And the next one
Title: Needles
Fandom: Metal Gear Solid 4
Characters: Johnny/Meryl
Word Count: 947
Rating: PG
Summary: Johnny recovers from the assault on Outer Haven and waits to see Meryl.
Author's Notes: Much gratitude to sparkism for betaing for me. Thanks, love!
There were a lot of needles during the time he spent recovering from the assault on Outer Haven. Different shapes, sizes, but all the nurses promised that they would help him feel better, faster. Not only was there one taped to his arm that was apparently supposed to inject him with painkillers on a regular schedule, but every few hours or so a nurse would bring in another needle and tell him it was for his own good before sticking it without warning into his arm, leg, or wherever else they felt like poking him on that particular visit. However, the needles, dreadful and frequent as they were, were not the worst part about the recovery time.
Meryl was never there. He had seen her once, very early on when he was heavily drugged with painkillers, but he didn’t think she said anything to him, and he had not seen her since then. He had tried, with an alarming amount of failure, to convince the nurses to take her a message, but most of them seemed deadly intent on delivering their medicine and walking away. It was distressing, and the anxiety stung far worse than any of the needles ever could.
He understood perfectly well that their proposal had not been under the most ideal of circumstances. They had believed they were going to die, and he thought it would be perfectly natural for her to be having second thoughts now that she could view the idea from a more calm and rational perspective. Hell, he had been expecting her to break it off the instant they realized they weren’t going to die. But she hadn’t, and she still had yet to come and break his heart. Then again, she had not stopped by and see how he was progressing. She had left him at the mercy of the needles and her wiles. It was nerve-racking, and quite frankly, he was sure it was doing some very thorough damage to his digestive system. He longed to see her, even if it was only for her to tell him that they couldn’t get married, knowing plenty of reasons why they shouldn’t. He would not hold it against her if that were the case. But she never came, and as the days wore on, he began to wonder if she didn’t even care enough to tell him it was over.
Eventually, Ed and Jonathan came to visit him, and he was glad they were doing so much better, although they both said he’d be joining them soon. They never hinted at any possibility of an upcoming wedding, so figuring they had not been informed of his botched proposal, he didn’t say anything about it either. He did ask them if they knew where Meryl was, trying hard not to let on that he hadn’t seen her at all when he knew she had visited them at least twice. They didn’t know where she had gone, and the arrival of a nurse with a tray of needles sent them on their way.
He had finally resigned himself to the idea that he was likely never going to see her again when she turned up, offering no explanation for her absence as she sat down on the edge of his bed near his legs. She wasn’t looking at him, which could never be a good sign, but he had prepared himself for this eventuality ever since she had proposed to him.
“I brought you something,” she said, transposing a small, wrapped package from her lap to the bed by his hand. He had not been expecting a gift, and picked it up for a moment to look at it before setting it down unopened on his other side. It probably wouldn’t make what was to come any easier. “They guy at the shop said it was the latest technology, but I don’t know exactly what it does.”
He didn’t think his stomach would be able to handle her dragging things out like this; it was if they had pricked him with twenty needles at once. “Commander,” he started, sure that it would be quite dangerous to exercise too much familiarity. “I, I’d understand if you don’t want to marry me,” he managed to spurt out. After all, he couldn’t see any reason why she should want to marry him. For one thing, it could get rather complicated, and he wished she would just admit to it already. Playing with him like this was far more cruel than anything else she had ever done. “We can just-“
He had been going to tell her that they could pretend it never happened, and they could just go back to the way things were before, but he never got that far. She cut him off with a firm kiss that boldly informed him that she didn’t want to hear any more argument from him about the subject. Just like last time, her harsh exterior seemed to melt away from the edges of her mouth, and he could no longer remember what he had been so afraid of.
“As soon as you’re better, we’re getting married,” she informed him after she pulled away, grasping his hand perhaps a little too tightly. “I won’t let you chicken out on me.” It was definitely a threat, but it was the good, playful kind. He hoped.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he promised, because even though he knew it was a bad idea, and she would likely terrify him until the day he died, there was no place else in the world he would rather be more. Suddenly, the next injection of needles didn’t seem all that frightening.
