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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[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.]

[Liquid waves his hand] I'm not certain about the details. Something to do with Ocelot having the blood of a spirit medium, though frankly I'd more credit sheer determination.

What happened then?

...Hm. You did.

[He looks at Liquid for a long while before turning back to his drink.]

Stole RAY and blew the tanker. Then I ended up here. Next thing I know Otacon's dragging me out of the river.

[snorts] I'm glad to hear that even death can't stop me from pestering you.

[Snake growls halfheartedly in response, still readjusting to the differences between this Liquid and the one that was still trying to kill him back home. (From beyond the grave, which, even by Snake's standards, is damn stubborn.) For all the progress Liquid had made while he was here, not even a matter of hours ago they'd been on opposite sides of the battlefield again. It's still a little hard not to hear that voice and think "threat."]

The whole thing was a set up. They pinned the sinking on us. Called it environmental terrorism.

[Hero to criminal in record time.]

[Ridiculous stubbornness is Liquid's stock in trade.]

[He doesn't look very threatening now, with a beer in his hand, reclining with his arm over the top of Snake's couch.]

[Liquid bursts into laugh]

You, an environmental terrorist? Solid Snake, the world's most heavily armed and highly trained member of Greenpeace!

[No, he doesn't, really. Snake groans and leans back wearily on the couch next to him. It's totally not funny okay, shut up.]

Made up some story about polluting the river with oil. Had to play dead to get the public off my back.

[...of course how they managed that is even less funny, in hindsight.]

Even then they had us on the run.

That's the worst cover story I ever heard. The public really will believe anything.

Ah, yes, you dump my corpse in the bay. Creative of you, Brother.

[He blinks, a little surprised, and looks sidelong at Liquid.]

You knew about that?

[He takes a swallow of beer.] I've heard a bit. I don't hold it against you, if that's what you're wondering. It's a clever ruse. Besides, I have so many other things to hold against you.

[Watch as that double-entendre flies right over his head. Of all the things Liquid could, and did, hate him for, being upset over this one would have actually been pretty understandable. He scratches at the back of his head bemusedly.]

...Thought you'd be mad, yeah.

[there'll probably be plenty more where that came from.]

What would be the point? I'll be dead already.

[Snake shrugs uncomfortably and takes another long drink. After all the whining about being "trash" and "leftovers" he just didn't see Liquid taking well to hearing about his body being thrown into the river. Besides, Snake will do what he has to, but he has a particular dislike of using people. Hadn't been able to watch Olga knock Raiden out to get them all aboard Arsenal. Even that small betrayal had unsettled him. It had been easier when Liquid was an enemy, not...whatever they were here.]

I didn't remember. Any of this.

[It wasn't whining. It was expounding on his dramatic rage.]

[Liquid looks at him over the bottle and doesn't entirely manage to be as flippant as he meant to.] You forgot about me?

[Also known as whining.]

[He hesitates. The obvious answer is yes, he forgot. After all, he forgot everything that had happened to him while he was here, hadn't he? As if it had never happened.]

[It was difficult to tell. In the real world, thinking about Liquid stirred up a lot of very specific emotions. Pain, frustration, anger. A sense of responsibility and guilt. But maybe somewhere, even back there, there had been something more like regret. A strange sense of loneliness. Like maybe he had missed him or something.]

...I don't know.

Edited 2011-02-20 05:32 (UTC)

You don't know?

[He stares down at the bottle] So it is true. We forget everything we learned here when we return. We're made ignorant and sent to play out the same pointless fate.

[Snake's going to be difficult and avoid elaborating on that. It doesn't even make sense to him.]

You don't know that.

[His tone is suddenly fierce. Even angry.]

I don't believe in fate.

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