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compacflt · 10 months

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I just wanted to say as someone who has stumbled across your blog and has read your Wednesday wips and posts about anything topgun related that your thought process and consideration of mav and ice, specifically their political beliefs and relationships with their own identities, is honestly so impressive and cool. You have brought such realism and life to these characters which is just so refreshing to see. idk i just wanted to express how cool and awesome i think that is

Because of the thought into these characters does it make it difficult to like them or understand them if you have differing opinions from them? for me personally i feel like if i were to ever actually have a convo with ice or mav regarding identity politics i would actually start to lose my mind (like how one feels when your dad or fun uncle talks for too long at thanksgiving dinner). If it does make them difficult to like, does that make it difficult for you to write them sometimes?

oh yeah! i think, my ice i really empathize with & really love & really could get along with, once he grows out of the sexism of his teens & twenties, but my maverick drives me crazy. someone sent in an ask a while ago that was like “WHY is cyclone simpson your one true love??” And it’s because i too would absolutely hate maverick & hate working with him lol. people who are overly cocky & un-self-aware & a bit self-centered make me CRAZY. (narrator voice: compacflt is a hypocrite as all these things also apply to compacflt.)

Politically… It’s difficult to say. no one really wants to hear the intricacies of one person’s political journey, which is why i won’t give you mine, but suffice to say—since the start of the russian invasion of Ukraine, and my semi-concerted effort to learn more about the political landscape of modern warfare, my own personal beliefs have shifted a whole bunch. definitely aided in that shift by my top gun fic project that specifically aims to understand the conservative straight-passing male mindset as it relates to military matters… there are many end goals to a project like mine, but one end product is a filter you can take away and hold up in front of your eyes and see the world through it. When writing from the eyes of a conservative straight (passing) white man, your priorities totally shift. I had to write from the perspective of someone who doesn’t care about identity politics. Because they don’t! A core tenet of conservatism is very proudly not caring about that stuff, and being very annoyed when people (usually left-of-centers) make that stuff very visible and want you to care about it! “Don’t shove it in my face,” etc., etc. Don’t force me to care about this taboo, private thing I really don’t care about. It violates my freedoms, or whatever, to be forced to care—or even bear witness to—stuff that i don’t care about. Etc. And then, to be nominally a part of that community that you really, really don’t care about, and then to be told that you have to care about it because of your publicity… people asking you to be proud of something that has had a negative connotation for much of your entire life… that’s not a transformation that happens easily.

Jesus, I could write an essay about this. I have, several times by now in responses to asks over my blog. But there is so much that I could talk about. I think… I really worry that some of my writing falls into the first of the below categories:

I really try not to romanticize conservatism in my writing—I tried to show that ice and mav’s happiness is the price they pay for their conservatism. They’re actively choosing to be unhappy—but because they prioritize their honor over everything, due to EXTERNAL PRESSURES they cannot control, and which I think are often ignored in the fandom space for one reason or another. The fact of the matter is, in 99% of IPs, characters prioritize something other than their sexualities. It’s never Maverick’s personal identity that is at stake in either Top Gun or Top Gun: Maverick, because he has built himself so impermeably masculine that there are no grounds upon which to question his personal identity. He just isn’t thinking about it. He’s thinking about how to get into Charlie’s pants, how to win the Top Gun trophy, how to uphold his promise to Goose, et cetera. If he’s fucking guys on the side, it’s because he wants to and because hes maverick and he does what he wants without thinking about it—that’s the whole point of his character, from a story-construction standpoint. That’s his archetype. He’s a renegade maverick superstar who is both thoughtlessly brilliant and thoughtlessly dangerous. He’s thoughtless. His priorities are to survive and to look cool doing it, and that’s it. He is a savant in the Naval Air Force, where honor is your lifeblood, who feels he has been dishonored by his own family name, and who willingly joined the conservative post-Vietnam Navy right when/after Ronald Reagan was elected President, and who wears cowboy boots and who disrespects women to their faces, and who is eager to get into altercations with Soviet-Chinese-DPRK-X-second-world-country-coded-but-EXPLICITLY-Soviet-manufactured-Mikoyan-Gurevich-MiG-28s(-F-5s-painted-black)… I’m sorry. In my opinion, the conservatism is baked into him as a character. I find it extremely difficult to separate him from his conservatism, because in some ways his patriotic conservatism is his raison d’etre. IMO if you take that away from him, he ceases to exist.

Same thing with Ice and his unwillingness to openly rebel or go against the grain. That is his whole reason to exist in the story at all. I know that I’m saying this in a fandom space where the whole point is to change characters & put them in different situations (fanfic) but… in kind of a perverse self aware way, as in I know I sound ridiculous and pretentious, i guess i don’t really understand an impulse to change the core tenets of a character irreparably in fanworks. We are shown that ice always goes by the books in TG. Then we are shown that he achieves the fruits of that labor (four stars) in TGM. So he is rewarded for never rebelling, whereas Maverick, who always rebels (but NEVER in a way that challenges his personal identity), has stagnated in the ranks at full-bird O-6. And that’s Ice’s character. That’s what he’s there for in the story—he’s a tool to show us the value system of rank and prestige you earn by following the rules of the Navy. Why take that away from him? That’s his priority! Canonically, that’s his priority and reason for existence! And historically the way to achieve that priority is through conservatism.

And you ask me if it’s hard to like my ice and mav. Yes, but that’s not my choice. The movie already did that for me. They are not, I’m sorry, likable people. I am not a straight white conservative male writing about straight white conservative men to validate my own beliefs—I’m a queer AFAB person of color writing about straight white conservative men because I want to understand the limits of their conservatism. What they do and do not care about, and what it takes to make them care. And from what we are shown in TG… ice and mav would not care about ME. At all. And they would not want to be forced to care about me. Ice’s casual careless dismissiveness… “the plaque for the alternates is down in the ladies’ room…” mav following Charlie into the bathroom… turning the key in the ignition and driving away while pretending not to hear her… “what?? i can’t hear you! 🙉” … they do not care. They have no desire to care.

Again. Maybe I subscribe to a very very old-school and labored and pretentious ideology when it comes to writing… I know a lot of people write just to have fun. I do not. I wish i could, but I don’t. And when you’re not writing to have fun, you don’t have to like the characters you’re writing about. They’re nothing more than tools at your disposal to get your point across more effectively. No, I don’t like them! Of course not! My ice is cruel and cowardly and careless and hypocritical and subservient and weak, and my mav is demanding and dangerous and dismissive and oblivious and so, so, so unbelievably bitter.

And that’s what my story needed, to get my point across. So, shrug. My point was my priority. I don’t care too much about the characters themselves.

Re: icemav & identity politics. Part of hopefully selling this story is the attempt at empathy for the conservative male, to bring this discussion back to the top. Why write fiction at all if you’re not going to write about people different from you, and why write about people different from you if you don’t want to understand them? So… part of trying to understand them was to understand and have empathy for this shift in priorities. Conservative guys do not want to care about labels, or sexual orientations, or, God forbid, discussion of their gender identities. I can kind of see Ice tolerating it by the end… but, there are limits. Again, it’s supposed to be private. I think he’d chafe against getting labeled gay—he wouldn’t want to be called the first gay compacflt, or SECNAV, etc. He can’t say, “i slept with like a hundred fifty women before I even MET the ONLY man ive ever slept with,” because that’s like intensely private personal information!! No one deserves that information, but people still want to call him gay, even though in his head he really is not!!!! Again—from the conservative perspective, it’s a public imposition of left-wing, overly sexualized, too-neat labels and politics onto an area of life that has typically been kept private and respectable—I don’t agree with the conservatism, but I can at least empathize with it. Pre-Maverick’s death (pre-coming to terms with it), it would’ve been shameful & embarrassing to him; but even after coming to terms with it, it’s still not something he “takes pride” in. I think he thinks of it like this—most people aren’t proud of being straight. Like, it’s weird if you are. Same thing with being proud of being white, etc. Why be excessively proud of things you have no control over? Why not take pride in your ACTIONS—for instance, his career that he has actively sacrificed so much of his pride for? I can really empathize with that thought. I don’t necessarily agree, but I get it, especially in his professional circumstances, where he has so much to be professionally proud of, and yet people keep wanting him to publicly care about this private part of him he has no control over and can’t change.

Maverick though. I think he’d be actively hostile about talking about it in public. He Does Not Care. he does not want to care. It’s all an insult. They call him the first openly gay Ace cause he’s married to another man— “okay, but, like, I’m not. Stop calling me that. Neither of us are. Oh my god we have slept with so many women. Stop calling us that.” Ok then what do you want us, the press corps, to call you? First openly bisexual Ace? “No that’s worse!! That’s a word some teenager made up and doesn’t mean anything!! I’m sixty years old stop asking me to talk about this stuff im too old.” What do you have to say to LGBT kids who want to go into the navy? “😎👍 there’s a place for you etc etc. Let’s go back to talking about all the planes I shot down.” Maverick does what he wants without thinking about it. That’s the core tenet of his character. Very conservative. Don’t ask him to care too much.

Idk. No I don’t like them. But I understand them, if that makes sense. Like their conservative anti-label logic does make emotional sense to me. So that’s part of what I took away from this project, for better or worse… probably worse: I understand why conservatives don’t like the modern over-publicity of sexuality. They don’t care and they don’t want to care. And because they are small-C conservative, my ice and mav still don’t care lol. So, yeah. It doesn’t make them hard to write, because thats why I wanted to write them in the first place.

#what does it say about me that i put myself in their shoes & understand their position #i don’t agree with it but I understand it #the annoyance and the bad optics and the over labeling of hard-to-label sexuality #being a gay republican has got to be the seventh circle of hell #note my ice and mav are not republicans #but also note my story would not change even one bit if they were #i don’t LIKE gay republicans because they’re republicans. but i can empathize with them cause that’s gotta fucking blow.#normie median biden voter ice #now I think if a kid came up to maverick at an airshow and was like…#sir im trans and I think I want to go into the navy to fly & you’re my hero…#he’d freak out like ‘omg that means so much to me actually thanks!! it might be difficult for u i won’t lie but we need more people who #can overcome adversity…omg let me set you up with this admiral i know… yes yes yes…’#he doesn’t like the conceptual discussions but he likes the people if that makes sense #& he really likes people massaging his ego #i find them incredibly annoying. but that’s what character development is for. if u start out liking ur characters ur doing smth wrong #& if they weren’t incredibly annoying then i wouldn’t have a story to write.#pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #icemav #top gun #top gun maverick #asks #edts notes #**obvious disclaimer this is just my interpretation!!!**

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redfurrycat · 1 year

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🚀🤖Pacific Rim and Top Gun (AU)🤖🚀

Tom Iceman Kazansky, Commander of the Pacific Fleet, the military branch of the Pan Pacific Defense Corps, brings back to the Miramar Shatterdome the former Jaeger pilot Pete Maverick Mitchell to teach the new Rangers how to become better Jaeger pilots as well as to combat the Kaiju.

He’s the last known Jaeger pilot alive to have defeated three kaiju, despite the fact he was piloting his Jaeger alone – his former co-pilot Nick Goose Bradshaw had died during a previous simulation exercise leaving Mav without a compatible match, though it didn’t deter Mav from piloting his Jaeger alone to save another Jaeger team – Ron Slider Kerner & Tom Iceman Kazansky...

However, the successful rescue (followed by Iceman’s declaration of undying love and admiration for him – ‘Shut up, Ron! It’s not true!’ had said an unnaturally flustered Ice after Mav and Ice’s wingmen hug moment) left Maverick with severe neurological injuries including phantom memories from Goose as he died while they were still connected to each other.

It’s like having a piece of someone within your body and soul, only that this person is no longer alive, and it could be quite traumatic for somebody new to attempt a drift connection with one-and-a-half person. (Partly why Maverick was shut out from the Jaeger program, that and his famously known chaotic nature, of course.)

Because to able to pilot a Jaeger, you have to share what is known as a drift compatibility with your co-pilot. Drifting requires the pilots to share their memories, instinct and emotions with each other, and it allows them to act as one consciousness and control the very movement of the Jaeger itself, each pilot controlling one hemisphere. While drifting, pilots need to keep their mind clear of all thoughts [psspss like the ‘no mind’ from The Last Samurai! 👼🏻] to avoid R.A.B.I.T – the following of a memory to the point of losing the focus you need to control the Jaeger. As such, drift compatibility is a potential that exists between two people, that is usually determined through sparring exercises in the Kwoon Combat Room, the point is not to beat your opponent but whether or not you’re able to work in sync with each other. {Source: the Pacific Rim Fandom Page about Drift}

Twelve new Rangers are called back to the Miramar Shatterdome, under the command of Marshal Beau Cyclone Simpson. Most of them are already paired up in a Jaeger.

