Otasune Long story

A/N: I LOVE Japan... (Don't we all?) and I respect it's community greatly. ^^ just so you know.

Snake sat there having a drink, which was brightening up his day when mixed with the vodka, the lemon and the tonic water he’d been drinking until now. No rum, he wanted to /walk/ back to the place. Still when the nice lady who’d sat next to him offered it; it felt different. But she had to agree to walk him back; for his own safety of course.

Hal woke up after a while. He sat up and rubbed his eyes before putting his glasses back on. "Snake..?" he called looking around. he saw his laptop and smiled a little getting up.

“I’m walking inside, it’s pretty late.” He said, even when she’d wrap her arm around his waist, convinced he was friendly enough for her to do that. “Do you live nearby?”

Hal walked outside and looked around. He saw Snake and an unknown woman and hid behind some decorative plants

The woman in question, in a friendly gesture, ran her fingers over Snake’s shirt for a while, feeling the fabric until he winced when she touched the wound he had. He’d need to get to healing that. He knew it was not fair to lead her on like this but something was something and this point where he didn’t want to let Hal commit some sad mistake in thinking Snake was something he could ever want could get pretty lonely to him. Maybe that’s why he didn’t move her hand from his face.

Hal watched them and stayed quiet. He sighed and went back inside. 'maybe he's right..' he thought to himself as he laid back on the bed. He took his glasses off and closed his pain filled eyes.

Eventually Snake went inside, lips swollen, yes, angry lady, yes, but he went inside. He was not going to subject Hal to watching him do this girl in here. Opposed to that he grabbed a cover and placed it on the carpet.

Hal opened his eyes and looked at him. "...you can have the bed if you want..." he said somewhat bitterly as he got up, grabbing his glasses.

“You got drugged, stay where you are.” He said, not really aware of what was bothering him.

Hal shook his head and headed for the door.

“Where are you going? You need the rest” he said, getting up and grabbing Hal’s wrist in case he insisted on leaving.

"I got plenty." Otacon snapped yanking his arm away. He opened the door and slammed it shut

He stared at the door for a moment; glad Hal had the strength to break his grip but worried about him getting into trouble, so he went right after him. “You need to calm down, just tell me what happened”

"You know what happened." Hal said as he stormed down the hall. "You obviously don't need me slowing you down so I'm leaving!"

“No, I don’t know. You don’t slow me down, could you be STILL for a moment!?” he asked gripping the man and pinning him against a wall for him to stop running.

Hal growled and struggled against his grip.

“Why do you do this to me? It was far much easier when I thought I couldn’t have you.”

"Couldn't /have/ me?!" Hal yelled. "You always had me!" he added as tears started to fall down his cheeks. "Admit it! You never meant anything you did back when this thing started!" He struggled more and looked away from him. "You were leading me on!"

“I wasn’t leading you on! Do you think I’d waste my time like that?” Oh shit, that came out wrong. “I mean, attractive as you are…” worse, he shut the hell up.

"Why should I believe you after what I just saw?!" Otacon yelled referring to the woman he saw him with

“I can’t ask you to believe I’m a good person or anything that you deserve to subject yourself to… But I’m not lying when I say I need you.” He said, feeling incredibly guilty for speaking like this.

Hal looked at him, hurt evident in his eyes. "You feel none of the same feelings I have for you...."

“Will you believe me if I tried to convince you that I did?” he asked rhetorically. “Just don’t run off where you could get hurt so that you don’t end with what I have of life.”

"Then why torture me!" Hal cried.

“I worry about you.” He said, trying not to look too pathetic.

"Then tell me!" Hal said

“I just did” he muttered, feeling like Hal was rubbing what he could not be to his face.

Hal yanked his arms free and clenched his fists at his side. "Still! You could have told me that earlier!"

“I could have.” He repeated, not being able to say much to that, but looked from Hal to the possible exits. He could neutralize him from here if he tried to escape with his recent condition.

"You're damn right you could have!" Hal said, his voice quivering

Snake looked at him a little alarmed. If he’d caught something or if he was upset, with the severe assault his nanoes had it could not be for the best.

Hal looked away and slid to the floor crying silently as he hugged his knees to his chest and hid his face

Snake’s reaction was to blame himself and crouch to the floor to help Otacon. He placed a hand on his shoulder and another on his face. “Let’s get you inside so you can wash your face and calm a little.”

Hal looked at him and wiped his eyes, nodding slowly.

Snake pulled Hal inside and took him to the bathroom’s direction. He sat there on the bed for a moment. “I got you your laptop in case you need it. I have a box.” He seemed immensely satisfied that he had possession of his cardboard companion.

Hal nodded and turned on the sink. he took off his white coat and set it aside before cupping his hands under the cool water.

Dave watched him wash his face like this for a moment before letting his position be known. “Better?” he asked.

