"Age is a good look on you." Snake chided around the cigar clenched tightly in his teeth, the habit evidently never having been broken as the wispy coils of smoke disappeared into the night sky. D.D's leash hung loosely around his hand, the dog was well enough behaved but he was old at this point and tended to wander off or get hurt so the leash was more for his own safety than anyone else's. You'd always offered to help with D.D and now that the dog was too old to bring into combat, he intended to hold you to it. He loved the dog more than just about anything else but that was all the more reason to put the dog out of harms way before he got injured too seriously or died.

The quiet echoes of bird calls bouncing off the metallic walls of Mother Base gave an eerie quiet that Snake had log since grown accustomed to in the absence of his friend. The patch on your shoulder showed that you stood for a different cause now, the canidae creature with a blade in its teeth versus the jeweled exterior of the canine on his own shoulder.

The quiet crash of waves filled his ears. He wanted to be mad, he wanted to demand to know why you left, he didn't properly understand your grudge with Big Boss and why that meant you had to leave Diamond Dogs, Venom hadn't been the one who'd lied and set you up with a body double, Venom hadn't been the one who'd asked you to keep the secret and essentially babysit him. Venom hadn't been the one to screw you over so why the hell- "He still responds to commands." Venom stated with an attempt to keep his tone light "When he hears them anyways. Help him with stairs too." He handed over the dog's leash to you and huffed for a few seconds before letting his gaze drop a bit "New arm. We match now. Won't have to worry about your sleeve flapping around in the wind anymore. Your FOXHOUND people must have good funding." As he passed the leash into your hands he smiled for a second before continuing "I could wrangle up some coffee in the break room. We could sit, chat. Catch up a bit."