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As the sun faded from one side of the world, the Nomad drifted in the sky, a cloudy haze covering it’s form. The night sky was beginning to show itself; the moon was but a sliver above them. Inside the aimless plane, Otacon sat upon a makeshift couch, his eyes focused on the screen in front of him. It couldn’t really count as a couch; it was more just a military bed fitted out with pillows against the walls.
The scientist was typing away at a laptop, his larger monitors and computers switched off to give Sunny some peace and quiet whilst she slept upstairs.
Beside him slept Solid Snake, who seemed to have hit the hay far earlier then Sunny. His bandana lazily slipped over his eyes, probably to avoid the light given off by Hal’s computer.
His head laid on Otacon’s shoulder, a cigar in his right hand as it dangled centimeters off the ground. For the first time in a long while, he looked at peace, his breathing seemed soft compared to what Hal was used to. He’d wake up in a cold sweat most nights, his hands shaking in terror as Otacon had to rush to him, holding Snake until he could rest again.
Hal remained silent, still clicking at a keyboard.
Although no one spoke, he treasured those small moments the most. He weakly smiled, running a hand gently through Snake’s greying hair. It felt almost fluffy, wispy to the touch. Otacon lowered the monitor of the laptop, nestling his back into the fortress of pillows behind him. Without notice, a hand was lifted from its place at Hal’s side and twisted his fingers in his dark-brown locks.
“When did you get the brown hair, again…?” The soldier’s coarse voice sounded like a drunken murmur as his head laid buried in Otacon’s black turtleneck. “Huh?” The scientist whispered back; his hands still entangled in his lover’s hair.
“Back on Shadow Moses, you had grey hair.” Dave muttered, shifting his bandana up so that his pale indigo eyes met Hal’s hazel one’s. Otacon thought for a moment, before pushing his glasses up and replying. “Yeah, I did…” He had never liked his natural hair colour, it felt like a bleak reminder of his heritage.
“I didn’t like it much, so I started dyeing it. It made me look sort of old, y’know?” Hal spoke without thinking, before realizing that his comment made Snake shift, a grunt coming from his throat. “Oh no, I don’t mean…Y-you look good with grey hair, I just-,” He began profusely apologizing, pulling his hands away from Snake’s messy hair and covering his mouth in embarrassment.
The soldier looked at him for a moment before cracking an oddly placed smile, before flicking aside his cigar he had fiddling between his fingers and resting his right hand on Otacon’s arm. “We switched hair colours. I used to have brown hair, and you used to have grey hair…” Dave whispered in a small chuckle, his left hand still combing Hal’s curls.
Otacon blinked, trying to process what exactly Snake had just said. Before he knew it, his face felt flushed and red. “A-haha, I guess we did, technically speaking.” He quietly giggled, slipping one hand around Dave’s waist and cradling him closer. Sliding his laptop off his lap, Otacon moved to wrap both his arms around Snake. “All four of us could have grey hair.” Dave’s voice was nearly inaudible, his face now buried in Hal’s collarbone, his legs taking the place of the laptop on the scientist’s thighs.
“All…four? Ah, yeah, Raiden too.” Otacon adjusted his glasses, before placing his hand back on Dave’s hair, as the soldier grunted in response, probably translating as a “yes”. Otacon chuckled, lifting his partner’s face up slightly with his thumb and forefinger.
“So, when did we adopt Raiden exactly?” He pecked Snake on the bridge of his nose, earning a soft chortle from the aging man. “No idea. He’s just part of the family. Sort of like a nephew.” The soldier sighed, not sure why he brought their angsty cyborg ally into the conversation.
“One big, happy family. Not exactly what I thought it would be.” Otacon mentioned playfully, running his thumb through Snake’s hair. “I didn’t think I’d even have one, Hal. You made the impossible possible.” Dave smiled, his eyes squinting in a grin so genuine Hal nearly collapsed then and there. The scientist twitched his hand, his face swelling up with a sort of pride.
