#gallavich HC

[sam-loves-seb]

gallavich roommate au but it's mickey and lip as unlikely roommates and lip's adorable annoying little brother is always hanging around for some unknown reason and even if mickey is starting to tolerate his roommate that doesn't mean that he has to befriend his cute crazy little brother

except, he finds out that the idea of mickey and ian being friends annoys lip to no end so mickey starts playing it up just to fuck with him, really turns on the charm and doubles down on his efforts, and it's driving lip a little bit insane until--uh oh.

he actually might like the stupid redhead brother. and the brother might like him back.

shit.

[milkmaidovich]

PLEASE ALWAYS HAND ME ALL YOUR EMO/POP PUNK!MICKEY HEADCANONS, THANKS.

OKAY WONDERFUL here's one about how Mickey even finds FOB:

GOTTA be an accident, right? Where is he gonna hear pop punk of any kind in his regular daily life? We know he dropped out of school early, has spent time off and on in juvie since, and it's not like anyone in his family (outside of Mandy) would listen to it.

So say he gets sent on a job in the middle of May '05 (From Under The Cork Tree came out May 3rd of that year), and it's just an easy car jacking from somewhere on the West Side. Someone in the house owes Terry some money and he's gonna take the car as payment but he can't be fucked to do it himself so he sends Mickey. And Mickey is not at all mad, will take whatever excuse he can to get away from the house and all the family hanging around right now, though he does kind of wish he had Ian with him, but for what? They're fucking, not dating, even if they do hang out sometimes before they fuck, or after, or instead of if they're with Mandy, but this would just be them alone so why the fuck should be be wishing Gallagher were here?

He'd be agitatedly chain smoking the whole walk from the L, chest and head tight and throbbing like they do when he thinks too hard about this... situation he's got going on with Gallagher. He'd find the house easy enough, he'd staked it out the last couple days and had heard the family talking about leaving for vacation and knew there'd be no one home to catch him so it's late afternoon when he gets there.

He's after the Honda on the street, the one with the Wheaton College parking sticker in the corner, and it takes no time at all to jimmy the lock and slide into the driver's seat, reaching beneath the dash and yanking at the wires, twisting them together to get the car to start.

And as soon as he does the stereo ROARS to life, loud as fuck camera noises pouring out of the speakers and Mickey is PANICKED for a hot second but then some guitar comes in and his whole fucking brain lights up?????

And then the guy starts singing??????

Mickey's four songs deep, just finishing Sugar We're Going Down by the time he realizes he's still sitting in front of the goddamn house and finally drives away. He takes the longest route he can to the chop shop Terry told him to go to and before he gets there he digs around in the car looking for the cd case that matches the CD he popped out of the slot in the stereo before finding it in the glove box. He wipes the car and pockets the CD before dropping off the car and gets to the nearest pawn shop he can to get a cheap discman and some shitty headphones.

He doesn't come home till after dark. He spent all day walking around and listening to the album on repeat and felt his whole fucking brain rewire itself. How the fuck did these guys take all these complicated, mixed up feelings he have and put them into songs????

The CD and the discman immediately become his most prized and we'll hidden possessions.

[mishervellous]

Okay, weird question- what if at their wedding I&M would have served 'signature cocktails' for each one of them (Maybe one is Ian's, one is Mickey's and one together?), what would those cocktails be?

anon! hi hello hey!

first of all this would be such a cute idea! i could totally see them doing this, maybe in lieu of one of those cheesy gifts newlyweds usually give out to their guests after the reception—it’s just a list of the cocktails and how to make them!

i’ll be a tad stereotypical here (mostly because i don’t really drink so i don’t know much about cocktails), so i think ian would go with an irish coffee (cream, coffee and whiskey) both because it is a bit on the nose and because he likes it—also the mocktail version is literally a cappuccino and who doesn’t love those <-this is what lip tells everyone but it’s more to convince himself since he can’t really drink lmao

i think mickey would pick something unexpected, like a mimosa with a kick. like everyone kinda makes fun of him when they see that his cocktail of choice is a mimosa, but mickey is the last one laughing when instead of champagne there’s straight up vodka mixed in there

for their combined one i can not go with jack daniels and orange juice, now come on now. i have exactly zero clue if this is actually a thing or if it tastes good, but what the hell, it’s their wedding, they can be a bit sappy about stuff, they deserve it!

also now i wanna make a shameless-themed cocktail recipe book thingy (?) or at least draw each character/ship a personalized cocktail. mumble mumble

what do you think they would pick? 👀

[milkmaidovich]

@krystallouhoo you asked and I couldn't help but answer

— — —

"Yer fuckin', like, cute or some shit, d'ya know that?"

