[THREAD]

[magna_nimity]

Who: Big Boss, Solid Snake
Where: Outer Heaven, F2
When: Dec 15th, 2008 -- Evening
Summary: Big Boss forgot his own birthday.
Rating: PG
Other: Hamsters.

Comments

[baldr_was]

He was never good at wrapping things. Give him a pair of scissors and a roll of tape, and you'd get a mess masquerading as a present in return. The edges would never be smooth, the paper would wrinkle and there was always the odd patch that he forgot to cover, revealing a great deal of the gift beneath.

Snake could never achieve the end result he had hoped for when wrapping presents, so this year, he opted for a less orthodox approach.

Sitting on his bed as he tied a thin strip of green ribbon around the clear pink plastic run-about-ball he purchased from the pet store earlier that morning, he took another look at the now chattering creature inside (who either hated being in his grasp like this or just wanted to be left alone, free to play in new toy) and frowned.

(the clerk on duty at the shop did say they were wonderful companions for Big Boss' age demographic and, grudging as it was to admit, the thing was pretty cute--)Well. It was the thought that counted anyway

[baldr_was]

"..."

He watched the rodent run off in the opposite direction with an impartial glance, indifferent and not phased at all as if this sort of thing had a tendency to happen these days.

Excluding the hamster, that wasn't entirely inaccurate. Like other such choice topics (including the dwindling lifespan of his dog and the inconvenient trust he gave to prospective and potentially threatening recruits among other subjects), it was not something he was particularly fond of discussing. There would be a buildup of tension and always something, something to act like the proverbial final straw that broke the camel's back before they would actually get around to talking about it, often tersely.

This wasn't any exception.

"The alternative isn't any better."

[magna_nimity]

"You can say that because you've experienced it first-hand," Big Boss said, keeping his prenatural calm. He knew that Snake would be stubborn about this, but he had the right to voice his own opinion.

"And it made you stronger, in the end. Made you see things differently. One can only learn to value safety if they've seen and experienced the opposite. And it doesn't always have to be a bad experience, either."

[baldr_was]

"It doesn't," Snake agreed. Though placid for the most part, his tone had an edge to it. As if he expected to be berated for caring, of all things.

"But it usually is."

[magna_nimity]

Big Boss heaved a sigh. This was, quite frankly, going nowhere. He was willing to keep the hamster, under the condition that--

"I'm not putting it in a cage or a ball," he said with finality.

[baldr_was]

"If that's what you want."

He got to his feet, patting Kegluneq on the head before turning to head away, back down the hall.

That was sort of pointless, wasn't it.

"Just take care of him," Snake added as an afterthought. The more he thought about it, it wouldn't be too much of a stretch to see Big Boss eating the damn thing once he got bored with it, as far as Snake was concerned. At least he would get some use out of it.

Next year, I'll just get him a gift card.