Hal dried his face. "I'd feel better knowing if you really love me like I do you… and if you'd show me your feelings…"

“Wow… you can ask… You know how I feel, I won’t repeat myself, and it’s painful to go there.” He said, trying not to completely kick the ‘show me’ part.

"Now you know how I feel every day..." Hal said sitting at the foot of the bed

“Every day!?” he asked, nah, Hal had to be exaggerating. However Dave still sat there with him.

Hal nodded. "Every day..." he said again

“Why don’t you tell me you hurt?” he asked, as since not really recently Hal’s status had been his personal responsibility.

"Because...I didn't want you to think less of me...”

Snake got that, he at least understood /something/ or pretended to. So he just sat there for a moment. “I think you could use the rest. I’m not going anywhere, just try to relax before we move again. We need to contact Mei Ling too.”

Hal nodded. "Her frequency should be in your logs." he said lying down with his back to Snake

Snake made an approving hum and went to dial her up. He was just glad Hal was here lying down and possibly safer then wherever he could have walked to on his own.

Hal sighed and closed his eyes

Eventually Mei Ling had helped in advising how to clean up behind them and disappear once more for now. He was going to take it as he wanted Hal as away from danger as possible for the moment, maybe until the shock of almost losing him passed. Eventually the sun came out again and Dave found himself staring at the man sleeping close to him in a pool of weak light.

Hal had fallen asleep as Snake talked to Mei Ling.

He didn’t say anything and had gotten up to go again but remembered that maybe that wasn’t really good for building trust with the man so he decided to just come closer to him and possibly touch his face.

Hal rolled over in his sleep and breathed slowly.

‘Why do I insist on doing this?’ he thought, leaning down to kiss his partner. He really would try to make his damn mind about the man who made his dreaded mecha’s REX predecessor.

Hal made a soft noise in his sleep.

Snake kissed him quickly before getting up and shaking him a little as if he had done no such thing. Christ the confinement was getting to him, he needed wide open spaces for this to stop. “Hal, come on, we need to see if you feel better so we can make use of the data.”

Hal opened his eyes slowly. "Why now..?"

“Because we can’t risk anyone finding where we’ve moved to.” He said, retrieving the data. That and he’d rather make time for Hal to take it easy during the next mission.

Hal sat up and took the USB out of his pocket. "Hand me the laptop.."

Dave did as he was told and handed Hal his laptop, observing him as he sat to watch. Curiosity would kill him otherwise.

Hal inserted the jumpdrive and started working.

Dave looked at the words over his shoulder and then looked away when the constant light started to bother him.

Hal saved everything to his laptop and sent it to Mei Ling.

Dave felt a little curious for a moment and wanted to poke around with the machine. So he asked for it. “I just want to take a look.”

"Don't break it like you did my last one." Hal said before lying down again.

Snake nodded and poked around with it. He looked into the files and read a few things, then started to look at the pictures. He recognized a few from the tanker and had a laugh then saw the less ‘worksafe’ ones… and also had a laugh.

Hal quickly sat up and snatched it away. "You've lost it." he said closing it and setting it aside before lying back down.

“Aw, why?” he asked, trying to get Hal to just sit back and relax about this.

"I didn't tell you, you could look at any pictures." Hal said

“That’s not fair.” He sulked.

"Just because you didn't see your naked women doesn't mean it's my fault." Hal said.

“What is that supposed to mean?” he asked, a little more insistent then he would have liked that to come out.

Hal shook his head."Nothing."

“Then why not show me the pictures, things get lonely out here, you know… ignored and…” he grumbled on unhappy with the way Hal deprived him of the machine.

Hal laid back and sighed

“Alright, iceberg, get up, we’re flying through your favorite airline” he said with an evil revenge-filled smile.

"Please no..." Hal groaned.

“Well you should have seen it coming. I’m not familiar with anyone else that will fly us for free.” He said, trying not to sound cheerful.

"Make sure you knock me out before we take off." Hal replied laying back down

“Are you… sure?” he asked, taking the request seriously before making the call.

Hal nodded. "I don't care how just do it."

“Come on, she can’t be /that/ bad.” He said, knowing it was just the contrary. He kept on the conversation with her, as always, lots of “no’s” and growling and finally a “Love you too” before he hung up and finished the sentence “… crazy bitch.” Then turned to Hal again. “She’s doing the favor, but wants me to sit on her lap”

Hal crossed his arms and stared at him. "You're not making friends and influencing the /right/ people." he said getting up and going to the sink for some water.

“What? What did I do /now/… Christ… You remind me of my mother… I had no mother but she would have been something like this; I’ve heard.” He corrected his lie.

Hal cupped his hands and took a drink. "Don't refer to me as a woman." he said drying his hands

“Yeah got it… then I gotta clean my room and wash my teeth and cut my hair…” he said unable to resist.

Hal stormed over and slapped him across the face. "Knock it off!"

