Thank you for dropping into 'Song'. I embrace all of my precious audiences, but before you tread any further, please heed these important words. This fic contains a HIGH amount of fluff, and also contains an emotional Old Snake. An additional element is the inclusion of a boy/boy pairing.
IF YOU ARE ALLERGIC TO HUMANIZED OLD SNAKES, EMOTION, FLUFF AND/OR YAOI COUPLES, PLEASE DO NOT READ THIS! SAVE YOURSELF THE TROUBLE!
Inspired by Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, I decided to dive into Old Snake's plight. I have an immortal soft spot for Old Snake, and I adore the trauma he has to endure in MGS4. Sadly, though, I haven't gone deep enough into our old soldier's psyche. Not even with 'Awakening'. And with all of the fabulous, bewitching work I've read, no one aside from Andi Mack (with her greatest piece Adjustment Periods, and special praise goes out to her for the Meryl situation) has gone into Old Snake's mental and physical distress. I mean, work with me, children. Naomi tells him he pretty much has no time left to live, he's on the verge of transforming into a poison bomb-I mean, ouch! Ouchies!
I'd die if someone wrote me an angsty, emotional ficcy on Old Snake's trials. (wink wink) Especially if poor Snake was paired with someone like Snow. I don't want to trouble anyone, though...bwee hee hee...
In the meantime, enjoy the completed first chapter! And thanks for your reading, dearies!
Disclaimer: Yeah, you know this already. But if I owned Metal Gear Solid, Snake's adventures would continue. With Otacon, of course.
Many believed an old dog couldn't learn new tricks. When Dante came into the picture, that belief was swept into a dustbin and tossed with the rest of the garbage. The devil slayer reprogrammed a certain old legend, teaching him how to adapt to life's greatest treasure.
The dashing, elegant entrepreneur taught him how to love.
The lessons were thick in detail, but simple. As he was the personification of love himself, he never hesitated in revealing his feelings. Kind, sweet and gentle, he laid so much affection on the legend, the legend thought he would drown. There were the simple kisses, the simple touches, the simple smiles and pet names. There were the embraces, the peaceful nights, and comforting flashlights. The master slayer wasted not a single breath when it came to revealing his devotion, never wanting the apple of his eye to feel lonely. Or even insecure. That spoke volumes, considering how insecure the old legend actually was.
He was Dante. Teacher, lover, friend, companion and devil slayer, all rolled up into one package. He was also an anchor, able to keep things steady when things turned sour. And 'sour' stamped a great deal of situations. With Liquid Ocelot in life's picture, treading through problems seemed to be no different from treading through fog and peanut butter. Dante's pupil needed him, and he needed him desperately. And to make matters worse, Liquid wasn't the legend's only problem.
He was Dante, and he was kind. Kind to the anime junkie that constantly worried over his dearest, oldest friend. Kind to the Nomad's little maiden, who looked up to him. Kind to the old legend, who had been starving for love all of his life. In the past he had expressed an aversion to love, but when Old Snake came into the picture, he had absolutely no problem with kisses, hugs and roses. There may not have been any roses sprouting on the battlefield, but roses sprouted whenever Snake came around.
His pupil was Old Snake, also known as 'Epyon'. His nickname, so frequently used by Sunny, came from one of Hal Emmerich's anime obsessions. Epyon was the name of a mobile Gundam suit, and was one of the most powerful suits in the show. Sunny's Epyon felt no kinship with the suit, as he sank in sorrow on a daily basis. He wasn't the strong, invincible legend others heard of on the battlefield.
Luckily, he had his anchor. He had his Dante.
So much had happened in the last couple hours. So much happened within the span of a few minutes. The day's events made Snake wish he had been at a graveyard for two reasons. One, he could've been prepared for the fate Naomi stamped on him. Two, he probably could've made some friends. After all, he had done nothing but kill, kill and kill his entire life. There would have been someone familiar in a graveyard, and chances for a party. Hearing how his lifespan had been sliced down to pretty much nothing wasn't akin to hearing a parade roll down the street.
It was night time, and true to form, the night brought relief. It brought life. The master had his pupil in his arms, silent but forever gentle. The pupil had his head in the master's chest, inhaling every bit of comfort the other had to give. He hadn't voiced his opinions, but they were obvious. Naomi had opened up a can of worms, pirahna and wolf spiders. And every last creature was running around in his weary old heart, trying to suck him dry. Luckily, the word 'trying' cropped into the picture because of Dante. If it hadn't been for the master hunter, there wouldn't have been any trying.
