#de-aged maxiel
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please please please some baby max 🙏
Have a little (sort of) seasonally appropriate baby Max! It's jumping a little out of order.
To recap where we are: Daniel turned down a seat this year, Max is still running away when he's back to being grown up, and Daniel isn't dealing very well with the whole missing-Max-both-as-an-adult-and-a-child kind of a thing. This is just an excuse for writing a specific moment.
(this link shows the stuff I’ve already posted in chronological order if the tag isn't working.)
Daniel's woken by his phone after a fairly useless single hour's sleep. He considers, for a second, ignoring it. But it's Christian, so he doesn't.
"Max has Gone Small," Christian says without bothering with anything nice like hello or how was your 18 hour flight the week between Christmas and New Year or how are you coping without a race seat for next year for the second year in a row. "How soon can you get here?"
Daniel presses his face into the hotel room pillow. "Where are you?"
"HQ," Christian says. "Tell me your hotel and I'll send a car to pick you up."
Daniel can't remember where he's staying. 'London' probably isn't good enough. He fumbles for the room service menu on the desk, and reads out the hotel name.
"I'll call you back with an ETA," Christian says. He's not been as nice to Daniel after Daniel turned down both Max's temporary seat cover and the AT seat for next year. He doesn't understand. "Max wants you."
"Yeah," Daniel says. He stands, barefoot and just in his underwear, and looks at himself in the mirror. He's hollow eyed from lack of sleep. And, probably, a selection of prolonged bad choices. His heart pounds. "Tell Max I'm coming for him, okay? See if you can get him some tomato soup in a cup and something to colour. He likes both those things."
"On it," Christian says, and hangs up.
Daniel — exhausted, underweight, jet lagged — gets in the shower with his phone ringer turned up high and the water temperature turned down low. He emerges, shivering, more awake and vaguely cleaner but not much else. He packs his stuff back into his suitcase, unplugs his charger, and checks for a message. There's a car on its way. Daniel gathers up his stuff, wheels his case back towards the lift and checks out of his hotel. He's barely been there two hours.
He doesn't sleep in the car up to Milton Keynes. His knee bounces, and he taps out a rhythm on his thigh with his fingertips. He hasn't seen grown up Max in weeks, and little Max for longer than that.
Daniel hasn't been right since the first time Max got big and left him. There's a hole in the middle of his chest where his heart should be. He's tried to fill it with all the normal things but nothing's worked. He's just sad. It's hard work to hide it. It's harder when he's tired. They were going to see each other this week, with Daniel fulfilling some of his puppet PR duties at the Red Bull New Year's Eve party alongside Max, but that might not be on the table anymore because Max has Gone Small again.
His little boy. He's going to see him again. God.
If he gets there before Max goes big again.
HQ is mostly deserted. There are barely any cars in the car park. Christian's waiting for him at the main entrance, along with an assistant, who Daniel barely says hello to as she promises to get all of Daniel's bags out of the car.
"Max is very unhappy," Christian warns him, as they go inside and towards the stairs. "Turned up this morning and was only here an hour before we all blinked and then he's fucking seven again. Just wants you."
Daniel speeds up. He doesn't even know where he's going, where Max is waiting for him. "Did he eat anything?"
"Refuses," Christian says.
They go through a locked door Christian has to wave a pass at to get through. Somewhere, far away, Daniel can hear a familiar little voice, raised. Upset.
"Maxy-Max," he calls, hand cupped around his mouth. There is, for a moment, abrupt silence. There's a flight of stairs. Daniel takes them two at a time, but he's not fast enough because Max fucking barrels his way out of a room at the top of them and barely manages to stop himself falling headlong over a large fern in a plant pot and toppling down the stairs.
"Daniel!" Max says, tearful and upset. "Daniel, my Daniel." He launches himself at Daniel, and Daniel catches him in a hug. Daniel drops to his knees and Max hugs him all wriggly and tight and het up and crying. He's in grown up Max's t-shirt, way too big, and grown up Max's socks, falling off his feet and making him slip-slide all over the place. Someone, somehow, has got him into a pair of Go Small shorts, but the fabric is itchy even to Daniel's hand, so Max must be hating it.
"Hello, baby," Daniel says, kissing Max's cheek, his ear. He thumbs away a tear from Max's pink, flushed cheek. Another one. "I've missed you so much."
Max just holds on tighter. "Can we go home now," he whispers, but Daniel can't take him home. All the Guardianship papers are in Monaco. All their Red Bull responsibilities are here, and even if Max doesn't have to put food on the table, Daniel's career is on indefinite hiatus and the money he's making now will have to last him. And Max doesn't stay like this. He doesn't stay with Daniel.
"Not just yet," Daniel tells him. He hugs Max tighter, lifting him off the ground. Max tucks his face into Daniel's neck, wrapping his arms all around Daniel's neck. He gets to his feet, Max wrapping his legs around Daniel's waist and staying as close as possible. "Are you hungry, Maxy-Max?"
Max nods, his nose dragging over Daniel's neck. He doesn't feel warm either, and Daniel wants to find something to get him changed in to and get him something to eat.
"Let's get you—" he says, but then he has to close his eyes really tightly.
Max wriggles, and shifts, and when Daniel opens his eyes again, the Max in his arms is his toddler Max, his baby Max, his best little boy. He's gone smaller.
"Hey," Daniel says softly. "Hey, baby."
Max rears back in Daniel's arms. He's pink and tearstained and very serious. He pats both his hands to Daniel's cheeks. Holds Daniel still.
Daniel waits. He can be patient where Max is concerned. Can let him have whatever time he needs to do whatever it is he needs to do.
"Daddy," Max says, and—
And.
Daniel's world is different now. It will be forever different. A before, and an after.
"Hey," Daniel says, in the end, and Max looks at him and beams.
Carries on here.
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Clothing of Delight
Just posted the first chapter of my de-aged Maxiel fic here!
Danny bends down to gently pry the kid's hands off his legs, trying to get control over his expression because he’s pretty sure he looks like a psycho right now and doesn’t want to freak him out.
“Hey, sweetheart–”
He gets a good look at the little boy’s very blue eyes. His pale, round face.
“What the fuck,” Danny says. “What the fuck.”
—
For twenty-four hours, Daniel Ricciardo's husband is changed.
#maxiel#de-aged maxiel#f1 rpf#baby max#maxiel fic#striving to capture both the real horror and real cuteness of this scenario#my fic
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omg deaged daniel has my heart:(( he’ll feel so much more comfortable I bet once he gets to talk to his mom:((((
he does!! ok this is literally spiralling lmao!
De-Aged Daniel | De-Aged Daniel Pt2 | Part 4
Max watched as Little Daniel watched him through his lashes as he made his calls. His sticky red ring pop was always close to his lips and Max could see how stained his tongue already was.
“Do you like ring pops?” Max asked kindly, Little Daniel makes eye contact for a moment before looking at Max’s shoulder again and nods. “I like them too, I love the green flavour.”
“‘Shell likes the green one.” Little Daniel offered softly.
“All the more red ones for you!” Max smiled when Little Daniel grinned.
“Ok so I ordered the pizza, would you like to play with the cats while I make another phonecall?”
“Your phone’s weird like the one’s in the movies.” Little Daniel mumbled. And Max figured that must be true, an iphone wasn’t exactly the current tech in 1994.
“It is, I’m still learning it too. May I lift you up Daniel?”
Little Daniel nodded softly and Max lifted him onto his hip. He walked the few steps into the living room and placed the boy gently on the couch. Jimmy was the first to be curious. Little Daniel looked at him dubiously before reaching his hand out slowly to pet the cat.
Max watched them out of the corner of his eyes while he scrolled through his contacts. Grace picked up after three rings, and Max hoped it wasn’t very late in Perth.
“Max, lovely to hear from you!” Grace’s voice was a balm, Max felt completely out of his depth.
“Hey Grace, unfortunately this isn’t a social call.”
“What’s happened?” Her voice was immediately tense and Max kicked himself, he could have handled that better.
