[004] - video, forward dated to morning

[formerfoxhound]

[It's early morning, an hour or so after the sirens sounded across the city and signaled the end of the Darkness. Most days, that's Snake's cue to go home and grab a bit of rest.]

[Several straight weeks of fending off monsters after dark, and canvassing the city for a certain shapeshifting serial-killer in the daylight. They were making some

Comments

[video]

[deceptive_lulz]

Guess you never ran into Vamp, huh? Heheheheh...

[A corner of her lip turned up awkwardly, but she relaxed as she went onto a topic she was far more familiar with.]

But yes, the monsters do come back every night. Heeheehee -- gives me something to do, after work.

[video]

[formerfoxhound]

That bloodsucking freak? I wouldn't say that.

[...probably not the most tactful thing to say when there are some actual vampires in the Port, not just wannabe weirdos. Oh well. He lifts the hand holding his cigarette up to indicate a couple fading scars on his forearm.]

Came away with a few souvenirs, too. I know what you're getting at. Don't know how he managed it, but it didn't last. Friend of mine took him out not for good not too long ago.

[Or. Y'know. Not. Not that he knows that, yet. He makes a short, unhappy sound at the following confirmation.]

Makes things a little tricky, don't you think? Even those things could be able to learn from their mistakes.

[video]

[deceptive_lulz]

[She takes a moment to glance over his scars. Huh. She never noticed that on him, but then again his entire body was pretty well covered when she faced him. At Snake's reply about Vamp being dead though, she raised a brow.]

Are you...sure about that? Heheh? I mean about taking Vamp down?

[She shrugged about the monsters though.]

Then you have to become stronger too -- heeheehee -- you'll only evolve if you take on stronger enemies, right?

[video]

[formerfoxhound]

[Didn't remotely have that kind of gear on him, these days. Luckily, he's still healthy enough not to need to rely on it.]

If that's what you're aiming for. You don't have to worry about me. But I'm not in this for myself.

[He's got more than enough faith in his own skills to do what has to be done. But he sure as hell can't be everywhere. He doesn't answer the question about Vamp right away, picking up the NV to get a better look at her, instead.]

...it's Sarina, right?

[They'd spoken a few times, shortly. ...some time after they'd gotten into a brief firefight, but since she didn't seem intent on repeating it, he wasn't going to take it personally. Snake knew she was from the same place as him. Likely involved in special forces, if she recognized him and Vamp.]

[Video]

[madeinoblivion]

[Monsters! One of Joe's favorite topics, and much better than the weather. So he clicks on his video in between swapping out Karaoke tracks at Sector Zero, Shutting the door of his sound booth and ignoring the customers belting out on the stage.]

Meaner? I don't know about that, but-

[He slouches back, reaching for his soda.]

But if they come back (and I heard they do too, I think I've seen the same ones before), and they hunt your down again? If they remember you? Sure, they're gonna be nastier. Wouldn't you be?

[Video]

[formerfoxhound]

[He gives the feed a scrutinizing look at the new voice. You can be enthusiastic for both of them, Joe.]

...considering the reason I've been gunning them down in the first place, I can't say I've got a whole lot of pity.

[He rubs at his eyes with the heel of his hand, holding the lit end of his cigarette carefully away. Neverending war of a different sort than he was used to dealing with. Not to mention that any headway they made in clearing an area out would definitely be undone every night. Great.]

I thought they might actually be changing their tactics or something. Maybe I've just made some new friends. Thanks for the heads-up, anyway.

[Video]

[madeinoblivion]

Tactics? Tch. Most of them aren't that smart. Or good at making friends.

You've read Darwin's guide, right?

[Video]

[formerfoxhound]

Smart enough to hold a grudge though, huh?

[A little wryly. Snake, on the other hand, is really good at making the wrong kind of friends. Mostly the kind that want to kill him.]

I've seen it. It's a good idea, even if it's a little on the incomplete side. Couldn't hurt to get a few more opinions.

[Apparently estimated at cataloging "less than a tenth" of the population by the man himself. Hard to know for sure. But no reason to limit yourself to one source of intel, in a city full of people. As long as you know to take what you hear with a grain of salt.]

Text; encrypted

[under_thehood]

[Referring to the mention of death not being permanent:]

Death isn't permanent to too many people, period.

Text; encrypted

[formerfoxhound]

[Not an immediate response. Maybe because he's working out if or how to answer. Or he's just finishing his cigarette first. Either way, the answer comes back in kind.]

Speaking from experience?

Re: Text; encrypted

[under_thehood]

I wouldn't be typing this if I wasn't.

Text; encrypted

[formerfoxhound]

[Suspected as much. He doesn't have a lot of reasons to believe it. Doesn't have a lot of reasons to disbelieve it at this point, either.]

I'll have to take your word for it. Hope it's working out for you. Second chances aren't too easy to come by.

[Despite what he had said in the feed, he'd seen the dead come back a few times, even back home. Thing was, there was always a tradeoff. No one came back without a price. Not Fox. Not Liquid. Not even Vamp. It wasn't something he was ever prepared to take lightly.]

Not to sound skeptical, but there always seems to be a catch.

audio.

[barebacking]

You look very handsome this morning.

The sunlight across your skin paints such a pretty picture.

audio.

[formerfoxhound]

[In that case, he makes sure not to answer with video. :| His voice is flat and audibly irritated. Snake is tired. He has very little patience for lunatics, today.]

What do you want?

audio.

[barebacking]

To compliment, of course.

audio.

[formerfoxhound]

[Flattery does not work on Snake like it does on his brother.]

You can save it.

[action]

[otaku_mk_ii]

It wouldn't surprise me if things were harder to kill than they should be.

[Otacon walked over with his own coffee, smiling awkwardly.]

Going off the assumption that things are never really easy here, at least.

[action]

[formerfoxhound]

[He hums an assent instead of answering verbally from the get-go. Then, dryly, and without looking up-]

Almost makes you miss the good old days.

[When they were on the run and tracking down shadow governments and blowing up giant robots and chasing down Liquid's ghost. At least most of his problems back home had the sense to stay dead when he put a bullet in them. Snake had been back just long enough to wash most of the grime and blood off of him and brew some coffee. He'd been quiet about it. So either Hal had been awake already or the smell of the coffee had been enough to draw him out.]

You're up early.

[action]

[otaku_mk_ii]

Almost.

[He shrugged at the last part--Otacon was attracted to coffee like most people were attracted to oxygen.]

I could say the same to you, y'know. Sleeping now and then might be a good idea, Snake.

[action]

[formerfoxhound]

...Hmn.

[As talkative as ever, this morning. He makes a small hedging noise and picks up his mug to make room for Otacon to sit, if he wants to.]

I'm getting around to it. Don't worry. I plan to take it easy for a while.

[Long enough to recover, at least. It takes a lot to run Snake down, but too much time out at night was a good way to do it. He's really not sure how Urick manages it so cheerfully. But then, he doesn't know that Urick can bounce back from the dead much more easily than most.]

[He's stubborn, but not so stubborn that he'll take unnecessary risks. A couple days off would allow him to heal up and get some steam back. Snake's plans rarely go quite as they're supposed to, though. He'll soon be pretty preoccupied once Fox decides to get in touch.]