vivarium | Open: And now for something completely unstabbity

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Open: And now for something completely unstabbity

*A day after Sasuke's little flip out, Snake is once again in the lounge. He'd called out to see if anyone was about, not wanting to have anything else thrown at him. When he heard no response, Snake took one of his braille magazines to read and sat at the table. Unfortunately someone had stepped on a part because it could no longer be read. He wondered if he might persuade Calhoun to provide more reading material for coins. It was something to ponder while he read, his fingertips ghosting across the braille.*

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Heiji poked his head in a bit after Snake arrived -- aha, and here he was. He took a seat at the table across from Snake, where he crossed one leg over another at the knee, crossed his arms, and leaned forward over the top of the table.

"Hey." Well, he didn't sound angry. More like his usual cheerful self.

You sound a lot better. *And not angry, but Snake doesn't mention that. He sets his magazine aside.* I'm glad.

"I feel a lot better," said Heiji. After a brief pause, he leaned over the table, resting his chin on the palm of one hand. Then he winked.

"I got lonely, so I came to see you ♥."

You...did? *Snake thought he did a good job of keeping his voice even because the tone made him melt a little inside. When did Heiji ever sound like that before? Or perhaps he was just...very affectionate sounding with everyone and he hadn't been paying attention?*

"Yep. Here, this is for you." Heiji took out the instrument he'd gotten from Calhoun and slid it forward across the table in front of Snake.

"It's a pianika. Got it from the shop. Hershel told me you were pretty good at playing the piano, so... I figured it might be something to keep you from gettin' too bored."

Hershel is a giant gossip. *However, he is pleased at the unexpected gift. He touches the pianika to try to get a grasp of what exactly it is.* I don't think I'm familiar with how this works. I feel keys and a tube.

"Well, don't hold it against him; it was a compliment!" Heiji reached over to touch the keys, accidentally brushing his fingers against Snake's as he did so.

"See, you blow into the mouthpiece, and it's connected to the keys. Kind of like a harmonica, I guess? It's the air blowing through it that makes the sound, not strings. You use the keys to change the notes it plays."

Now was it just his imagination, or had Snake sounded a little unsure of himself before? Hmm... something to think about.

*Snake felt a little jolt where their fingers brushed each other. He seriously needed to stop with this...although as long as he never breathed a word of what he felt, it'd be his own private enjoyment.*

Oh, I see. This might take some practice. *He smiled. What an unexpected gift! Then...it was true. Heiji really hadn't meant anything by his prank, had he? Not if he was going to do things like this?* Heiji? I think I need to apologize to you.

Heiji looked (and sounded) genuinely surprised. It was probably because he'd forgotten about the prank already.

"Huh? Whattaya mean?" Goddammit, Snake, were you setting him up for more tsun?

*No, not at all. At least not intentionally.* Well, for getting angry with you over your little language joke. You really didn't mean anything malicious by it...and in hindsight it was actually pretty funny.

Heiji scowled a little. "That's what I said from the beginning! What, you really think it was part of some master plan to pick on you or something?"

Why you gotta be like that, Snake?

*Snake held up his hands.* Heiji, I know. I really do now. Because...I've been thinking. *He tilted his head away.* Sasuke said that he threw that knife because it was something he did without thinking. So. I think...I think I got angry at you because I was reacting without thinking.

We can deduce that Sasuke startles easily and reacts by throwing because he's been trained to do so. That might mean I got angry without thinking because it's likely people have tricked me before.

Heiji frowned a moment at Snake, as if gauging whether Snake was serious or not. Then he sat back in his chair. Well, that did make sense. Maybe that was also the reason Snake was such a jerk sometimes.

"I guess that makes sense, but that's the kinda thing you'd expect from grade-schoolers, innit? I don't know any adults that'd do that kinda thing... well. That I remember, anyway."

It's hard to say, Heiji. Something must have happened in the recent past before I came here that might have...*He trailed off, rubbing his chin.* I wonder...I wonder if that's why my sister sounded so worried in my memory. Maybe it has to do with the unfortunate ex.

"Yeah?" Huh. That was a new little tidbit of information.

