smashacademy | HE'S MAKIN A LIST CHECKIN IT TWICE

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HE'S MAKIN A LIST CHECKIN IT TWICE

[spoiler alert falcon cares about exactly three of you]

Football Team: Everyone gets a tiny box of chocolates. Go wild. Don't tell Max.
Max: ~~Falcon re-gifts the tub of protein.~~ Fancy new lifting straps. Fancy new tank tops.
Pit: Yeah a scarf sounds good. Maybe a YELLOW ONE who knows.
Dachora: Who even takes care of you, strange bird-child? Your planet is exploded. Do you even have a coat? Have...a coat.
Bowser: An ass-kickin' to be redeemed when you least expect it.
Snake: Also an ass-kickin', also to be redeemed when you least expect it.
Cid: Booze.
Megaweapon: IS A GOOD DOG. WHAT A GOOD DOG. She gets a new doge bed and socks.
Samus: Shitty bargain bin action movies (it's tradition). ~~Falcon naked on the sofa with his dick in a box.~~ Popcorn. Couch cuddles. The standard parts/tools/fancy things/turtle wax for gunship/bike/whatever mechanical project she is working on at this time. ~~Bad Dragon dildos.~~ Champagne. ~~A baby leash.~~ A MODEST-SIZED PICTURE FRAME that has probably the only existing photo documentation of them in the same vicinity ever that isn't from Rainbow Clone Rampage 2011 (which doesn't count because the pictures were in the paper and she was in a robot suit and he was a shirtless on-fire hobo). It is probably them being dumb on the couch from like last Christmas or something (WHO EVEN TOOK IT it was the dog) and this is probably a Big Deal for someone who makes a point of keeping zero personal mementos. One (1) coupon for a night out to the restaurant of her choosing. Socks in his size.

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::Yessss, lifting straps, you really do care.::

::Sorry, not my size. Maybe you could use it, though.::

[Falcon, you cock.]

[OMG does the yellow scarf trail behind all badass in the wind, this is important]

[yes]

[AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH]

[With great power comes great responsibility]

Edited 2014-01-02 22:30 (UTC)

[He will wield it wisely.]

[Look at all these beautiful Falcon gifts and AH. AH this memento. This memento is also a Very Big Deal to someone like her as she also typically keeps zero of them. Sure, she's kept the refrigerator drawings and maybe one or two other things but they're squirreled away in a box, trying not to be a painful memory. This photo is a good memory. It is a good picture even if it is some dumb goofy couch selfie of them in their underpants or something.

She will treasure this and put it by the bed stand ~~after she cleared off the last empty beer that somehow eluded Falcon's vision~~. So she can look at it for those times they're out and about doing their own independent thing. Yes. That will do nicely.

The socks can go to Megaweapon though.

...A FEW DAYS LATER after enjoying some Christmas and post-Christmas firehouse cuddles and movie watching, she ventures out to the school to collect her holiday booty. Samus returns with; a bottle of scotch, that Pink Faberge Egg Clock she's going to take out back and blow up, a nice mug from Ishimaru, traditional sets-the-scale-15-pounds-off cookies and sweets from Bulba probably, voucher trip to hotsprings tucked in her pocket, whatever she got from Dachora and Jeff and whoever else may or may not be making a specific gift list this year but typically gets her things... maybe flowery girly bath soaps from Phoenix again. ~~Ghost tears from Adam and Ian.~~

So she comes in the door with her arms full; not exactly able to hide any of this nor does she try.

The white flowers are probably precariously balanced on top of the pile.]

[NO Megaweapon got her own socks, those socks are supposed to be his, how dare you.

But Falcon is, of course, home when Samus arrives, and is very swift to sliiiiiide down the fire pole at her arrival. Megaweapon, unfortunately, must use the stairs. Because she is a dog.

That, however, is a big pile of presents. Falcon is all over that. There are snacks in there somewhere, he knows it. All he has to do is find them

Here, let me help you with that.

