Work Text:
01
"Coffee?"
Goose was startled by the sudden splash of iced coffee on his face, instantly shaking off the morning drowsiness. "Uh, oh thanks, Mav!"
The short guy chuckled and shook his head, reaching into the paper bag he was carrying and taking out another cup to hand it to Slider. "Coffee?"
The latter clearly didn't expect to have one too. "Oh... uh, thanks."
Maverick then proceeded to take several more cups of coffee from another paper bag, only stopping when every person in the classroom had a cup in their hands, satisfyingly ceasing his actions.
Humming a cheerful tune, he took out the damp paper bag soaked with iced coffee and threw it away, leaving the '86 class of pilots with puzzled expressions.
"When did I become the person Maverick brings coffee to?" Slider was the first to ask.
"We all have a cup," Wolfman reminded.
Goose took a sip of his coffee. "When there's free coffee to drink, don't waste time talking."
"OHHH—" Hollywood teased, "I sense it—gossip—"
"Don't ask," Goose raised an eyebrow, "Believe me, you don't want to know what you're getting into."
"Try me."
02
After some explanation, it turned out that the green-eyed devil, who was "spoiled" by the '86 class of pilots, had a love interest, who happened to be the owner of a coffee shop.
"I can't stand Mav whispering in my ear 24/7 about how beautiful the owner's eyes are, like the sea, or how gorgeous his hair is, like gold," complained Goose. "After training today, I'm going to that coffee shop, which apparently is only a five-minute walk from our base."
"A five-minute walk, and we haven't noticed this blond beauty that Mav likes?" Slider whistled, "I'm in."
"Count me in," Sundown said.
"Please include me," Hollywood raised his hand, "for more info to blackmail Mav."
"And me too."
"Me, me, me."
...
03
Just like a few days ago, right after training, Maverick rushed to take a shower at lightning speed, changed into his everyday Navy attire, quickly applied some hair gel in front of the mirror, and, of course, didn't forget to put on his pilot sunglasses before dashing out of the locker room.
"Damn, definitely within three minutes," Chipper, who hadn't even changed out of his flight suit yet, remarked.
"I smell something," Goose sniffed, "GUYS, NO WAY. Mav used his favorite cologne!"
"Okay, at this moment, my curiosity about that owner has reached its peak," Wolfman said.
04
"As a pilot, what's the big deal about going to a coffee shop instead of a bar?" When a fragrant Maverick rushed into the cafe, Iceman was standing behind the counter, wiping a mug.
"...Can't a pilot like me enjoy coffee?" Maverick stood at the entrance, catching his breath, and walked casually towards the counter, calming himself down.
It was now 7 PM, and everyone near the base was either at a restaurant or, as Ice put it, trying to pick up someone at a bar, hoping to find a perfect companion for the evening. So, the coffee shop only had the two of them.
Ice's lips curled up slightly, but he carefully didn't let the other person notice. "So, do your teammates like the coffee from this morning?"
"They do, of course they do," Maverick casually took off his sunglasses and hung them on his collar, "I like it too." He didn't mention what he liked.
"Oh, really?" Ice smiled slightly, and this time Maverick caught his expression. The two of them silently eye-fucked each other for a moment until Ice turned around to grab a glass jar behind the counter. "The coffee you bought this morning cost you a fortune--Would you like some cookies?"
"Huh? Oh yes," Maverick snapped out of it with a start, though the blush on his face gave him away. "two please, thank you."
05
"Is he the one?" At that moment, a group of suspicious passers-by wearing sunglasses and Hawaiian shirts "happened to" pass by the coffee shop. Each "passer-by" casually glanced into the shop, easily spotting the short devil and a tall, blond man leaning against the counter.
"Wow," Slider whistled, "he got himself a good one."
"Be respectful," Goose warned him, "he might be our future brother-in-law."
"I just can feel it," Carole, who was pulled over by Goose, concluded, "He is the one."
"Am I the only one who finds it suspicious when a coffee shop is open at 7 PM?" Hollywood wondered.
"Wake up, 'wood," Wolfman said, "It's 1986, and we don't have any entertainment activities other than these said coffee shops."
06
Meanwhile, inside the coffee shop:
"Do I get a prize?" Maverick slowly approached the counter, his face getting too close to Ice's, maintaining an intimate distance.
"...For what?" Ice, taking advantage of his height, looked down at Maverick, who surprisingly found himself not minding Ice towering over him.
"For finishing the cookie," Maverick said, while licking and/or biting his lower lip.
He could sense Ice's gaze immediately darken. "Well, Mitchell," yes, they had already reached the point of knowing each other's last names, "You will have to come home with me to find out."
Maverick smiled like a cunning fox finally getting the grapes he desired. "And I think I will."
07
Finally, at the wedding of Ice&Mav.
"We gather here today to celebrate my best friend, Tom," Slider, dressed in a tuxedo, raised a champagne glass, standing in front of everyone, and announced—yes, over the past twenty years, Ron "Slider" Kerner and Tom "Iceman" Kazansky had become the best of friends, just like Maverick and Goose—"and the wedding of the little devil we all dote on."
"You hate me that much, huh?" Maverick, embraced by Ice, raised his glass in acknowledgment to Slider, knowing that he genuinely felt happy for him.
One month ago, the same-sex marriage bill was finally passed, and after dating for almost twenty years, Mav could finally walk down that aisle with the person he loved, finally able to shout their love to the world.
Carole, stood next to Goose, wiping away tears. "I told you, honey."
"Yeah?"
"That Ice will be the one."
"Cafe owner/pilot"
Fin.
Epilogue:
"--THAT I can fucking tell you," a drunken Hollywood shouted at a specific wedding reception, "a regular, non-scheming coffee shop owner would NEVER keep his coffee shop open at 7 PM in 1986!!!""