However, Maverick wants to try some out-of-the-box thinking by changing the designated pair of each Jaeger. "Because –says Mav reading from a stack of disorganized papers, in front of Cyclone, Warlock, and Iceman– according to research, the Kaiju are sentient beings very much capable of in-depth reasoning, something they weren’t to do before, and, as such, I feel the need, the need to change some shit up to try throwing them off."

Thus begin the tests for new drift-compatible partners…

Before:

The Crimson Typhoon team – Bob, Phoenix, Rooster.

The Striker Eureka team – Coyote & Hangman.

The Gipsy Danger team – Fanboy & Payback.

The Cherno Alpha team – Fritz & Halo.

The Guardian Bravo team – Harvard, Omaha & Yale.

After:

The Striker Eureka team – Rooster & Hangman.

The Bracer Phoenix team – Fritz & Phoenix.

The Gipsy Danger team – Halo, Payback & Yale.

The Crimson Typhoon team – Bob, Fanboy & Omaha.

The Coyote Tango team – Coyote & Harvard.

The Cherno Alpha team – Iceman & Mav. [Even though it's super risky for the two of them, they’ll pilot one last time, and for the first time together, to help assist and rescue the Jaegers teams sent to drop a bomb to close the Breach, cutting the passage between the Earth and the Kaiju homeworld, once and for all.]

Let’s just say that the changes are not smooth for every pilot. Some get to stay in the Jaeger they’ve known all along, others don’t (let’s say some neural handshakes allowing the drifting function better in a particular Jaeger with a particular pair).

Rooster, for instance, used to be in a three-neural-handshake, and now must share with only one person, the –absolutely "despicable"– flawless Hangman. And Hangman is a bit frustrated ‘cause he used to be the best with his Coyote bro…and now feels like falling behind because of Rooster. So, he may or may not be overly provocative with his new co-pilot who thinks too much and follows the R.A.B.I.T every time he drifts with Hangman. [Nevertheless, before Rooster spirals out of control, there is a very strong neural handshake, the strongest ever registered. They just need to sort their shit out first.]

Bonus Hangster Conversation

(inspired by my beloved Chaleigh babes' stellar conversation in the movie)

Hangman: So you're the guy, eh Rooster? You're the guy who's going to be my new co-pilot?

Rooster: Yeah, Hangman. That's the plan.

Hangman: Good. Good. So, remind me again. When was the last time you jockeyed, Brad?

Rooster: You know very well it was three months ago with Tasha and Bobby…’Cause you were there!

Hangman: Colour me shocked with the way you weren’t able to stop following the R.A.B.I.T earlier…Looked like you were a Jaeger groupie just given the opportunity to pilot a Jaeger for the first time of his life. You’re a Ranger, act like one!

Rooster: Excuse-me for taking the time to feel the new Jaeger and my new co-pilot! It’s easy for you to say! Let me reorganize my feathers or something before jumping into it!

Hangman: Oh, wow, that's great. I mean, that's really useful. We get into a fight, you can build our way out of it with wings, as we won’t move a single hair of our Jaeger, eh, Brad?

Rooster: It's Bradley.

Hangman: Whatever. Look, I know you’re Commander Kazansky and Ranger Mitchell’s golden goose, but to me, so far, you're dead weight. You slow me down, I'm gonna drop you like a sack of Kaiju shit. *fingers guns and winking combo followed by dramatic exit*

#pacific rim au #with top gun characters #icemav #tom iceman kazansky x pete maverick mitchell #hangster #sereshaw #hangaroo #bradley rooster bradshaw x jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin x bradley rooster bradshaw #dagger squad #coyote and phoenix get to pilot a jaeger whom they share the same callsigns :P #PACIFIC RIM JAEGERS RANGERS ARE AWESOME OKAY?! AND YOU SHOULD GO WATCH THE MOVIE THIS INSTANT!#BELOVED GIANT FREAKING ROBOTS #Drifting & Drift Compatibility is one of the best thing EVER in terms of tropes....#It's like the update of '''only one bed to share between two idiots'''#though you don't have to be in a romantic relationship to be drift compatible #although there is a physical compatibility to take into account as well ;P #let's pretend every jaeger has a two & three neural handshake option...cause yeah.... I said so xD #Final note - I'm actually surprised it took me this long to make a PR & TG au.... :O #homemade collage #🐈red🐈furry🐈cat🐈tag🐈

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justmilkplease · 2 years

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stfu icemav man from uncle au

also:

#HAS ANYBODY SEEN THIS #cause i could go into heavy detail #icemav #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #charlotte charlie blackwood #top gun #tg86 #man from uncle au

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storeboughtbrand · 2 years

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TOP GUN COUNTRY AU! PT.2: COUNTRY BOOGALOO

PREV || NEXT

*The class of 86’ got to witness young Mav’s toss-ability at the O Club, so it’s only fair that, as their successors, the baby pilots get to see it too at the Hard Deck."

Let’s just say Slider did NOT make a good first impression on his new nieces and nephews 😅.

It started as a typical night of drinking at the Hard Deck. It’s been about a week or so since the Uranium Mission, and the kids are hanging around the pool tables. Every pilot called back to TOP GUN is still there as the higher-ups haven’t decided what to do with them yet.

(And they are afraid to bring up the topic to Admiral Kazansky again after he sent that 2 star-admiral running away from his office with his tail tucked between his legs and looking one second away from shitting himself. *it was not Cyclone and Warlock)

So, for now, the baby pilots are enjoying their leave by drinking some good-ass beer and enjoying each other’s company.

They all are a fond sight around the base for everyone who works there. It’s rare for someone on staff to see Captain Mitchell walking around and not be accompanied by one to two of his students trailing behind him like ducklings. Warlock almost burst out laughing once when a visiting Admiral had to do a double take when he saw a giant moving mass of 12 Naval Pilots on the Tarmac and then saw the tiny 5’7 figure of Maverick somewhere in the middle before disappearing from view because he’s shorter than most of them. It was all thanks to a well placed elbow nudge in the side from Beau that saved his career.

So yeah, just a funky lil old pilot and his 12 adopted naval pilots.

While the Daggers are chatting, a tall man (6’2) walks in wearing aviator sunglasses and a leather G-1 Jacket. He’s wearing a lot of patches, but it’s hard to determine what each of them is.

The jacket catches Bob’s eyes, and he points out the guy to the rest of the squad, who turns to look at him. They all watch as he looks around the room and before his eyes land on Maverick who’s sitting at the bar, chatting with Penny. He starts walking towards Mav slowly, looking like he’s trying to sneak up on Mav. Fanboy, with narrowed eyes, quietly says the guy looks like a lion stalking its prey. Now, normally, a comment like that would get a laugh out of some of the pilots, but they’ve all got a bit too much alcohol in their systems. Instead, they all tense, and now everyone is watching this guy like a hawk.

The kids watch as the guy lunges at their Mavdad from behind and gets him in a bear hug. Then he drags Mav off the stool, who lets out a startled cry, and suddenly, the entire squadron is on their feet.

But they all relax but don't stop watching when the man starts spinning him around in a circle, laughing.

They all have the same thought running through their heads.

"Aight, cool, this guy must be a friend of Captain dad. I wonder how long it's been since they've seen each - OH MY GOD!” – and then proceed to go into smoke in the air panic mode as the unknown man fucking launches Mav HIGH into the air. Like this man almost touches the mug display on the ceiling.

The kids go into full-on – frothing at the mouth – protective mode and are already making their way over with Phoenix and Hangman leading the charge. The guy catches Mav easily, and the kids breathe a sigh of relief. But then they see this guy is winding up for another pitch and are like – “I think the fuck NOT!”. They’ve got this MF’s ass in a radar lock.

No, this was no man.

This was a boogie - an ENEMY - and they’ve got tone.

The Guy and Mav turn to see the approaching Daggers, and the guy puts Mav down but keeps his hands on Mav’s hips. Mav lights up at the sight of his students and opens his mouth.

“Hey, guys! I’ve got someone I want you to me-”

But his kids don’t hear a word he is saying. They are all gone; they’ve gone completely raptor feral.

Phoenix is the first to land an attack. She jumps on the guy’s back and latches on to him like a spider monkey. She gets her forearm against the front of his neck and pulls hard; Penny says later that he sounded like a dying horse, even if Slider disagrees.

She gets the Boogie to let go of Mav’s hips, and Coyote quickly picks him up and cradles the old aviator in his arms while Bob and Fritz check him for injuries. With Mav safely out of harm’s way, the rest of the kids go in for the kill.

Hangman dives in for the tackle, grappling the man around his waist and pushing overboard out the front door of the Hard Deck. Rooster runs to the door and holds it open allowing the screaming trio out onto the sand, the rest of the kids follow closely behind screaming bloody murder.

Phoenix and Hangman try to wrestle the man down on the ground, but he isn’t giving up and fights back with all he’s got. He’s thrashing around, kicking up sand, and prying Phoenix off his back. She looks like she’s riding a raging mechanical bull. He’s not ready for the full force of a flying Rooster tackling him, and the Tree of a man goes down.

Then out of nowhere, a volley of pool noodles starts raining down on the Boogie.

Somehow, the other pilots had each found a pool noodle lying around and were now wielding them like baseball bats.

The Boogie gives up on trying to phoenix off him and brings his hands up to defend him. He’s able to rip Fanboy’s pool noodle out of his hands and whacking them back.

Fanboy runs off because he spots something out of the corner of his eye. When he comes running back into view, he’s holding a giant Eagle Floaty high above his head and screaming like Tarzan.

The Boogie’s eyes go wide, and he tries to escape harder, but it is hard for him when he keeps getting whacked in the head with a pool noodle.

They’ve got this guy on the ropes, and the guy is basically beaten into the ground. He’s pinned down by the combined strength of Rooster, Hangman, and Phoenix. Fanboy stands over their downed foe, ready to deliver the final blow via plastic eagle.

“Lieutenants, stand down!”

And everyone freezes in mid-motion, the direct order from a commander officer unable to be ignored.

Phoenix still has the guy in a headlock. Hangman’s got his arms wrapped around the guys legs, holding him down.

Rooster’s half lying on top and half holding down the man’s torso.

Payback, Omaha, Halo, Harvard, and Yale all have paused mid-swing of their pool noodles.

Fanboy has the giant eagle float high above his head, ready to dive bomb straight into the man’s face.

At the entrance of the Hard Deck, stands Maverick, looking at all of them in shock. Behind him are Coyote, Fritz, and Bob who try to drag Mav back into the bar so they can fuss over him.

Hangman: Pops, go back inside; we’ve got this motherfucker handled.”

(-What! Who’re you calling a motherfucker-)

Maverick: While I do agree he is a fucker (-HEY-), he’s a fucker I would like intact and without a concussion.

Mav turns to look at the beaten man and says, “You okay, Slider?”

The Man glares at Mav - “Just fucking peachy, Pete.”

Mav winces at the use of his first name.

The rest of the pilots ready their noodles for another swing cause no one talks to their Mavdad like that!

Then Rooster just stops and stares at the guy. Mav called him Slider, which definitely sounds like a callsign. And it sounds familiar. Why does he feel like he should recognize that name?

…………..

“Oh Shit, Uncle Slider?!???”

And the rest was history.

———————-

Needlessly to say, Mav was apologizing for the rest of the night while holding an ice pack against the side of Slider’s head while he nursed a free beer, courtesy of Penny.

The baby pilots all apologize too, and to Mav, they sounded sincere, but Slider can see them all glaring at him over Mav’s shoulder, though Rooster’s is less heated. It doesn’t help his case when he glares right back. It also doesn’t help when he slides his arm around Mav’s waist and pulls him flush against his side.

Mav just snuggles into his friend’s side, completely unaware his kids are plotting out Slider’s death using hand gestures so his friend can see precisely how they’ll do it.

Mav does eventually explain what the tossing was able and Rooster’s all like, “Oh yeah! I forgot all about that.” Slider just throws his hands up in the background.

Slider is peeved that he got attacked by Mav’s adopted horde, but Mav gives him a …..proper apology…….if you catch my drift, later that night.

And that’s the story of Slider first met and almost died by the hands and pool noodles of his new nieces and nephews. Sufficient to say, the retired RIO was immediately placed squarely in the category of Favorite Uncle the Daggers like to fuck with. It’s done with love tho.