“Nothing terrible. I’m gonna show you.” After hearing her noise of agreement he changed the call to a facetime. She looked at him with worried brown eyes, Max flipped the camera to show Little Daniel stiltedly petting Jimmy’s head. His ring pop clutched tightly in his other fist.
“Oh.” Her gasp was sharp. Max watched her eyes grow soft and yearning.
“Blake said he’s been stressed lately, it happened not twenty minutes ago.”
“So its temporary then.” She spoke to herself, eyes still staring at the little boy who was her miniature in every way. “He likes the show Lamb Chops, and The Wiggles. Don’t let him choose the pizza, he likes the pictures but he doesn’t like the peppers or olives. He’ll eat pepperoni or hawaiian.”
Max groaned because Little Daniel absolutely chose the pizza and there were all sorts of peppers and olives.
“Do you still have the epi pen?” She asked quietly.
“I do.”
“Good. You may need it.”
“Pistachios, hazelnuts, peanuts. I remember.” Max smiled.
Grace made that ‘oh honey’ face that Daniel sometimes did when he thought Max was going to be in over his head a little. “Some kinds of grass, milk, ice cream, air fresheners, may make him puke–”
“How did you let him move to Italy on his own??” Max laughed when Grace snorted. He had no idea Daniel had been allergic to so many things.
“He grew out of most of it. And he was very convincing.” She smiled, before biting her lip. “Can I talk to him?”
“Of course!” Max crossed the room quickly and flipped the camera back to the front facing one. “Daniel, I have someone who would like to speak with you, is this ok?”
Little Daniel looked up from where Jimmy was trying to climb onto his small lap and nodded softly. Max sat beside him and brought his phone to Daniel’s face.
“Mum!” Little Daniel screamed, scaring Jimmy a little. He scooted forward on the couch to get closer to the phone, Max brought to phone to him. “That's my Mummy!”
“Danny my baby, are you being good for Max?”
Little Daniel gasped, his mouth dropping open. He nodded quickly, his head bobbled like a toy. “Uh huh! Mum are you coming to get me?”
Grace sniffled and covered her mouth with a palm. “Soon my baby. It’ll take a little bit so be good for Max ok? He’ll take care of you until we get there.”
“Ok! I promise!” Little Daniel chirped, he nodded again like a bobble head.
“That’s my baby. I love you Danny Wanny.”
“I love you more Mummy Wummy!” Little Daniel grinned and looked up at Max when the screen when dark. Max bit his lip, not expecting the cute aggression that took hold of him.
“Do you want to watch The Wiggles?” Max asked instead, smiling with Little Daniel nodded happily.
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De-aged!Max, short drabble. Non Explicit. (Maxiel)
The kid stares at him.
When Daniel looks down to the boy's hands he makes a pained noise and holds Daniel's helmet tighter to his chest; it's the one with the pink and glitter on it. Daniel remembers him, a vague memory inside his head that he couldn't really picture even if he tried. Daniel knows he met Max when Max was younger; they shook hands back in his torturous rookie days filled with thousands of other stupid promotions and awkward meetings. He saw the photos too, when they resurfaced from place in the bottom of the internet after Max was announced as his new team mate.
Daniel is sure; this has to be Max. Kid Max. Boy Max. A chubby faced blonde boy standing in the middle of his living room caught red handed.
"Hey," Daniel murmurs, not really sure if he's dreaming, or if he's dead. Or maybe Max is dead, maybe he crashed while Daniel was sleeping and his younger soul came to say goodbye. Maybe this is a visit from Max's wandering soul to say farewell to their little secret den. Maybe Max was thinking of Daniel as he lost control of his car and that's why he's stuck in this version of himself, the one Max was way before he grew up and became a man that liked women and won world championships.
"Max, a—are you, is, is it really you?" Daniel stutters.
The boy, Max, looks at him with wild eyes after he hears Daniel say his name and drops the helmet to the floor. The loud crack of the material startles Daniel, he takes a step back, nervous and on his toes, not really knowing what the boy will do.
"Don't tell my papa," Max whispers, pulling the end of his shirt and wiping his hands on it like he touched something dirty. "I was only looking."
Daniel shakes his head quickly, raising both hands in truce.
My papa.
Shit.
If Max's father from another dimension comes out of Daniel's kitchen or something, then he may actually drop dead right in the spot. Or end up in jail.
"It's okay, mate." Daniel soothes him. He tries smiling but boy Max doesn't smile back. "It's a pretty cool, right?, it's good, don't worry."
Boy Max frowns, and then looks down at Daniel's helmet lying on the floor. Daniel thinks for a second that Max will pick it up, but the thought gets thrown out of the window soon as Max's shoe hits the visor and makes the helmet fly to the other side of the room.
"Well, shit." Daniel says, frowning back at the Max from a different timeline. "That was rude as fuck."
"I want my papa," Boy Max grunts, crossing his arms over his chest, his face flushing pink. "Call my papa, now." He orders Daniel, like it's Daniel's fault he's here and not wherever he should be at. Or whenever. Shit.
It must be a sign from God or something, but as soon as the words leave the kid's mouth, Daniel's phone starts blasting the loud new stupid ringtone Michael installed on it as a joke a few days ago.
"Shit," Daniel curses. He stares back at mini Max trying to seem commanding and holds a warning finger towards him, "Don't move."
Daniel runs to his room and rushes towards his phone resting on the bed; a bad habit that has cost him a few screens.
It's Max, his name written next to the tongue emoji that Max put on there when he saved his number on Daniel's phone years ago.
"Max?," Daniel whispers in panic, a weird feeling flooding his body as he considers he may be going crazy for real. It doesn't feel like a dream. The kid looked fucking real and alive. And Daniel hasn't been this awake since he was born, probably.
"Daniel," Max says, sounding like he just saw a fucking ghost. "Daniel, you, you—you're never gonna believe me. Please, listen, ju—just, listen to me, please."
Daniel feels a cold wind hit the back of his neck, some tingling sensation of a pair of eyes on him. He looks over his shoulder and almost faints when the kid is there, holding a small butter knife so tightly his knuckles are white. Max is shaking like a leaf, but so is Daniel, and he realizes the weapon of the boy he curses at his old self for being too lazy after eating those croissants.
"I want to go home," Boy Max says, and Daniel is so overwhelmed by the insanity of the situation it takes him a few seconds to realize the kid's face is wet with tears, "I want to go back, now." He growls at Daniel, shaking the silverware in his hand as a treat.
For fucks sake.
"I do, " Daniel sighs to the other side of the line. He presses the speaker button and holds the phone towards the Dutch murder baby in front of him. "so you better fucking believe me too. And put the fucking butter knife down."
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Daniel stays on checos side because have we not seen what happens when he’s around max? Of course he’s relegated to the farthest point in the garage hahah
yeah if they let him on max's side of the garage, they'd probably just start humping each other and then they lose track of time, max misses quali, it's a whole thing
#also we have to consider the de-aging of it all#they can't be having 18yo coded max getting into the car every session it would be a fucking mess#maxiel#monaco23#rbr23#answered#anonymous
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Missing
By @fredwardart / Val1d_Vic
Max/Daniel • Carlos/Lando • 925 words • age regression/de-aging • non-sexual age play
Shit. Daniel thought. He predicted that Maxie would be unsure about his new look, but he didn't think that Maxie wouldn't recognise him.
Daniel decides to shave his beard and Max doesn't like it.
My dear friend Freddie surprised me with this sweet story today and I love it so much I wanted to make a collage to it and post it with the link because I know there are a few people here who love little stories.
He deserves all the love and support so if you like Maxiel and/or Carlando little stories, this is a perfect opportunity to read one and support the author. ❤
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I adore your deaged max AU! Curious if while max is small, if daniel and him celebrate any holidays together? How does max feel about them? Do they establish any traditions? :)
I don't think this version of Max is particularly excited by Christmas, but he does like lights, and being with Daniel, so I've combined them together for them to have a little outing of their own. And because I personally love lights in the middle of winter.
This follows on - with a few days unaccounted for (because I haven't written them, but they've been staying with Christian and Geri) - from this part I posted yesterday. Max was a tiny toddler but now he's back to being seven.
