Show me Your Flaws, Darling
Day 3- Maverick (Towel)
((⚠️NSFW, minors DNI, you have been warned. Ice is in a meeting and Mav decideds to tease his husband by sending some image motivation to get Ice to come home early. ⚠️))
Its now the age of cellphones and pictures, to Ices dismay and horror at having a 'work phone'. Ice is in a very important meeting with the top brass of the Navy when he feels his phone buzz in the distinct pattern he has it set on Mavs contact number. Ice will never admit to how much fiddling with his phones settings it had taken to do that, and will forever hold it over his lovers head that he knows how to do it and Mav had to ask for help.
No one else can hear the buzz thankfully, although Admiral Cain swoops his beady eyes Ices way. Creep. But Ice wouldn't put it past the wrinkly fucker to be able to intuitively know when Maverick is near so he surreptitiously checks his phone, finding one (1) message and attachment from Mav, he opens it only to nearly drop the goddamn thing on the floor.
There, on his phone is a picture of his beloved hotshot lover outside sunning himself, looking like a sexy goddamn pinup model in seemingly nothing but a small towel. He's stretching out, casually lounging on one of their sunbeds like a king. The tiny towel does very little to cover him, slayed across his lap like that. Its giving Ice all sorts of ideas.
One little shift and Ice could see that little scrap of cloth falling to the grass and revealing all of Mavs beautiful body to Ices hungry eyes. He's resting back on the bed, one leg propped up and bent at the knee, his right arm thrown lazily behind his head
Knowing Mav like Ice does, more specifically knowing Mavs body, intimately and thoroughly like Ice does, and the tan lines he avoids with a passion, he is most definitely naked under that tiny, flimsy little hand towel.
His body was shining from the sunscreen lotion, looking all smooth and Ice could nearly feel his and gliding across Mavs stomach and up to cup his pretty tits in his hands, the sunscreen aiding the sliding motion, just so he could listen to the small begging noises Mav makes when he plays with his chest just right.
He felt a whiny groan bubbling up in his chest and suppressed it with a cough. Maybe not all too well considering the look Admiral Roster just shot him. Ice can feel his cheeks burning, but can't bring himself to care as miles of tanned, bare skin flashes through his head, topped with a stunning Hollywood smile and a pair of mischievous green eyes that Ice adores with his whole heart, even when the brat teases him like this.
Ice then reads the caption Mav sent along with it ~Hey handsome, hope your meetings not too boring, I'm a little bored at home though, so I thought I'd have a little fun without you. Hurry home love~. Ice can feel a growl building in his chest at the unrepentant teasing from his brat and swallows back a soft moan at how truly gorgeous his partner looks bathed in the golden sunlight, while Ice is stuck here in a cramped meeting room under artificial lights for at least another hour. Goddamn tease.
The picture is still open on Ices phone and he has to resist the urge to palm himself through his slacks to get relief. No, absolutely not. Not in uniform. Not on base. And especially Not in a room full of his fellow naval officers and superiors. He tunes back into he drone of voices around him. Apparently he hasn't missed much if Admiral Lynn is still talking about 'the good old days'. Ice sighs, shares a commiserations look with Admiral Bates across from him and let's his mind wander again, his hand automatically taking notes on the meeting.
Then it comes again. Tom's spine stiffens like a new recruit infront of a bellowing commander as the small two-beat vibration buzzes against his thighs, dangerously close to his half-chub. Dread, arousal and anticipation swirl in a dangerous cocktail in his chest and he reaches for his phone again. Its like an addiction. One he's been very used to for the past 20 years and counting. Ice glances around the room quickly, taking note that no ones watching and sneaks a glance at his phone. There was no caption, so he just clicked on the loading image to bring it up to full screen discretely.
And immediately bites down on a very loud, very horny moan. His trousers also become alot smaller all of sudden and he can't fully hide the blush that sweeps up his neck and darkens his cheeks. Ice sends a strained smile to Roster who's now smirking at him and Adamson across the table, who looks over at him in clear concern. Gods that would be the last thing he needs.