Dave tried breathing for a moment and closed his eyes even, but it really didn’t work. So he grabbed the hand Hal used to slap him and twisted it a little; not enough to break anything but enough to hurt and to pull it into an unbreakable grip. “Don’t touch me”

Hal winced and looked at him. "Let me go!"

“You’re not going to keep hitting me like that?” he asked before smiling at him then retracting the arm to a comfortable position and kissed Hal’s knuckles before letting go.

Hal looked at him, blushing unknowingly. He rubbed his wrist.

“It’s not fair, I don’t want to hit you back – I can’t. Come on, we need to catch up with the nice lady.” He said, smirking at the words ‘nice lady’ and making a mental note at how cute Otacon could look when blushing.

Hal nodded and got his coat. He packed up his laptop and everything

Snake was thinking about something on their way there; which involved pure public transportation. “Are you sure you want me to tranquilize you?” he asked, a little too eager to.

Hal nodded. "I said I did didn't I?" he replied

“Alright” he said a little doubtful but still waved at the plane when he saw it. He grabbed Hal’s things from the techie and started to load them up.

Hal helped him get the things in the plane

Once he knew Hal had nothing else on him he walked up to the man and placed an arm around his waist for support and shot him with the M9 with a tranquilizer dart. “Hello?” he called at the nice lady.

Hal's eyes widened for a second before he fell limp.

Snake picked the man up and carried him to pull him to his lap for the entire ride. The pilot was not too happy to say the least. Especially since Snake was fond of taking advantage of his chances in life and he ended up running his hands on Hal a little too much when he was asleep.

Hal slept the entire ride in Snake's lap once in a while clinging onto his shirt

It was not easy with the pilot’s constant chatter about how he could use a partner and proper support but he was glad he spared Hal of that. He then got off in their new location and got on a train. Oh Hal was going to like this. So he put him down on a seat on the train, put the things on the floor next to him and started to shake him awake.

Hal groaned a little and opened his eyes slowly. "..Wh..Where are we?" he asked groggily

“Well you better thank our friend she made a lot of clearances… We’re in Japan!” he said cheerfully knowing this place meant a lot for Hal.

"Japan..?" Hal asked sitting up a little, rubbing his eyes.

“Yeah, but we’re just looking for someone, don’t worry.” He said.

"Looking for someone..?" Hal asked looking at him. "Who?"

“Precisely an engineer.” He said, hoping Hal might have an idea of where an engineer would want to be in here.

"Is there a name that goes with that?" Hal asked stretching

“No, an address, but that works too.” He said as apparently this person was really reserved with the name.

"That should work." Hal replied

“Yeah, but first we have to get there… And it’s the name and floor of an apartment.” He said, grabbing the things when he noticed the names of the stops where in kanji. “can you read any of that?”

Hal looked at it. "Yeah.." he said and read the address to him

“That’s going to be very useful.” He said, grabbing the stuff to get off in the proper stop.

"You're lucky I know it." Hal said

“There you go again, I try to be friendly and you give cold a new name, come on, it has to be around here.” He said, pointing at the buildings in the stop.

Hal rolled his eyes. "I wasn't being mean." he said snatching the paper and looking at the buildings

“Fine, can you find it?” he asked a little more frustrated then was healthy at this point.

"Yeah if this is the right street." Hal replied with a sigh. He pointed to a building. "There it is."

“Alright, we have to stay in that building there, then I can use the wall to get in.” he said, already planning how he was going to get to this guy and thus they could move on faster. “Then I don’t have to put up with your cold shoulder any more then I have to.” He said, honestly, and moved to the building they needed.

Hal crossed his arms. "And whose fault is that Snake?"

“Just move” he grumbled while carrying the stuff so they could get this done with. This was the second key he got this week like this and he was having déjà vu.

Hal followed him carrying his laptop and bag. "Stop being a baby."

“Well stop nagging, mom.” He said, finally angry as he opened the damn door, hating it with everything he had and put the things inside, convinced that he was leaving. “I’m out of here.” He growled.

Hal blinked. "Where are you going?" He asked crossing his arms

“What should it matter to you?” he asked, very put out but thought better of it. “To see who I have to kill in Japan to have a drink and a smoke, alone like an idiot.”

Hal looked at him. "Fine. Do what you want!" he said painfully. "Get drunk and go find some geishas to screw while you're at it!" he said walking back inside.

“I’m not going to screw anyone, why does this have to be so difficult, you want me here so you can ignore me?” he asked watching Hal do just that and go inside. Finally he just turned and left... only to get lost. He looked around but couldn’t find anything. “What’s a Geh-sha?” he mumbled to himself.

Hal sat down and sighed.

Eventually he /did/ find a place to have a drink. Although it was different then he was used to and far more expensive too but alcohol was still universal; thank God. So he bumped his way around and finally relaxed; only to find he couldn’t get the techie out of his head.

Hal paced around for a while before taking his laptop and walking out of the room. He walked back down and looked around the streets.