Boy Couch: So Very Fast

Tiberius

From a young age, Tiberius knew he was destined for greatness. He just... needed to find a way to prove that to everyone else. Now in his fourth year of racing with an impressive record of spectacular wins (and a few tragic losses), Tiberius was confident this race would be yet another notch in his Louis Vuitton (knock off) belt.

He fiddled with his ginger curls and bright red racing suit in the mirror for the millionth time, shooting his reflection a couple of winks and samples of his signature charming smile. Oh yeah. This race was totally in the bag. It had to be, since it would be his inaugural race as a rep for Theris Enterprises, his biggest sponsorship yet. To flub this race after just securing a sponsor like that would make him look like an idiot! Or worse, might make them pull sponsorship from him completely.

A crackling voice spoke up from the speaker in Tiberius's trailer.

"Hey Tib, looks like the other racers are starting to get ready. You'd better join them."

Right. Right. This was not the time to be worrying about Theris Enterprises. After all, Tiberius thought smugly to himself, this race was as good as won. Unlike some of Tiberius's other races, this one was against a bunch of nobodies. Well... except for that one kid.

Tiberius spotted him leaning against one of the stands in his dark blue racing suit, a big golden fish logo across the chest and his white-blonde hair tied back in a spiky ponytail. He was chewing on a lollipop stick with a Monster in one hand while he appeared to be listening to a member of his pit crew speak animatedly to him, nodding occasionally.

Despite his distaste for the racer, he had to admit he respected Leif Fiskkappi's dedication to his brand. He had only come of age to race two years ago, but he had nearly immediately developed an image for himself as the silent racer who was constantly getting caught snacking where he shouldn't be, be it during interviews or even during races. And it certainly seemed to pay off, as the fancams for him online grew the older he got. Sure, Tiberius didn't actually know how much of Leif's brand was crafted, but given the nature of his own brand, he assumed it had to be at least mostly made-up for the cameras. After all, why else would this kid be racing if not for fame and attention??

Leif glanced up at Tiberius as he approached. The pink-haired girl who had been talking to him stopped, shooting a silent glare at Tiberius.

"What do you want?" she asked, crossing her arms.

"Just wanted to say good luck to the competition," Tiberius answered with a look he certainly thought was innocent enough. Before he could stop himself, he added, "I mean you certainly need it."

Leif stopped mid-sip of his Monster and squinted at Tiberius like one might a particularly annoying insect, but remained silent. The pink-haired girl, however, did not.

"Hey! You got a problem??" She jabbed a finger into his chest. "Leif's got just as much of a chance of winning as you, maybe even more!"

Pfft. Sure. He may have had a racing lineage on his side, but his win record was nowhere near as impressive as Tiberius's.

"Oh yes, of course, of course! Maybe you should try pouring some of your energy drink into your tank and see if that helps you keep up with me?" Tiberius suggested, expression smug as he looked over the head of the pit crew girl at Leif.

Leif straightened, giving Tiberius a challenging look with those wide, rust-colored eyes that polluted the #TiberiusRobustelli tags whenever Tiberius went searching up his own name online. The boy didn't have a particularly intimidating stature, being about a head shorter than Tiberius with a scrawny build, but there was always something a little feral about him that unsettled Tiberius. He half expected the kid to punch him. Well, that would just make for good press for poor, dear Tiberius who was suddenly attacked by another racer for no reason!

Instead, Leif just shook his head and began to walk past Tiberius, towards the other racers. He nodded to the pit girl, who followed behind him as he slammed his shoulder into Tiberius when he passed him.

"Ow! Hey!" Tiberius exclaimed, but Leif didn't look back. The pit girl looked over her shoulder with a cat-like grin and stuck her tongue out at him.

"Oooops," she said mockingly.

Tiberius opened his mouth to retort back when someone else brushed by him (much less aggressively) from the other side. When he looked to see who it was, he spotted a racer in a forest-green suit with their helmet on. Tiberius didn't recognize them, which meant they were just one of the nobodies at this race that Tiberius would surely destroy.

"Water." A voice sounded from beneath the helmet.

"What?" Tiberius asked, looking the racer over with confusion.

"Where can I find water?"

"Uh... there should be an ice chest over there, I think." Tiberius pointed to the break area near where Leif had been standing before.

"Hm." They began to walk off to the ice chest, but paused for a moment to turn their helmeted head back toward Tiberius. Their visor was tinted in such a way that Tiberius couldn't make out the face of the person beneath it. They pointed at Tiberius's chest.

"Theris Enterprises?" they asked.

"Uh... yeah!" Tiberius grinned proudly. "They're my new primary sponsor!"

They nodded to themself. Tiberius could see the logo for some random small carpentry company on their uniform. Typical of a nobody. Tiberius had long-since moved past local sponsorships like that.

"Figures it's you," they muttered half to themself. Wait. Hang on, what did that mean? Obviously Tiberius thought he looked like someone who'd get a big sponsorship like Theris Enterprises, but the way they said it almost sounded like an insult.

He turned to ask this carpentry company sponsorship nobody what they meant by that, but they were already gone.

"Whatever... Can't let things like that bother famous superstar Tiberius, can I? Time to win this race."