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It was a quiet day in South Africa. The air was damp, the ground was warm, the climate overall was muggy. Even the birds in the trees outside sat unnaturally silent on their perches this morning. And for this, the figure slumbering in a bed in the guesthouse was thankful. Unfortunately for him, one man had snuck through the window unnoticed, intent on breaking the silence.
"Snake."
"….Mmmhm."
"Snake, get up. Now."
"Huh…hmmmph."
The other man’s words had barely registered in Snake’s mind before he found himself grabbed by the shoulder and forcibly thrown out of the bed he had been sleeping in. Dazed, and with eyes still half-shut, he flung a fist out instinctively, but found he was flailing at empty air. His unknown assailant had circled behind him and gave Snake a shove; Snake toppled onto the ground with a dull thud and a groan of defeat.
"It’s not very nice to attack a sleeping man," he murmured in a low voice.
"Snake, you of all people should know that what’s ‘nice’ doesn’t count for anything on the battlefield," answered the other man. "Besides, you’re so tense all the time, even when you sleep. "Just relax."
Snake blinked and looked up. He squinted, trying to make out who was standing above him.
"That you, Fox?"
"I don’t know who else it would be. You planning on getting up any time soon?"
Snake groaned and rolled over on the cold hardwood floor, picking his pillow up and dusting it off before sticking his head under it. He looked at his watch. Five in the morning. Just peachy. It wasn’t as if he was unused to the idea of waking up early, but given the choice, he’d rather simply stay up all night instead. Of course that was essentially what he had done the past day as he infiltrated Outer Heaven, but really, who was paying attention to stuff like that? Not Gray Fox, it seemed, as he reached down to tug Snake up by the collar of his shirt.
"It really is like you to think waking me up this early is a good idea," Snake said as he struggled to pull himself out of Fox’s grasp. "I was sort of hoping that after rescuing you and all that junk that I’d at least earned the right to a little bit of sleep afterwards."
Snake continued eyeing Gray Fox apprehensively as he wriggled loose. "And honestly, ‘just relax’? You’re one to talk…after all that junk you’ve been through, I’m surprised you can fall asleep at all anymore."
Fox let go of the shirt collar and Snake fell back onto the bed. "You get used to it after a while," he said, meeting Snake’s wary gaze with his own unnerving stare. "I’m surprised you still get so worked up every time you go on a mission, considering how much of a professional you are already."
Snake shrugged. "I won’t lie and say that I don’t enjoy it at times, but I still get nervous. I still fear for my life. I still wonder about the people I killed…"
"That’s natural."
"I know, but I don’t want to start getting too mopey or anything like that. I’ve still got a long way to go as a soldier and an operative. I almost feel like most of what helped me rescue you was blind luck. I mean, a soldier could’ve shot me, that gas mask could’ve been broken, I could’ve gotten captured myself, I--"
He trailed off as he noticed the older man glaring at him and walking closer, prowling in a manner more befitting a man with a feline codename…
"You only insult yourself if you say things like that," he said as he continued towards Snake. "You insult yourself, and you insult me too."
"Er, sir, I didn’t mean to-"
"It’s a good thing I respect you as much as I do, Snake," interrupted Fox as he drew almost uncomfortably close, resting his hands on Snake’s shoulders as Snake began shifting backwards bit by bit. "I owe you my life. The most decorated and seasoned veteran of FOX-HOUND owes his life to a rookie. I think you can see where I’m coming from here."
"Offending you wasn’t my intent, Gray Fox, I was more intent on saving you."
Fox smiled, and this made Snake even more uncomfortable than the physical contact somehow. He noted a million things up close that he had never noticed before; he counted the lines underneath narrow eyes, saw the strands of grey hair now outnumbered the blond, noted how the veteran’s crooked smile mirrored his slightly crooked ears. "I’m not offended. I’m honored that you of all people were the one to rescue me. I just feel as if I haven’t been living up to my reputation as of late."
Snake hadn’t even noticed that he’d backed into a wall until now. Shit. Some spy he was…
"What’s the matter Snake? Not used to getting cornered by a fox like this?"
Snake rolled his eyes. "I’m pretty sure a snake could eat a fox if he really wanted to."
"Going to eat me now, are you? What are you going to do, unhinge your jaws?"
The two men stood there for a moment, both unsure where exactly the other one was going with the conversation. The uneasy silence settled upon the room once again, until Snake decided to speak up.
"Why did you come here?"
Fox looked away. "To thank you." He turned to face Snake again, still refusing to look him in the eye. "Hell, I wouldn’t be standing here today otherwise. I really don’t even know if I should be saying this, but I…I want to turn my title over to you."
He finally lifted his gaze from the floor, expecting to meet Snake’s. He met with a fist instead.
"What the hell was that for Snake?"
