fissionmailed | Shelter From the Storm, pt II

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youendthewar

Shelter From the Storm, pt II

[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.))

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[Liquid eyes the sodden Snake, unimpressed.]

Playing in the bathtub again, Brother?

[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.]

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

Liquid.

[nods] Me.

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

...

[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?

[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.]

[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.]

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.]

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

Not months? Years?

[Liquid frowns at him.] Of course not. Did you hit your head on something in there?

...no.

[Pretty sure, anyway. He runs a hand through his wet hair, as if to check, before toweling the worst of the water out of it. Once he's done, he hangs the towel around his neck and finally elaborates.]

I went back somehow. To where I'm supposed to be.

I'd think I would notice if you were in my bed-

Wait. Back?

[it sinks in]

You mean you've been back to the real world.

[He nods, busying himself with taking off his gloves and untying his sodden bandanna.]

...Yeah. That's what I mean.

How did you leave? To hell with that, how did you get back? How long were you gone? What happened? Did you miss me?

[For Snake, the secret for accessing the Nexus seems to be linked to getting dunked in the Hudson. But he can't remember how he left or how he ended up back here. He just...did.]

I don't know.

[...Well, okay, he knows some of those things, though. He backs up a little bit.]

Two years. [Snake looks back at Liquid critically.]

...you really want to know?

[Because it's a long story and he's going to need some dry clothes and maybe a drink if he's going to tell it. And he has a feeling Liquid won't like to hear some aspects of it.]

Yes. All of it, from the beginning.

[He slings his arm over Snake's shoulders.]

Let's go somewhere more congenial to welcome you back.

[Some legitimately justified breaking and entering later, Snake's briefly abandoned Nexus apartment is in need of a new lock before he'll be able to sleep there again, but at least he's no longer soaking wet and smelling of river.]

[And because this is Snake's apartment, there's as much beer in the fridge as actual food. He retrieves several before joining Liquid where he'd left him to make himself comfortable. ...he'd lost a bit of blood today so he's going to lay off the hard stuff. That counts as responsible, right?]

[Of course. Very responsible.]

[Liquid helps himself to a beer, because he's helpful like that.]

You have a flair for dramatic entrances. [says a man who should know.]

[Snake grunts and sits down, taking a drink before answering.]

Didn't do it on purpose.

[That's sort of the opposite of what he usually aims for.]

Edited 2011-02-18 06:49 (UTC)

You can't help catching my eye when you aren't crawling around in ventilation ducts.

[with a certain hunger in his eyes] Nothing here changes. Tell me about the real world.

[Ventilation ducts are surprisingly expedient methods of travel, you know. Private, too.]

[Snake's silent for a while at first. He'd started having second thoughts about wanting to talk about it at all,...but Liquid has that look, not unlike a starved man. And he's not all that sure he could just deny him outright.]

[Snake spins his bottle idly between his hands, studying it. He's not very good at talking in the first place. He's not even exactly sure how to start.]

...You know what I was doing last time I ended up here?

[Too bad. Liquid intends to make him.]

Something about hunting down Metal Gears with Hal, as I recall.

[He will resist! Maybe. Probably. For now he makes an affirmative noise and nods.]

After Shadow Moses, the design specs for REX got out. Pretty soon everyone was working on Metal Gear of their own. I was on a recon mission for information on the Marines' latest project. The tanker they were transporting it on was hijacked by a Russian Private army.

[He looks back at Liquid significantly. After all, he'd implied earlier he'd known about the whole "coming back as an arm" thing.]

And Ocelot.

[Liquid sighs and takes a deep pull from his beer.] Bloody, bloody Ocelot.

At least he serves some purpose by being a vessel through which I steal a few more moments of life.

[...yeah, about that.]

...how the hell did you manage it, anyway?

[Pretty far in this Liquid's future, but he really has to ask.]

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pff /loling forever

It's one Snake he hasn't slept with. Damned if he's gonna stop trying.

Godspeed, bro. :|b

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