#sliderice

He becomes aware of it when he's brushing his teeth while Tom is mid piss and lamenting the lack of coffee left because Ron finished it all.

There's no room for modesty or privacy in the navy, that he's aware of. But he's also sure that most other RIOs can't tell when their pilot has been in the sun because there are more freckles littering his shoulders than usual.

Except maybe Nick, but he and Mitchell have their own codependency issues.

Tom kills any spiders they encounter because Ron thinks they're creepy and in return, Ron keeps his mouth shut about Tom's frankly endearing fear of dogs. The pilot can insist it isn't a fear until he's blue in the face but Ron sees the other man flinch whenever he hears a bark and recognises his 'get that fucking thing away from me' attempt at a smile Ice does whenever a dog jumps up at him.

When Tom gets a new cologne, Ron shoves his face against the other man's neck to smell it until he can almost taste the chemicals in his mouth. "S'nice." "Should be for the price of it."

Ron picks off of Tom's plate whenever he pleases, he knows what his pilot does and doesn't like, even if he does take something Tom likes, he won't do anything about it but roll his eyes. Anyone else attempts it and they get their wrist pinned to the table.

Tom doesn't complain about his choice of movie when Ron insists on watching a shitty 70s horror for his own amusement, but he does set his feet on Ron's lap and dig his toes into his thigh until Ron massages his feet. Don't let it be mistaken, Iceman is spoiled, and Slider is to blame, he likes to spoil the man.

When they're too many drinks in, lazing around in sweats because it's cheaper to drink at Ron's place and far more comfortable, vodka dribbles down Tom's chin and Ron licks it away. He gets a huff, not for his actions but because Ice is whiney and, "You smell like cheap beer."

He wakes up the next afternoon to Tom's face half buried in his armpit and when he tries to sit up, he gets bitten for his efforts. It's well seen that he's on the Iceman's good side because Tom doesn't even kick him in retaliation when Ron pinches his hip.

Maybe he's keeping it longer because he just likes it like that, or because he has a hair pulling kink, that's your choice, doesn't really matter to me, but! I like the idea that he doesn't style it when he's on leave.

As in, he likes the hairstyle just fine, even though he learned it mostly just to get his CO off his back, but it takes work - and maybe he actually doesn't cut his hair at all when he's on leave, maybe he lets it grow even longer, and then he goes to a hairdresser the day before shipping out and tells her exactly how short he wants it, measured out down to milimeters.

Naturally, the first time Mav visits during their time off and sees him like that, he can't help but stare. "Is that real?" he whispers to Slider.

"Of course it is."

"Can I touch it?"

"You can try."

Slider himself touches it all the time, by the way. He's obsessed with running his fingers through it and messing it up, because it's so damn soft, and he needs to make up for lost time - he can't do that when Ice has it gelled up, it barely even moves!

it's just – you fly with a man and the same guy is going to be your best man, and you love a woman and she's amazing, and he knows that, and that's the easy path forward for the rest of your respective lives. and Slider's got a girl he's going to be happy with. because you've both talked about, in as much as you can.

but you show up at the doorstep anyways and nothing happens, because it almost feels juvenile to, but there's a hunger to just laying down next to him so you can feel his breath rising and falling on the mattress besides you, the way its been since the Academy and on every deployment, the way it is in the cockpit when he's behind you and you know that that's where your other half is really tethered.

Listen all i'm saying is that I think that Ice and Wolf would get along well. Is it because they're both traumatized pretty blondes? Yeah thats part of it, is another aspect is the potential for how well Slider and Hollywood could mesh together in a way; but the real reason is that to Ice and Slider, individually and as a team, I believe that they view Hollywood and Wolf as true equals.

Not to say that Ice and Slider don't view others as "true equals". However, its very clearly established that both Slider and Ice do NOT like Maverick for a litany of reasons; but the main one is that 'Maverick is dangerous'.

Goose of course is an interesting throw in to that mix because on Ice's side there doesn't seem to be any open hostility/tenseness the way there is between Goose and Slider.

Take the Bar Scene for example; the first interaction between the two groups is when Goose calls Sliders attention with the "What happened to wanting to be a pilot" line, its a semi-low blow, and isn't said as lightheartedly as Goose normally does things. Not only that but the minute Slider turns around you can see his stance change in a way, and his jaw clench up. Slider then responds equally like brash and tensely, by immediately calling Goose a "dickhead" and then ask him whose ass he had to kiss to get into TOPGUN, and the quips keep coming from both sides.

Which, could it be a RIO pissing contest? Absolutely, however when Ice comes up to the group, he greets Goose with a light tone and a smile, even using the "Mother Goose" nickname, and Goose responds nicer with Ice's first name. Its noticeably less tense and Ice coming in like that reminds me of that one friend you have to watch out for when going out because they WILL start a fight.

So Ice appears to have a semi-decent to neutral standing with Goose, however Sliders is more tense. And does Ice go on to make a bit of a cheap-shot regarding Cougar? Yeah, but then Slider furthers it specifically with Goose. It seems like its more personal than just a RIO pissing match; before Slider leaves abruptly but Ice says a goodbye and follows after Slider.

So between Slider/Ice and Goose/Mav theres clear hostility to the point of the entire atmosphere being shifted to a more hostile one when the two groups were in close quarters. Which was half of it posturing, oh absolutely-- but the other half was that Maverick, and by extension Goose, were unreliable and wild; complete dangers in the sky and complete liabilities. It contrasted with Slider/Ice completely, which I think it was the main issue with Slider/Ice meanwhile competitiveness was the main issue with Mav/Goose.

HOWEVER with Hollywood/Wolf? Slider and Ice are seen hanging out with them at the bar, the volleyball scene, during the Voodoo fight scene (even though H/W got knocked out early), and friendly bantering in the locker room scene; there was a clear layer of mutual respect between the two groups. There wasn't any open hostility in the way we see between Slider/Ice and Mav/Goose. Its trust without posturing and everyone seemed to get along well.

Which brings it back to true equals; skill wise its even acknowledged by Hollywood/Wolf on how Slider/Ice are a bit better/ "the gold standard" at TOPGUN/in the class. But it doesn't really form an enactable hierarchy in the group on Slider/Ice's side. To Hollywood/Wolf they see an elite pilot/rio pair thats incredibly skilled whom they can trust; and Slider and Ice see the same thing. Even if they're not on the same talent level (even though both groups got into the 1% TOPGUN class), they're "true equals" because at the end of the day talent recognizes talent.

until Slider starts flirting back with Maverick and they get together. Which is fine (it's not)

Ron starts thinking Ice is homophobic because he can't stand to be in the same room as them together. So he's grappling with ending things with Mav when it's barely started or losing Ice forever.

🫶

the shape of that spot looks weirdly like an arm, one that the whole academy knows is slider's.