The food experiments

XIII

Otacon informed of his progress to Alina through the private chat available in the forum. She wasn't online at that moment, but he didn't think he'd be out in a few days - he wanted to continue with his project. If he had to leave, he'd go to the nearest town... Which wasn't hers.

He needed a few things from outside his room, so he prepared himself to deal with the presence of Snake. He thought he'd try to talk to him about what just happened, to further understand what he meant, but... But he really didn't know how to do such thing, and hoped Snake had gone to his room or left the house to do something else.
Otacon slowly opened the door, peeking to confirm whether he was there or not before going out. Miku went forward and turned around to him to let him know it was all clear, after which he widely opened the door.

Many of the items —if not all— had been organized by David, meaning he wasn't completely sure where to find them, but he made an effort to follow Snake's thinking pattern. It took him a few sneaky tries, but managed to get all of the necessary materials without being caught. He went back to his room, still with Miku's company, and started working on the candles.

______

Snake could hear him move around and complain to himself - it's not that he was trying to spy on him, but given the fact Otacon thought he was alone, he was being a bit louder than usual.
He was laying on his bed, smoking, staring at the progressively less and less white landscape outside his window. He kept thinking about the conversation they had earlier. "Too good?", he asked himself over and over again. It's true that he kept saying unintentionally flirty —would that be the proper way to describe it?— things to him. He did that several times before: Holly, Gustava, Mei Ling, even Meryl. There were probably more than he could remember. He'd say those things to keep the focus of the conversation exactly where he wanted it to be. Yeah, he'd get along with it if they said something back, but if it got too real he'd find a way to escape the situation.
Was he still doing the same thing now?  Otacon's not playing along, he doesn't seem to know how to. Or at least he's not very goot at it. Even then, there had been times he had received acts of love from him. He even said he loved him. It was becoming more than real, but he wasn't escaping from Otacon. Maybe that was the issue.
It's different.
It's different because Otacon knows him. Sure, they still call each other with their codenames, but - they're David and Hal.

"But that's not an issue", he told himself. Of course it wasn't. He had already told him it'd be fine by him to spend the rest of his life with him. There's no going back from that. Was he digressing? What was the original point of this thread of thoughts?

Too good. How could those things be too good? They were real. More than he'd've liked them to be, probably, but they were. It was scary to him —to both of them, actually—, knowing he was opening up to someone. It meant the expectations Otacon had about him would break sooner or later. And then he'd be gone, too.

Would he, though? Did Hal really have such expectations about him? Hal had helped him since their first time together. Hal had seen him at weak times of his. And yet, he was living with him, smiling, playing with his dogs, learning to cook for him... He was contradicting himself by thinking Hal knew him, David, but would dump him anyway. He knew he was. Hal was a mess at times, always genuine. But then, why did -

He heard a knock on his door.

He got up, left his cigarette on the asher and opened it. A pair of fragile-looking eyes behind round glasses met his own.

—Would you mind lifting the box for me...? —he politely asked, as shy as if they had just met for the first time—. I'm getting tired from all the kneeling. I managed to clear up a bit of space for it.

Snake stared at him. He nodded and went to his room, somewhat distracted.

—Do you think I'm too good for you? —he suddenly asked as he was walking towards the desk.

Otacon freezed. He did think that at times. He knew it wouldn't be the best answer to receive. He tried to find something else to say.

—Because I do —Snake continued—. That you're too good for me.

David left the box where he was asked to, not turning around. They both remained silent.
Miku was laying on the bed, but didn't understand what was going on. She didn't know what to do or who to kick out. She waited for something to happen.
Hal hesitantly walked forward and tightly hugged him from behind.

—You're perfect the way you are —he replied, with a weak but loving voice—. Except maybe how much cigarettes you smoke. They aren't any good for you, y'know?

Snake frowned his eyebrows, taken aback by his words. He tilted his head enough to see the greyish hair behind his shoulder, and not long after that he felt a kiss on his neck. Otacon pressed his head against his back.
He didn't know how to respond and he didn't want to move either. He stayed still and quiet.

—Thanks for staying with me, Snake.