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

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

I didn't say I was going to. I only said that the motivation...is not entirely incomprehensible.

[Standing in the full force of Snake's hatred, he would be truly alive.]

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[And then he would be truly dead and nothing would change.]

Don't think that was quite it.

[But he's placated, a little. He may have hated Liquid back then, (probably always will, a little,) that doesn't mean he necessarily wanted him dead. After being alone for so long, having the only members of his blood "family" revealed only to be forced to kill them shortly after,(save maybe Soldius, though not for lack of trying,)...didn't really do a man's psyche much good, so matter how strong he was or how necessary the act.]

Then what are you going to do?

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

[There is that little drawback.]

I'm not following that path, Brother. None of the futures I've seen here are acceptable.

[waving the empty bottle as though he's discussing a walk in the park] Therefore, I'll have to forge a new one.

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[Good to know you're thinking all this through.]

[He ducks Liquid's gesture and leans forward to retrieve a less empty bottle from the table, trying to shrug some of the soreness out of his shoulders. Snake has all his most philosophical discussions after being shot at, stabbed, blown up, burnt, and soaked. Doesn't make him any less exhausted afterward, though.]

...So what's "acceptable?"

[It is, somehow still hard to imagine Liquid with goals that don't involve the Patriots or Metal Gear or killing Snake...or Big Boss. Just because he's not planning on taking over Shadow Moses...]

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

[Silence for a while.]

I don't know.

A world where neither of us dies. Where I can find you for more than that few, paltry hours. Where I can find Hal.

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[The mention of Otacon gets his hackles up and he growls vaguely, on principle. Two more years of working with the man back home as his partner and his best friend. Hal's free to make his own decisions, but he's also the closest thing Snake has to family at all. Damned if he's not going to be protective.]

...neither of us, huh? [He spends a while looking closely at Liquid. Really was different from the one he knew at Shadow Moses.]

[The ramifications of a future like that are hard to imagine. And not just on a personal level. Because if Liquid never takes over Shadow Moses and Snake is never sent in to stop him, then REX isn't destroyed before it's completed. Unless it somehow never gets built at all. After all, Liquid came from the Gulf War, didn't he? Snake hadn't even heard of a Metal Gear back then...]

[As if he could go any quieter or grimmer, he does. He spends far too long lighting a cigarette and staring down at it, as if wrestling with something.]

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

There can't be a shadow without a light. I could not exist in a world without you. The world is far better with you in it, as my eternal rival.

[Snake has an odd look on his face. Even more brooding than usual.]

Brother? What's the matter?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[Snake is leaned over, elbows on his knees. There's a reason why he doesn't let himself think too hard about what could have been. Doesn't matter, in the end. Besides, maybe some things shouldn't change. He's not so arrogant as to think that he knows what's right all the time. He raises the hand holding his cigarette to rub at his eyes before he seems to remember that he's supposed to smoke it, not stare at it.]

Nothing.

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

You are a terrible liar, Brother.

You've stopped smoking your cigarette. It must be something.

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

Hngh.

[Nno. Won't deny that he's a pretty lousy liar but he's trying to stick to his guns on this one. In lieu of a proper answer he flicks the ash off the tip of his cigarette and finally takes a long drag.]

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

Is it so disturbing to think that in some world I could survive?

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[He frowns, as if considering it.]

...sort of.

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

Too bad.

[Liquid grabs a full bottle and takes a swallow just so he can slam it down on the table.]

I don't intend to let either of us die.

[formerfoxhound.livejournal.com]

[Snake raises a brow at the dramatic gesture and goes right on back to smoking.]

No one lives forever, Liquid.

[whyamisobritish.livejournal.com]

I'm asking for a decent lifetime, not an eternity. It's not so greedy.