Iceman is sharp. Straight nose, angular jaw with a swimmers build. Scathing remarks, a cold, unimpressed glare and fingers that tap against the table like the sound of a judge's gavel banging.
He's like a sculpture, yet to be smoothed out after the initial chisel.
He's capable of being soft, too, despite what he insists. Maverick catches glimpses of it.
Slinging an arm around Slider's shoulders and taking on the man's weight when he starts to falter under the heat, even if Slider swats at him and insists he's fine. It's even a little sweet when Mav sees him toss a water bottle Slider's way later, and clock the man in the jaw with it.
Goose is the one who tells him that Iceman asks about "Mrs Goose." Nick takes every given opportunity to wax poetic about Carole, not that Maverick can blame him; the woman is a Godsend. But he hadn't expected the frigid Iceman to care.
Almost no one notices it when Wolfman is on his back on a bench, whining about his headache, which cannot possibly be a symptom of the hangover he's so clearly suffering. They're too distracted by the man's overdramatic, if not comedic, spiel about the pounding in his skull to see who tosses the blister pack of painkillers onto his chest. But Mav does, and Iceman is out of the door before he can comment on it.
Tom never drops the persona, not when he's lying in bed with Pete with a cigarette hanging from his lips. He doesn't offer Pete a drag, not that he would take it; he hates the taste that lingers in his mouth. He becomes familiar with the rolodex of Ice's displays of irritation. Rolling his eyes, his 'You're a fucking idiot, but I won't disagree with you because I know I'm right' haughty sniff, the way he clenches his jaw until he gives himself a headache.
Pete feels nauseated when Carole suddenly drops Bradley off at his place while she has to run off for an appointment, because Tom is there, and as much as he adores the man, he can't fathom him being any good with kids.
Then again, Tom is a man of many talents, so Pete's shock is naive when the man kneels down next to Bradley at his coffee table, and in the softest tone he's heard from the man, tells the kid that he likes the picture he's drawing. Bradley was shy at first, but the minute Tom displays interest in his, possibly a cat, maybe a giraffe, or it's a Power Ranger drawing, he's thrilled to talk to the pilot.
"It's a very nice kitty."
And good on Tom, he doesn't falter when Bradley proudly explains to him that the kitty's name is Peewee. Pete is not so lucky; he hides in the kitchen so that he doesn't get caught laughing.
