Work Text:
It was the first time that Slider had seen Maverick in little headspace. And it was also the first time he had seen Ice so happy.
Sitting on the bottom bunk bed, he stared at the two, busy in their little routine.
He didn't think he had ever seen the completely enamored expression on Ice's usually blank face as he bottle fed his boyfriend.
Sure, he knew that the two were together, he also had witnessed so many sexual banters between the two. But he had never seen before the completely platonic intimacy between the two whenever Mav was in headspace.
Maverick was calmly suckling on the rubber teat of the bottle, eagerly gulping down the warm milk, eyes curiously wandering around the room, stopping briefly on Slider, before returning to Ice's face.
Slider had asked Iceman if Maverick was alright with him staying in the same room with him while in little headspace, he didn't want to intrude or make him uncomfortable, but Ice reassured him that it was alright.
A loud burp snapped Slider out of his musing and he grinned surprised, seeing that now Maverick was sitting upwards on the other's lap, giggling as Ice wiped with a soft looking rug his mouth.
"Did you just burp him?"
"Of course. Tonight he's incredibly little, I'm not sure he will be able to eat the baby food I brought with me," and true to his word, Ice had packed in a bag multiple jars of fruity baby food.
"He's more little than usual, you say?" Slider found himself interested in the conversation. All the while, Maverick had begun gnawing at his own hand.
Chuckling and calling him a dummy, Ice quickly replaced the hand with a blue pacifier, "Yes, usually he's more of a toddler than a newborn. If he was in his usual headspace, we would need to chase him around. And he wouldn't stay silent for more than 5 minutes."
Slider snorted, "Oh, so you're simply describing Mav"
"Well, I can't really say you're wrong," laughed Ice, eyes still fixed on Mav, who was cooing and vocalizing behind his pacifier.
The two young men kept looking at the little, who was still cradled onto Ice's lap. The blond quietly moved him till he was laying on the side, curled up in his lap and with his head on his chest.
Mav grabbed Ice's hand, holding it and playing with the naval ring he always wore, his pacifier noisily bobbing in his mouth, till he slowly pushed it out with his tongue.
Before either Ice or Slider could wonder what he was about to do, Mav raised the other's hand over his face like he was holding the Top Gun cup, and promptly brought his fingers in his mouth.
There was a stunned silence for a couple of seconds, before the two started laughing extremely loud.
They laughed so hard their bellies hurt and tears were rolling down their reddening cheeks.
Maverick started giggling too, more to mimic the two, as they were laughing, than for understanding why they were laughing.
Ice wiggled his index and middle fingers, which were spit soaked, before Mav whined and reached for them again.
The blond held them further from his face, earning an annoyed whine by the little, but before he could actually start crying, Ice gave them back to him, making him coo in delight.
"Isn't he biting you?" asked Slider amused, eyes glinting in affection for his friend and the love of his life.
Ice shrugged, "Nah dude, he's mostly drooling over them"
"Oh, like a woman giving you a blowie," exclaimed Slider with a glint in his eyes, which sent Ice into a laughing fit.
Maverick, though, was apparently startled by the noise and movement, so much that he started crying loudly, fingers coming out from his mouth with a loud plop.
"Shhhh sweetie, I'm sorry I scared you! Shhhh, I'm here, baby boy" Ice got up from the bed he was previously sitting in, tightly holding Maverick in his arms.
Slider felt a little guilty, because it was his comment that made Ice move and scare the little.
"I'm sorry, Ice, I should have known he was going to get startled" apologized Slider, wanting to help but not knowing how to do it.
Ice shook his head, "Don't worry, Slider, it's not your fault. He's very tired and he cries very easily when he's tired"
"Can I help you in any way?"
The man seemed to ponder a little, before nodding, "Sure, can you get the teething ring in the bag on the bed?"
Slider nodded eagerly, jumping on his feet and rummaging through the bag on the bed next to the one he was sitting on. He finally grabbed a thick, soft teething ring with plastic keys attached to the other ring.
Ice outstretched a hand, quickly grabbing the ring and using it as a rattle.
Slider was incredibly surprised as he saw Maverick immediately calm down, teary eyes fixing over the ring wide open and Ice giggled, "The powers of the rattle" he simply explained.
He bounced the sniffling baby for some more time, leaving gentle kisses all over his head, forehead and cheeks, making him giggle and coo.
"Let's get some nap time" whispered Ice, ever so gently moving him to the bed and tucking him under the crisp, cool blankets.
Maverick wiggled around a little, immediately falling asleep, hair ruffled and mouth slightly agape. Ice carefully inserted the pacifier into his mouth, making him sigh in his sleep.
The blond didn't move, deciding to keep a steady hand on the other's back, some sort of grounding presence to let Mav know he was there.
"Why is he doing that?" asked curiously Slider and Ice sighed, "It's a coping mechanism for all the trauma he's been through. Losing his dad, losing his mom, growing up in horrible foster families and then…well, losing Goose"
A heavy silence fell on the two of them, the knowledge of how guilty Maverick has felt in the aftermath.
Ice wouldn't tell Slider, but Mav still woke up crying from the memories of that dreaded day, even if almost 2 years had passed.
Slider got up, trudging through the room to sit on Ice's side. Patting his back, he gave him a knowledgeable smile, "Dude, I know you're tired. Go take a shower, I can look over the youngling till you're back"
Seeing Ice opening his mouth to argue, he quickly ushered him on his feet, giving him a mighty push towards the bathroom, and without anymore arguing, Ice was gone.
Slider looked down at the sleeping boy, a soft smile forming on his face. Sure, he wasn't extremely close to Maverick, they were mostly civil because of Ice.
But now, Maverick looked so innocent and honestly he was so happy and giggling. And also not cocky at all, which was enough to make him look good in Slider's eyes.
Suddenly, he saw big green eyes, clouded by sleep, blinking up at him. He almost expected to hear him cry, scream and tell him to go fuck himself.
Yet, Maverick simply cooed slightly, hands clapping in delight and legs kicking slightly. Slider didn't know what he was supposed to do with him, it's not like he could make conversation with him.
He hesitantly lowered his hand towards him, ready to take it away, but then Mav grabbed it and gently started shaking it, eyes wide and curious, pacifier still bobbing in his mouth.
Slider chuckled and scooped him up hesitantly, trying to copy the way Ice had picked him up and brought him against his chest.
Maverick settled down, dropping Slider's hand and making soft noises as he enjoyed the soft rocking motion.
Slider noticed Ice entering back into the room, a soft smile growing on his face at the sight of his best friend and baby boyfriend.
He grinned crookedly, raising up Maverick from his chest a little, showing him to Ice like a little child with their new newborn sibling and Ice laughed, walking closer.
He peered over Slider's shoulder, taking in Mav's relaxed, open face, his green eyes looking so trusting and happy.
He couldn't help but lean down to press a soft kiss on his forehead, then leaned down to tenderly and chastely graze his lips.
The two grown ups kept cooing and doting on the little one, while Mav babbled, drooled and cooed in delight.
If by night, Slider wormed his way in the cramped bed Ice was sleeping in with baby Maverick laying mostly on top of him, neither men never said anything about it.
But once Maverick was back in his adult headspace, all he could do was thank Slider with a warm smile.