[ISN'T HE JUST THE GREATEST, grabbing some of the presents from the top of the pile.]

[YEP even if Bulba didn't do them she very likely went out and picked up some snacks for them (extra for him).]

Sure.

[Carefully shifting some of the items around, trying to work her way towards the closest clear work bench to deposit these on.]

I got some scotch this year.

[Because they can never have enough booze, right.]

I hope you're sharing.

[Aw yessss here he is being so helpful and taking things off the pile and lining them up nicely on the work table. Look at all these delicious things he is going to eat. Look at these bat products that he is going to use when Samus isn't looking. Look at the--]

Flowers.

[A simple enough observation from Captain Obvious.]

[Those flowers sure are flowers. For uttering just a single word she can already feel the bubbles of awkward tension threatening to froth. They're just flowers. From Snake. This doesn't have to be awkward, right?]

Yep. I got flowers.

They're nice.

[TOO NICE.

They're probably from a student or something, RIGHT? They better be. Regardless, he has just fully committed himself to finding out.]

Who are they from?

[Hereeeee it cooooooomessss. She's not going to beat around the bush but she certainly recognizes this name is going to potentially be more problematic than any other one.

It shouldn't be a problem. They are just flowers and do not have any ulterior motive behind them. Right?]

They're from Snake.

They're from Snake.

[He sounds fairly neutral--but Samus more than likely knows him well enough to see right past the front of emotionlessness to the gears turning underneath.]

Why is Snake buying you flowers?

[i didn't even get you flowers]

Edited 2014-01-03 04:17 (UTC)

[She almost wishes she didn't know him that well. I don't know, why don't you go ask him? nearly slips out of her mouth, but she suspects he'll take that invitation to heart.]

Because it's Christmas.

[She also puts on an air of cool, calm, collected, neutrality. Ideally she'll make him feel silly about this and they can move on and continue to enjoy their holiday. Wishful thinking, maybe.]

Are they bothering you?

Okay, I'll rephrase.

[Because Snake is kind of a loaded subject, and though he returned to the Academy a seemingly different person with no memories, Falcon knows the guy recalls more than he lets on. He isn't sure what, exactly, he remembers but he certainly isn't a clean slate. Falcon is also more than used to Samus receiving romantic gestures from other guys--Miller, Jensen, and now Snake, apparently-but that doesn't mean it's something he'll tolerate, to say nothing of Samus' habit of humoring the advances.

Still, as neutrally as possible--]

Why is your ex buying you flowers?

[Falcon is pretty sure "because it's Christmas" is a convenient excuse on Snake's part.]

Edited 2014-01-03 04:38 (UTC)

Because it's Christmas.

[FROWNING. She's frowning but manages to keep emotion out of her tone.]

Christmas flowers are bothering you.

That's...kind of a bullshit reason, considering.

[It's clear now that this certainly isn't sitting well with Falcon, and he seems further aggravated by Samus' nonchalance. Flowers aren't innocuous. Flowers are loaded. Flowers suggest other things that he isn't keen on entertaining, especially given how much time he spent convincing himself that he was not, in fact, Replacement Snake.]

They're not bothering you?

[Said in a way that indicates he thinks she should be bothered by this.]

[Her eyes narrow at the use of an explicative, especially as it becomes explicitly clear how it was bothering him. As to his question she averts her eyes for a moment, studying the flowers and giving earnest thought to what he asked. Slowly, she responds;]

Maybe many months ago... yeah. They would have.

[Many months ago when Snake first came back there were plenty of words left unsaid that would remain unsaid because they wouldn't mean anything to a guy who wouldn't remember their meaning. Many months ago after Snake came back and she started to suspect maybe her words would carry meaning. Many months ago when she started, finally, saying some of them to him. Samus couldn't honestly attest that she'd completely reconciled with Snake--of course there were going to be minute residual feelings... but she felt like she'd since lifted a heavy burden off her shoulder in regards to their incredibly complicated former relationship.