Mickey is drunk.

They'd gone out to a bar near their apartment, some new (to them) joint, part of a deal the two of them had made when they'd moved: at least once a month they'd branch out and try a different bar, breaking away from their favorite, a place called Richard's that made them both think fondly of The Alibi (before his own brother had the gall to fuckin' turn it into a cop bar).

So tonight they'd gone to a place called Third Rail Tavern, and while Ian himself had had his one beer, Mickey...

Well, there'd been one of those big chalkboards hung up right at the entrance, and in eye-searingly bright letters it had proclaimed:

Half-price AMF's, today only.

"The fuck is an AMF?" Mickey'd said just loud enough for a passing server to hear.

"Adios Motherfucker," she'd supplied before Ian had gotten the chance, continuing on her way with ease, unaware of what she'd just set in motion.

The speed at which his husband's face lit up in excitement was both delightful and fucking terrifying.

—

"Goddamn, Gallagher, you're a pretty motherfucker, you know that?"

It starts around drink number three, the little compliments and sweet talk, more than Mickey usually does in public, and while Ian had been told before that a drunk Mickey was a love-sick Mickey, he'd never seen it himself.

(Ian couldn't, and didn't, really drink like he used to, and now Mickey didn't really either, an adorable sort of silent solidarity with his husband that Ian found so fucking sweet he could barely handle it sometimes. They split joints all the time and had started to dip their toes into the wild world of edibles once Illinois recreationalized shit, but Drunk Mickey was a rarity these days.)

Ian arches his brow, a habit he'd picked up from Mickey. "That so, Mick?" His lips are twitching with barely suppressed delight at the idea that he might be getting to see Sappy Mickey for himself tonight.

Mickey takes another big gulp of his drink, not even bitching about the metal straw it had come with. ("The fucks wrong with plastic? You think me and my occasional use of fucking plastic is gonna make or break the earth? Go after the people making the goddamn things if they're so shitty for the planet or whatever.")

Mickey nodsvigorously, eyeing Ian and breaking out his Flirty Look, eyebrows high and tongue poking out from the corner of his mouth where he was biting it, pretending to bite back a smile. Ian is as much a sucker for it now as he was at fifteen when Mickey used to flash it to him across the Kash N Grab, angling to get turned the fuck out in the cooler. "Mmmmhmmm, always been so fucking pretty, baby face an' all."

And so it goes, compliments getting more and more specific as the drinks kept coming, and Ian has never been more in love with his husband in his life, all the praise lighting him up like a Christmas tree, helping to settle the ever-present seed of worry that some version or part of him would be too much or not enough or just not what Mickey wanted.

Fucking hell was that doubt getting shut the fuck down tonight.

Mickey is toying with his hands now, having relocated to Ian's side of the booth so he can press in close, adhering himself to Ian's side like cuddly Velcro. "'Member when these hands couldn't palm mosta my ass? 'Member?" He nibbles on a knuckle, tracing the bulge of it with his tongue and staring Ian full in the face while he did, pupils blown out by liquor and lust. "Thought my ass was gettin' smaller at first till you wrapped these big fuckin' paws around my hips one day and I could feel your thumbs on my back even with your fingers mosta the way to my dick."

Ian slides his free hand around Mickey's lower a back, fitting his thumb in the dimple there and splaying his fingers wide, watching as Mickey's breath hitches before sucking hard on Ian's finger. "Like that?" Ian asks with a smirk, delighting in the effect he has on his husband even now.

"Uh huh," Mickey sighs, nodding his head so hard Ian's worried he'll make himself dizzy. "'Ve always been smaller'n everyone, but you're the only one I like it with. Like being small with you."

Ian's dick twitches hard in his jeans, both from the frankly indecent way Mickey is licking at the webbing between Ian's fingers and from what's coming out of his mouth.

