kowase | IC INBOX

[ subtleties in one's actions and body language that most people won't see in a dozen years--ones that dante is so used to that it's normal. vergil was still getting to remember his brothers' subtleties as well, surely, day by day.

So when he holds his hand out, Vergil does what vergil does best: ignore it for a moment, while he responds to the other's words, first. ]

...A creature neither human nor demon. You have my interest, but it sounds like something to ask the boy himself, and not you. [ he wonders... if dante even knows what it is. ] Unless you have a vague idea of what the boy is.

[ ...and then dante asks a favor. No, he requests a massive favor. Vergil looks... unsure for a moment, but. When that's the question that's asked---he nods.

Finally moving to go sit with the other, the appropriate amount of time passed to feel like he wasn't actually feeling on edge in a way that could be settled by sitting next to Dante.

He'll learn back, his arms crossed. ]

...So long as he doesn't make a mess of my shop, I will tolerate having a child around.
If the boy's safety is important to you. [ that's the distinction ]

[ he runs a hand through his hair, gaze flicking to another point in the living room as he tries to find the right words. explaining what kni is, what vash is, is complicated. not because he doesn't trust vergil to keep it a secret, not because he doesn't trust vergil to treat them any different than he does now - it'd be hypocritical of them both, seeing as they are not fully human themselves - but because it's something dante hasn't exactly wrapped his entire mind around. ]

I've got an idea, but it's nothing we've ever encountered before. Vash would be better at explaining it than me. The kid? Well, I don't know if he'll tell you honestly. [ he can only hope that kni will come to trust vergil like he does dante, that he'll come to like vergil like he does dante. ] The important part is that he's powerful, and in the wrong hands, he could be deadly.

[ the last thing any of them need is for all of wolfwood's fears to come true, for that future his friend has lived through to happen in this city.

dante's gaze flicks back to vergil as his brother moves, finally sitting down beside him with his arms crossed across his chest in a manner that makes something fond and warm bloom in dante's chest. the answer is... relieving, tension bleeding from his limbs as he shifts to lay down, using vergil's lap like a pillow and hanging his legs off the armrest. ]

It is important to me, and he won't mess it up. Give the kid a book and he'll be happy as a pig in mud. Thanks Verg.

'Nothing we've ever encountered before.' Is it something that I cannot simply research? You know I have many resources for that sort of thing. [ He doesn't want to talk to your weird desert man who moves like he doesn't have bones. Honestly, he'd probably sooner talk to the kid. But the idea that the kid might not answer... frustrating. ] I have a few feelings about power being in the wrong hands.

[ he's gonna avoid dante's gaze for a moment. a hand moving to rub over his own chin, in clear frustration. and then he shrugs. ]

There is little reason to thank me.
You would have bullied me into helping these friends of yours one way or the other. You are impossible to convince one way when you are set on something. [ not that he has a problem saying no to dante or anything, no, it's just that dante is determined and annoying. yes. ]

I know you do, but they're like me. They weren't born in this world, they came from somewhere else. I doubt there are any books about what they are floating around. [ which is probably for the best, he thinks, if more people knew about them it would be a problem. ] Just cool your jets a bit and get to know him. I've already talked you up a tone, so he's already predisposed to like you a little.

[ while vergil avoids his gaze, dante stares up at him. hair he normally uses to hide his expressions fallen to either side of his face, leaving him exposed. the anger has dissipated into exhaustion and worry. ]

Yeah, but you're just as stubborn when you're set on something. [ dante reaches up, fingers curling around vergil's wrist. he doesn't move to pull the other's hand away, but simply lets it hang there, the tips of his fingers gently pressing against his pulse point. ] It's why we butted heads so often.

[ He is aware about other worlds, but from his experiences, most people who are other beings other than human--or demon--they're something that's written in myth and legend. To hear that Dante's idiot blonde and his small brother are something other... He loathes that his mind drifts toward the thought of Aliens. ]

I see.
And do not tell me to cool my 'jets'. I am plenty calm, I will have you know. [ god have a little faith in him you antsy shit.

he's gonna come over and start cleaning up the glass, now that Dante's seemed to calm down a little.

A hand goes on his knee as the other pulls the bits of glass up off the linoleum, stacking them inside the mostly un-shattered base of the glass that'd fallen to the floor. ]

I had to be stubborn.

Otherwise, you would not listen to me.