An artist's (Fritz's) rendition of the climactic battle:

*Slider was not amused*

#Slider had called Mav to tell him he was going to be in town #and Mav was ecstatic.#He’s missed his tall friend and Mav’s been vibing with the need to show off his kids like a proud father.#He seems like the type of dad to have a photo of every one of his kids in his wallet proudly displayed in one of those chain plastics.#Slider: So Ice tell me you adopted an entire class of TG graduates #Mav: And so?#Slider: ………You’re so fucking spoiled.#Slider thinks Ice is whipped for his reckless husband even though Ice denies it.#Slider: Get your fucking pilots bitch!#Mav: They don’t bite.#Slider: *with three pairs of teeth latched onto his skin* YES #pete maverick mitchell #implied Icemav #ron slider kerner #penny benjamin #bradley rooster bradshaw #natasha phoenix trace #jake hangman seresin #top gun maverick #and the rest of the baby aviators cause I'm too lazy to put all their names #top gun headcanons #top gun shitpost #country boy i love you au!

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ddejavvu · 1 year

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IceMav thoughts?

all i'm saying is that i've never met a straight man who gets up in his competitive enemy's face and murmurs sensually about how dangerous he is while staring soulfully into his eyes

#that's right ice.... man.#i am dangerous #yeah i know what you are..#god time to reread one of my fave icemav fics #where ice finds mav bleeding out in the locker room 'cause he got beat up #and pete's all defensive and ice is like BROTHER YOU ARE GOING TO DIE LET ME HELP YOU #'who did this to you' 🤭

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tip-top-cloud-surfer · 9 months

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Grand-Mav and Baby Chick

Pairings: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw / Unnamed Spouse; Implied Pete "Maverick" Mitchell / Tom "Iceman" Kazansky

Word Count: 0.9k

This work, all my works, and my entire blog is 18+ Only

Warnings: Parental Stress; Dad Joke Humor; Rooster's Spouse is Unnamed; Implied IceMav; There's no way that the Navy allows babies into the offices, but let's just pretend

Summary: Rooster needs a babysitter for his son last minute. Maverick volunteers.

Master List

Despite objections from a large portion of the admiralty, Maverick somehow managed to secure a job teaching at Top Gun again after the uranium facility mission. And an even more shocking aspect of that whole situation was the fact that he managed to actually keep the position.

And the best part of the job for Maverick? The fact that he saw Rooster just about every day. Rooster had been stationed in Miramar for two years now and even though they no longer worked side by side, they tried to eat lunch together at least once a week. It helped them rebuild their relationship quickly and strengthen it even further as Rooster went on to get married and move onto the next stages of his adult life.

Maverick loved spending time around Rooster’s family. But Maverick wasn’t expecting Rooster to burst into his office with little baby Nick Peter Bradshaw tucked in his arms.

“Aren’t you a little young to be here?” Maverick teased, waving at Nick before turning to look up at a very flustered Rooster. “Why did you bring him to work?”

“Daycare is closed and I couldn’t find a babysitter,” Rooster explained rapidly. Quickly remembering that Rooster’s spouse was out of town, Maverick glanced back up at Rooster, who looked on the edge of a breakdown. “I have a briefing in ten minutes and I’m out of options, Mav, and—”

“—Give him here,” Maverick replied without hesitation, already reaching for Nick.

“You don’t have anything?” Rooster asked, handing his son over.

“Just a class. Nothing too crazy,” Maverick stated, happily accepting Nick into his arms. Rubbing Nick’s belly and earning a coo in return, Maverick smiled down at the little chick. “And it’s never too early to teach him about aviation.”

“Thanks, Mav,” Rooster sighed, handing over the baby bag as well. “I owe you one.”

