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mysterious-adventurer · 7 days ago

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Tequila (Baby I Still See Ya) - Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw

A/N: I actually wrote this piece a few years ago, right around the height of Top Gun Summer. So, you might notice it's a little bit different than my other writing. At the time, I wrote it just for me and I never though I'd actually publish it, but here we are (if you like this you have @ij-brian-quinn-enthusiast to thank for convincing me to publish it). That being said, even after edits it's not the most inclusive piece in the world, and for that I apologize. Other writing posted on my blog in the future will be much more inclusive. This piece was actually loosely inspired by @sunlightmurdock's oneshot For Old Times' Sake so make sure to check that out!

Summary: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Mitchell! Reader. Bradley and Y/N Mitchell share a romantic moment over a bottle of tequila at her mom's wedding but lose touch after Maverick pulls Bradley's application to the naval academy. Years later, after a chance encounter Rooster tells Phoenix all about it. Loosely based on the song Tequila by Dan + Shay.

Word Count: 4.5K

Trigger Warnings: Alcohol is a central theme in this piece and will be mentioned throughout, including an underage drinking scene. Lots of teenage awkwardness. Bare minimum use of y/n.

'Clack!' The sound of pool balls colliding resonated throughout The Hard Deck as Rooster watched Phoenix take a shot in a game against Hangman. It was a quiet evening, the bar was almost empty, but then again it was only six o'clock. Maybe it was the heat, or the persistent blowing of the Santa Ana Winds, but something seemed to make the quiet evening stretch on and on with no ending in sight. The group of aviators had finally resorted to heading to the bar much earlier than usual just to try and kill the time. Much to their disappointment, other than the regular old timers who liked to sit around telling stories about Vietnam or Korea or, they were the only ones there. They had claimed a pool table in the corner and Hangman had wasted no time challenging Phoenix to game with fifty dollars on the line.

Phoenix smiled triumphantly as she lined up her next shot and on the other side of the table Hangman was frowning. His brows furrowed in concentration, silently begging for Phoenix to miss. 'Clack!' The sound reverberates through the bar again, louder this time, followed by the 'thump' as the 8-ball sinks into its pocket.

"Damn it!" Hangman reaches to retrieve his wallet from his back pocket

"That's right Bagman, fork it over" Phoenix howls, drinking in her victory.

"Rooster" Penny puts a hand on his shoulder, her sudden presence causing both him and Bob to nearly jump out of their skin. She has a mischievous smile on her face and a shot of something golden in her hand. "The lady sends her regards-" Penny nods across the bar "and tequila." She presses the shot into Rooster's hand before returning to her post behind the bar. The entire group pauses to look over at the bar where she is sitting at the counter, her (y/h/l) hair falling in messy waves around her face as she shoots a brilliant smile at Rooster. He's still processing her presence when she raises her own shot of tequila in a silent toast, knocking it back and shooting him a wink. Just as he's about to return the gesture, a tall curly haired blonde, in a white t-shirt and leather jacket, saunters up to the bar and puts his arm around her. Then just as suddenly as she seemed to appear, she's leaving with the other guy. The aviators stare across the room quizzically for a few moments before their attention seems to wane.

"Alright Trace, double or nothing?" Hangman proposes.

"At least try to hang onto your cash Seresin, find someone a little more on your skill level."

Phoenix abandons her pool cue at the table and saunters over to trade spots with Bob, as he claims her abandoned cue and she takes his seat beside Rooster. He looks pale, like he's seen a ghost, and he's still gripping the slowly warming shot of tequila in his hand.

"You going to drink that, or am I?"

Rooster brings the shot to his lips, throws his head back, and then slams the empty glass down on the table.

"All right then." Phoenix notes how quiet he's being, knowing he'd normally have a smart ass remark for her. "So, who was that? And don't just say someone that you used to know, I need details."

"Maverick's daughter."

"I didn't know Mav had a kid."

"Yeah, (y/n) Blackwell, her mom was a civilian Top Gun instructor, when my dad and Maverick were students, they started seeing each other then, but things didn't last very long between them after he graduated"

"You'd think he'd mention her every once in a while."

"He used to not shut up about her, she would come out and stay with him over the summers, but it felt like she was there all the time the way he talked about her."

"Ahhh, so there it is" Phoenix nudged him in the ribs "you two grew up together...and I'm guessing there's some history there."

"No, not really," Rooster shrugs.

"First of all, you are a terrible liar Bradshaw" Phoenix gives him a pointed glare "second of all I need details, because that girl has you looking like you've been hit by a Mack Truck and I have never seen any other girl so much as phase you. So, what happened?"

"There's really not that much to tell. When we were kids, she was like an annoying little sister who was always kind of in the way and getting into trouble. And it wasn't just like we only had to deal with each other during the summer either, my mom was friends with hers and so we saw each other all the time, basically any time school was out. We drove each other crazy; we could hardly stand to be in the same room together for ten minutes." A small smile crosses his face as Rooster shakes his head "Mom always used to say that as much as we fought it was basically guaranteed we'd end up married."

"I bet that drove you insane," Phoenix smiles

"I'd get so mad at her; I think now she just did it because she thought it was funny"

"Ohhhh, she definitely did" Phoenix takes a swig of her beer "anyway, continue."

"Eventually, I kind of outgrew the childish bickering and basically just started ignoring her to hang out with the adults, and I guess that's around the same time that she developed a massive crush on me. Everyone could tell and I was mortified by it"

"Let me guess, you were awful and just continued to completely ignore her."

"Yeah, pretty much."

"You can be such an ass sometimes."

"I was a kid!"

"Doesn't matter, it's still a dick move."

"Do you want me to finish this story, or do you want to spend the rest of the night playing pool with Bagman over there?" Rooster gestures back over to the pool table, where Hangman and Bob are still playing. With Bob unfortunately losing.

"Fine, fine. I'll shut up, please continue"

"All right, where was I, right she had a massive crush on me, and I was ignoring her like my life depended on it. Things stayed pretty much the same, until one summer she came out to California, I guess she was around sixteen and I was around seventeen, and I was just expecting things to be the same as they had been every summer. She shows up and it was like she was a completely different person, she'd gotten taller, thinner, her clothes were different, she had a different boy calling her every night, and she couldn't be bothered to give the time of day"

"I'm assuming this is the part where you suddenly realized how gorgeous she was and fell head over heels in love with her or whatever?"

"Something like that I guess" he chuckles

"Works every time"

"What are you talking about?"

"You guys can be so oblivious." Rooster raises an eyebrow at Phoenix "If a girl chases a guy, most of the time she can do anything she wants, she can bring him the moon and he still won't be interested in her. But the second that she starts ignoring him and casually flaunting the fact that other guys are interested boom she's got him."

"So, you're saying that she did it on purpose"

"Yes, and that you totally deserved it" she takes another drink and bumps her knee against Rooster's. He looks down at the ground and chuckles.

"You're probably right"

"Probably?" Phoenix shoots him a glare "No, no, no, you and I have established this I am always right." A smug look settles on her face.

"Oh really," Rooster raises an eyebrow "what about the time you said you could outdrink Hangman? Because the way I remember it, you passed out and I had to drag your drunk ass home, while Seresin was still going strong." The smug look falls from Phoenix's face, and a scowl replaces it.

