"I want to go see a movie," declared Otacon. The Snakemobile was on the
road again. He was full—full, by God!—of energy. The idea of going home to
a beer-soaked card table and spending the rest of the night on Usenet
didn't appeal.
"No, you don't. You'll get through half of it, the coffee will wear off, and you'll drool on my shoulder again."
"I want to see Queen of the Damned, Snake. Come on."
Snake blanched, and very nearly ran a red light into the broad side of a minivan. Queen of the Damned? What was next, decaf? Colored briefs? "Raiden, if this is you and your nanos again…"
"It's not me. Swear."
"It's not even in theaters anymore, Otacon. It was that bad."
"No!"
"Yes. It sucked. I promise."
"Nuts."
"You know," Raiden piped up, "Lord of the Rings is still out. We could go see that." And it was just a minute short of three hours, too. By the time he got home, Rose would be sleeping like the dead. She had to get up early for work, which meant it would be at least late afternoon tomorrow—if he kept his CODEC off, which he fully intended to do—before she could ask him how the Liquid thing went. By then he'd be able to come up with something convincing.
"Sounds good!" Otacon grinned.
"You've only seen it three times, why the hell not?" Rolling his eyes, and nearly rolling the car on a left turn through a yellow light, Snake set the beast on an eastbound route. Thank God for all-night everything. Ferrying these two around was like being a soccer mom without the halftime orange slices.
Half an hour later, the Snakemobile lurched into the eight-acre spread of pavement around the multiplex. "Everybody out," grumbled Snake unnecessarily. Otacon was already out, windmilling his way up to the ticket window.
The theater was reasonably well-populated, even so late. Raiden had an awkward moment in the lobby—a girl of about seventeen wearing a cloak badly sewn out of a green wool-poly blend backed him and his popcorn into a corner and refused to leave him alone until he'd let her physically examine his ears—but in due course the trio found seats and settled down to watch. Otacon very nearly lost control of his juju-bees during the Episode II trailer.
Later:
"I like this Boromir guy. Evil, but inept."
"Don't get too attached, Snake. He dies."
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
Still later:
"Look, Otacon. A mass of writhing tentacles violating somebody's personal space. Don't you have a tape like this somewhere?"
"Stick it, Snake. It was a rental."
And some time after that:
"Did you see that? With the arrow! That was –cool-!"
"There are nineteen thousand and five arrows in this movie, Raiden."
Eventually the good guys won—kind of—and the movie ended—kind of. Otacon's coffee was wearing thin, and Raiden, who hadn't had any at all, was starting to veer from side to side as he walked. Snake yawned. In another few hours, the sun was going to be coming up. Time to call it a night.
Things were quiet inside the Snakemobile as it wound its way back to Otacon's apartment complex. As many times as it had made the trip, it could practically steer itself. Otacon nudged at Snake's arm a few blocks from home.
"Raiden's asleep," he said.
Snake checked the rear-view mirror. Sure enough. "Cute," he grumbled. "Let's drive to Canada and leave him."
Otacon chuckled groggily. "Let's not. Rose knows your frequency."
"All right, all right."
"You know something, Snake?"
"A few things, yeah. What?"
"Well, they've got the same names as the guys in Titanic, but you and me…"
Snake waited. Otacon was probably going to say something either staggeringly inane or deeply unnerving. When he hadn't slept much, it was very seldom anything else.
"We've got the same names as the guys from 2001. You ever notice that?"
Actually, Snake hadn't. He didn't watch sci-fi. "Creepy," he said.
"Yeah. You're an astronaut, and I'm a computer that tries to kill him."
Snake snickered. Otacon looked briefly miffed, but managed a few chuckles himself as Snake wrestled the car into a compact space and shut things down. It took about a minute and a half to dislodge Raiden from the back seat, where he had gotten tangled in a pair of seatbelts, but in due course he was awake—mostly—and shambling back across the parking lot to his own car. He still had those godawful bowling shoes on. So did Snake, now that he bothered to look. He'd have to infiltrate the alley again and get his boots back, eventually. He liked those boots.
"You want to crash here, Snake?" Otacon yawned. "It's getting early."
"Yeah." There was a hint of greyish pre-dawn already. "If it's okay."
"You know you'd come in the window anyway."
"Yeah."
