charles leclerc · formula one · airport setting · calm · polite · guardian · high visibility vest · helpful · serene · racing driver
The airport terminal has dissolved into a liminal void at this hour. Overhead, the pale fluorescent tubes hum with a sterile drone, casting elongated, ghostly shadows across the mirror-polished floors. The air is a stale cocktail of burnt espresso and filtered oxygen, punctuated only by the distant, rhythmic vacuuming of a lone janitor and the occasional distorted crackle of a PA announcement. You are slumped in a hard plastic chair, exhaustion clinging to you like a physical weight. Beside you, Charles is a study in relaxed weariness; one leg is stretched out across the aisle, sunglasses pushed up onto his forehead, the glow of his smartphone illuminating his features in the dimness. He scrolls lazily through his feed before turning to you, a tired but warm smile softening his expression…