“Don’t worry about it. Now get to your briefing," Maverick stated, shooing Rooster out of his office.

~~~~~

“And remember, when you’re flying in low visibility, you have to . . .”

Maverick continued on with his lesson, completely ignorant or simply uncaring about the odd looks that his students were shooting him. But then again, it wasn’t every day that the famous Maverick, who was pretty much a living legend in the naval aviation community, showed up to class with a random baby strapped to his chest.

Maverick turned away from the board with notes and schematics up on it and back to his students. He pointed at the schematics and gesticulated to emphasize the important facts of the lesson, causing Nick to smile and drool a bit as Maverick indirectly entertained him with his movements and gestures.

“What the fuck is going on?” one of the cadets whispered quietly.

“Whose baby is that?” another added on, leaning back in their seat.

“And why did he bring them to class?”

Maverick continued on with his lesson, but when Nick started to whine, he momentarily paused. Quickly reaching into the baby bag, Maverick fished out Nick’s binkie from one of the top pockets and quickly got him settled again. And then Maverick went right back to the lesson as if nothing happened to disturb it in the first place. Minus a couple odd bounces around to make sure that Nick stayed calm and happy in his carrier.

One brave cadet slowly raised his hand with a dumbstruck expression on his face. Maverick motioned for him to speak and the cadet slowly lowered his hand to point at Nick.

“Sir, why do you have a baby?”

“Oh,” Maverick realized, glancing down at Nick for a moment. “My son had a briefing and he didn’t have anyone else to watch his son, so I'm watching him for today.”

“Is that safe?” another cadet asked, sharing an odd look with their fellow students.

“Oh, don’t worry. He’s up to date on his shots. And he can’t bite because he doesn’t have any teeth yet,” Maverick explained, earning even more incredulous looks as a result of his explanation. “Now, back to the maneuvers that we’ve been discussing this week . . .”

“What. The. Fuck," one cadet murmured under their breath.

“You know, when people told me that he was a little crazy, I didn’t think that he would be this crazy.”

“This day can’t get any weirder.”

But, of course, a knock at the door proved the cadets wrong. Because not three seconds later, the Admiral Tom “Iceman” Kazansky walked into the classroom.

The cadets tripped over themselves, rushing to stand at attention for the most senior naval officer this side of the Rockies. But Maverick was completely relaxed and strode over to Ice to make the smooth hand off.

“You got out of your meeting early?” Maverick guessed, handing Ice the baby bag.

“Well, I am the COMPACFLT,” Ice replied with an easygoing smile. “And besides . . .” Ice reached out to grab Nick from the baby carrier that Maverick tucked him into, “. . . someone has to watch the little chick.”

Nick cooed and made grabby motions for Ice, clearly happy to see him. Ice happily greeted Nick and held him protectively in his arms. Maverick handed off the rest of Nick’s belongings to Ice before the usually rigid and stern admiral turned to the class full of cadets.

“We apologize for interrupting your lesson. We’ll get out of your way.” Ice shot Maverick a wink before turning to Nick. “Can you wave ‘bye bye’ to everyone, Nick?”

Nick held his half-curled hand up in the air and waved his whole arm at Maverick and the class before Ice turned and walked out of the room. When the door shut behind them, the entire class was completely silent.

“Any questions?” Maverick asked, breaking the stone-cold silence.

All twenty hands immediately rose into the air with each cadet sitting on the edge of their seat to ask their question.

“About the lesson," Maverick emphasized a moment later.

All twenty hands quickly lowered back down, some more sheepish than others. Turning back to the board, Maverick carried on as if nothing odd or unusual happened.

#tgm #tgm fanfiction #top gun #top gun: maverick #top gun maverick #top gun fanfiction #bradley rooster bradshaw #pete mitchell #pete maverick mitchell #bradley bradshaw #tom iceman kazansky #tom kazansky #rooster #icemav #tgm fic #mavdad

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ofstoriesandstardust · 1 year

Text

maroon (j.h.s.)

a/n: every goddamn piece of this is self-indulgent but as jordan always says, is that not what fanfiction is meant to be? i’d be more than willing to write more for these two but i’m also afraid this is what’s going to get me voted off the top gun island so goodbye i’m going to go hide under a rock until further notice.

pt. ii

summary: (Kazansky!reader) This is the way had always been.

Hangman flirted with anything and everything, bedding a new women every night and leaving them the next morning.

So when he picks up flirting with you, you know he’s just in it for the trouble, a way to get under your Dad’s skin. He’s just in it for the scarlet color of your cheeks every time he calls you “darling”. He’s just after you because you’re young and new, fresh meat for him. You know you’d never let your guard down enough to be wooed by this man, no matter how good it feels to have those sea-glass eyes on you.

And that’s how it goes. Hangman flirting with you every night while you worked, under the watchful eye of his team mates, with nothing more ever coming of it.

Until one night it changes, all because of a cowboy hat.

partially inspired by taylor swift’s “maroon”

main masterlist | top gun: maverick masterlist

warnings: age gap (of 11-ish years? but the specific years aren’t mentioned just that there is an age gap), implied/referenced sex, kissing, a heavy makeout, hickeys, i haven’t made out with anyone in two years, this is the closest to smut you will catch me writing, swearing, alcohol, Icemav but it’s a minor plot point, Maverick never pulled Rooster’s papers but he still went to UVA

word count: 2,885

His eyes track her across the bar, watching the way Bradshaw’s hands clap down on her shoulders, causing her to startle as she carries a crate. Even dressed in a plain black tee and jeans, a brown belt adorning her waist, he can’t help but admire how good she looks.

He watches as she offers Bradshaw a forced smile, causing a frown to tug at the brunette’s lips. Ever the pair, Bradshaw cared for her in a way only a brother could. Bradshaw settles down at the bar as she begins to unload clean glasses into the bar in preparation for what would probably be a busy Saturday night.

It’s futile for him to pretend he doesn’t remember the way she climbed into his lap the night before, straddling him, as he undid her belt in a flurry of passion, in vivid detail.

He knows that hidden beneath the material of her shirt are bruises he left, always wanting to claim and mark what was his.

The bell at the door of the Hard Deck rings, pulling him from remembering the night before any longer as he watches Admiral Kazansky and Captain Mitchell walk through the door.

Sometimes, it baffled him that the two of them were married. Sometimes, he realized there was no one more perfect for them than the other.

He watches the couple settle at the bar, talking with Rooster and the bartender, so clearly fond of both.

“Hey, how come Admiral Kazansky’s so fond of Penny’s bartender?”

The words tumble out of his mouth before he can stop them as he leans up against his pool cue. Coyote lets out a half-laugh, raising an eyebrow. “Really?”

He turns to his friend. “What?”

Coyote shakes his head, turning away from him as he moves to take his shot. “Just can’t believe you’re so clueless.”

“What?”

Coyote finally straightens up, looking at him. “She’s his daughter.”

He pales, looking to his friend closely for confirmation he’s not just fucking with him. He kind wishes he was, that Coyote’s hand would clap on his shoulder and say Nah, just kidding man, should’ve seen your face though.

His hands feels sweaty against his pool cue as a growing pit of dread forms in his stomach. Coyote frowns as he remains silent. “What?”

“Oh, I fucked up.” He whispers, mostly to himself as he stumbles back, landing in one of the spare bar stools near them.

Coyote follows, coming closer. “What did you do?”

He lets go of his pool cue, Coyote grabbing it before it clangs to the ground as his hands move to rub over his face. “Oh, I’ve fucked up.”

Coyote takes a half-step closer, nudging his shoulder. He looks up to meet the somewhat suspecting look on his best friend’s face.

“What did you do?”

The first time you meet Jake Seresin, it’s a sunny Wednesday afternoon in May. It’s been eleven days since you graduated college, packing up your whole life and moving back home to San Diego, not that anyone’s counting.

The bell above the door of the Hard Deck jingles as he walks through it, pulling off his shades as his eyes adjust to the the dimmer lighting of the bar. He saunters towards the bar, pulling your attention from where you’re wiping down the bar. He settles on the bar stool in front of you, offering you his trade-mark, award-winning smile (one that you’re sure he’s been told is dazzling).

Penny’s just gone back to the office to grab something and you take a deep breath, looking up at him. He’d be the first customer you served... ever.

“How can I help you?” You ask.

He ignores the question, pulling a toothpick form his pocket and putting it in his mouth. Your eyes flicker down to his lips, a moment he doesn't miss. “Admiring the view?”

You shake your head, clearing any thoughts from you brain. “I assume you came in here for a drink.”

He shrugs, setting an arm on the bar to lean up against it even though he’s sat. “Who knows? Maybe I came in here to talk to the pretty new bartender.”

“The pretty new bartender is off-limits Hangman.” Penny calls from the office.

“And why is that?” He calls back.

She appears in the doorway of the office, causing you to look behind you. “Because she’s 22 and fresh out of college.”

“I’ve always liked them young.” He says, eyes raking over you. “Fresh out of college, you say?”

The bell rings again, pulling your attention to the door. “Don’t even think about it, Bagman.” Bradley calls from the front door, striding towards the two of you.

His eyes don’t leave your body, still looking at you like you’re the best thing he’s seen all day. “Oh, but I am Bradshaw.”

Bradley comes in to view, nudging his shoulder. “Stay away from my little sister Bagman.”

That causes the blonde’s eyes to fly up from where they had settled on your chest, rapidly moving between you and Bradley. “You serious Bradshaw?”

“We’re not related.” You answer, finding your voice as two other (you’re assuming) pilots approach the bar. You distantly recognize them as Bob and Phoenix, friends of Bradley’s from the uranium enrichment plant mission that brought him back to San Diego permanently.

The blonde seems to breathe a sigh of relief, body physically sagging with it.

“We might as well be.” Bradley answers, tossing you a look. “Our Dads are friends.”

You snort. “Sure. Friends.”

You recognize a couple of the other pilots that approach the bar from pictures Brad’s sent you, from the Facebook posts Mav makes. From the phone calls with your Dad, talking about the new group of pilots permanently stationed at North Island. From the stories of the legends who had nearly died together, who had all come home.

Bradley rolls his eyes as his friends join him. “You know what I mean. We go way back.”

“Will I ever be able to get rid of you?” You ask ruefully, shooting him a smile.

Bradley pulls his aviators further down on his nose, giving you a smirk and a wink. “Never, darling. You’re stuck with me.” You shake your head as he pushes his aviators back on to his nose. “How’s your first day going?”

You shrug. “It’s a bar job that my Dad hooked up for me so I don’t sit at home twiddling my thumbs for the foreseeable future while I try to figure out what do to do with my life.”

“Hey, shit could always be worse.” He says, offering you a smile.

Natasha, who’ve you learned to recognize from the years she’s been friends with the person who’s inserted himself into your life from the moment you were born, offers you a small smile. “How was graduation?”

“I’m still mad you wouldn’t let me come.” Bradley mutters.

“Okay top 1% Naval aviator who can just drop everything to come to my graduation.” You say, rolling your eyes. “But it was good. I’m happy to be back in San Diego.” You say, now looking back towards Natasha.

“Well, if you ever need anything, give me a holler.” You nod, smiling at her words.

“I know how you could help me.” Hangman says, eyes never leaving yours once.

Bradley leans over to smack him upside the head. “Don’t even think about it Bagman, I’ll drown your ass in the ocean outside.”

And so that’s how it goes.

Everyday after work, Bradley and company would appear at the Hard Deck. You quickly learned their callsigns and their names and their lives, some of the finest people you knew.

Bob, who offered you a goofy smile and would sit at the bar on slow nights, just to chat.

Coyote, who always tipped well.

Fanboy, who sat and discussed the plot line of the latest Pokemon game for the Nintendo Switch in-depth with you.

Payback, who always cracked a joke that made you laugh no matter what kind of day you were having.

Phoenix, also known as Natasha, (to you, just Nat) who always invited you and Callie and Amelia over for girls nights, who felt more like a big sister than a friend, who fit so seamlessly into your life it was like she’d always been there.

And then there was Bagman. Also known as Hangman. Also known as Jake.

Jake, who reveled in the scarlet of your cheeks every time he complimented you, commenting on how flattering your top made your chest look, or how he admired the way the bar lights reflected in your eyes. Jake, who had no problem picking up women, and yet had set his sights on you.

Jake, who was completely and thoroughly off-limits, no matter how much your heart wanted him.

Wanted the man who gave you a dazzling smile every time he entered the bar, who always asked about your day, who always made sure you got home safe. Your stupid heart wouldn’t catch up with what your brain (and everyone else) already knew. That you couldn’t have Jake and even if you could, he didn't want you. You were someone fun to flirt with because ti was easy to fluster you, easy to get under your skin.

So you resigned yourself to hang to the back, to watch him woo women night after night, watch him sleep with anything that had a pulse. To hear about his conquests the next day when he discussed the marks left on his body, the blush of your cheeks at his graphic description of how he got them.

(One time, he asked you if you’d like to do the same to him. You don’t think you breathed properly for fifteen minutes.)

You resigned yourself to be nothing more than the pretty bartender and it stayed that way as the summer months went by.

“This doesn’t seem like your scene. What’re you doing here?”

You jump, relaxing slightly when you catch sight of Jake, dressed in a nice pair of blue jeans and deep emerald green shirt that compliments his eyes. His outfit is completed by the cowboy hat on top of his head, prompting you to giggle and raise an eyebrow. “A cowboy hat? Really?”

He narrows his eyes, bottom lip jutting out as his fingers pass over the rim. “I happen to like it quite a bit. It makes me feel like home. And it is cowboy night after all.” He steps into your space. “But you didn’t answer my question, sweetheart.”

“I could ask you the same thing, Bagman.” You say, although the close proximity of his body to yours is making it hard for you to breath properly.

He shrugs, backing away and falling back to a couch shoved into the corner of the bar. It gives him the perfect view of the bar, even if it’s dimly lit enough for it to make it difficult to see who’s back here. He pats the spot next to him expectantly, as if you joining him is the most natural thing in the world. You sigh, taking the seat next to him as you watch the dancing out on the floor.

“One of my neighbors heard about this and invited me. My Dad has been trying to get me out of the house for anything besides work so here I am.”

He nods, eyes skimming over the crowd. “And your neighbor? Where is she?”

You hum, eyes searching the crowd for the girl. “She’s been dying to meet a cowboy, so maybe I should introduce the two of you- hey, there she is!” You point the girl out. She’s cozied up to another man, also wearing a cowboy hat.

“She’s not my type.” He says, taking a sip of his drink.