(this link shows the stuff I’ve already posted in chronological order if the tag isn't working.)
Happy holidays, pals. 🧡
The day after New Year's Day, Daniel takes Max to visit an Enchanted Light Trail. It's only on for another couple of days, and a lot of local schools have gone back today so it's quiet when Daniel parks the car. It's already mostly dark, and Max, seven years old again and interested, almost stumbles out of the car. He's in his new wellington boots, with a puffy winter coat that Daniel has to spend two minutes talking him into getting zipped up. Then a scarf and a hat and gloves. Max is unconvinced by them all, especially the gloves, but when he sees Daniel wearing a pair too, he concedes to keep them on.
He slips his hand into Daniel's, and asks if it's going to be loud. Max doesn't always like loud. He's not loved sharing Daniel with the other people in Christian and Geri's house over the past few days, and he is not quite over being left behind with Monty and a babysitter when Daniel and the others went to the Red Bull New Year's Eve Extravaganza. So: a little treat that's just for Daniel and Max together, alone, now that Max is back to being seven.
"Not loud," Daniel says. "Just lots of nice lights, and a place to see animals, and we can have hot chocolate." He shoulders his backpack, which also has a thermos flask of tomato soup and some bread and butter in little pieces in a lunch box. He's learned from experience that Max will experiment with experiences more than he'll experiment with unfamiliar food in unfamiliar places. "But I've brought tomato soup too."
"Okay," Max says, only semi-dubiously. He's so serious sometimes. Daniel lets him think through whatever he's thinking about as they wander through the car park and up to the little ticket booth. He'd bought tickets for them online, so he only has to wave his phone screen at a bored teenager who wishes them a desultory happy new year to be given a little trail map and a token to get through the gate.
Daniel lets Max feed the token into the entrance gate, and then they're inside the farm park, and at the start of a path lined with trees wound with hundreds of tiny, coloured lights. The branches are also lined with lights, and even Daniel is almost floored by how pretty it is.
"Oh," Max says, in sheer unadulterated wonder.
Daniel for a single, desperate second, wants to cry. Every moment with Max might be his last. It had been awful enough when he'd been sitting next to a little chunky three year old Max a couple of days ago, and he'd had to squeeze his eyes shut and almost couldn't bear to open them again in case it was a grown up Max sitting next to him, desperate to get away from him.
But it was this Max, Daniel's Max, his seven year old, his favourite seven year old on the planet.
It doesn't mean grief doesn't sit, tentative and yearning, on the edge of everything he experiences.
"Do you like it, Maxy-Max?"
Max nods so hard his hat almost falls off, and Daniel has to stop to make sure it's on properly and keeping Max warm.
"Good," Daniel says, and he lets Max set the pace as they wander down the track towards the barns. The next part of the path doesn't have little Christmas lights, but the trees are lit in purples, greens, and are wrapped in starlight skies, little spotlights along the ground turning the trees into beautiful swathes of colour.
Max looks up at him in wonder. "Like the nightlight at home," he says, clutching Daniel's hand. The nightlight in Max's bedroom at Daniel's projects colours and stars across the ceiling. Max hasn't been home with Daniel in a while. It doesn't mean it isn't his home too. It'll always be his home, even if Max grows up and stays grown up and stays a long way away from Daniel like he does now.
"Just like the nightlight at home," Daniel agrees.
The Enchanted Light Trail is supposed to be a 60-90 minute experience, but it takes them almost half an hour even to reach the barns where the farm animals are. Max loves the colours, and the trees, and the lights — just like Daniel had hoped he would. Max had liked going to the zoo that time, and he likes colouring in, and he likes things that are just him and Daniel, so it had made sense when Daniel googled that this was the thing he would pick to get them out of Christian and Geri's hair for a bit.
If Max doesn't get big again in the few days or so, Daniel's taking him back to Monaco, and he doesn't care what Christian says about the pre-season work Max is supposed to be doing here. Daniel's Max's guardian, nobody else. And he wants to take Max home.
"What happens if you are scared?" Max asks, before they go into the barns. He always asks about Daniel being scared, and not him.
"If I'm scared or if you're scared," Daniel tells him, just like every time, "then we can come back out here. That's fine."
"Okay," Max says, and his face is a picture of fierce determination. Daniel's seen that face before, a hundred thousand times, before and after races. It's funny to see it reflected on such a little Max, a Max that just doesn't have any of grown up Max's competitive spirit in him. Daniel gives him a moment to acclimatise, and then Max nods and they go inside.
The barns have also been lit up in swathes of pretty colours. The animals seem quite happy, and they see the rabbits and the sheep and the goats. Max refuses to go near the goats, even though the farm staff say he can help feed them. That is a solid no, which Daniel understands entirely because the last time they met a goat together at the zoo that time, it had tried to eat Max's hair for dinner and Max had cried. Instead, they stand against the opposite wall of the barn, as far away from the goats as possible, and Trixie, who works at the farm, points out each of the goats in turn and tells Max their names.
Max puts up with this for three minutes, which Daniel counts as 150% a win, and then they say thank you and move on to the next barn. This one has cows in it, and one moos loudly as they come in. Max bravely does not nope out, but they stay away from the gates. One of the cows is called Strawberry, which Max finds hilarious. Daniel suggests some other very silly names for cows even as they go and look at the pigs and meet a horse dressed for the season in a big knitted scarf and blanket. There are chickens, and more rabbits, and a dog, which Daniel suspects isn't part of the attraction in general and that Max is very cautious of. Daniel is too, but he tries not to let it show.
Then it's time for the 'things to do' barn, which has some little tables for crafts and a cafe at the other side. Max doesn't want to make Christmas crafts and he doesn't want to join a table with other people on, but there are some tables with pictures to colour in and some crayons and pencils. He settles himself at one of the tables, and tells Daniel that it's okay if Daniel crosses the barn to get them some orange juice (Max) and some hot chocolate (Daniel). Daniel keeps turning around to find Max watching him with his little serious expression on, and so Daniel makes a series of increasingly silly faces just to make him laugh.
"You've got yourself a serious one too, then," the woman behind the counter says as he pays for their drinks. "Mine's the same."
"Yeah," Daniel says. "Best kid in the world, though."
"Fight you for it," the woman says, laughing, and that grief is back, hovering, desperate, endless. Daniel tries to smile. He wishes her a happy new year and goes back to sit beside Max, who's picked out a farm picture to colour, with lots of trees and some animals. He's got one for Daniel too. He doesn't want to try Daniel's hot chocolate, but he does like the smell. He's industriously colouring in one of the trees in purple — like the ones outside — when one of the farm staff comes over to ask if he'd like to make a tree at one of the craft tables.
"No, thank you," Max says, attention focused on his picture. "Me and my daddy are colouring."
Daniel has to swallow down an actual sob. "We're good here, thanks," he says. "But thank you."
After she leaves, Daniel has to use one of his hot chocolate napkins to blow his nose. Max looks up at him.
"Can we go home soon?" he asks.
"To Christian and Geri's house?"
"No," Max says, giving him a withering glance. "Our house, Daniel."
Daniel leans in and kisses the top of his head. "Yeah," he says. "Promise."
"Okay," Max says, content with Daniel's yes. Daniel doesn't lie to him. Except, maybe, about the growing hole in his chest. Max goes back to colouring. Daniel swallows, tries to get a hold of himself, and resorts to naming all of the animals in the picture the stupidest names he can think of, just to make Max laugh.
Later on, they walk along a little pathway through the lit-up woods, and drink a cup of tomato soup at a picnic table. Max is amazed at the idea of drinking soup outside in the dark. They don't stay at the table long because it's cold, but Daniel takes a thousand pictures of Max beaming at him, soup around his mouth, and lets Max take some of him in return.
"I love you," he tells Max as they walk back towards the car. It seems important to tell him, urgent, imperative.
Max swings their joined hands. He's got his coloured-in picture and a glowing stick with a star on it clutched in his other hand, a present from the farm shop. Daniel's got one too, and a bag with some in for Monty and Olivia and Bluebell even though Bluebell's probably too old for it.
