Chapter Text
Brrring.. brrring.. brrring
The phone is ringing, but who the hell would be calling at this time is already a little past...2300 hours. Alright maybe its not that late for a Saturday night, but still, who on earth would be calling. Somehow, Ice feels like he already knows the answer to that before he even picks up the phone.
"Hello," he answers dryly.
Whoever's calling must have a damn good reason to be interrupting his nighttime routine.
"Heyyy Ice," the caller slurrs on the other end of the line.
He sighs,"Why are you calling me, Maverick?"
Ice decides to completely ignore the fact that he recognizes the other man merely by the sound of his voice. To be fair, how could he not? He’s heard that voice crackling over the comms countless times when they're up in the air together, or head that voice break into loud, obnoxious, beuatiful laugh when they're out at the o-club.
"Uhh the guys won't let me drive home, they think I'm to 'out of it'--" Iceman can almost hear the air quotes Maverick most definitely just did --" I'd normally just get a taxi or take the bus, but I paid for drinks so I don't have any cash..."
Ice sighs deeper this time, already regretting what he's about to say, "where are you?"
Mav rattles off the address of whatever bar he's at this time before hanging up the call with a brief "thank you, I owe you one." And damn right he does owe him one.
Iceman slowly lowers the phone back to the receiver. What is he doing? Is he actually leaving the comfort (well comfort is a stretch given that he lives on base) of his own home to go pick up Maverick, of all people? He supposes so, as he swaps out his pajamas for jeans and a plain t-shirt.
"God, what am I doing?" Ice asks himself, hesitating at his front door.
For a split second he considers just staying home and letting Maverick walk home or figure something else out, but he's a man of his word and he said he'd be there.
***
"Hey have you seen a guy in here? Pretty short, brunette, kinda mischievous looking," The Iceman asks the bartender at the place he was supposed to pick Mav up.
"No, sorry, I can't help you," the barman offers apologetically.
Ice nods and slips away from the bar. Fan-fuckin'-tastic! The idiot who made him drive all the way out here isn't even around. Just as Ice is about to start up his car and embark on the long drive back home he spots a familiar figure out on the beach. Truth be told Ice had half hoped Maverick wouldn't infact be there so he could just go home and sleep instead of dealing with the intoxicated and and likely high firecracker of a man. After resting his head on the steering wheel for a moment Iceman begrudgingly climbs out of his car and saunters down to the beach.
"Maverick!" He calles, jogging down the beach.
At hearing his name, the aforementioned man pauses in his tracks and turns to face the blond, shoes in hand.
"walk with me?" Is all he says in leiu of a regular greeting.
Though it sounded like a question, it's was clear in his expression that there's no room for negotiation. He didn't drive forty-five minutes to go for a walk with Maverick, he came out here to pick his sky high ass up and get him home in one piece. Thats it. But naturally, being the gelatin man he is, Ice makes a 'lead the way' kind of hand gesture and keeps pace with Maverick as he walks down the beach barefoot. Sensing that a stern takling to is not what the other man needs right now, Ice decides to ask a simple question to gain more information and be able to better assess the situation.
"So, d'you feel like turnin' in anytime soon or are we just going to keep walking?" The question is direct and cuts to the point.
"Walking. God I really need to clear my head," is the answer it gets.
The dark haired man runs both hands over his face and can't seem to look the blond in the eye.
"Okay." It's not the answer Ice wants to give, but it's the only one that seems acceptable at the moment.
It's clear that Maverick has alot on his mind, and it's clear that what he needs right now is a friend. What's not clear however is how Iceman is supposed to be said friend. This wasn't in his job description. After walking in silence for a minute longer Ice speaks again.
"Why me?" He asks.
"What?"
"I mean why'd you call me? Not Goose or Sunny, or literally anyone else. I mean- not to state the obvious, but we're not exactly best buds."
"I dunno, I guess I just knew you'd pick up." Mav shrugs and shoves his hands into the pockets of his jeans.
Ice is curious as to how he figured that but the almost defensive note in Mav’s voice tells him not to push. Instead, he simply nods and the two continue to walk in silence, the only sounds around them being the crashing waves of the pacific and thier muted foot falls in the sand. A soft warm breeze dances through the air tonight and the moon shows brightly through the few clouds in the dark sky.
After considering for a moment Iceman grabs a cigarette from his back pocket that he'd taken from his car earlier and passes it to Maverick.