You splutter, bringing your gaze back to him. “Not your type? She’s gorgeous.”

He shrugs. “Sure, but that doesn’t mean I’m attracted to her.”

“So then what is your type?” He says nothing, simply bringing his gaze to yours, looking you over once before returning to his gaze to the dance floor. He takes another sip of his drink and you can’t help but watch the way he licks his lips.

“She’s not a very good friend if she’s leaving you alone for any man to swoop in.”

“Oh, like you?” You ask, the words tumbling out of you before you can stop them. You feel your cheeks warm as he returns his piercing gaze to you.

“Perhaps.” He says with a nonchalant shrug, eyes moving over the maroon top on. The one your neighbor had encouraged you to wear because it quote, showed you off in all the right ways. You duck your head, cheeks blooming in an even redder color.

He reaches out, picking you up to set you in his lap, causing you to yelp at the movement. “You gotta warn a girl before you start manhandling them, Seresin.”

“Manhandling?” He asks through a chuckle, raising an eyebrow. “You call that manhandling, sweetheart?”

You huff, your cheeks still warm. Still, your arms fall to sit behind his head, hands coming to cup his neck. One of your hands reaches up, knocking his cowboy hat. “And what is it with this?”

He adjusts it back in to place, frowning. “You don’t like?”

You shrug, unable to look away from his emerald eyes. “Never said I didn’t. What if I wanted to wear the cowboy hat?”

He smirks. “You know the rule, sweetheart.”

You snort. “The rule?”

His smirks grows wider, making a coil tighten in your stomach. “Wear the hat, ride the cowboy.”

Your ears begin to ring as your heart seems to stop in your chest as his words.

You duck your head, cheeks feeling a firetruck red as you take in the implication of his words. He lets you look away for a minute before one of his hands leaves the back of your thigh, reaching up to grab your chin, gently guiding your gaze back to his.

“I mean, only if you want to.”

You’re sure if your brain was an image it would the spinning wheel of your computer restarting as your tongue suddenly goes dry, unsure of what to say.

“I don’t get it.”

He furrows his eyebrows, letting his hand drop from your chin. “What do you mean?”

“I mean- Well, you’ve never shown interest in me before.”

“Yes, I have.” He splutters, eyebrows drawing together even more. “I flirt with you like, all of the time.”

You roll your eyes as his hands moves up to the back of your neck, gently moving your hair to one side. He reaches up to softly adjust your necklace that must have shifted out of place when he’d unceremoniously plopped you in his lap. “You flirt with everything Bagman.”

He leans closer, hovering over your lips. “Not like I flirt with you, sweetheart. And please, I wish you’d just call me Jake.”

You swallow, unable to look away from his piercing eyes. “Okay, Jake.” His hands have fallen back to your waist and he’s made no move to pull back.

“How much have you had to drink tonight?” He whispers, eyes flickering down to your lips.

You blink in surprise. “Hardly anything, why?”

“Because I only want to do this if you want this. And I want you to want this while sober.” You can only bring yourself to nod, words suddenly leaving you. Still, it’s not enough for Jake as he murmurs, “Need to hear you say it sweetheart.”

“I want this.”

It’s all the confirmation Jake needs as he surges forward, connecting his lips to yours. The kiss is strong, stealing any remnants of breath from your chest as both of his hands slip down past your waist to rest on your ass. His grip against you is strong, pulling you farther into him as your hands have nowhere to go back to tug at his hair.

He gently tugs at your bottom lip, cautiously ask for permission. You grant it to him, his tongue heavy against your own. His hands glide over your ass as your own find purchase in his hair, tugging at the strands.

He breaks the kiss, one of his hands sliding up your body to rest on the back of your neck. His touch leaves you feeling warm all over as you pant, struggling to catch your breath as his lips fall to the crook of your neck, pressing gentle yet hungry kisses to the bare skin.

Your eyes flutter close when he finds that spot, teeth digging into your skin. “Jake, you-” You swallow, mouth too dry to speak. “You’re gonna leave a mark.”

“Good.” He mutters into the skin before continuing his work, leaving a bruise you know is gonna be a bitch to deal with in the morning. “Wanna leave a mark to match the color of your cheeks.”

He finally pulls away after taking his sweet time to mark up your neck. “That was hot.” You mutter under his watchful gaze, head still spinning with the way the night is turning out.

“We should get out of here.” He whispers.

“Before you get dishonorably discharged for public indecency?”

His smirk is back as he grips your thighs, leaning in closer. “That’s exactly why sweetheart.”

#jake hangman seresin #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin #jake hangman seresin fic #jake seresin x reader #jake seresin fic #top gun: maverick #top gun: maverick fic

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cowboysandpilots · 11 months

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Bradley draws a picture of him, Ice and Mav for Ice’s birthday, he is very detailed in his explanation for the drawing, Ice maybe cries a little because “that’s you and you’re angry at daddy cause he did something dumb”

(God, I love writing Icemav and baby goose so much. Thank you for this ❤️)

Even as a little kid, Bradley knows he has no money. He can't buy Ice a birthday cake with a fighter jet on it like Ice, and Mav do for him on his birthday, but Ice is always proud of his drawings. He always ruffles Bradley's curls and puts the drawing on the fridge.

Despite the effort on his babysitter's part, Bradley stays in his room all morning at his little desk, working on the perfect drawing for his Papa. Ice and Mav were both at work, and he knew exactly how much time he had before the party tonight. He wanted it to be really special, to give it to his papa before the party so no one else was around, just them, his family.

He's just putting the finishing touches on his perfect drawing when he hears his daddy and papa coming through the door, arguing about something. It's not the angry arguing like the previous day; it's the arguing that makes his daddy laugh, and his papa roll his eyes but still kiss each other. He rushes out of his room and jumps down the stairs to the door and right into Ice's open arms.

"Hi, Papa." He grins.

"Hi, Baby Goose. You have a good day?"

"Uh-huh. I made you something for your birthday." He stays grinning, holding the picture out. It wasn't completely just them; Slider was there too, but it was okay; Bradley loves his Uncle Sli.

"Lemme see then." Ice smiles, holding the picture and inspecting it.

Without any prompting, Bradley starts to launch into an explanation of the drawing. "'Member yesterday, when you were yelling at Daddy 'cause he did something dumb?"

"You shouldn't say dumb." Ice interrupts, "But yes, he was dumb." He adds, throwing a look at his husband.

"Well, that's you yelling at him, but he has these red hearts around his head cuz he still loves you even when you're mad at him." Bradley smiles, but when he flicks his eyes up back to Ice, he notes the tears in his eyes that aren't falling. "You don't like it?" He asks, immediately hurt.

"No, no. I love it, Bradley." Ice assures. "It's perfect, and I love you and Daddy more than anything in the whole wide world." He murmurs, pressing a kiss into the little boy's curls.

"It's a great drawing, buckaroo." Slider adds in, holding his arms out to take Bradley in his arms. "Your papa is just a big sap." He teases, causing Iceman to glare at his RIO. "Now, your daddy and papa need to put that masterpiece up on the fridge, and you and I need to wash our hands so we can have cake." He grins, carrying Bradley to the bathroom.

"For the record," Ice starts, after he puts the drawing up with one of Bradley's letter magnets. "I still love you even when you do something dumb."

"How could you not? Me being dumb is exactly what made you fall for me in the first place." Maverick smirks, pulling Ice in and catching him in a deep kiss full of promises to be carried out after little boys go to bed. "Happy Birthday, Loverboy" He smirks.

—

✨REQUEST A COMMISSION✨

#icemav #bradley bradshaw #toddler!Bradley #top gun #top gun fic #top gun fanfiction #top gun fandom #top gun drabble #top gun fanfic #top gun maverick #top gun 1986 #top gun rooster #bradley bradshaw fanfiction #icemav fanfiction #iceman x maverick #icemav fic #my writing

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kittywillcutyou · 7 months

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Pleeeeaase, Heeeellpp!

I can't find this one IceMav fanfic where Mav punches out the Darkstar and thinks he's gonna die but instead of dying, he wakes up in the past, injured, bleeding on the side of the road outside of the standard issued houses.

He looks like fucking roadkill but what he doesn't initially know is that he's back in his younger body.

Slider finds him when he comes out one of the house and all Hell breaks loose! He starts yelling for Ice and Goose and THEN things start to get REALLY REAL for Mav cause he's concussed and in sooo much pain but Goose is here and alive and he thinks if he's dead then this is okay but then Ice shows up as beautiful as he remembers and young and strong and aviators gleaming and holy shit what the fuck is going on???

Basically, Mav cries and slurs a lot of apologies, passes out on them scaring the ever-loving SHIT outta all of them, wakes up in the hospital, lies about how he may have(?) gotten his very serious injuries, has weird...trauma like responses...he's real off and the guys start making assumptions and things just get REAL PROTECTIVE real quick cause it seems like someone may have hurt Mav BAD and he's not talkin' and oooooh booooooy.

I CAN'T FIND IT!!! 😭😭😭

#icemav #time travel #time travel AU #alternate universe - time travel fix-it #alternate universe #fanfiction #i'm foaming at the mouth #it's my fav in-progress Top Gun time travel fic #icemav time travel #ao3 fanfic #ao3

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shit-sorry-fuck-mybad · 17 days

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I think Bradley technically could go to Ice and Mav for dating advice but it’s not all that useful because it’s basically either “I don’t know how I did it, kid” and “I just hated him until I didn’t? And it happened?” So not a lot to work with

So he goes to uncle Slider, and it’s not much better?? Cause Slider’s dating advice is basically a list of what not to do, taken from his time witnessing icemav’s beginning

So Slider’s advice is:

Don’t snap your teeth at them

Don’t insult them

Don’t stare at them from across the room with a weird smirk on your face, everyone can see you and you look ridiculous

DON’T snap your teeth at them please

Don’t play any sport shirtless against each other, it gets weird for everyone

Don’t eye fuck each other in the locker room, it also gets weird for everyone

DON’T FUCKING SNAP YOUR TEETH AT THEM

The only thing Bradley retains from all that is to not snap his teeth at them… no hope for the rest… hangster is just icemav with less teeth snapping

#icemav #he’s asking for advice for hangman #hangster #lol #top gun #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchell #bradley rooster bradshaw #ron slider kerner #slider is traumatized #he doesn’t even know how he got with his wife #he just remembers that he DIDNT SNAP HIS TEETH AT HER

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compacflt · 10 months

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for todays wip wednesday i thought it would be kind of fun to do a little wips vs final drafts post just to kind of illustrate how far back first drafts can really start. so following the famous 5+1 fanfic format (4+1 cause u can only post 10 pics on mobile)—four wips (left) & their related final drafts (right) + one that is still a wip (bottom two)

#in the doodle those are supposed to be their eyebrows fyi #this post is just cause we writers like to suck our own dicks sometimes #an anon sent in a follow up ask after my writing advice post talking about little notebooks…#i have gone through three 200 pg notebooks during the drafting of some of this content lol #one 200 pg notebook was basically ONLY slider one shot content #1. the little doodle that led to the cyclone one shot #2. ayrmy…. this doesn’t even count as a 0.5 draft #3. this is not the first attempt at this scene. this big blowup scene went through like a dozen different drafts #& it’s still kind of whatever imo #5. here are my original notes/outline for wwgattai :) it’s all i had to go on for the entire story #the first concrete image for the entire story i had was of mav begging ice to quit smoking #and ice quitting only cause he asked out loud #6. this is the WIP. female mav for a prompt fill. will then lead to of course! lesbian charliemav.#thanks for tolerating all my wip wednesdays :) they’re just kind of fun for me even if nothing makes sense out of context #top gun #top gun maverick #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchell #icemav #top gun fanfiction #edts notes #btw in the cyclone excerpt epaulettes should be shoulderboards whoops #ignore the weird tag numbers there were originally 6

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whohasthecards · 8 months

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IceMav Drabble

Just thinking about Ice coming home to his and Mav's home after a stressful day from work. He spent the whole day putting out fires and to make things worst, had to deal with homophobic talk. He and Mav hid their relationship well, but with how they were in the Navy, he couldn't outright shut it down, just glare at the other admiral and say something about focusing on work and important shit rather than gossiping around. He comes home exhausted.

---

Ice kicks off his shoes before he leans on the doorframe to the living room. Mav grinning widely at him from his sprawled position on the couch, a box of pizza in front of him, with a bottle of cold beer, and the sounds of the NFL blasting from the TV.

He gave a small sigh before smiling back softly at his husband in everything but in the eyes of the law. Not that it matters.

Mav's face quickly changed into a frown and he jumped out of the sofa and turned off the TV as he went to stand before Ice, cupping the other man's face, Ice instinctively leaning into it.

"Hard day at work?" Mav asked softly, thumbing Tom's cheek to smooth out the wrinkles beginning to deepen.

"Yeah," Tom said wrapping his arms around Pete's waist to pull him closer and leaning forward to nuzzle into his lover's neck. Pete reciprocating by wrapping his arms around Tom's shoulders, running a hand through the hair on the base of the other man's neck.

Pete always ran warm. It made sense, Pete always had energy, always moving around, even at rest, Tom would bet that energy would be bouncing around inside of the smaller man. Too much energy for his body. Makes him the perfect teddy bear.

They stood there for a while before Tom straightened up, "wait here a bit, love," he said giving Pete a chaste kiss before going to the corner of the room where a radio sat on a small side table.

Soft notes of the piano starts playing and Tom turned to hold a hand out to Pete a smile tugging at his lips.

"Humor me?" Tom asks and Pete smiled in response as he took Tom's hand.

Wise men say, "Only fools rush in."

Tom pulled Pete close and put both his hands on the other man's hips, Pete putting his on Tom's arms, "If I could do our whole relationship again, I would have come for you faster," Tom said leaning down to kiss Pete on the side of his lips before pulling back and smiling widely, "Cause I can't help, falling in love with you."

Pete snorted as he wrapped an arm around Tom's waist, and nudged Tom to start swaying side to side in the middle of their living room.

Would it be a sin, If I can't help falling in love with you?

Tom could count more admirals he interacts with who would count it as a sin. If he counted the other sailors he had worked with, he would lose count quite easily. Although he wouldn't know what would be difficult, counting how many people would consider his and Pete's love a sin, or counting how many people would accept them? With how the world is right now, he would never know. A part of him would not want to know the former.