"I guess it's just a little hard to imagine you getting all broken up over some girl like that. You seem pretty tough." Although maybe Snake hadn't always been that way...

*Well, that kind of made clear how Heiji's thinking went. It'd make it easier to not get...too infatuated with someone who wouldn't be interested. Snake would have to stick to pleasant daydreams, is all.*

I'm with you on that since I don't remember the relationship at all. It must not have ended well so I'm not looking forward to remembering that.

At any rate, I wanted to let you know that I'm sorry for snapping at you and that I'm thankful you got me this as a present.

"Well, I..." Heiji flicked his gaze away quickly, and then there was that weird tone of voice again -- almost like he was embarrassed or annoyed, but simultaneously neither of those things.

"...You're welcome. And it's not like you need to apologize or anything. Sorry that happened to you."

It's okay. *Now onto better things. Seriously.* I guess if I start getting good at playing this, I'll have to charge for performances.

"So what kind of stuff do you play? Classical?" Classical seemed about right for a classy-looking guy like Snake, but maybe he preferred screeching, pounding dissonance.

Aka jazz.

Well, I did play a random piece that I recalled. I'm not sure what it would fall under. *he considers* Did you want to hear me play something, Heiji?

"Well... yeah. But you don't know how to play that thing yet, right? I can just wait till you get a chance to practice." Heiji was actually rather curious about what it would sound like. Now that he thought about it, he really didn't know that much about Snake.

Well...consider this a test run. *So it's like a very large harmonica then? He finds the tube part to blow into and experiments with the keys. It's...not particularly good at first but it gradually turns into something that might sound familiar. At least until he has to stop and shake his right hand.* I'll definitely have to practice more to build up my stamina.

"Oh? That's pretty good. Somehow I never figured you for a Pachelbel's Canon kinda guy." If Heiji was even remotely the snarky sort, he probably would've come up with something to say about Snake building up his stamina. Instead the opportunity flew right over his head.

"I guess it'll be good exercise -- help ya stretch out your fingers a bit."

*This was just...an interesting conversation all around. Sometimes Heiji sounded annoyed and possibly embarrassed and now he sounded animated. At least they worked things out. For now.*

That's certainly true. So you got me music and physical therapy all at once. *He smiled warmly.* Arigato.

As a general rule, Heiji liked it when he got Snake to crack a smile. Or when he got any reaction out of Snake that wasn't cool indifference -- it didn't seem to matter what it was. Seeing Snake smile that warmly, though... it was nice. Maybe even nicer than annoying him.

Though Heiji played it off with his usual friendly tone, his face felt strangely warm. "Ki ni shinai, ki ni shinai! As long as it keeps ya from getting too bored. Just take care of yourself, okay?"

I'll certainly try to prevent anything else happening to my hands...and what does "ki ni shinai" mean? No problem? *He took a guess on that one.*

"Yeah, means don't worry about it," said Heiji. "Though I thought you said ya weren't gonna learn anything more from me."

Well...maybe I'll learn a few things from you, Heiji. *Do you see how generous he's being, Heiji? Clearly he is the best of friends.*

"You shouldn't learn from me and Sasuke, though. You gotta pick one or the other." For whatever reason, Heiji seemed to be rather serious about this.

Yes, Snake, so generous...

Why, is it that much of an issue? *Clearly he has no idea about accents.*

"Sasuke speaks usin' Tokyo-ben, and I use Osaka-ben. If you switch between 'em, you're going to sound pretty strange. It's not just the words, it's the intonation, too."

Not that he'd really expect Snake to be able to pick out the difference, but even when Heiji tried speaking like a Tokyoite, his delivery totally gave it away.

So I basically have to stick with one sound because mixing them both would sound too strange to a native speaker?

"Of course," said Heiji, crossing his arms. "If you went up to someone and started switchin' between a Southern accent and soundin' like a reporter on TV, you think you wouldn't get people looking at you funny?"

Of course, Osaka-ben was the best. All other dialects go home.

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Open: And now for something completely unstabbity

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Weirdly affectionate is correct

too cute, snake

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