*******************************************
That's it! Many thanks for your support. It's been fun to write, and unless you reviewers are just toying with me, I'm glad it was good for you too.
"No, you don't. You'll get through half of it, the coffee will wear off, and you'll drool on my shoulder again."
"I want to see Queen of the Damned, Snake. Come on."
Snake blanched, and very nearly ran a red light into the broad side of a minivan. Queen of the Damned? What was next, decaf? Colored briefs? "Raiden, if this is you and your nanos again…"
"It's not me. Swear."
"It's not even in theaters anymore, Otacon. It was that bad."
"No!"
"Yes. It sucked. I promise."
"Nuts."
"You know," Raiden piped up, "Lord of the Rings is still out. We could go see that." And it was just a minute short of three hours, too. By the time he got home, Rose would be sleeping like the dead. She had to get up early for work, which meant it would be at least late afternoon tomorrow—if he kept his CODEC off, which he fully intended to do—before she could ask him how the Liquid thing went. By then he'd be able to come up with something convincing.
"Sounds good!" Otacon grinned.
"You've only seen it three times, why the hell not?" Rolling his eyes, and nearly rolling the car on a left turn through a yellow light, Snake set the beast on an eastbound route. Thank God for all-night everything. Ferrying these two around was like being a soccer mom without the halftime orange slices.
Half an hour later, the Snakemobile lurched into the eight-acre spread of pavement around the multiplex. "Everybody out," grumbled Snake unnecessarily. Otacon was already out, windmilling his way up to the ticket window.
The theater was reasonably well-populated, even so late. Raiden had an awkward moment in the lobby—a girl of about seventeen wearing a cloak badly sewn out of a green wool-poly blend backed him and his popcorn into a corner and refused to leave him alone until he'd let her physically examine his ears—but in due course the trio found seats and settled down to watch. Otacon very nearly lost control of his juju-bees during the Episode II trailer.
Later:
"I like this Boromir guy. Evil, but inept."
"Don't get too attached, Snake. He dies."
"Wouldn't have it any other way."
Still later:
"Look, Otacon. A mass of writhing tentacles violating somebody's personal space. Don't you have a tape like this somewhere?"
"Stick it, Snake. It was a rental."
And some time after that:
"Did you see that? With the arrow! That was –cool-!"
"There are nineteen thousand and five arrows in this movie, Raiden."
Eventually the good guys won—kind of—and the movie ended—kind of. Otacon's coffee was wearing thin, and Raiden, who hadn't had any at all, was starting to veer from side to side as he walked. Snake yawned. In another few hours, the sun was going to be coming up. Time to call it a night.
Things were quiet inside the Snakemobile as it wound its way back to Otacon's apartment complex. As many times as it had made the trip, it could practically steer itself. Otacon nudged at Snake's arm a few blocks from home.
"Raiden's asleep," he said.
Snake checked the rear-view mirror. Sure enough. "Cute," he grumbled. "Let's drive to Canada and leave him."
Otacon chuckled groggily. "Let's not. Rose knows your frequency."
"All right, all right."
"You know something, Snake?"
"A few things, yeah. What?"
"Well, they've got the same names as the guys in Titanic, but you and me…"
Snake waited. Otacon was probably going to say something either staggeringly inane or deeply unnerving. When he hadn't slept much, it was very seldom anything else.
"We've got the same names as the guys from 2001. You ever notice that?"
Actually, Snake hadn't. He didn't watch sci-fi. "Creepy," he said.
"Yeah. You're an astronaut, and I'm a computer that tries to kill him."
Snake snickered. Otacon looked briefly miffed, but managed a few chuckles himself as Snake wrestled the car into a compact space and shut things down. It took about a minute and a half to dislodge Raiden from the back seat, where he had gotten tangled in a pair of seatbelts, but in due course he was awake—mostly—and shambling back across the parking lot to his own car. He still had those godawful bowling shoes on. So did Snake, now that he bothered to look. He'd have to infiltrate the alley again and get his boots back, eventually. He liked those boots.
"You want to crash here, Snake?" Otacon yawned. "It's getting early."
"Yeah." There was a hint of greyish pre-dawn already. "If it's okay."
"You know you'd come in the window anyway."
"Yeah."
*******************************************
That's it! Many thanks for your support. It's been fun to write, and unless you reviewers are just toying with me, I'm glad it was good for you too.