Something goes shatter in the middle of the night. More than one 'something' and Slider's the one dealing with it all.
A hurt-comfort lil scene ficlet for some Slider who deserves to love and be loved too. Part of an ongoing series. MavIce are the side characters this time.
TW: brief/vague mentions of a woman being taken advantage of at night. Nothing explicit, just mentioned as a flashback event. But if it's a major trigger, no matter how vague it's been mentioned, do not read.
The shattering sound woke Slider up with a start. His immediate thought was that someone was breaking in because no way was Iceman this clumsy. Quick reflexes had him out of bed and padding down the hallway to where the light source of the kitchen came from. Sleep long gone since adrenaline took over. Quick thinking deduced that it wasn't an intruder. Intruders don't put lights on in the house. Thinking it must be Iceman after all, Slider peered into the kitchen, only to be met with another blonde-headed person that he half-forgot was staying with them.
"You okay?" he gently asked as he stepped further into the kitchen, careful where he stepped with shards of ceramic littering the floor from a shattered mug. Thankfully none of his or Iceman's favourite coffee mug; not that it mattered - in the hindsight of things.
Glassy green eyes met his. Eyes that he didn't dare admit that he cold easily get lost in. Like a forest welcoming you to explore and feel at ease with. He heard the hitch of her breath as she tried to hold back tears, "...I...I was trying to m-make...and then...I'm so sorry."
Her hands had stilled mid-air from when she had accidentally dropped the mug. He noticed how violently they trembled.
Stepping closer, he was very aware of how fragile she looked. Far more fragile than the broken mug that was shattered on the floor. He held a hand up behind the small of her back, remaining ten centimeters away from physically touching her, wanting to touch her with gentle comfort, but didn't dare. Not after what she'd been through. Not after how they found her either. The other hand came around to the front of her vision, slightly to the the side, open palm up as if offering for her to place her hand in his... but she never did.
"I've got this. I can make you a tea... Why don't you take a seat...?"
Little did Slider realise that Iceman was hovering by the doorway, observing with protective blue eyes. Protective ice cold blue eyes. One wrong move, one wrong thing said and Iceman would have no problem dropping Slider from his plane without a parachute.
Emily, sister to the pilot they all recently lost, and nurse to the Naval Base... also their new roommate, was careful where she stepped. Slider watched with sharp eyes, each step she took, ensuring her safety and that she didn't step on any shards of ceramic. When she was safely away from the scattered pieces and sitting on the opposite side of the kitchen counter, Slider went to work in boiling the teapot and making her a fresh cup of tea.
He didn't say much to her. Quietly picked up the bigger pieces of the broken ceramic, and used a small dustpan and brush to clean up the smaller and unseen sharp pieces.
Back turned to her as he reached for the top cabinet that held the many different tea's Iceman insisted on having, Slider settled for a couple of options that he learnt helped with sleep. Lavender, Chamomile, Soothing Green Tea, some herbal leafy shit that he'll have to figure out how to brew...
"Which one?"
He turned just in time to see her jump at the sound of his voice breaking through the silence of the room. There was a strange pang to his chest, he hadn't meant to spook her the way he did. He also wasn't used to seeing her like this either. Not that he had much interaction with her before. he was usually biting comments at Maverick or chatting to Goose.
"...Um, the Honey and Lavender please..."
It was the way her voice wobbled that also tugged at his heartstrings.
"Okay." he said with a little more gentleness and am much quieter tone so as to not spook her. It wasn't necessary, it was just the sudden sound of his voice that cut through the silence that caused her to jump. She had every reason not to trust him, given what she went through. But she trusted Iceman completely...and in extension, she trusted Slider too.
Regardless... Even Iceman hadn't heard Slider this gentle before. And it's probably want made him linger by the doorframe to listen, rather than trust that Emily was in good hands.
"Do you have sugar?"
She shook her head in answer, not trusting herself to speak.
"Okay." he gently said again, as he took away the various boxes of tea and placed them all back. If he didn't, he wouldn't hear the end of it from Ice in the morning.
Luckily she didn’t choose the one with the leafy shit in it.
He brewed her the tea and passed it over to her, remaining on the other side of the counter to give her space.
He watched as she wrapped those trembling hands around the mug and murmured a wobbly little “Thank you”.