His husband, the minx, is pouting up at Ice through the phone, stretched out in their shared backyard on his sunbed, his time on his stomach, dark hair tousled in a way thats making Ice think of the way his hair falls after Ice has fucked him silly and soft, relaxed back into their bed and well-sated.
His beloved sexy menace is now wearing absolutely nothing, his glistening muscles on full display. The sun shining all the way down the long line of his back, the curves of his stocky body, down down down to Mavericks bare ass, calling all of Ices attention, practically begging for his hands all over the peachy globes.
Icemans eyes went heavy lidded and his breaths drew heavier as his mind wandered to all the things he'd do when he got home to that glorious ass. He wanted Mav in their bed like that, smiling and teasing before Ice gave him exactly what he wanted and more, leaving him soft-eyed sleepy and sated, unable to even walk after Ice was done with him.
A loud bang brought him back to the present and he found the conference room half emptied, more admirals leaving. The meeting was over. Ice jolted himself out of his daze and exchanged a few small pleasantries and packed up his blank notes of the meeting. Admiral Roster nodded at him smirkingly, and Ice doesn't think he could look at him him the eye for another few weeks.
Finally the doors shut and Ices fake smile dropped with it, alone at last. He looked at the pictures his menace sent him again, and shuddered, whining slightly.
Now to get himself home and throw his minx over his shoulder and up to their bed for at least the rest of the evening. His brat is in for a suprise when Ice gets home, early at that. He has plans for his little menace.
Then he must set his new phone home screen wallpaper with his new favourite pictures of Mav.
But first....he grimaced down at his lap, blushing heavily....to get to the car without anyone seeing the situation in this trousers.
((For the lovely @icezansky @sad-stucky-shipper-107 and @icemavslastbraincell its finally here, sorry it took so long 💛💛💛))
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Everyone talks about Bi-Han being gullible/stupid etc for believing Shang Tsung + being manipulated by him. But Bi-Han sided with Shang Tsung because he wanted to break the Lin Kuei free from Liu Kang's control. He only accepted the alliance when he saw the Dragon Army and thought they actually had a good chance of winning. Meanwhile it's crickets on Hanzo "I killed your brother for no reason" Hasashi who got played by Quan Chi the man who actually killed his family & clan and whom Scorpion still grovels to. Not to mention that Raiden said he would try to get Hanzo's family restored if he didn't kill Bi-Han and this loser did it anyway. And this is only the tip of the iceberg for how much jackassery this fool pulls across every game. Yet Bi-Han is the irredeemable evil asshole because he *checks notes* says some mean things to his brothers >:( and some of this is done as Noob Saibot which btw loops back to Hanzo because Bi-Han wouldn't have ever become Noob if Hanzo hadn't killed him.
I think the most gullible person in MK1 was in fact Shang Tsung himself, who for some reason believed that a powerful mysterious being showing up out of nowhere would willingly share her power with him. Talk about a new level of naivety!
I have a theory of mine, that Titan Shang Tsung gave enough information about (previous timeline) Sub-Zero to his younger version, because breaking Lin Kuei from Liu Kang’s control was a personal matter to him. Like yes, it would weaken his enemy and bring the planned chaos and “evilness” into the timeline he despited, but looking at the fact how Lin Kuei in majority of source material was an assassin clan with a strong, old-centuries ties to Shang Tsung, it feels to me likely that "reclaiming" the Lin Kuei was a matter of honor to him. Double so, as some sources went so far and presented elder Sub-Zero if not outright the favorite then one of favorite assassins working for the sorcerer. Frankly, as the story mode shows alone, “Damashi” talked and warned both Shang Tsung and Quan Chi about Lin Kuei before Sub-Zero even met any of them, so there was some behind-the-scenes preparation done and for all we know Bi-Han was targeted by the evil Titan before the main events even unfolded.