It was still complicated, but she felt like she could move on. A kiss stolen under a box (even if due to cursed mistletoe) yes, that bothered her. But flowers given on Christmas?]

They don't bother me now.

[And frankly she was offended that Falcon was implying she should feel that way just because he was. Samus crosses her arms and stands her ground, not taking well anytime he tries to challenge her independence like this.]

Snake and I have talked on and off. About the past.

[The trouble, Falcon thinks, with being in a committed relationship where one of the parties was quite literally raised by birds, is that there are often certain social discrepancies between them, like not being on the same page when it comes to an ex giving you flowers. He can already tell that she's angry he's even making this a Thing at all, but how else is he supposed to feel?

And he sadly isn't surprised to hear that she and Snake have been talking--it's not like he can stop them and he isn't going to try to. It's just another thing that Samus has hidden from him. ]

And? What kinds of things do you talk about?

[Instinct is ushering her to clam up; to use her silence as a protection. Spat by spat she liked to think both of them were getting a little bit better about being more open and honest and breaking down these walls but they would still remain to some degree. That couldn't be helped. In this instance, it's just a slight hesitation, a little hurdle before she finds words. She basically info-dumped all over Snake when they re-met in Alaska but it was all very impersonal. It had to be, especially with someone nosy like Lash present.]

We never talked about... us... directly but there'd be times when I'd use his real name and he wouldn't question it, like he knew that was something he divulged to me at some point. [Lots of implications, words between words, lines between lines; heavier with each conversation. Probably wouldn't satisfy Falcon but that's what it was. That's how people like them talked.] Things like that.

[She hesitates again but for an entirely different reason, crossing her arms tighter while frowning at some invisible spot on the floor. It wasn't easy implying to someone we didn't have a happy ending, even if the person listening was the one to give her a happy ending--the sentiment still carried a heavy weight of bittersweet finality.]

I've told him I've been kept waiting before.

[He watches her carefully for a few moments, not saying anything. Falcon has always had his suspicions about how much Snake actually remembers, and it leaves a bad taste in his mouth that the guy seems to know but is either playing oblivious or purposefully withholding information from her.

And Falcon knows exactly how to feel about that kind of thing.

Either way, the flowers seemed to be just the latest implication. What Snake was implying was still to be seen, but it wasn't like the Captain needed to know in order to fully dislike it.]

Don't...humor him.

[The embers needed to set fire to this bounty hunter marital spat were being laced, and Samus redirects her gaze from invisible spot on the floor to a sneer right at Falcon.]

Don't humor him? What does that even mean? [a brief beat] Don't talk to him, don't look at him? Throw the flowers away?

[She's doing her best to not get too riled up or raise her voice.]

What?

[Oops. Yeah that did it. There is a brief moment where Falcon things that mmmaaaaybe he shouldn't have brought it there, but no. Nope. We can't stop here this is BLAH BLAH BLAH FALCON'S FEELINGS country.]

No! I'm not going to tell you who to talk to.

[Unless it's someone like Miller, but Miller is long gone, though that brings him to another point--]

I'm saying don't encourage him, you always--you always have guys after you who couldn't care less that I'm in the way. And you give them your number and you let them take you to dinner and let your ex give you flowers, like they're totally innocuous. Instead of telling them to shove it you humor them and how do you think that makes me feel?

Edited 2014-01-10 08:15 (UTC)

[Oh my god she can't believe she's hearing this. That was so long ago and he has the wrong idea this means he's had the wrong idea this entire time even though they argued about this already--she groans!]

We already talked about that--I didn't give him my number so he could call me up and flirt with me like a stupid drunk! That was for emergencies because you were too busy being stubborn and self-centered to look after Ionia when she ran away and joined his stupid military group.

[His feelings his feelings how about her feelings]

Why aren't the flowers innocuous? What is wrong with them?

