniel are coming to get us.”
“Yes, you’re invited,” Charles tells Ollie and Kimi.
They are told to dress casual, which Max explains as jeans and a button-down for Kimi while Charles goes with Ollie to help him decide on an outfit. Ollie comes back in a t-shirt dress with a leather belt and low-heeled shoes. He smells completely comfortable and delighted. Kimi is impressed, Charles is a little more dressed up now in a soft dark dress with a couple of simple cut-outs that reveal bare skin but he has chosen something for Ollie which completely fits Ollie’s style.
“Charles wasn’t going to give him a make-over,” Max tells Kimi, smelling amused.
“I didn’t think that, I am impressed he has gotten Ollie’s style so well, so quickly.”
Max nods, he’s in a t-shirt dress too, “Style is one of Charles’s gifts. If he ever recommends something for you to wear, always try it.”
Charles preens as he checks his reflection in the mirror and works on his eye-liner, “I like to share my gift with the pack.”
Max smells fond as there’s a knock at the door. Pierre and Daniel enter a few moments later, Leo rushes in with them, attached to a leash that Pierre is holding. Ollie immediately lights up.
“Oh, can I-?”
“Of course,” Charles tells him, smelling happy and approving. “He loves new people.”
Leo is extremely energetic and immediately runs for Charles once let off his leash. Ollie drops down to his knees to pet the puppy as well, chatting delightedly to Charles about Leo. Daniel kisses his Mate and then shakes Kimi’s hand, his other arm wrapped around Max’s waist.
“Good to see you, how’s it going?” Daniel laughs at whatever he sees on Kimi’s face. “Oh, wow, that good, huh?”
“I don’t think we’ve scared him too badly,” says Max. “We have worked out a compromise for him when it comes to the pack.”
Daniel eyes Kimi curiously, “Oh?”
“He’s similar to Kevin.”
Daniel’s expression clears, “Ah, got it. And is Ollie like Hulk?”
Ollie looks up from playing with Leo, “I don’t know? I don’t mind mixing with the Alphas in the pack for comfort or hugs. I mean, I’m pretty certain I’ll need the same from them and I haven’t met anyone in the pack who I wouldn’t want that with yet.”
That sounds like Ollie, Kimi will make sure that his own needs won’t prevent Ollie getting what he needs. Kimi sits down next to Ollie and squeezes him gently.
“I can be with the pack sometimes with you,” he says.
“You shouldn’t make yourself do something for my sake,” Ollie protests, smelling upset.
Kimi shakes his head, “I did not say I would do it every time, but sometimes, with you, as I am getting to know people, that will be fine.”
Ollie looks at him, his scent full of building love and he kisses Kimi with a lot of feeling, “Only if you’re sure and you’re not uncomfortable and-.”
“I know, I will take care of my needs. That means being with you, while you get what you need too.”
The other pack members all smell very pleased. Pierre, dressed smartest of all the Alphas in a dark shirt unbuttoned to his collarbones with gray trousers, glances at Kimi for permission and then shakes Ollie’s hand, hugging him for a scent-mark.
“You look very pretty,” Pierre tells him with a smile and a warm scent.
“Oh, thanks. Charles helped with my make-up.”
They leave Leo with the security team, Charles confiding that they love looking after the dog and have a complicated system for deciding who gets to lead on that duty every time. Daniel has the taxis hired and ready at a side door that the press haven’t found yet.
“They’ll find us tonight,” Max warns as they all pile into the cars. “You have to just know that and decide how you will deal with it. We usually say hi, you know, if fans want photos we keep it quick and polite and if the paparazzi won’t leave, we leave.”
“It’s never that clean and easy though,” warns Daniel.
The restaurant they go to isn’t full though. There’s a quiet space in the back where they go to eat and the maitre’d seems to know without any of them saying that they need a little discretion. Clearly it’s a place that the drivers, or other celebrities, have used before. The food is good and isn’t going to crash anyone’s nutrition plan. Everyone drinks alcohol but no one gets drunk or loud. The couples all sit next to each other, Charles and Pierre seem to always be hand in hand, their scents are very strongly merged and their Mating marks are very vivid on their throats.
Daniel and Max laugh a lot together, Max is the most relaxed that Kimi has ever seen him, Daniel too, from what little Kimi has seen of him. Retirement from racing, no matter how unexpected, seems to have agreed with him. He certainly doesn’t smell jealous or bitter around this group of current drivers. Max smiles more too, even when Daniel unexpectedly feeds him a spoonful from his meal. Lewis had told Kimi that Max was very different to how the media and paddock tend to paint him.
“He’s serious about racing and that’s his resting face,” he told Kimi. “He doesn’t easily share everything else with the world, he doesn’t feel like it’s a requirement, but he will share with the pack.”
And the pack has never let any of that spill out into the media. Kimi can see this Max working very well with Lewis, Lewis has said it’s why the pack is so strong. He and Max have been working together for long enough now.
Ollie chats with everyone and asks questions and listens eagerly. Kimi keeps a hand at Ollie’s waist or high on his thigh and smiles quietly and proudly as his Omega is received happily by this part of the pack. This is fine, getting to know the pack, none of them expecting anything from him that he feels uncomfortable about, and Ollie is relaxed and very happy. He looks beautiful, his smile beaming and his scent layered with delighted happiness and love. Kimi loves that his scent contains Ollie too.
