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“Mav?”
Ice was calling out into a warm, quiet house, listening for sounds of Pete. He shuffled out of his shoes, calling again.
His body felt heavy and weary, but he trudged up the stairs to drop his flight suit in the laundry, postponing his search for Maverick until his hands were free.
He had on an old t-shirt he’d found in his dresser while hastily packing his bag earlier that day, and he thought it might have been his omega’s from how it bunched tightly around his shoulders. He changed out of his jeans while still in the laundry room, snagging pajama pants out of the dryer.
He crept downstairs, eyes straining from how tired he was. But he knew a little time spent with Mav was the best cure for that. He sniffed a little and rubbed at his nose. Several people had asked him if he was coming down with something, and he hadn’t been sure until now, when he could feel that ache all across his face.
He spotted Mav.
The smaller man was rolled up in a blanket on the couch, disguised perfectly so that Ice couldn’t have made him out from the front door.
“Hi baby.” Ice whispered, rearranging little tufts of black hair from where he’d settled on the floor near Mav’s head.
The omega had his chin tucked to his chest and his arms folded up in the blankets, but he made a small pip-like sound for Ice, likely recognizing his scent and his presence.
Ice smiled. He loved seeing Mav sleeping.
But right now he needed awake Mav.
Ice had had a rough day at work. Between feeling a bit under the weather, a big project, a flight that took him away from said project, a deployment creeping into his calendar, and a strange person who had waltzed into his office and said strange things… it had been a long one and he just needed Mav.
He gently shook the man’s shoulder and was ready with a tender smile when bleary green eyes blinked open.
Mav smiled back at him before yawing hard.
“Hey darlin, come here often?” Mav teased, stretching his neck to brush his nose against his alpha’s cheek.
“Nope, first time. You think you could tell me where to find a sweet little thing such as yourself that might be interested in hearing a proposition?”
“Sure Tommy, you know I’m happy to do whatever.” Mav murmured sincerely.
“Yeah baby, I know, you feel like going down for me?”
“Mhm, I’can do that.”
Tom smiled in relief and started the process of laying on the couch with Mav on his chest.
He was pretty confidant that downtime with Mav would make him feel better, he needed something reliable, something he was prepared for, something he could be in control of that would have a 100% success rate.
Tom seemed upset. Or a little on edge.
He took work seriously. It was a good day for Pete when the alpha came home unbothered by his work day, not to say that days like these weren’t good, they were just mellow. Mav felt like he needed to be transparent, Ice needed to know when he did something that made Mav happy, needed to know he was doing a good job and whatnot. It made his little perfectionist heart happy and stuff.
As the omega settled he focused on relaxing and letting his mind drift. Tom had asked if Mav would go down for him, had not asked him if he would let Tom put him down, so Mav was under the assumption that they were going Mav-speed.
His mind wandered to the thumb Ice was casually brushing across the base of Mav’s neck, the top of the sweep nearing the omega’s scent gland. Mav smiled to himself, knowing he’d found just the perfect memory to get lost in while he was down for Ice.
They’d bonded a few years ago.
In Mav’s opinion they’d waited a long time.
Ice had just turned 30 when Mav realized that he could beg for the things he wanted in all sorts of aspects of their relationship.
“Please Tommy? I just love you and I want people to know. I don’t want to lose you, I want to have you here forever.” He’d pleaded, tapping the side of his neck for emphasis.
Ice had licked his lips, eyes drawn to the omega’s scent gland where he was planning on putting his bite but hadn’t quite figured out how he wanted to ask Mav about it, the other man waiting very impatiently.
“You want it that bad, do you?”
Pete nodded, deciding to lay it on thick, knowing that no amount of goading could make Ice rush blindly.
“I need it Tommy, sometimes I feel like it hurts without your mark, and nobody believes me that you’re real. No one believes the little airstation brat who thinks the Iceman loves him.” Mav said softly, his last statement carrying more truth than he’d meant to add.
“What do you mean?” Ice had stared down at him, concern lacing his features.
“It’s not a big deal Ice, I was just messing with you.”
“No no, that was real baby, what do you mean no one believes you? People think you’re lying?”
Mav nodded slowly, watching Ice’s face for a misstep. But there was none, only what seemed to be a lightbulb moment of realization.
