IceMav Is My Life Now

Pixy Stix

Ice closed the door with his foot while Mav put the bags on their kitchen counter and began to unpack them. The blond joined him, and they began to store the treasures from their grocery run into the cabinets.

There was one item that Mav graved to unpack, one item that he ripped from the shelf the second he saw it, and he already smiled just thinking of it.

Mav didn't have the best childhood, but this one particular item just made it a little better and brings back certain good memories.

Maverick's hand rummages through the bags until he finds the Pixy Stixs that he just waited to open and cherish. “What are you doing?” , Iceman asked as he came up behind him.

“Just finally unpacking these awesome things, I've been waiting to eat them since I laid my eyes on them in the store!”

“What is that?” That was the sentence that disrupted Mav's bliss, what did his wingman mean now?

“What?” “I asked what those are.” “You don't know what Pixy Stix are? Didn't you had them as a kid too?”

Tom looked at the package for a second before shaking his head. “No, I saw them in the stores, obviously, but I never ate them.”

“Why? You missed something in your childhood, man.”

“You know what my father is like. He never allowed us to eat something like that. He said our teeth would fall out if we would.”

“And you really believed that?” “I was a child, Maverick.” “Touché…”

Pete looked at the Stick in his hand, then at Ice, and finally gave him one. “Here try one, I promise your teeth won't fall out, if they would, I wouldn't have any anymore.”

Ice looked at the candy in his hand with uncertainty, he thought for a second before opening the package and trying it.

“And?” Pete asked with child like glee and smiled at his partner. “That was….pretty disappointing…”

“HUH?” Mav choked out with horror on his face. “What do you mean?”

“Well you hyped it up so much that I expected more that just glucose, but it's nice anyway. I just expected a bit more.”

“And I shared the best flavor with you!” “Sorry to hurt you like this, love.” “I can never forget this betrayal.”

Ice smiled and packed away the last items.

“Didn't you had any candy as a kid?” , Mav suddenly asked, “Is that why you have such a sweet tooth?”

The blond man wrapped his arms around Pete from behind, cuddling closer.

“Yes and no. We sometimes had candy, like on special occasions we had cakes and all that kind of stuff, and our Babushka would sneak us chocolate sometimes. But the best candy we had were apples with chocolate or honey! That was my childhood, Mav.”

- Has Russian heritage but was born the US, in Honolulu. Grew up in California

- His Babushka fled to America with her son, her husband died in Russia and never saw the US himself

- Ice has two sisters and two brothers ( I'm an IceMav shipper so I go with the headcanon that Sarah is his sister)

- He is the oldest and very protective of his siblings

- I also go with Val Kilmer's way and say that Iceman's father is not a great guy, pressuring his son into perfection but never being satisfied with any accomplishments

- Ice has a good relationship with his mother and siblings

- Adores his babushka and she adores him back, his siblings always tease him for being her favorite ( he denies it but deep inside he knows they're right)

- his babushka always tells him how much he resembles his dedushka

- Ice is a total family guy even though he isn't on good terms with his father, he will always say that family is forever

- is a perfectionist

- can speak Russian fluently

- only the women in his family can get away with calling him "Tommy"

- loves to read and has so many books, he could drown in them

- loves the movie "Airplane!"

- secretly loves singing but would never admit it

- loves to cook and bake

- his house the most clean space the flyboys have ever seen

- is also confusing the shit out of his guest by having the trashcan under the sink

- is a total animal magnet and he loves animals as well

- knows how to ride horses

- definitely played waterpolo in his teenage years

- Ice cold? Not when you know him and are in his inner circle. He loves physical attention, he loves to cuddle and he loves hugs but only from people that are really close to him

- has a huge sweet tooth but never tells anybody

- Needed to learn that his feelings and wants are just as valid as everyone else's (mav helped him a lot with that)

- was an A student in school ( caused by the pressure of his father)

- the first time Mav saw Ice cry was when the man accidentally broke his little finger in the car door

- allergic to coconut

- There is a certain look the Flyboys love to call "The Kazansky Look" because they always see that particular look on Iceman's face when he looks at Mav and funny enough Ice's mother, babushka and brother (who is already married) have the exact same look on their face when they look/ think at/about their significant other

-loves Billy Joel

-loves Slider like a brother and would do anything for him

"You know, B told me what he wanted to be when he got older."

Ice said and stirred the pasta, Mav looked up from the book he was mindlessly reading in.

"Yeah?"

"Yep. He said he wanted to become a pilot just like us. He even asked me if we could recommend him, he is adorable."

Mav didn't respond, he couldn't respond.

"Promise me....not to let him fly, Pete. Please...I don't want him to end up like Nick.

Promise me, please."

"I promise..."

