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Maverick shovels some of the coins from his pocket into the payphone before he starts jamming buttons he knows by heart. The line rings then, after a few seconds, it's picked up.
"Bradshaw residence," Carole answers.
"Hey, Care. It's me. I just landed," Mav says.
"Oh! Mav! Welcome back to the States! How was the carrier? D'you get that last care package?"
"I did," Maverick assures her. He pats his wallet even though she can't see him. "I got Bradley's drawing in my wallet."
"Aw, ain't you sweet?" she cooes. "The boys'll be back later tonight."
Mav nods along, "Okay. I'll have an address and a number for you later."
Carole gasps, "You don't know where you're staying?"
"Relax, Care. I'm bunking with Ice until I find a place," Mav snorts.
"Iceman? Goosey said you guys didn't get along." Carole sounds concerned.
Maverick doesn't need to see her face to know her brow is furrowed. "You're gonna get wrinkles," Maverick teases.
Carole huffs into the reciever. She's rolling her eyes; Mav knows that. He grins, and he's pretty sure she knows that too.
"I gotta get going, Carole," he says, still smiling. "I'll call you guys later, okay?"
Maverick was only going to say with Ice until he got his own housing sorted out. But it's easy living with Ice, not to mention Kazansky is pretty easy on the eyes, which Mav appreciates. He didn't expect it would go so well, but it has been, so he stays. It's cheaper than living on his own and the company is decent. That's what Ice keeps saying. Which, as Maverick has learned, is Ice's way of saying "I like living with you too."
They're both observant. It's critical to their job, and sometimes it translates well to other aspects of their lives. Sometimes it makes relationships crash and burn. But it's not like that with them. It's symbiotic. Chores are split nicely, cooked meals are alternated, it's just so simple. Mav sometimes finds himself wishing it had been easy with various women he's dated, but then wonders if it's like this because Ice isn't anything like the women he chases. Sure, Ice is blonde, ambitious, and smart…
Okay, well. Iceman has a lot in common with the women Maverick has dated. But they're not in the kitchen making breakfast and Ice is.
"Hey," Mav yawns, shuffling into the kitchen.
"Morning," Ice says, "I made pancakes and there's hot chocolate on the stove."
Ice sets a plate on the island in their kitchen. Maverick nods slowly, tasting the hot chocolate with a spoon. It's rich; it'll be a great addition to his coffee. Mav fills his mug most of the way with coffee and adds a splash of the hot cocoa. The pancakes on the plate are smaller and thinner; they're silver dollar pancakes. Maverick likes to roll his pancakes up to eat them. Ice noticed that after the first time he made them. Ever since, he makes the pancakes smaller, so they're easier for Mav to eat by hand.
"Mmm, hey," Maverick hums, pleased, "There are blueberries in here!"
"You like blueberries," Ice nods. He points to a small bowl of blueberries on the counter.
It's true. Last week, Mav ate enough blueberries to make himself sick. He smiles.
"Leave the dishes," he says, "I'll get them after breakfast."
Ice shrugs and nods. Neither of them particularly mind doing the dishes, but Ice doesn't like wet food touching him. Nobody likes wet food touching them, but it really grosses Ice out, wet/damp/moist things touching him. Raw meat is another one. Maverick usually handles all the raw meat in the house. He tries not to let it go to his head, but he does chuckle about handling Ice's meat to himself.
"Maverick, when are you leaving?" Ice asks. He's flipping through his little pocket planner.
"Where am I going?" Mav inquires around a mouthful of blueberry pancakes. He fingers a few blueberries out of the bowl and drops them down his throat.
"Aren't you going to see Goose for Christmas?"
Maverick shakes his head, "No. You're not going anywhere, so I thought I'd stay here with you."
"Oh."
Ice sets the planner down and pushes some of the pancakes around on his plate. Maverick watches; Ice is contemplating. Slider says he's "dwelling." There's something Ice needs to say, but he hasn't quite figured out how yet. So he sits and thinks until he figures it out. Mav rolls up another pancake and shoves it in his mouth. He watches Ice's jaw tighten while he comes up with words. He's handsome this early in the morning. Hair mussed up, shirtless, unshaven. But then again, Ice is always handsome.
Ice clears his throat, "I thought maybe for Christmas we could get a dog."
"Oh." Maverick blinks and swallows. "Okay? Sure."
"Keep us company while the other one is deployed," Ice shrugged.
"What if we're deployed at the same time?"
Ice frowned. "Maybe not then."
"No, no, Ice. I think a dog is a great idea," Maverick reassures him. He reaches across the counter and pats Ice's hand. Ice doesn't recoil, so Mav keeps his hand there as he continues, "If we get a cute enough dog, we won't have any shortage of people willing to watch them."
"Maverick, put the cat down," Ice scolds.
They're at the humane society. There's a shortage of volunteers today, so the two are asked to wait until someone can help them. But they're welcome to look around the rooms with cats. The room with kittens is full of children and parents, so Maverick had dragged Ice over to the room with older cats.
"But Ice," Maverick pouts. He holds up the large gray cat so he's at Ice's eyeline. "Todd is so cute."
Todd purrs in response. Another cat winds around Ice's feet. Maverick flips Todd and cradles him like a baby. The cat continues to purr.
