Shelter From the Storm, pt II

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[There's a sound not unlike a muffled explosion down in one of the lower floors. In the relevant hall, the source of the noise becomes clear when a spray of river water and a soaked Snake come tumbling out one of the doors, knocking it clear off its hinges.]

[He coughs out a bit of water and shakes his head to clear it, standing slowly and warily and looking around at the flooded hall. This...isn't Arsenal Gear. But the more he sees the more he gets the feeling that all this is a little familiar.]

...you've got to be kidding me.

((Lame and finally canon updating to make my life easier 'cause I play him post mgs2 elsewhere anyway and I keep forgetting. :,D Specifically from when he jumps off Arsenal Gear at the end to chase down RAY like an idiot, for symmetry because it amuses me. Don't worry, Nexus, he remembers you. It's just...been a couple years.))

Comments

[finebehind.livejournal.com]

Snake...what happened? Heh, you look like a drowned rat.

[He walks over, water splashing at this feet.]

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[He looks sharply over at Raiden at first, frowning at him for a long moment and wiping water off his face with a resigned sigh.]

...Raiden.

[finebehind.livejournal.com]

[He quirks a brow.]

What were you doing in there?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[He shakes his head and leans back on the wall, getting his bearings again. It's all coming back to him; the Nexus, everything that happened while he was here; but it's a little jarring.]

Not there.

[A pause, then:]

Arsenal Gear. Liquid was getting away with RAY.

[finebehind.livejournal.com]

Oh--so you're new here, huh?

[But something's a little off...Jack tilts his head a bit, eyeing the soldier.]

No...you don't seem new.

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

New? Not really.

[He takes his bandanna off to wring the water out of it, running a hand through his damp hair.]

Looks like this place decided to send me home for a while.

[Six months to the day he first arrived. Lucky him.]

[finebehind.livejournal.com]

Home?! What--what was it like?

[He stepped closer to Snake, flustered.]

Did time stop--did it keep going? What happens when we go back? You said you were at Arsenal Gear, was that were you left off?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[He holds a hand up to silence the barrage of questions.]

Slow down.

I first came here in 2007. Picked up right where I left off, from the look of it. Didn't remember any of this until I showed up here again.

[by-anothername.livejournal.com]

Snake?

[And Rose rushed over when she saw the familiar figure standing in the hall, soaked from head to toe.]

Are you alright? What happened?

[She looked at the door he came from warily. It wasn't the room where Jack and her got stuck on the Titanic, was it?]

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[Room's empty, if a little wet. Wherever he came from, it isn't in there. Snake's a little banged up from his exploits at the Big Shell, bandaged where Vamp had sliced him earlier, nothing life-threatening. But he is looking at her like he hasn't seen her in a long time.]

...Rose?

[Slightly unsure. Sorry if it takes him a moment. He's got a couple sort of conflicting memories to sort through. He clears his throat and shakes the water out of his hair like a dog.]

Hngh. Fine. I'm fine.

[by-anothername.livejournal.com]

[She definitely notices how banged up he is, and the almost distant way that he looks at her.]

Your hurt- What in the world happened in that room, Snake?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

...Nothing.

[Which isn't a lie, really. He passes a hand over his eyes and then looks at her steadily.]

How long has it been? Since we last spoke?

[She doesn't exactly look surprised to see him. Maybe at the state of him, but that's not the same.]

[by-anothername.livejournal.com]

How long?

[Rose quirked an eyebrow. That was a strange question.]

Not that long... a few days at the most. Why?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

Days? [That's all?] ...Hn.

[He starts slogging silently through the ankle-deep water toward higher ground, assuming Rose would follow. Finally, after a while, he answers, without looking back at her.]

Think I went back.

[Hell if he can remember how, but he must have. No way all that was some room-induced dream.]

[by-anothername.livejournal.com]

[And she did. It was a little reminiscent of when they first met, actually.]

Back? You mean... you went back home?

[She was startled by that. She didn't want to think about going back home.]

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[It is, actually. Except he's the only one that's soaked through this time.]

Hmn. [That's a "yes." He doesn't seem all that forthcoming right away as far as details go. He stops to get his bearings and then heads up the stairs in the direction he remembers his apartment being. It was strange being back, after all that time.]

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

[Liquid eyes the sodden Snake, unimpressed.]

Playing in the bathtub again, Brother?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[Snake's reaction this time is, initially, much the same as it was last time this happened. His hands dip immediately for his weapon and he spins, raising it.]

Liquid-!

[It was him. He should be long dead, after everything that happened on Shadow Moses Island. But it was his voice on the tanker. Possessing Ocelot. On the Big Shell, on Arsenal Gear, piloting RAY - except all that was broken up by memories of this Liquid patching him back up, calling him "brother" without mocking anger, reaching out with a knowing touch not meant to cause pain, but to relieve it.]

[It's all very weird.]

[He doesn't move for the span of several long, harsh breaths, his aim unwavering even as confusion from the dissonance flickers behind his eyes.]

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[Finally he makes a frustrated noise and lowers his gun almost forcefully.]

Liquid.

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

[nods] Me.

You look like something the cat dragged in. [he leans to look around Snake] Does that room have a typhoon in?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

...

[One of Liquid's most enduring qualities is his ability to take being greeted at gunpoint in stride.]

...no.

[...actually he hasn't checked. It might. He looks, but it's just a room. Bare and as flooded as the rest of the hall.]

[Snake does look a bit like something the cat dragged in. Or someone who just jumped into a river after a Metal Gear. He holsters his gun and reaches up wearily to wipe water out of his eyes, more dripping from the ragged edges of his bandanna.]

How long was I gone?

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

[To him, that or a punch in the face are just how people say hello.]

Gone? I just saw you a day or two ago. You know how difficult it is to judge time here.

[sighs] Come on. Let's get you a towel.

[thought Snake dripping wet in his skintight suit is not at all a bad sight.]

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[Snake grumbles a bit but follows obediently. He totally does not need your help okay except yeah it might be nice to get dry.]

Days? [That couldn't be right.]

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

Maybe less. Why do you ask?

[Amidst the thousands of rooms of gender-swapping, open forests, and pits in the center of the earth, Liquid finds a linen closet. He tosses Snake a towel.]

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[He catches the towel automatically, doesn't dare question the convenience, too busy trying to fit his mind around the discrepancy.]

Not months? Years?