He said nothing, arms locked around his anchor. His breathing was ragged, his eyes could hardly stay open, and his heart was taking a journey through sludge. Never before had he opened himself to anyone, including Hal 'Otacon' Emmerich. However, being around Dante made things easier. It made breathing easier. Being able to inhale and exhale was normally an impossible job, but Dante made the exercise effortless. Life was so much simpler with Dante around, and Snake loved it. As hard as it was, he loved it.
He loved Dante.
Somewhere along the road, Snake managed to pick up something. He heard how deep, steady breathing opened up one's chasm of pain, and allowed it to flow freely into the wind. Nonsense, he thought, until Dante took him into his arms. The simple act of breathing was purifying. Invigorating. Exactly what he needed after a long, difficult day.
He didn't know how much time had passed between them. And honestly, he really couldn't have cared less about the time. He only knew that Dante was right there, holding him, allowing all of his cares to flow freely into the wind. Dante was his air.
Dante was the voice that broke the night's silence.
"So, lemon cup, ready for bed?"
He, the old, withered flower, peered into a pair of carefree eyes. He said nothing, silently reflecting on everything they had shared. Dante had been silent during the bulk of their embrace, knowing full well just how upset he was. Normally the master hunter couldn't stop making jokes, always prodding at Liquid and Naomi, but on that particular night, he kept his mouth shut.
Dante's voice meant the world to him. But so did Dante's silence.
He said nothing, wondering if he'd ever get out of bed again. Wondering if he'd ever open his eyes and see Dante's smiling face again. Would it be wise to go to bed, or would it be wiser to stay awake? Forever?
If Solid Snake had met Old Snake, Solid Snake probably would have laughed his head off. But did Old Snake care?
Not for a second.
He said nothing, his pale blue eyes glistening with unshed tears. The inability to speak plastered itself all over his face. He was shy around Dante, yes, but shyness wasn't the only problem. Now he was putting the demon hunter in grave danger. Naomi had just told him he'd pretty much poison everyone around him. Dante, as strong and amazing as he was, wouldn't be on FOXDIE's list of exempt candidates.
Dante waited. With the world's most beautiful smile, he waited. He would have waited forever for a response. He would have waited forever for anything, if it meant his happiness. He'd rip off his arm if it meant Snake's happiness, and have it seasoned, roasted, then tossed with garden salad. Then he'd throw in a bag of almonds. Meryl wouldn't do anything like that for him. She never would have done anything like that for him. She hated him! She got up, screamed at him and stormed out, right in the middle of sex! And that was back when he was Solid Snake! Not even Old Snake! Now things were even worse! He was old, ugly, dying-
"Hey now! What's with the tears? You know the rules. No crying, cupcake. My heart can't take it."
Dante's fingers wiped away so many tears. Snake began to sob, and in half a second, he realized just how much he hated the sound of his own voice. He hated the sound of his sobbing, which only made things worse! And it was difficult to describe his voice. He sounded...well, ugly. The world's fattest, ugliest monkey would curdle up and die if he caught sight of Old Snake!
But Dante didn't agree with him. Dante didn't agree with anything when it came to Snake's attendance in Self Degradation 101. "It's okay," the master slayer said, rocking the old soldier back and forth. Cradling him, as no one else had. "It's okay. Everything's all right. We'll take care of everything, baby. You're gonna be fine."
Snake winced. He put on the face of a cat that wished to spit out a hairball. He took a deep breath, clamping a lid on the rest of his sobbing. It took a great deal of effort to silence his sobs, but somehow, he managed to do it. "How can you say that?" he asked, and realized he hated his voice even more than he did a few seconds ago. Wow, did he sound terrible. Listening to fingers claw at a blackboard would have been much easier on the ears for Dante.
Or so Snake thought.
"How can you say something like that after...after everything Naomi said? You listened to her. You heard everything she said. You...I..."
Dante cut in before Snake could dive into another pool of tears. "First of all, no one's dying on my watch," the master slayer said, placing his heartbeat against the other male's. "So you're infected with FOXDIE. So you're much older than you naturally should be. Big deal. If I can run a business for the world's biggest idiots and assholes, I can take care of you. Plain and simple."
Snake's face stiffened. He was never fond of the cheerful approach when things were hectic, not even when Dante provided the cheer. "You can't take care of everything," he said, halfway between another round of tears and vehement shouting. "You can't pull out your magic wand all of the time and make everything right!"
"Yes I can. Especially for you, ladybug."
Anyone else would have gushed over the pet name 'ladybug'. Snake wanted to tear Dante apart, especially because of the situation-and Dante's attitude.
"No you can't! You can't, Dante!"