He leans in to nuzzle at Mickey's neck, exaggerating how far he has to bend down to do it, grins when he feels the stuttering exhale against his throat. "Safe to be small with you," Mickey murmurs into the thin skin of Ian's neck, and Ian shivers at the sensation of those perpetually bitten lips. "You're the only one I ever felt fuckin' safe with, Ian."

Ian had had to kiss him then, and they made out for a little bit right there in their booth, not giving two fucks who can see them, and if Ian's mouth was free he'd be fucking cheering at how far they've come.

They break apart eventually and Mickey keeps drinking, getting looser and handsier with each sip. "I wanna fuckin' bite you sometimes, y'know? But cause I fucking like, love you and shit and it's too much and I just gotta—” and then Ian finds his forearm being chomped gently between Mickey’s teeth, a laugh punching out of him when Mickey makes the most fucking adorable growly nomming sounds, chewing gently on his husband's arm.

He's halfway through drink five when Ian's freckles finally get mentioned, and Ian can honestly say he's surprised it took so long. "D'you know y'got eyelid freckles?" Mickey clumsily grabs at Ian's face, tilting it down and Ian closes his eyes in preemptive protection so Mickey doesn't feel the need to try and close them himself and accidentally getting his alcohol-clumsy thumbs in Ian's eyes. "How does that even happen?" Mickey wonders, tilting Ian's head jerkily back and forth as he studies the eyelids in question, Ian biting back a laugh the whole time. "An' why the fuck do I wanna kiss 'em?"

They're outside after Mickey finishes his last drink, Ian's arm around Mickey's shoulders and Mickey's around Ian's waist, hand tucked snugly in his back pocket, copping a feel every few steps and giggling to himself when he does, like he's sneaking it in and doesn't have free reign of Ian's body whenever he wants.

Halfway home, Mickey sighs deeply and rests his head on Ian's shoulder, closing his eyes for a moment, trusting Ian to keep them uptight.

"Sometimes when you look at me," he starts, eyes fluttering open and glancing upwards, the blue of them even brighter in the dim yellow street-light glow. "Its like my blood gets all fizzy 'n' shit and I don't know what to do with that." He rubs his face against Ian's denim-covered bicep. "S'always been that way. Used to scare the fuck outta me cause I knew it meant somethin'."

Ian hums, tucking Mickey more firmly against him. "And now? Still scary?"

Mickey stops them suddenly, not caring that they're in the middle of a West Side sidewalk, and stares at Ian with the kind of serious earnestness that only incredibly drunk people ever manage. "No," Mickey says firmly, now with both hands firmly in Ian's back pockets, holding him close. "Nothin' 'bout us is scary anymore." He frees a hand and rubs vaguely at his chest, knuckle tats standing out starkly in the muted yellow light. "No room to be afraid, ya know? There's like, too much love 'n' shit now." He waves his hand around, gesturing wildly at his torso. "Takes up all the space."

Ian backs him into the closest wall and they spend the next twenty minutes leaving no space for anything but all that love between them.

the scenes where mickey was drunk and talking about ian made canon that when he gets drunk he talks about ian and maybe now when he's drunk he talks about ian to ian

[cobra-creampuff]

obsessed with the idea of ian taking it so so personally if anyone dares to not be attracted to mickey and always going out of his way to show off mickey's body as much as he can any time they're around anyone who needs to be shown the truth, up to and including his own siblings.

obsessed with the idea that ian is also wildly, ferociously possessive such that if he catches anyone being attracted to mickey before ian expressly demonstrates that they should be, he becomes afflicted with the fatal need to stake an indisputable claim on mickey immediately.

[juvinadelgreko]

you cannot convince me that ian and mickey didn’t plaster each other’s faces in cake at their wedding. i know it happened and i’m pissed we didn’t get to see it. it wasn’t a question of if they’d smash the cake in each other’s faces, but rather who would get it in first. mickey did simply because he’s a fast little fucker and ian was always going to let him win. by the time the carnage is over, they both have buttercream in their eyebrows and ian’s fingertips sting warmly where mickey accidentally-on-purpose bit his them along with the cake. someone passes them napkins to wipe down with but they spend the rest of the night licking little missed specks off frosting off each other’s faces. it’s disgusting but no one says that because it’s their wedding night and they’re allowed to be a little gross on their wedding night! on their first anniversary, and in celebration of finally getting their own place, they unfreeze the slice they saved and eat it using their unpacked boxes as tables.

