I've come to the conclusion that there are two types of nerds in this world: the kind that are very serious and very much against anything childish and the kind that hold on to their immaturity well into their adult years and have childish habits. Of course our Otacon is the latter of the two!
So what happens when Otacon tries to explain his precious anime to the big, touch, Solid Snake? Nothing short of just confusing the mercenary, that's for sure. But what happens when Snake hits a nerve with the younger man? Stay tuned and find out!
Disclaimer: I own nothing to do with Metal Gear Solid, not its characters or anything else. I also do not own any of the animes mentioned in this story. I don't own Bugs Bunny either… The only thing to my name is the plot, so if you steal that, don't tell me and you won't get in trouble! Hee…
This fanfic is silly!
ONWARD!
Hal Emmerich sat at the kitchen table, clacking away at his laptop keyboard, as usual. A steaming mug of coffee sat at the right him, hardly touched, and an entire plate of cooling dinner lay uneaten on his left. He hadn't touched it since Snake had set it there fifteen minutes ago.
Said mercenary was sitting opposite his computer-bound friend, glaring at him overtop his own coffee cup. The steam swirled around his eyes and headband before blending into the smoke from his cigarette near the ceiling. He set his mug aside and interlaced his fingers behind his head, eyes still narrowed at his partner.
"Otacon, get off the damn computer and eat your dinner before it gets cold," he growled finally. Hal jumped and looked up at Dave.
"Oh! Uh, yeah, sorry 'bout that. I was doing some research on some, eh, things," he mumbled quickly as he typed a few things and closed the notebook computer. He then pushed it aside and pulled his meal towards him, as well as his mug.
"Like what sorta things?" Snake asked as he leaned his chair back on two legs, balancing with his foot on the table. Hal merely shook his head.
"Don't worry about it. It has nothing to do with any missions or anything," he said between bites of baked potato and broccoli. It was getting cold, but still reasonably good, especially since Dave had cooked it.
"Yeah, right. Now what was it?"
"Nothing."
"Otacon," Snake growled in a dangerously quiet voice. His partner glanced up at him before looking back down at his food.
"Just some information on… uh, an anime," Hal mumbled in a voice barely audible. Dave raised an eyebrow.
"A what?"
"An anime."
"Like animation?"
"Yeah."
"Like Bugs Bunny?"
"No," Hal sighed. "It's completely different."
"How so?"
"Anime is Japanese."
"So give the damn rabbit a headband with a little sun on it and call it good. Viola! Anime!" Dave said matter-of-factly, as though that settled it. Hal sighed again impatiently.
"No, that's not anime," he said as he shoved his now empty plate aside and pulled his laptop to him. "Here, I'll show you a couple." Dave tipped his chair back forward and leaned on the table, not really interested. Hal booted up the computer and clicked on a few files. Pretty soon a rather annoying (at least to Snake) song started emitting from the speakers of the notebook. Otacon however, was humming along.
"What the hell is that crap?" Dave spat. Hal sighed and spun the computer around so that it faced his friend.
"That is the song Freckles. It's the opening theme to Rurouni Kenshin. Here, look," he said as he pointed to the screen. "See how it looks different that Bugs Bunny?"
"You think I ever actually watched that show?"
Another sigh.
"Fine… It looks different. Too many colors."
"Is that all you notice? Jeez. Here's another one," Otacon said as he clicked another file. Inuyasha started playing across the screen.
"Does that dude have dog ears?" Dave questioned in a disgusted voice. Hal nodded in an excited way.
"Yeah. He's half-demon and…" He trailed off from the look on Dave's face. "Oookay, how 'bout this one?" he said as he clicked again. An episode of Saiyuki began to play. The engineer glanced at Snake to see his reaction. The man's face showed his confusion.
"Damn Otacon, how can you watch this shit? Its all colors and Japanese chicks screaming out random gibberish!" he spat.
"Yes, there is a lot of color, but those are not just 'Japanese chicks screaming out random gibberish,' those are Japanese men singing a combination of Japanese and English! At least in Saiyuki…" Hal explained. Snake raised an eyebrow at him, which disappeared behind his headband. "Fine, fine. Have you ever seen this one?" Otacon tried as he clicked a file on the screen again. Speed Racer began to play.
"What. The. Hell."
"It's a classic anime! Along with Astro Boy and Cyborg 009, it's one of the most well-known animes there is!" Hal said excitedly. Snake just stared at him, slightly confused.
"I've never heard of any of those," he muttered in a low voice. Hal gave an exasperated sigh.
"I give up! You'll never understand anime!" he said loudly. Dave sat back, arms crossed, a fresh cigarette sticking out of the corner of his mouth.
"So what? Let go of those childish habits Otacon, you'll be happier," he said flatly. Hal stared at him as though he were mad.
"Drop anime?"
"Sure."
That was a little too far.
"Drop anime? As it, never watch it again?"
A nod.
"It's a childish habit?"
Affirmative.
"THEN WHY DON'T YOU STOP SHOOTING YOUR GUN?" the engineer spat across the table as he spun his laptop around. Snake was taken aback by this response.
"My gun is what keeps me alive. What does anime do for you?" he put in. Otacon snarled something and shut down the PC.
"It keeps me happy!"
"Maybe my gun makes me happy!" Dave shot back.
"So you enjoy killing people?" Hal snarled in a voice very much unlike his own.
"I never said that!"
"Sure sounded like it!"
The two men sat in a heated silence for a moment, seething and glaring at each other. Finally, Hal couldn't take it anymore. He snatched up his laptop and headed out of the tiny kitchen.
"Where are you going?" Dave growled.
"To bed." With that, Otacon was gone.
Solid Snake looked at the clock over the stove. 8:30. Hal never went to bed this early. He sighed and shoved himself away from the table. He'd have to go talk to his partner now, even if it meant apologizing.
A knock.
"Go away!"
"Ota- Hal, can I come in?"
"No! Go away!" No hesitation.
A sigh and then an opened door. Dave entered the room and found it amazingly clean. A lump on the bed told him that Hal was curled into a ball there, the blanket over his head, like a child hiding from punishment that was overdue.
"Hal, let's talk," Dave tried.
"Lets not."
Sigh.
"C'mon Hal, just talk to me. I'm sorry for what I said. I didn't mean it," Snake tried as he walked slowly into the room, closing the door behind him. Otacon didn't respond. "You've got your hobbies, and I'll have to learn to respect them. Just look at your code name! That's an anime convention, right?"
"Yeah…"
Dave sat on the edge of the bed, his back to Hal and his elbows resting on his knees.
"So do you forgive me?"
Silence.
"Hal?"
Before Snake could turn around to look at his friend a pair of thin arms wrapped around him, just under his arms. He let out a slight gasp of surprise when he felt Otacon's face pressed to his back and found that tears were wetting his shirt.
"Yes, I forgive you."
FIN
It was just a one-shot, but I'm writing a sequel… However, that sequel will probably end up being a fluffy yaoi fic, just for all the MGS fan girls out there… and Render-sama… hee. Please review.