Ice had then pushed Mav to sit on the edge of the their bed, slowly kneeling between the omega’s legs.
“Pete Mitchell? I want to love you forever. I want to do everything with you for the rest of my life. There is nothing that I have that I wouldn’t share with you, in fact, all that I have is already yours. All that I have is love for you. You’re everything I have ever needed. I promise to treasure you. Our door will always be open to our friends and family, and our bed will always be warm. It would be my greatest privilege and my fondest joy if you would be my mate, here and now… forever and ever.” Ice finished with a shy smile, knowing that Mav would tease him for the cheesiness later.
But Mav had a soft look of wonder on his face, his lips parted as he looked into the other mans face. His eyes were smiling, bright and beautiful. Ice realized that Mav’s hands had snuck up to hold his face so he covered them with his own, pulling them away to kiss his scarred knuckles.
“Yes Tommy, please, I want forever and ever with you. You give me a reason to get up in the morning and a reason to come home every night. I love you so much, sometimes it hurts, but its the best thing I’ve ever felt. I really, really love you.” Mav whispered, like the words were sacred.
Ice smiled, bright and wide, leaning forward so he was close enough to kiss. Mav never missed an opportunity to kiss him.
They tumbled back onto the bed moments later, laughter filling the small space between them.
“Can you give me your bite first?”
“Baby, thats going to hurt a lot…” Ice answered, a little confused.
“I know but… I don’t want it to be about the sex… I need to know it’s not because of the sex.” Mav said, staring Ice down, challenging him with his vulnerability.
Ice nodded slowly, catching on to Mav’s meaning.
“Of course, do you want to try to numb the area? So it doesn’t hurt so bad?”
“No, I want to do it now, I don’t care if it hurts, I just want you Tommy.” The omega replied, settling into the bed and showing off his throat.
Ice kissed him, soft and slow, his one hand cradling Mav’s face while the other petted his hair. He brought his lips to the omega’s neck, kissing along his throat to where his scent was strongest. He gave Mav’s scent gland a kiss before grazing his teeth. Mav shivered.
Ice hoped that quick would be painless, so without much warning he bit down on Mav’s scent gland and locked his jaw, waiting for the bond to settle into place. Mav whimpered a little, then murmured nice things about Ice while he petted over his shoulders.
Ice had never been happier. Things were perfect. He had a love that was perfect for him, a perfect claim on the man he loved, and the print of his perfect teeth that would last a lifetime safe on Mav’s neck.
In the present, Ice was still fondly brushing his thumb over the claim he’d left, watching Mav’s peaceful face.
So he saw the uncontrollable smile form on his lips.
Ice wondered what it was for.
Mav sneezed.
He didn’t know why, he didn’t have allergies. But he sneezed while Ice’s teeth were dug into his neck, resulting in him jerking that connection.
Fear flashed across Ice’s face as he pulled away, not knowing if Mav was seriously hurt or not.
He checked Mav’s face and saw no pain.
“I’m sorry.”
“Bless you.” Ice laughed, ignoring it.
As long as Mav was okay, then Tom was happy. They went to the bathroom to clean up the blood and get Mav a tissue, and that was when Ice discovered it.
His hold on Mav’s neck had slipped when Mav sneezed.
The one bite he would ever give in his life was now jagged at the edges and little lopsided.
Mr. Iceman, cool calm collected, had given his mate an imperfect bite.
Mav looked at it in the mirror with a huge smile.
“I love it.”
Ice just watched him, unsure how to feel.
“The Navy’s finest, every housewife’s “Mr. Perfect” chose me and gave me a very unique bite.”
“Mav-“
“No I love it, and you love it too. It’s perfect.”
“Its really not.”
“Yes it is, look at me and tell me I would look normal with a carbon copy of your pearly whites on my neck. Thats what I thought. I’m happy with my sneeze-bite.”
“Please, do not call it that.” Ice said through a laugh.
“C’mon Tommy, not everything has to be perfect with a cute name.”
“I know, I just wanted it to be nice. When people see it they’ll know I gave you that kinda ugly claim.”