Tom rested his forehead on Pete's forehead, "If love is a sin, I would sin a thousand times over just for you."

Pete looked him in the eyes brows furrowed, "Tom?" Pete's face then changed from shock to anger before it softened as Pete sighed and his shoulders sagged as he cupped a hand around Tom's neck to bring him lower and press a kiss on his forehead. Then a kiss to each of his cheeks. Then one more soft kiss on the lips.

"Some things are meant to be," Pete sand softly. "Doesn't matter what they think. If our love is the only sin the great Iceman commits, then the world should be thankful," Pete said smiling widely at him.

Take my hand

Tom entwined both his and Pete's hands together, resting one on Pete's hips, softly swaying them to a slow, gentle, spin. Unlike the aerobatics they were both accustomed in participating in when they were both up in fighter jets, pushing their jets to mach speeds.

Take my whole life too.

"You have it," Tom whispered in Pete's ear.

For I can't help, Falling in love with you.

Pete framed Tom's face with his hands before surging forward to kiss him.

Thomas "Iceman" Kazansky, ice cold, no mistakes. But if there is one person who would make him stray from protocol, and one person he would gladly be a fool for, it would be Pete "Maverick" Mitchell.

#fanfic #top gun maverick #pete maverick mitchell #top gun #top gun fandom #tom iceman kazansky #wow a drabble without Jake? Shocking #icemav #iceman x maverick #iceman top gun #i dont know what I wrote to be honest #let me know what you guys think of this one and my other stuff #I read them all and thank you for them

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qedart · 9 months

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Time Warp AU - #14 Well this update just didn't want to come together. But finally it's done (all 8K+ of it 😬) and I'm actually rather happy with how it turned out. So I hope you all enjoy this offering of Pete emotional H/C with a side of parental Icemav.

Honestly, Pete had never really got the big deal about birthdays. Sure, when he was little they seemed important. They’re supposed to, when you’re young. But he wasn’t a child anymore.

He’d learned a long time ago that simply managing to make it through the year wasn’t exactly cause for celebration. A few rounds of people forgetting, ignoring, or scoffing at him for waiting for some kind of acknowledgment of the date had made it all very clear to him - nobody gives a damn about stuff like that, and you look pathetic if anybody catches on that you might.

So he didn’t. Doesn’t.

For the longest time now, the only real significance that that day held for him was as a marker of his being one year closer to independence. Living with Mav and Ice, even that didn’t provide the same spiteful satisfaction that it once had.

These days, he didn’t count down the months until he was free of the people he found himself in the midst of. Quite the opposite really. Ice, Maverick, Tom, the Daggers, the uncles… they were good people. Good, kind, safe people - and they actually seemed to like Pete being around.

Nothing lasts forever though, of course. He knew that. He was well aware that he was one big screw up away from blemishing whatever image they all had of him, one proper misstep from sending the whole house of cards he’d built around himself from falling to the ground in one way or another. And he was well overdue for one of those mistakes. Unfortunately, it was an inevitability. The sky is blue. Water is wet. Pete Mitchell messes up nice things.

He tried not to let it bother him too much.

It was better to just live in the moment, and at this particular moment he had far bigger concerns than inevitabilities or the fact that he was turning 17 in a week. The chief among them - Maverick was turning 60.

Unlike Pete’s birthday, that was something significant. That was important. That was worthy of celebration.

Up until this whole time-warp fiasco went down, Pete would have put money on him (any version of him) not making it past 30. 60 was double that! It demanded celebration, even if Mav himself had developed a habit of referring to the subject of his age merely as ‘the situation’.

So when Ice suggested a little lunchtime get-together by the Hard Deck the coming Saturday ‘for the birthday we’ve got coming up’, he agreed that it was a fantastic idea.

“Penny’s got a barbecue there that we could use I’m pretty sure,” Tom chipped in over his cereal.

“Nice. I’ll be there if there’s food,” Pete grinned as he made a bowl for himself.

Tom rolled his eyes.

“You were going to be there anyway, numb-skull.”

“Boys, please,” Ice sighed, before Pete could return fire. “I’ve not had my coffee yet, let’s just hold off on the bickering for a little while longer.”

Pete sniffed when Tom promptly shot him an exceedingly smug smirk.

“I’d get drinking if I were you.”

“Pete.”

“Fine,” Pete huffed, before turning back to Ice. “The beach sounds great though. Want us to bring anything?”

“Just yourselves,” Ice replied, shaking his head. “Mav and I will sort out the logistics.”

And that was that. Party at the beach to celebrate Mav’s 60th, be there at 12. Sorted.

The rest of the week went by like normal, for the most part. He was asked if he was excited about the party a bit more often than he expected he would be, but he figured it was just people making conversation. He and Tom spent most of Thursday trying to find the old man a fitting birthday present.

“You’ve seen the hanger! How are we supposed to top that?!”

“I think we should probably start by setting our sights a little lower.”

In the end they decided to both go in on a new camera, figuring it was the most affordable of Mav’s hobbies to tap into.

When the day itself eventually did roll around, Pete was up and out of bed by dawn. Not due to excitement, and not due to any additional birthday gestures like he’d been contemplating (a fry up was always a good start to the day, after all), no - due to Tom.

“We’re going for a ride and you’re going to enjoy it,” he announced the second Pete woke (with a start, thanks to the other boy dropping his riding jacket and boots on top of him). “Up and at ‘em.”

“But what about Mav’s-?”

“We’ll see him at the party, I’ve left a note,” Tom announced, grabbing the end of Pete’s quilt and dragging it out of the room with him. “Mush.”

“I hate you!”

“Hate me on the move. There is breakfast with our name on it somewhere.”

“Ugh!”

The ride, annoyingly, was fantastic. The roads were mostly clear, and riding with Tom was always a blast. Tom even bought him breakfast and a couple of pastries for after (“It’s your birthday, idiot. Of course I’m shouting”). It was… well, nice. Pete didn’t care about birthdays, he really didn’t, but even still… it was just nice. Sitting at the look out, munching on the food his best friend had bought for him, he found himself feeling genuinely content with life and how it was turning out. A year ago, he wouldn’t have been able to bring himself to even imagine that. It was a moment he resolved to savour.

“You feel any different?” Tom asked, smirking as he dusted the icing sugar from his Pączki off his fingers.

Pete scoffed at the question, rolling his eyes.

“Oh yeah,” he replied, nodding seriously. “I feel like I’ve levelled up, you know? Way more mature now. I feel like I’ve really grown as a person.”

“And yet not an inch vertically? Life’s not fair, is it-?”

“Fuck you!”

Tom snickered, ducking out of the way of the hand Pete swung at the back of his head, before holding his own up in surrender.

“Seriously though, happy birthday,” he said, shooting Pete a warm smile that made his stomach do that fluttering thing he’d noticed it doing more and more often lately.

Smiling himself and ducking his head, Pete shrugged.

“Thanks,” he said. “It’s not really a big deal.”

“Well as somebody with a vested interest in your being born, I reckon it is,” Tom retorted, rolling his eyes.

Pete scoffed, a teasing grin tugging at his lips as he folded his arms over his knees.

“A vested interest, huh?”

“Don’t let it get to your head.”

“Nawww, you do like me,” Pete snickered.

“You’re letting it get to your head.”

“Is that why you brought me out here, to confess your undying love?”

“In. your. dreams,” Tom scoffed, rolling his eyes. “Bringing you out here was my present to both you and Mav.”

“How is me going to go for a ride and being bought breakfast a present for Maverick?

“You going for a ride and being bought breakfast means both you and I are here, not at home. Which means Mav and Ice have the whole place to themselves, all morning. And there’s no chance of either of us overhearing anything and being scarred for life.”

Pete blinked at that, before pulling a face at the thought of Mav’s birthday ride and announcing, utterly serious, “You’re the best friend a guy could ever ask for.”

“I know,” Tom drawled, before shrugging as he tucked the rubbish from his breakfast into his backpack. “And maybe I wanted to get in first with the birthday wishes.”

“Always a competition with you, isn’t it?” Pete scoffed, ignoring the other boy’s derisive snort as he jumped back to his feet. “Race you back to the Hard Deck!”

“Absolutely not!” Tom snapped, hurrying to his feet all the same as Pete bounded over to the bikes. “That flies entirely in the face of the contract!”

“I laugh in the face of the contract!”

“Yes! That’s why it took so long to draft! Pete!”

They didn’t end up racing back, much to Tom’s relief. As a result, by the time they pulled up, pretty much everybody had arrived at the beach. Bradely, Hangman, and Phoenix were still by the Bronco though, pulling the last of their stuff out the back.

“Ah, the birthday boy has arrived,” Hangman cried as they wandered over.

“Ha ha,” Pete scoffed, rolling his eyes before turning to Rooster. “Hey, can we dump our helmets and stuff in your car?”

“Sure, the back seat should be free,” he replied as he hefted the cooler from the trunk. “But really, happy birthday, Pete.”

“Ah, thanks?” Pete replied, a confused smile tugging at his lips as he stepped out of the way for Tom to stow his stuff away as well. That’s two times today. Weird.

“What’s with the face?” Phoenix asked, laughing. “17 is a big deal.”

Pete laughed.

“Yeah right,” he replied, stooping to grab one of the bags from their pile. “16’s supposed to be a big deal, and 18 definitely is. 17’s just there.”

“Agree to disagree. But, that raises a good question,” replied Jake, a mischievous grin spread across his face. “What sort of Sweet 16 fiasco are we competing with today?”

Pete arched a brow at the question, but figured it made sense. Out of all the milestone birthdays, 16 was the only relevant one he and Mav had an overlap on. Though he wasn’t sure how much “I spent most of it in the ER with a broken arm’ would help with gauging the temperature for how this one was going.

Instead he just shrugged.

“Nothing really special. I’m sure this’ll be way better.”

“That’s what we’re aiming for,” Jake replied with a grin, ruffling Pete’s hair (and then, far more amusingly, Tom’s), before leading the way over to the sand.

Pete blinked as they drew closer. A lot of people had turned up. All of the daggers were here, pitching up chairs and umbrellas or tossing a football (actually, two footballs) around while almost all the uncles and even Viper milled about among them. Mav, Ice, Slider, and Penny were getting the barbecue started, chatting with Warlock and Cyclone (which was weird, but probably Ice’s doing). He even spotted Amelia and Theo slip out of the Hard Deck, deep in conversation with Hondo (about something nerdy and interesting no doubt) to join the group.

“Damn, Mav sure invited a lot of people for someone who pulls faces whenever anybody utters the number 60 around him,” he laughed as he hefted the bag further up his shoulder. “Or are you all gatecrashing just to torment him?”

Jake snorted at that, rolling his eyes.

“Nah. Though he is being a baby about it, so if we did it would be his own fault,” he replied.

“He actually ordered us not to mention ‘the situation’ the other day,” Bradley scoffed, shaking his head.

“In fairness, Roo - you and Bagman were having a lot of fun at his expense,” said Phoenix as they all dropped their bags on the sand and set about making camp. She grinned at Pete and Tom. “There have been lots of fossil jokes. These two even smuggled a walker on base and swapped it with his lectern before debrief. He had to walk it to the side of the classroom.”

“Cruel,” Tom snickered from beside him. “Funny, but cruel.”

“You know it,” Jake cackled, dropping his bags down on the sand before stretching his arms over his head. “But nah, he’s opted out of a group celebration. Don’t know why. But I’m afraid that means you’re flying solo today, baby bro.”

Pete blinked again.

“...I’m what?”

“You’ve got the spotlight pretty much to yourself today,” Bradley replied, shrugging like it was the simplest thing. “Apparently he’s got some day-trip planned with Ice tomorrow, so he’s sorted. That just leaves you with all of the attention. Reckon you can handle that?”

…Shit.

Shit, shit shit - he had not prepared for this. He’d not expected this. What the hell even was this?! He’s turning 17. Who gives a shit?! Why the hell would all of these people come out here, some of them a hell of a long way, just for him?! They wouldn’t. Had they not been told it was just for him? Did Mav wriggle out of this at the last second and now he had 20+ people who’d pretty much written off half their weekend for no reason on his hands?

“Pete, you alright?” Tom asked, shaking his shoulder, a worried expression on his face.

Pete grimaced, before glancing around at the others and finding them all looking at him with concern.

He pulled on a wide grin and laughed.

“Me? Yeah, of course!” he replied cheerily, mind racing all the while. He needed a minute to himself. To come up with a plan. To fix this.

Quickly turning back to the others, slapping his forehead as he did, he said, “You know what? I think I left my phone on my bike. Just gonna go grab that, can’t lose another one. Are you guys good here for a sec?”

“I mean, yeah,” Tom said slowly, frowning.

“Great!” Pete cheered (perhaps a bit too overzealously, but whatever) before spinning around and, with a quick “Back in a moment!” taking off back up the beach.

Right, step one, calm the hell down. He had to get a hold of himself and he had to do it now.

Alright, it was a surprise. Alright, there were probably going to be some irritated people down there. So what? He could deal with irritated people. He could deal with people that actively wanted to kick his ass, irritated is nothing. Why the hell was he freaking out so much? Less than a year of being treated nicely and he’d gone completely soft, seriously?

He shook his head roughly.

He was fine. This was fine. He’d make it work somehow. He just needed to stop acting like a baby and come up with a plan of action.

He could direct attention back to Maverick. The old man can try and wriggle out of it all he likes but two can play this game. He’ll stick around for an hour, direct as much attention to Mav as possible, whip Jake and Bradely up into enough of a frenzy to keep the momentum going and then make a classy exit. Nobody will even remember he was here and they’ll forget all about this misunderstanding. That’s good. That’ll work.

…Unless Mav launches a counter-attack. Which he would.

Shit!

“Pete?”

Pete whirled around and found Mav and Ice approaching, both looking concerned and not all that surprised to see him up here. Goddamnit, Tom, the snitch!!

“What’s going on, kiddo?” Mav asked, cocking his head to the side.

“I mean, that’s a pretty good question man,” Pete replied, running a hand through his hair anxiously as he glanced down at the beach once more before turning his attention (and frustration) back to the older man. “I get that you’ve got some sort of three quarter life crisis going on about turning 60, but seriously, throwing me under the bus so you can avoid that is a dick move.”

Mav, the bastard, looked more confused than chastened at the rebuke, exchanging a bemused glance with Ice.

“You’re going to have to spell this one out for us, buddy.”

Pete groaned, folding his hands on top of his head.

“First, explain it to me, guys,” he replied. “What was the plan? Trick everyone here by saying it’s a party for Mav and then hope people aren’t too put out when it turns out it was for the other Mitchell? Jeez guys, I mean, what the hell? Why the hell?! Nobody gives a damn it’s my birthday. I don’t give a damn it’s my birthday. Now it looks like I do, and now I get to look like the stupid little moron who needed people tricked here to pad things out!”

