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Current Location: 7th Floor

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[Otacon did frequent the bars of the Nexus just to drink casually. He had taken a liking to some of the odd beers the Nexus was supplied with. This particular bar, however, wanted its visitors to drink a little more heavy. Emmerich looked up and noticed - ]

Shots Drank : 0/3

[ - above his head. The doctor looked at all the gin, vodka, rum, sake, and all other types of hard liquers that were available. He figured this effect room was the same as the other ones he had been in. He had to fill his counter to leave because the room would be inescapable otherwise. The man grabbed a spiced rum bottle and began to pour himself his first shot in a glass.]

Here goes nothing.

((OOC: There's only one little twist - People with nanomachines, cyborgs, machines, and others can get drunk in this room even if normally they couldn't. Drink 3 or more to leave.))

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I-I m-might then, s-sometime.

[He follows Snake and sits at the table, noticing how easy it was to see the rest of the bar.]

Y-You h-have a good v-view from here.

[Hal smiles, really smiles, the drink making him feel warm. Things were gonna be okay, after all.]

[From this vantage point you could see the bar and everyone who came into the room. All the better to stalk you with, not that he's going to admit it.]

I don't like surprises.

[Except he's a little surprised to see Otacon so calm, considering how he'd reacted to him the last time they'd spoken. And that surprise he does like. It's hard not to smile back, a little. Weird alternate universe or not, he'd missed his friend. He gestures at him with his drink.]

You look like you're doing better.

[Hal sips his drink slowly. The nexus through so much at him so quickly that he had to start taking everything as it came or else go mad. When he's more settled he will think back and be shocked at how nonplussed he had been.]

I-I am, I think...D-Doing better, that is.

[He smiles softly down at the glass.]

I-I've been w-working on m-making a wheelchair, w-would you b-believe? There's a p-puppy here who's back l-legs won't w-work, so I'm helping h-him out.

[He laughs a little. Lightweight? Yes.]

He-Helping him s-stand on his own f-four legs...Guess h-he's helping m-me too.

[Don't worry, Snake can hold his liquor pretty well, and he intends on keeping an eye on you.]

Hm. Good for you.

[That's Snake-speak for "I'm proud of you, buddy."]

Should have known you'd find something to keep you busy.

[Hal grins proudly at Snake as he finishes his drink.]

I-It feels g-good, y'know? H-Helping people again.

Wh-What about you, S-Snake? Keeping b-busy?

[He hasn't exactly been busy, unless you count getting drunk with POWquid, but he doesn't really want to talk about it. Snake is almost as good at dodging questions as he is bullets. Which means that every now and then he fails spectacularly. He waves a hand dismissively.]

Something like that.

[Hal stares for a moment at his counter, which had changed with a small "Ding!"]

That is so strange...

[Shaking his head, he returns his attention to Snake. Somehow he gets the feeling that the man's avoiding the question.]

You should find something you like to do too, Snake! Like...[Huh, Hal couldn't think of anything. Snake hadn't exactly talked about himself much before...]

What do you like to do?

[He hums, finishing his own drink and setting the glass back on the table.]

I've been looking for a way out, but no luck so far. Not much else for a guy like me to do around here.

[Hal gestures a little broadly.]

But what do you like to do? Not a guy like you, just you.

[It's suddenly very important for Hal to know. He'd been part of the reason this man was dead in his own world; it was only fair that he knew who he was.]

[He stands, patting Hal on the shoulder as he passes, and walks back to the bar, coming back with new drinks for the both of them.]

I've been a soldier my whole life. Don't know how to do much else.

[Any time he'd tried, it hadn't ended all that well. At least with Philanthropy it was on his own terms.]

[He's rather proud of himself for not flinching away from the casual touch.]

W-Well, th-this could be a ch-chance to l-learn, r-right? W-With everything on p-pause like it is...

Time doesn't stop, Otacon. Not even here. I've still got a job to do.

[Despite it all, it's easy enough to fall back into familiar habits and forget that this Otacon doesn't really know much about him at all. He sighs, tapping his fingers restlessly on the table before throwing him a metaphorical bone.]