"Shut up and finish the rest of your stupid story"

"Well, I spent the rest of the summer kind of watching miserably as she went out with lord knows how many different guys. Mav didn't notice, he was too busy trying to figure out how to scare off all of her dates. I remember he called her mom, Charlie, freaking out over what exactly he was supposed to do."

"That's hilarious, what did she tell him?"

"Knowing Charlie, there's absolutely no telling what she said to him, but it must have been something along the lines of 'now you know how every man with a daughter in a 100-mile radius of you has felt'."

"Definitely how Penny's dad must have felt." The two laugh until they're both doubled over with tears in their eyes, just as they recover, Penny gives them a confused look, and they dissolve into another fit of laughter.

"Okay," Phoenix, wipes the tears from her eyes, still trying to catch her breath "I still really want to hear how this ends"

"Okay, okay, so my mom made fun of me that whole summer, she actually called me a lovesick puppy"

"I can see it"

Rooster shoots her a glare, before continuing " She and Charlie were pretty close friends. They met when Charlie and Mav were dating and stayed friends after they broke up. I actually remember mom giving Mav hell, when it happened. She told him that he'd just let the love of his life walk out the door. But, I mean, I guess it worked out for the best, at least for Charlie, because she ended up meeting Robert a couple of years later, and then they decided to get married, and Charlie invited mom and I to the wedding." Rooster pauses, staring out one of the bar windows overlooking the beach.

"Okay..." Phoenix says gently, noticing the dramatic shift in Rooster's mood "so what happened at the wedding?"

"It was in mid-April, and I was still waiting to get decision letters, back from the schools I had applied to, of course the only one I really cared about was the one from the Naval Academy, and I didn't want to go to the wedding. Mom made me, so we flew out to Colorado. Robert's family has a really nice mountain chalet out there, so that's where they decided to have the wedding"

"Were you nervous about going?" Phoenix interrupts. Rooster's eyebrows furrow in confusion.

"Why would I be nervous about going to a wedding in Colorado?"

"Because you were going to see her, and you'd spent the entire summer before pining over her?

"Oh, yeah" he chuckles "I think I was too busy worrying about acceptance letters to even think about it until we got there"

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, but it definitely hit me when I saw her at the ceremony" he smiles "her mom had asked her to be her maid of honor, so she was right up front with the rest of the bridal party for the whole ceremony. She was wearing this pink dress, and her hair was up in some kind of complicated braid crown with flowers in it, and she looked absolutely gorgeous." Phoenix rolls her eyes and mimics gagging.

"You had it bad" she teases.

"You asked for details; I'm just giving you what you asked for."

"Fine, fine, so did you decide to make a move or what?"

"Something like that" Rooster's voice trails back

The Wedding Reception

"Y'know, the maid of honor shouldn't be sitting alone in a corner, while everyone else is up dancing" Bradley smiles as he sits down beside y/n.

"Yeah, well when there's a forty-year age difference between the maid of honor and the best man, it's more weird if she actually is up there dancing with everyone else"

"Well, what about if the maid of honor danced with the son of her dad's lifelong best friend instead"

"I guess that wouldn't be quite as weird," she cranes her neck looking around the room "if only I knew where he was." Bradley rolls his eyes, before standing and holding his hand out to her.

"You're funny Mitchell, real funny."

She shrugs as she as she takes his hand "I try."

Bradley leads her out onto the dance floor, guiding her hands around his neck, and then placing his own at her waist as they begin to sway to the music the band is playing.

"I'm surprised your mom didn't let you bring a date with you," he's trying to be subtle, to ask without asking if she' seeing anyone "or does she not like prom-date Josh?"

"You have no idea," she snorts. "Anyway, I could've brought anyone I wanted, there just wasn't anyone that seemed right to bring to my mom's wedding"

"Are you and Robert getting along any better now, or is it still weird?"

She pauses for a moment, the question catching her off guard. Then she smiles, a small chuckle passing her lips.

"What?" Bradley asks

"You asked me to dance, then not so subtly asked if I was single, to which I not so subtly told you I was, and now you're asking me about my stepdad?"

"Yeah, I guess I am" he grins sheepishly, realizing how silly it must seem.

"Well, it's not as bad as it was, but it's still a little weird, especially now that he's my stepdad" she glances over Bradley's shoulder to where her mother and stepfather are sitting at the head table, too busy talking to each other to notice her and Bradley together on the dance floor "I guess I just always picture Mom with someone a little more…fun."

"I didn't realize he was such a stick in the mud."

"Have you seen this party?" Y/n gestures to corner where the band sits. "They hired a string quartet to play the entire reception, you don't get much more boring than that."

"When you're right, you're right." A comfortable silence overtakes the couple, and for a few minutes they just sway to the music. A devilish grin crosses Bradley's face as he leads her in turn. "I bet that you and I could make this party a little more interesting."

"And, how exactly, do you propose we do that Bradshaw?"

He leans down whispering in her ear "You, Me, and a bottle of tequila, what do you say"

"I say, how in the world are we gonna do that?"

"Well, Robert paid for an open bar, didn't he?"

"Doesn't change the fact that we're both underage."

"That's true, but..." he trails off looking in the direction of the bartenders "I bet if the maid of honor made a scene, about something being wrong, that they would be distracted enough that they wouldn't notice me slipping off with a bottle."

She grins up at them, their height difference, becoming more apparent the closer they get.

"Aren't you a troublemaker, are they really going to put up with that at the Naval Academy?"

"Are you in or not Mitchell?"

She shoots him a wicked grin as she drops his hands, and saunters away, leaving him alone on the dance floor. He stares for a moment, his mouth falling open in shock as he watches her walk away. He regains his composure as soon as he realizes that she's headed straight for the bar. As she marches right up to the bar tender, he disappears to the edges of the room to work his way around the back of the bar, dodging slightly tipsy wedding guests and his mother. All the while silently praying that whatever distraction she comes up with will keep the bartender distracted long enough for him to slip in and out without being noticed.

"The groom specifically requested for there to be a bottle of blue absinthe set aside for him and the bride!" the expression on her face is somewhere between angry and distraught. If he didn't know better Bradley would believe every word coming out of her mouth.

"Blue absinthe?" The bartender is looking under the counter and across the room to where Charlie and Robert are sitting frantically "I haven't seen any, I would've had to have it special ordered, no one told me."

"No one told you?" She turns just slightly as if looking away in frustration "I swear those groom's men are useless" she turns to the side, placing her hand on the bar, and looking up to ceiling in thought. Suddenly she whirls back around. "Well, is there at least any regular absinthe behind the bar?"

"No, it's a pretty odd request, we usually don't stock it for weddings" the bartender looks down in defeat. That's when Bradley makes his move, slipping behind the counter and grabbing the full bottle of top shelf tequila he had noticed earlier and slipping back out, before the bartender even looks back up.