As for Bi-Han, right now he has this misfortune to be blamed and hated for everything, whether he actually did it or not, so no matter what is the topic, he is in a losing position by definition. However, like you said, Sub-Zero did not agree on the spot to join Shang Tsung and actually had a chance to see what the supposed allies could offer him so it is not like he fell for empty promises alone. What is important to remember, Lin Kuei were one of major defenders of Earthrealm, so Bi-Han’s choice to switch sides actually would weakened Fire Lord’s forces, leaving him with Shaolin Monks and - depending how in Liu Kang’s timeline military technology evolved - the armed forces of nations that had no idea about Outworld’s threat. But the first part of Shang Tsung and General Shao’s plan was about depriving Sindel and her daughters of the throne, so there is possibility that before Earthrealm would be put in direct danger, Sub-Zero could alter his plans depending how well the teamwork would go with the sorcerers and General Shao.
If Kuai Liang and Tomas were either captured or eliminated from the picture, Liu Kang would not even know that Bi-Han switched sides until the attack - or, if the alliance played smart, Lin Kuei could backstab Fire Lord’s forces from the inside. And in the scenario in which Bi-Han was not captured by his brothers, he still could have an option (backup plan) to play Shang Tsung’s failure to his own gain if he was cunning enough. For example, he could betray the sorcerer to earn Earthrealm’s victory in the important moment and then lie to Liu Kang’s face that was his true plan from the start - the mission has failed, Lin Kuei brothers were outnumbered; he and Scorpion were trapped inside the fortress with Smoke, who if lucky, managed to hide himself (not something Sub-Zero could even knew). With no way to warn the Fire Lord and not seeing a better solution at that moment, under the pretense he is ready to betray Earthrealm, he learned what Liu Kang’s enemy were doing. Then trusting in brother’s skills, on purpose lied to Kuai Liang to piss him off enough so he could get out and reunite with Smoke. And when Bi-Han faced his angry brothers he fought only to let them run away, so they could carry on the important news to Liu Kang, while scarring Scorpion’s face as proof he was on board with Shang Tsung, so no one could doubt him. Because duty comes above family and isn’t that what was expected from Grandmaster and Lin Kuei? Isn’t that what their father wanted? For them all to serve Fire Lord and Earthrealm at any cost?
And mind you, at this point in the story Sub-Zero had no idea that Liu Kang was in fact once Keeper of Time and had an access to Geras/Hourglass to rewind time and check what actually happened. For all Bi-Han knew then, the lie would be unprovable and, at worst, he would have to earn Fire Lord and his brothers’ trust again but then, it would be much more easy to play on their guilt, how easily they doubted when he was willing to go extra miles for the sacred duty they all talk and talk and talk about. At the same time, the experiences would teach Bi-Han he can’t trust his brothers and in future he needs to be more cunning about breaking out from Liu Kang’s control and probably relying more on Sektor & Cyrax.
(And even if Kuai Liang would be upset, he couldn’t complain, because he is the one that wanted to uphold tradition. Bi-Han could then easily come back to the lie he tried to save father’s life and all the cruel things he said back then were an unpleasant necessity and how could you, my dearest brother, doubt me so easily…?)
Of course, in the end Sub-Zero was captured by his brothers and the possibilities thwarted but my point is, just because Bi-Han joined Shang Tsung, it does not mean he had no longer any autonomy over the course of action or that he wouldn’t make a backup plans for various outcomes. Lin Kuei were trained from childhood to do their duty and as far as we could see, they play the role of black ops for Liu Kang - what most likely also includes espionage. And in the espionage art one must be ready to act at any given moment and plan ahead. Bi-Han said himself, he has no loyalty to Earthrealm nor to Outworld and I do not doubt he would play the game with his survival and Lin Kuei’s best interest in mind. Who he would need to betray in the process would depend on who was winning and who was the most beneficial ally.
