The food experiments

XII

"What in the world am I supposed to do with that much beeswax?", he wondered. It would take him forever to finish it all and his hands would no longer be able to create anything that wasn't a cigarette-shaped candle. Miku barked at him to get him out of his mind —something she did rather often— and followed her owner to Otacon's room.

Snake intended to leave the box on his desk, but it was completely covered in mountains of incomprehensible documents, DVDs, CDs, videogames, books, pendrives, figurines and several other items he couldn't recognize. He opted for the next best choice: the ground just next to it. Otacon would have to kneel, but... That was probably a good exercise for him to do, anyway.
He turned around and noticed Miku laying on his bed, a bit messy but organized enough. There were several cables here and there, a chewed toy and more documents he couldn't read.

—Need my help to clean this up? —he asked, not sure whether that sounded the way he intended.

—It's... fine, thank you —he answered, somewhat embarrassed about Snake seeing his personal mess—. I'll take it from here.

—I... —Snake frowned his eyebrows and doubted for a second— didn't mean it in a derogatory way. I just wanted to help you out.

—Snake, it's fine. I know —he smiled at him, making sure he knew he meant it—. I could've avoided this, though. Like... You didn't have to see it...

—But I did. And I'm OK with it. With you. And your mess.

—Snake...! —he shouted his name in a high pitch, closing his eyes with tension and more ashamed than before—. Out of my room! Miku, kick him out!

Miku hadn't been trained with such a cue. She had no clue what he asked of her, but analyzed the situation: her best friend had the same posture of a shrimp —she loved those—, he wasn't looking at her owner, and she knew that wasn't the way he'd normally talk to him. On the other side, her owner seemed to be like usual - the usual way he was since her best friend joined them, that is. He looked rather confused. Maybe he didn't say the right thing. Maybe Otacon... Was mad at him? Was that why he changed his voice? She had heard it before, but it would usually come from him being hurt either by himself or any of the dogs' chaotic games.

—Did I mess up...? —David asked, not really willing to leave.

—Miku...! —he wanted to say "no", but his head was too busy trying to, once again, calm down from his effortlessly romantic words.

Miku got up abruptly and threw herself at her owner as if she was a missile. Clearly, he had done something wrong and her best friend didn't want him there. Snake had a fast response and caught her in the air, but she moved enough to release herself and bit his pants. She didn't intend to harm him, so she was extremely careful of her bite. She tried to drag him outside, but didn't seem to have enough strength to do so. She heard him click his tongue and looked up at him.

—Fine. I'll go.

Snake grunted a bit, after which he started walking. He only did a few steps before Otacon held a corner of his sleeve. He stopped. Miku kept uselessly pushing him.

—You didn't say anything wrong —Otacon whispered, his voice trembling—. It's more like you say things that are too good for me to handle.

—Too good...?

—Too good! —he repeated, with a sudden vigorosity inside his body—. Now out of my room! —he added, pushing him outside with the husky's help.

Otacon closed the door with more strength that he had wanted to. He hoped Snake wouldn't think wrongly of him because of that - he simply didn't have enough courage to keep the conversation going.
He heard a scratchy sound: he had left Miku outside. He opened it again, just enough for her to join him in a sprint. He closed it with more gentleness this time, let himself fall with his back touching the wall, and let go a long exhalation.

Now all he had to worry about was the beeswax. It was too much. Snake mentioned soap, maybe he could learn to do that too... But first things first: the candles. Most of the items he needed, had already gotten from that first, overly long shopping list. It hadn't been intentional at all, but it had ended up to be quite convenient for his current plans. He crawled to the box and opened it needlessly careful. Miku walked right next to him and smelled the long wax plaques with curiosity. She wanted to bite it, find out what it tasted like, but she had received orders not to mess with it, so she wasn't going to.

—Miku, you're gonna help me tonight, won't you? —he asked her in a whisper—. I'll need your help to stay awake, completely focused on this project of mine... And hide it where your dad won't find them...

Miku wagged her tail with joy and moved her paw in front of herself, trying to tell him she'd do anything for him.