"You know what" she looks over her shoulder, a strand of hair floating out of her braid crown " I don't think it's going to be a problem; they're so caught up in each other that I don't think they'd notice if The Pope walked in"

"Are you sure?" the bartender still look on edge

"Positive, our little secret" she steps away from the bar, and glances around the room looking for Bradley. She walks a few steps in the direction Bradley went. Just as she starts to wonder if he took off to have the prize all to himself, she feels a hand on her wrist pulling her into a quiet, secluded hallway.

"I was beginning to think you'd taken off without me" she accuses. He dramatically places a hand on his chest feigning hurt.

"You really think I'd do that to you," he stumbles back a few steps "I’m wounded, really wounded"

"Stop being such a drama queen."

"Says the girl who thought I'd abandoned her, after I'd only been out of her sight for two minutes," he said, a mischievous twinkle filling his eyes. "Besides it's not like you and I could sit out in the middle of the party and drink this," he pauses before his tone changes "our mommies might see us." The two break into fits of laughter, clutching their sides. She slides down the wall to sit on the floor and Bradley follows, a fake plant obscuring them from view of the main ballroom. Bradley opens the bottle with a loud crack and takes a long drink before passing it to her.

"So um, from what you said earlier, I'm taking it things didn't exactly work out with prom date Josh?" Bradley asks as she takes a drink from the bottle.

"You have no idea," she snorts as she puts the bottle down on the floor between them, "he actually told me that we couldn't hang out after it ended, because he promised some other girl he'd be her date to somebody's after party."

"You're kidding" Bradley picks up the bottle again

"I wish I was."

"What an asshole" he passes her the bottle again and she notices a drop of liquor still lingering at the corner of his mouth.

"Sometimes I swear you're the only decent guy I know Bradley."

"Me?"

"Yeah. You're always trying to look out for me when I'm at Dad's, you invite me out to do things with your friends, you bust me out of the house when Dad and I get into arguments, and you've even rescued me from boredom at my Mom's wedding" she takes another drink out of the bottle "besides, you're just a really nice guy, always complimenting people, always keeping your promises, you try not to be late even though you're always at least a five minutes late to everything and-" suddenly she trails off. "I'm so sorry I'm just rambling like a lunatic"

"No, no" he reaches over and tucks a strand of hair that's fallen out of her braid behind her ear "I like it." She giggles a little bit, the alcohol already going to her head.

"I bet you do, considering I'm sitting here rambling on and on about how great of a guy you are"

"It wouldn't mean half as much coming from anyone other than you y/n" he whispers, realizing the alcohol is starting to affect him too as soon as the words leave his mouth.

"What?" she looks at him confused, setting the bottle down between them again.

"I said, it wouldn't mean half as much coming from anyone other than you" he repeats louder this time.

"What's that supposed to-" she's cut off as Bradley places a hand on her cheek and pulls her lips against his. The kiss is gentle, almost hesitant, and he pulls away just breaths later, trying to gauge her reaction. A few seconds pass in silence, and Bradley's head begins to clear, making him suddenly self-conscious.

"I'm sorry I shouldn't have-" he starts

"Shut up and kiss me again" she cuts him off, pulling him towards her, his lips finding hers again.

They stay like that for what feels like hours, tangled up on the floor, kissing each other breathless. Only breaking apart to giggle drunkenly at each other and to pass the bottle of tequila between them. The wedding reception in the ballroom behind them long forgotten as they get lost in each other.

"Oh my god, there you are" another one of Charlie's bridesmaids barges into the hallway, causing the two to jump apart. She takes one look at them, noting the lip gloss smeared across Bradley's face and the bottle of tequila between them "you have got to be kidding me." She pinches the bridge of her nose, shaking her head slightly "If your mother ever finds out, that you were getting drunk and making out with some boy at her wedding she's going to kill both of us."

"Relax Jackie," she giggles, stumbling as Jackie helps her to her feet "it's not some boy, not like Josh, it's Bradley"

"Regardless of who he is, it's time for the big send off and you need to be there," Jackie says as she starts guiding her back towards the main ballroom "and try to act sober." Jackie is practically begging, but it's clear the Maid of Honor isn't paying any attention, as she drags her feet and looks over her shoulder, to where Bradley is now standing against the wall, lip gloss still smeared all over his face.

"Bye" she says waving back at him.

"Bye" he calls in response. The word doesn't hold any finality for either of them, in fact it holds the promise of something that is just beginning. Neither of them having the slightest idea that they won't see each other again for years.

Present Day

"You made-out with Maverick's daughter, at her mom's wedding?!" Phoenix exclaims looking at Rooster in shock.

"Yeah" his voice trails off hesitantly.

"So, what happened after that?" Phoenix's eyes are lit up, now even more invested in the story, than when Rooster started telling it.

"Nothing"

"Nothing? What do you mean nothing"

"I mean after that, Mav pulled my papers from the academy, so I stopped speaking to him, then my mom passed a few months later, and we didn't see each other again." Rooster tries to keep the tone of his voice even, but Phoenix can tell how difficult it is for him to talk about Maverick's betrayal and his mom's passing.

"You've got to be kidding me, you just stopped talking to her, because you were mad at her dad?"

"I mean, at first yeah. I was so mad at him, I couldn't even think about talking to her but then," he pauses taking a deep breath "after a while, I wanted to talk to her, I just didn't know how to explain why I had just dropped off the face of the Earth for months. What was I even supposed to say?"

"Uh, I don't know, how about 'hey I'm really sorry I was being a dick and stopped talking to you because I was mad at your dad, I hope you can forgive me'" Phoenix deadpans, giving Rooster a look that reveals just how stupid she thinks he is.

"Yeah, well I didn't have you back then to coach me through everything" he fiddles with the shot glass he still has clutched in his hand before setting it down on the table.

"Do you still have her number" Phoenix asks, grabbing his phone out of the chest pocket of his Hawaiian shirt, and scrolling through his contacts "of course you do, who am I kidding, your phone is like a time capsule of everyone you've ever known." She opens the contact she's been looking for and shoves the phone back into Rooster's hand, "You have to call her."

"She's with somebody else, or did you not see that blonde guy she left with" Rooster argues.

" It’s been literal years since she last saw you and she sent you a shot of tequila, which is a call back to what happened at the wedding, and winked at you, that doesn't exactly scream 'I'm in a happy committed relationship to me.'"

"Well, her number could've changed, what if I call and it's not her." He's trying to talk himself out of calling, but by the way he's staring at her number on his phone screen, that he wants to.

"Then you say, 'sorry wrong number' and forget it ever happened, no big deal" Phoenix shrugs.

"What if it is her" Rooster finally asks the questions that is really eating at him " what do I say?"

"Just that it was good to see her and that you'd love to catch up" Phoenix positions herself so that she's making direct eye contact with him "You're not proclaiming your undying love for her Romeo, you're just opening the door to catching up."

"Right, just casual" Rooster looks more nervous than Phoenix has ever seen him, shifting in his seat as he stares down at his phone.

"Exactly, just call her."

It's the final push that Rooster needs to hit dial. The phone rings once, twice, three times, Rooster looks over at Phoenix who's watching him intently, four times. Finally it turns over to voicemail.

"Hey, sorry I can't get to the phone, leave me a message."

Rooster's muscles visibly relax when he hears her voice on the other end of the line. The phone lets out a long beeping sound, signaling that it's recording.

