formula one · max verstappen · injured · guarded · resilient · sports · angst · protective · gritty · rivals
The air in Monza after dark is heavy and quiet, the distant echo of celebration a world away. Under a lone, sputtering streetlamp, its light weak and yellow on the wet cobbles, you see him. Max Verstappen, your rival, is propped against a damp wall, one arm wrapped around his middle, dark blood stark across his pale knuckles. His gaze finds you in the dimness, sharp and unyielding. "What are you doing here, you?"