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nobodys-pearls · 7 years

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Hit on Me

A Kimax AU where Max and Kim are two pro-fighting sportscasters who are in love but haven’t realized it yet. Also cue aro/ace Alix -who’s having a lot more fun with all this than she should.

Read on [AO3]

“Okay Max, you can do it. This will be easy. Just take a deep breath and go through what you want to say, just how you practiced.” Max mumbled to himself, adjusting his glasses as he walked down the long office hallway. He reached the elevators and quickly pushed the button, tapping his foot as he waited for the light above his floor number to flash. It was oddly quiet, and all he could hear was the whirring of the pulley system, bringing the elevator up to his level.

“Why am I so nervous?” Max said to himself, looking at his reflection in the stainless steel doors. He was wearing his best suit, a sleek dark gray one that he picked out only a few weeks ago. He was even wearing his lucky green bow tie – he didn’t believe in luck in the slightest, but he thought that there was a high possibility that it would psychologically affect him, hopefully giving him more confidence. In fact, in one of the dozens of websites he was scrolling through last night, it said that wearing your favorite color could spike the area in your brain that activated…he was getting off topic.

He always did this. The more nervous he was, the more he immersed himself in numbers and statistics until it began to lose focus and forget where he was. In short, it wasn’t helping. He ran a hand through his short brown hair and adjusted his glasses once more, yet another one of his nervous habits. “You’re just talking to the woman.” He said firmly, looking at the elevator doors. “There’s a position open as the new sportscaster for the pro-fighting league, and although you manage the IT department, you are capable of doing the job. No,” Max corrected, looking back at his reflection and standing up straighter, “You deserve this job.”

Then he heard the familiar ding and watched as the elevator doors opened. He straightened his bow tie and stepped into the lift, breathing a sigh of relief when he saw that it was empty. People were variables that he just could not deal with right now.

“Hey can you hold it!” A voice called from the hallway, startling Max. He watched dumbly as the doors closed in front of him, but then a hand shot out to hold them open just in time. Max looked down at his shoes in embarrassment as the man entered the elevator. He had gotten lost in his owns thoughts again. Now he looked like a jerk.

“S-sorry, I didn’t mean to –”

“No worries,” The voice said as the doors closed behind him. Max looked up and was met with a pair of gray eyes. “I got here just in time. I’m pretty fast.” The stranger said with a wink. Max felt something constrict inside his chest. He assumed they were his nerves, reminding him of what he had set out to do.

“It’s really no problem,” The unnamed man said. He looked like he was about Max’s age – early 20s. Max saw the concern in his eyes and realized how tense he must look.

“Sorry!” Max blurted out, fixing his glasses. “I’m just a little stressed today, that’s all.” He admitted, fighting the temptation to adjust this glasses again. He didn’t have OCD, he had been tested at a young age for that, but ever since he was little he always had certain habits that he would always go to in extremely emotionally taxing situations. Apparently .8% of French citizens suffered from some sort of…

“Why are you stressed?”

Max flicked his eyes back to the man looking at him, losing his train of thought. He saw the warmth and sincerity in the stranger’s gaze, and something about it made him a little more relaxed. “I’m asking one of the higher ups for a job change.”

“Well that shouldn’t be too bad.” The man said with a grin, leading against the elevator railing.

“It’s a big change.” Max said with a nervous laugh. Then the elevator doors opened and a woman shuffled in, her nose in her newspaper. She quietly took up the back left corner, not saying a word. Max tried not to be fazed, but he couldn’t help but think, another variable.

“What is this job change, if you don’t mind me asking?” The mysterious man with the gray eyes said, cocking his head to the side. He looked genuinely interested in what Max had to say.

“There’s a position open as a pro-fighting sportscaster.”

The man let out a short laugh.

“What?” Max questioned. He watched as the man combed a hand through his black hair. He noticed that a good portion of it was died a nice golden color. He’d never seen hair that looked quite like that, even though about 12% of people dye their hair before the age of 25, 5% of those people being…

“I didn’t peg you as a person who was interested in sports.” The man answered simply.

Max’s whole demeanor changed. He crossed his arms and stood up a bit straighter, although he was still about a foot shorter than the man in front of him. “I’ll have you know that I grew up watching every kind of sport imaginable. I memorized all the rules, all the statistics, the player’s names, the awards won, the records broken –” He pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, “I may not look like I’m interested in sports, but trust me when I tell you I know my stuff.” He looked up at the man with a determined gaze, daring him to misjudge him once more.