"Uh, hey it's Bradley. It was really great seeing you this evening, I'm gonna be in town for a while and I'd love to catch up, um call me back when you get the chance." Rooster puts the phone down with a sigh, his heart still racing.

"Now what?" Phoenix asks.

"Now we wait, I guess." A moment of silence passes between the two friends as they both take in the events of the evening.

Their reverie is suddenly interrupted as cheering comes from the pool table where Fanboy is clapping Bob on the back and Hangman is scowling as he hands over his second fifty-dollar bill of the night.

"Hey Bagman! I thought I told you to play someone more your speed and hold onto your money" Phoenix calls as she stands and walks back over to the pool table, as Rooster stares at his phone, still lost in the memories of a Colorado wedding and the taste of tequila.

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A/N: I hope you liked it! I did actually write a sequel to this piece and I'm planning to post in about a month or so. But, if this post reaches 10 reblogs or someone guesses what song I used to write the sequel (Hint: it's a Taylor Swift Song) I'll go ahead and post it early.

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airlocksandaviaries · 6 months ago

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TOP GUN FENCING AU ART FINALLYYYYYYY!!!!

Featuring Mav and Ice the flirty foilists teasing eachother with the electric sensor

Sli the Saberist and Goose the Eepeist goofin around!

And Viper and Charlie the long-suffering instructors, having to deal with the Icemav antics hehe

I love olympics season bc everyone remembers my sport exists <33

tagging @calkale @rabbit-factory @icezansky bc I think yall wanted to see this <33

#airlocks art #top gun #top gun 1986 #tg86 #top gun au #fencing au #top gun fencing au #icemav #tom iceman kazansky #pete maverick mitchell #ron slider kerner #nick goose bradshaw #charlotte charlie blackwood #mike viper metcalf #WOOh thats a lotta tags did I get everyone???#fencing #iceman x maverick #maverick x iceman

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mqverick · 1 year ago

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buick roadmaster | ₊˚⊹ᰔ

mature themes, +18

rough smut included, consider yourselves warned

“Because I’m going deeper and deeper

Harder and harder”

─── ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊˚ ⋅ ───

“I don’t want to be demanding here, but… could you say maybe ten — twelve words to me before we get to the hotel?” you asked Charlie, half frustrated, half smiling at him, trying not to look too pissed off. It had almost been an hour ever since he’d begun driving, not even bothering to turn the radio on. Just dead silence.

Charlie glanced over at you, then returned his attention to the street, driving quietly with opaque eyes. You sighed, hand coming up to your forehead as you rubbed the skin between your eyebrows in despair, not knowing what to do.

“…Consider it foreplay,” you tried again, this time more playfully, hoping to get him in the feels.

Instead of saying anything, though, he just smirked discreetly, secretly loving being busted by you. “Glad we decided to spend the weekend together, gives you two whole days to bitch at me,” he eventually replied. As a response, you scooted over and knelt his thigh, crossing your arms as you looked forward with narrowed eyes. “What, you’re not talking to me now?”

God, the nerve of that man.

“If you’re so damn worried that you can’t look like you’re not holding back a giant shit, call your dumb service. I took Friday off because I wanted to spend three nice days with my loving boyfriend, who apparently is the biggest, pompous jerk I’ve ever met.”

Charlie chuckled sarcastically, still not giving the slightest care of looking at you, his gaze firmly locked on the road ahead of you. “So that’s what’s on my mind, huh? The service?”

“I sure hope it’s not another woman,” you replied with the same snarky tone, your head now leaned against the widow as you also refused to look at him. You could feel the radiation of his proud, teasing smirk burning you, nevertheless.

“Maybe it’s three other women.”

Oh, he just loved keeping the tension going, didn’t he? Hadn’t you had enough patience and experience of his almost childish behavior after dating (and baring) him for a whole year, you would’ve grabbed the steering wheel from him and crash the car right into the nearest tree. Sometimes, you wondered how you put up with him, with how full of himself he was.

You saw his motor running and huffed. How convenient, you thought, urging him to pick up.

“Maybe they’re calling you right now.” With flared nostrils, you punched up the speed dial on the car phone, hearing the electronic beeps as Charlie continued ignoring you. His nerves were at the surface, fingers gripping unintentionally hard onto the steering wheel as he pushed his sunglasses over the bridge of his nose, scratching the spot there for just a second.

“Babbitt,” he called.

“Two calls from a Mr. Bateman. You want the number?” the voice operator spoke and you the way Charlie closed his eyes didn’t go unnoticed by you as you slowly turned your body around so that you could see him better, getting worried.

Quietly into silence, “No.”

“Oh, okay. Then there’s, uh — oh shit. There’s this, um, Mr. Mooney, says he’s your father’s lawyer in Chicago… your father died, sir.”

Charlie clicked off the line, interrupting the call. Driving with one hand, the other one sat on his lap, looking for something to fiddle with, doing eighty. He was shaken, that you could tell, even though he was putting up the biggest effort not to let it show. All the previous anger you felt about him was long gone, taken over by compassion.

“Oh, Charlie. Are you all right?” you asked, your fingertips reaching for the side of his face, but he shook them away, strangely cold and distant. You just stared at him, unable to read him as he pulled off the road, trying to turn. No reply to your question, struggling to keep up the façade.

“Sorry about the weekend, hon,” he mumbled lowly, turning the car around. Was he serious? Did he really think all you cared about was Palm Springs? You opted to maintain your calm.

“The weekend? Charlie…?”

You found it weird, how little emotion he showed. Charlie always tempted to do things like that, completely leave you out of his thoughts, pretend that nothing had ever bothered you. It annoyed you, sure, but mostly, it caused you sadness. You wanted to be there for him, let him know that he could count on you whenever he was feeling bad, if only you knew what was going on in that mind of his. He was really good at hiding his reactions and feelings from everyone as well.

“Didn’t mean to ruin our trip, I’ll make it up to you, though, I promise,” he announced weakly. “Look, we… uh, we hated each other. Mom died when I was two and it’s been me and him ever since.”

You reached for his face again, this time more gently. Charlie accepted your touch, leaning into it for comfort as he closed his eyes just for a short moment. That was the most vulnerable you’d ever seen him — that he’d ever let you seen him.

“Did he not treat you well?” you asked, stroking his hair carefully, smoothing it back.

“Beat me up. Emotionally, I mean. Nothing I did was ever good enough… I dealt with it, eventually. Learnt to ignore and let go. Hated him.”

To you, it explained a lot about why Charlie had been behaving like that. It was how he’d grown up, having to shield himself from the others. It hurt you that you couldn’t seem to be helpful for him, hurt you when he abruptly pulled away from your touch away, swallowing back his feelings.

“We’ve been dating for a year. When were you planning to tell me all this? Let me be there for you, Charlie, I’m sick and tired of always having to guess what’s on your head.” But he was back to being silent and acting as if he couldn’t hear you.

Putting up his guard again, not allowing himself to show you how he really felt. You hated him.

“I’m talking to you,” you said in a demanding tone. “Stop fucking playing a game with me. I’m your fucking girlfriend, I should know how to comfort you for Christ’s sake, but you pull away all the damn time! It’s always one step forward and a whole airplane flight back with us. Quit pushing me away every time I try to understand you, it’s exhausting.”