He learns about avoiding Max's Sire - “We can’t ban him from the paddock, the FIA say he hasn’t broken any of their rules,” - while Ollie talks about how Lando has practically adopted Franco.
“He says Lando helped him settle in for the end of this season. Like, he doesn’t think he would have done as well as he did without Lando, and Oscar and Carlos, helping him.”
Kimi smiles at Ollie’s enthusiasm for his friend’s achievements as Daniel laughs, “You’ll be asked a lot about that, Kimi. You guys’ll be the media’s new favourite fake love triangle, instead of Carlos, Lando and Oscar. Or it’ll be that Lando’s got a harem now.”
“Don’t start that rumour, the Carlos one is bad enough,” Max orders him, though he is smiling.
“Carlos doesn’t mind, and you don’t either, you’re at the head of the harem,” laughs Charles, poking at Max’s ankle with the toe of his shoe.
“No, Lando is the head of the harem,” corrects Pierre.
“No, no, he’s not in the harem. He’s above the harem. He’s the Mate!”
Later, Kimi and Ollie are back at their hotel room, just a floor away from the pack. Ollie has changed into a floral-patterned set of pyjama shorts and camisole, his curls are everywhere and he smells like the grid pack members they ate dinner with. Kimi, wearing just an old worn pair of shorts, is sure that he smells the same.
“You do,” Ollie confirms when Kimi voices his thoughts. “You don’t mind, do you?”
“I don’t mind,” Kimi assures him, his fingers brushing Ollie’s elbow as they settle down in bed together.
“It’s just I know it’s a lot for you and you don’t want to always be with the pack-.”
“I don’t mind,” Kimi reminds him, firmer this time. He runs his fingers through Ollie’s curls. “They are okay with me wanting space from them and I am okay with you not wanting space from them.”
Ollie looks at him intently, smelling concerned, but nods, his scent easing into gratitude and love, “I don’t want space from you though.”
Kimi kisses him, tasting his Omega and gently biting Ollie’s bottom lip, “Good, I don’t want space from you either.”
All of this talk with the pack has made many things clear to Kimi; that having a grid pack of drivers makes absolute sense and that he is glad of that support being available and expected, that he wants to spend time with the pack and learn and relax but that he also wants just as much space to relax that doesn’t involve the pack, that that is fine with the pack who are not offended by the idea, but that most of all, Kimi doesn’t want to spend less time with Ollie, that he wants to be Mates with Ollie one day.
In fact, Kimi slides out of bed without a word and retrieves a small box from his backpack, and comes back to bed, sitting at Ollie’s side and handing him the box.
“I was going to give you this at the first race next year, but I’ve changed my mind,” is all he says as an explanation.
He watches as Ollie opens the box and gasps, the Omega’s eyes lighting up as he looks at and then fishes out a gold teddy bear pendant on a thin gold chain.
“Kimi, I love it!”
Kimi smiles broadly, he can smell how much Ollie loves it. He wants his scent to be full of this, of Ollie’s love and happiness.
Ollie stares at it happily for a moment and then looks at Kimi, “So this is a ‘our first F1 season together’ present?”
“Yes, and a reminder that I definitely want to be your Mate at the end of next season.”
Ollie flings his arms around Kimi, hugging him tightly, propelling them down onto the bed together. Kimi laughs and hugs Ollie back. This is exactly what he wants at the end of an evening spent with pack.
“Oh, can you put it on me?” Ollie asks, sitting up, the necklace still clutched in his hand.
Kimi carefully clasps the chain around Ollie’s neck and watches Ollie adjust it so that it sits just right under his camisole. The gold looks good against his soft skin. Kimi can feel his mouth drying.
“Should I wear this racing?” Ollie asks. “I want to.”
“Let your team know, it’s a discussion for them, or ask Lewis, he’s already dealt with that,” Kimi replies. “And if they want you not to wear it, give it to your team to give to you as soon as you’re done in the car.”
Ollie strokes the chain and then tugs it up over the camisole to touch the teddy bear with a happy smile.
“This is promise jewellery,” he says quietly.
“It is.”
“I don’t need it to believe that you’ll be my Mate next year.”
“I know.”
Kimi can smell Ollie’s certainty, just like Ollie can smell his. Kimi lies down again, opening his arms so that Ollie can crawl into them. The chain is warm between them. Kimi presses a kiss to Ollie’s curls, if 2025 has days like these, he thinks the pressure will feel more than manageable.
“I love you,” he tells his Omega quietly, with a feeling that matches his scent.
Ollie tilts his chin up, his eyes shining, his scent the one that Kimi wants to wear forever, “I love you too.”
Kimi kisses him, rolling them so that the Omega is under him. They push clothes up and away until they’re both warm, wanting and naked, apart from Ollie’s necklace. Kimi kisses the skin over Ollie’s scent gland, with a hint of teeth. Another promise. Ollie moans and arches up into him. They move together like they’ve always known each other and always will, like they’ll always want this, pack or no pack. By the time their pleasure has peaked, the necklace is very warm to the touch, and Kimi finds that he has an imprint from both the chain and pendant down his chest.
Ollie touches it with delight, “You’ve got a promise now too.”
Kimi breathes his Omega in and considers getting the imprint tattooed next season, right over his heart.