I think we all can agree that Lin Kuei mission and Bi-Han’s betrayal was a rushed subplot and both the brothers and emotional impact of the story would benefit more if Sub-Zero wasn’t cut off from the events right away after fulfilling his main purpose - giving a ground for new Lin Kuei vs Shirai Ryu conflict that won’t have any importance until the next games will use it. It is not even a matter if Bi-Han acted logically or not, but more the feeling of incompetence of everyone involved. Nitara and Ermac didn’t raise the alarm the moment when intruders were spotted (and Nitara literally screeched / screamed when she attacked Smoke). Bi-Han didn’t behead Shang Tsung when he had an occasion; instead he idly waited for enemy soldiers to run up to Lin Kuei - and really, if he knew the mission was endangered, he should have used the precious seconds to eliminate the target. Even if he was killed, there would be one enemy less for Liu Kang to deal with. Kuai Liang alone beat all the main fighters, burning the stone soldiers like they were nothing while Smoke, well he had one moment of serious panic and after that was just there, pushed to the background. Bi-Han’s choice and development of his subplot could be taken in interesting, even twisted directions in the hands of capable writers. And by that I don’t mean the intelligence of writers but capability to care for Bi-Han’s plot beyond the need to break Lin Kuei from Liu Kang. Because him acting either on impulse or seizing an opportunity he awaited for years does not mean he needs to stick to Shang Tsung & General Shao to the bitter end. I, for one, would like to see how cunning Sub-Zero could be in such a situation but for that NRS would need to let him be in the story as a full-fledged character that develops alongside the events and not be just there to push events and other characters' storylines forward.
As for original Scorpion, I feel there is in general a great change in perception of his and Sub-Zero’s storylines, as Scorpion in the earliest source materials, including the oldest comics, usually played the role of antagonist, while Sub-Zero even as an assassin could be pretty heroic on his own. Now the roles seems to turn around, however I suspect the main reason why fans give Hanzo benefit of doubt and forgive him any foolish decisions but won’t give Bi-Han the same treatment comes down to this: Hanzo is acting on strong emotions, something we can see by visually aspect of the games and heard him personally speaking about them while Sub-Zero does not externalize his emotions, because such openness is not in his nature (the old comics are better in that aspect but how many people even remember them these days?). It is much easier for fans to forgive character’s “stupidity”, the all wrongly made choices when character will openly admit to be upset, angry, devastated or traumatized than to forgive the one that won't spill out their guts, won’t cry or feel sorry for themselves and will just adapt and go on with their life. People forgive acting on overwhelming emotions when those are all over the place because emotions are something easy to relate - and who of us did not lose control over them at least one? Hanzo is powerful male character in terms of firepower and skills alone but he is also deeply messed up, traumatized man whose life was fucked up and now he is trying hardly to piece it together and to rebuild his sense of humanity and honor. Bi-Han as Noob Saibot just… adapted and moved on with his life and the amount of people he would admit any feeling of regret or injustice done to him I can count on one hand and still have a finger of two free. Meanwhile everyone who cares to learn, knows Hanzo is grieving after his clan and family or is upset or angry and so on. Which is also why I think so many characters (and fans) think Bi-Han as a Noob Saibot is so vile and evil - because in contrast to other Wraiths and/or Revenants, he does not show any sign of trauma, be it leashing out in anger or outrightly speaking how deeply wounded he is, even if he died in no less brutal way than rest of fallen heroes - and isn't it ironic that Kuai Liang was accused about that too? Of not looking traumatized enough because he does not show openly his pain . And accused by Sonya of all possible people?
It’s easier to relate and understand characters wearing emotions on their sleeve because all the reasoning and effects of their actions are either easy to trace and connect or explicitly stated by characters themselves. Hanzo is such a character. He is sad and angry so he acts in a way a sad and angry man would. Bi-Han though? If people except Bi-Han - a characters specifically connected to ice - to spill out his guts how he feels, to cry how unfair his life was and how everyone is mean to him or to vomit the over-sweetened praises for anyone he likes or jump at any occasion to cuddle anyone at arm length to know he feels anything at all, then… Well, that is definitely not the right character for them. Bi-Han just doesn’t work like that and sure, his anger may flare here and there, but as I was pointing out in different metas and analyzes in the past, that man is not overly emotional to begin with, even when talking with people he likes and cares for. I won’t lie, sometimes to understand Sub-Zero’s reasoning one needs to use all imagination and do some mentally gymnastics as the character won’t tell us what is happening inside his head the way Hanzo would. But that can be fun on its own, to examine and analyze and build theories. However, let’s be real here, it is not for everyone and each for their own.
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