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You were a medic at foxhound, fixing up reckless soldiers here and there, mostly a thankless repetitive job, so you take pleasures in memorizing the
faces that stepped in more often to your office then others, which gave you some much needed variety in the daily schedule, which included the actual
legendary solid snake. But back then he wasn't that well known yet, his skill was impressive, yes, but to you he was just another idiotic man that loved
to jump into conflict. But you noticed that he was one of the more often returning faces, and not only that, but he seemed to go all out his way to see
you, because he asked for your treatment with the excuse that he "had issues trusting other medics", and some of the cuts on his arms seemed out
of place, to fresh, to ... intentional. You asked him multiple times why he didn't just treat the small easy wounds by himself, since he was able to, but he
always responded with "You do it better, it heals faster by your touch." and then proceeded to boast about his abilities on the battlefield for the hundred
time. Now you knew you were not all to bad looking, and often got hit on by soldiers that had some emotional issues or/and were comfortable with their
sexuality, but you gently turned all of them down, because you knew none of them were actually stable enough in the head to know what they were doing.
But with Snake you genuinely couldn't tell what his intentions were. He always spoke in such a flat dead tone and hid his eyebrows with a bandana, that his
emotions were unintelligible, and all of his previous actions could easily be just coincidences that could quickly get embarrassing if addressed loudly, so
you just pass it in silence, treating him like any other patient, but today, made you reconsider your suspicions:
The warm summers evening sun turned the whole office into a beautiful, orange color, and highlighted certain things in a new light. Solid Snake, or how
you learned to call him: David, sat across you on the patient’s seat, while you lectured him on the new pills you prescribed him, something that should help
with his apparent anxiety. But you didn't notice how his eyes flashed across your face mindlessly, him looking at how you sat before the window and how
the sun shone on your back and hair.
"You look like royalty." he suddenly said quietly.
"Come again?"
He immediately seemed to have snapped out of it
You got a grip again and laughed it off: "Now I know my job makes me look demanding, but I don't think sewing up people is the task of royalty, although,
the blood does make me look victorious like a warrior monarch."
He relaxed from what you could tell and surprisingly, doubled down: "I mean you look regal, angelic, with that light I mean."
He fidgeted with a button on his jacket.
You weren't exactly sure how to respond and just tried to go back to the task. "Well thank you David, that's nice of you to say, you seem to be nervous,
take one of the pills, you'll feel the effects in an hour."
You hold out the bottle for him, he hesitates, then takes it, but seems to linger on your hand with his touch.
His eyes seemed unfocused, searching the room for anything that weren't your eyes.
Did you even listen to what I said? you interrupted me.
He then directly starred at you silently, popped the bottlecap up and down like a fidget toy and went even quieter with his voice:
"Sorry, could you please repeat your speech?"
You sigh, take a sip of your already half empty coffee thermos and ask begrudgingly: "What part?"
He waits 3 seconds, only to say: "From the start ... please?"
An awkward silence befalls you, so you address the growing awkwardness in this situation, after all, you were used to dealing with grown ass adults that often
lacked the emotional range of even a pet.
"What was on your mind David? You don't have to tell, but maybe I can help you become more focused, or we can leave it be for today if you're tir -. "
"Your lips."
"wait what ?! "
'Your lips were on my mind."
That caught you off guard, yes you were used to the occasional cheeky comment, but you weren't immune to unhinged bluntness.
He seemed to notice your tiny blush and saw that as a green sign to elaborate:
"I wonder if they taste like the coffee, you always get, or if you use lip gloss or balm, or if they taste minty, because of these gums you keep at your desk
that I really love, or they taste just really worse then I imagine."
You shock your head; this was getting out of hand.
"Uhm ... Listen Snake ... Working around here can get quite lonely, I get that, and being a soldier does make it harder to care about affection or intimacy,
so, I suggest you to try to get that under control in the near future, Your hormones are probably all over the place, especially with the whole dru- I mean
medication that we also use around here."
"Hormonal Imbalance? Yeah ... that would probably explain my behavior."
"I could also give you something to maybe suppress or at least calm down that feeling.'
'You mean more drugs?"
"Medical Drugs, yeah.
'Could I just kiss you instead?"
"WHAT ?! "
He looked at you like he asked you what time it was, this man seemed to lack any sense of social clues, either he is unreadable, or expresses his thoughts
bold like an open book. You took a deep breath, don't let it get to you, he was just another one of your plenty insane patients.
"No .... David ... That's to much."
He seemed to be embarrassed and quickly said: "ItlsJustADamnKiss-"
At his embarrassment you saw a chance to take back your authority.
"Nonsense and you know it, I'm not that kind of person, I will prescribe you pills for that too, and hopefully, you'll get yourself back into control, instead of
acting like a perverted teenager."
he sighed "You're right, hand me the pills before I do something stupid."
You shivered, now what the hell did that mean?
"Stupid ... like what?" you asked in a cautious tone
He grew a barely noticeable blush and overthought his next words a tat to long, then quietly responded:
"Don't ask stupid questions now."
You nodded while avoiding his gaze and cleaning you throat.
"You're not very good at that whole socializing aspect, am I right? I mean I'm not surprised considering where we are, but damn."
He smirked, grabbed his arms and leaned back confidently.
"I excel in espionage, reading patterns of the enemy, multiple languages, dealing with various armory, but yes, figuring out how to actually form bonds
instead of enemies, is something my mentors and academy left ME to figure out, and on top of that, you make it even more difficult for me.
"How so?" you carefully asked.
"You know I understand the functionality of emotions and how they connect with each other, so I know how to manipulate someone with words, mostly a
cheap smile or shameless flirting does the trick, that's why some see me as that stupid womanizer persona, but the moment you get in my way, I can't act,
I can't flirt with you, I just can't lie to you like the others."
You had to process that bombshell of information first, but then you approached him carefully
In that case, you don't have to pretend, you just have to keep feeling.
His demeanor softened slightly, for the first real time you heard vulnerability in his tone. "It's strange, to feel so out of control, yet so nerve-wracking
exciting, you bring me into such dangerous territory, yet I do not feel scared.
You chuckled at the absurdity, yet you oddly felt charmed by the realness of his words, he didn't only speak of lust, like most soldiers around here, nor did
his emotions truly feel impulsive, no, he actually did have a silly crush on you that messed up his normal facade, and it was extremely enticing.
"You poor traumatized bastard. I guess I'll give you a pass with your insanity ... for now, but I do have to actually teach you how one actually court
someone ... You really should've just asked me on a date before all of this.
David smirked and let out a quiet chuckle.
"Well now ... it's not to late for that, is it?"