"I know you're probably already pretty messed up but you look like you need it." Ice flicks on a lighter.
"Thanks."
Maverick leans over and lights the cigarette in his mouth. The thing gave off a rather pleasant aroma of jasmine and somthing else floral.
"Whats in this, it smells nice, not like the usual stuff" Maverick asks, taking a drag.
"It's organic actually, a herbal blend to calm the nerves, its not a 'real' cigarette per se. I switched years ago"
Apparently being done with walking, Mav settles in the sand, staring out at the great sea. Iceman tries to get a good look at him to gage the emotion that might ghost over his face, but Maverick's expression is all too blank. Well it's not like he can do anything with that so Ice sits down on the beach with his...colleague?
Would that be the right word to describe them? Friends seems like a stretch but they're definitely more than just acquaintances. Would rivals be fitting? No, they've moved past that since the accident. What are they really? Sure they care about each other to some degree, but of course one cares about the people they work with, especially having a job as dangerous as theirs, and there were those few times when they'd hooked up before, but whenever it happened it didn't mean anything, It was just a way for them to blow off steam.
And hey, noticing every note and fluctuation in your colleague's voice was a perfectly normal thing to do, or trying to memorize every fleck of colour in his eyes but then failing miserably because each time you think you've got it you somehow find infinitely more depth in those gorgeous forest-coloured eyes of his.
Yeah perfectly normal stuff to think about your co-worker.
Ice is brought out of his thoughs by a cigarette being placed between his fingers. He hadn't even realized he had held out his hand to take it. Ice draws his eyes from the crashing waves for a moment to throw a quick glance in the other pilot's direction.
He takes a drag before blowing out a soft cloud of smoke towards the sea. Though it's not uncomfortable, the silence is definitely unordinary. Usually, the shorter man didn't know how to shut up. It really showed that he definitely wasn't himself right now. 'What the hell is wrong with you Mav' Ice thinks out of concern.
"What the hell is wrong with you Ice." Maverick retorts.
'Fuck. He can read minds- no wait- that's not possible.'
"Shit. Did I say that that out loud?"
"Don't be like that dipshit, you know you did," Maverick jabbes, snatching the cigarette back.
"Ah, so your not always a fun drunk, noted." Ice rolls his eyes.
Silence falls once more but this time it feel much more tense, like there's somthing charged in the air between them.
"Sorry." Maverick sighs.
Iceman shoots a look over at the brunette. Dear lord he really must be out of it if he's apologizing, especially to him.
"Hey, I know I'm not the best at feelings or whatever but do you wanna talk?" Ice offers.
"It's none of your business," Mav shoots.
"I know, I know, you just seem a little...off. And hey I know it could totally be the alcohol or whatever the hell you smoked prior to this, but really man, I'm just trying to look out for you. You're gonna need your head in the game if you wanna win against me." Ice raises his hands in surrender. He tries to lighten the mood with a joke but it seems to fall flat, creating an awkward silence.
Maverick turns to look at him for a minute. He seems to be searching for any trace of deception in the blond's face but he can't seem to find any. Being satisfied with that conclusion he lies back in the sand and slaps both palms over his eyes. He moves his hands up and threads his fingers through his deep brown hair, leaving his cowboy boots forgotten in the sand.
"God where do I start?" He grumbles, staring up into inky the sky. It looked like an oil painting tonight, clouds blended flawlessly, stars sprinkled with precision, the moon shining bright. It really was a slight to behold.
Though Ice took no interest in looking up at the sky, his gaze was instead fixed upon the distressed man before him, thoes sort of green-brown eyes that could never quite land on what colour to be, that dark messy hair that much like it's owner could never be tamed, those soft kissable lips. Even at a time like this Maverick somehow still managed to look effortlessly beuatiful somewhat put together.
"I've just--" He pauses--"had alot on my mind."
Ice refains from rolling his eyes. "Like...?" He asks, waiting patiently for a response.
Mav waits a beat."Well there's this...gall that I kinda have a thing with," Mav starts slowly. His eyes stay locked on the sky as though he's having a conversation with it rather than Ice.
"But I'm not really sure if it's anything worth looking into, or if...she feels the same as I do."
'Oh...that's right, Maverick sees other people.' It's fine. It's not like the two of them are...exclusive or anything. But somewhere deep down it still...hurts.
"She's this real pretty blonde, got bright blue eyes and all that jazz, you know?" Mav paints a picture for him.