Max faltered when he saw the unreadable expression on the man’s face. Something in the guy’s eyes flashed and he shifted off of the railing to stand to his full height.

“That almost sounded like a challenge.” The man said. He looked like he was holding back a grin.

“Maybe it is.” Max shot back, wondering if he was about to get beat up in an elevator. This man was taller and obviously stronger than him, but he was scrappy, he could take him on, right? He glanced at the woman, who was still immersed in her paper. He didn’t think that she would come to his aid if a fight broke out. His throat became very dry all of a sudden.

The man held out his hand, and Max instinctively flinched at the movement. Then he realized that the guy wanted to shake his hand and hastily reached it out, cheeks blazing in embarrassment.

“I’m Le Chien Kim, but you can call me Kim.” The man declared, grasping Max’s hand firmly in his own. Then he leaned over to Max’s eye level. “And I should have you know that I love a challenge.” He said with a 1000 watt smile. Max’s heart skipped a beat, probably due to the fact that his life had flashed before his eyes in the moment that this guy, Kim, had offered his hand. He hadn’t anticipated this, and he was pretty good with probability.

He wasn’t sure what to make of this guy. He was unpredictable, more so than most people. And although, logically, this should have made him more uncomfortable than he usually is around people, it gave him an odd feeling of excitement.

“Who won the French PFL tournament three years ago?”

Max was initially startled by the abrupt question, but then he adjusted his glasses and said easily, “Jean Moreau for the men’s league, Renée Leroy for the women’s.”

“And what was Leroy’s record by the time she won her second championship?” Kim asked, leaning over even further, a grin tugging at the corner of his mouth.

“7 loses, 162 wins, a new record for the women’s league, and the men’s for that matter.” Max said without a second thought.

Kim straightened back up, looking impressed. “And what do you think that this year will hold for the PFL?”

Max furrowed his brow in thought. “Well, all of the most well known fighters have retired in the past two years, so there is a void in experience.” Then Max looked back at Kim. “I believe that there is going to be a new talent to come out of the woodwork, someone that nobody expected. Somebody that will make pro-fighting fresh and better than ever.” He declared with confidence.

Kim smiled wide. Then he put his hand on Max’s shoulder. “I think I have some new talent in front of me right now.” Max stared back at him with wide eyes, and then he smiled shyly as well.

“What do you think, Madam Roux?” Kim asked, turning his attention to the woman in the corner.

‘Wait, why does that name sound familiar…’ Max thought to himself.

Suddenly the woman put down her newspaper, revealing a wide grin that rivaled Kim’s. “I think we found your new partner.”

Max laughed nervously, inching towards the elevator doors. He knew he was heading for one of the higher floors, but this had taken a while, and these overly energetic people were starting to freak him out. Then it clicked.

“Madam Roux!” Max exclaimed. This was the woman he was going to talk to! He wasn’t sure what she looked like, so he didn’t recognize her at first, but she fit the description he read online perfectly, along with the grainy picture on the company’s website.

“The legend herself.” Kim said with a wink.

“Wait, but, I was going to, I mean, I wanted to –” Max began, stumbling over his words. This was not how he planned it at all. Would it even make sense to go through his script now?

“You’ve got the job.” Madam Roux said, scribbling something down on her newspaper. Then she tore a piece off and handed it to Max. “Here’s my number. We expect you to be at Charles’ Arena at 7pm tomorrow. Don’t be late.” With that the elevator doors opened and she walked into the hallway, disappearing in a matter of seconds.

“What just happened?” Max asked himself, clutching his head in one hand and looking down at the piece of newspaper.

“You just became my new partner.” Kim answered, that grin still on his face. “Um, this is your floor, right?” He asked.

“Huh? Oh! Yes, this is where I was heading…” Max mumbled, stepping out of the elevator. “What did you two mean about a partner?”

Kim rested his arm on the front of the elevator, leaning casually towards Max. “I was working for Monsieur Faure before he retired. I got promoted to head sportscaster starting this upcoming season, but I requested a partner. Guess we’re going to be seeing a lot of each other.” He answered with a wink. Max gulped. Then he hastily adjusted his glasses and gripped the piece of newspaper more tightly in his hand.

“Thank you.” Max said, looking intensely at his new co-worker.

Kim dropped his arm from its place on the elevator, looking caught off guard for a moment. Then he broke into one of his blinding smiles. “Don’t thank me, you showed off all your skills. I’m just the one who pushed you a little.” Then he chucked to himself. “I have a feeling this is how this partnership is going to go. I’m looking forward to it.”