“Yeah, when people look at Me, Tom. People are going to be baffled that I have a claim at all. Most will be impressed with you for getting me to sit still long enough for you to do it, and the others will think I moved on purpose because I’m disrespectful and stuff. Neither are true because people just see what they want to see. It’ll look perfect once people know its yours.” Mav said, a little disgruntled.
Ice pressed him against the sink in a hug, whispering an apology into his crown.
“Want to give me yours?” Tom asked quietly.
“What?”
“You should give me your bite too.”
“I didn’t know people still did that. It’s not going to be the same, you know that right? My parents did that and you could barely see my dads most days.”
“I guess you’ll just have to make it scar then.” Ice said matter of factly, leaning away to look Mav in the eye.
Ice slowly turned his head away, shifting forward until Mav’s lips were pressed against his neck. He felt the omega nip the skin softly.
“You know this is going to hurt even worse, if I bite hard enough to scar?”
“I can take it. I want to.” Ice whispered, squeezing his omega’s waist.
The next day, Ice strolled into work with a scabbed over version of the tidy bite Mav had given him. It was clean and perfect, just what Tom had wanted to give to Mav, save for two crooked teeth that couldn’t be helped. According to Mav, all the kings dentists had already tried.
Mav felt fairly groggy when Ice pulled him back to the present, petting his face suggesting they have a quick dinner and go to bed. Pete just snuggled into the alpha’s chest. It didn’t always work, but sometimes if Tom thought he wasn’t all the way out of his headspace, he’d do all sorts of things Mav could totally do by himself. Like make him a plate of leftovers, or carry him to the bedroom, or wash his hair, or put the toothpaste on the brush for him.
Ice definitely knew what his omega was up to, but it was hard to dote on Mav so Ice took what he could get.
Tom felt trapped in his little square office. The sun was beating on the back of his neck, his sniffle had turned into serious congestion, and he’d just gotten off the phone with bad news.
He knew it was wrong to have bias, being a superior meant being fair, but he disliked Curtis for so many reasons it was hard to take him seriously at any given time. Ice just wanted to go home, preferably bringing Mav with him.
“Hey, can I come in now?”
Ice wiped his face and nodded, frustrated that they were sending Curtis to him for a reprimand.
“You look very pretty today.” Curtis said suddenly, looking at Ice shyly.
Ice glared at him, unable to keep his frustration completely professional.
Instead of saying anything in response, Ice made a note under the trouble Curtis had apparently already caused. ‘Entered without summons, neglected to salute, addressed superior officer informally, regularly exhibits unprofessional behavior, in violation of uniform regulations.’
“You have been summoned to receive notice of formal disciplinary action as a result of multiple accounts of misconduct and multiple regulation violations.”
Curtis’s face went red and he seemed to become unsteady on his feet. Ice made no move to help him.
Ice knew how bad it was to judge somebody by their reputation, sometimes he felt like he was the only one in Mav’s corner for that very reason, but Curtis should not have been allowed in the Navy.
It wasn’t because he was omega, it wasn’t because he was too small, or too feminine, or any of those bullshit reasons people threw around. It was because he had no common sense, he was disrespectful, his ego was out of check with no skills to back it, and he blamed the results of these things on other people.
“You have been late to your duty station every day for the past month, are frequently seen leaving before the work day is over, you have entered restricted and private spaces such as the officers lounge and the alpha locker room, countless times you have failed to salute or acknowledge your Commanding Officer, your uniform is out of regulation—“
“My uniform is not out of regulation.” Curtis said as if Ice was stupid.
“Ensign, you are wearing a ribbon around your neck and your makeup choices are too bold. Jewelry also, is limited to wedding rings and religious items if they are modest. Your uniform is out of regulation. You have missed PT since you transferred and have yet to produce a note from the doctor-“
“I have asthma, you know that!” Curtis said, sounding like he might cry.
“If you continue to speak out of turn, you will be dismissed, am I clear?”
“You can’t do that! I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“You are dismissed Ensign Curtis.”
The man gave Ice a slack jawed stare, face red with embarrassment.
Ice stood and opened the door, gesturing for Curtis to leave. He did not expect Curtis to run up and hug him, begging for another chance and getting far too close to Ice’s neck.
Ice was disgusted.
He peeled the omega away from the lovely mark Mav had left on his neck five years ago and pushed him out the door rather rudely.