"Love you, love you, love you," Max says back, kicking his feet in his new wellingtons. He looks up at Daniel, sleepy but happy, and Daniel's heart twists in his chest. "Can we go home now?"
"Tomorrow," Daniel says, making a decision. Fuck it all, he thinks. I'm taking Max home.
Thank you to Zoe and Lena for reading this through for me. 🧡
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It's You And Me (I Know It's My Destiny) by sunsetmog
F1, Max Verstappen & Daniel Ricciardo (later will be Max/Daniel, but no underage), (13/?)
Going Small is relatively normal, all things considered. It happens to most people.
Max is not normal. Max is seven. Again.
AKA de-aged Max is now on AO3, and includes a new little bit that hasn't been posted on Tumblr (yet).
Thank you to Zoe (@flawlessassholes) for her banner (and sending me the close up of that Go Small business card!!!! Impeccable!!!) and for the title, which comes from the Pokemon theme song.
Here at AO3.
Includes all the currently posted fics from this verse (all these links are Tumblr links):
Max at Seven
Daniel at Seven
Max is Seven Again (for the first time)
Pikachu Shoes
The Jimmy or Sassy Cats
To Kart or Not To Kart
Nightlights
Max is Tiny Again (for the first time)
Max and Daniel go to the Zoo
Max is Seven Again (Again, Again)
Max and his Wellingtons (only at AO3 right now)
Enchanted Light Trail
Waking Up (not at AO3 yet)
Max and Daniel Go Home (not at AO3 yet)
Max is big again (not at AO3 yet)
and not forgetting Zoe's incredible Max and Pikachu art and accompanying ficlet in this verse, here.
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do you have any updates on baby max?
I have a little update about Daniel for you instead, which I hope will suffice :)
All earlier parts can be found in this masterpost and on AO3 here (and I feel weird about updating AO3 with a snippet this short, so I'll put this up whenever I write anything a bit longer in this verse!).
It's You And Me (I Know It's My Destiny): Waking Up
It's late when Daniel wakes up. The sun's shining through the windows, curving across his sheets, hitting his face.
It's quiet. Too quiet.
Max is always awake hours before now, and if Max isn't, then the Jimmy or Sassy cats are.
Daniel knows before he gets up that Max is gone. That the cats are gone. But he checks anyway. The sheets are rucked up, half on and off Max's bed, Pikachu on the floor all caught up in a messy, trailing sheet. Daniel touches the bed but it's cold. Max's Pokemon pyjamas are on the floor by the wardrobe, the basket Daniel keeps on the top shelf with Max's grown up clothes has been rifled through and things taken.
He picks Max's stuffed Pikachu up off the floor. Doesn't put him down again.
In the hall cupboard, the cat carrier's gone. So are the cats, but not the unfinished remains of their food in the kitchen. Daniel puts the whole bowl straight in the bin. He doesn't bother to scrape it out. The litter tray hasn't been emptied either.
In the living room, on the shelf in the corner, the little basket labelled Max has been taken down and tipped out on the counter. It's always got the contents of Max's pockets from when he went Small; his phone, his wallet, house keys. Daniel keeps his phone plugged in and charged because of all the fucking admin of being Max Verstappen's guardian.
But it's gone now. Like Max.
Daniel goes to sit back down on his bed. He picks up his phone and texts Max: are you ok and I'm assuming you're big again.
He waits until the ticks turn blue. Watches the three dots appear and disappear.
Max's message says, eventually, Yes. Thanks.
Daniel nods, swallows, locks his phone, and buries his face in Pikachu's soft, loved fur. Then, carefully, he gets back into bed, pulls the sheets up over his head, and doesn't bother getting up again.
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hiii i was wondering if you had something new about baby max ☺️
HOW ABOUT THIS LITTLE BIT???? Follows on from Enchanted Light Trail basically but it's just tired travelling.
All earlier parts can be found in this masterpost and on AO3 here (although i've got a couple of bits now to update on AO3).
It's You And Me (I Know It's My Destiny): Max and Daniel Go Home
Max doesn't fall asleep on the plane until they're fifteen minutes away from landing in Nice, which means that Daniel has to try and fumble Max's seatbelt around him without waking him up under the steward's watchful eye, and deal with a crotchety and tired Max as they get off the plane and wait for their luggage and try and gather it all together onto one trolley.
It's exhausting. Max is exhausted, and Daniel hasn't been sleeping well in weeks, and Daniel has all of his stuff and grown up Max's stuff and Max's seven year old stuff and Max's toddler stuff for the 36 hours he spent as Daniel's chunky three year old shadow. He's got their hand luggage and Max's backpack and emergency clothes for if Max got big or got smaller. Max's replacement stuffed Pikachu found himself on the floor in the departure lounge, none of the outlets had food Max wanted to eat, their flight was unnecessarily complicated, time-wise, and Christian couldn't hide his displeasure that Daniel was taking Max home and Max hadn't miraculously woken up big again.
His head hurts. It really hurts, and he's got no fucking idea where the paracetamol is. It's in one of these bags. Somewhere.
"Can we go yet?" Max asks, clinging on to Daniel's coat. "Why can't we go yet?"
"I think we're still waiting for one more bag, baby," Daniel says, but part of him just wants to leave it here in the airport, go home and collapse face first into the sheets.
"No," Max says.
"Yeah," Daniel says, even though he can see Max is gearing up to lose it. It hasn't been bad, staying with Christian and Geri over new year, but it's been different. Max hasn't liked having to share Daniel with anyone, and he hasn't liked that he had none of his own things. Max likes his own things. He likes his little drawer where he keeps all of his special things (and sometimes Pikachu, when Daniel really likes to sob on the inside). The new Pikachu has been grudgingly accepted but it isn't Max's Pikachu. It doesn't smell right. Max says it feels wrong when he rubs it against his cheek. Daniel could well agree but he's too tired.
One more bag.
Their bag rolls around. He dumps it on the top of the trolley. God, he can't remember where he parked his car. Max is looking like he's going to cry.
"Piggy back?" Daniel asks hopefully once they're finally through customs and Max is tearful and noticeably hanging on by a thread. Max nods so sadly that Daniel's fairly certain no one has ever looked sadder about anything. He hefts him up onto his back, and Max half chokes him as Daniel pushes their stupid overflowing trolley in the general direction of where he thinks his car is.
He finds the car on the third try, and then has to shove everything into the boot and away. Max doesn't want to be in the car and he doesn't want this Pikachu and he wants to be at home and in his own clothes and hugging his own Pikachu and with his own toys.
Daniel gets it. He really gets it. He's just not made of magic.
He ends up telling Max a very stupid story about all the adventures that Pikachu has got up to in the flat without them. Max isn't really one for story telling, but his expression of dubious disbelief is slightly better than him crying, so Daniel will take it.
And when they finally get home, and Daniel has tiredly failed to even attempt to get all of their bags into the lift in one go. He's got the three bags that look like they're the most useful. Everything else stays in the car.
Max tucks his hand into Daniel's.
"Pikachu hasn't really been having adventures," he says doubtfully as the lift doors close.
"No, baby," Daniel says. "He's at home, waiting for you."
Max nods his little serious nod. He keeps his hand in Daniel's. "My home and your home," he says.
"Yeah," Daniel says, swallowing down what feels suspiciously like a sob. "Our home."
"Good," Max says.
The lift doors open again, and Daniel takes him home.
#my fic#de-aged maxiel#baby max#it's you and me#fic that i wrote#it's been a while#but it's also been a very long and exhausting year#(it's april)#(i'm so tired)#i guess ALSO just be glad i didn't paste the little bit that's been sitting in my drafts for about three months#where people are worried about daniel
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In de-aged Max universe, does Daniel take little Max on any little field trips, like to the zoo or... other places children enjoy(?)
Well, Sarah, what an excellent question. Because Daniel DOES take Max on little field trips.
(this link shows the stuff I’ve already posted in chronological order if the tag isn't working. But anyway, this bit follows directly on from this part about nightlights, and we're leaving the Max gets even smaller part out in the wild for a bit)
Max is not sure about the zoo.
