One Plus One Bonus Scene Six
Apparently this is what I needed to cheer me up after seeing Jev's race today. Obvs, spoilers for the race lie beneath the cut.
Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo/Jean-Eric Vergne
Summary: Jean-Eric's race in Monza.
Rating: green flag.
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It's only ever Dan's car that seems to run well, Jean-Eric muses, as he pulls his car off track. Of course, he's delighted for his teammate, for his lover. But he's spent the season watching Sebastien retire, and now it's happening to him. His second race back. His second race back and the engine's gone.
It's a lonely, lonely trip back to the pits. He hates this. His retirements are far more than other drivers. Far more than Dan, last year. Some, he'll admit are his fault. The others aren't, and he doesn't know which is worse. The guilt when it's his fault, or the hopelessness when it's not. He feels helpless this time, watching the cars zoom past on track, leaning on the fence while he waits for the marshals to sort him out a way back to the pits. He's missed racing, and he was in the top ten - he was fighting with McLarens for god's sake, and now he's mournfully staring at his stricken car.
It's always hectic just after you retire. Maybe less so than after you've finished the race, though. You're dragged off to debrief, paraded in front of the media, and then left to be mournful somewhere. It's always nice to shower, first, and he does, rinses the cooling sweat from his body, stretches gently as he gets dressed. It's never the same to retire early in the race as to retire near the end, or finish it. The adrenaline is still running high, but you're not tired, not aching. Just miserable.
Alice is awake though, by the time he's redressed, race suit crumpled on the floor like his hopes for this race. Just awake though, blinking those darkening eyes open, flailing her arms around a little, and the smile she gives him once he appears is more than enough to bring out a smile of his own. He picks her up, murmuring little nothings to her. The TV is showing the race, and he'd thought about turning it off before he went in the shower only Alice likes the sound of the cars, so he'd left it on. She peers up at him as he walks them closer, pointing at Dan on the screen. "That's your Dad, you know. He's fast. I should be there too, only my engine went." Alice smiles, fascinating by the TV, though she's going to be hungry soon, and so he sorts her out, and they sit and watch the grand prix together. It's the first time she's been awake for one - they'd both slept through Canada (she'd only been a week old, and he'd figured he needed all the sleep he could get), and then she'd slept through Britain, Germany and Hungary strapped to his chest, tiny fingers curled into his jacket, ear defenders massive over those tiny, delicate ears, and then slept through Belgium in her travel cot in his room. He claps for her, gently moving her hands to clap them when Dan gets ninth, and she seems delighted by this, sitting in his lap, and clings onto his thumbs while he claps his own hands together.
Dan dances around the room with her when he returns, chuffed with his result. He kisses Jean-Eric, grinning as Alice scrunches her nose up at his sweat-drenched fireproof top. "Go shower. We've got a date with this pretty lady and some beautiful pizza after the debrief." Jean-Eric suggests, smiles at them both, because his race may have been bad, but his life is perfectly wonderful.
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Pairing: Daniel Ricciardo/Jean-Eric Vergne
Summary: Jean-Eric's race in Monza.
Rating: green flag.
-
It's only ever Dan's car that seems to run well, Jean-Eric muses, as he pulls his car off track. Of course, he's delighted for his teammate, for his lover. But he's spent the season watching Sebastien retire, and now it's happening to him. His second race back. His second race back and the engine's gone.
It's a lonely, lonely trip back to the pits. He hates this. His retirements are far more than other drivers. Far more than Dan, last year. Some, he'll admit are his fault. The others aren't, and he doesn't know which is worse. The guilt when it's his fault, or the hopelessness when it's not. He feels helpless this time, watching the cars zoom past on track, leaning on the fence while he waits for the marshals to sort him out a way back to the pits. He's missed racing, and he was in the top ten - he was fighting with McLarens for god's sake, and now he's mournfully staring at his stricken car.
It's always hectic just after you retire. Maybe less so than after you've finished the race, though. You're dragged off to debrief, paraded in front of the media, and then left to be mournful somewhere. It's always nice to shower, first, and he does, rinses the cooling sweat from his body, stretches gently as he gets dressed. It's never the same to retire early in the race as to retire near the end, or finish it. The adrenaline is still running high, but you're not tired, not aching. Just miserable.
Alice is awake though, by the time he's redressed, race suit crumpled on the floor like his hopes for this race. Just awake though, blinking those darkening eyes open, flailing her arms around a little, and the smile she gives him once he appears is more than enough to bring out a smile of his own. He picks her up, murmuring little nothings to her. The TV is showing the race, and he'd thought about turning it off before he went in the shower only Alice likes the sound of the cars, so he'd left it on. She peers up at him as he walks them closer, pointing at Dan on the screen. "That's your Dad, you know. He's fast. I should be there too, only my engine went." Alice smiles, fascinating by the TV, though she's going to be hungry soon, and so he sorts her out, and they sit and watch the grand prix together. It's the first time she's been awake for one - they'd both slept through Canada (she'd only been a week old, and he'd figured he needed all the sleep he could get), and then she'd slept through Britain, Germany and Hungary strapped to his chest, tiny fingers curled into his jacket, ear defenders massive over those tiny, delicate ears, and then slept through Belgium in her travel cot in his room. He claps for her, gently moving her hands to clap them when Dan gets ninth, and she seems delighted by this, sitting in his lap, and clings onto his thumbs while he claps his own hands together.
Dan dances around the room with her when he returns, chuffed with his result. He kisses Jean-Eric, grinning as Alice scrunches her nose up at his sweat-drenched fireproof top. "Go shower. We've got a date with this pretty lady and some beautiful pizza after the debrief." Jean-Eric suggests, smiles at them both, because his race may have been bad, but his life is perfectly wonderful.
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