Ice turned away from the stove and looked at his wingman.

"Mav? What's wrong? Isn't that sweet?"

The smaller man stood up and looked at Tom, his hands shaking.

"I...We can't let that happen, Ice. I promised Carole not to let him fly."

"You...? You did what?"

The blond asked and felt stunned, anger bubbling inside of him but also a bit of pain, especially for Bradley.

"She asked me to not let him fly...She didn't want him to end up like Nick.

Please, you have to understand, Tom."

Tom shook his head in return, the dinner cooking behind him already forgotten.

"How can you just decide that for him? Do you know what you would do to him? Do you realize how much you would hurt him?"

"Thomas...I promised her...."

"But she isn't here!" Tom started to yell, tears shining in his eyes. "Carole is not here and neither is Goose! For fuck's sake! You are barely here! It is him and me...

I have to switch between father, mother, housewife, and rear admiral just because YOU CAN'T FUCKING BEHAVE!"

Ice didn't mean to yell but he couldn't keep his emotions inside any longer. All the things he has been keeping inside bursting out.

The tears are falling freely now.

"I don't want ghosts to decide what is good for my kid! I don't want ghosts to decide what he should do and what not! We are responsible...Both of us and we both decide what is good for him and he decides what is good for him!"

The brown-haired man stared at Ice with an expression full of hurt, tears are also falling down his cheeks.

"I never forced you to stay, Ice.

I never forced you to stay and take care of a child that isn't even yours."

That was a low blow that hit Iceman hard.

"Yes, you are right. I never had any obligation.

But I stayed and I still stay because I love you and I love him and if you think you can win this argument by saying I never had to stay in the first place then you are not only wrong but also an asshole."

Ice put the pasta in some colorful containers he got from his sister-in-law Becky and put them carefully into the fridge, he figured both of them wouldn't be eating anything tonight.

"I'm not going to discuss this with you any further. Take the bed, Mav.

I need to...I need to clean the kitchen."

That was an obvious lie, Mav couldn't see one single stain. The only thing Ice could clean was the pot where the pasta had cooked a couple of minutes ago.

But Mav also knew that Ice needed something to do and that if he wasn't stress-baking he needed to stress-clean.

So he started to make his way upstairs in silence but before he could reach the first step, Bradley came through the front door, eyes red and blood dripping from his elbow.

"Pa! Can you help me clean that up?" The kid's shorts were full of grass stains, Ice probably already got a heart attack from that sight, his shirt was full of already dried mud and his knees suffered also a bit but didn't bleed.

"Of course, Baby Goose. What happened?"

"We played and I stumbled and I hit the concrete instead of the grass."

Even though Bradley Bradshaw has reached the age of 8 years, Iceman's inner mother hen came out and he picked the boy up to drag him into the bathroom.

"I can do that, Ice," Pete said quietly, the blond man stayed still for a moment before shaking his head.

"No need. I'll do it, just go to bed."

And he was gone.

Maverick made his way upstairs and into their master bathroom, where he got ready for bed.

He knew he wouldn't catch one bit of sleep but the thought counts.

The pilot can hear his boys in the bathroom, talking and water running.

Mav can imagine exactly what Ice did, his lover was always gentle and caring.

He probably got rid of the blood, put a bandage around their kid's elbow, and brushed his teeth with him together.

Maverick remembers it like it was yesterday.

Bradley was still small back then, smaller than now and the three of them used to brush their teeth together every evening.

After taking care of Bradley, Ice send the boy to bed with a kiss on the forehead and went down into the kitchen.

He finally broke down there, weeping and sobbing. Today was just too much to handle.

He tried to be as quiet as possible because he knew that Bradley wasn't asleep yet but played on his Gameboy and he didn't want the kid to see him like this.

Ice's hands gripped the sponge tight while he scrubbed at the stain on the floor.

It doesn't come off.

For god's sake, why doesn't it come off?

It was driving the blond pilot insane, tears mix with the water from the sponge, and Ice scrubs so hard that he thinks the stain might come off with the wood.

He didn't stop, didn't let the soft material in his hand go until another hand grabbed his.

"Hey....love. We talked about this didn't we?"

Pete was kneeling in front of him, keeping his hands from moving.

"This is a wine stain we can't get rid of." The man finished his sentence and took the sponge.

"But it bothers me..." Tom whispers, voice full of sorrow and defeat.

"I know it does...."

The two men were sitting on the floor, leaning against the kitchen counter in silence.

"I'm sorry...You are right...." Mav says after some time and Tom freezes.

"No...I know how seriously you take promises, I should've talked differently with you about this.

I shouldn't have said those things to you."

Maverick intertwined their hands.

"Maybe but I also shouldn't have said certain things to you and I should be here with you and him.