He likes his book of animal facts, and he's followed Daniel around the flat laboriously reading out facts about sharks after Daniel had admitted he was scared of them. It's a good thing Daniel hadn't admitted to his actual fear of dogs, otherwise Max in his guise as Daniel's Greatest Protector would have done nothing for the past few days but try to learn nice things about dogs to make Daniel less scared. Max has decided there is only one reason he has been put here on this earth, and it is to stand steadfast between Daniel and ever present danger.
It would be adorable if it wasn't coming close to breaking Daniel's fucking heart.
Every night when it starts to get dark, Max takes Daniel's hand and they carefully go and turn on all the nightlights; the one in the bathroom and the one in the hallway and the one in Daniel's bedroom. They put the lamps on in the living room and the light on in the kitchen. They make sure the doors are all open so that the lights bleed from one room to another. Max takes it very, very seriously. He tells Daniel that it is okay that it is a bit dark because Max is here to hold his hand and the lights will be on soon.
He won't admit to being scared himself. He still won't allow a nightlight in his bedroom because he's scared of the dark.
He will, however, allow a nightlight in his bedroom if he thinks it's because Daniel is scared to come in. They picked one out yesterday with stars and planets and moons. The lights will project onto the ceiling and there's a setting where you can pick the colour. Max would only allow Daniel to order it if Daniel promised Max he wasn't scared of stars and the sky.
It turns out that Daniel admitting that grown ups can be scared of things has turned Max's world upside down, and Daniel's half-convinced he's fucked him up. That morning they'd read Max's book of Pokemon facts and Max had tucked his hand into Daniel's and told him very seriously that Charmander was coming up and Daniel must not be too scared because it was only a picture and Charmander's tail wasn't really on fire and Charmander was very nice and, anyway, Max was holding his hand.
Max's solid and unyielding belief in the power of holding Daniel's hand is fucking destroying Daniel. He'd ended up desperately texting his mum and dad to find out if pretending to be scared of the dark and of sharks and of a fucking Pokemon had fucked his kid up or not.
They'd suggested getting out of the house for the day and doing something fun. Daniel half-suspected that was for his benefit as well as Max's; he doesn't interrogate it too deeply.
So, in the morning: the zoo.
Max is dubious.
They've driven down the coast, away from Monaco and its Royal Menagerie to find somewhere a bit bigger and with more animals.
"What if you are scared, Daniel?" Max asks, from the back seat of Daniel's car. Daniel does not investigate too closely if Max is talking about himself, or about Daniel. Or both. Fear is at the forefront of Max's mind this week, and Daniel does not particularly want to think too much about Max's childhood the first time around, and the things Max won't admit to being scared of. Maybe every kid goes through a phase of being scared all the time.
"Well," Daniel says, "if me and you are scared of an animal, we can go and look at another animal. Or we can go somewhere and do some colouring." He's got a backpack with a colouring book and Max's pencils. Max was worried about losing them if they took them out of the house, so Daniel's going to buy them another pack of pencils so Max's home pencils are safe. Max worries about a lot of things. "Or we can see if there's a zookeeper we can ask our questions to."
Max has questions. He has brought his animal book.
"Will the animals be able to get us?" Max asks.
"No, baby," Daniel says. "They've got —" he searches for a word that isn't cages. "Enclosures. And that's their house, and it'll have everything that they need and like. Like in your bedroom with your Pikachu toy, except they don't have a Pikachu."
"They should," Max says stubbornly. "Pikachu's the best."
"He is," Daniel agrees. "We can find out what's special about their houses. And I'm going to pretend to be a monkey." He makes a monkey noise, and then another one, and Max creases up in giggles. He makes a very silly noise back. God, Daniel loves him.
"I am going to hold your hand," Max says, in satisfaction. "In case you are scared, Daniel."
"Thank you," Daniel says, very seriously. "And I'm going to hold your hand, Maxy-Max, in case you're scared."
"I'm not scared," Max says, but he sounds a little uncertain. "Is there a shark, Daniel? Because sharks are very nice."
"I don't think so. But there's a camel. And monkeys. And—" he struggles to think of a single other animal, despite having been on the fucking website this morning. "Cats."
In the rear view mirror, Max is looking at him wearing the exact same expression he wears as a grown up when a journalist has said something particularly stupid. "Cats."
"Cats," Daniel agrees. "And we'll have a picnic. It'll be fun, won't it?"
Max does not look entirely convinced. That's the face of someone who's just realised that maybe tomato soup and bread and butter isn't on the lunchtime menu like normal.
Anyway, Daniel's got some unfucking to do. Max is going to have a fun day and not feel like he has to protect Daniel from clear and present danger.
Hopefully.
&&&
Max's day at the zoo goes like this:
The camel makes the stupidest fucking noises in the world getting up off the floor. Max thinks this is the funniest thing he's ever heard in his life. He makes Daniel pretend to be a camel five times in a row.
A goat tries to eat his hair. Max cries. Daniel stands between Max and the goats as the zookeeper tries to explain to Max in broken English that Max's hair must look like a very nice meal. Max is not convinced.
Daniel gets Max a set of giraffe ears on a headband. Max wears them for a solid 26 seconds. Daniel wears them for the rest of the day, and Max beams at him.
They go to the morning otter feeding session and Max loves it so much that they go back to the one in the afternoon too. Daniel has to try and translate the information board into English so that Max can learn about Asian short clawed otters and he proclaims them the best animal in the zoo and maybe the world. Apart from the Jimmy or Sassy cats.
They are in the reptile house for about half a second. Daniel does not mind the abrupt way Max says no and turns back around again. He doesn't like them either.
Lunch is miserable because there's no soup and Max wants soup. The bread and butter isn't the same as the bread at home. He doesn't want fries because it's not dinner time. Max likes his routine. Next time Daniel is buying a fucking thermos flask and bringing lunch from home.
Max carefully learns to take pictures with Daniel's camera. There are wobbly pictures of blurry meerkats and a zebra and the pool where the otters live. Maybe Daniel will get him a camera of his own.
Max holds Daniel's hand tightly by the gorillas.
The leopards look like the Jimmy or Sassy cats. Max is amazed.
In the shop at the end of the day, they buy a colouring book and a stuffed otter and a postcard that they can pin on their fridge at home. Daniel gives in and has a stupid, overpriced picture taken in the stupid animal photo booth. Max picks the animals they'll have in their background, and Daniel buys three copies - one for Max's room, one for his, and a smaller one to put in his wallet, Daniel groaning like a camel in the picture and Max laughing at him like it's the best thing he's ever seen.
Max falls asleep on the way back to Monaco. Daniel props the little wallet sized picture up on the central console.
When they get home, the stars and moon nightlight's been delivered. Daniel sets it up in Max's bedroom while Max reads an otter fact page on the iPad, new stuffed otter sitting pride of place on his pillow.
Daniel doesn't realise he's still wearing the giraffe headband until he's halfway through brushing his teeth.
Max sleeps through the night.
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1200 words of de-aged Max, you say? From a larger Max/Daniel story I'm absolutely not writing, you say?
Sure, here you go:
Max at seven years old is red cheeked and mutinous, sitting in the corner of Charles' driver's room with his arms folded and his grown up race suit falling off him. He won't talk to Charles and he won't talk to Christian and he doesn't want any chocolate or anything to drink or anything to colour with. He doesn't want to watch anything on any of their phones and he doesn't want to swap his grown up clothes for anything of Charles'. He doesn't seem to want anything.
There is a hushed, desperate conversation happening around the doorway, as everyone tries to run through all their contacts and find anyone with a private plane or a helicopter anywhere close to Monaco who can get Daniel here sooner rather than later. Daniel is on the other end of the phone telling someone whose job it normally is to provide hospitality to extremely rich businessmen that they need to find a tin of tomato soup and some bread and butter if they want Max to eat anything at all, and to put the soup in a cup because baby Max doesn't approve of spoons.
It's a good thing that Max— under normal circumstances —is a two time World Champion, because this version of Max refuses his specially bought tomato soup and his specially cut up sourdough bread and butter, and stares at the wall with sniffly red eyes and a frown.
