The food experiments

IV

David spent the morning in silence, organizing not only his bedroom but also the living room. He had all of his dogs playing outside - they loved biting the small snowflakes as they were falling from the sky. It felt a bit odd to have so much silence now.
He looked at the pile of items that, technically, was no longer a pile - he had tried to find them a place around the house even though he still couldn't understand their purpose.

He was getting ready to go out when he saw Otacon's skinny figure appear nearby. It was almost lunch time.

—Ditching your new healthy routine, huh? —he jokingly asked.

—I guess...

Hal seemed to have had his energy completely drained out of his body, he looked gloomy and was somewhat avoiding Snake. They both stayed in silence for a bit.

—We gonna talk about it...? —David wondered, even though he could see it wasn't going to happen.

—Yeah, uh... I... Just... Not now... —he replied while lazily preparing himself something to snack.

Snake observed him and thought it was the best choice to leave as he had planned. He assumed Hal would soon drink some coffee, get himself comfortable to watch his Japanese shows while eating instant noodles, and then he'd feel like his usual self. He put a scarf around his neck and left the house.
He took a long walk around the woods - he usually did that with his dogs, but Otacon needed them more right now. He went trough one of the trails he wasn't accustomed to, in which he saw some wild animals not too far away from him. He could've hunted them if he had wanted to, but he had no need.
He followed the path that led him to a nearby village. It didn't have too many houses, but there were some kids playing outside. He walked until he reached a small pub he had heard about a while ago. He preferred them over restaurants, they were too... Formal, in a way.

He ordered the chef's specialty and started to eat as soon as it got served.

____

Hal followed point by point what Snake thought he would do. He felt rather embarrassed about yesterday - he kissed him, then his body felt stone-like, then he robotically got up and threw himself on his bed, then stayed still until falling asleep, and didn't get out of his room until not too long ago. What would Snake think of him...? He thought he had become so much braver after Shadow Moses, but he was behaving like this with the man he probably trusted the most.

He missed him. He wanted to clear things up. But... What was there to clear up, really? A kiss seemed to be a rather direct, crystal-clear message.
He fooled around with the dogs, kept teaching them silly tricks. He then realized he had abandoned Snake AND his brand-new frog postcards with his also brand-new frame, which were waiting for him on the wooden table. He picked them up and patiently organized them until he liked the composition.

Hal's favourite huky started barking and whining and tap tapping him until he could no longer focus.

—What's wrong?

The dog sprinted from the couch to the kitchen, jumped over the furniture, hit the cabinet that Snake had assigned to Otacon, barked again, jumped down and sprinted back at him. Of course, she stopped by punching his stomach. She barked one more time.

—You definitely are his dog, aren't you... —he whispered, trying to hold back the pain.

Hal didn't need too much time to conclude what she was asking him to do - he hadn't yet started today's schedule...
He checked his forum threads to make sure he hadn't miss any new, highly valuable information. This time, it was Lady_Stardust who had left a family recipe for him to try - she let him know it wasn't too hard to prepare and her husband has loved it since their first days together.