“Not one of these again,” Charlie whispered under his breath as he sighed too loudly for your liking.

“What? Doesn’t it concern you that you had to say ‘again’ in that sentence? You exclude me from everything that’s going on in your life, maybe you’d like to do something about it, just for a change?” you begged sarcastically.

“Fine, you want to talk? Let’s talk. How was your day, honey?” Charlie questioned with indifference, not bothering at the slightest to hide how much he felt like he itched to piss you off.

“I don’t want to talk, I want to—”

“No, you wanted to talk, let’s talk. C’mon, tell me, how have you been doing? Had a nice day? How was it, tell me everything about it, come on.”

“You’re ridiculous,” you mouthed, unbuckling yourself free from your seat. “Stop the car, I want to leave.” But once again, he pretended like he hadn’t heard anything from what you’d said.

“Not going anywhere,” you were simply given.

“No, you know what? One whole year and you haven’t once told me how you feel about me. It’s as though we’ve been stuck on the third date stage, going out for dinner and then fucking. That’s all we do. I’m not asking you to explain everything to me, just let me know that you feel comfortable confiding in me, trusting me. What if I wanted to meet your parents one day? When would you have told me that your mother had died and that you and your father didn’t speak? Relationships are about care for each other.”

“I care about you, you know that.”

You looked over at him with unsure eyes. You’d doubted Charlie’s faith in you before and maybe that was the problem with your relationship. You loved him, loved him dearly — had been in love with him ever since you began dating him. You knew he was capable of showing you a caring side, which was rare, but still very existing.

You believed you loved him enough for the two of you. None, however, had ever expressed that to each other. Spent days, weeks, months, patiently waited for him to make the move, do something romantic or even just spit it out awkwardly while watching a movie or cuddling in bed. But no, Charlie’s head was more stubborn than a donkey and if there was one thing he was good at, it was constantly shielding himself and drawing you away. As if he hated being in a relationship.

“Do I?”

And it killed him. Killed him how incapable he was of reassuring you that for him, it was pretty much over since the day he met you. How he’d bottled up all the things he wanted to say to you, how important you were to him, his only family.

“You don’t mean that,” he whispered lowly enough for you to unintentionally miss it.

“If you’re not ready for a relationship, Charlie, I won’t force you to be in one. And for fuck’s sake stop the fucking car already!” But he wasn’t stopping, wasn’t anywhere near stopping; instead only sprinted faster into the empty road. The wind was blowing through his hair, throwing it on top of his forehead as he pushed it aside, annoyed.

You hair was probably a mess too, for all you cared. You were furious with him, with how little he’d let you know him, how you’d almost never been a part of his life. If only you knew.

“You don’t get to go, I need you,” he yelled, voice loud enough for the first time during the car ride for you to actually hear. He was mad too and you didn’t even know why — no, but honestly — he had no right. No right to even have the smallest, tiniest bit of irritation into his body, when he was the only one responsible for all of this.

“You don’t fucking tell me what to do,” you gritted through your teeth, glaring holes into his head. “Now stop the fucking car or I’ll hit the brakes and we’ll both fly the fuck forward into the glass.”

“All right, stop you want?” Charlie asked, abruptly taking a turn that almost sent you out of the window, holding onto your stomach and the seatbelt that you’d unfastened earlier. “Then stop you’ll fucking get.” He was being insane with it, driving ridiculously fast, you were certain he was planning to end your lives once and for all.

“What the fuck are you doing?!” you screamed, regretting the moment you’d decided it would be sane and safe to not be wearing a seatbelt while on a car with a man who barely knew how to contain his anger tantrums.

“You wanted to stop, so we’re stopping the car. I’m stopping the fucking car!” he yelled back, slapping the steering wheel so loudly and with so much force that he accidentally winced in pain.

You were holding on for dear life, clutching onto the fabric of the seats and holding your breath down your throat, when he finally stopped with a turn that you were sure was a death sentence.

You didn’t even know where you were, where he’d driven. Your brain was permanently off after that reckless driving of him, making it clearer for you that you needed to leave him or at least threaten him about ending the relationship, giving him a break. There was no way he’d ever be clear enough to think straight, though, especially after your argument, especially after his dad’s death.

Man, he was really getting one slap after another.

“You’re not capable of handling a relationship, then you don’t fucking get to be in one! Go fuck yourself, Charlie!” you shouted at him as your hand went to clasp around the door’s handle, furious at him, but before you could even realize what was happening, Charlie had yanked you back by your shirt, sending you flying into his lap.

You yelped and tried to free yourself from his grasp, but he was holding you so tightly on him that you couldn’t move besides wiggle your legs. He looked both troubled and pissed, unsurprisingly hard to read. His eyes were cold and sharp, sparking as they glowered at you.

He wanted to say something. You could tell by the way his lips subconsciously moved as if he had the words right on the tip of his tongue, but were being choked up by him. He was weak with words, always had been. He thought of them as an action that you couldn’t take back, something like a pearl in your head that you’d be able to roll around as you reminisce. He hated words.

The second time you tried to pull away from him, he kissed you. Attached his lips forcefully into yours, causing you to gasp and completely stop moving. It took you a little to comprehend the situation, but once the warm feeling of his mouth moving against yours kicked in, you reciprocated the kiss with the same urge and compulsion.

“I need you,” he murmured into your ear as he rubbed his nose against the soft flesh of your cheek, wrapping his hands around you so tightly that he wouldn’t have to worry about you trying to make an escape again. With each hand firmly positioned on the sides of his neck, you pulled him down on top of you, laying uncomfortably on top of the seats. You didn’t even care if your back was hurt by hitting the transmission stick a little too hard, or how he’d accidentally pulled a few hairs from a strand that was covering your face.

You lifted your leg up as he crashed his lips into yours again, extending over the top of the console and wrapping it around his waist, arousal already pooling in your underwear. Charlie had his way of kissing you; knew exactly how long it took you to get weak for him, to shut your mind off and beg him for more. He loved using it against you.

Loved how it turned you on the same amount it did for him. His left hand travelled in your hair, pulling it from the ends. His right was around your waist, just under the rim of your shirt, gripping your hip. His tongue peaked out of his mouth, exploring yours before pressing an open-mouthed kiss against your lips, detaching abruptly and creating a thin string of saliva between the two of you. His breath was hard to catch and so was yours, both still incredibly mad at one another. He stared at you blankly for a second, his hard-on growing against his pants as he looked over at your swollen, wet lips.

“You fucking dick,” you snarled under your breath as you angled your knee outward until it was tight on the dashboard. You urgently unbuttoned your jeans, then pulled him back toward you, kissing him passionately as your left hand searched for his, leading it downwards and eventually pressing it firmly onto your mound. Charlie groaned into your mouth, cock twitching painfully against the hard material of his trousers. He let his fingers feel down your body, stroking your clothed leg as his palm curved over your butt and down the back of your thigh. His touch was your cause of death.

“Scoot a little,” he instructed you, struggling to pull down your jeans, accidentally hitting the top of his head against the roof of the car. You tried to suppress the automatic laughter, simply choking out a chuckle, which Charlie hushed away the very moment he ground his covered erection on your pulsing core, soaked through your panties.