Back at his desk he underlined unprofessional behavior on Curtis’s file and slammed his palm onto the solid wood. He hated when things got messy. He felt out of control. He should be able to leave most of the emotions out of work, it was just paperwork and flying, the higher he climbed in rank the worse it would get, but for now he should be able to deal with things objectively.
He stopped and stared at the picture of Mav on his desk, taking a deep breath. Two more hours and he could go home to Mav.
Ice sniffled his way through two more hours and was gone within the second, throwing his car into gear rougher than it probably deserved and pushing the speed limit all the way home like he was racing the sun.
“Mav?”
“Couch!”
Ice sighed and toed off his shoes. He felt jittery in his skin and was glad he changed on base.
He padded into the living room quickly, immediately laying eyes on his omega, the smaller man spread across the couch with his face smushed against the cushions, his finger lazily trailing along the threads of the carpet.
“Hi Pete.” Ice said, falling to his knees and manually raising the omega’s head to give him a kiss.
“I’m so sorry, I know I don’t ask this often and it’s always up to you so I don’t want to pressure you but can you go down for me, please? I feel like I’m losing control and I’m not saying I want to control you but I want to be trusted and be responsible and have it go well and I know I can do this and I just feel like I need it, I’m so sorry.”
“Tommy, of course, of course.” Mav said honestly, eyes wide and concerned.
Ice sighed and dropped his head on the couch next to Mav’s, hearing the omega rustle around, getting ready for Ice to lay on the couch so Mav could settle on his chest.
When the alpha was in position Mav draped his smaller body over him in a replica of the day before, hands curling loosely around Ice’s shoulders with his nose pressed to Ice’s neck.
There Mav found an issue.
He couldn’t quite put his finger on it, but something was off. He squirmed a little, knowing that speed was key at the moment, trying to get comfortable so he could soothe his alpha.
Repositioning didn’t help.
He sighed, turning his face further toward Ice to block out the light, pressing his face closer to the alpha’s neck.
He couldn’t get it.
He didn’t feel relaxed at all and he could feel Ice getting antsy underneath him.
“Mav?”
“Sorry, just, need a second or something…” Pete trailed off, taking a deep breath.
He felt a pit in his stomach.
Was something wrong? Ice had never asked him so urgently and now he was falling through. What would they do if Mav couldn’t provide? Would Ice go to someone else? Would he yell? Or maybe throw things?
Mav had no idea.
Ice started running a hand up and down the omega’s spine, and Mav finally felt like he was making progress.
“I know you wanted me to go down for you… but— but I’m having a - kind of a hard time, is me going down for you what you need, or will putting me down work? I’m sorry, I don’t know what’s wrong with me I just can’t relax or something…”
“I can put you down baby, don’t worry.” Ice assured him, a smile evident in his voice.
Maybe asking for help was the right thing to do after all, Mav had just given him a responsibility, had needed him to take over, to take charge, had yielded to him.
The long strokes across his back returned and the other hand started up brushing through the baby hairs at Mav’s hairline.
“You’re being so good for me, listening to me and going down when I ask you.” Ice murmured.
Mav finally felt himself slipping down, leaving his mind blank in case Ice wanted to talk to him while he was down. The weird knot in his stomach was still there, and he still felt squirmy, but as he slipped into that peaceful part of his mind he pushed the problems away and focused on being good for Ice.
Ice felt better immediately.
Having Mav all cozy on his chest, his sleepy green eyes slowly falling shut, pink lips slightly parted. Ice couldn’t get enough of him.
But what felt the best was how not-messy things were.
Sure maybe he’d bonded himself to the Navy’s number one offender for trouble and problem making, but Mav was so much more than that. Once you got to know him, you could really understand why he did the things he did.
Ice saw him exactly as he was and loved him. Mav was perfect, and being able to take care of him, being trusted to do so, soothed him like nothing else in the world.
He must have dozed a bit, it being perfectly normal for them to sleep during Mav’s downs, because when he woke up he was confronted with problems.
Mav was uncomfortable. He always went down deeper in his headspace when Ice put him down, so it took a while for his unease to surface. But when it did he felt panicky.
He was still lost in his own head, still down and supposedly relaxed for Ice. But something was very wrong, wrong enough for him to forget he was supposed to be being good.
