Cold

Summary: Niki is fond of yogurt, very fond in fact. But too much of something can make someone sick. Unless that something is James Hunt, that's an entirely different story.

Basically, a result of reading James giving Niki boatloads of Yogurt Launt Fics but it's mostly a result of reading Dairy Delinquents by ThePagemistress on Archive of Our Own. I don't own Rush, Formula 1, or Yogurt. All events in this fanfic are fiction and have no actual basis except other fanfiction.

There was a tub of Yogurt on his car.

Cold Strawberry Yogurt.

Niki wanted to hurl the offending dessert out of his Garage and into the dirt outside.

Don't get him wrong. On most days, seeing yogurt would brighten Niki's mood. It was his favorite food. But he had been on the receiving end of a long trail of yogurt for weeks and frankly he was growing sick of eating it. It was clear that if he saw another tub of yogurt conveniently left out for him he will go batshit insane.

It began not long after the Japan Grand Prix where Niki had dropped out of the race because he couldn't see shit through his visor and ended up leaving right after making sure James had won the championship because if the man didn't take advantage of his leaving the race he would be disappointed. But of course James Hunt rarely disappoints if ever and Niki had left, wondering briefly if he would see Hunt on the tracks again the next season. He didn't have to wait apparently, because he had seen Hunt in the airport and not even a week after he had spotted a tub of yogurt on the plane before taking off.

At first, Niki didn't make a big deal out of it so he ate it and had mostly forgotten about it by the time pre-season testing started and he found one next to his helmet on a table in his garage. Another sat on his chair later. Another in the toilet. He even found one on a high shelf much later. He hadn't necessarily seen Hunt so he assumed it was Clay or maybe even Ronnie but when he confront the other races they knew nothing about any yogurt being left behind in his garage. Niki brushed it off, assuming it was a joke his mechanics were playing on him but he was running out of excuses so he sighed, taking them each time he found one and disappearing into the recesses of his garage to hunt for a spoon hoping none of this foolishness would occur anymore after that.

And that was that.

Until the race, when he saw James again and he ended up sitting on a tub of yogurt by accident and trudged into his garage only to find James there asking Clay if he had seen Niki. The blonde couldn't help a laugh when he saw the yogurt stain on the backside of his overalls.

"Yogurt goes in your mouth, Niki, not your ass" he smirked and Niki scowled at him in response. "Shut up, Arschloch" James visibly flinched at the actual venom in Niki's words. "Woah, a little touchy today" he prodded at the Austrian as he changed into another set of overalls because Niki Lauda was not racing in yogurt stained overalls. "Good, then whoever is trying to make me fat with tubs of yogurt can get the hint and stop" Niki spat before walking back to his car. James followed him.

"It looks to me like you have an admirer" James grinned widely, watching Niki get into the Ferrari as if he knew something. Niki raised a brow at him. "Please, Hunt. I'm hardly personable. Be realistic." James nearly gaped at the lack of confidence being displayed by his usually overconfident rival. "Don't be daft, rat. It was bound to happen eventually. I mean, Marlene liked you" he added as Niki stuck his helmet on. "Marlene divorced me" Niki said, cutting off the conversation with a click of his visor before shooting onto the tracks. He let the sound of his engine drown out the thought of James staring after him as he drove away into infinity.

After measuring the fastest time, and bagging pole position in the process, Niki collapsed into the chair that sat at the corner of his garage, setting his helmet back down on the ta-

There was a tub of yogurt on his desk.

He stared longingly at the desert and hesitated before tossing it in the trash. He turned around, spotting the Brit with another tub of yogurt in his hands heading to what was undoubtedly Niki's car. Niki didn't even want to know, so he took a cab to his hotel room where he promptly fell asleep.

Every single tub of yogurt he received had ended up in the trash after that. After about 19 wasted tubs of yogurt, another tub came that baffled Niki. The staff woman had handed it to him dazedly, no doubt charmed into doing it by the ever so handsome Shunt. Niki had scowled at the poor starstruck woman before scribbling words onto a piece of paper to give to whoever sent the offending dairy product to him. He told the girl to return it all to sender.

'If you want to apologize say it or don't bother. I don't need your pity, Asshole"

Niki flew off to the next race location that morning and a call from Clay informed him that James had gone looking for him after he checked in that morning to see to the moving of his car. Niki paid it no mind and focused on working on his driving instead as per usual. No one expected James to show up at the tracks as early as he did and sober. But when he did show up, Niki dismissed him and locked his garage up with only himself in it so he could work on his car.

James was frustrated at the Austrian who wouldn't give him the time to even explain but he kept thinking of the Nürburgring and how he wouldn't give Niki the time of day then either so he wasn't one to talk. Then again, he wasn't one to give up either and the Ferrari team was almost as worried about their driver as James was. It took a little convincing to recruit the help of Clay Regazzoni (desperate times call for desperate measures) in getting James into the garage via an unlocked window near the back. When James finally saw Niki, haunched over plans for his car, he didn't know exactly what to say. He might as well get straight to the point.

"I wasn't doing it because I pitied you"

Niki flinched and sighed, he knew this was going to happen sooner or later.

"Who let you in, Shunt?"

"I wasn't doing it to apologize either"

"Hunt?"

"I did it because I wanted to" Niki turned to face him, immediately noticing the dark circles under his eyes and the clear fatigue written on his face.

"I don't understand-" Niki tried to search his mind for answers but he had been awake for a long time fixing his car and emotions were never really his forte. James only laughed. "Of course you don't" James stuck his hands in his pocket and ran a hand through his flight mussed blonde hair self-consciously.

"Niki, I'm quite possibly in love with you"

Niki stared at the blonde, blinking. James had only just realized how sleepy the Austrian looked. It seemed that man was faring about as well as he was while they were apart.

"You don't have to feel the same way but I just wanted you to know I only did it because I care about you and you make me do crazy things, rat" he added the nickname at the end so that it wouldn't sound so sentimental but it didn't help him any. Niki just stared at him, a foreign emotion churning in his icy blue eyes. They remained cold and unharmed by the events of his crash.

Cold like Strawberry Yogurt and his on track persona.

Cold like everything he loved about Niki Lauda.

Cold like the chill he felt when Niki finally responded to his confession.

"I love you too, James" he answered simply, a lazy smile adorning his rat-like face. He shouldn't find that overbite so adorable but there was no helping it, James loved him after all. He also couldn't help the happiness that bubbled up in him as he enveloped the younger man in an embrace. He almost expected Niki to shove him away knowing that the Austrian didn't like physical contact but he was pleasantly surprised when the man hugged him back and even nuzzled into his larger frame.

"This still doesn't change anything on the tracks though, rat" James smirked, looking down at the mess of brown curls joyfully. When he didn't receive a response he nudged Niki a little. It took a little snort from the Austrian before James realized Niki had fallen asleep. James only laughed and kissed his forehead before he lifted the man into his arms and walked out of the garage just as Clay had unlocked it to check if they had killed each other. The Ferrari team exchanged puzzled glances as he hauled the smaller man into a cab to bring him back to his hotel but they didn't say anything.

"I hope for his sake that he didn't knock Lauda out" one of the mechanics muttered next to Clay who snorted.

"Knowing those two, it's probably a more pleasant reality than you think" Clay replied, watching the Brit as he placed Niki in the car with a kind of care that Clay has never seen Hunt give any living thing and coming to the conclusion that it has finally happened.

Clay dialed a number into his phone.

"Jackie, it's happened. Yes, I'm sure. Tell Ronnie I'll give him the hundred at testing tomorrow. I'm sure. I'm not bullshitting you on this Jackie. Shut up, I'll talk to you later."