The food experiments

III

Snake came back from his walk. Or rather, was about to. Otacon could hear the excited barks from the dogs as they were getting close to their home, and... He hadn't checked the items yet!!!

—Snake!!! —he yelled as he saw him enter trough the door—. You have to change half of these things!!!—he added, pointing at random places of the mountain of items—. You do remember where you got them, right? You still have the receipts? I'll write you a new list...

—So you don't need a green flamingo sculpture after all, huh.

—Uh? —he thought for a second - he must've accidentally pointed at it—. No...! I actually like that one... Look at him, he has a little funky hat!

Snake sighed as he looked over Hal's shoulder while he was writing yet another list. It was a bit better than the last one, but he had the impression he'd end up asking help to a pharmacist - they seemed to be day-to-day experts in deciphering written codes.

—There you go —he smiled at him, offering the paper.

David grunted out of habit, picked up everything Hal told him to, got another cigarette between his lips before leaving, and went to town.

Otacon had his portable kitchen still inside his backpack, so he "only" had to steal Snake's coats —he was completely convinced they were warmer than the ones he had—, bargain with the two dogs that caught him today, and then go to a safe spot.
His two new companions were part of the oldest of the family, which made them more flexible when it came to their treat payment than the younger ones - at least based on his personal experience.

—Okay, guys, I think this place is good —he told them, looking around to make sure Snake wouldn't be able to see him there if he were to come back sooner than expected—. I'll give you one of the dishes, half for each one of you, as long as I get to try all of them first and you don't argue about the one I pick for you. You know, Snake will catch me if you guys aren't as athletic as usual! I need to look after myself too!

The huskies had no complaints. They patiently observed him cook everything in today's schedule - they didn't feel like doing more exercise after all that running and all the correcting-rebellious-teens. Hal kept thinking about CooKingMama_78's words as if they were his personal mantra, which made him certain the food would turn out to even have flavor this time! He also made sure not to be strict about measurements - it must've helped.

—Do you guys think this smells good? I think it does. I'm kinda feeling hungry right now.

The dogs barked and waved their tails. One of them started to tap tap the snow with his paws, getting excited for the food to come.

—Remember I need to taste them first!

Hal tried all of his plates. He executed deep thoughts weighting all the pros and cons each one of them had for their diet, and only then made a choice. He divided it into perfectly equal parts and gave them to the dogs, who were more than glad to help him out eating his food. It did, in fact, have flavour, after all. The help he received from the forums were working! He was also glad his extorters were rather old - his fingers would last one more day connected to his hands.
He wrote some notes about what he thought made his results better - he did this for each one of the dishes. He would even add the dogs' reaction to them - he was always getting caught and, after all, any added information was valuable.

—We all agree this was decently good, right? I feel so much better about my skills now... But there's still a lot of room for improvement, just like a Shonen protagonist!

Otacon packed everything in, after which he headed home with the dogs. He wasn't being too cautious, which was a rookie mistake. Snake was home.

—Snake?! —he inadvertently said it out loud—. You're home already?

—Why are you wearing my coat? —he asked, not too surprised about him being out, the backpack he was wearing, or the two huskies that were next to him—. What happened to yours?

—Your coats are warmer! I get cold very easily with all this snow. I don't know why it is that way, I'm pretty sure they have the same materials... —he sincerely explained, even though he was going to pretend he had picked it up from a chair or something alike—. I should've asked you first, though...

—As long as it helps you not to die out here, it's fine by me.

He invited him in. He then briefly told him he managed to get it done fast by showing his handwriting to the pharmacist - she understood everything with not even the slightest issue or doubt. She also knew exactly where he needed to go - the shop owners were her parents.

—They said I was their 10.000th client or something like that. They threw confetti and all eyes were on me. They offered to gift me anything I wanted from some of their chosen products and were insistent - I tried to just do my thing and leave. The point is - you like frogs, don't you?

—Frogs...? —he repeated, a bit worried a real frog would appear on his hand—. Well, yes. I do, but...

—I got this for you —he said, taking out a small enveloped package.

Otacon looked at the envelope: it had little drawings of frogs and leafs he'd describe as "kawaii". He found it to be too adorable to tear the paper apart, so he tried to open it with surgical care.

—A set of frog postcards...? —he said a bit surprised as he opened the bag, but pleased nonetheless—. Snake, look at them...! They're so cute! Cute little froggies with such big, warm smiles! Thank you!

Hal couldn't help but hug David, who didn't know how to react but let himself be surrounded by his arms. He did feel relieved he hadn't messed this up.

—I figured you'd like to hang them on the wall —he continued, even though he was sure he was just going to make the physical contact last longer—. I got you a frame.

—Snake, I could kiss you right now...

And he did. The happiness prevented him from being actually aware of what he was doing.