Max couldn’t help but smile a little as well. He could feel a sort of electricity in the air, which was odd, since there didn’t seem to be any exposed circuits and the atmosphere was supposed to be uncharacteristically dry today, at least according to his weather app…well, whatever this strange feeling was, he kind of liked it. It was different. Uncharted territory. “I’m looking forward to it too.”

Kim nodded his head and pressed one of the elevator buttons. Soon the doors began to close. “Wait,” He said a moment later, holding open the elevator. “I don’t know your name.”

Max pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and stood up straight. “Max Kanté.” He stated.

“Max Kanté.” Kim said to himself, a strange smile on his face. Then he looked back up at the young man before him. “Until next time, Max.” He let the doors close in front of him and soon Max was left alone in the hallway. He watched as the lights above the elevator flashed, and the pulley system whirred once more. Then he took a deep breath.

“Well that was…unexpected.” Max mused, still frozen in place. Who knew something so spontaneous, could turn out so perfectly? For once in his life, he didn’t have a fact or statistic to explain how he was feeling, what had just happened. He found himself struggling to find a word to describe just how gray Kim’s eyes were. Then he shook his head and headed down the hallway, willing his legs to move in a steady rhythm.

He looked down at that piece of newspaper for what might have been the hundredth time. Charles’ Arena. 7 pm tomorrow. “I did it.” Max said to himself, unable to hold back his grin. “I really did it!” He repeated, pumping his fist in the air as he tried and failed to reign in his excitement. He had entered the main section of the office at that point and noticed one of the secretaries giving him an odd look. He quickly sobered his expression and gave her a short greeting.

‘Wait.’ Max thought, suddenly realizing something. ‘I came here during my lunch break to talk to Madam Roux, but now that I’ve already gotten the job…’ He rubbed his neck sheepishly. He didn’t need to get off the elevator. Actually, there was no point for him to be on this floor at all. He turned around and walked back the way he came, trying to ignore the puzzled look on the secretary’s face as he left the main room that he had just entered.

‘Well what am I going to do now?’ Max wondered, back in the hallway with the elevators. He had twenty minutes until his break was over. Then he got an idea and pulled out his cell phone.

He scrolled down his contacts until he reached the name he was looking for, tapping his fingers against his thigh as he listened to his phone ring.

“Hiya poindexter.” The voice said on the other end of the line. Max rolled his eyes and smiled.

“I thought we went over this?” Max said, trying and failing to sound disapproving.

“Oh yeah we definitely did, I just chose not to listen.” The voice admitted.

Max chucked. “Alixxxxx.”

“Hey take me as I am or not at all.”

“Then I get to call you Lazytown.” Max declared, biting back his grin.

“Okay, I may have short pink hair, and I may be a little too obsessed with physical activity, but if you call me Lazytown I will not hesitate to kick your ass.”

Max shuddered at the threat. Alix may be shorter than him, but she trained the best pro-fighters in the French league. He wouldn’t stand a chance.

“Noted.” He said, his throat suddenly dry. Then he remembered why he called her in the first place. “So, do you have a minute to talk?”

“Yeah, my new protégé is taking a water break. You’ve gotta check this girl out sometime, Max, she’s going places.”

“Actually I think I’ll be seeing a lot of her in the future…” Max said vaguely, but Alix immediately understood.

“You got the job!” Alix exclaimed, excitement obvious in her voice. “How was it? What did you say? Don’t tell me you used all of those statistics you prepared because we talked about –”

Max laughed. “The plan was trashed before I really started it.” He admitted.

“Really? That’s not like you.” Alix said, puzzled.

“Oh I didn’t trash the plan.” Max said, leaning against the wall. “Le Chien Kim did.”

“Who?”

“Apparently he’s my new partner. And apparently he likes a challenge.”

“Oh I’m gonna have fun with this guy.” Alix said, and Max could picture the evil grin on her face.

He smiled to himself as he continued to talk to his best friend on the phone. He had a good feeling about all this – a strange, indescribable feeling – but a good feeling nevertheless.

For the rest of the day he couldn’t seem to get those gray eyes out of his head. Whenever he tried to recall one of his many facts and figures, all he could think of were those eyes. He couldn’t seem to understand why.

#kimax #max kante #le chien kim #alix kubdel #miraculous ladybug #miraculous ladybug au #ladybug #chat noir #alya cesaire #nino lahiffe #hit on me

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