Work Text:
The crackle of the radio was what grabbed Kaz’s attention, but it wasn’t what woke him up. Truthfully, he had been up for an hour or so before the man beside him woke up. His limbs always ached in the morning and Kaz could tell what kind of day it was going to be depending on how bad the pain was. No matter how much time passed, they always reminded him of his past. The years that lead up to where he was now. Waking up to another morning on Mother base, with Snake by his side. Or, with him by Snake’s side. Kaz turned slowly as he watched Snake pick a song- Diamond Dogs. His mouth quirked into a smile as he watched the man move around, to get ready. Snake was often out for multiple days, never staying long enough for them to really spend time together, much less spend the night with him. Snake’s small smile when his staring was noticed gave him the push he needed to get out of bed. Kaz pushed himself up with his arm and rolled over to land onto his other arm-
There was no other arm, of course. Kaz would never forget that, but early mornings placed him in a blissful place. Looking at Snake’s face… it took him a few seconds to remember the shrapnel that made itself at home. Snake only took a few steps before Kaz shook his head.
“I don’t need your pity.” Kaz grumbled, not thinking for a moment about the implications of what he just said.
Snake froze, “Kaz…”
“I don’t.”
“This isn’t pity.”
“I mean look at me. I can hardly- What are you doing?”
What Snake was doing was pulling him out of bed, draping Kaz’s arm around his neck as he lifted him to stand, “Looking at you. You can’t stay in bed all morning anyways.”
Kaz looked towards his prosthetic nearby before he turned back to Snake. He didn’t need it, not when he could lean on him instead. If asked, Kaz would swear up and down that he hated this. Being without his prosthetic made him feel as useless as he was. Snake was different. Snake had seen him at his best and at his worst. If asked, Snake would leave him alone, but Kaz didn’t want to be alone.
He wanted to be seen. He wanted to be held.
“You sure you don’t have anywhere to be going?” Kaz murmured into his shoulder.
“No.” A simple response. The song changed- Dancing with Tears in my Eyes. Kaz couldn’t tell if Snake was thinking about it, but he started to slowly shift back in forth with the song. There was no way Snake couldn’t notice the irony in the lyrics, but he wasn’t going to be the one to say it.
Instead, he pushed into the movement to continue their sway best he could, “Taking time for yourself? Am I forgetting a holiday?”
Snake chuckled as he stepped back to give them more room, lifting Kaz to carry him more, “Nothing special. We earned our rest, after all, and we have to have something more to get out of bed for.”
It was an odd way for Snake to phrase it. Kaz sighed, “Snake, we still have plenty of work to do. We can’t-” Once again, his words were cut off. Snake spun around and suddenly dipped him, catching him completely off guard. He would have fallen if Snake wasn’t holding on so tightly.
Snake pressed a kiss to his forehead, then his nose, before reaching his lips. In that moment, Kaz’s brain stopped working as he followed his instincts- Kiss back. He tightened his grip on the back of Snake’s neck, pulling himself up as much as he could to kiss back. Their (mostly undefined) relationship wasn’t one that they spoke about openly, but rumors spread quickly like a disease. People talked and the Diamond Dogs were a relatively accepting group. If anyone had an issue with what Big Boss did behind closed doors with his second-in-command, they could tell it to his face. Not many people had the courage for a confrontation of that kind. Not on a base where half the people had dreamed of being in Kaz’s position, anyways.
He was intoxicating. His movements held grace in their violence and subtleties. Kaz couldn’t keep his eyes off Snake nor could he keep his hand away when they had privacy. Neither could Snake, Kaz noted as he realized that Snake had already put on his own prosthetic. He never slept with it on. This morning was planned despite all of Snake’s desperate moves to distract him.
The song changed again, but Kaz didn’t register it. “Snake-” Kaz pulled at Snake to stop him, “Stop.”
“I’m sorry.” Snake pulled away quickly, almost embarrassed.
“No, it’s…” Kaz fell silent as Snake set him down. The song changed finally registered in his brain. Not Your Kind of People.
Snake sat beside him, “I… wanted to give you a nice morning. A nice day. Maybe make you some breakfast or…”
“Breakfast? Snake, what the hell are you doing?” He wasn’t angry, just bewildered with everything doing on.
“I want you to be happy. Just for today.”
“Where is this coming from?”
Snake slowly got up to turn off the radio before looking back towards Kaz, “People have been talking.”
“About us? They’re always talking. That’s never bothered you.”
“No.” Snake stopped in front of him, “About you. The way you’ve been acting. You spent so much time fighting for revenge and now you have it. Skull Face is dead. We killed him.”
Kaz’s throat tightened at the mention, “What are you trying to say?”
“You’ve been dealing with so much and I stay so far away. I want to make it up to you.”
“By…” Kaz looked around the room as he grabbed his leg prosthetic, putting it on, “We’re going to have to talk about it eventually, Snake. Where we go now that we won. What this means for us and all.”
“We can talk now.” Snake offered but Kaz shook his head. He grabbed Snake’s hand as he flipped the music back on, turning it to a random song. The Man Who Sold the World. It wasn’t the best song to dance to, but in a way, it was their song.
It was Snake’s song.
Kaz grabbed onto his hand as he pulled him close, “You’re right, though. It’s been a long nine years and we won.”
“We won.” Snake repeated, “No one’s in our way now.”
There was a shift in the way he said that. In a way, it was more Naked Snake than it was Venom Snake, but Kaz found himself not caring. He had spent so much time caring, after all. It wouldn’t hurt to not care for one morning.
As Kaz started their small sway up again, he hummed softly with the song, “I haven’t forgotten about breakfast.”
“Shit.”
Kaz snorted, “Don’t worry, Snake, I’ll help you.”
It’s what he does best, after all.