Your moan came out ridiculously loud, shadowing the pleased hum that fell from his lips due to the feel of your warmth and wetness, almost convincing himself that he was just a second away from losing it when he hadn’t even gotten to touch you yet. You took the chance to knee him in the crotch, livid at the fact that he was smirking at how ready you were for him, feeling all proud of himself, knowing that he was the only one to ever offer you that feeling — that kind of pleasure.

Charlie looked at you with lustful, blown pupils. You were pretty sure you were as much of a mess as he was, hair combed, clothes half off, red neck and ears, swollen lips and glassy eyes. You grabbed the hem of your shirt and pulled it over your head, the only thing covering your chest know being a black lacy bra. You swore you felt an orgasm creep up inside of you as the pad of his thumb made contact with your clit through the underwear, biting so hard down on your lip in order to not scream his name from the top of your lungs, hips subconsciously thrusting against his hand. You were embarrassed, on one side, but on the other, you couldn’t care less.

After all that was done, you were out.

Out of the car and out of his life, you’d decided.

“Fucking touch me already,” you demanded, but he responded negatively to your tone, pinning you down on the seat so tightly that it caused you to let out a tiny wince. With one hand, Charlie held your wrists down and over your head, while the other finally shoved your underwear out of the way. For a contemplative minute, he almost forgot that he was supposed to be mad at you.

How much he loved having you like this.

But he wasn’t going to say anything just yet. Maybe another time, in another case, where he wouldn’t utter it out during sex talk, where he was stronger than that, put his pride last instead of first. He didn’t want to break up with you, ever. To him, you were the one. It was hard to express, complex to explain — bless his heavy heart strings that only allowed him to pick all the wrong talks, places and times.

“Y’feel so good,” he murmured into your ear as he entered a finger into you, carefully enough not to hurt you with the rings he had on. “You fucking kill me whenever I see you. You’re too much, I can’t handle you, I just can’t.” The word came out of his mouth like honey and you had to dig your nails into his back, over his shirt, to stop yourself from cumming undone right then and there.

His finger curled inside your walls, following all the small bends and curves of the part of your body that needed him the most, sluggishly applying pressure and picking up place.

Your juices are dripping down your thighs, thing that helped him to easily add another finger in you. The mixture of his low groans, your choked moans and the slapping sounds of his hand rawing you was probably the biggest turn-on you’d ever experienced. All that in the middle of an empty street, in public view. All one had to do was peak over the windows of his car.

“Keep doing that, I’m so fucking close,” you purred into Charlie’s lips as you kissed him, giving permission to your hands to travel around the waistband of his trousers and undo the zipper.

“Yeah?”

“I want to fuck you.”

“Maybe another night,” Charlie replied with sureness as he suddenly dragged his fingers out of you and rubbing them against the skin of his bottom lip. You both wanted to punch the life out of him and not say anything at all, just enjoy the view of him licking your precum off his hand.

The image was so insanely sexy that you could orgasm just by looking at him and nothing else.

Charlie finally threw his black shirt off somewhere into the backseats, his trousers coming up next as he stood on top of you with just his boxers, which were pretty much a whole other level of mess; leaking with his own precum. He’d never looked so pretty before, so blown away.

It was visible to anyone with a single brain cell that he wanted to fuck you in a way of letting you know that you had no place to leave him, that he needed you more than anyone and more than ever. You opted not to comment on it, instead, leaving him be. Charlie loved angry sex, anyway.

Seemed that you were right after all — the twelve words he’d spoken had been the best foreplay.

“Charlie, I need you,” you pleaded beautifully, so desperately that he discarded his gray boxers immediately, taking his throbbing cock into his hand as he grazed the tip over your entrance, torturing you just a little. You cried out, wanting more, tired of his games. His heart pounded, close to beating right out of his rib cage.

Fuck it, he decided, as both of his hands grabbed your left hand and placed your open palm on his chest, right over his heart, and let it linger there. For the first time that night, you could finally understand what was going on behind his eyes. You smiled as he let go of your hands, running his fingers through your hair and gently guiding your face closer to his, eventually leaning himself in to rest his forehead on yours.

When he thrusted for the first time, you were already chasing after your high (and you were pretty sure the same thing could be applied to him as well.) The grunt he breathed was insane, sending you to heaven and back as you moaned along, realising that you didn’t want to repress yourself any longer. If he were to get cocky and insufferable, then so be it. You’d been used to it.

Your fingers flew into his hair, pulling at it and encouraging him to go deeper and harder. Charlie happily obliged, getting the message instantly as he whispered your name through every groan, beads of tension gripping one body on top of the other. Both his mind and vision were blurry as his thrusts frantically took off to a steady pace, fucking you so deeply, so roughly that he was sure it was hurting you. Why weren’t you stopping him? Why weren’t you telling him to slow down?

“Harder,” you hoarsed, and it nearly rocked his world. Charlie was quick to accomplish your request, filling you up with his dick so nicely as he fucked you through the pleasant moist of your combined bodily juices. He couldn’t comprehend how you weren’t scared of him damaging your body; instead taking lazy glances at you just to figure out that you were loving it, embracing him just right as you clenched so tightly against his dick, squeezing him gut-wrenchingly hard.

“Fuck — ‘m not going to last any longer,” he confessed while pressing his eyes shut, pursing his lips and trying not to fall apart on you yet.

“Just a little bit, Charlie,” you croaked, digging wounds into the muscles of his back with your nails, letting the roughness of his grinds and thrusts vibrate through your entire system, get you pathetically weak under his weight.

“‘M going to cum.” And with that, he gripped onto the sides of your outer thighs as he held still while still deep inside you, releasing hot jets of cum into you as you clamped down on his cock, following with your own earth shattering orgasm. You felt so full, so vulnerable and so fulfilled, all at the same time and it was overpowering. With an exhausted, loud groan, Charlie collapsed on top of you, squishing you as he buried his head in the crook of your neck, placing small pecks down on the curve of your shoulder as he tried to catch both his breath and untamable heartbeat.

“Charlie, I…”

“I just want to hear that it’s not over,” he interrupted you, still a bit breathless as you gave him a puzzled look. “I mean… I’m scared it’s over. Everything you said was right about me. I can’t offer you much, I’m terrible with relationships and I’m very fucking terrified of trusting someone. I’m not really good at showing my feelings.”

“There are many things you’re not good at.”

“I know. I know and I’m scared of getting my heart broken, because I genuinely believe I won’t be able to last one second without you. I’m in love with you,” Charlie finally confessed, trembling as he looked you dead in the eyes, hoping to catch the tiniest hint of response from them.

Your jaw hung slightly agape at his words, never in a million years expecting to hear him drop those words out of his mouth. You were on the verge of tearing up, grabbing him by the sides of his face as you pulled him down to kiss him sweetly on the lips, lingering there longer than needed. Charlie sighed in relief, chuckling with pure joy as he heard the following sentence reassuringly fall from your lips; “I love you too.”