[sillygoofygoobersstuff]

hc that Mickey Milkovich has had the same phone for years and Ian is like “Mick, that phone is literally ancient you know you can get a new one” and Mick is all like “fuck you gallagher it’s perfectly fine it stills works” but it takes him 10 minutes to type one word and it doesn’t update anymore and also the battery drains within an hour

[depressedstressedlemonzest]

I personally think Mickey is super handy when it comes to home repair. The milkovich house probably had as much bs to deal with as the Gallagher house.

Terry didnt give enough of a fuck.

Colin and Iggy are two sides of the same dumb ass.

Then there's mickey who wants to be sure his mom isnt having to stress over using ice chests for refrigeration, buckets of hose water carried inside for the tub to get filled, patching drywall where people punch holes in it. or stuffing attic insulation in places it def doesnt need to go.

So he learned all this shit, mainly from YouTube "how tos" .

Though ian, pure of heart dumb of ass, kick it and itll work Gallagher is the reader for recreation, Mickey reads with a purpose. And the purpose is YouTube doesnt have a tutorial and he needed to fix the water pressure to the sink.

Mel! Do we think Mickey is “handy” (no pun intended) around the house at all?

for sure. mickey had a weird grudge against the maintenance guy in their building and refused to call him for anything. plus, he was always good at fixing shit in his house. duct tape and zip ties, baby 🛠

he's also giving handjobs all over the house.

[lupeloto]

carl & mickey headcanon

i love this little brother-in-law ship so much… so mickey and carl are the video game dream-team and it drives ian crazy…

when carl was younger, he hustled the shit out of mickey once when they were playing a game. he pretended he had no idea what he was doing and then creamed mickey completely, which mickey of course respected the hell out of. ever since then, they would team-up all the time and would absolutely destroy lip and ian in pretty much any video-game ever.

now when carl comes over, he and mickey play and they beg ian to, taunting the shit out of him…

— — —

“Come on man, one game…today could be the day ya know,” Carl smack Ian’s back as he heads towards the couch to plop down next to Mickey.

“Come onnnn, Red. We’ll go easy on ya,” Mickey winks, shoving Carl’s shoulder with his.

“You two are assholes,” Ian spits, flipping them the middle finger on his way to the bedroom.

look at them…they mean so much to me

[roryonic]

Random Shameless HC

When Fiona, Lip, and Ian were really young, Frank would sing "I Will Survive" by Gloria Gaynor to them whenever they hurt themselves or were sad. It was a method to comfort them (before everything went complete off the rails in the family). None of the kids really remember this, and Frank didn't sing for the younger children (maybe Debbie), but Ian remembers. That is why we see Frank burst into "I will Survive" in season 1 when he's sober - he knows the song and the kids do, too - and Ian sings it to Mickey in season 11 because it's supposed to be comforting.

Maybe one of the few good memories Ian has with Frank is being comforted with that song...

[sam-loves-seb]

Hiii, 38, 39 and 40 for the gallavich headcanon game, please? 🧡🖤

hi anon thanks so much for the ask 🤍

send me a number and i’ll answer with gallavich hcs

38: What’s their favorite part of the other’s body?

Ian — Ian’s favorite part of Mickey’s body are his eyebrows. They’re so expressive, and always on the move, jumping up to his hairline or pinching together and wrinkling the skin between them. Every thought Mickey has ever had plays clear as day across his eyebrows, and Ian has learned to read them all. They give him away too, a little tell, when he runs a finger over his brow or scratched at it with his nail when he needs a second. A pause. Ian loves the way they jump when Mickey laughs, how they relax when Mickey smiles.

Mickey — Mickey’s favorite part of Ian’s body are his hands. Strong, sturdy, big. His palm feels warm and heavy on Mickey’s thigh when they’re watching tv, his grip strong when he’s pinning Mickey’s wrists above his head. His fingers are long, delicate but sure, and Mickey revels in the feeling of them on him, in him, tangled up with his own over the center console. He’s always brushing the backs of their knuckles together when they’re walking down the sidewalk, nipping at Ian’s thumb when he traces the smile lines on his face. He loves Ian’s hands; loves every single way they touch him.