“Oh, you’re gonna make me blush!” An understatement on Hal’s part. He was about to start weeping on the spot at David’s affectionate words.
But there were no time for the tears to build up in Otacon’s eyes, as a thump noise came from the stairs, making the scientist jump. Well, attempted to jump, as Snake’s heavy weight caused it to feel more like an exaggerated twitch.
“Could you two quiet down? Sunny’s trying to get to sleep.” A robotic voice sliced through the whispering air, the cyborg being the cause of the thumping. Raiden was struggling to pace down the stairs, nearly stumbling over as his hand grabbed the railing. Snake was the first to sit up from his place on Otacon’s chest, a loud grunt emitting from his throat.
“Sorry, sorry, Mr. Metal legs.” He snarky retorted, eyes ducking in an un-subtle roll.
Hal stifled a laugh, amused only slightly by Snake’s new, affectionate nickname for the bionic man his just referred to as family. The cyborg in question only scoffed, used to the pretentious man’s insults by now. “Sure, old man. But if you two are gonna get all lovey-dovey, do it when Sunny’s actually asleep.” He hissed, no venom in his tone of voice.
Hal blinked, before taking his arm off of David’s waist and twisting his wrist to look his watch.
“Sunny’s not asleep? But it’s nearly midnight!” He remarked, looking up at the cyborg as if he was the cause of his daughter’s sleeping troubles. Raiden raised his metallic hands in defense. “S’not my fault. She told me, and I quote,” he empathized the word “quote” making damn well sure that Snake wouldn’t laugh at him for his next words. “If Papa and Dad have nightmares, I want to be there for them!” He repeated in a higher voice, failing to imitate the young girl.
Snake’s mouth gaped into something of an “O”, vividly remembering one stormy night where Sunny ran to sleep with Hal and himself. David ended up nearly frightening her to death, screaming out names of enemies and long-dead friends as a horrid nightmare consumed him. Suffering some guilt swelling up in his stomach, Snake practically shot up from the makeshift couch, and sped away from his husband. He climbed the stairs at a shockingly fast pace of someone of his physical age, striding past a confused Raiden.
Feeling his protective father mode switch on at full speed, Otacon did the same, upping his pace in a frail attempt to keep up with his super-soldier of a lover. Before he knew it, Raiden was alone on the stairs, his gears whirring in an effort to figure out what just happened. “Alright…Good talk.” He mused to himself and began wobbling back up to stairs to his bed.
~~~
Unsurprisingly, Snake was the first to reach Sunny’s small room. It was dark and small, a desk with opened books, and notes sprawled out along the table. There was also a bed, a small, light blue bed with a lump and light being covered by the blankets on top. From the outlines of the shadows, Snake could tell she was reading something. The soldier, as used to such, began creeping slowly towards his daughter, trying not to scare her, considering how damn jumpy she could be. Unfortunately, Hal was quite out of breath after catching up with his husband, his presence being painfully obvious as he was panting awfully loudly.
“Dad…?” Sunny dragged out the word, somewhat puzzledly as she carefully lifted the blanket over her head. Hal had a hand on his chest, trying to regulate his breathing, before puffing his cheeks and running over to the bedside. “Sunny! You should have gone to sleep hours ago! What are you doing?” He raised his voice only marginally; the man wouldn’t dare raise it above a weak effort of stern. Sunny was only a little saddened at the words, thank God, thought Hal, as she opened her mouth and softly responded.
“Not until I know how to stop Papa’s nightmares…S-so he won’t be s-scared anymore…”
She moved the book she was engrossed in close to her chest, tensing up in the process. David stood there; a bit taken aback by Sunny’s words. He knew she was a stubborn girl, but this? Wanting to ward off his nightmares?
He envied her kindness in that moment. Otacon placed a hand on Sunny’s back, laughing quietly whilst shaking his head. “Dave’s nightmares…they don’t-they…” The scientist trailed off, trying to fumble together words. Out of ideas, he looked pleadingly up at Snake, who took the signal and propped himself down on the bed next to Sunny.
