( CLOSED )

[redload]

Who: dante, nero and nico
When: sometime in august
Where: the cottage
What: dante wakes up from his fever, he gets bitched at, no profit
Warnings: tba!

[dante remembers very little of the past several weeks—pushing in and out of sleep in a restless, dazed manner, never quite focusing on any one thing. all he remembers is how burning hot everything felt, the familiar distorted voices of two individuals nearby, the pain that seemed to be etched in his bones and muscles, and the commonplace nightmares the plagued him relentless ammunition to his current helpless state.]

[and then it all went away.]

[he's lethargic as he sits up on the bed, looking around the room he finds himself in: cozy, lived in, and decidedly not at all like what he remembers last. dante pushes a calloused hand against his forehead in the same breath as he throws legs over the side of the bed, slumping over with eyes shut tight to navigate through the feeling of being tipped over six inches off himself. at least he's good enough to get up on his feet, the creak of the floorboards under his weight—no real sense of urgency nor danger in his radar, and so, for once, he heads into the shower seemingly unperturbed by the sight of scales adorning part of his arms, embedded into skin.]

[the stairs receive the brunt of his weight as he heads down to the first floor, borrowing some clothes he found in the room. his hair is longer, white bangs covering his eyes, all headstrong intentions of making it through the door and out of the cottage unless interrupted.]

Comments

[demonass]

[ Dante should know by now that his luck is never that great. The cottage may start empty, but it doesn't usually stay that way for long.

Nero's been out running odd jobs and trying to make it so that Nico isn't the only one bringing in cash from her new, uh, venture. (He'd kill himself if that's really what they have to live off of in this place.) So requests to run around chasing lost cats are stupid but someone's paying for it. At least the whole delving into the dragon's hoard was more exciting.

So he comes back at odd hours, pushing open the heavy wooden door with his right shoulder and the upper half of his right arm, jacket tied off and up at the elbow. ]

Hey, Nico. I got something f--

[ He freezes in the doorway.

Unless Nico suddenly grew several inches and needs to learn to shave, that's definitely not Nico attempting the stairs. ]

Dante?

[redload]

[lady luck was never really on his side, that much dante knows, but the sight of his nephew has him take pause before he reaches the floor's landing. it would explain about the concerned voices he thought he had heard—or how he landed himself in this sweet-looking cottage in the first place.]

[so dante does as dante would, stretching his arms outwards as if to present himself at the young demon hunter.]

In the flesh.

[a light grin mars his expression, but it's clearly not all that invested in staying put. he continues down the stairs.]

I would commend you for your timing, but I've got places to be. Where didya put my coat?

[demonass]

[ Nero's staring, he can't help it. In some awful way he's gotten used to just checking up to making sure the man is still breathing rather than hoping he'll actually wake up. He doesn't want to admit that when Nero got sick he'd been wondering if he was going to follow Dante into slumber land and there was no small sense of relief when it proved to just be the man flu.

So. This is a good development. So why isn't Nero happy?

Maybe it's because just seconds after showing his damn face he's talking about skipping out. Nevermind the fact that he and Nico have been watching over him while he naps, wondering if he's ever going to wake up. A lot of Nero's powers have been zapped since he came through the mirror, so by association that means Dante's must have been too. Dante could survive one month MIA back home, but here? Who knows what could happen? And now he just wants to walk it off?

Nero's jaw tightens as he steps inside, kicking the door shut behind him. He's only go one hand so he drops the sack he's caring to point accusingly at Dante.

His fucking uncle. ]

No, no way. Sit your ass down.

[ There are some chairs in the room that the stairs open into--a broken down couch. ]

You're not going anywhere yet.

[redload]

[that does not answer his question, and the annoyance of having it ignored shows on dante's face. since when did nero get to call the shots? but one thing is certain: he is loathe to leave without his red coat, and his weapons, too.]

What's this now? House arrest?

[sounding plenty put upon, the leftover residue of his long nap has dante feeling more pliable to the idea of going for the path of least resistance.]

[a hard stare at nero, and the legendary devil hunter scoffs, swinging his arms as he treads towards the couch, where he sits himself down magnanimously, definitely taking up as much space as he can with arms over the top and knees far away from one another.]

Go on. Get it out of your system.

[demonass]

[ Nero narrows his gaze. Normally one for banter, what might have been a hopeful occasion has put him in a piss poor mood. ]

You need an ankle monitor?

[ He shouldn't be surprised at all by Dante's lackadaisical attitude towards the situation, but it should be equally unsurprising that it upsets him. Nero can be flippant in battle under less than idea circumstances, but this isn't about cracking some demons skulls around, this is about Dante's well-being and the fucking secrets he's been keeping.

And the fact that apparently none of that means half a shit as soon as he can walk.

Nero scoffs. ]

Out of my system?

[ He walks towards the couch but pivots to the side. ]

Do you seriously think after being outta it for over a month that we're just gonna roll over and say,

[ He walks over to the old fireplace, clenching his jaw. ]

"Great, thanks for not dying while we were out. Stop by again soon"?

[ And he pivots back again, leveling his glare right towards Dante. ]

Go blow yourself. Uncle.

