Author's note: Wow, where to start! This story has been kicked around by my typing fingers for the longest time. It has been shot, stabbed, turned upside down, thrown in fire... basically the story was almost not written because I didn't like the direction it first headed in. I am very pleased with how the story turned out compared to my first draft. Please R & R!

Fun In So Many Flavors

Thump, thump.

At a surrogate home somewhere warm and city-like, Solid Snake, who hummed to himself contently as he showered, was unaware of the sound over the rush of running water. When the dull thudding repeated again, this time a little louder, he stopped his tune and accidentally blinked in an eyeful of soap.

"Damn it!" He gritted his teeth and solved that the front door should get the yell of more censored profanities and not the shower head. He rinsed out his eyes and swiftly shut off the tap. He threw on a pair of pants, and his towel began to work on his sopping hair as he made his way down the stairs to the front door. The person there had now resorted to ringing the doorbell instead of knocking.

Whoever it is sure is persistent, he thought with a grumble. The peephole installation popped into his mind when the front door came into view, as it had reminded him millions of times before. Ironic, that the guy who helped save the world didn't even have a simple peephole for his own home. Then again, this house Snake occupied was rented so it wasn't like he was obligated to do a ton of renovating. If he was actually back home in Alaska, a firing surveillance camera would do the job with pesky visitors on the doorstep.

He yanked the door open. He was stunned to find a total mind-blowing vision from an equally surprised female. She stared too. Her ebony hair was braided with a red ribbon that matched the color of the skirt she wore. The dress fit the owner very, very well. Snake found his jaw almost hanging open but his swift mouth reflexes made him smile instead. "May I help you?" he asked in an extra smooth voice.

The girl blinked twice before craning her neck back to check the house number. "Um, I think I have the wrong house. Is Snake here?"

Snake almost fell over. Common sense slammed upside his head and he recognized who he gawked at. "Mei Ling?"

The graduate student's brown eyes grew as wide as saucers when she heard him speak. "Snake?" She peered closer at his face, then broke into a grin. "Wow, it is you! I didn't recognize you at all without your Sneaking Suit! Boy, you look so different without it on."

After inviting Mei Ling in, Snake went back to the bathroom and returned with a shirt on and his hair dry. "Your visit is a surprise. Tell me it's not an emergency. More terrorists? A raid? Innocent hostages again? And I thought I had the chance to finally relax for once."

A short laugh came from her. "No, no, no, nothing like that."

"I got soap in my eyes because of you!"

"How would I know you'd be showering?" Mei Ling crossed her arms.

"Radar, perhaps? You did say you could track all of my movements with it."

"Very funny. I'm not a pervert, unlike someone I know who likes entering the ladies' bathroom on purpose."

"That was an exception and you know it."

Mei Ling shook her head like she thought otherwise. "Anyway, do you want to hang out with me today? I realized that I haven't spent time with you like Otacon does and I should."

Snake considered the offer. Truthfully, he wanted to kick back at home and not expose himself to the public. With all the worrying about being seen during the last mission, he didn't want to think about that tonight. Oh, and how good it would feel to finally kick back and stare at the bright sky lit not by the roaring fire of explosions, but from a real sun. Still, Snake figured he was being uptight. He had to go out sometime. Besides, Meryl was on an afternoon trip and Otacon was busy at home fiddling with a new computer program he got and was really excited about. Why should Snake be bored? He agreed.

"Great! We should get going!" Mei Ling chirped.

"Wait, let me get something first."

"This doesn't happen to be a sort of firearm, is it?"

He gave no reply, but she could tell anyway.

"Oh come on, Snake, we're not raiding a place!" She sighed in distraught.

"I'd feel better if I brought something," he stated flatly.

"Is that all you think about? Fighting?"

He didn't answer.

"Come on, don't do this! I want this to be a nice, regular outing." Mei Ling jumped up and took his arm. "And it will be nobody because we're going out in public! And hey, I'll treat."

"My tranquilizer gun, how about it? It's a non-lethal weapon." Snake tried to compromise, but he gave up when Mei Ling glared. He reached for his keys and a pack of newly acquired smokes from the coffee table.

"Drop those cigarettes," Mei Ling's sharp voice reprimanded.

"What?" Snake instinctively clutched the contents in his hand like a newborn would with a blanket.

"No smoking. I don't want to be smelling like an ashtray!"

"But they're new!" he heard himself say, and his brain scurried to come up with another not-so-lame reason. Nothing feasible came to mind.

The Asian girl shot him a unyielding look with her almond-shaped eyes. Snake silently counted to five. His fingers pried off the small box and dropped it back on the table.

"Very good, Snake."

"Just one thing." He turned to face her, his face now serious.

"Yes?"

"Don't call me Snake when we're outside."

"So what, then?"

Snake felt strange, like he was giving away a secret. "Call me by my real name, David."

"David," she repeated, trying it out.

He rolled his eyes when she kept repeating it quietly, though whether to annoy him or to drill a reminder to herself, Snake couldn't tell. "So where do you have in mind?"

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A/N: Oh where can Mei Ling have in mind? Chapter 2 will have the answer! Mei Ling doesn't get too much love in many MGS stories, so I had to include her in mine. I do owe her a thanks for sucking me into the world of MGS, so cheers to her!