I know you're calm, idiot. But I also know how you get when those ears of yours pick up an interesting topic. [ he gives vergil a rather pointed look. ] Do I gotta remind you of the time Nick messaged you about cake and you instead slammed him with twenty questions?

[ he has maybe a little bit of faith in vergil not to bombard the kid with questions, only a little. knowledge has always been something his dearest brother has lusted over, especially knowledge that doesn't pertain to the mortal world, and dante knows exactly how the gears in his head will start to spin like crazy once his finds out what exactly kni and vash truly are.

vergil moves and dante makes a soft noise suspiciously close to a whine, his head falling down onto the couch as he watches his brother go about cleaning up the bits of glass. an apology sits on the tip of his tongue, threatening to burst forth - an apology he forces back down as he forces himself to sit back up. ]

I listen perfectly well, thank you very much.

[ ....oof. Called out. yeah, okay, what he did to wolfwood was definitely high on the 'how rude can you get' scale, but--listen. It's not every day you meet a human who colonized on a different planet, okay? it was important he knew everything.

probably.

He looks at Dante with a furrowed set of eyebrows, continuing to clink together bits of broken class, collecting smaller shards into the unbroken base as he looks up at the other.

He's gonna reach forward to take Dante's hand--any damage he'd done to his hand would have healed, but. He did have to check that his body didn't heal AROUND any large chunks of glass still poking out of his skin, okay. ]

...Yes, well. I do admit that I got a little overzealous that one time. I would not do the same to a child.

And 'listening perfectly well' is not the same as comprehending what's being said to you.

[ dante doesn't fight it, offering his hand to vergil to fuss over as they talk. the damage that had been done healed immediately, leaving his hand exactly as it had been─ except for the few shards he hadn't noticed until now. a good thing vergil checked, honestly. dante's brow furrows, fingers twitch, and he almost pulls his hand away to deal with it himself.

that's what you get when you have an insanely high pain tolerance. ]

Maybe if you didn't nag me so much I'd comprehend more. [ that isn't how that works dante. ] If we weren't twins people might think you were the big old ball and chain with how much you nag.

[ from the pocket of his vest, he's going to pull a small manicuring kit from the pocket of his vest--a pair of tweezers procured as he starts to pull shards of glass out of his hand.

He's at least being careful. Even if it might sting a bit. ]

I do not 'nag'. Do not compare me to some discontent housewife. [ he says, grumpily, like a discontent housewife. ] You merely indulge in habits that require being needled about.
Like sleeping sitting up. Your legs will hate that, one day.

[ at the most dante's hand only twitches as vergil begins to pull the shards of glass from his hand, already healed wounds ripping open anew with each shard pulled free. blood quickly bubbles up, pooling in his hand, flesh stitching itself back together just as quickly as it was torn open. it stings, yes, but dante doesn't really react, high pain tolerance and all that. ]

Uh-huh, whatever you say dear. [ deny it all you want, vergil, but you're 100% a discontented housewife. ] I'll have you know I've been incredibly well-behaved recently, haven't even thrown myself in traffic for money or anything.

I'll be dead before that happens, Verg, lets be real here.

[ there's a ... flash in Vergil's eyes. those cat-like slits glowing a nearly unnatural blue as Dante says something that clearly displeases the other devil. Another shard of glass being pulled out of his hand, this time a little slower, a little more deliberate.

....followed up by a quick, and not quite so gentle press of his thumb, a perfectly manicured nail jarringly pressing into the wound before it's being given a chance to heal.

Blood drips down over Dante's hand, and into Vergil's palm, and he stares up at the other, unblinkingly. ]

Speak easily of your death a little more within earshot of me. I truly do invite it.

[ dante's entire body tenses like a prey animal does the moment it realizes it has been spotted by a predator, his jaw clenches as vergil starts to pull this shard from his hand slowly, a low hiss building from behind his teeth. he doesn't need to look at the man to know that he said something that pissed the other man off, he knew the moment the words left his mouth that his dear brother probably wouldn't take them well.

and it's all but confirmed by the thumb pressed into the wound, blood bubbling around that perfectly manicured nail.

dante meets those sharp, cat-like eyes, expression dropping from his face. a terrible part of him wants to bite back, to casually repeat himself because it is the truth - he isn't destined to die in his bed an old man, should the day finally come where he finally does kick the bucket it'll be waist deep in something demonic. he knows that much. the will he left with morrison the day he marched his way up the qliphoth said as much.

but he doesn't, he bites his tongue and swallows it all down. no need to poke the already angry bear, right? ]

My bad.