"A cat would be easier if we're both gone," Maverick says, rocking Todd side to side.
Ice sits on the bench and pinches the bridge of his nose. Maverick sits next to him with Todd settled on his lap.
"Do you not like cats?"
"I don't not like cats," Ice says. "But cats don't like me."
One of the cats yowls as it rubs against Ice's ankles.
"I don't think that's true. Besides, I like you. And I've often been compared to a cat," Maverick shrugs.
"Who compared you to a cat?" Ice huffs with a laugh. He bends down to pet the cat around his feet. The cat gives him a sniff, hisses, and dashes off to the other side of the room. "See?"
"Charlie said I tomcatted around too much," Mav chuckles. "And I think Slider once said I resembled a wet cat."
Hesitantly, Ice reaches over so Todd can check him out. The gray cat sniffs Ice's hand and immediately rubs his cheeks across his knuckles. Still cautious, Ice scratches behind Todd's ears and pats his head.
"Todd likes you!" Maverick exclaims. "It's a sign, Ice. Plus, he's half off."
"Welcome home, Todd!" Maverick announces.
He sets the carrier down and fumbles with the latch for a few seconds until the door pops open. Todd's little head pokes out briefly, but he doesn't leave.
"C'mon, buddy. Go check it out!" Mav clicks his tongue, trying to beckon the cat out.
"Let's get him set up in a room first," Ice suggests.
Mav straightens up, "Oh, well, whose room should we uh get him settled in?"
"Well, the litter box can probably fit in that weird bump out in the hall."
Todd sticks his head back out of the crate and finally decides to take a proper look around.
"There he goes," Maverick says, "Anywhere you wanna look around, Todd! Feel free."
"Maverick, he's a cat," Ice sighs, "He doesn't speak English."
"You don't have enough whimsy in your life, Iceman."
"I have plenty of whimsy," Ice shoots back with a grin, "I'm looking at about all 5'7 of the whimsy in my life right now."
Maverick smiles back, all teeth. "You could stand to gain a little more."
Mav quietly tiptoes Ice's room. Just as he suspected, Todd is curled up behind Ice's head. He huffs to himself. Ice didn't even want a cat originally. Why would Todd sleep with Ice when Maverick set up the cat tree, played with him all afternoon, and gave him wet food? Cats.
"Maverick," Ice calls out, startling him.
"Uh," Mav coughs, "Yeah?"
"I can feel you leering."
"I'm not leering. I'm just wondering why Todd's sleeping with you when you didn't —"
"Just get in the bed if you're gonna be all weird about who the cat sleeps with," Ice says.
Mav raises an eyebrow. That wasn't the response he was expecting. Maybe Ice has been doing some appreciating of his own. He doesn't give it another thought and joins Ice in his bed, on the other side of Todd. Ice's back is to him. Mav runs his fingers through Todd's silky fur. The cat shifts a little. He gets up to reposition himself closer to Maverick. Internally, Mav preens, but he keeps quiet about it.
"Night Ice," he says.
"Night Mav."
"Hey uh Ice?"
"Maverick," Ice groans. He flops to his back. "What?"
"Thanks for offering me a place."
"Oh. Well, it's no problem. You're not so bad," Ice admits. Hastily, he adds, "And I hate living alone anyway."
Slider had moved in with his girlfriend, Madison. That's why Ice had room in the first place.
"Me too," Maverick confesses. "I uh grew up in foster care. Always shared a room with another kid or three. Then I met Goose and Care…"
He trails off. Ice rolls to his side so they're facing each other and the cat. Mav can see his eyes sparkling in the dark.
"I was alone a lot as a child," Ice says quietly. "And after I met Slider, I got sick of it pretty quickly."
"Good thing I needed a place to live, huh?" Maverick chuckles.
"Yeah. Good thing."
Ice's breath is on Mav's face, and he's not sure when Ice got so close. Maverick leans closer; his lips ghost over Ice's. Then Todd lets out a yowl, startling them both. The cat stares at both of them before hopping off the bed in a huff.
"Fuck, he scared me," Ice chuckles.
"What was that about?" Mav wonders, watching Todd slink out of the room.
"He's a cat, Maverick. Who knows? Are you gonna go ask him?"
"Maybe."
"Come here first." Ice's voice gets lower, intoxicating and sultry.
"I'll ask him tomorrow," Maverick decides.
He scooches over, colliding their mouths together. Ice nips at him until Maverick opens his mouth. Usually, he's the one with the tongue prodding in places, but Iceman beats him to it. Ice grabs a hip, pulling them closer, then Maverick stops. And Ice stops. He pulls back, confused.
"What's wrong? Did um did I read this wro —" Ice begins.
Maverick cuts him off, "No, no. I'm just… I don't want Todd to watch."
"Are you fucking with me?"
"He's a cat, Ice! He's pure of heart!"
Ice opens his mouth to argue, but Maverick quickly kisses him.
"I'm mostly fucking with you. This is fun. I wanna do this," he assures Ice, "But I wanna talk about this more before we, well… I'd say before we jump into bed together."
"You want to talk about this more?" Ice asks, incredulous.
"Yeah," Mav nods. He runs his knuckles down Ice's cheek. "We've got a great thing going, and I don't wanna fuck this up by going too fast."
"Okay."
"Okay."
"Night, Mav."
"Night, Ice."