Happy Together 03

 Rome, 2011: Are you getting off your perch, Rooster?

Summary:

It's September, and Rome gives them a warm night, an ideal night to celebrate the repeal of the DADT. Jake is happy for Natasha and Bob, for the beta SEAL couple making out in the corner, for every queer person in the DOD, but...
If he makes his pass to Bradshaw today, in front of Phoenix, the damn woman won't leave him alone for the rest of his days... At the same time, what better day than today? If it doesn't work, he can chalk it all up to the euphoria of the day.

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Fandom: Top Gun (Movies)

Relationships: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw / Pete "Maverick" Mitchell  

Characters: Pete "Maverick" Mitchell, Jake "Hangman" Seresin, Javy "Coyote" Machado, Natasha "Phoenix" Trace, Robert "Bob" Floyd

Additional Tags: Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Implied Mpreg, Age difference, Grammarly is My Wingman, DADT Repeal, Homophobia

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/happy-together.html

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The atmosphere in the bar is absolutely perfect. The staff doesn't speak much English, but they understand what they're celebrating and show exceptional patience with the broken Italian most of the group speaks. The local patrons have left, reticent to compete with the crowd of marines, pilots, soldiers, and SEALs that fill the bar, pool tables, dance floor, and (of course) bathrooms. Without having to exchange more than glances, everyone went to the same place two hours from the base with (what a coincidence!) a discreet rainbow flag on the door.

Jake leans on Javier's shoulder and smiles. His brother moves his shoulder to push him.

"Leave the schmuchiness, Seresin. Starting today, people can talk."

"Let them talk," and he straightens up, but only so he can take another sip of his beer, "I've always wanted to see how your wives roast homophobes."

Javier lets out an evil chuckle at the idea. Although perfectly sober because he is a designated driver, Coyote basks in the collective happiness. He is as straight as a 1950s TV character, but he is a generous guy and familiar with discrimination because of the color of his skin. So, he immediately signed up to celebrate the repeal of DADT.

"Look over there," Jake points his index finger at the dance floor. "They are disgusting with so much sweetness."

He doesn't move his eyes to see his friend's reaction because the vision of Natasha and Bob hugging while moving to the rhythm of Bob Marley ("Everything will be alright") is mesmerizing. They look at each other with such tenderness and, at the same time, such determination. Jake admires and envies the Omega couple in equal measure because he is sure he is better than Phoenix in the air, but that... he doesn't know if he will ever have that.

Even before realizing that he was more interested in the smells of alphas rather than the aromas of omegas and betas, he had an almost instinctive distrust of the idea of marital commitment. It's not like he grew up with good examples, really. His mothers, too busy increasing the family wealth and presenting to the world an image of a perfect family, didn't have time to pay attention to his "inexplicably weaknesses." His omega mother gave birth four times in ten years until the birth of Jake, alpha, and male, ensured the family's succession. But his value to the family didn't bring him any kind of privileges. His alpha mother strongly advocates that children should be seen, not heard and that any alpha must be trained from early childhood for resilience, leadership, and autonomy. His omega mother took care of his omega brothers, his beta mother of the administration, and the staff ought to ensure Jacob would become the perfect alpha heir. Between the hypocrisy of relationships within his old, respectable, wealthy family and the unattainable examples of the media, Jake grew up feeling inadequate and unable to live up to the title of Seresin heir.

When he realized that what he liked about being at an alpha-only boarding school was precisely the abundance of alphas, he had to rethink a few things in life. Paradoxically, his Spartan upbringing had prevented him from forming close ties with his family, and leaving them behind didn't hurt him too much. However, to say that he had left them behind was an understatement. Their mothers had cried, attempted to negotiate, and threatened, as befitted their traditional gender roles. When he didn't give in, they disinherited him. Two hours later, he was sitting in Austin's central station with the Naval Academy acceptance letter in his hand and a backpack between his legs - all that remained of his luxurious life as the Seresin heir.

As he watched the train that would take him to Annapolis approach, Jake felt a strange sensation, as if a weight was lifted from his shoulders. It would take him a while to realize this is what freedom feels like.

It was exhilarating.

Still, he entered the Navy aware of DADT, so he kept his eyes forward and his desires hidden under the iron self-control instilled in him at home. He thought he could manage on his own. Well no. In fact, no one can live forever without human contact. That lesson was taught to him by Javier during the second year of the academy. The Machado clan welcomed him as another son. His sexual orientation only generated a passing comment about how difficult it is to live on God's green earth with so many people meddling in other people's lives.

It's been eight years since he left his family behind. It's September, and Rome gives them a warm night, an ideal night to celebrate the repeal of the DADT. Jake is happy for Natasha and Bob, for the beta SEAL couple making out in the corner, for every queer person in the DOD, but at the same time... What is he going to do now? How do you start living a life where you don't have to hide most of yourself?

"You know, now you can leave abstinence," says Javier in a casual tone.

He turns at him, raising an eyebrow, skeptical.

"Are you making a pass at me, Lieutenant Machado?" he asks in a faked scandalized voice, putting a hand to his chest to reinforce the comedy.

