Chapter Text
20 drivers were sat in a single, large room, all awkwardly looking at each other. They were sitting in a circle on the ground, no one wanting to be the first.
They had decided to call a meeting to show the others their spirit animal, something which people often tended to keep to themselves. Everyone could change into an animal form, but most opted to never do that in public.
By knowing the spirit animals of all the other drivers, and showing their own as well, they would create a bond, which would make explosive fights or rivalries less unlikely.
Still, since it was something so private, all drivers were a little hesitant to start.
“Well I’ll go first, I don’t think anyone would be surprised anyways.” Daniel eventually said, standing up and walking to the middle of a circle. With a plop, his body morphed into something much smaller, black and white fur and slightly menacing teeth.
“He really is a honey badger.” Pierre chuckled in slight surprise anyways. The honey badger scurried around a little, playfully nipping at Max’s toes as he passed. He rolled onto his back next to him, and Max snorted and tickled his furry belly.
“Yeah, but he’s not exactly ferocious.” the Dutchman said. Badger-Dan let out a growl and turned back to his normal self, glaring at his teammate.
“I’m a badger, of course I’m ferocious.” he grumbled, pouting a little. Seb snorted.
“Yeah demanding belly tickles is the definition of ferocious.” he said. His remarked got rewarded by Dan’s middle finger.
“Max can go next.” he grumbled. Max grinned and took his place in the centre of the circle. On his spot, a lion materialised.
“Okay… damn…” Nico muttered, eying the large cat in approval. Max shook his mane and stretched lazily.
“He’s not so impressive when he’s chasing a laser pointer.” Carlos announced. Max growled at him, ears pressing back against his head, but Carlos was not impressed. “Save it, Simba.”
“How about the Renault boys next then?” Brendon proposed. Carlos shrugged.
“I’ll go first.” he didn’t even bother going to the middle of the circle and shifted on the spot, a little meerkat suddenly rushing around the room. With a squeak, it climbed onto Nico’s head, biting at his hair a little before doing the well-known meerkat stance, raising himself on his hind-legs. He jumped off of Nico’s head and ran over to Fernando, contently curling up on the other Spaniard’s knee for a moment.
Once Fernando had convinced Carlos to shift back, the young Spaniard sat back next to his teammate.
“Your turn.” he chuckled. Nico sighed dramatically but got up. His animal was a leopard, which, considering the amount of leopard print he already wore on an average day, was not a big surprise either. The leopard chuffed and swished his tail. It nipped at Carlos’s hair before walking around the room.
Arriving at Checo, he let out another chuff and bumped his head against the Mexican’s shoulder, allowing him to gently stroke his soft fur.
Turning back into his human form, Nico hed out his arms dramatically.
“Tadaa!” he said without any particular enthusiasm. “Guess Force India can go next.” he decided, flopping back on his spot next to Carlos. Esteban groaned but stood up.
“Don’t laugh.” he murmured before shifting. A tall, not quite adult giraffe stood in front of them, moving his long legs rather clumsily. Lance grinned and walked over to him, Esteban lowering his neck to the Canadian could touch his nose.
“It’s actually pretty cool.” he whispered. Esteban’s ears perked up a little at the statement.
Checo didn’t seem particularly enthusiastic to show the others his spirit animal either. He was a fluffy sea otter, that moved around the room rather grumpily until Nico held out a small, polished rock.
Checo let out a squeaky noise and rushed over to carefully take it for him, holding in his paws as he enthusiastically rolled around on the floor, still making soft noises.
Eventually, Fernando reached over and gently poked the fluffy little guy’s tummy. Checo snarled, holding the peddle close to his chest.
“Change back, Checo.” Fernando urged. Checo huffed but changed back, quickly tucking the peddle into his pocket. He coughed awkwardly.
“Sorry about that…” he said, blushing a little. “It’s eh… my favourite pebble, all otters have one…” Fernando smiled.
“Is okay...Me and Stoff go next?” he said. Stoffel nodded hesitantly. Fernando was already standing up, and shifted into a red fox, swishing his tail a little. Dan chuckled.
“He’s foxy…” Nando let out a weird, bark-like noise that had all the other snort. Fernando changed back and glared.
“That’s normal fox noise.” he grumbled, before pushing Stoffel to the center. The Belgian groaned but changed as well, a little hedgehog shyly sniffling around. Pierre grinned and shuffled a little closer.
“You’re adorable!” he cooed. Stoffel promptly rolled into a little, spiky ball when the Frenchman reached out for him. Turning back to his human form, he coughed awkwardly.
“Sorry ‘bout that… it’s an instinct…” he mumbled. Pierre smiled and shrugged.
“It’s fine… how about I go next?” he proposed. The others nodded. Pierre’s animal was a squirrel with an extremely fluffy looking tail. He scurried towards Stoffel, climbing onto his shoulder. The Belgian smiled, laughing as Pierre ran down over his back again.
Brendon was next, and he shifted into a small brownish bird. Some drivers were confused what he was meant to be, but Daniel was rolling on the floor from laughing.
“Our Kiwi really is a kiwi!” he giggled. Brendon the kiwi bird ruffled his feathers a little and clipped his long beak before changing back.