I raised wolf-dogs in Alaska for a couple years. Even sled raced 'em.

B-But it is back i-in our w-worlds, isn't it? Th-That's what everyone s-says.

[The admission brings another smile to Hal's face.]

R-Really? Th-That's pretty cool! I-I've heard th-that there's a-an Alaska r-room somewhere. M-Maybe you c-could take i-it up again...

[Hal would want a ride. On the sled, I mean.]

Maybe it is, maybe it isn't. Doesn't mean it's stopped for good. Still moving along for you and me, right?

[Honestly, Snake just doesn't function all that well without a mission. He does miss his dogs, though. He might be considering it.]

Don't suppose this place was good enough to bring 'em here, huh?

[There are very few people Snake would take for a ride on his sled. Hal would be one of them.]

W-Well, i-it's hard to know f-for sure. I-It could be that time is p-passing here at a different rate, making th-the world s-seem to go faster or s-slower. In f-fact, each p-person might have a little o-of their own timestream around th-them, which m-might explain the same v-versions from d-different points in t-time...

[Hal blinks and takes a drink.]

I-It brought a crippled p-puppy here; I d-don't see wh-why it wouldn't have.

[Well, he understood most of that.]

Timestream?

[As for the dogs, probably because Snake isn't used to good things happening all that often.]

Hn. I'll keep my eyes open.

[You've given him alcohol and asked him (sort of) to explain the theoretical differences in time propulsion the nexus denizens might be subjected to. Run for it, Snake.]

It's p-possible that each w-world has its own timestream and wh-what's happening is that each p-person taken f-from each w-world stays w-within that timestream...We all j-just have a p-pocket of our world's t-time wrapped around us. Th-That way, if I'm r-right and if the n-nexus itself d-doesn't h-have a timestream, we, all of us who w-were brought here, a-are what m-makes time h-happen.

[Never! Snake is a man of considerable fortitude and will.]

[And he's sort of used to hearing long strings of technobabble by now. Hal still gets a blank stare in response, though.]

...Uh huh.

[He grins, happy that Snake seems to understand.]

See? It makes sense! We all h-have these little...b-boxes of time, and th-that's what makes t-time in the nexus w-work.

[And he's done with the second glass.]

[Er. Sure he does. He rubs the bridge of his nose absently.]

As long as it works.

[Hey, a pause in the technobabble. Now seems like a good time for an abrupt subject change.]

Found somewhere to stay, yet?

[Cause he has the feeling he'll be dragging your tipsy nerdy ass back there after this last drink.]

Y-Yeah...O-One of the y-younger Liquids h-had an extra r-room, s-so I'm staying w-with him...

[Would you rather see him stumble through the nexus alone?]

[Of course not. But they can't go back to Snake's place cause he doesn't exactly have one.]

[His hands on his glass twitch visibly at the name and he looks up sharply at Otacon as he works out just which Liquid that would be.]

...That one, huh?

Y-Yeah, he's the one...He y-yelled at m-my Com...The L-Liquid from my w-world. Th-Then that o-one t-told me...How h-he'd used me...H-How he didn't r-really care...

[Hal wipes his eyes before starting on his third shot.]

H-He took me in, a-after that...I-It's so weird, waking up and the d-door being unlocked...

Good. You're better off without him.

[He huffed, tapping his fingers on the table and downing his last shot in one. Could have been worse. But Snake knows how betrayal can feel.]

I won't tell you to forget him. He used you. Don't let it happen again. Move on and live. Stop worrying about the fact that he doesn't care and start focusing on the people who do.

[Could have been much worse, but he still doesn't like it. Even if he sort of got along with that Liquid the other day (though he was still a pain in the ass) he doesn't exactly trust him. Not yet. And he isn't jealous at all...]

[Hal follows suit, gripping his glass tightly.]

I know, I know...I don't want to care about him. 's just, 's just hard...He was all I had for so long...Made sure Ocelot wasn't gonna torture me...Suddenly having things change like this, it's confusing...

[He grimaces and rubs his temple.]

I think...I think I can go now, right? That was three, I think...

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