Eventually some favours are reeled in and Christian promises a selection of paddock passes and photo opportunities, and Daniel is on someone's helicopter and he's on his way, which is good, because Max has graduated from mutinous silence to shivering because he's still in his champagne soaked race suit and won't take it off. Someone remembers seeing a blanket on one of the merchandise stands and that's how Max reluctantly agrees to accept a green Fernando Alonso blanket, curling up on Charles' sofa looking for all intents and purposes like a very sad, green orphan.
Christian pinches his nose and can't help but hope this doesn't go like the last time Max turned up aged seven instead of twenty-something, which is to say: it fucked up their driver and constructor points for the entire year and lasted weeks. Going small is relatively normal, all things considered. It usually lasts a couple of days, it's generally suggested that keeping to normal routines is the best way to age up the quickest, and most people cycle their way through the process by a mixture of sleeping and leaping between ages with alacrity. Max, however, had woken up aged seven, turned up on Daniel's doorstep, and then promptly stayed seven for just short of three months. It is relatively rare for it to stretch over such a period without becoming permanent, and it's also relatively rare for it to happen more than once.
Max, in general, is apparently relatively rare across the board, and if he was this difficult for the whole three months Daniel looked after him, Christian probably needs to pay Daniel more. Charles looks exhausted, but at least he's sitting on the chair by the sofa with his phone propped up on the table, and Max occasionally shoots glances in its general direction, which may or may not mean that Charles' choice of Disney's Cars was a good one.
But then, finally, finally, Christian gets a message to say that Daniel's made it through paddock security, and that's got to mean that they can hand this whole sorry situation over to him and get the hell out of Ferrari's team rooms. He's overheard at least one person saying this whole thing was staged for espionage, and quite frankly, if Christian was to pick any team to steal from, it wouldn't be fucking Ferrari. Max can be difficult and quiet with Daniel, and—
Daniel pushes the door open and Max sees him, and his face transforms. He throws himself in Daniel's general direction, tripping over his too-long race suit and stumbling into Daniel's arms with a squeal. Daniel is equally enthusiastic, scooping Max up and into his arms and kissing his cheeks and his forehead and his nose so that Max is giggling and burying his face into Daniel's neck.
Christian is fairly sure he hears Max badly whisper I wished for you, Danny into Daniel's ear, but refuses to think too much about it, particularly as Daniel is too busy telling Max how much he's missed him.
"Why are you dressed like you want to be a giant when you’re only a little bee?" Daniel's asking Max, as Max squirms in his arms to get comfortable. It can't be that nice to be dressed in a champagne-damp and grown up-Max sweaty race suit, but there was no getting it off him.
Then Christian has to listen to a very little Max explaining that no, Daniel, he is not a giant and he is not a bee, and Daniel is listening very carefully and nodding in all the right places, and disappearing into Charles' bathroom with a squirmy Max and the backpack he'd brought from Monaco.
Charles and Christian are left looking at each other with matching incredulous expressions. The expressions do not change when Daniel and Max emerge from the bathroom ten minutes later with a freshly scrubbed Max with damp hair and a little hoodie with Pikachu on and matching Pikachu sweatpants and socks. He is holding Daniel's hand and clutching a very well thumbed book about flags and his Fernando blanket. He refuses to let go of Daniel's hand or sit anywhere that isn't plastered to Daniel's side, but he does concede to eat some bread and butter and drink his cup of tomato soup this time around. Daniel wipes soup off his chin afterwards, because Max is too busy telling Christian a list of facts from his flag book to notice that he missed his mouth.
Christian feels a little bit like he might be going mad, which seems to be how Charles is feeling too, given his expression.
"I knew Max when he was little," Charles says to Daniel, in an undertone. Christian lets Max show him first the Australian flag page ("This flag is Daniel's,") and the Italian flag page ("This flag is Daniel's as well,"), "and he wasn't like this at all."
Daniel is looking at Max like he's the most important thing on the planet. Christian can't help but wonder if he's remembered that other people can see him looking like that.
"Well," Daniel says, letting Max press himself into Daniel's side. "Maybe this is just what he's like when he's happy."
"Who is happy, Daniel?" Max asks, looking up at Daniel.
"You are," Daniel says, and Max beams at him, complete with little red cheeks. "Do you want to go home?"
"Yes, please," Max says, and Christian thinks: this better not fuck up the points again.
Max is clearly tired out and doesn't want to walk, so Daniel ends up carrying him out, Christian walking behind.
"Can we get my cats?" Max whispers loudly.
"In the morning, baby," Daniel says, kissing Max's hair. "We'll bring them home in the morning."
Christian watches Max settle himself in Daniel's arms, flag book in hand.
There goes the fucking championship, Christian thinks, and lets out a breath.
&&&
thank you to lena @stolemyhheart for making sure it read okay, and to em @powerful-owl for spending multiple hours talking about this verse with me, worth it.
Edit: now there is more of this verse here.
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hi! are you planning to write more of de-aged max bc he is just so cute it’s giving me a heart attack. saw a tiktok the other day w photos of baby max and all i could think about was this verse!!!!! ahhh lysm
Thank you!!! Here is a little bit more, in honour of grown up Max's adventures with colouring in.
(Hopefully this link shows the stuff I’ve already posted in chronological order. But anyway, this bit follows directly on from this part.)
It has been five full days since a seven year old Max showed up at Daniel's door in too-big clothes and holding out a little card with Daniel's name carefully printed on it in grown up Max's blocky handwriting. Baby Max shows no signs of going big again. He follows Daniel around his apartment, looks at his flag book, and plays with the Jimmy or Sassy cats — no further narrowing down of cat identity has occurred, due to Daniel having little to no interest in identifying cat penises, and grown up Max's complete fucking inability to put his fucking cat names on a fucking collar, or, indeed, to have informed Daniel of his Go Small plans at any point in the past three fucking years, but that's fine, Daniel is fine with this responsibility. Max has wet the bed every night and Daniel is just having to cross his fingers that he's not making everything worse by each and every decision he makes.
Anyway: if grown up Max doesn't show up again extremely soon, Daniel's going to have to bite the bullet and call Christian and tell him Max isn't going to be able to race. Max will hate that when he's back, if Daniel brakes too soon and makes the call, and more than that, it's going to turn baby Max into a Thing, and if there's one thing Daniel has learned in the last five days, it's that Max one hundred percent does not want to be a thing of any kind.
So, it's time for Emergency Measures. Maybe what will kickstart baby Max back into adulthood in time for his next race will be a race track, and go-karting. Daniel takes advantage of Max being distracted by his coloured pencils in the living room to google nearby karting tracks, and sends the nearest one a message to see if he could book out the whole track for a private session. The answer comes back with an immediate yes, which is probably in some part due to the figure Daniel had dropped in his message about how much he's willing to pay for the privilege.
He leans against the doorframe into the living room. Max is concentrating very closely on his colouring book, his coloured pencils all out on the coffee table. A little something in Daniel's chest shifts a bit.
"Maxy-Max," Daniel says, half way through his email response to the karting track. "Would you like to go karting tomorrow?"
There is a pause. "No, thank you, Daniel." Max does not look up from his colouring book, nor does he stop colouring.
Daniel also pauses. Max's little fingers hold onto his pencil tighter. He's pressing down hard on the picture.
"Okay," Daniel says. "Would you like to go another day, if we don't go tomorrow?"
"No, thank you, Daniel," Max says again. He still doesn't look up. His pencil might tear through the paper soon.
Daniel's been reading up on Going Small. Well, googling randomly when he can't sleep. Most people tend to think about Going Small as a way of connecting with your kid self, like… remembering who you once were in case maybe you wanted to stop being such a cunt or that you always wanted to sew clothes or build bridges and maybe your hedge fund job isn't as fulfilling as you maybe thought it was. Some people say it's as much for the people around you as it is about you, but whatever. Daniel had had a great fucking time in the pit lane six years ago, he remembers that much, although the detail has always been fuzzy. Like it happened a very long time ago. But there's another school of thought, one about the kids that don't age back up after a day or a couple of days, the kids who maybe lost a part of their childhood the first time around. Daniel's never met anyone who stayed small longer than a couple of days though, and it's so rare that the theory could be complete bollocks, and no one would ever know anyway. You can't battle data against the universe, it's not like race strategy. There's no science to it.
