//itsu no ma ni ka bokura nanigenaku deatta

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

Who: Hal Emmerich, Liquid Snake
Where: Azalea Town
When: Midday, October 10th
Summary: Hello, I am a crack pairing between two socially awkward people.
Rating: idfk, T or something
Log:
What had he been thinking? What had possessed him to offer to find a restaurant with Liquid? Sure, his cooking was a nightmare (and Otacon planned to bring back something nice for Heather to make up for it), but this was Liquid.

...as he got ready to leave, he idly wondered if Snake was alright wherever he was. Otacon was worried sick, though he hid it the best he could. His first and closest friend was in pain, possibly even dying and there wasn't a damn thing Otacon could do. To say it upset him was an understatement.

But this wasn't the time for that. He'd promised some food that was actually edible, and that's what he'd get them. If there was nothing he could do to help Snake...then he'd just wait and worry in silence.

"Ready, Liquid?" he asked with a smile, recalling the angrily hissing Kotai and slipping her Pokeball into the sleeve of his kimono--what her problem was with him, Otacon wasn't entirely sure.

Comments

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

The whole episode, on the whole, hadn't bothered him overmuch. It was obvious that FOXDIE wasn't enough to take him out, so what did he have to worry about? It had been annoying, but that was all.

"I yelled at him, he yelled at me, we fought a bit, and then I had a heart attack."

He said it casually, as though there was nothing unusual about this conversation.

"The rest you already know."

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

Liquid nearly dropped his oni-thing at that outburst.

"Jesus, Hal, what?"

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"You had a heart attack?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"I got better."

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"I noticed, but--w-we should get you to a hospital and get you checked out or something!"

Wait a second.

"...you're not dead. You mean FOXDIE didn't-?"

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"I feel fine, there's no need."

Liquid wasn't very fond of hospitals, anyway.

"Obviously FOXDIE isn't enough to kill me."

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"But--"

...but it is. What's going on here?!

"..I was there, five years ago. I saw it work myself."

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"Then it obviously isn't working properly. All it did was give me a few chest pains, assuming that those were even caused by your little virus at all."

INDESTRUCTIBLE LIQUID IS INDESTRUCTIBLE

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

This is what Otacon looks like when he has a headache, Liquid. Either that or he's incredibly confused--or both.

"Snake made it sound like it was going haywire, but this doesn't make sense..."

Oh, screw it. He'll just be ordering a particularly large bottle of sake to forget he ever heard that.

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"He said that he thought it was going to start killing everyone around him, though I'm not sure what made him think that."

Why hello there, alcohol. Liquid has been waiting a long time to see you.

"...Is that booze?"

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"I don't know. I haven't been through a lot of the things he has yet." A fact that seemed to upset him, with good reasons.

"Huh--oh, yeah. Lot better than the stuff you and Heather charged into the Center after drinking, too."

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"...hn."

Not for the first time, Liquid was wondering why Otacon had even started traveling with him at all. He obviously wanted to go with Snake, but... for some reason, he hung around with Liquid even when Liquid had insisted that he stop.

"And here I thought the whole world was teetotaling."

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"Guess not," he remarked absently, pouring both of them a glass. "I have to wonder where they get the fish for sushi, though."

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"I choose to believe that somewhere there are normal, non-Pokemon fish."

He'll just happily live in that delusion, thank you. Because otherwise they had to start questioning where all of the meat came from.

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

Otacon simply made a vague sound of acknowledgment in response, staring out the nearest window. The engineer really couldn't help but wonder what Snake might have been doing right about then.

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

Liquid was glad for the alcohol-- he needed it.

"If you're so worried about him, go with him."

He cared for Snake far more than he cared for Liquid, after all; not that it was surprising, considering that he had known his brother far longer than he'd known him.

And, of course, Snake was superior. It was only a matter of time before Otacon got over the novelty of traveling with Liquid and went back with the person he'd prefer to spend time with.

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"..."

When the answer finally came, it was spoken in a quiet voice--Otacon still staring out the window.

"I don't want to leave."

Otacon took a drink, noting in the back of his mind that maybe he needed it.

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"..."

Something weird had been going on between him and Otacon, and... well, Liquid wasn't sure what the hell it was, but he felt like this had something to do with it.

"...why not?"

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"I don't know." Really, he didn't--there was no clearer answer.

"I just...we're friends. And I kind of like being around you." Still Otacon stared out the window, stubbornly avoiding eye contact.

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

Otacon was a confusing man.

"..."

He didn't want the engineer to leave, either. He shouldn't have minded so much-- he didn't when Heather left to do whatever it was she did when she wasn't traveling with them. It was just having Hal leave that he didn't like.

Maybe a little more alcohol would make things clearer.

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

Maybe it would. At this point, it seemed like as good an idea as any.

"..."

Boy, was this awkward.

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

"..."

Down the hatch.

He gestured vaguely towards the reserved rice balls.

"...we should probably get those back to Heather soon."

[philanthrotaku.livejournal.com]

"Huh? Oh...right. Yeah."

Otacon sighed, taking another bite of sushi and draining his glass.

[boldandresolute.livejournal.com]

Liquid will just wash down one of those rice balls with more sake. At least this stuff was better than the rotgut he'd made before; it was amazing the difference decent equipment made in the quality of alcohol.