Pointing at himself, the old legend went on. He went on, hating every word, every syllable. He went on, loathing the sound of his tearful, tired old voice. And facing everything for the very first time, Old Snake fell apart.
"This is what I've been forced to deal with! This is what I have to work with! This is who I am, who I'm meant to become! All of the burdens I bear are my burdens, and I can't do a damn thing about it! Look at me, Dante! I'm a tired sack of bones and hard arteries! I'm dying and I'm going to become a human time bomb in three months! Three months! That's absolutely nothing! I'm this disgusting, putrid sin walking the face of the earth!"
That did it. That had to do it.
He shut his eyes, trembling. Hands balled into fists, he began to whimper. He began to cry, knowing full well Dante would exercise his right to leave. Not even a picture perfect guy like Dante would stick around after that. He obviously didn't believe in a future, so why would Dante stick around? Meryl certainly packed her clothes and hightailed it far away from Solid Snake, whom she left completely naked. Dante would definitely walk away from Old Snake.
"Hey."
Snake opened his eyes. Oh no, it was coming. Dante was no more than a few inches away from him, either intolerably bored or intolerably pissed off. Never before had he been seen without a smile, sarcastic or genuine. He appeared to be calm, but the presence of a feverish, negative emotion could not be denied. Snake had managed to strike some fuse.
"Wanna see something?"
The old soldier did nothing. He couldn't do anything, frozen by shock.
Seizing just the right opportunity, Dante shut his eyes. He took two fingers and tapped the middle of his collarbone. Then, right before Snake's wide eyes, he transformed into something. Something...
That wasn't as handsome as Dante.
"Ain't I a cutie?"
Snake was no different from a child at a magic show. "Wha...what happened? What did you do?"
"Nothing much. I just revved up my Devil Trigger."
The older male gasped, unable to make the difference between 'up' and 'down'. Smiling, Dante in his Trigger form launched an explanation. "I'm a spawn of Hell," he said, as if he had been born into a perfectly normal family.
"To be precise, I'm the spawn of Sparda. I come from a lovely line of stylish devils, as you can see. Sparda's got full reign over a lovely set of groupies, and I happen to be one of his lucky sons."
Right then and there, Snake caught the resemblance between his family situation and Dante's family situation. Dante surely had another brother, who was most likely Sparda's favorite. "I flambe every demon I come across, even those bearing human flesh," the demon slayer went on. His Trigger voice would have scarred an infant for life, but Snake found Dante's warmth in it. He found Dante's kindness. Dante's magic.
"I eat, kill, and steal the souls of idiots. Now, howse about you and I going out on the town, pretty thing? We'll paint the town red!"
At first Snake chuckled, but then chuckles gave way to laughter. He laughed, forgetting just how much he hated his voice. He laughed, tears flowing freely down his wrinkled face. And to Dante, the sound of Snake's laughter was akin to hearing the greatest Ozzy Osbourne concert ever. It was refreshing. Invigorating. Simply divine. So why not encourage the concert to continue?
"I'm sure we won't get anywhere looking for a bite to eat, and we can't really catch any movies, but we'll have a great time! You and me!"
Snake was still laughing, and tears were still rolling down his cheeks. "Dumbass! There isn't a dating spot for miles! And we're high in the sky!"
"Great," Dante said with a shrug. "We'll give the world a break by hiding our ugly mugs! And oh, before we stuff our picnic basket with cucumber sandwiches and eggflower soup, I've got other things to tell you. Other dark, hideous secrets."
Dante was mocking him, plain and simple. Snake smiled, knowing Dante was mocking him. Knowing how much Dante loved him. "What are they?" the old legend asked, wiping away a few tears. Dante, meanwhile, was as grave as he could possibly be.
"Well, I don't have too many friends. Pretty much everyone in Hell wants to kill me, including my beautiful, popular brother Vergil. And oh yeah. I kinda have a lot of debt on my shoulders too. See, I ate a lot of pizza, and things got out of hand."
"Listen to yourself," a radiant, smiling Snake said, wiping away more tears. "I just poured out my heart to you, and you're talking about pizza!"
Dante retained his serious expression. "I just poured out my heart too," he said, pretending to be wounded. He even clamped a hand over his heart. "I've got some really big issues! Tony's not letting my three hundred dollar debt slide!"
Wow. Snake clamped his hands onto the sides of his face, shook his head and sighed. "How did you manage to rack up a debt over pizza?"
The master slayer shrugged. And as he explained himself, Snake laughed. He laughed even after he struck the floor, doubled over in laughter.
"It just happened. See, I kinda eat a lot. I eat the ultimate cheese lover's pizza because it's the best. And I kinda asked for a lot of freebies."