“Just staying true to myself.” he joked. He decided that William’s should go next. Lance stood up and shifted into a large brown animal.
“...Deer?” Max guessed. Esteban chuckled.
“He’s a moose actually.” he corrected. Moose-Lance nuzzled the Frenchman’s hand in thanks, before shifting back and shrugging.
“I’m as Canadian as it gets.” he said, before nudging his teammate, Sergey promptly shifted into his animal, a white stork. Marcus let out a scared yelp an hid behind Charles, who only laughed.
“You’re a bird as well, dork!” the Monégasque giggled. Kevin snorted.
“Marcus ‘I’m-afraid-of-little-birds’ Ericsson’s spirit animal is a bird?” he said in disbelief. Marcus frowned.
“Sadly, yes.” he murmured. Valtteri smiled encouragingly.
“Show us then.” he said. Marcus groaned but shifted into a snowy owl, uncomfortable ruffling his feathers before quickly changing back again.
“I fucking hate birds…” he mumbled under his breath. Charles patted his arm in comfort before leaping onto his feet.
“I’m next!” he announced, changing into the form of a chocolate Labrador, and more importantly, a puppy. Puppy-Charles bounded through the room, tail wagging as he enthusiastically barked at the other drivers, which made even Kimi smile.
Sebastian grinned and suddenly shifted as well, into the form of a Golden Retriever. Charles’s tail-wagging intensified and he ran over to the German, jumping up to playfully nip at the larger dogs chin. Sebastian barked and gently nudged him, the other drivers laughing as Charles flopped onto his side.
Sebastian was the first to change back, still grinning as he reached out to scratch Charles’s head.
“Come on, change back as well.” he gently urged. Charles yipped and climbed onto his lap, rolling onto his back so Seb could pet his belly. Sebastian chuckled and did so for a moment, before gently lifting him off again.
“Change back Charles.” he tried again. Charles did change back this time, his cheeks flushed a little red as he glanced around the room.
“Whoops…” he muttered under his breath. Sebastian ruffled his hair.
“It’s okay pup.” he chuckled, before turning to Kimi. “Your turn.”
Kimi glared, lazily sitting up a little before changing into a fluffy white cat, about the same size Charles’s puppy had been.
“Oh my god he’s adorable!” Pierre said in disbelief. Cat-Kimi arched his back and hissed, ears flat against his head. Pierre’s eyes widened a little and he scooted slightly further away from him.
Sebastian did not seem impressed. He cooed something in German and lifted the grumpy cat onto his lap. Kimi wiggled around, clearly not wanting be treated like an actual pet, but when Seb gently stroked the soft fur of his cheek, he relaxed a little.
When Seb’s hand moved down to scratch his chin, Kimi started purring, contently stretching his paws out in front of him.
“Kimi, change back.” Seb tried after a moment. Cat-Kimi meowed and curled up more, his purring increasing as he closed his eyes.
“Eh, let’s just continue..?” Sebastian said awkwardly. Romain shrugged.
“I’ll go.” he said, before shifting into a ferret, scurrying around the circle briefly before changing back.
Meanwhile Kevin was slowly scooting for the exit, but Marcus grabbed his wrist.
“Not so fast! You need to shift as well!” he chuckled. Kevin groaned.
“I’d really rather not.” he said.
“Oh just change already.” Esteban urged. Kevin huffed and shifted. The drivers did their best not to laugh at the grumpy, white rabbit sitting in front of them, it’s long ears pushed back against his head.
Marcus chuckled and took out a piece of carrot. Kevin’s long ears perked up and he hopped over, taking the carrot from him and nibbling on it.
When he heard the other drivers chuckling, he stopped chewing and grumpily hopped back to his spot, although angrily hopping is quite impossible.
Changing back, he folded his arms over his chest, his face scrunched up a little in his anger. Marcus reached out to teasingly pat his hair.
“So cute.”
“Fuck off, Feathers.” Kevin replied. Marcus only winked.
“So, only Mercedes to go then.” he said. Lewis grinned.
“Let’s do this then.” he said, shifting into a bulldog.
“So many dogs here!” Max chuckled as bulldog Lewis wagged his non-existing tail, snorting before shifting back again, shrugging.
“Inevitable since I have two bulldogs myself.” he said. They all settled into silence, before Daniel suddenly frowned.
“Valtteri? What about you?” he said. The Finn looked up and blushed.
“Oh...I…” he stuttered.
“Oeh! Let me guess, you’re a… hamster? I mean, those cheeks...” Seb teased. Valtteri frowned and shook his head.
“A… seal? The white, fluffy baby one?” Lewis tried. Valtteri shook his head again.
“Just show us!” Max said impatiently. Valtteri stood up and shifted.
“Wow.” Seb mumbled, watching the tall, white wolf in front of them. Valtteri’s ears flicked uncomfortable and he lowered his head a little, not quite enjoying the attention.
Cat-Kimi suddenly jumped from Seb’s lap and walked over, purring comfortingly as he rubbed against the wolf’s snout. Valtteri laid down to make it easier for him, his ears relaxing. After a moment, Valtteri changed back again, and gently scratched below his chin as a thank you.
Kimi meowed and sauntered back to Sebastian, finally changing back as he sat down next to the German.
“Well that was an interesting meeting.”