Fandom: Metal Gear Solid 4
Characters: Johnny/Meryl
Word Count: 947
Rating: PG
Summary: Johnny recovers from the assault on Outer Haven and waits to see Meryl.
Author's Notes: Much gratitude to sparkism for betaing for me. Thanks, love!
There were a lot of needles during the time he spent recovering from the assault on Outer Haven. Different shapes, sizes, but all the nurses promised that they would help him feel better, faster. Not only was there one taped to his arm that was apparently supposed to inject him with painkillers on a regular schedule, but every few hours or so a nurse would bring in another needle and tell him it was for his own good before sticking it without warning into his arm, leg, or wherever else they felt like poking him on that particular visit. However, the needles, dreadful and frequent as they were, were not the worst part about the recovery time.
Meryl was never there. He had seen her once, very early on when he was heavily drugged with painkillers, but he didn’t think she said anything to him, and he had not seen her since then. He had tried, with an alarming amount of failure, to convince the nurses to take her a message, but most of them seemed deadly intent on delivering their medicine and walking away. It was distressing, and the anxiety stung far worse than any of the needles ever could.
He understood perfectly well that their proposal had not been under the most ideal of circumstances. They had believed they were going to die, and he thought it would be perfectly natural for her to be having second thoughts now that she could view the idea from a more calm and rational perspective. Hell, he had been expecting her to break it off the instant they realized they weren’t going to die. But she hadn’t, and she still had yet to come and break his heart. Then again, she had not stopped by and see how he was progressing. She had left him at the mercy of the needles and her wiles. It was nerve-racking, and quite frankly, he was sure it was doing some very thorough damage to his digestive system. He longed to see her, even if it was only for her to tell him that they couldn’t get married, knowing plenty of reasons why they shouldn’t. He would not hold it against her if that were the case. But she never came, and as the days wore on, he began to wonder if she didn’t even care enough to tell him it was over.
Eventually, Ed and Jonathan came to visit him, and he was glad they were doing so much better, although they both said he’d be joining them soon. They never hinted at any possibility of an upcoming wedding, so figuring they had not been informed of his botched proposal, he didn’t say anything about it either. He did ask them if they knew where Meryl was, trying hard not to let on that he hadn’t seen her at all when he knew she had visited them at least twice. They didn’t know where she had gone, and the arrival of a nurse with a tray of needles sent them on their way.
He had finally resigned himself to the idea that he was likely never going to see her again when she turned up, offering no explanation for her absence as she sat down on the edge of his bed near his legs. She wasn’t looking at him, which could never be a good sign, but he had prepared himself for this eventuality ever since she had proposed to him.
“I brought you something,” she said, transposing a small, wrapped package from her lap to the bed by his hand. He had not been expecting a gift, and picked it up for a moment to look at it before setting it down unopened on his other side. It probably wouldn’t make what was to come any easier. “They guy at the shop said it was the latest technology, but I don’t know exactly what it does.”
He didn’t think his stomach would be able to handle her dragging things out like this; it was if they had pricked him with twenty needles at once. “Commander,” he started, sure that it would be quite dangerous to exercise too much familiarity. “I, I’d understand if you don’t want to marry me,” he managed to spurt out. After all, he couldn’t see any reason why she should want to marry him. For one thing, it could get rather complicated, and he wished she would just admit to it already. Playing with him like this was far more cruel than anything else she had ever done. “We can just-“
He had been going to tell her that they could pretend it never happened, and they could just go back to the way things were before, but he never got that far. She cut him off with a firm kiss that boldly informed him that she didn’t want to hear any more argument from him about the subject. Just like last time, her harsh exterior seemed to melt away from the edges of her mouth, and he could no longer remember what he had been so afraid of.
“As soon as you’re better, we’re getting married,” she informed him after she pulled away, grasping his hand perhaps a little too tightly. “I won’t let you chicken out on me.” It was definitely a threat, but it was the good, playful kind. He hoped.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he promised, because even though he knew it was a bad idea, and she would likely terrify him until the day he died, there was no place else in the world he would rather be more. Suddenly, the next injection of needles didn’t seem all that frightening.