Three letters stamped themselves on Snake's face, and they were 'omg'.
Hal knew what they stood for. He used them regularly in chat rooms, talking about the relationship between Rinoa Heartily and Squall Leonhart.
"Don't you run a business?"
"Sure do," Dante said, shrugging. Snake's face crumpled, preparing itself for the inevitable new round of laughter.
"Where's your money going?"
"Well, I kinda use it on my bike. I don't really get a lot as it is, but when I do, I use it to spiff up my ride. I have to, or else I'll tarnish my shop's image."
Wow. Stifling a huge geyser of laughter was tremendously difficult. "You can't spare a few dollars for a slice of pizza?"
"I just said I have to pay for my bike," the hunter replied, once again pretending to be offended. "And oh yeah. I kinda like strawberry sundaes too. Have to eat 'em after the rich, luscious taste of Mike's delicacies."
And so it was official. The night's serious tone had flown completely out the window. On stork wings.
Snake succumbed to another round of hearty, cleansing laughter. A pair of hands lifted him off the ground a moment later, scaly yet gentle. "Don't cry, sweetie," a devil's voice said, wiping at his set of wrinkled cheeks. "Please don't cry anymore. I know I've got a lot of problems, but we'll deal with them. Just stay with me."
"Get away from me," the laughing, crying Snake said, giving Dante a fierce shove. Dante threw back his shoulders and made an 'uh' sound. The type of sound teenage girls made whenever they were offended.
"Why? Are you ashamed of me? Are you disgusted by me? I know I'm not the prettiest apple in the bunch, but I love you!"
"All right all right all right! I get it! Just get out of that form already!"
"Not until you accept me for what I am!"
A smile spread across Snake's face, and it was a beautiful smile. It was the kind of smile that bloomed after a long winter's storm. The kind of smile that spread through rainy meadows and parched deserts.
"I get it, Dante. I'm silly. I'm sorry for being such a crybaby. Now quit being an asshole and get out of that suit!"
The devil tapped his chest with one of his huge claws. And within moments, he returned to the form of a handsome, virile, forty year old hunter. The virile hunter shrugged as the words 'what are you gonna do?' danced through his eyes, but he was warm. He was warm. Happy. Secure. Serene, and everything else in between.
He was beautiful. He was light.
Drawn to Dante's light, a smiling Snake wrapped his arms around him. The two of them said nothing for a moment, but then a blushing, beaming, tearful old soldier peered into Dante's eyes. "Where were you?" he asked, running his hands over the hunter's muscular chest.
"Hm?"
"Where were you back then? Why couldn't I have found you instead of Meryl?"
"Who knows, pretty eyes? Maybe I was too busy moping over my father's lack of love. He did, after all, favor my brother. Ah, the miserable days I had as a wee bairn."
"You really are calling me 'silly', aren't you?"
"Hey," Dante said, in an exaggerated version of his Trigger voice. "if the shoe fits, Snaaaaaake!"
Snake chuckled. He chuckled as the love of his life wrapped an arm around his waist, pulling him close. "I love you," the old soldier said, and had no problems saying it. "I love you, Dante."
"I love you toooo, Snaaaaaake!"
"Okay, cut it out. You sound like my brother."
"Speaking of your brother," Dante began, putting his normal tone back on. "why does his face look like a baboon's backside?"
"Oh? Is that what you think of him? And I'M beautiful?"
"Damn right," the hunter said, as if the answer was perfectly obvious. "Oh well. Guess your brother ended up with the short end of the stick."
And that was that.
Shutting his eyes, feeling perfectly happy with himself, and with the world, Snake snuggled against Dante's side.
Romeo had Juliet. Sir Lancelot had Guinevere. Athena had Zeus. Rinoa had Squall, Tifa had Cloud, and-
An old, tired soldier had Dante.
And because of Dante, he felt fifty years younger.
This fluffy piece was composed to The Gapra Whitewood, one of the many beautiful, relaxing pieces to Final Fantasy XIII. The one and only Masashi Hamauzu, whom I think is far better than Nobuo Uematsu, is responsible for creating said masterpiece.
This, by far, is the fluffiest piece I've written so far. And you know what? I adore it, kyaaaaaah! And seriously, I'd DIE to be in Snake's place! Dante's the perfect boyfriend!
Thank you for your support. I had Song entirely mapped out, until the fluff of this chapter burst into song (get it?). The summary took a complete turn-around, so back to the drawing board I go! Whee! Wish me luck!
Dedicated to my Dante, who's been with me longer than I can remember-and didn't turn away after my darkest hour. He knows who he is.