video;

[yer_pretty_good]

[The video turns on and it shows a whole lotta nothing. Just an empty rec room. And then:]

DD!

[When Ocelot’s voice shouts the name, a large dog that appears to be a wolf-mix with thick grey fur and an eyepatch over one eye comes into view of the camera and stands there wagging its tail eagerly.

Ocelot’s gloved red hand comes into view of the camera and points to the room.]

Search!

[The dog barks twice and turns around to quickly move about the room. It sticks its head behind a couch and pulls out a red ball, then drops it and follows its nose to another spot, inside a potted plant, where another red ball is retrieved. The dog moves expertly around obstacles, retrieving red balls that were hidden all over the room. When the last one is found, DD walks back to Ocelot and stares up at the camera with the final red ball in its mouth.]

Good boy, DD.

[DD barks again, dropping the ball and turning happily in a circle with his tail wagging. The camera then turns to show Ocelot’s face.]

You see that? Expertly trained. I’m willing to bet DD here is worth more in the field than half of you, so maybe you should get some lessons from our defense personnel.

[That’ll give Miller and Snake something to do.]

If you think you might need DD for some field work, you can ask his handler, ‘Venom’ Snake.

Comments

[saveyourserpent]

Yeah, the worst they could do is tell you no. Glad they didn't.

[And there he is, in the flesh and fluff, DD himself. DD never stifled him, cared about what name he used, or forced him to take classes. DD wouldn't tell him what to do. When DD wasn't 'on the job' he'd let him pet him and play with him and he could forget about his anger for a little while.]

DD! I missed youuuu.

[He takes the ball and ruffles the dog's fur with his free hand.]

Alright, go get it!

[He tosses the ball, making sure not to hit anything breakable, and watches the dog, looking downright happy for once.]

[yer_pretty_good]

[DD runs happily after the ball, quick to retrieve this. Liquid might want to settle in because this could go on for hours if he lets it.]

At least there was one thing you liked about being on Mother Base.

[He knows Eli didn't care for much else.]

Did you ever have a dog after you left?

[saveyourserpent]

[Liquid'll play with DD for hours if that's what he wants to do. He's got time before he has to actually do anything else. He takes the ball from DD when he returns it, and tosses it out again.]

Two things. When Tretij stuck around, I liked that too.

[Nice to have a friend around his age who didn't betray him for the adults.]

No. At least not one of my own. Did too much traveling to take care of one, or too much working, and the one time I did stay in the same place long enough without much to do I wasn't really in any state of mind to. Always thought it might be nice, but... [He shrugs.]

[yer_pretty_good]

[DD happily brings the ball back and fetches it again. He doesn't seem to mind the new surroundings with so many friends to play with.]

Maybe you could have one. Miller got a dog and she's due to have some pups. You could ask him.

[He doesn't think Miller will raise them all himself... even if he does have a tendency to be a Mother Hen.]

[saveyourserpent]

[Liquid pets DD when he brings the ball back, setting the retrieved ball down for a moment while he fluffs his fur up for a bit. And then it's right back to tossing the ball.]

...Huh.

[He... might have to do that. It's not like it'd be impossible to take care of a dog here, right? Even if he'd have to bring it table scraps from the mess hall or something.]

Maybe. It'd be nice. I'll think about it. You think he'd let me have one?

[yer_pretty_good]

[They certainly have more time for that sort of thing here than they do back home.]

Maybe. You won't know unless you ask. And if not, you could request your own dog in the mail.

[Miller's dog wasn't his dog before, but he was able to get one.]

[saveyourserpent]

[Liquid could even send his dog on intel gathering missions under the guise of it being adorable or something! Or just pet it a lot. He keeps tossing the ball for DD to get whenever he brings it back.]

I'll ask. I don't know if I'd go all out on requesting one if he says no, but maybe.

[He lets out a snort of laughter.] Guess I can take this as a sign that I'm adapting to all this.

[yer_pretty_good]

Given your circumstances where you came from, I don't see why you shouldn't.

[This place isn't so terribly bad.]

Traveling the universe is pretty adventurous.

[saveyourserpent]

Hey, it's hard getting used to your own body again when you've started getting used to another one.

[Still, it's good to be himself again. He takes the ball from DD next time he brings it back, and just pets him for a while instead of throwing it again.]

Suppose you could call it that. [A big space adventure nobody signed up for.] Wonder how far we'll have to go.

[yer_pretty_good]

Another one? Did you have some kind of prosthetics?

[What else could it be?]

[saveyourserpent]

Uh. No.

[Awkward. Looks like he spilled the beans. He can save this. He can save this. He ruffles DD's fur as he tries to think up a good excuse.

Why not just stretch the truth a little for now?]

Not quite. But I couldn't just take dying. So I was sort of possessing someone else. When I ended up here, I was back in my body again.

[yer_pretty_good]

Possessing someone?

[Ocelot laughs and shakes his head.]

What're you supposed to be? The Fourth Child?

[Sounds ridiculous to Ocelot.]

[saveyourserpent]

[Liquid just stares intently at DD as he pets him.]

More like a dead man who refused to give up. What, you think I was just going to be okay with it?

[Seems perfectly reasonable to Liquid.]

[yer_pretty_good]

I didn't know the dead had a choice.

[Still sounds far-fetched to him, but who knows. With The Third Child's power, perhaps it's possible. The Child resurrected what was left of Volgin, though Volgin wasn't entirely dead.]

[saveyourserpent]

Some of them might not, I don't know much about it, but with or without a choice I would have done it anyway.

[Scoffing, he runs his hands through DD's fur.]

I don't necessarily follow the rules.

[yer_pretty_good]

Yeah, I got that about you even when you were a kid.

[He makes his own rules.]

Well, it all sounds pretty strange. Maybe you can tell me more about it sometime.

[saveyourserpent]

Never grew out of it.

[He finally tosses the ball for DD to go catch another time.]

Er. Right. Sure. I'll... do that, sometime.

[How do you tell someone you possess them in their future?]