“Pete,” Ice said slowly, holding his hands out like he was trying to calm down some wounded animal. Like Pete was being irrational about this. “You do know this party is for you, right?”

“Yes,” Pete replied with every ounce of patience he possessed. “I’m aware of that. That’s exactly my point”

“No. He means it was always intended to be just for you,” Mav weighed in.

Pete sighed heavily, pinching the bridge of his nose as he tried his very best to channel Ice and remain as diplomatic as he possibly could (it did not help, mind you, that Ice was joining in on this nonsense. But he tried nevertheless).

“Look,” he said with forced calm, “I see what you’re trying to do, and it’s a nice thought. I appreciate that you guys care and want to make a fuss, I do. But you can’t just expect to trick people into writing off half their weekend for one thing, and then bait and switch with a discount offer at the last second. Wood and Wolf flew in from Texas for this, guys. Please. I’ll see if I can get the Daggers to lay off the fossil jokes, but- …what’s this?”

“Read it,” Ice replied, holding his phone out to Pete until he took it and did as he was told.

Jake has named the group chat: Big Effing Deal Jake: First of all, how. dare. you? Nat: Seconded! Both for leaving us out and forcing me to agree with Bagman. Jake: Look what you’ve brought us too!!! Nat: I feel physically sick. Jake: Ditto. Bradley: Wow, you guys really are in sync today. Nat: You take that back!!! Ice: Could somebody please explain what we’re being accused of here. Jake: Betrayal!!! Coyote: Dude - you’ve been hitting the expresso machine again, haven’t you? Mav: Guys. BOB: Rooster mentioned you are having a get together for Pete’s birthday on Saturday and we’re all handling the rejection differently. Fanboy: How could you, Mav? Mav: Well first, there’s no rejection for anybody to handle. We floated the idea of a beach party this morning and he seemed alright with it. So if you guys are free and want to come along, you’re more than welcome to. Jake: Was that so hard?!!!! Mav: If you’d waited a few more hours I’d have invited you in person at work tomorrow. Jake: But Roo gets his invite right away??? :( Ice: Rooster was over during the day, so yes, he heard first. Rooster: Remember how you were supposed to help me fix their gate today? Jake: Nope. Poorly communicated on your part. Jake: Moving swiftly on - we need times. And gift ideas. Nat: What a crappy brother. I got my present for him weeks ago. Payback: Burn. Payback: Also, same. Jake: You’re a pair of goody-goodies, I’m not surprised in the slightest. Jake: Besides it doesn’t matter how early you got it. It’s how good it is. Nat: Got you beat there too Bagman. Jake: Bullshit. Pete and I have a connection. Payback: Is that what we’re calling you being a terrible influence now? Coyote: Just before these three properly kick off - is this a joint birthday bash? Or Pete-specific? Mav: Pete specific. Mav: I’ve already got plans for mine. Ice: And by that he means I have already made plans for him. Ice: They’re on Sunday though, so we’ll be there regardless. Mav: And people think I’m the competitive one. My point is, I’m covered, so don’t go worrying about that. Coyote: Roger that! Fanboy: This is going to be great!! I can bake a cake if you like!!! Lil bro likes chocolate, right? Payback: Guys - take him up on the offer! Phoenix: This! ^^^^^ Ice: That would be lovely, Fanboy, thank you. And yes, chocolate would be well received I expect. Fanboy: Yeeeeeesssss!! Mav: Right, we’re just going to leave you guys to this. Rooster: Oh, actually, just before you go… Bradley’s added Sly-Guy, Chip_P, E!News, Full_M00ning… Mav: Oh you little shit stirrer. Sli-Guy: First of all, how dare you?!

Pete blinked, utterly mystified, as he scrolled through the group chat (which seemed to go on for quite a bit) before eventually turning back to Ice and Mav.

“I… I don’t understand,” he uttered.

“Join the club, kiddo,” Mav replied, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You helped plan this,” Ice pointed out, a baffled expression on his ordinarily nonplussed face. “I specifically asked you if you would like a party at the Hard Deck?”

“I thought you were asking for my input for Mav’s party,” Pete muttered, his cheeks blazing with embarrassment as he realised just how stupid he apparently was.

“The daggers have been talking to you about it all week?” Mav pointed out, equally confused. “Bob asked you what snacks you’d like him to bring.”

“I thought they were coming to me because they couldn’t get anything out of you!” Pete snapped back hotly.

Ice held up a hand, cutting that line of conversation off before it could get too heated. Taking a deep, exceedingly put upon breath, he sighed “Once again, it appears that this family’s outstanding communication skills have come back to bite us all in the ass.”

He turned back to Pete.

“If it’s any consolation, it wasn’t meant to be a surprise party,” he said.

Pete scoffed softly, in spite of himself, but soon enough the begrudging amusement gave way to confusion once more.

“I still don’t understand,” he said. “Why would all of them come out if they knew it was just for me?”

“How’s it any different from them coming out for me?” Maverick asked with a frown.

Pete shrugged.

“They’re your family,” he replied simply. “They’re supposed to show up for you.”

“They’re your family too,” Maverick argued, his frown deepening.

“You do know that, don’t you?” Ice said slowly, eyes narrowed suspiciously.

“Yeah. Course,” Pete muttered, cutting a quick glance to the group in question. Nobody seemed to have noticed they were gone yet, thank goodness. Somehow Pete felt like he’d find himself even more outnumbered if they did. He had to bury this quick though, if he wanted to avoid that fate.

Unfortunately, when he turned back to the oldtimers, Ice had his signature ‘so you’re just going to lie to my face now?’ expression in place. Never a good sign. Also almost never directed at Pete he realised with a dull pain.

“You know, you pull that face every time this topic of conversation comes up.”

“What face?”

“The ‘well if it makes them happy’ face,” Ice replied, folding his arms over his chest. “Be honest with us, Pete. What’s going on here?”

Pete shrunk back a little at that, feeling very much under a spotlight all of a sudden and not entirely sure why.

“N-nothing. Nothing’s going on.”

“Well clearly something is. And just to be clear, do you honestly believe that we’d have all been fine throwing a party for Maverick and doing absolutely nothing for you?” the older man asked, arching a brow pointedly.

“I… I mean… I… I’d get it,” Pete stuttered, heart pounding in his chest. What the hell was going on? What did he even do? He took a step back, giving into the instinct to at least be out of arm's length, only to knock into the back of Ice’s Jeep when he tried. Crap. He was trapped. And he was in trouble. And he didn’t know why.

His alarm must have shown on his face too, because soon enough Ice was taking a step back himself, hands held up disarmingly.

“Pete, I’m not angry with you,” he said, calmly and far gentler than before. “I’m sorry.”

Pete swallowed thickly, but nodded all the same as he tried to rein himself in, to calm down for goodness sake. He was being so damn stupid!!

“I just don’t understand,” Ice continued. “You know everybody here loves you, don’t you? We haven’t dropped the ball that much I hope.”

Embarrassment and shame twisted sickeningly in the pit of Pete’s belly. Because he did know that. He knew how hard everybody had tried to make him and Tom feel welcome. And not just as novelty extensions of Mav and Ice either, but as their own, separate people. They’d all tried so hard to bring them into the family and make them feel like they belonged in it, Pete knew it. He saw it each day. For the most time, he felt it too, but there was just this part of him that wouldn’t allow him to accept it fully. Wouldn’t allow him to trust it. To trust them.

“I’m sorry,” he uttered weakly, staring down at the tips of his boots. “I… I know it doesn’t make sense. It’s not anything you guys have done, or haven’t done. I know how much you’ve all tried to be welcoming. And you have, truly. I love it here… so much. But… but every time I try to… it’s just in the back of my mind I’m always… I…”

He flinched sharply when something touched his arm, but it was just Ice reaching out to him. All of a sudden, that contact, that offer of reassurance was all he wanted. Sighing heavily he stepped forward and leaned against the old man’s chest, dragging in a deep, calming breath as Ice’s arms wrapped around him, squeezed him in a tight.

“I love it here,” he uttered. “And everybody here… and I know they- you all care - about me and Tom. But I just know…”

He sighed deeply.

“It’s just… self-preservation, I guess. I know it’s going to really hurt, so much, when I mess up. I didn’t care, when it was just some other home I was stuck in longer than usual, but now… now it’s probably too late already. When I mess up and have to go-”

“Hey, who said anything about you going anywhere,” Ice said with a frown, holding him closer. “We told you, you have a place in this family for life. Nothing will change that.”

Pete sighed sadly, shaking his head where it was pressed to Ice’s sternum. They didn’t get it. They felt that way now, but it wouldn’t last.

“No matter how hard you try, you’re going to end up alone.”

Both Pete and Ice froze at that, before turning to face Maverick, who looked all the world like he’d just commented on the weather rather than putting one of Pete’s deepest, most painful fears to words. And he wasn’t done.

“We’re going realise just how messed up you really are. How much damage has been done. How much of it can’t be undone. And, most importantly, how much of it you probably deserved. And sooner or later we’ll change our mind about you. It’s all well and good to say we’ll always want you in the family if we haven’t seen the full picture yet, because let’s face it, you’re on the good behaviour streak of a lifetime right now. But sooner or later, you’re going to mess up, because that’s what you do. And then we’ll see the real you. The screw up. The waste of space. The guy everybody else can see clearly. Eventually the rose-coloured glasses will come off and we’ll really see you for what you are. We’ll get tired of trying to bring somebody into a family who doesn’t deserve to be in it and clearly is meant to be on their own. It’ll be better for everyone to just stop trying. We probably won’t kick you out, to be fair - but when you head off to college or the academy… the calls and emails will peter out. Tom will probably find his own people too, when he’s got other options. He’ll stop spending time with you too. It’ll probably be pretty amicable really. But everybody will just go on with their life and there will be no room for you in them. That will be that. Better to just accept it now, try not to get too attached to how things are, so when it happens, at least you won’t look like you were blindsided by it all. It’s a bit less pathetic if you at least saw it coming.”

Pete’s stomach sunk so fast through the blacktop it felt like he was pulling negative G’s. Mav knew. Mav saw how this was going to play out just as clearly as he did. The first card in his little house was beginning to wobble.

To his horror he felt his face beginning to heat up and his eyes beginning to sting. He dragged in a deep, shuddering breath, squeezing them shut tight. He wasn’t a baby. This wasn’t a surprise. He wasn’t going to start crying in the middle of the car park where everybody could see him like some child.

He jumped as an arm wrapped around his shoulders and looked up to find Ice, holding him close again, and leading them to the space between his jeep and Bradley’s Bronco - more or less out of sight from the rest of the group.

“Sit down and take a few deep breaths for me, kiddo,” he murmured, manoeuvring Pete until he was sitting down on the gravel, back pressed against the rubber of the Bronco’s tyre. Biting his lip, he folded his arms tight over his chest, knees drawing up as Ice kneeled down beside him and wrapped an arm back around his shoulders, rubbing up and down his arm soothingly all the while.. “In and out. Just like that. What the hell, Mav?”

“Just trying to work out what we’re dealing with here,” Maverick replied, sounding tired and sad now. “Pete, can you look at me?”

Pete really didn’t want to. This was all humiliating and painful enough without risking bursting into tears the second he made eye contact with the old man as well. But, at the same time, this was the reality of the situation, and closing his eyes and hiding from it wasn’t going to change anything either, except to make him look even more childish. So whether he wanted to or not, he didn’t have much of a choice.

Clenching his jaw tight and breathing in deeply through his nose, he (as resolutely as he could manage) lifted his head and met Mav’s eye. He wasn’t expecting to be met with a sympathetic expression. How could Mav see him so clearly, and still look at him like that.

“Does that about sum it up?” the old man asked, cocking his head to the side. “What’s going on in that head of yours.”

Scrubbing roughly at his face, Pete nodded his head.

“M-more or less.”

Mav hummed thoughtfully, pausing a moment, before smiling and sitting down properly across from them.

“You know,” he said, leaning back on his hands. “The first time I met Carole, she scared that absolute crap out of me.”

Pete blinked, confused at the strange turn their conversation had taken, but interested all the same. Mav wasn’t shy with talking about Goose or Carole, but he’d never heard that.

A fond smile tugged at the edges of the old man’s mouth as he looked up wistfully at the sky.

“People underestimated her. She was so loud and joyous all the time, most people figured she was probably a bit dim. But they had no idea. Sure she was smart enough, but her real strength was with people. She had this way of looking at a person, just looking at them, and seeing past all the bullshit.”

He shook his head.

“The first shore leave after Goose and I became a team, Goose insisted that I come home with him. He hadn’t realised until we were literally docking that I didn’t have anywhere to go, so the second he put the pieces together it was, ‘Come on, you have to, Mav! It’ll be great. You can meet Carole. You guys will get on like a house on fire, I know it’. And I, for the life of me, couldn’t come up with a good enough excuse to convince him otherwise. I think I was a bit blindsided that he was offering to spend more time together at all.”

He scoffed.

“Either way, the pressure was dialled up to 11,” he drawled. “Not only would I have to stay on my best behaviour for even longer, to keep Goose on side - and I’d been on a 6 month streak at that point and felt the end looming. But I also had to become best friends with his wife, immediately. Otherwise he’d wonder how he got that one so wrong. Then he’d look closer, and he’d see everything he’d somehow missed about me before. See exactly where I was lacking. Me getting to keep the one person in the navy, hell, the one person in the world that gave a damn about me - depended on this month going well.”

Rubbing at his scratchy eyes, Pete leaned a little more into Ice’s side, before asking. “You managed to pull that off?”

“Hell no, I lasted less than a week,” Mav scoffed, shaking his head. “And it only lasted that long because Goose and Carole had the patience of saints.”

Pete frowned. That didn’t make sense. He might not know this story but he knew a hell of a lot of the others that came later. He knew Mav stayed friends with Goose, and Carole as well, for years after when this would have happened. How could it not have worked? How did he screw up that badly and still manage to keep them around?

He shot Ice a confused glance, receiving a ‘just roll with it’ shrug in response.

“Carole was living in this tiny town in the middle of nowhere Texas at the time. Her aunt needed help moving or something. Unfortunately that meant I had had about six hours of travelling to work myself up and come up with a game plan for how I was going to make it all work. Going in with a charm offensive wouldn’t have done it, Goose would feel like making moves on his wife, Carole would feel like I was a creep, and I’d be stuck with both of them feeling like that for a month. I couldn’t risk being myself, for reasons already discussed. So I decided on the red carpet treatment. From the second I got out of Goose’s truck to the second we got back in it to head back to the airport, Carole Bradshaw would be shown a level of respect and deference that no admiral had or has ever received from me. The queen of England could have come around and found it excessive. But it was the best I had.