FIN.

again, this is for my favourite person on earth @honeymvnt i hope you’ll like this ml 🫶🏼🎀

#charlie babbitt oneshot #charlie babbitt x reader #rain man x reader #rain man #tom cruise oneshot #tom cruise #so much smut #kinda depressing #there’s fluff too #pete maverick mitchell #maverick fanfic #maverick fluff #maverick x reader #maverick x you #pete mitchell #tom cruise x reader #tom cruise imagine #it’s midnight

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kaz2y5baby · 6 months ago

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I'm going back into my Top Gun obsession phase. I was kinda hesitant on reading Top Gun fics but...Ajajaisjdh

I NEED Maverick x Iceman fic recs so badly

I just rewatched the 1st one and like omg Maverick had so much more chemistry with Iceman than Charlie lol

#im not a huge charlie fan #idk why #just something off with her #top gun #top gun 1986 #top gun maverick #iceman x maverick #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #icemav #fic recs pls #i noticed the the thing between ice and mav before #but im just in the mood for more of a story on them now lol

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cutesycadaver · 1 year ago

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I imagine in an AU where Iceman finds out about Charlie and Maverick:

Ice: *walks over to Charlie with his sunglasses on* Number one Maverick is mine. Charlie: ... Ice: *tips his sunglasses down* Number two you like girls. Ice: *walks away* Charlie: ... Charlie: Shit, I do like girls!

#Charlie is a lesbian lol #icemav #mavice #this is dumb #tom iceman kazansky #charlotte charlie blackwood #top gun 1986 #top gun #iceman x maverick #maverick x iceman

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inmyglenpowellera · 1 year ago

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I am heavily in my Glen Powell Era and I need to write. Send me some requests guys. I write anything. Fluff, angst, smut.

Especially send in requests for Charlie and Finn because they are underappreciated and need more love!

#glen powell #jake hangman seresin #jake hangman fic #jake hangman x reader #jake hangman x you #jake hangman imagine #top gun maverick #charlie young #set it up #everybody wants some #walt finn finnegan

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hailsbellsl · 7 months ago

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More charliemav from the TG1986 script… half tempted to write a fic with these scenes in it

#top gun 1986 #top gun fandom #pete maverick mitchell #charlie blackwood #charliemav #charlie x maverick #scripts

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emmedoesntdomath · 2 years ago

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reasons why one should join the top gun fandom

(this is totally not a post aimed directly at a specific person, such as @needtobemedicated. definitely not. me? pfff- never.)

I want to preface this post with a disclaimer: these movies and this fandom are NOT just movies and a fandom that are for american military enthusiasts and veterans. while, of course, they are and can be to an extent, they are also for other groups of people who appreciate it for very different reasons. namely, the girls and gays who watch it for the ✨plot✨.

today, I will be selling these movies and fandom to said girls and gays with the ✨plot✨ and literally nothing else because nothing else is important.

reason #1- maverick and goose friendship

look, who doesn’t need a young, smirking, snarky tom cruise in their life? AND a cackling anthony edwards in the back, providing his best friend with absolutely no help whatsoever? sign me up.

reason #2- kelly mcgillis in 1986

look at her. just look at her.

#3: ICEMAN AND MAVERICK BANTERRRR

oh my god, the bantering. there are insults, subtle innuendoes, lil’ comments thrown here and there. *sniffs* it’s such a beautiful enemies to lovers I mean, friendship.

#4. training exercises

they’re playing a big game of tag with really expensive planes. I see no downsides here.

#5. YOUNG BRADLEYYYY

goodness gracious, great balls of fire

#6. volleyball

ha. (-coming from someone who’s not that attracted to anyone in the scene.)

#7. ICE AND MAV

because there’s no forced heterosexual relationship that makes me uncomfortable to speak of. nope. instead, there’s a lovely locker scene. yes, you read that right. I’ll just…leave that there.

#8. uh…a reason to cry?

I- yeah.

#9. MORE ICE AND MAV

tom cruise does his pilot thingie with the dots and plays tag with the other planes, and saves val kilmer. it’s enemies to lovers for a reason, people.

***casually skips ahead by more than thirty years***

#10. HANGMAN

glen powell is the captain of this fandom, and any other opinion is just wrong. sorry.

#11. PHOENIX

LOOK AT HERRRRRRR

#12. BOB

anyone named bob deserves love, okay?

#13. PAYBACK

his name is rueben.

#14. FANBOY

just yes.

#15. BRADLEYYYYYYYYYYYYY

miles teller saying “you look good” absolutely destroys me

#16. pool table

also yes. (thank you miles and glen)

#17. daddy issues

what’s a good story without a healthy dose of daddy issues? (nothing. that’s what it is.)

#18. parallels

ENEMIES TO LOVERS, ANYBODY? EXES VIBES, ANYBODY??

#19. ICE AND MAVVVVVV

my jaw was ON THE GROUND THE ENTIRE TIME

#20. football

ha. (pt. 2)

#21. pov: you’re crying. again.

…

#22. miracles one AND two

trust me, you will be rolling on the ground at the sheer audacity.

#23. talk to me, dad

THE DADDY ISSUESSSSS ARE A’COMIN

#24. PARALLELS PARALLELS PARALLELS

look, glen knows what he’s doing, ok? sir knows what he’s doing with that smirk and drawl. (and by what knows what he’s doing, I mean he is gleefully dumping fuel onto the fires of hangster media while miles is standing beside him laughing) (I adore them both)

#25. and then they all lived happily ever after

…they did, ok, shut up.

there’s a full list of reasons. you’re welcome.

#I do actually know quite a bit about the military and how it was/wasn’t represented in this series #but this is not that post #and i do not care #top gun #top gun 1986 #top gun maverick #icemav #iceman x maverick #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #hangster #rooster x hangman #bradley rooster bradshaw #jake hangman seresin #charlie top gun #emme’s bad ideas

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hozaloza · 5 days ago

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Hey guess what

I made Alex now

He's Aiden's personal nurse, always there to tend to him if Aiden ever gets injured or needs medical assistance. Alex is very loyal to the SWANS company. He's often seen nearby whenever the gang is in public areas, watching to ensure Aiden didn't injure himself "...ya know you don't have to be nearby ALL the time..." "Your father pays me to practically babysit you...so technically I do." "...uh, well, as your, patient I suppose, I say go take a break...please, Alex?" "...fine...but please refrain from using my first name..." "Alright, thanks, Alex!!"

He hates Ryan to a passion. It's mainly because he's recognized for the work he does for Aiden by the headman of the company himself; meanwhile, Aiden has yet again been the only person to thank Alex for his hard work.

"Mr. Clark...make sure you aren't playing near the paint tubs...now run off." "..." "...may I help you, Mr. Laurier?--" "I envy you..." "...what?" "I hope you fall in." "WHAT--"

...yes there is RosePunch in this AU, obviously LOL

ignore the funny doodle on the side that's not important haha

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aro-simp · 4 months ago

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guys... butch!Mav x femboy!Charlie anyone???

I mean look at them.... they're so... Fag4Dyke

#how would I possibly tag this #top gun #charlie x maverick

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the-ace-with-spades · 2 years ago

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Weird take but Carole and Mav get married a couple of years after Top Gun.

