Chapter Text
Ice liked to think he was of sound mind. He knew how to be decisive and efficient and was beloved by many for it.
Slider would say something different, he thinks, as he watches his pilot rapidly flip through self-help magazines manically.
This is the best of the best? He glances at Ice’s unkempt hair.
“..Hey…Ice?” Slider winces as Ice crinkles the page he’s on.
“What, Slider?”
“You’ve been sitting here for 2 hours, you good, man?”
Ice pauses looking at Slider, then at the clock, then at his Sunday Times Magazine, where ‘Do You Need to Change Your Life?’ is in bold.
“I might kill someone today, Ron.”
Slider decides to back away from his friend.
“I don’t know what to do, ” he laments on the phone with his sibling that’s the least likely to snitch on him.
“Ask him out, Tommy!” His oldest sister exclaimed. “Absolutely not.”
“I thought you said you loved him,” Raina taunts.
“You aren’t helping.”
“What! You should do something bold, like sing him a ballad, or ask him out on a plane, or something.” He gives the landline a look.
“Why would I embarrass myself like that? Those ideas are so fucking stupid-wait.”
“What?”
“What was the second one again?”
“Hey, Viper, you seen how rough the students are lately?” He mentions.
Viper looks up at him, “Uh, yeah, actually, I have.”
“It would be easier if they had a day off on Friday, so they could be better prepared for Monday, but obviously we can’t do that, right?” Viper pauses.
“Well.. if we gave them a day off, they would have time to spend studying too..”
“I mean, wouldn’t we have important things to teach on Friday, sir?”
“Well, no, I was just going to have you and Maverick show them how to tweak some maneuvers, nothing really important.”
“ And if the students had the day off, me and Mav could do some drills without having to worry about the students, but obviously we don’t have that kind of flexibility.” Ice looks down at his paperwork dejected.
“Hold on, I can dismiss the kids for tomorrow, it’d give you two time to practice and it’d give me a break from paperwork.” Viper walks out of his office, proud of his decision.
Ice grins.
Slider and the flyboys cackle as he tells them his plan.
“How’d you get Viper to agree to that?!” Wolfman wonders.
“Easy,” Ice shrugs. “You get him to think it’s his idea.”
“So how are you going to ask Mav out if him and Jester’ll be listening on the comms?”
Ice pauses.
Ice tries to hide a posterboard in his locker, eyes widening as the door opens.
He wonders if there’s a magic word to make himself invisible when Viper of all people walks in.
He freezes, attempting (and failing ) to hide it behind himself.
They stand in silence for a while as Ice prays.
“…Kazansky? What you got there?” Can he theoretically murder his superior without getting caught?
Probably not.
He slowly turns around, revealing his poster with the words ‘Would you be my Valentine?’ In big letters with drawn on planes and hearts on it.
“…Sir.” He nods, embarrassed.
Viper’s eyebrows raise. “I didn’t know you were a romantic, Kazansky.”
“..This isn’t a common behavior, sir.”
“Really? Who’s the lucky lady?” Um.
“Uhhhh, a.. friend that I.. appreciate greatly.. uh, sir.”
Viper stares at him.
He stares back, already planning his resume for his next job.
“Cut the shit, Iceman,” Viper rolls his eyes, “you think I’m stupid?”
If he gets fired, Slider’s gonna be pissed.
Eh, he’ll get over it.
“You think I don’t see you and Maverick looking at each other?” He blinks.
“..Sir?”
“I may be a hardass, but I’m not an asshole. Tell me your plan, Lieutenant.”
Well. That’s a surprise. He gets to keep his job.
Maverick quickly walks away with Goose’s kid after he mentioned his Valentine’s Day plans. “What’s up with him?”
“He’s just a bit.. unprepared… for Valentine’s Day.” Carole replies, wincing.
“Really? Why?”
“He wants to have plans with someone, but so far it looks like he’ll be spending Saturday night with me and Bradley.” He wants a date?
“So, if someone were to ask him… would he.. accept?” Carole looks at him.
“If it’s a certain wingman of his, he wouldn’t dare say no.” He smiles.
Maverick flies like he learned how to before learning how to talk. With every wind blow, he rides the breeze like he was born in it.
Ice is mesmerized. He pulls maneuvers people only dream of attempting with the ease of confidence he’s never seen before, and he gives his plane spirit.
He treats his plane like a companion, not a tool. To most people, it would be unnerving, but to Ice, the care Maverick puts into his flight is magnetic.
If he wasn’t fearful for his career, he’d have confessed to his wingman the first time they flew together.
Wow. He didn’t think that would work.
Landing after his confession, is his worst landing in the history of his career. His hand shakes as he clutches his joystick, the adrenaline crash shaking his entire body.
‘Ice cold’ my ass, he thinks, as he opens his canopy.
As Maverick landed before him, Ice follows as he runs into the base to hug an ecstatic Carole.