His fingers tapped on the kitchen counter, debating what he should do. Should he leave her? She clearly came in here to not be disturbed. But she could’ve easily brought the cup of tea back to her bedroom - their spare room - instead, she’s still sat here. She looks like she’s about to cry… he should just leave her alone. But at the same time, he doesn’t want to. Not with her like this. He’d only lie in bed, feeling guilty.
Fuck it. He turned and made himself a cup of coffee. It’s not like he’s going to sleep anyway. It didn’t take long to fix himself a cup of coffee. Coffee grounds, water, stir, done.
Leaning against the other side of the kitchen counter, opposite the ‘island’, he sipped away at his coffee. Watching as she only took one or two sips at a time.
“...Nightmares…?” he asked.
She didn’t answer him at first, it was only a moment or two later that she finally nodded her head, as if feeling guilty that she’s the one having nightmares when these boys are literally undergoing life-threatening training and missions and she underwent…something else that was more…manageable.
“They’ll stop. Eventually. We all get them. Even Ice. But don’t tell him I said that.”
Oh Ice is definitely going to kill him. But it gave her the smallest of smiles, so being killed over that smile was worth it. Little did Slider know that Ice was there, eavesdropping on the whole conversation, quietly deciding to give Slider a pass on bringing the nightmare thing up. Just this once.
But that smile didn’t last. It wobbled. Everything wobbled. And that glassy look in her eyes with unshed tears, finally fell.
Slider stood frozen. She had been through so much. They lost a friend, a pilot… but she lost a brother. And not long after that…one of their own took advantage of her in the middle of an alleyway… on base. This shit shouldn’t be happening. Yes, they’re Navy fuckwits. They’re men. They think with their ego’s first, dick second… but not like this.
It wasn’t just tears… it was grief… it was what she went through… she missed her brother…the only person who could make her feel less alone, less, well, shit, was the one person who wasn’t here. And it’s made her feel more alone than ever.
Just as Ice was about to step in because he hated knowing Emily was practically crying on her own and Slider was standing there like an emotionally stunted robot, Slider finally moved. He placed his cup of coffee down and came around to her. Without thinking about any form of a PTSD response from her, he wrapped his arms around her body and drew her into his chest.
Instead of her pushing away from him, she violently flinched at first but the emotions took a more violent hold on her and her whole body trembled against him. She shattered the way that mug dropped and shattered into pieces. Her sobs grew louder but more muffled as she turned her face against him and cried out her pain.
Long fingers stroked through her blonde hair as he held her. He didn’t offer much in the way of words. This was Iceman’s department. Ice - despite how cold he can be - was far better with words and speeches than Slider was.
However, where Slider lacked words of reassurance and comfort, he made up for with the way he held her. Protectively. Like he was shielding her from the rest of the world. No more harm was to ever come to her.
This might be the first women he held in his arms that he wasn’t fucking.
“I’m so sorry, Emily…” he finally murmured over her cries. “You’re safe… You’re safe now…” as he readjusted his head, he caught a glimpse of short blonde hair disappearing behind the door frame.
Not me being obsessed with Lady Gaga's 'Hold My Hand' and picturing middle-aged Admiral Kazansky sitting in the bar, nursing a drink. Watches as Maverick walks over with this purposeful stride. Iceman stands and straightens up, ready to welcome him to sit down.
But Maverick surprises Ice by pulling him into a deep kiss just as the chorus hits.
'...But don't you let go of my hand...'
|| Fully intend to make a one-shot drabble of this. There'll be more to it. Slight Hurt-Comfort but with the softest ending ~ But who can't resist seeing Admiral Kazansky being publicly kissed by his husband?
Let me know if you want to be tagged in any future MavIce content.
Slider watched as Ice walked back down the hallway after settling a distraught friend down in the guest room. He kept his voice low, “How long is she staying?”
Ice’s blue eyes snapped to Slider and intensely bored down upon Sliders gaze, almost daring him to challenge Ice if he disagreed. “As long as she needs.”
~ A blog dedicated to Admiral Iceman Kazansky protecting his adoptive sister against Mav’s fuckboi ways and eventually becoming an Uncle 🥺 through a multi-chapter fic.
Slight Mav x Ice, but mostly focused on Slider x OC with Ice heavily involved in the plot.
Feel free to ask to be tagged when chapters appear! A better ‘about this blog’ post will feature soon!