It starts very simple --- Carole doesn't want to move out of the house she and Goose rented in Lemoore though the military programme but she can't stay there more than three months after the funeral because she is a widow and VA can't really prolong the lease for non-military people without a military spouse. She wants Bradley to have a stable home and keep the friends from other military families Bradley already made and she quite frankly can't afford anything as good as the military housing within the same budget out privately somewhere in the area.

Mav is living in a bachelor pad that looks like the cheapest student house share one has ever seen so he says, hey, let's transfer the lease onto me and we'll just try to pay for it together. And then he moves into the spare room they were previously saving up for Baby No. 2 that will never come to be.

It makes some things easier too --- Mav can take care of Bradley while Carole looks for a part-time job that can align her hours with Bradley's future preschool hours as he's not in one yet since she was a stay-at-home mom since they moved to Lemoore. She is a qualified teacher (art/music) but there aren't many schools around and she has barely taught before b/c she finished her degree and got pregnant not long after and with them moving around different bases, she couldn't find a job as anyone but a temp teacher. It's easier to cook for three than for one and they can switch with the chores depending on who is home at the time.

This rises some eyebrows in their circle of friends and military acquaintances --- Mav moving in with his best friend's widow not long after he died and helping her with taking care of his best friend's kid --- but everyone who is closer to Mav knows he still feels guilty about Nick and that Carole and Bradley are the closest thing to family Mav has left so it's kind of brushed off.

Ice and Slider, who have kind of gradually became a family fixture too, coming to dinners and helping with Bradley when both Carole and Mav are busy, have a bit mixed feelings about this.

Mav and Carole do seem awfully close. And even with Slider knowing that it was Mav who originally introduced Goose and Carole to each other, they seem almost too synced up for it to be completely platonic or new. Mav is very natural as a parent-adjacent, too, and it might turn Ice into a gooey puddle of lovestruck idiot, but it also makes Slider a bit too aware of how fast the switch from Mav-the-fun-uncle to Mav-the-helicopter-dad was made.

If Slider was honest, he'd admit it's the jealousy speaking. He had a crush on Goose when they were in the USNA that was kind of hard to comprehend but the crush on Carole is even harder to comprehend because, well, she just lost her husband and he should not be thinking about his tragically-dead friend's widow like that, but also it's a bit weird that he had a crush on both people from one marriage. He's carefully balancing on what's appropriate and on how to make it easier for Carole and yet Maverick just slides into her life in a blink-and-you-missed-it moment. Maverick has no qualms about showing Carole affection, smothering her in hugs and cheek kisses and bringing her jumpers when they sit in the cold breeze in the porch and taking Bradley who had fallen asleep from her arms and swaying him around in his, never held back by some unspoken rules. Especially that Slider kind of sometimes sees those moments when Carole is looking at him, shyly, too, like she's battling with herself about how inappropriate it'd be if Slider had those feelings and she had those feelings back. They have the little coffee dates or he takes her and Bradley, just the three of them, shopping or to a museum, or he gives them a ride when their car doesn't start in the morning, and Carole looks at him with those huge eyes of hers all bright and bubbly and Slider---Slider can only think about how inappropriate it'd be.

Ice is, well, Ice, so he's being a bit emotionally constipated. He's in Denial, with capital D included. Maverick and Carole might be in sync but the two of them are the ones bickering like an old married couple. The locker room banter in present every day and Slider can swear that if they weren't in public, they would have fucked at least three times already after their so-called 'arguments'. He talks about Mav way too much, too, always thinking about what they can do for him and Carole, and where to take them and Bradley next. He's become addicted to Mav's surprisingly good cooking and have stopped eating spaghetti outside of Mav and Carole's house because it 'doesn't taste the same'. He takes Mav to clubs and bars to relax when he has a heavy week and it's as close to dates as Slider would put them. He's a bit weird about Carole being affectionate with Maverick, too, but in a different way --- he always looks away when she kisses Mav on the cheek or when they cuddle up on the sofa with Bradley lying across their laps. He always puts his nose in Mav's hair when they hug goodbye but barely gives Carole a pat on the shoulder. He teases Maverick every time of the day, too, but he's always smiling so softly when he does it, melting even more when Maverick grumbles in response instead of starting a fight. Whenever Maverick isn't looking, Ice looks at him like he's about to vanish from his life at the wrong word. He looks at him like that would be his life's biggest tragedy, too.

Despite all that, he still claims he 'doesn't like Mitchell like that' and that even if he did, Maverick wouldn't be interested, even though they both know Maverick is bi.

It kind of gets a bit weirder when, after almost two years since Goose's death, Bradley starts calling Mav 'dad'. It gives both Ice and Slider a heart attack, when Baby Goose says during their usual walk to the park that, Dad is taking me to the aquarium with Mom next week, maybe you can come, too. And Carole and Mav don't react aside from making the usual excuses of they might be busy, baby (like either Slider or Ice could ever say no to any of the three of them).

Mav, later, explains that Bradley was having some difficult time explaining who Maverick was in their family dynamic to his pre-school teachers and so they went with step-dad and so Bradley picked up on it and started using it sometime a week before the park trip. It was an obviously big change but he was still remembering and calling Nick 'dad' too, so they've decided whatever Bradley is most comfortable with will be what they'll go with.

It's a logical explanation, to both Ice and Slider, even if it'd sound a bit icky to anyone who didn't know Carole, Mav and Goose's dynamic well before. It also makes Slider wonder what he'd be if the step-dad title was already taken, even if the thought is shoved back deep into his mind as soon as it surfaces.

Ice is, well, still Ice, so he alternates between getting red in the face every time Baby Goose calls Mav dad while they're doing something cute and between getting incredibly quiet about it. Slider would bet that he is having an identity crisis as he's both always hated the idea of having his own kids and now he doesn't and because the person who is changing his mind is Maverick, of all people.

Then Ice and Slider get deployed for four months and when they come back, first hot rumor on base they hear is that Mav bagged his best friend's widow.

Obviously, at first they think it's a rumor but then the gossip girl of their squadron (their XO) confirms that Mav's file has been updated so he has two dependants, his wife and his now officially adopted son.

Slider feels like an idiot. Ice is sulking but he's in even bigger denial, saying he's been expecting this and that Mav and Carole were a good couple and would make each other happy and that they were already making a beautiful family with Bradley. It gets very awkward, very soon, especially that Mav and Carole don't say anything about it when they meet again.

In the meantime, Carole just had been made redundant after the school she was teaching hired a new full-time teacher who could work more hours and didn't have a kid to pick up from pre-school everyday around two. The payout she got from the Navy after Goose's death wasn't much and she could keep on being in and out of work for some time but Mav's deployment was getting closer and closer too and they had to revise all the possibilities. One being that Mav might not come back, too.

So they got married, on paper, no ceremony and with a city hall employee as the only witness. So she and Bradley could have some safety net if worst came to worst. So she could take Mav's newly signed life insurance and health benefits of a military spouse. So if the situation were reversed, Mav didn't have to struggle to get Bradley's custody.

#icemav #carole x slider #what would one call this?#kershaw #??#a hint toward #slooserole #baby bradley just living his life #ron slider kerner #carole bradshaw #pete maverick mitchell #tom iceman kazansky #tg86 #op #q #charlie writes

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