[redload]

[it sure seems like dante has woken up to turmoil in the family. he did, in fact, expect something to be amiss once noticing he wasn't quite at the qliphoth and all his murderous intent basically set to waste at the lack of a vergil-shaped presence to lay it all out on.]

[during nero's little speech, he turns his head to the side as if exasperated. this kind of lecture is not the one he needs — but he sure did tell nero to get it all out.]

[there's even an amused huff, but he doesn't turn to face nero.]

So, you got your feelings hurt.

[typical dante. he waves his hand about, casual as ever, even with being called uncle. it doesn't really feel like it suits him much, and maybe that was as much a reason why he never said anything.]

There was no point in telling you, but if you're angry then you're angry. Honestly, I'm impressed you didn't connect the dots yourself.

[demonass]

[ When Dante puts it like that, it sounds childish. But, you know what? Yeah, maybe his feelings do fucking hurt a bit. Because this guy who has only be intermittent in his life for the past five years had made such an impact on him, set a new precedent and gave Nero some new avenues to define himself. Would he and Kyrie be where they were without him? No, probably not.

Different, yeah, but who knows? That's not the reality he lives in.

And that very same man that entrusted the Yamato to him, that shared his fucking business design, the same broker--apparently that guy doesn't see fit to take the kiddie gloves off. Deadweight. Can't hold his own. Still not strong enough. Still hasn't proved his worth.

He hates that so much.

That apparently he still isn't worth Dante's time, even here and now. That he can be so blase about it all.

There's no way that none of this matters to him, right? ]

Yeah. I'm angry, asshole. This is the kinda thing that people're supposed to be pissed off about.

[ No, no way is he letting Dante take that away from him. Nero knows he's got a short fuse, but something this important is valid. It's valid.

(Right?)

That comment hits like a bullet. It's probably a good thing he's also used to getting smacked around a bit. He scoffs. ]

I didn't?

[ Nero grits his teeth and gets right up in Dante's business, jabbing a finger forward to nail the point home. ]

I thought you might be my father!

[redload]

[the finger pushed forward towards him to point accusingly has dante pausing and keeping silent for a moment—letting the information that nero thought he might have been his father sink in, until that silence is destroyed by unequivocal laughter rising out of him. it's probably coming off as insincere, just how much dante is laughing, head tilted back and a hand slapping at his knee in such a disconcerting manner.]

[still, the laughter sputters into something of a huff and wheezes to a stop when he peers back at the young devil hunter and realizes—unfortunately—how real that statement is, that he had thought dante could have been his father.]

[and, honestly? that much sears through him like a hot iron prong.]

—shit, you're not kidding.

[it's altogether a grunt and a muffled sound of annoyance as he readjusts his seating position. some semblance of seriousness perches back on his expression, the culmination of some profound grief on the frown pushing his brows tight.]

I couldn't tell you your father was dead. [it was like a white lie—it felt better, to just not say anything, leave things up for interpretation, than to admit out loud that vergil was gone. scornful, twisting, painful guilt in his gut. he makes an attempt to stand, the weight of his balance mismatched as he keeps a hand on the arm of the couch.] It had looked to me that you were better off with your own family in Fortuna.

[demonass]

[ It absolutely does come off as insincere and Nero isn't sure if that sinking feeling in his stomach will give way to anger or embarrassment. Passing thoughts he'd been musing on every now and then over the years, because Dante was right--there were plenty of dots to connect. And while Nero is no Sherlock Holmes, he's not blind either.

What were the odds that this white-haired part demon guy would show up in Fortuna, of all places, sporting all sorts of the same abilities he had? And why would the guy keep in contact, however poorly, over the years? Guilt, maybe? For ditching? That was something Nero had forgiven a long time ago, but he was too damned nervous and afraid of rejection to have the balls to bring it up.

Not until now, now that he's been proven wrong. (Well, off.)

Now that someone can just laugh at him for it.

Nero pulls back, narrowing his eyes as what last bits of control he has try to keep the top on his pot down for a few more seconds. A few critical seconds as the weight of the idea apparently finally registers with Dante.

And fucking god be it all, that's all he wanted.

To be taken seriously.

It does, at least, ebb the edge on his own follow up as he looks away, taking another step back as he rubs the elbow of his right arm. ]

You don't get to make that choice for me, Dante. I figured my biological family either didn't want anything to do with me in the first place or they were dead. People died all the time in Fortuna, in case you didn't notice. You didn't think I could handle that?

[ When he turns his gaze back to Dante, it's still hard--he's upset, that's not going to change any time soon--but there's a pleading in there too. ]

Yeah, I was. But I have the right to know if I've got family somewhere else too.

[redload]

[what would it be like, to admit to nero that in many ways dante had had the same kind of yearnings when he was younger: of family, close-knit and peaceful, living an idyllic life; of eight blissful years with a father that seemed capable of taking on the world and a mother who meant the world to her children—of being the younger shadow to his twin brother, always side-by-side and never a step astray.]

[he manages to stand without the help of the couch, straightening his back in the process.]

It's not that simple, kid.

[when is it ever? besides, there are better things to wish upon someone than the dishonor of being of sparda's blood. vergil would say otherwise, surely, but he fucking isn't here, is he?]

There was no choice for you to make. The farther away you were from all this shit, the better. [he nods towards the missing right arm.] Are you any better off for knowing?