[Samus knew flowers were generally PRETTY and considered a nice gesture or token but she's had people like Jeff give her flowers and people... creatures... like Bowser give her flowers, not to mention flower monsters come alive and try to eat her/assassinate important federation chairmen so her experiences definitely ran the gamut.

She also knew Falcon was easily JEALOUS as evident by this current argument, if she said so herself.]

Yeah? Is that what Jensen was about, too?

[You know, that date he crashed because he is jealous and terrible. At the very least, he doesn't seem to want to rehash Miller. Falcon finds it terribly hard to believe that Samus is completely oblivious to the intentions of guys of that ilk, and it only makes him come off that much more incredulous.]

Look, if you get something from that--

[From humoring guys that clearly want to bone you whether you choose to acknowledge it or not, is the implication.]

--that you don't get from me, just...say something?

[Because god knows he'll bend over backwards to fill those voids if it means shutting out anyone else who wants to get in her pants.]

He sends you flowers after four years and you don't think that's suspect? You said it yourself, he remembers more than he lets on.

[She's not going to try and justify or explain Jensen's deal as Snake is much more of a demanding and touchy subject--it's history they both share, after all.

She narrows her eyes once again at Falcon, leaning in close to hiss slowly and clearly,] Maybe I wanted some fucking closure with Snake, especially after four years of having him just... fade away from me.

[Not forcibly die by her gun. Not abruptly sacrifice himself or explode over her head into sparkly space glitter. Snake's very existence was a perpetual reminder that everything they did meant nothing... at least until he started remembering again. She wondered if it would have been less complicated if he did die. That's all Samus was ever used to when it came to ended-relationships.

She's not sure she'd ever directly expressed that to Falcon, damned if she's not upset enough to at least try now.]

After all the relationships in my life that have ended prematurely, after all the ones that I never got a chance to reconcile... don't you think I would take that chance if I had it?

[Her teeth are grit, nostrils flared and muscles tense like she's about to strike him... but her target are the flowers in question. She lashes out suddenly and grips the stalk of the bouquet tightly like the unfortunate neck of an animal she just snared. She recognizes some minute residual feeling that wants to make her hesitate--but she doesn't, especially not if it'll prove a point.]

These don't have to mean anything now.

[And she throws them ON THE GROUNNNNNNDDDDDDD. Dramatic slow motion and everything.]

[Though he doesn't betray it on his face, Falcon can't help but think he has maybe made a terrible mistake somewhere. This is the Samus that flipped all of the shits on the top of the Flyer a thousand feet above New Pork City. This is the Samus that blows up planets.

At the very least, the physical repercussions end up director towards the flowers, which, hey, is totally fine by him, but the sheer display of emotion and ruthlessness towards the bouquet almost makes him flinch.

He could argue. There's closure he didn't get either, but he knows that as far as comparing their losing people experiences, Samus has him beat by a long shot, and he handles it differently anyway. Falcon does, however, know well enough that no matter how much time passes, some things never really go away.

In the face of her outburst, he tries to get his own anger under control, if only to seem completely unintimidated, which is kind of a lie but really, who wouldn't be?]

Did you get your closure?

[Whatever 'closure' means in this case, but it's something that's important to her, so he wants to make sure that it's sorted.]

[As the white petals scatter to the air and sink to the floor, Samus is overcome with a flash of deja vu, welling deep and passing just as quickly as it came. samus grabbed a petal out of the air and it turned red and then the others somehow turned red and it was all symbolic and shit and then a white horse neighed in sadness while a nuclear bomb dropped in the distance

Did she get closure? Complete closure? Was that even really possible?]

It's enough.

[Enough that the the miserable remains of Snake's Christmas present shouldn't matter anymore. As she stares at them however, they do get her wondering... she could really only attest to her side of the situation. Maybe through all the various implications and words-between-words the message had gotten through to Snake: We were once a thing and somewhere you fucked up (among other things), and now we aren't. That's the way it is. But how did that make him feel?