He whined on instinct, brushing his nose along the alpha’s collarbone for better access to his scent, but what he found there made him even more upset. While he had been down, his scent blockers from work had worn all the way off, leaving him with no choice but to accept that Tom reeked of another omega and didn’t seem to care.
The other scent was all over his neck, right where Mav had pressed his face, trying to comfort himself from the very beginning and failing because he had been detecting the scent mark.
Mav’s breathing picked up and he started to struggle out of his down, forcing himself to come up.
He wasn’t safe.
For all he knew this other omega was in the room, for all he knew Ice was going to leave him down and go to his replacement. It didn’t matter that Ice’s hands were still tucked beneath Mav’s shirt, warm skin on warm skin, and it didn’t matter that Ice’s was the dominant scent because Mav had known something was wrong before he even went down, had struggled to relax and be good because of it.
“Pete?”
Ice blinked his eyes open, unsure what had pulled him from his rest. He wrapped his arms tighter around his omega, relishing the comfortable weight of Mav on his chest. He felt warm breath on his throat and brought one hand to Mav’s head, titling his face away so Ice could see him. He wanted to look into Mav’s eyes, see his sweet smile, maybe kiss him until those green eyes fell shut again.
But when he turned the omega’s face, he saw Mav in a state of distress. Ice drew in a quick breath that turned into a hacking cough. The bug that still plagued his sinuses forcing him pause instead of figure out why Mav had gone into a bad down.
“Baby you’re okay, you’re safe. I’m here Mav, look at me sweetheart.”
Teary green eyes tried to hold eye contact with Tom but couldn’t, Mav’s body torn between being good and hiding. In the end Mav tipped his head to the side with his eyes closed, stuttering out uncomfortable sounds while his hands gripped the seams of Ice’s pants.
Tom was starting to panic too. Mav had only acted this way one time, and that had been when the neighbors were pounding on the door hard enough to chip paint during Mav’s heat. The little noises he made were for Ice to know there was something wrong, something bothering him, something he needed Ice to fix.
But Ice couldn’t figure out what it was.
The closer he scooted to Mav the more distressed those sounds became, the omega still trapped in his down.
“Mav, baby, talk to me. I can’t figure it out, I need to help you, please.”
Mav just shook his head, cranking his neck back so he faced away from Ice, taking painful sounding breaths. When Ice leaned in to put him in a more comfortable position, Mav blindly pushed him away, accidentally catching the alpha right in the throat.
It was Ice’s turn to cough and gasp, but he realized then that he couldn’t scent Mav, only knew he was distressed by the physical signs.
He couldn’t scent anything at all.
That damn cold.
“Mav, talk to me, I want to fix this, please.”
“Please… no one… no one else please make him leave Tommy, please no one else—“ Mav choked, sticking his face further into the couch.
Ice immediately sat up and scoped the room, looking for this person that had apparently snuck in and was bothering his mate.
“Pete baby, its just you and me, you’re safe, its just us.”
“No… No there’s… please make him leave, don’t want— I don’t—“
Ice tried to scoot closer again, wanting to see Mav’s face, wanting to make him more comfortable, wanting to soothe him. But the omega flailed his arm out again, hitting Ice square in the neck once more.
Maybe it hadn’t been an accident.
It dawned on him that maybe Mav could scent something that he couldn’t. That maybe the cause of his distress wasn’t another person physically in the room, but the scent of a person. That made more sense to Ice.
But how was he going to figure out what the scent was and how to remove it if he couldn’t smell?
“Mav, honey I need you to tell me whats wrong so I can help, I can’t smell, I’m sick.”
He leaned closer to turn the omegas head and grab his hands so he would stop rubbing his eyes. He was forcing himself out of his drop and had the potential to hurt himself if Ice didn’t fix the problem soon.
But this time Mav fully grabbed him by the throat and shoved him backwards.
Ice gagged hard and felt his back hit the armrest of the couch, his own hand going to hold where Mav had just gripped him.
Ok, definitely not an accident.
But, did that mean Ice was the one making Mav uncomfortable?
Ice’s body went hot and cold with dread.
He didn’t shower.
He’d been so overwhelmed that the first thing on his mind had been holding Mav, not showering off the scent mark after his run in with Curtis.