Max continues not to look at him. He's colouring the same line over and over again.
Daniel closes his email app, and slips his phone into his pocket. "Can I come and colour with you?"
Max nods, but doesn't look up. His fingertips are white around his pencil. He's used it down to the nub so that it's almost too blunt to colour with.
Daniel tries to sit down on Max's right side, but Max shakes his head and makes him come and sit on his left. Daniel positions himself cross-legged by the coffee table and it becomes clear just why Max wanted him this side when, a moment later, Max's little hand slips into Daniel's bigger one. Daniel does not now have a hand to colour with, but maybe it doesn't matter, because Max is colouring with enough concentration for the two of them, a big picture of a train with a cat sitting in the window next to the driver. He's being very careful. He still doesn't look up.
One of the Jimmy or Sassys wanders over to curl up by Max's little Pikachu-socked foot. The other one, the one who doesn't like being petted as much and prefers to watch you in a creepy and furry way while you're doing perfectly normal things sitting on the toilet or in the shower, perches on top of Daniel's shelves and stares at them.
Max's grip on his pencil loosens a little. Daniel leans over and kisses the top of his head. "You're very good at colouring," he tells Max. "We can cut out ones you've finished and put them up on the wall, if you'd like."
Max looks at him then, his eyes big and wide. "My pictures?"
"Your pictures," Daniel agrees. He reaches for the Pikachu pencil sharpener in the middle of the table. "Can I sharpen your pencil for you?"
Max dutifully hands him his blue pencil. His eyes are still shining, even though Daniel's had to stop holding his hand so that he can sharpen it for him. When he hands it back, all sharp, Max tucks his hand into Daniel's again.
"You've done some good colouring in of this train," Daniel says. "Have you been on a train, Maxy-Max?"
Max shakes his head.
"Would you like to go on one?"
Max's eyes widen. "A train?"
"Yeah," Daniel nods. "If you'd like, we can go and find a train to go on tomorrow. If you want to. We can take Pikachu."
"But not the Jimmy or Sassys," Max says, frowning. "They would not like the train and they might get lost."
"No," Daniel agrees. "The Jimmy or Sassy cats can stay here."
"There is a cat in my train picture but it is not our cats."
"No," Daniel says. "So, should we go on a train tomorrow?"
"Yes, please, Daniel," Max says, in satisfaction.
Daniel watches him colour even as he's avoiding texting Christian to let him know Max has gone small and isn't getting big again. He follows up on his avoidance by ordering a night light for Max's bedroom and one for the bathroom, in case his little boy is frightened of the dark and is too scared to say. He pays extra for same-day delivery.
He'll call Christian later, when Max is in bed. Instead, he googles train stations, and train timetables, and puts together a plan for the morning.
Max keeps his hand tucked into Daniel's, carries on colouring, and doesn't let go.
Thank you so much to Zoe @flawlessassholes for giving this a pre-post read through, and for consistently being interested in all baby Max lore!
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you reblogging that baby max art made me think of deaging au... do you have any more of it please?
Have a tiny bit of small Max being smaller! More of this verse found here. Jumps somewhere a bit different in the verse, just an excuse for a hug tbh.
Max has been seven years old for two months.
Daniel's got used to it. They have a routine, because Max likes routine, and it turns out Daniel's also feeling happier now that he has a reason to eat three meals a day and go to bed at a reasonable time and wake up to Max peering at him from the end of the bed, flag book in hand. He's got used to the Jimmy or Sassy cats following him around and watching him go to the toilet or get dressed, because of course Max's cats are the perviest cats.
He's got used to a lot of things. He's got used to putting Max first.
He's definitely got used to the Guardianship papers that legally bind him to Max until Max is an adult again.
But he hasn't got used to waking up to the sound of Max crying. It's rarer now than when Max first came to stay, but it's a sometimes rather than a never. And tonight it's worse, because the noise that wakes him up is a scared, high pitched cry that Daniel knows instinctively is Max even if it doesn't sound like his normal tears. Because when Daniel walks into Max's bedroom— because he has a bedroom now, with pictures on the wall and his toys and a labelled drawer that Daniel isn't allowed to go in where Max keeps his special things — it's not a seven year old Max that's crying up at him.
This Max is smaller, is small-small, is a fucking toddler. He's all twisted up in his Pikachu sheets, the doona half off the bed, and his too-big pyjamas are hanging off him. He's little. He's got younger.
Daniel, terrifyingly, doesn't know if Max will know him, or if he'll be a grown up stranger in the middle of the night.
"Maxy-Max," he says softly. "Are you okay?"
This tiny, toddler version of Max has flushed red cheeks and tears everywhere and snot. He sees Daniel and immediately holds his hands out, and Daniel, overcome with relief, sinks down on the bed and lets Max scramble into his lap and into his arms. Daniel hugs him.
"Danny, Danny, Danny," Max says, hiccoughing through his tears. Daniel is normally Daniel to Max. Danny is for goodnight hugs and middle of the night tears. Max clings to him.
Daniel reaches for Max's favourite Pikachu toy, a little well-loved in places, caught under the pillow and half off the bed. "Were you missing Pikachu, Max?"
Max tucks Pikachu into the tiny little gap between him and Daniel's chest. He rubs his face on Daniel's t-shirt. He snuggles closer, hugging Pikachu. He stuffs his thumb in his mouth, looking up at Daniel like he knows Daniel's going to make him stop sucking it. Daniel isn't. Max has already been through his childhood once. Daniel's not going to stop him doing a single thing that brings him comfort this time around. What the fuck does it matter, anyway? Nothing about this is normal. Going Small normally lasts a couple of days at most and has most kids aging upwards. Max has been seven for two months and now he's smaller. The universe doesn't tend to de-age beyond about seven, unless the kid is going to be a hundred percent safe at the other end of it. At least that's one good thing about this: the universe knows Max is safe with him. This little Max toddler, sleepy and tear-stained, who knows and loves Daniel and is holding on to him tight.
Daniel kisses the top of Max's head, and snuggles him closer. He's probably two-ish. It doesn't matter, though. His crying's lessened. He's tucked into Daniel's chest. He's already going back to sleep, cheek pressed to Daniel's shirt.
"Love you, Maxy-Max," Daniel tells him. His hand strokes Max's back.
Max falls asleep between one breath and the next, clinging to both Daniel and Pikachu. In the morning, if they wake up and Max is still tiny, Daniel will pay extra for a one hour delivery window for a Go Small Toddler kit.
Daniel's clearly going nowhere tonight.
In his arms, baby Max snores.
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Okay but …. I want the bit where people are worried about Daniel, even though it will cause me immense pain, because I too read this and feel worried about him and how he was after the impact of losing small Max originally and then how having small Max back is going to drag him back to that dark place all over when Max inevitably goes big again
You can have a little bit of people worrying about Daniel! This has been sitting in my file for ages but I'm not sure quite where it fitted and I was going to come back to it, so it's just a little snippet.
Similar in tone to Waking Up, where Daniel wakes up and Max is big again and he's gone. This is a different Max going big, though, from later on (hope nobody is asking for a clear timeline with some of these bits and pieces, we're jumping all over the place, and I know vaguely where they'd fit if I ever put it together into something cohesive). Also Scotty is in Monaco, which is where he lives. At this time. In this fic. Okay, cool. We're all on the same page.
All earlier parts can be found either in this masterpost or on AO3 here.
Max is big again.
Max is on his way back from playing padel when somebody grabs his elbow.
He's half way to shoving them away when he realises it's that dickhead friend of Daniel's, Scotty. "What the fuck?" Max says, but Scotty looks urgent.
"Where's Daniel?" he asks.
Max makes a big show of looking around him. "Why the fuck should I know, he is an adult."
"No," Scotty says, and Scotty is an idiot, Scotty is always an idiot, but today he is being a weird idiot. "When did you stop being a kid?"
Max does not go red. He doesn't get embarrassed but he'd rather not think about that stupid baby Max. "It is none of your business."