The flowers could be innocuous to her. Maybe to Snake they weren't so much. Maybe he's just as socially inept. For the first time she's questioning that, and she realized she really had no idea. She fixes Falcon with tightly lipped frown, all the anger gone and replaced with some hollow, maybe even bitter doubt. The words don't make it out of her mouth, but then again her and Falcon often shared the language of implication very well.

It's closure enough... for me.]

Okay.

[If Samus thinks it's enough, then it's enough. He's sure he'd be able to see it on her face if she was lying to herself, and she seems sincere..

He has, of course, already decided that Snake's got it coming to him in the form of a fist to the face sometime in the near future--Falcon doesn't believe for a second that the mercenary did this innocuously, and if Samus doesn't know what he means by it, then Falcon is going to find out from the source. If that means touching on subjects that had henceforth gone unspoken between the two men, then so be it. He'd get answers one way or another.

At the very least, she doesn't look angry anymore, which more-or-less dissipates his. His shoulders sag.[

I believe you.

[It'd be easy to interpret his answer as sarcastic and antagonistic, especially in a heated moment like this... But she hears sincerity in his words, sees anger dissipating from him like a literal weight off his shoulders. She feels much the same.

...Maybe still a little annoyed he doubted her at all... She looks back to the rest of the gifts like they're just a joyless pile of objects, never mind the flower bits all over the floor. That sentiment further annoys her but not enough to raise a fuss about it.]

...I'll sweep this up.

[Not that she sounds super thrilled about it either. Samus simply excuses herself to do so.]

It's no big deal.

[Because, despite starting the argument in the first place, he hates seeing Samus upset, so he goes for the broom closet, even if she'll probably insist that she do it herself. It is probably the least he can do for picking a fight over the Christmas holiday.]

I can get it.

[SHE WOULD INSIST she so would, but she's trying to learn how to do that give and take thing. She still has to consciously stop and think and stop herself from grabbing the broom handle, but, baby steps. Instead she finds the dust pan and leaves the broom for him.

They can teamwork.]

[He takes the broom and watches her carefully--it's not exactly what he expected, but he isn't exactly going to complain. Still, he feels a little dissatisfied, like there are still feelings that the argument didn't quite cover before it ended as abruptly as it did.]

Hey.

[Falcon sets the broom aside, instead opting to turn and face her, slipping an arm around her waist and (if she doesn't object), gently pulling her flush to him. He wants to ask if she's all right, if she's really all right, but ultimately it seems like kind of a dick move when he was the one to bring everything up in the first place.

It might be better, at this point, to kiss and make up, with emphasis on the kissing.]

[It would be easy to stay angry. It is an emotion she knows how to oblige well... but it's also very tiring. Even for the super space bird warrior Samus Aran, it got tiring. She would really much rather just kiss and make up. She's trying to keep the past behind her--not forget it, but keep it in her history--so she can keep moving forward with things to come. ~~what's past is prologue the baby the baby~~

So even for just a simple, single word, 'Hey', she understands his meaning perfectly clear. It's not immediate, but she does open her arms to Falcon and hooks them together around the small of his back. There's a soft sigh into his chest that seems to disperse most of her leftover tension.]

[The flowers go forgotten as he settles into the comfortable and familiar stance, her arms around his waist and his chin resting on the top of her head. It's almost relieving, especially for someone who is at least partially convinced that he's always one fight away from going too far.

So really, he is more than willing to stand there for a few long moments, reminding himself how much he loves the way they fit together.

An actual apology seems more than a little awkward at this point, so he pulls away slightly--but only to tilt her chin upward to better press his lips against hers.

Kiss and make up indeed.]

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HE'S MAKIN A LIST CHECKIN IT TWICE

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herpderp I'm indeed suck at gift lists this year. ACTION TIME GO.

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