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The first rule of their rejects club is: you don’t talk about the club.
At least, not publicly. There’s only the two of them anyway. Turns out 'getting screwed over by Red Bull' and 'currently not having a seat on the grid' are two very specific venn diagrams, and only Daniil and Alex are in the intersection.
All their meetings start with a private Whatsapp message — hey, you in town? And then, they'll meet up at one of the gyms in whatever city they're currently staying in.
Right now, Alex has his serious face on as he lands a few blows on the punching bag. It seems that the Thai has some things in his mind today. He came into the gym with a frown instead of the usual smile he gives Daniil, and his blows are much more rigid than usual.
"You can do better than that," Daniil says, clapping his hands in encouragement. "Come on!"
Alex lands a hit that throws the punch bag slightly high in the air. It nearly hits Daniil in the process but he quickly catches it with his two hands. "Is that all you've got?" Daniil goads him.
Alex sighs and looks at Daniil tiredly. "Can we stop now?"
"No," Daniil says, shaking his head. "You are having very heavy thoughts in your mind, and you need to let them out. This is the place to do it."
"But — "
"It's not good to hold anger inside, Alex," Daniil reminds him. "Boxing's good for that."
Alex only looks at the punching bag dejectedly. Now, Daniil is worried. No sparring partner of his is allowed to mope around inside the arena. He holds out the punching bag in Alex's direction.
“Pretend this is Christian?” Daniil suggests.
The words seem to send a new wave of energy through Alex. He takes a sharp inhale, and his jaw hardens. It's an expression Daniil has never seen from the Thai before, and it mesmerizes him.
Alex swings from his elbow, and the boxing ring ropes vibrate as his punch hits the mark. The effect doesn’t stop there, however. The punch bag sways and its chain pulls off from the ceiling, landing on the mattress with a crack and making Daniil jump back.
Daniil turns to Alex, his mouth hanging open.
Alex looks as equally shocked as Daniil. “Oh my god,” he says. “I’m so sorry! I’ll replace it, I can't believe — “
“Hush,” says Daniil, and that shuts Alex up. Daniil looks at the battered punching bag and kicks it for good measure. The punching bag deflates with a noise that sounds similar to flatulence.
Daniil only claps him on the shoulder. “Now, my friend," he says, "we can stop."
He treats Alex to some post-workout meal. Fortunately, it seems that all the frustration inside Alex has been let out with his bag-breaking punch, which is now lying on a trash bag somewhere in the gym.
"It's my seat," Alex says as he swipes a chip from Daniil's plate. "Williams is looking forward to having me next year, but my contract with them..."
"...complicates things," Daniil finishes Alex's sentence, understanding. Them is Daniil and Alex's common enemy that gives them complex feelings. They don't talk about them much unless they absolutely have to, but when they do, it's rarely good.
"The thing is, I can't even do anything about it," Alex explains, waving his hands. "All I can do is wait for someone else to decide for me, and it sucks."
Daniil shakes his head. "No. You can still decide how you're going to react."
"What do you mean?"
"Well, my friend," Daniil smirks, "I meant that we will train harder starting tomorrow."
When Alex walks into the gym the next day and goes to put on his boxing gloves, Daniil shakes his head. "A good fighter learns how to use their own fists first," Daniil explains, getting himself into the boxer's stance. "Now, hit me."
"You are terribly scary when you're like this," Alex tells him, and takes a swing.
Quickly, Daniil reads the direction of Alex's punch and fends himself with a subtle kick on the back of Alex's knees. Alex lands on his back on the mattress and looks up at Daniil, his eyes wide.
Daniil smiles and extends his hand. "Lesson one," he says, "don't tell your opponent that he's scary to his face."
Alex chuckles and takes Daniil's hand.
They trade punches and strikes, circling around each other on the mats. Alex is a quick learner and a strong fighter, so when Alex manages to get a pretty hard punch on Daniil, he isn't surprised.
"You okay?" Alex calls out, wiping a drop of sweat that's traveling down his forehead. Daniil himself feels the heat on his neck. He can also see it on the wet patch down Alex's collar bones, the shape emphasizing his broad shoulders.
"Yeah," Daniil says, forcing himself to focus again. "Getting tired, Albon?"
Alex grins. "Think that's you, Dany."
Daniil throws a left hook, and to his surprise, Alex grabs his hand and sends them both crashing down hard enough that Daniil couldn't even get his breath back. Straddling his legs, Alex is now pinning Daniil's arms down, his smile wonderful like a pure phantom in enchanting light.
"Say, Dany," Alex breathes out above him. "I've got a question."
"Yeah?" Daniil says, heart thundering inside his skin.
Daniil can see Alex's throat bob as he visibly swallows. "About lesson one," Alex says. "What if I tell my opponent that he's handsome instead?"
Daniil chuckles. Not holding back his strength this time, he flips them over and lands with Alex sprawled out underneath him.
"He'll tell you that you're not that bad either," Daniil says, leaning in to wipe Alex's smirk off his face. Alex's laugh turns into a hum.
//
When the announcement about Alex's Williams seat breaks out, he congratulates Alex via text and gets a WhatsApp message in return.
Train again tomorrow?
Daniil texts back, how about dinner?