"Idiot! If I cheat on my wives, my own father will help them hide the body." Jake nods because it's true that Mr. Machado doesn't mess around. "On the other hand, your knight in shining armor is alone in the corner."

Jake doesn't move. He is perfectly aware of where Bradley Bradshaw sits drinking his usual beer. He automatically knows where Bradshaw is whenever they are in the same room. He also knows how he likes pizza, his favorite brand of beer, that he has seen "The Black Cauldron" and "Risky Business" more than fifteen times, and that he prefers pens with black ink. Bradshaw is a stoic and lonely guy. He's a nepobaby, of course, but you'd never know it by the way he acts. He studies hard, gets his hands dirty with airplanes, and flies like a damned as if he has something to prove to this institution where every officer from captain up seems to have known him since he was a toddler. His only known friend is Natasha "Phoenix" Trace. It was because of her that, this morning, he mentioned his (fearsome) family connections for the first time.

Until yesterday, his proclivity for learning and remembering details about Bradshaw was something he had to keep under control. Besides the risk inherent in trying something with another alpha (in that sense, the omegas have it easier, with the narrative of softness and tenderness), going after Bradshaw had the additional problem that they would never be in equal foot. Bradley would be saved from a DADT investigation if anyone became suspicious with a single call from Kerner, Kazansky, Heatherly, Neven, or Wolfe. Jake has no one. He would probably be used as a scapegoat: a degenerate who tried to corrupt a pure child raised in the most honorable tradition of the Navy.

But today…

"Hitting a straight guy is the most embarrassing thing in the world, Javy," he says, relying on logic.

Coyote snorts mockingly.

"I'm straight, brother. I assure you that the looks Rooster gives your ass every chance he gets have nothing to do with comparative interests."

Jake blinks several times, confused.

"Come again?"

"I'm saying that that Rooster would love to climb on your pole, Hangman. I've seen it with my queer ally superpowers. Furthermore, the order to attack comes from high command," he raises his cell phone with the chat with his wives open on the screen.

Maria C Hot Vanilla Sweet: Go get your man, Hangman. [María J My Beloved Whip "liked" this message]

Jake can't hear the noise in the bar because his heart is beating so hard. He has drunk. He has enough alcohol in him to feel less shame than usual, but not so much that he loses sight of the consequences of his actions. He is, in scientific terms, tipsy. If he makes his pass to Bradshaw today, in front of Phoenix, the damn woman won't leave him alone for the rest of his days... At the same time, what better day than today? If it doesn't work, he can chalk it all up to the euphoria of the day.

It would be a shitty excuse, but it could work.

"Altre due Bud Light, per favore," says to the beta behind the bar.

"Con limone?"

"Sì."

Tattoos-covered hands bring the two bottles in less than three minutes. Jake rests his hands on the bar and silently contemplates the amber glass, where the humidity begins to condense and drain.

"Only in England drink hot beer." Javier warns him.

Jake looks at him, unsure. His brother gives him an encouraging smile. Jake nods, takes the bottles, and heads, dodging couples, to the corner where Bradley Bradshaw occupies a small table. The alpha raises his eyes when he stops in front and isn't quick enough to hide his surprise.

Jake puts the beer in front of him and sits in the second chair at the table.

They drink in silence.

Jake feels Bradley's brown gaze sweep over him, measuring him. He doesn't try to avoid his eyes. He looks straight at him, challenging. He can understand that it is also a risk for the other alpha. This whole celebration has a hint of desperation. They know that repealing DADT won't take away all the institutionalized homophobia in the DOD and society at large. Tomorrow, they will return to their posts and have to pretend that they are not affected by the jokes, the disregard for their feelings, and the double standards.

They only have tonight, he thinks bitterly.

"Are you going to get off your perch, Rooster?" he blurts.

Bradley looks at him with a mixture of amusement and melancholy. There's something in his gaze... Jake feels like he's seeing him, but at the same time, he's seeing someone else. But melancholy gives way to a decision in a few seconds. Rooster stands up and holds out his hand.

"There is a hotel two blocks away. At the bar, they told me that they accept all types of guests."

Surprised by the efficiency of the proposal, Jake can't do anything other than take the hand and allow himself to be pulled towards the exit of the bar. They stop briefly next to Coyote.

"Machado, do me a favor," Bradley says as he puts an arm around Jake's waist, "take Natasha and Bob back to the base."

Javier looks at them dumbfounded, from the eyes shining with excitement to the intertwined fingers.

"Sure, yes." he babbles. "So… use protection?"

"Always," Jake promises.

In the morning, Jake will realize that this was a mistake. Bradley Bradshaw isn't the kind of alpha you have a euphoric one-night stand with. He is an alpha with whom to make a life. Too bad it can't be.

Notes:

"Don't ask, don't tell" (DADT) was the official United States policy on military service of non-heterosexual people instituted during the Clinton administration. The policy was issued under Department of Defense Directive 1304.26 on December 21, 1993, and was in effect from February 28, 1994, until September 20, 2011.

INDEX: https://palabraspulsares.blogspot.com/p/happy-together.html