"Oh, so you've got a type," Ice points out, noticing he fits that description almost perfectly. That's right, Maverick isn't actually into him, he just fits into a category of relatively attractive people, Iceman has to remind himself.
Maverick gives him a quizzical look before focusing back on the sky. He takes a drag, carefully letting out the smoke.
"Anyways. What do you think I should do Ice?"
"You're asking my advice?
Mav looks at him pointedly.
"Well for starters you should stop fooling around with me," Ice states. He does a spectacular job of hiding his disappointment when he says it. He's come to quite like thier little stress relief sessions, but he'll never say that out loud.
"Huh," is all Maverick says, passing the cigarette back.
For some reason Iceman feels like he's said somthing wrong, though it's impossible to tell what. He gave his opinion, and that's what Maverick had asked for. And with Maverick's messy handwriting it's hard to read between the lines to pick up on what Iceman is clearly missing.
"Well tell me about her, what do you like so much about this lady?" Another attempt to gain more information and better assess the situation at hand. Though it's not like Ice really wants to hear about this woman.
"What don't I like about her honestly- well she can't cook for shit, but that's not really important." Maverick almost laughs. Almost.
"Well, what's she like?" Ice questions for a second time.
Silence.
"Uhhh..." Maverick seems to be at a loss for words(which is quite rare for him), and it looks like he's searching the sky to find them. Almost asthough the stars will whisper to him what to say. Or some bullshit like that because he absolutely refuses to look in Ice's direction.
"Well- uh h-she, she, can have quite a short temper with me. I don't mind it though, there's just this passion in her eyes whenever we argue. I know it sounds ridiculous but it's true." He makes a strange kind of strangled groan sound, covering his face with his hands.
"God, what am I doing Ice?" He mumbles to the clouds. "Falling for a person who probably hates me, this is ridiculous."
"You are always one to be ridiculous." Ice says without missing a beat.
"Yeah, I guess I am." Is most definitely not the defeated answer he was expecting from Maverick.
The waves crashing on the shore ease the silence that falls after Maverick's remark. The sand is grainy but soft under Ice's plams.
"You must really like her," Ice tells Maverick softly. It takes a great deal military-taught self restraint to keep the disappointment from his voice as he speaks.
"Yeah, I do. Thing is it's not so simple, I want to tell her, I really do, but I could get into a lot of trouble if anyone found out about us, we both could."
Ice scoffs, "never stopped you before," he takes a drag of the herbal cigarette because boy does he need to calm his nerves.
" 'Spose thats fair," Maverick finally looks over at Ice. The sudden intensity of his gaze is almost jarring. Whatever had been in his system before surely wasn't there now. His eyes are to clear and focused, nothing like the ones of an intoxicated person. Instead of shying away, Ice returns his gaze, looking back at the other man.
"So what are you going to to do?" Ice asks Maverick after looking at him for a long moment, his voice is hushed, almost a whisper.
"I'm not sure, I really don't know where I stand with..her." Maverick answers in the same quiet tone.
It's quite after that. Nothing more than the breeze and waves to break through the silence now. The moon is still bright when Ice speaks again but it's much lower int he sky. He figures Mav has has enough time to process whatever it is he's sorting through. Thier cigarette now gone.
"So, you feel like turnin in now?"
"Yeah, lets go." Maverick stands and pulls his boots back on.
Ice stand as well. He brushes of the little bit of sand that stuck to him and the two men start off back towards the bar parking lot.
***
Maverick, instead of following Ice to his car, heads in the direction of his motorcycle.
"I think I've sobered up enough to drive myself home, thanks for coming to get me though." Maverick chimes.
"Yeah I think you have too," Ice paces over to his own viechale, ready to be rid of Maverick.
"You have got to be shitting me" Ice groans. "I locked my keys in my car."
"Need a ride?" Mav calls from across the otherwise empty parking lot. He cocks an eyebrow, twirling his keys around a finger.
Iceman weighs his options before crossing the parking lot to meet the smug looking brunette.
"This is not how I envisioned my night going."
"Me neither." Mav tosses him a helmet. "Sorry that's all I got right now, I wasn't expecting a passenger so it might be a little snug, but it should do the trick."
"I'll be fine, I don't need it," Ice complains.
Maverick gives him a rather judgemental look. Ice looks between Mav and the helmet a a few time before ultimately accepting defeat and jamming the helmet on. Mav gives him a soft smile, right on the borderline of affectionate.