For a second, Ice panicked, but in the next he was in motion.
He could be quicker than Mav. Usually it was the other way around, Mav was much faster than him and just as strong, but with Mav mostly dropped and Ice still as strategic as ever, the alpha was able to bundle Mav into his arms and take him upstairs. He had Mav’s wrists trapped in one hand, while the other held him awkwardly around the hips, allowing him to lean away from Ice’s neck and preventing him from using his toes to get away like he had once in the past.
Ice took them to the shower and undressed himself while still holding Mav’s wrists. It was difficult. Mav’s legs weren’t ready to hold him so he had to rely on Ice to stand, but he was also fighting to get away. Meanwhile, Ice was bottom naked trying to switch his hold on Mav and get his shirt off.
Somehow he managed it, then getting Mav undressed was easier. He did pants first, still holding the smaller man’s hands, then he pulled the hem of Mav’s shirt up to his chest and released his arms. The omega slowly sunk to the floor on shaky legs, his shirt left behind in Ice’s hand.
With that done, Ice got them in the shower, turned it on and immediately scrubbed down his neck, face and chest before moving onto his hair. the water was still cold by the time he rinsed the soap off and stepped closer to Mav, who was sitting at the far end of the tub, rubbing his eyes again.
“Hey, I know that doesn’t feel good, don’t do that.” He said gently, crouched a little lower than Mav was sat.
Green eyes blinked at him and Mav took a shaky breath in before going back to rubbing his face. Ice frowned and reached up to cradle the back of Mav’s head. Mav allowed it. So Ice pulled him into his chest and stood, placing the omega’s hands around himself like a hug.
Ice backed them under the now warm water and Mav sagged against him, his arms going tight. Ice washed both of them after that, taking his sweet time on Mav’s hair to see if Mav might make little noises for him.
No joy.
He didn’t get any noises from Mav until they were in bed, clean and dry.
“Tom?”
Ice opened his eyes at the faint sound of his name, hands immediately cupping Mav’s face.
“I’m right here baby.”
“What happened?” Mav asked, opening his eyes.
Ice sighed. His congestion was evident when he breathed in.
“Today I had to summon Ensign Curtis to my office.”
Mav made a small noise of dislike.
“I know. He had an issue with the reprimand and after I dismissed him he didn’t leave so I went and opened the door for him, and he hugged me. At the time I was aware that he probably scent marked me, but I have a sinus cold. I’m really sorry Mav, I forgot to shower when I got home. I felt out of control. Things have been so messy lately, at work, and downtime with you is… I don’t know how to explain it, its just right. You make me feel back to normal. So, I forgot about the scent mark because I can’t smell and you were the only thing on my mind. Thats why it took me so long to figure out why your down had gone bad and why I didn’t fix it until after you choke slammed me.” Ice finished with a small laugh.
“Sorry.” Mav said sheepishly.
“Don’t be, I needed it. I should have figured it out sooner, you told me “please make him leave” I should have figure it out then.”
“Its okay, I should have told you something felt wrong.”
“It felt wrong to you from the beginning? And you went along with it? Pete. Why?”
“I don’t know, Ice, these things don’t happen to you, this shit happens to me. I come home all out of wack and you help me, I love it and I don’t want to be a burden. You don’t ask very much from me, I wanted to help you. You were all out of sorts and you wanted me, you needed something I had to offer. My scent blockers weren’t worn off either, I couldn’t really tell.”
Ice sighed again, kissing Mav’s temple.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” Mav said happily. “You want something for your cold?”
“Like what?” Ice said, watching Mav sit up.
“A lap dance?”
“God no.” Ice said, laughing into the pillow and squeezing Mav’s hand.
“Okay fine, I’ll be back with the meds Mister No-Fun.”
Mav walked away but Ice could tell he was smiling.
Ice dozed until Mav came back. He had turkey sandwiches, cold meds, water and a warm washcloth.
He had Ice take the meds and lay down before draping the hot cloth over his eyes. It felt better. Mav ate his sandwich until the cloth went cool and Ice sat back up. Then alpha ate his sandwich and Mav scooted between him and the bed, gently massaging his neck and back.
They went to bed soon after, both sleeping hard after a terrible day with a not so terrible end.