"To knock some sense into you. Jesus Fox, you’ve been my hero ever since I came into the unit. I wouldn’t have been able to do anything if I hadn’t been taught by you. It feels wrong to accept any title that I don’t deserve."
"How do you know I wasn’t just trying to pass it on for another reason? Like if I were to leave the unit…"
More awkward silence. This time it was Fox who finally broke it.
"Well, since I feel like I don’t deserve my title, and you feel like you don’t deserve it either, let’s settle things then. Right here, right now."
"Settle things? What are you even talking about?"
"A battle," Fox exclaimed, as his eyes lit up, "to determine who deserves the title of ‘Fox’." He pushed the bed Snake had been sleeping in several minutes earlier towards the corner, and picked up the nightstand and placed it in front of the door as a makeshift barricade. "Man versus man, no weapons, no spectators, no holds barred. Just you and me."
Snake stood and watched as his friend and superior ran about the cabin, sweeping the floor and laying out ground rules. He had no idea what had gotten into him, and he was too tired to bother trying to reason it out.
"You’re crazy," he mumbled under his breath as Fox dropped the last musty old rug into the corner, sending a cloud of dust up around him. He strolled into the center of the room, looking downright triumphant at the sight of a clean "battlefield".
"Maybe I am," replied Fox. "But if I am, then you must be too."
He grinned that lopsided grin again.
"Ready Snake?"
Snake smiled back. "Ready as I’ll ever be."
In a split second Fox has closed the gap between them, all fists and feet and furious pounding. Snake ducked a particularly nasty punch and retaliated with an uppercut. He went for another punch but Fox deftly slid to the side and sent Snake sprawling with a high kick.
"So much for snakes beating foxes, eh? I’m not even winded."
Snake got up and promptly had his legs kicked out from under him. The impact from hitting the floor a second time left the palms of his hands numb, but he wasn’t deterred in the least.
"I’m surprised you’re not making jokes about this, really," he mused.
"What, about how fitting it is for a snake to lie around on his belly?"
"Something like that," said Snake as he launched himself at Fox’s legs from his position on the floor. Fox braced himself for the hit, and struck Snake’s face as they both fell over and began wrestling on the ground. Each man’s every move was watched by the other; they could read each other’s body language like an open book. Every punch, every kick, every grapple, Snake learned Fox’s patterns and Fox learned Snake’s. They were on their feet again, dodging and weaving, keeping time to the rhythm of battle. It had almost started to feel like dancing.
"Seems like I’ve trained you well," yelled Fox, panting as he drew back a bit. "I’m starting to reconsider this whole codename-transfer business after all." His body was aching; he wasn’t as young as he used to be, but certainly wasn’t going to let on to anyone that he had suffered any sort of decline. When your body gets tired, you don’t stop fighting, he thought. You just change the way you fight.
"Just because I’m younger doesn’t mean I’m always wrong, you know," shouted Snake, equally out of breath. His arms were sore, his legs still hurt from yesterday. Was it really just yesterday he had been on a mission? He cursed himself under his breath. If only he had remembered to lock the window last night, he might not be in this situation right now.
The two soldiers’ eyes met from across the room, sensing each other’s weakness. In unison they ran towards each other and collided in midair before finally collapsing onto each other, bruised and damp and breathing hard.
"Fox…can we settle this…some other time?"
"Might as well. You might want to change pajamas though…yours are all sweaty now."
"…you’re the one who interrupted my nap."
Fox reached over and ruffled Snake’s hair before lying down on the ground. Snake stared back at him with an expression of somewhat-offended confusion, but decided against saying anything and laid down on the floor as well. They rested, catching their breath. There was birdsong coming from the window outside, and the early rays of sunlight glinted off the beads of sweat on Snake’s forehead. Fox reached over and untied his bandana and tossed it over to Snake. Thanks, he mouthed wordlessly, as he mopped his brow before tossing the strip of red cloth back to its owner.
Fox didn’t know how long the two of them had rested, but he had a dim awareness of the fact that the angle of the sun’s rays had changed, and were now striking him in the face. He should probably have left by now. He figured he should at least let Snake know before he departed…
"I guess we’ll call it even for now, but I do expect a rematch later."
There was no response. Fox propped himself up and leaned over to look at Snake. He gave a slight chuckle at what he saw, half in amusement, half in exasperation. Snake had fallen asleep again.
Fox stood up and went to crawl through the window, but he froze after reaching the windowsill. In the mid-morning light, he saw the furniture and rugs and accessories lying in the corner of the room where he had haphazardly tossed them earlier. He glanced at Snake, and then walked towards where he had thrown the pillow and blanket. He propped the snoring young man’s head up and rather gingerly stuck the pillow underneath before throwing the blanket over the sleeping Snake. He hesitated there for a second, watching his friend as he snored softly, before climbing out the window.