#enemies to lovers to husbands icemav will always be elite

[bemywingman]

heyyyy so in response to your post about an olympics icemav au... i'm having crazy brainworms about an idea & i need to tell someone before i explode. Steve Nedoroscik on the u.s. men's gymnastics team gives me the same vibes as Bob, so i'm imagining an olympics au wherein IceMav run the men's gymnastics program as coaches, and the daggers are on the teams. Ice & Mav back in the day dominated in gymnastics & so really just competed against each other each time. now they are bickering husbands helping run a killer program (& have their pommelhorse secret weapon Bob). Cyclone, Warlock, & Hondo coach with them, with Penny head doctor. Phoenix, Halo, & Amelia from the women's team pester the boys all the time. IceMav take Payback, Fanboy, Hangman, Rooster & Bob to the olympics & medal! so. yeah that's the idea. this isn't really a request, i just needed to tell someone & your asks are open 😭 but you can use any of this if you want

ok your mind is INSANE bc this picture is so vivid from just your one paragraph. like it all matches up so perfectly i’m so glad you put this idea into the world 🤭🙂‍↕️

i don’t want to take over your idea, but here are a few hc’s that i picture for this scenario bc as soon as i read this my brain went oh wow:

icemav’s background:

- ice is the eldest son of immigrants from the ussr, and his father pushes him everyday to be the best gymnast he can be. he trains daily, only enters the best training gyms, and works under some of the best coaches money can afford.

- ice is 17 when the 1976 olympics roll around, and everyone expects he’s going to dominate on the international stage. what they don’t expect, however, is for tom to announce at family dinner that he’s chosen to represent the united states at the games rather than his parent’s beloved ussr.

- after the shockwave announcement, ice’s dad doesn’t speak to him for weeks, and he spends countless nights second guessing his decision. sure, he understands why his parents are upset, but they literally immigrated to this country so he could be american. this is his home, it’s the place that’s made him, and he wouldn’t want to compete for any other country.

- it’s not until after the games, when he has 3 gold medals around his neck and a hand to hold tightly in his own, that he knows for certain he made the right choice.

- mav, in contrast, has a complete underdog story. it’s almost storybook: growing up without a father, scrapping his way in shitty gyms and abusive coaches, and coming out the other side as the best damn gymnast anyone west of the mississippi had ever seen. when he makes the 76 olympic team, he’s cocky and brash and is absolutely not ready for the unmovable force that is tom kazansky to enter his life.

- at first ice and mav don’t get along - ice is too focused on the competition and mav is too focused on trying to outperform ice. the tension grows for a few weeks after they both qualify for the team. it all changes when goose falls from the high bar in practice and breaks his wrist. with their best teammate out, the boys have to come together to do their best and keep up team morale.

- of course they both do amazing and walk away champions!!!! i’m imagining team gold, all-around ice gold and mav silver, ice high bar gold, and mav pommel horse gold. they start a new era for men’s gymnastics, absolutely dominating the competition and looking cool as fuck doing it. little boys sign up for gymnastics classes because they wanna be like maverick, and ice’s wheaties box takes up space on kitchen tables all around america.

the team now:

- ice doesn’t have any noticeable accent in his day-to-day life, but sometimes he starts to speak in russian when he’s nervous or pissed off. hence the murmured repetitions of xуй and Пиздец when hangman gets a little too sassy or bob clips his hand and falls off the horse.

- the daggers complain a lot about mav’s strict training routines and insanely high expectations, and one day mav can’t take anymore. without a word, he takes his whistle off, slips out of his shoes, and proceeds to perform an almost perfect pommel horse routine. the boys stand in awe as he swings around, his body in complete control despite it being 30+ years since he’s competed professionally. when it’s over the daggers start apologizing profusely, and ice just laughs and rolls his eyes at the absolute mad man he’s been in love with since he was 17.

- obviously there has to be some angst regarding bradley’s entry into the sport and the legacy he feels he carries on his shoulders. like yeah, he’s not a nepo baby, but he’s also not not a nepo baby. i mean, the two head coaches of the men’s olympic team are his godparents, for god sake. maybe mav tries to keep him out, thinking of goose’s lost dreams and all of their long term injuries. maybe he pushes him to do something else with his life, constantly saying things like maybe you could be a pilot or something, baby goose. of course, it doesn’t work. in the end, mav cries as bradley steps up on the olympic podium with the medal around his neck, thinking, not for the first time, how lucky he was to have met nick bradshaw all those years ago.

- penny being a social butterfly outside the gym but taking absolutely no shit as soon as she steps onto the floor. she has no problem asking the hard questions, and will not hesitate to defend an athlete with her life. she helps lead the movement to include mental health as part of the wellness checks for athletes, and doesn’t respond kindly to anyone who blows off her recommendations. everyone is slightly scared of her, but she’s only stern because she loves the athletes to death.

- amelia is known for always checking in on everyone and makes sure both the men’s and women’s teams are feeling their best physically and mentally bc of her mom’s occupation. she’s always willing to listen or offer up advice for those who need it. she’s definitely the little sister of the group and they’re all unbelievably protective of her and her huge heart.

- jake gives bob a lot of shit when they first meet because he doesn’t look anything like a gymnast. he’s got these huge glasses and he’s super lean and jake can’t help but tease him for it. it all changes when he finally sees bob on the horse, though, moving with more grace than he’s seen anyone move before. by the time the olympics roll around, jake is his biggest supporter, cheering so loudly from the side that even the people in the rafters can hear him.

i don’t really know anything about gymnastics, so don’t hate me if things are incorrect/inaccurate. thanks again for sharing this idea. hope y’all enjoyed and thanks for reading!!!