Work Text:
It was pitiful to see him like this, but Ocelot was glad he was the only one who was allowed to.
Even after weeks and week of rigorous training and strict dieting, the silver haired man still noted how small Snake felt when he wrapped his arms around him. Maybe the echo from his sobs made the room seem bigger than it really was, or maybe he was subconsciously comparing him to the stature of the real Big Boss. Who knew. He squeezed Snake harder in his arms and stroked his hair.
It started in short bursts. At times he would see him slow down while running errands around Mother Base until he came to a complete stop and for several uncomfortable seconds stared off into the distance before spiking back into his routine. Other times he would clutch his chest and breathe in short bursts, beads of sweat rolling down his face until he reestablished his composure. Nobody else but Ocelot noticed this. Then again nobody knew ‘him’ like Ocelot did.
Snake was a flawed, finite creation. A rough diamond as opposed to a diamond in the rough. What was left of the chief medic on MSF had been cemented over by stories of the legendary soldier Big Boss and plenty of anesthetic. Closing up the cracks generated from what was left of the meek subordinate below wouldn’t be easy, Ocelot knew that much from the beginning, but that didn’t mean he anticipated what bizarre habits would be born from it. Snake audibly sniffled snot back into his nostrils. Ocelot thought it was quite disgusting.
“Hush, hush. It’s alright. It happens to everyone. Take as much time as you need. You’re our boss. You’re our boss. You’re our boss.” Every time this happened he remembered to tack those three small words onto the end, almost humming it in a way that let Snake feel the vibrations against his skin. He knew he liked that gentle sensation.
The remnants of vomit dripped down the side of Snake’s mouth. Dried up tears and sweat were painted across his face (though you would never know since he had burrowed himself against Ocelot’s chest) and he was shivering.
“ I’m sorry b-bos…Ocelot. I feel….it’s scary.” His words were torn between the persona of a verbose leader and a scared grunt. His deep voice would have made it almost comical had it not been so sad.
“I don’t know what to do…I’m sorry..Boss..”
“Do you know what’s wrong this time?”
Snake shook his head against Ocelot’s chest.
“Is it the nightmare about the helicopter?”
He shook again.
“Do you need to talk to me about it?”
No answer.
He rolled his face up off of Ocelot’s chest. From Ocelot’s perspective, he looked less like Big Boss and more like a puffy faced partially shaved dog. He blinked and squinted his eyes a bit. With Ocelot’s downwards gaze enveloping him he felt his serious demeanor slowly come back to. He retracted himself from Ocelot and rubbed his face.
These bouts would never last long but from the perspective of Snake might as well have had. While he was positive no other Mother Base soldier would mind him leaning against them and sobbing he felt the need to conduct himself a bit differently around Ocelot.
Snake stood up from the bed in the dimly lit room he had so intimately curled himself up in moments beforehand and uttered a quiet “Thank you.” before exiting, his face slightly flustered. At first he would always attempt to pretend to dissociate and forget about it but Venom's humility wasn't always up for it. Ocelot grinned.
He never thought too much of it, for all this imitation Boss was worth, he thought these instances of erroneous divergence in Snake’s behavior weren't all that bad.
With the right amount of Big Boss’ face, you might even call them kind of cute.