"Fuck you," Scotty says, which is a stupid thing to say because Scotty stopped him and Scotty is still holding on tight to Max's arm. Scotty has his phone out and he's telling Siri to call Daniel except he calls him 'D.R' which is not Daniel's name. "D.R., mate, fucking call me back. I've just seen Max so I know you're not parenting it up anymore."
Max flinches.
Scotty hangs up. He thumbs a text, but still does not let Max go. Then there is another phone call. Another grim stare from Scotty as he waits for someone to answer the phone.
"Michelle, sorry, I know, it's late for you. Have you heard from D.R.? I've just found fucking Max in the fucking street. No. Not fucking kid Max, fucking normal sized Max. I know, fucking hell. He's not answering his phone." Scotty is not letting Max go. "Fuck. What about your parents? Max, how long have you been back?"
"Three days," Max says. His heart is beating hard and he doesn't know why.
"Fuck," Scotty says. "Did you hear that? He's been by himself for three fucking days."
Max's entire body goes cold. They are talking about Daniel and they are scared, and Max doesn't know why.
#my fic#de-aged maxiel#it's you and me#fic that i wrote#baby max#except max is grown up#and this is only a little bit
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knock knock who's there it's me 🥺🥺🥺 politely asking for an update on de-aged max?
WHO'S THERE, oh yes, more de-aged Max.
(this link shows the stuff I’ve already posted in chronological order if the tag isn't working. But anyway, this bit follows directly on from this part.)
The package with the new nightlights in arrives after lunch, and Max pads silently around Daniel's apartment after him, watching him set them up. The Jimmy or Sassy cats come too, of course, winding their troublesome selves around Daniel's feet and the trailing wires. They are an accident waiting to happen, so Daniel tries to make Max giggle by doing a silly dance to step around the cats, but Max is quiet today, like Daniel's little shadow, and just hooks his little fingers through Daniel's belt loop.
There's a cat shaped light for the hall outside their bedrooms, and Daniel has to position it on a little stool because there's not a useful surface near the plug. It has a selection of settings, from a changing wave of colours to single colours at various brightnesses. Max carefully touches the cat's head, in between its ears, to get it to change colours, before settling on a soft blue glow. The one for the bathroom is shaped like an otter, and Daniel has to move some of their shit out of the way to find space for it on the counter. There's a new package of Pokemon-themed face cloths and towels and a matching toothbrush that he hasn't sprung on Max yet because he's waiting for bath time, a routine Max still does not approve of and Daniel hasn't figured out how to make fun yet. Max could go back to being big at any moment, but until he wakes up his normal size again, Daniel is committed to ensuring that Max is clean and fed and safe and warm for the duration, even if Max seems to believe that baths are a very bad thing indeed, and bath time in general is exhausting for them both.
Even given that Max does not approve of bath time, and he keeps wetting the bed and Daniel hasn't slept through the night since that brave little knock on his door last week, getting to spend all of this time with Max like this is great. He wouldn't change it for anything. He's sort of dreading the moment it all comes to an end and Max wakes up normal-aged again, if he's honest.
It doesn't make it any better, however, when it all goes wrong when Daniel tries to set up the night light he'd got for Max's bedroom.
"No," Max says, little arms folded, bottom lip jutting out, cheeks red.
"No?" Daniel asks, after he's tried to put the animal themed night light on the drawers by the bed more than once, and Max has pushed it away.
"No," Max says again, stamping his foot.
"Don't you like it?"
"I'm not scared," Max says. "Take it away."
Daniel hadn't been entirely certain if Max was afraid of the dark before he'd ordered the nightlights. It was another weapon in the online parenting websites' arsenal of tools to combat bedwetting, something he thought he might try, but one look at Max's bright, scared eyes as he mutinously maintains he doesn't need it, and Daniel is convinced he's terrified.
Which is— well.
"Okay," Daniel says. "That's okay, Maxy-Max. Can I tell you a secret?"
Max still looks mutinous. He hasn't unfolded his arms, his little bottom lip sticking out. He's frowning. It would be cute if Daniel wasn't secretly so worried.
"I'm scared of the dark," Daniel says in a whisper. "But I didn't want anyone to know, so I never had a light. But if you don't need this one, then maybe I can have it in my room, so I won't be scared any more. Do you think that might be okay?"
Max's expression does something complicated. His eyes have gone very wide. He's looking up at Daniel like he's one of those monkeys with the huge eyes. "You are not scared of the dark, Daniel," he says, after a moment of staring, unblinking, up at Daniel like a very worried little alien.
"I am," Daniel says. He lets that settle for a bit. Max looks worried, but he's also thinking. Daniel's learned to recognise that thinking face.
"But you're a grown up," Max whispers. He twists his fingers into Daniel's t-shirt, just above the waist, like he can keep hold of Daniel if Daniel tried to leave him behind. Daniel's not leaving him anywhere.
"Grown ups can be scared of things," Daniel says, in as gentle a voice as he can manage. "Big Daniels are scared of lots of things." Max looks amazed, and more than a little bit worried, which Daniel does not like. "I told you I was scared of the dark," Daniel says. "I don't like it in the middle of the night when I wake up and it's all dark. I don't like it when you go swimming in the sea and there are fish and they swim up to you. Sharks are scary too." He does a pretend full body shiver, to make Max laugh, but Max isn't laughing. He sits down on Max's bed, and pats the mattress next to him. Max obediently clambers up next to him, tucking himself into Daniel's side. "And can I tell you another secret?"
Max nods uncertainly. His fingers are pulling on Daniel's t-shirt, holding on tight.
"Charmander scares me," Daniel tells him, "because his tail's on fire."
Max's eyes go even wider. He blinks up at Daniel, then buries his face in Daniel's t-shirt, mumbling something that Daniel can't make out.
"What did you say, Maxy-Max?"
"You'll get in trouble," Max whispers, without unhiding himself from Daniel's shirt.
Oh, Daniel thinks, and does not cry. Instead, he wraps an arm around Max's shoulders. "It's okay to be scared of things," he says, without much hope that Max is able to listen and understand. "Nobody gets in trouble here for being scared of things. Everyone is scared of something."
Max shakes his head, face still buried in Daniel's side.
"Do you think you can help me set up my new nightlight in my bedroom?" Daniel says. "That way, tonight I won't have to be scared any more. And I was thinking that we could put the light on in the bathroom, and the one in the hall, and I'll keep my bedroom door open too, and then it'll be light if I wake up in the middle of the night. Is that okay, Max?"
Max tucks his hand into Daniel's, but won't let go of him.
"Do you want to sit here for a bit? We could look at your flag book for a bit, if you'd like. Have a cuddle."
Max shifts a little, face tucked into Daniel's side. "I know about your flags," he says, because they've been reading about Australia, and about Italy.
"You do," Daniel agrees, reaching for the flag book on the drawers by Max's bed. "Do you want to pick a page?"
Max flicks through his book for a while, before coming back to Daniel with the book open to the chapter on South America. If there's ever a point where Daniel is racing again, and there's a geography Grill the Grid, he's going to smash it. Race Max to the winning place. But not yet. Not just yet. Daniel leans down and kisses the top of Max's head.
Max looks up at him with a worried little smile.
"Do you know who my favourite little boy is?" Daniel asks.
Max's brow furrows. He shakes his head.
Daniel leans in and blows a little raspberry into Max's ear so that he giggles and squeezes Daniel's hand. "You, Maxy-Max. You're my favourite."
Max is quiet today. That's okay. His hand's tucked into Daniel's. One of the Jimmy or Sassy cats comes and sits on the other side of him, and Max strokes their little fluffy head. Daniel reads him the flag facts about Brazil, about Argentina, about Uruguay. Later, he can set up the nightlight in his bedroom, on the drawers by the door so it'll light up the hallway. He'll leave all the doors open so that the light will bleed into Max's room, and hopefully it'll help. Hopefully he'll let Daniel buy him his own nightlight. Maybe one day soon he can say that he's scared and not worry about getting into trouble for it.
Until then: this. He's okay.
Thank you to @flawlessassholes for reading this over! And the other lovely people who listen to me go on and on about small Max.
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