39: What music/podcasts do they listen to?

Ian listens to a blend of indie/rock and Mickey listens to straight up dad rock. They both despise country music.

Ian will listen to the occasional podcast, but he’s not much of a subscriber to a weekly drop. He’ll listen to 45 minutes on growing tomatoes in the summer, but he won’t be back next week for the podcast’s next segment on watermelons.

Mickey hates podcasts. He doesn’t like it when most people talk to him, why would he want to listen to two strangers? (This doesn’t stop Ian from putting them on in the truck sometimes.)

40: Extra headcanon on your mind today?

I’ve said this one before but I feel very strongly about it so I’m gonna say it again: Mickey joins a boxing gym over on the westside. It’s his “thing”, as Ian puts it, his new hobby that only he gets to (begrudgingly) enjoy. Ian has his plants and his yoga and his gym buddies in the little workout center on the first floor of their building, but Mickey has the ring downtown with his two training partners that he’s reluctant to call “friends” (even if that is what they are). He goes every Saturday for a couple hours, and sometimes again on a Tuesday or Wednesday night if they finish their deliveries early for the day. He brings Ian with him once or twice, just to show him around and maybe spar a little with him, but Ian mostly leaves him to go alone. He likes that Mickey has his “thing”. Everybody needs one.

[milkmaidovich]

What about an au where Ian broke it off with a long-term boyfriend (over cheating) and goes to Mickey for a cover-up for a couple's tattoo he got with his ex. Imagine Mickey telling Ian he deserves better while gently wiping excess ink from his skin.

YEAH YEAH YEAH this is so so good little grayface!

Mickey asking why he's covering it up (I imagine something that without the context of the former relationship is just a runn-of-the-mill tattoo) and Ian taking a deep slow breath so it doesn't shudder even though he's feeling real emotional about everything still (they got TATTOOS! They were COMMITTED!!!) and beginning to explain why he got the first one and how the relationship was and Mickey picking up on some red flags about the former partner that Ian didn't catch (frog in the boiling water situation, tbh) and then The Discovery and how Ian tried to work it out and do the work because he is that kind of guy and the former partner not wanting to and Ian feeling so upset that he's got this constant reminder (the tattoos gotta be in a place where Ian sees it a lot, he'd absolutely want to be able to Stare Fondly whenever he wanted) and now he needs it to be something else.

And Mickey would just let him talk and talk and work through it, gloved hand moving slowly over Ian's skin (which Mickey is low-key obsessing over, the freckles drive him crazy, he wants to tattoo the constellations on this man, use them as built in shading for classical painting type tattoos, outline the three he's picked out that look like hearts, add a little snake near the ones that look like puncture marks), the machine buzzing lowly under Ian's story, the soft swipe of a paper towel revealing the new lines, the fresh start, as Mickey and his art help Ian move forward from this bad relationship.

And after a little while, when Ian's talked himself out for now, when he's just kind of sniffing wetly, Mickey will murmur about how no one deserves to have their love and devotion tossed aside like that, like it's nothing, when the most amazing thing one person can offer another is seeing them wholly, knowing the good and the bad of them, the extraordinary and the mundane, and choosing to take it all, to love them Because Of, not In Spite Of. Mickey would point to the curling letters that wrap underneath his collar bones, "Because Of, Not In Spite Of" inked forever into his flesh, a declaration to himself and whoever came along that he would settle for nothing less.

"I'm not one for religion or god or whatever," he'd say, almost a whisper as he goes over the last of things, the little detail touchups to make sure everything about this new ink and new beginning is as perfect as he can make it, "But love like that? That's the only kind of sacred there is."

He'd look up at Ian, eyes wide and sincere and Ian's breath would catch at the unshakable belief radiating from this man who's spent the last hour and a half with his hands all over Ian's skin, helping him close an old chapter and start a new one, facilitating this monumental moment of growth, and he would have a flashing thought that whoever this guy eneded up with would be the luckiest fucking person on the planet.

He'd wait the required amount of time for his tattoo to heal and then he'd call Mickey up, thinking that maybe if he played his cards right, that lucky sonofabitch could be him.