“My nightmares, they don’t scare me. I wake up on those nights not because I’m frightened, but because I remember them. You don’t need to be worried over me, Sunny.” He spoke, his eyes fixed on the shadows in the corner. Sunny looked up at him, as if he was speaking another language when he said it. “B-but I want to help…” She whimpered delicately, her eyes now staring down at her feet in sadness. Hal brushed her side bangs to the side, and sat himself down on the bed, the girl now squeezed between her parents.
“You could help Dave by getting a good night’s sleep, s-so you can wake up early and make him some eggs!” Otacon half-joked, bringing to memory just how eventful Sunny’s cooking could be. Dave pretended to yack at this, but still laughed all the same. Sunny looked up at the scientist, eyes bright with determination as she threw her book over to Hal and pushed all her weight into shoving him off the bed.
“Alright then! I’m going to sleep, I promise! I’ll make the best eggs for you, Papa!” She exclaimed joyfully, throwing her blankets over her, and shuffling down into bed. Dave got off the bed, still amused by her resolve. “Woah, soldier, settle down! You haven’t even hugged your parents goodnight yet!” He remarked, his voice filling with a warmth that Hal stopped and nearly melted at.
Otacon and Snake both leaned down, wrapping their arms against the grey-haired girl, who practically squeezed Snake to death, probably hoping to crush the bad dreams out of him. After what felt like a long time, another person joined the hug, their metallic arms cold yet comforting. “Kept you waiting, huh?” Raiden’s raspy voice dragged out, as David caved in and pulled him closer into the hug, which caused both Hal and the cyborg in question to tense up.
“That’s my line, Raiden.” He spoke quietly so that only the silver-haired robot could hear.
Eventually, the three unravelled their arms, and made their way out of the small room. “Night Papa, night Dad, night Ridey!” She waved, a huge grin on her face. Waving back, Hal slowly closed the door, making sure it was barely a creak as it closed.
“’Ridey’? What kind of a nickname is that?” Snake lightheartedly taunted the cyborg, who, is he didn’t have white blood, would have been blushing wildly. “The cutest damn nickname I’ve ever had, that’s what!” He retorted, his voice rumbling through his artificial voice box.
“Now, now, Raiden, no need to get upset. I’ll get you hooked up for the night.” Otacon offered, pointing to the medical bay that Raiden came to call a bed, but his gesture was refused as the cyborg raised his hand up and replied.
“No need, I can handle it myself. I don’t need to be wet-nursed, thanks.” He didn’t mean to sound insulting, but he realized his words were sour when Snake promptly elbowed him in the ribs.
“Sorry, sorry, it…didn’t mean to come out that way. I appreciate the offer, but no.” He quickly rephrased, letting out a long sigh. He walked off, his claw-like feet stamping on the ground at a lighter weight than previously. He probably was trying to keep Sunny undisturbed. “Goodnight, uncle Snake.” He exclaimed as he slid one leg over onto the bench, picking up a wire. Snake grunted, a more confused type of sound than an irritated one.
“You heard that?” He groaned, solemnly regretting his previous statement.
“Every word.” Raiden answered plainly, his eyes focused on untangling the wires that littered the ground around him.
Otacon laughed faintly, brushing off of a cough when death-glared by his beloved husband. Snake didn’t realize he was blushing like mad, until he could almost feel his face burning up. Hal, after silently waving goodnight to Raiden, turned to David and caressed his cheek softly. “You should get some sleep too, dear.” He murmured, his index finger tracing down the wrinkles on the soldier’s face.
“I love you, Hal…” David’s usual, gruff voice faded into a subtle whimper, his eyes closing as his hands trailed up Otacon’s arms. The scientist pulled him into a mellow embrace, quickly placing his lips on Snake’s dry, scarred lips. “I love you too, David.” Hal whispered back, before slowly parting their lips and sliding his hands down to his side, as David’s hands followed suite, their fingers meeting and tugging themselves together.
“To the world let us be…”