This just kind of popped into my head while I was messing around in the game itself. I love this pairing.

Her first attempt at getting closer, definitely out of pure curiosity, had not ended well. Snake had fallen asleep in the ACC, giving her a new look at the grizzled soldier. He looked…vulnerable, for once. His hands rested lazily in his lap, and his head rested against the cold metal wall behind him. Quiet frowned slightly; that didn't look very comfortable. The prosthetic arm's fingers would twitch a bit every so often, and Snake's expression would tighten for a few seconds before he relaxed, a deep sigh escaping him. The sniper cocked her head a bit, wondering what he was dreaming about. "It's not the first time."

Pequod turned from his seat in the cockpit and offered a small smile. "You don't have to look at me like that. I trust you just as much as the Boss."

To his relief, she relaxed, nodding once and leaning forward with a silent request for him to continue. The pilot let his voice sink to a low murmur, motioning Quiet closer with his free hand. "I think he has nightmares. I'm not sure if you knew about MSF, but…he put his heart into that organization. To see it all go down like that? Damn shame."

Quiet looked away to glance at Snake, who was still slumbering quietly. "He never really let it go. Whenever he naps in here, he mumbles things. Can't hear them, but you can see that he blames himself."

Pequod turned and settled back into his seat, pressing switches and adjusting the helicopter's flight towards Mother Base. "We'll head home for today. You should get some rest too, huh?"

Quiet hummed a short note and lay back on her seat, crossing one leg over the other and resting her hands behind her head. A few seconds passed before she sat up again, gazing concernedly at Snake. Silently padding over to him, she crouched next to his knees and leaned from side to side to get a good look at his face. Quickly making up her mind, she stood and leaned in closer; second-guessing herself all the while. Her face stopped a few inches short of his, and she bit her lip with a silent curse. Sighing quietly, she stood higher and gently pressed her lips to his forehead. The gesture ended quickly, but, as Quiet sat back in her seat with a soft blush, she saw Snake's posture relax. An unconscious smile showed itself for a second as Quiet watched with no shortage of interest.

The helicopter touching down on the Medical platform helipad jolted the Boss out of his slumber, with Pequod mouthing an apology to Quiet when she glared at him. "Quiet?"

The Boss was awake. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with his good hand, shaking his head slightly to focus his vision. "I, uh…did you…?"

He cleared his throat as his partner stared innocently at him, so he instead decided to shout at the pilot of his home away from home. "Pequod, what are we doing back at base?"

"Sorry, Boss. Have to perform maintenance. The rotors were acting up while we were in the air."

Snake sighed and nodded his consent. "…Fine. I'm heading to one of the cots in the Med Building. Get some shut-eye when you're done, too."

"Thanks, Boss."

Glancing once at Quiet, he grunted gruffly and heaved himself out of the helicopter, his padded feet hitting the ground silently. She followed close behind, but she only lingered for a few seconds before cloaking and wandering back to her cell. Snake briefly considered following after; a stifled yawn cut off any notion of going through with it. Making a mental note to check on her later, he made his own way to the infirmary.

Sleep wasn't something that was part of Snake's daily schedule, but exhaustion had eventually caught up to the Diamond Dogs' leader. Throwing off the heavy overcoat and the tactical harness of his fatigues, he smoothed down the black shirt and tugged at the collar in a small effort to cool off. Lying as comfortably as he could on one of the spare cots that lay in the far side of the infirmary, he closed his eyes for a few moments before groaning irritably. He reached up to his face and pulled off the eyepatch that protected his damaged eye, only briefly lamenting its loss of function. Breathing deep, Snake settled back into the cot.

Little did he know that Quiet was watching as he slowly drifted off, holding a small can of soda and a boxed sandwich she had 'borrowed' from the Mess Hall. When he woke up, she wanted to be sure he had some kind of nourishment before he inevitably made a mad dash back to the ACC to jump into the next mission. Leaving them both on the cabinet next to the wall, she cast about for some kind of way to tell him to eat later. Finding a small clipboard in the dimly lit room, she silently snatched it up and pondered how to get his attention. An imaginary lightbulb lit up as she scribbled down a quick sketch, placing it next to the sleeping soldier's head and making her way out of the room. Snake muttered something and turned in his sleep; Quiet smiled slightly as she looked back at him from the doorway before stepping out and letting the door shut behind her.

The next morning, Snake awoke slowly, turning ninety degrees and promptly bumping his nose against a hard surface. Grunting in annoyance, he sat up and glared daggers at the clipboard in his hand. A surprisingly elegant picture of a butterfly flying to the right with a trail of black following it pointed his gaze to the wall. Blowing out a breath, he allowed a rare smile at the gifts that awaited him. "Huh…didn't have to bring me breakfast."

Opening the soda first, he drank and draped his gear over his shoulder, intent on heading to the cell on the Medical Platform's ground floor. He polished off the sandwich as he walked, stopping at the small storage case he had ordered to be placed next to the stairway leading to Quiet's cell. "Thank you, R&D."

Reaching inside, he pulled out a small canteen filled with cool water. Holding the soda with one hand and the canteen in the other, he walked down the stairs and peeked around the corner to check if his partner was awake. She was. She sat up from her cot and nodded once in greeting, before letting a slight expression of surprise cross her face as how relaxed he look compared to the geared up, rough-and-tumble soldier she was used to seeing pore over maps and data in the ACC. "Morning. I'm guessing you left the, er…the food and the drawing?"

The sniper shrugged in answering, further shocked by the grateful smile on her boss' face. "Thanks. I got you something, too. Mind stepping out?"

He didn't have to wait long, she phased out of the containment cell, standing a few feet away from him with her arms behind her back. He sat heavily on the floor, taking a sip from his soda and nodding a silent offer to her. Quiet hesitated for a second before sitting next to him, relaxing as she watched him taking his time with waking up. Snake grunted as he grasped the canteen, holding it out and waiting patiently. She looked between him and the canteen a few times before slowly reaching up and pushing his hand a little higher. Snake raised in eyebrow in question before chuckling in amusement. "You want me to do it?"

She nodded and smiled nervously, but she refused to back away as he popped the top off the small bottle. Holding it high above her head, he glanced at her one more time before slowly tipping the canteen and letting the water cascade down onto her. She froze for a second at the surprisingly cold water before relaxing and letting a sigh escape. Snake let a small grin cross his face at her contentment, stopping his ministrations to hand her the canteen to let her do it freely. Quiet accepted it and hummed happily as she doused herself every now and then while Snake took his time finishing his own drink. His iDroid remained silent; his message must have gotten through to his officers. Looks like it was going to be a slow day.

"This is a stupid idea."

"Letting the troops have a day off? I don't follow."

"We have to-"

"Get revenge. I get it. But if we're going at full throttle every day we're eventually going to burn out. 'Sides, you need a break. Maybe some coffee. And some sleep…Probably both."

Miller took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, groaning irritably. "The Boss is taking the day off, anyway."

"…Fine. Make sure everyone knows. I'm…going to get some sleep."

"Good. And, uh…don't wear the glasses in bed, okay?"

"Shut up."

Ocelot shrugged, heading to the Command Platform to let the staff know; Big Boss had given the Diamond Dogs a day off.