[spacerockwriting]

Franny Gallagher HC

I’m on a HC roll today so here are some Franny HC I have.

After an incident, Debbie gets arrested, leading to Ian and Mickey deciding to take her in. Mickey had just gotten onboard with having kids, so they let Franny stay with them.

The first day Franny is very tired and very quiet, clinging to Mickey during the BBQ at the apartment. Mickey notices that all of Frannys clothes are frilly and girly and dresses and so he dresses her in the most comfort outfit she has.

As soon as they get custody, they take her shopping and let her pick out any clothes she wants. Mickey and Ian are very gender-nonconforming when it comes to clothes. Franny picks out mostly dark t-shirts and the only feminine thing is The Little Mermaid because mermaids and trans kids go together v well.

Before school starts that fall, Mickey notices that Frannys hair is really knotty and tangles easy to which Ian just shrugs like “yeah, so did Debs at that age. Guess it’s time for a trim.” Franny is really anxious about cutting her hair short. She does not like her long hair, but the thought of Debbie getting mad at her for not having it “long and pretty” frightens her. Ian and Mickey start to learn that this eventually becomes a major anxiety point for Franny. In the end, Mickey reassures her that he and Ian don’t care about how she wears her hair (just as long as you don’t look like Lip, Mickey jokes.) Franny ends up with a shaggy boyish cut that is still long enough to tie up at her insistence, and she looks like a little long haired Ian with straight hair.

Eventually Franny starts changing her name from Franny, to Fran, and per the twins who cannot say “Fran” the name turns into Finn. This leads to Franny deciding one day to change her name to Finnegan Mikhailo Gallagher. Because “Finnegan Ian would sound weird and Finnegan kind of already has the name Ian in it.” Mikhailo because Mickey is her comfort person. (As soon as Debbie’s rights are officially relinquished, they permanently adopt Finn)

Debbie’s arrest has given Finn mental health issues as well as anxiety.

Finn IS transgender. Transitioning is difficult, more so because of obstacles. Ian and Mickey take everything slow, and take all the right steps. They even get Trevor on board for help and guidelines and whatever else they need.

It’s not until fifth grade that Finn starts to use he/him pronouns.

Finn is the biggest non-Milkovich-Milkovich there is. He loves the shit out of Mickey and wants to be a king of the south side. Ian will not be surprised if Finn comes home with knuckle tats one day.

Finn calls Mickey Baba because the twins couldn’t say Papa and so he became Baba, and he calls Ian Dad. The first time Finn calls them those names is during a period where he is overwhelmed and scared, the name slipping out by accident. Ian and Mickey welcome it.

Finns obsessed with greasers, gangs, all that shit. He loves the book Rumble Fish, and wants a switch blade for his birthday.

It’s a secret, but Mickey does teach him about Shivs and take him to go shooting. These are strict “don’t tell Dad” moments.

[transmickey]

hi, i'm obsessed with your url, please let me know what's your personal trans!mickey headcanon of the day, thank you, complimentary wheat field-

helloooo!!!!! i have been thinking about t4t gallavich So much lately (t4t gallavich truthers assemble). i just think they they do their testosterone shots together its basically date night. every week they get their dose of man juice, get cosy nd watch movies the rest of the evening. just being happy + free together ˶ᵔ ᵕ ᵔ˶

[cobra-creampuff]

so anyway obviously i'm stalling. but i want everyone to know that during the sleepover mickey and ian made out like real teenagers do alllll night, and they dry humped on the couch, and mickey let ian give him some hickeys, and he let ian play with his tits, and they exchanged head, and he let ian finger him for as long as he wanted, and he left bruises on ian's biceps and the nape of his neck and the backs of his knees from clinging to him so hard with both hands and feet, and he left scratches down ian's back, and he didn't hold back his noises, and neither did ian, and they cuddled and held each other and kissed goodnight and slept in each other's arms and woke up that way too, and ian made the coffee in the morning and brought it to mickey in bed.