"So, how does this work?" Iceman gives the bike a once over, not sure how he and Mav are both supposed to fit on it.
"Oh! Right, here--" Maverick kicks out the foot pegs on the back of his motorcycle. He swiftly mounts the vehicle-- "So, you're gonna want to put one foot there." he directs Ice to the left foot peg.
"Like this?"
"Yeah just like that. Ok now, you can hold onto my shoulders for support if you need, and then kinda hop up qnd swing your other leg over, watch the exhaust though," Maverick instructs.
"Yeah...I've never done this before," Ice admits.
"Really? so I'm the lucky guy who gets to take you for your first ride?" His words drip with innuendo.
He looks back at Ice and fucking winks (the bastard).
Ice rolls his eyes and sits down on the bike. He's a little unsure as to where to where his hands are ment to be placed. He settles for just resting them on his legs, that seems safe. As if sensing his confusion, Maverick proceedes to explain how exactly Iceman was supposed to be a proper 'backpack' (motorcycle passenger), and he tries to pay attention, he really does, but that's not an easy thing to do when they're just so close together.
"Hey, you listening back there?" Mav taps the clear plastic visor of his helmet.
"yeah..."
"Right, so tell me, where do your hands go so you actually stay on the bike?"
"..."
"That's what I thought." Mav places Iceman's hand in the tank of the bike. "You can't either put em' here, on the bike--" He moves Ice's hands to be clasped around his midsection-- "Or here, on the biker."
Ice settles for keeping his hands safely placed on the bike's tank. It's probably best for him to maintain as little physically contact with Maverick as possible. 'You're not together, this doesn't mean anything' he keeps reminding himself.
"Alright, you ready?"
Ice makes a sort of 'carry on' expression, but with most of his face concealed but Maverick's helmet he's not sure the point gets across. It apparently does because Mav promptly stalls his bike causing Ice to jolt forward and tightly wrap his arms around Maverick's midsection.
'He did that on purpose'
"Are you sure you know how to drive this thing?" Ice asks anyways.
"Yeah, she's just being a little pesky today," Maverick informs him.
He starts the bike again and pulls out of the car park perfectly smoothly. Suffice to say Maverick takes a speed limit as a suggestion and Ice has never feared for his life more. What's usually a forty-five minute drive for a law abiding citizen is a twenty minute drive for Maverick.
***
Shockingly, Mav slows down when they pull into Ice's neighborhood. As Maverick slows to a stop at the end of Ice's driveway Ice spots nine crows perched in a nearby tree. He'd hear a rhyme about crows once, though he can't recall it now.
When he gets off the bike Ice tugs off Maverick's helmet and passes back to its owner. Maverick, with his hands shoved deep into his pockets, doesn't take his helmet back. He gives Ice a soft sort of confused look before speaking.
"Keep it." He let's a small almost invisible smile paly across his lips. "Well for now anyways. It means I'll have to see you again."
Ice looks back at him in confusion. It's an odd thing to say given that they see each other just about every day.
"You really are unsafe." Ice smiles. "And I see you every day, idiot", he chuckles. There's no real bite behind his words.
"Shut up and let me have my cheesey rom-com moment!" Mav punched his arm probably harder than he means but it's was still sort of friendly from what Ice can tell. They march up the slope of Ice's driveway, stopping at his doorstep. The smile on Maverick's face fades. He let's out a breath and opens his mouth like he's about to say somthing but he can't seem to find the right words, so instead he fishes somthing out of his back pocket and slaps it to Ice's chest.
"Here. For the locksmith tomorrow," Maverick tells him as he removes his hand from the twenty dollar bill he just smacked him with.
Before Iceman even gets a second process what just happened Maverick pulls him in by the front of his t-shirt and gives him a quick kiss. It couldn't've lasted more than ten seconds but Ice could tell, it meant somthing. If only he could decipher what.
"Now what will your gall think that Mav?" Ice prys.
"You're my gall!" Maverick calls, already halfway back down the driveway. He shoots a wink and a mock salute and then in a blink of eye he's gone, speeding off into the night.
Iceman is left standing dumbfounded on his doorstep staring off at where Maverick just was. Huh, it's been a weird night. Well more accurately morning seeing as his watch reads 3: 27 am. He heads back into his house with the twenty, and helmet in hand.