[ truth be told, he'd considered biting the man's hand. It was the last piece of glass needing to be removed, after all. Fortunately, he'd repressed the very strange urge and slowly removes his thumb from the wound--a small gout of blood following just for a moment before Dante's demonic healing quickly knits skin and muscle together, leaving nothing but a messy red stain mingling on their hands.

He slides his fingers over the others' hand, lifting it to press and swipe a thumb against his own bottom lip before he's getting up, picking the glass up and starting towards the kitchen. He pauses for just a moment. ]

I speak as myself. Perhaps not as the brother you knew, but as the man I am now.

...

Selfishly.
I'd like you to stay here. As long as you can.

[ so don't go fucking throwing your life away, idiot. ]

[ it's almost a surprise that vergil didn't bite him, or dig his thumb even further into the wound. he probably deserves it from the comments he made. and probably for a few other things that vergil has yet to properly collect on. dante breathes out slowly, watching blankly as the wound swiftly stops healing and closes - thank you demonic healing.

his gaze flicks to the blood still staining his skin, to vergil's fingers as he slides him across his hand - staining them even further with red - before bringing them up to swipe a thumb against his own bottom lip. red once more smeared against perfect skin. ]

Verg─ [ the other man stands and dante finds himself swallowing the rest of his own words, eyes widening at what follows from his brother's mouth. not since they were kid had vergil spoken to him like that, had he ever asked dante to stay here at his side for as long as possible. no, his dear brother spent most of his time pushing dante further and further away.

he's up on his own feet before he truly realizes it, crossing the space with a few easy strides, and settles in front of vergil. his expression softens, the mask slipping to reveal the tender pieces underneath, and dante reaches up to lick his own thumb before gently taking hold of vergil's face. ]

'm not going anywhere. [ it's muttered quietly as if a secret only they can share. he brings his thumb across vergil's lip in a similar manner that he had done previously, half-heartedly trying to clean his own blood from his twin's lip. ] I might do some stupid and heroic shit in the meantime, but 'm not going anywhere.

You're never getting rid of me, big brother.

[ perhaps if he were fully the man Dante used to know--the one who seemed almost desperate to keep the world away from his heart--he'd have just left the room silently after digging his fingers into the others' wounds. Leaving marks he wishes would last, but never would--saying nothing, but leaving the air full of words unsaid.

Vergil could never lift the cage around his heart. But perhaps being reborn has done one good thing for the still ornery devil: it lifted those bars a little. Just enough to let some emotion bleed through. Just enough that he could admit he did not want to live a life where he was alone; not anymore. Not after adjusting to the idea that he'd never come home to a silent house.

That he'd never wake up with his only company being his own thoughts.

Dante grabs his face and the instinct to bite the hell out of him is back--and he bares his teeth, as if he's going to do just that: however, he does hear what the other is saying. And it settles something petty and covetous in him. ]

...I will hold you to that. [ these are the words he decides on, letting his eyes close for just a moment--there's difficulty in looking into Dante's eyes. The raw emotion there, usually hidden under the other man's playful mask. When he opens them again, he focuses on him. A look like a glare. ]

Be a hero. Do what nonsense it is you do when you leave the house.

But you come back to me. [ that's a threat. ]

[ vergil bare his teeth and dante almost responds in kind, pulse surging as he wrangles his demon back down. part of him wants vergil to bite, wants the surge of adrenaline to course through him as fangs tear through flesh. it's a rush, it's always a rush, and dante is somewhat of an addict. but that would just ruin the moment, so he pushes down the desire to dig a nail into his brother's pretty face.

not now, not now.

he responds to the glare with a smile so soft it is almost painful, taking a step closer into vergil's personal space. his free hand lifts to settle on the back of vergil's head. ]

'Course. [ he'd expect nothing less. after all, who else could keep him in line but vergil? there aren't that many within kaisou that can keep up with him and sooner or later vergil will be back to his prime. ]

Cross my heart, hope to ... fly, stick a thousand needles in my eye. [ the smile turns to a comically wide grin and dante tugs vergil in a little, pushing himself up higher to press an affectionate (and teasing) kiss to his twin brother's forehead - a familiar motion, one their mother would always do to them as kids. ] I promise, with all my heart, that I'll come back to you.

IC INBOX - kaisou

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