Characters: Snake and Otacon. Implied yaoi.
Disclaimer: Metal Gear is property of Hideo Kojima and Konami.
At first, it was hero worship. Snake was a legend – who wouldn't be awed? Everything he did was so raw with confidence, so purely cool, that Otacon couldn't help but look up to him. Compared to himself, Snake was a god. He still blushed when he thought of the first time they met. Even when he saw Snake make mistakes, he still looked at the merc as a non-human, too perfect – after all, it was Otacon's fault the whole Metal Gear REX issue got started.
Then they started Philanthropy together. That one sentence could sum up how Otacon felt they changed – and there, again. He had begun to think of them as a collective unit. They were now partners, and as much as he looked up to Snake, it was easier to see them as equals. They had moved in together and ran Philanthropy from their apartment. Otacon handled the networking from his electronics room, and Snake had a closet full of weaponry, equipment, and boxes. They had their own contacts and were recognised by the UN.
Suddenly, they were friends. It was unusual: everyone Otacon called a 'friend' was more a colleague or just a helpful source; everyone Snake called a friend had died. Their main line of communication was no longer the Codec, and they were Dave and Hal as much as they were Snake and Otacon.
It wasn't long after that when Otacon realised what Snake meant to him.
galaxysong9