“I addressed her as ma’am, I stood when she walked into the room or got up from the table, I tried to help out around the house as much as I possibly could. A big part of the plan was also trying to give her and Goose as much space and time to themselves as possible. I wasn’t supposed to be there, and the absolute last thing I wanted is for them to miss out on time together because Goose felt obliged to bring me along with him. On paper, I thought it worked. Be respectful and stay out of the way. Unfortunately, in practice it went more along the lines of me actively avoiding everybody like it was my job and, whenever I couldn’t, making the situation so awkward it was uncomfortable for everybody. And it was uncomfortable. My god. Goose and Carole, they tried so hard to get me to relax, come out of my shell, do the exact opposite of what I was trying to do essentially. It was not going well,” Mav laughed, rubbing the back of his neck and shaking his head at the memory.

“Goose knew I was acting off, which was putting me even more on edge. And I knew I was quickly moving past that ‘meeting new people is awkward sometimes’ grace period straight into ‘this little twerp I’ve known for a few months has got a problem with the love of my life’ territory. So not ideal. And Carol… Carol knew from the beginning that I was putting up a front, which made settling around her pretty much impossible.”

Pete grimaced sympathetically at the thought of it all.

“At least you stuck it out,” he muttered. “I would have just left at that point.”

“Oh, I did,” Mav replied without missing a beat. “About five days in everything finally bubbled over. Goose tried to coax me into telling him what was wrong for about the millionth time and… well, after days of constantly being on red alert, barely sleeping from the stress, just second guessing every single move or sound I made while knowing, in spite of trying my best, it was all going to hell - I sort of lost it on him. Told him he could take whatever friendship he thought we had and shove it where the sun don’t shine because I sure as hell didn’t need it or him. That I'd been on my own for over half my life and I didn’t need anybody, thank you very much, least of all some hapless, sheltered country-boy who clearly didn’t know what was good for him if it smacked him in the face. Then I grabbed my bag and went straight to the train station.”

Pete blinked owlishly at that, confused to say the least.

“But I thought Goose was your best friend,” he said.

“He was,” Mav replied.

“Even after that?!”

“I know, I was surprised too.”

Pete frowned, puzzling it over as Mav laughed softly and shook his head..

“This being the tiny town it was, the train didn’t run very often, and I’d missed the one for that day - which was just the cherry on the top really. I figured I’d just spend the night on the platform. Didn’t want to risk missing the next one, and I was feeling pretty sorry for myself at the time so it seemed fitting. Which was exactly where Carole found me three hours later.”

Ice scoffed softly beside Pete, shaking his head with a fond smile of his own.

“Mother Goose sent in the big guns then,” he drawled.

“I honestly have no idea if Goose even knew,” Mav replied, smiling reminiscently himself. “I think she just figured she’d given us both enough time to sulk and decided enough was enough.”

He chuckled, tilting his head back as he recalled the encounter.

“She came over and sat down on the ground beside me,” he said, looking around them, the corner of his lips twitching a fraction higher. “Sorta like we are right now.”

Pete smiled weakly at that.

“She sat with me for the longest time, didn’t say a word, just waited me out, until she could tell I was ready to actually listen to her. Then she took my hand and said, “You know what, honey? If you were half as rotten as you’re afraid you are, you wouldn’t care nearly as much as you do”.”

Pete ducked his head as, all at once, tears started welling up once again. God he wanted that to be true. With every fibre of his being he did. He bit his lip as he felt Ice pull him a little tighter against his side, and heard Mav scoot closer himself, reaching out and rubbing his arm himself.

“Do you think she was right about that,” he uttered, voice crackling with the strain of keeping himself together.

Mav smiled, squeezing Pete’s arm gently as he inclined his head.

“Honestly, I always had my doubts,” he confessed. “But these days… I think she probably was.”

Before he could stop them, a couple of the tears Pete had been battling against broke free and rolled down his cheeks.

“Oh, buddy,” Mav sighed, reaching up to rub the moisture away. “I’m so sorry. Sometimes I forget how much all of that stuff hurt.”

Pete leaned into the contact, the corner of his mouth twitching a little as he did so.

“Actually pretty good to hear that from my perspective,” he murmured, drawing soft scoffs from the oldtimers.

Shaking his head fondly, Mav patted Pete’s arm one last time before folding them over his crossed legs.

“I’m telling you this for two reasons,” he said, ducking his head to meet Pete’s eye once again. “First, and I really am sorry for this but, unfortunately, this is just one of those cards that you and I got dealt. This is something that you were always going to have to work through. Being on your own for so long, and getting told so many times and in so many ways that nobody wants you, and nobody will ever want you - it leaves a mark. That doesn’t mean you’re broken. It's just a hurdle that we get that some people don’t. Everyone’s got their own set. For us - it’s being very, very aware of just how much other people can hurt you, while at the same time knowing how much the alternative hurts too.”

Pete sighed softly, but nodded all the same. That point wasn’t exactly news to him, but it still sucked hearing it all the same.

“And second,” Mav said, reaching out and brushing Pete’s hair back from his face with a small, reassuring smile. “Even though it doesn’t always feel like it, and that feeling will flare up from time to time unfortunately, some people really do stay.”

Pete lifted his head to look at the old man properly, something like hope fluttering weakly in the pit of his belly.

“They stick by you as long as they possibly can, through more crap than you could possibly imagine. I know it’s hard to really let yourself believe that right now. I know it feels like the second you do it’ll all fall apart around you, like a house of cards. But that will fade with time and with evidence. You’re just going to have to trust me until then. You’re not meant to be alone. There’s nothing fundamentally wrong or bad about you. The people who are worth a damn, they stay - you just have to let them in in the first place.”

The older man leaned closer, whispering conspiratorially, “Just be careful, because once you do, it’s all bets off. I had one moment of weakness around Slider 36 years ago and now I’m stuck with him.”

Pete laughed wetly at that, smiling back as Mav practically beamed at him.

“I hope you’re right,” he uttered, rubbing again at his face.

“I am,” Mav replied, nodding firmly. “And look, I’m not going to lie to you and promise forever. Nobody knows what’s around the corner. Hell, a tsunami could take us all out right now.”

Pete scoffed softly, rolling his eyes as Maverick ruffled his hair teasingly.

“But the stuff you’re worried about, the mistakes you’re worried about making, I’m sorry but they’re just not gonna cut it.”

Ice nodded at that.

“Unfortunately, to shake us at this point you’d have to do things that you’re simply not capable of. And they certainly wouldn’t be accidental.”

Pete frowned slightly, glancing between the two of them.

“...Could you give me a clue?” he asked. “You know, to be safe.”

Ice scoffed softly, before cocking his head to the side thoughtfully.

“Alright. We’re talking about doing things that would deliberately traumatise others. Not accidents, like a car crash or getting in a really bad fight, though we’d all rather you avoided that too. Stuff that’s just evil. Things specifically done to make somebody else feel afraid or humiliated or less than” Ice replied calmly, brow rising pointedly. “Do you feel that avoiding that sort of behaviour would be a struggle for you?”

“Fuck, no,” Pete replied, nose wrinkling at the thought of doing anything along those lines.

Ice nodded.

“There you go. There’s the bar,” he replied simply. “Anything above that? Worst case scenario, you’re the pain in the ass of the week. And that’s a title we’ve all held at one point or another.”

“Even you?”

“Unjustly,” he sniffed.

“Ask Uncle Sli about it some time,” Mav replied without missing a beat, before turning back to Pete before Ice could retort. “Honestly kiddo, do you really think Bradely was an angel growing up?”

“Well… yeah?”

“Think again,” Ice drawled.

Mav hummed, nodding seriously.

“Off the top of my head, there was that time he threw a party with his baseball team while we were out of town and trashed the house.”

“The bike he borrowed without asking, rode unlicensed, and totalled - on a dare.”

“The kitchen he nearly burned down because ‘guys - you can’t pause online games, how many times do I have to tell you?’ and ‘I want bacon’ turned out to be a bad mix.”

“The spy-phase that ended with him trying to sneak onto a military base, ours that is, and then refusing to answer any questions or co-operate after getting caught.”

“I maintain that that was mostly Hollywood’s fault for taking him to watch True Lies.”

Pete blinked, stunned by the antics of, by far, one of the more mature ‘big brothers’ he had.

Ice scoffed, rolling his eyes with a fond smile.

“And we still love the kid. Did back then when it happened and through much less amusing run-ins too,” he said, before squeezing Pete a little tighter to his side. “So try not to worry so much. You’re a kid, you’re supposed to do stupid things. Mav does stupid things every other day and we still keep him around. And that’s these days. He was an absolute menace when I first met him. And six years older than you are now. You’re a dream in comparison.”

Mav huffed.

“You are a delight,” he said, patting Pete on the shoulder, before shooting his husband a pointed look. “But I think some people are forgetting which one of us introduced himself by immediately talking shit.”

“We were competing and the fact that you still bring it up almost 40 years later just further emphasises what a sound psychological victory that introduction was for me.”

“I mean I wanted to kick your ass all the more afterwards, so I’m not sure how much of a victory it was.”

“Well you never did, so a big one I would say.”

“Bullshit I never did-!”

“Go-ddddddd,” Pete groaned, though he couldn’t help but grin at the bickering, which, in the span of 10 months, had somehow become the comforting soundtrack of home for him (which probably said a lot about Ice and Maverick, but who cares). “Wher’es Tom when you need him?”

“Our point,” Ice said pointedly, shooting Mav a look that said quite clearly ‘we’re supposed to be a united front, genius (also, you know I’m right), “Is that you’re going to make mistakes. Everybody does. You’re going to do stupid things, things that we don’t approve of. And, because we’re here to help you become the best person you can be, we’ll call you out on it. At one point or another, we’ll disagree, we’ll argue, feelings will probably get hurt, egos will get bruised. And then, we’re going to be here anyway. Because you’re a member of this family and that’s not going to change.”

“And we’ll remind you of that however many times you need,” Mav replied, smiling warmly at him, before slapping his own knees and leaning back. “Now, how would you like to proceed from here? Are you alright breaking the Birthday Drought today or would you like to go home and we can just have a nice family dinner tonight. Which would you rather?”

Pete bit his lip, fiddling with a loose thread on the hem of his t-shirt.

“I guess I… I wouldn’t mind staying,” he replied, his heart and stomach fluttering again at the thought of all these people, his family, turning up just for him. But this time, he found his emotions leaning more on the side of nervous excitement rather than all-consuming dread. “I mean, It’s been a minute.”

“You’re sure?” Ice asked seriously, rubbing Pete’s back reassuringly. “Don’t feel like you have to if you don’t want to.”

Pete ducked his head, a small smile spreading across his face as, for the first time since this whole miscommunication came to light, and before that really, something seemed to settle inside of him. Some knot of tension that had been there for so long that he’d just learned to live with it, seemed to ease just the littlest bit. He did not doubt, for a second, that if he decided to leave now, Ice and Mav (and Tom) would cover for him, would back him up and stand in his corner. Whether they needed to or not, and Pete suspected things would probably topple in the direction of ‘not’ because the others would understand.

Drawing in a deep, calming breath (like Ice had been teaching him) he lifted his head a smiled a little wide.

“I want to,” he said. “Seriously, if I ever say no to chocolate cake I want you to assume that somebody’s stolen my face and is impersonating me.”

“Mark that down for both of us,” Mav replied, nodding empathetically.

“Noted,” Ice scoffed, smiling as the three of them got back to their feet. “In that case, we should probably get back. Tom said he’d try to keep them all in one place to give us a moment alone but the fact that he seems to have managed it is making me nervous.”

Pete snickered as Mav shot him an amused grin, before they both followed Ice back to the beach. It turned out the old man may have been right to worry.

“In my defence,” Tom drawled as he jogged over to meet them. “I didn’t expect them all to lose their minds.”

Pete felt like that was a pretty accurate description for the mayhem they’d just walked into. Almost all the daggers and a few of the flyboys were shouting, waving their arms about, jabbing fingers in faces or, in Fanboy’s case, cackling rather manically. And those that weren’t seemed content to either enjoy the show or stoke the fires all the more. It was pandemonium.

“What did you do?” Ice sighed as they drew closer.

Tom shrugged.

“I casually mentioned that Pete and I watched Die Hard for the first time, and asked what other Christmas movies we should watch. And, well...”

“IT’S SET ON CHRISTMAS EVE, BAGMAN!!! HOW MUCH MORE OBVIOUS DO YOU NEED IT?!”

“THAT’S ALL YOU’VE GOT! IT’S AN ACTION MOVIE-”

“ON CHRISTMAS EVE!”

“OH MY GOD! SO WHAT?! SO WHAT?!!”

“Well, it did distract them,” Ice replied, arching a brow as he took it all in. “They’re going to go full Lord of the Flies any moment now, but it worked.”

Tom grinned, before slinging an arm around Pete’s shoulders and drawling, “Wanna make it worse?”

“You’ve been a terrible influence on him,” Ice sighed, shooting Mav a despairing glance as Pete laughed softly and shrugged.

“Sure.”

Tom winked before calling over the noise, “Alright, maybe Die Hard can go one way or the other-”

“NO IT CAN’T,” Jake and Nat hollered in unison, before immediately shooting each other disgusted glares.

“But surely we can all agree that Nightmare before Christmas-”

And they were off again, with renewed vigour and with previous alliances suddenly shattered.

Pete laughed as he took it all in. Tom’s arm around his shoulders; Mav and Ice squeezing his arm and ruffling his hair respectively as they walked by to try and reign in the chaos; Rooster and Hangman each elbowing their way through the crowd, hollering for him to back them up.

The fears were still there, bubbling away beneath the surface. Pete felt that they probably always would. Allowing himself to stay this attached, to actually believe that maybe this time, just this once, things truly would turn out different… it was risky. Frankly it was downright dangerous.

“Right, enough of this!!” Rooster hollered over the noise. “Let’s settle this properly.”

“Agreed,” Jake replied, nodding firmly. “Dogfight football. I bags the babies.”

“What?!”

“You can’t take both of them!”

“Can. Did. Pete, Tom, come on.”

Sometimes, the risks were worth taking. And, well, he’d always liked to think he was a little dangerous.

#icemav #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #time warp au #art

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