[juvinadelgreko]

a short list of things that happen to gallavich post-canon because i said so:

ian & mickey ditch the yuppy westside after a year and get a small duplex on the south side that's far enough away from either of their childhood homes to not have too many ghosts, but close enough to family and the places they know. it's 3 beds and 2.5 baths, which is the perfect size for them and any guests they may have. franny and freddie love to sleep over, and fiona enjoys staying with them when she decides she's ready to come visit.

the security business grows to the point that they file Real Business Paperwork™️ and start hiring new people. Their services eventually expand beyond just weed. Their clientele mostly consists of small family restaurants and shops that want to cater and deliver but don't have the budget to buy their own vehicles/hire their own drivers. ian and mickey's favorite client is a family run greek restaurant that sends them home with leftovers every time they do a run for them (i'm greek, chicago has a huge greek community, and it makes me happy to think of ian and mickey stuffing their faces with homemade gyros and baklava after a long day).

mickey thrives as CEO of GM Secure Transport. we know he's a math whiz, and his accounting methods, though unconventional, are pristine. he knows the city so well, has a knack for mapping the most efficient routes that keep them on time and cost effective. they set up a website and social media pages that quickly become plastered in rave reviews. he actually comes to enjoy meeting the different people that hire them, getting to know their businesses, getting free samples and leftovers. he establishes a rapport with the business on his route, and would even go so far as to consider himself friends with some of the owners.

things go so well that ian begins to consider stepping back. on the downlow, he starts doing research on a possible path back to working in healthcare. after losing his army dreams, it was the only career he ever felt passionate about. he loves helping mickey, but he misses it so much. he finds a few different legal processes by which he could return to it, and decides he's going to try. he refuses to live the rest of his life regretting not trying. he's nervous to tell mickey about stepping back from their business, but of course mickey is 100% behind ian doing what makes him happy. mickey rallies the entire family behind ian to help with the paperwork and supporting documentation. it takes months, but ian eventually receives permission from the state of illinois to go to paramedic school. he'd loved being an EMT and had always wanted to learn more. mickey draws flashcards for him and helps him study for all of his exams. ian, of course, passes everything with flying colors and graduates at the top of his class. mickey insists on throwing him a big gallagher blowout party after the ceremony. when his shifts start, mickey packs him lunch with goofy (sometimes dirty) notes in the box. (I'll forever be so angry at the writers for taking ian's EMT career from him and i refuse to believe that in shameless's wishy-washy version of the legal system he couldn't find a path back to it).

aside from their business, mickey has a small side gig as an artist. ian always knew mickey was brilliant and creative, and never passes on an opportunity to tell him so. when he went over to the milkovich house as a kid, he'd always pocket mickey's little doodles he left laying around (ian was not as slick about this as he thought, mickey 100% saw him doing it but was way too nervous to bring it up until they wound up in prison together years later). now that he has the money for it, mickey invests in some entry level art supplies, takes some classes, and really falls in love with it. he posts some of it to social media and gets way more love for it than he was expecting. people eventually ask about buying his work or commissioning pieces, leading mickey milkovich, at one time the meanest thug on the south side, to set up an etsy shop.

but what really surprises everyone is when mickey picks up knitting (thank you, @infjgemini for being the originator of this headcanon) he's always liked working with his hands, working with numbers and patterns, and the women in his art classes are always talking about their knitting. when one of them catches him looking at the patterns sticking out of their purse, she offers to share an extra set of needles and some yarn with mickey so he can learn how to do it. ian's a little intrigued when he comes from his shift and sees mickey knitting, but he just encourages mickey to keep doing it if he's enjoying it. eventually, ian stops buying sweaters, hats, mittens, etc. at the store and exclusively wears mickey couture. he can't go five seconds without telling people that his husband made one of the things he's wearing. 'oh you like this hat? my husband made it. he has an etsy store.' and 'this is my favorite sweater. my husband made it just for me, you can't have it.' franny and freddie love their custom uncle mickey sweaters. a year after he starts, mickey's christmas gift to ian is an absolutely massive knitted throw blanket that will actually cover all 6ft of ian plus mickey when they snuggle, unlike the ones at the store. it becomes ian's most prized possession, and they almost always spend their evenings and weekends curled up under that blanket watching movies on their very comfy couch. mickey's knitting of course sells gangbusters on etsy, and he wishes he could go back in time just to tell his 17 year old self that people are paying actual money for his artwork. he continues meeting with his art class friends, with the women who taught him to knit, and finds he really enjoys the low stakes gossip and chatter of their group. ian gets so hooked on all the tea he brings home, eagerly waits up for mickey to relay him the knitting circle drama for the week. he's not the only guy in the group, and there's a good enough age range that he doesn't feel like an oddball. ian enjoys meeting them, is glad that mickey has friends he feels comfortable with. some of them are elderly, and he and ian frequently go to their houses to help with chores and heavy lifting. they accidentally end up with a small cohort of surrogate grandparents, which they both really enjoy after growing up with almost no sane adult presence in their lives.

