It was cold and gray in Smashville. Though cloudy and blocking out the sun it did not rain nor snow but was merely otherwise normal, save for the air being quite bitterly cool. Most of the citizens either at work or at home drank hot coffee or tea to keep warm, while those out and about donned thicker sweaters and jackets to endure the weather. At the farther west edge of the city, past the grounds of the Smashville Mansion – where it's "unique" citizens resided – Solid Snake and Lucario were seated at a booth of Salt N Pepper's diner. Both had steaming bowls of hot soup in front of them, a meal the diner was known for and also eaten by much of the rest of the customers at the same hour.
Both of them were heroes of a sort. Both of them were not native sons of the city, and Lucario in fact wasn't even a native of the time period for that matter. Even so this strange city was where both of them called home, and were considered locals as much as the actual locals.
"If ya'll need anything, just ask. I'll be back honeys." The waitress Hildy, said as she set down a glass of water for Lucario. He thanked her politely and Snake nodded as Hildy stepped away
"Hey Lucario. You ever wonder… why we're here?"
Lucario paused holding his spoon of soup midway. He stared at it, watching the smoke rise from the chicken, herbs, and noodles up into the air. Then he looked to Snake's soup, also smoke rising from his bowl of chicken, herbs, and noodles.
"Yeah. I wonder why we still come to this diner when they stopped 'Buy one get another soup free'." Lucario disliked how much thinner his wallet was after buying lunch. The soup was pretty expensive and two soups on top of that were more so.
Snake shook his head. "No, I mean, like… why are we here? Didn't we die?"
Lucario blinked. He was confused. But he ate more of his soup.
"I mean… we're here. I didn't think about it that much."
"I was full of nanomachines that made me a ticking time bomb. And you sacrificed yourself to save a giant magical tree."
"Gee. When you phrase it like that you make one of my most heroic moments sound pretty weird." Lucario slurped up the noodles from his soup. He enjoyed the nice peppery taste of it in his system. He then lifted up the bowl and began drinking the hot broth allowing himself to be warmed up by it.
Snake stared back into his soup and at his own reflection. His blue cool eyes stared back at him from it. He touched his smooth skin and dark brown beard examining himself closer.
"I even aged prematurely. I looked just like my old man. And now I'm young again. And alive."
"And we're eating soup on a cold day." Lucario wiped his mouth of the broth. He set his empty bowl back down on the table and then began drinking his water he had ordered with it. Snake watched him.
"You don't even get a little bit curious? How is it even possible that we're still alive? Still breathing. Still able to eat soup."
Lucario stopped drinking his water. He too now was lost in his reflection as he set his cup back down.
"I can't say. I don't know if there's some all-powerful being that brought us back, a mysterious force, or if we just got one of those 'extra-lives' Mario keeps talking about. But we're here. We're still breathing. Means that, at the very least, we're here for some reason. Best to not waste it."
Snake stared back into his bowl of soup. He looked back to Lucario who went back to his water finishing up his cup. With a shrug, Snake picked up his spoon and began to dig in to the chicken, herbs, and noodles. He took each bite slow and savored each flavor.
"… It's not a bad soup."
"Worth living for, right?" Hildy spoke up from behind Snake. The super soldier turned to look back up at Hildy and smiled.
"How much did you hear?" Hildy held her finger to her lip as she thought on it.
"Mm… pretty much all of it. Funny though," Hildy twisted around a long bang of her red hair. "Considering all the things you guys at the mansion have been through, I'm not that surprised."
"So…" Lucario looked back and forth. "Having a talking Pokémon go to your diner every noon isn't as strange as a Pokémon and a super soldier who came back from the dead?"
Hildy merely stared at the two in surprise. Snake looked at Hildy but then back to his soup and said nothing. He wordlessly picked up the noodles and broth slurping loudly. Hildy then erupted into laughter.
"No, I guess it's not. Still pretty weird though."
Lucario smiled and couldn't help but also laugh. "Is there a discount for undead veterans?"
"Fraid not. Sorry honey." Hildy turned on her heel and stepped away from their table. Lucario sighed once again holding his thinner wallet.
"Thanks for lunch Lucario." Snake said as he set down his bowl. Lucario frowned at his friend.
Yeah. Real nice second chance.
Lion: A short drabble after rewatching Game of Thrones and having Jon Snow and Beric Donarrion remind me that, of the cast of the Super Smash Bros. Series, both Snake and Lucario should be dead. Also wanted to write a small interaction between the two. Waitress Hildy was inspired by "A Girl Named Valkyrie", my RWBY fic, and the diner and fic title inspired by my friend's RWBY fic.