Viper claps him on the shoulder as the two celebrate, Bradley cheering at their feet absentmindedly.
Ice wakes up on Saturday morning to his phone ringing, groaning as he gets up to answer it.
“Hello?”
“CONGRATS TOMMY!!!” He winces as his siblings’ voices causes him to hold the phone away from his ear.
“What did you hear?” “You have a date tonight!!” His younger sister squeals.
He sighs. “Raina snitched.”
“Actually, your backseater did!” His eye twitches.
He’s going to need a new RIO, since his current one will be.. conveniently missing soon.
His hands jitter as he pulls up to Maverick and Carole’s house, the endless hyping up he was enduring from the flyboys and his siblings not really working towards his confidence.
He walks to the door, reminding himself that he can always kill Slider and Raina if it doesn’t go well. Knocking, he turns to the decor as he hears loud laughter and talking from inside.
He wouldn’t have pegged Carole Bradshaw to enjoy garden gnomes. Speaking of her, his attention shifts to the door as it opens up to a cheery Carole.
“Tom!” He nods sheepishly.
“Hi Carole, how has your holiday been?” She rolls her eyes and shrugs.
“Ah, you know, same old daycare Valentine’s Day parties, endless candy, and sugar highs. How about you?” He smiles.
“Good, just a few hours on the phone with my siblings, can’t get anything past them.”
Carole laughs. “That’s just how they are, I can’t get any good news without my Pete finding out within a business day, speaking of~” She sings, giving him a look, “He’s just about ready to go! Just let me go get him, but before I do, just one thing!”
“Yes?”
Carole reaches out of the doorway and grabs Ice’s shirt, pulling him down in a startlingly effortless manner. He blinks as he becomes eye level with her.
Her gaze is piercing. “If you make my Maverick cry, I’ll kill you and then myself.”
He nods, eyes wide. “Yes ma’am.” She smiles sweetly.
“Great!” She lets him go and fixes his collar. “I’ll go get your Valentine~ ”
She disappears, leaving Iceman in stunned silence. Okay.
After a while of Ice hearing a loud conversation and the tv turned up, Maverick makes his appearance, a grin on his face.
“Park your car,” He swings his keys, “We’re going on a ride.”
Ice wraps his arms around Mav’s waist as they speed down the road.
“Slow down! ” He shouts, as they run a red light.
“Breathe in the air, Ice!”
“I’ll breathe in flies at this speed! This is definitely illegal, Maverick!”
“It’s Valentine’s Day, Ice! All the police officers are probably trying to pretend they have the perfect marriage, why would they be out looking for bitches breaking the law today of all days?”
He goes to say something, probably along the lines of are you CRAZY- when red and blue lights start flashing behind them.
“Oh shit.”
The two sit in a cell, Ice with crossed arms having a staring contest with the bars, and Mav fidgets with his fingers as he stares at the ground.
Mav glances at Ice out of the corner of his eye.
Ice contemplates adding another charge to his record.
“..Uh, Ice?”
“What.”
“I’m sorry,” Ice finally looks at his wingman, “I know when you thought of Valentine’s Day you weren’t expecting to spend it in a holding cell.” Maverick turns away out of guilt.
Ice pauses, and glances at the other empty cells, then sighs. “Oh you dumbass.” Maverick looks at him questioningly as he grabs his shoulders and pulls him into a kiss. It’s short, and sweet considering their situation, and Ice looks into Mav’s wide eyes when he pulls away.
“When I said I’d be your wingman, I meant it, if you go to jail? I go to jail.”
They sit in the backseat of Viper’s car hours later, sheepishly.
Ice watches Viper grip his steering wheel so hard his knuckles turn white, and braces for a lecture.
His foot knocks against Mav’s and he smiles.
“…I can’t ever leave you two alone, can I?”
“Apparently not sir.” Ice responds, tangling his hand in Maverick’s.
“You two will buy me and my wife wine for our troubles you got that? Not only was our date interrupted by the Miramar jail informing me two of my pilots were under arrest, do you know what I see walking into said jail? My two pilots making out in a jail cell, ” the two look pointedly away from each other, “I am at a loss for words!” Viper’s eye twitches.
After being yelled at for an additional half hour, Viper drops them off at Maverick and Carole’s house.
“Good night, Mav.” Maverick smiles, “Good night, Ice!” He turns to open his door, and walks in, leaving the door open.
Ice pauses, and then follows him.
As the two walk in, they glance at Carole and Bradley watching a movie in the living room.
“You two are back already, what happened?”
After calming Carole down from her hysteria, Maverick drags Ice to the kitchen to find something to eat. “We have.. popcorn?” Ice shrugs.
“Sure.”
“Who knew pressing the popcorn button would burn popcorn!”
Ice facepalms as Carole laughs. They eat the burnt popcorn anyway.