ian finds his way back to running. it's one of the many things he adds back into his routine as part of his and mickey's agreement to start taking better care of themselves. it had taken a few really loud arguments, but once the dust settled on their first year of marriage, ian insists they're going to start eating better and living healthier now that they can afford it. it takes a lot of convincing, but he manages to get mickey to quit smoking with him, to cut back on drinking, and work some more exercise into his life. mickey hates running but loves lifting (man after my own heart) so they spend a lot of time doing that together. but ian's runs are his quiet solo meditation time. he really missed it. he finds a local queer and trans run club, and once he's sure it doesn't involve caleb or any of the gay jesus kids, he joins up. he ends up getting along really well with the group, and even convinces mickey to go out for drinks with some of them. ian trains a healthy amount, doesn't push himself too hard or obsess over how fast or far he's going or how much weight he is or isn't losing--he just enjoys it. he enters in a neighborhood holiday race with the run club just for shits and giggles, and actually really enjoys the fun competitiveness and goofy holiday outfits. he keeps doing fun little races, enters a local half marathon, and then a full one. mickey always parks himself somewhere along the route with the partners of the other people in the run club and cheers like a rabid soccer mom when ian passes by. he does not care who stares. that's his fucking husband! after a few years, fiona comes home and they run the chicago marathon together. the whole entire family shows up to cheer for them, and the picture of him and fiona in their race bibs and participation medals, surrounded by the entire family at the finish line, is framed on ian's nightstand.

speaking of eating better, ian finds he really loves gardening and cooking. he starts with tomatoes, and when those go well, slowly expands. he finds that mickey's much more amenable to trying new foods if he knows ian grew the ingredients in their yard. ian loves to dig online for recipes, loves to experiment with new ingredients. one of the older ladies from mickey's knitting circle comes over sometimes to help him with new dishes. liam, franny, and freddie come to their house for dinner at least once a week just because ian's cooking is that good. liam especially takes an interest in it, and starts coming over a bunch just to cook with ian. he gets really good at meal prepping for the days he works 12 hour shifts and doesn't have the energy to cook anything when he gets home. he puts everything together beforehand and leaves mickey directions for serving it. mickey always has it ready for him when he gets home. they cook together on ian's days off. in the summer, ian will make spreads of berry pies and have the entire family over for dinner. he always hides one away for just him and mickey. for holidays, everyone pitches in to cook, but ian is the chief executive of it all, with liam as his right hand man. mickey is chief taste tester.

also--they get a dog. a few years on, mickey finds a worse-for-wear boxer-mixed-with-something wandering around one of his delivery routes, and like. he can't just leave it. he takes it to a shelter, but it sticks in his mind for weeks, until he can't resist anymore and has to ask ian about maybe, just maybe getting a dog. ian agrees, because they both really wanted a pet growing up and now they can have one because they're grownups with the space and money for one. after doing some research, they decide to go adopt from the same shelter mickey took the stray to. he's still there, and mickey never believed in fate before, but he thinks maybe he does now. they bring him home and name him Sox, both after the white sox and because his brindle coat is interrupted by four white socks. he is the most spoiled dog in the city of chicago. the 'no dog on the couch or bed' rule lasted about five seconds. he sleeps on the end of their bed every night and flops on their laps during movie time. mickey insists that dog food is dog food and people food is people food, but ian is a softie who sneaks him pieces of meat from dinner almost every night. mickey will sometimes take him on delivery runs because the customers love him and Sox loves to stick his head out the window. whenever his station does a cookout, ian brings Sox and everyone takes turns playing fetch with him. in the summer, he loves to swim with them and the kids in the above ground pool in the yard, and sit in the garden while ian works.

this is so soft, guys, but it makes me so happy to think about these two having a good life.