abraxaslogs | [CLOSED] who let dante out of his cardboard box

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[CLOSED] who let dante out of his cardboard box

Who: Dante + others
When: Throughout June
Where: Thorne, Horizon, Nocwich??
What: Closed starters
Warnings: Emotionally stunted middle-aged man

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[ Dante isn't sure he believes that. He knows Nero well enough to know that Nero reached out to Dante because he'd hit a point of desperation. Maybe of fear. Because Nero is a guy who does things on his own accord with his own power. He's built his self-worth and identity on being someone who can protect others, so what does it mean if he can't protect himself?

His lips form a thin line, but he listens. He thinks. He knows the real issue is how he's let Nero down as a person. Man to man. Uncle to nephew.

"The only thing you needed to hear is that I was alive... and that was enough."

Hearing that hurts more than he wants to admit. His fingers tighten on the already chipped ceramic of the mug and he needs to remind himself breaking the thing isn't going to make this better. His instinct is to leave, to wave it off and say "yeah I'm just a shit person like that, I guess" and go back to his hole and pretend everything is fine. Make a joke of it. Just keep pretending.

Just keep pretending every day of his life like he isn't living in some damned nightmare. If it isn't Vergil's shadow, is the face of every demon he's ever crossed flashing in his mind's eye. They're waiting for them back on their world. Abraxas is practically a vacation.

Dante exhales forcibly through his nose.

One breath at a time. Because this isn't for Dante...it's for Nero. ]

...This guy named Reno helped kick my ass into gear. Then you reached out to Thancred. So we went out with Thancred to track down what we could of the last steps of one of Thorne's missing Summoned. Nice kid named Mat. Figured you ended up in the same place.

[ He presumes Nero became acquainted during their mutual incarceration. ]

Then you reached out to me, so I knew you were still hanging on. When people started filing rank for the attack, I guessed you would've busted out being sick of the place and all. So I left for the mountains.

[ A huff as a smile almost settles on his lips, but it disappears quickly. ]

I should've figured you'd stay behind. Couldn't leave anyone else down there, huh?

[ No, Nero is too good a person for that. ]

When I heard what went down on the island...

[ There's a long pause. Dante had lingered in Nocwich for a while, knowing that many of the Summoned were seeking medical attention there. And there was really only one person he was lurking around for despite how fond he's gotten of a few others. There's only one Nero. ]

I stuck around to see how you were getting on. But I also assumed that you had enough to work through that you didn't need one more person letting you down to add to the pile.

[Oh, man. Fuck. He was really not ready for this. Maybe this is why guys like Geralt drink. To get out of -- of feeling this way. (Though jury's still out how much Geralt really is bothered by his shit. If you ask Nero... he doesn't think it's possible he's not.)

The world's spinnin' all out of place. Dante's in his van and talking about shit that matters, instead of making jokes about stuff that doesn't. The fact he's even still here. Yeah. Nero can respect that, too. If there's one thing that's dependable, it's that Dante never sticks around long.

Not when things get uncomfortable.

But Kyrie -- even if he hasn't seen her, touched her, for way too fucking long, she would've torn him apart if he didn't push this. If he let it go and left, too. If he just pretended that being abandoned not only by his father, but by his uncle too, hadn't affected him in the least. Not in the fucking least.

There's no need to doubt yourself.

He's not sure she's right on that one. Then again, thinkin' that is just proving that he does it in the first place.

Nero doesn't interrupt. He thinks he might've heard the name before, but at least he knows Thancred. Knows he was the one who got the message Dante was supposed to. When he'd been at the end of what he was able. When he'd been starting to swallow he would die in the dark.

He still doesn't really get it. He doesn't get why Dante doesn't just say that. Why he didn't jsut say it in the beginning. If he was doing all of that -- for him -- then why wouldn't he bother fucking following it up? Just a hey, sport, how's the sun treating you? It's the difference between a single thought and absolute, shattering silence.]

You would have, too. [He stares Dante down. He's sure of that -- no doubt. Dante might be a lot of things, and they might be entirely different, but... yeah. He's sure of that. If their places had been switched, Dante wouldn't have left those people down there, either.

Nero runs a hand through his hair, falling back into his seat as every coiled bit of energy winds itself out. An exhalation. Maybe that's all he needed. To hear he even gave half a shit.

Even if he's a stupid bastard about it.]

You gotta stop assuming. You're enough of an ass. [Dammit. Maybe he's picked up some annoying habits from Dante. After all this time.] Yeah, I've got people. I've always had people. [People who made sure he wasn't a corpse. That the mushrooms hadn't eaten him from the inside out. That picked up the pieces when he got back home.] But you are the only one I've got here that's family. That's blood. That understands what it fucking means to be -- to be whatever we are. That means something. Maybe not to you. But it does to me.

[ Dante doesn't like explaining himself to anyone. It's not that people aren't owed it, it's more that he's...just. Sometimes he's tired. Sometimes he's disappointed in his decisions. Sometimes it's just too much. This? It was all of the above. And there's nothing quite like letting down family to encourage Dante to curl back up into the safety of his cave.

But Nero is definitely owed it. And, strangely enough, even if he's admitting to his missteps along the way, it does feel a bit better to actually share it. It doesn't make up for it, but maybe at least now Nero can know that he was far from the last thing on Dante's mind--

--he was the reason Dante got involved in the first place.

Thorne's problems are Dante's problems, he's made that clear from the start. If he's not getting paid then he isn't getting out of his seat. But Nero? Nero's a different story all together.

You would have too. Dante does huff at that. For as much as he doesn't want to get involved, he doesn't think the Summoned deserved what happened to them. They're people--people need help.

He doesn't have half the answers Nero wants, he knows--no, he assumes, because Nero hasn't asked him all he wants to know yet. That's the problem right there, isn't it? Dante figures he'll let Nero down and cuts it before it can come to fruition. Before something good can happen. ]

I'm an ass.

[ He agrees with a gruff sigh. ]

But I guess you're stuck with me.

[ He's got to let Nero make that choice of whether having Dante around is good or bad for him--and he can only make it if Dante is around.

He leans forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he holds the cup between them. There's another long pause as he stars at the settling surface of the cooling coffee. ]

...The only family I've had for the past few decades has been at the end of my sword.

[ He glances back up towards Nero with his lips in a thin line. ]

I'm man enough to admit I'm a little out of practice.

[Nero waves a hand. It's not that bad when it's a quality all of them have. Nero's an ass, too, and he knows it. He's always had people to remind him when he is, too. But he'd rather have an ass around than nobody. Dante had Lady and Trish. He had Nico, Kyrie. And maybe... maybe in another world, where he wasn't such an angry bastard, they could've had V -- Vergil, too.

Part of him still misses him. V. Like he's still... someone else.

Yeah. They're stuck.

Nero gets up, only stopping to clap Dante on the shoulder. If he doesn't do something to break this up, he really is gonna jet.] Way beyond time for something new, old man. [He means that literally. Dante's feeling like a few hundred years old. And lookin' it.

He knows he must mean that literally. Nero might've stopped them from killing each other (the only way he knows how), but something really fucked had to have been between them. Dante had been ready to take him out. Vergil, too. It's not something that pops up in a year or two.

A few decades. Shit.

He pours himself coffee to have something to do.] Maybe you'll tell me about it some day.

[It's an offering. A reason for Dante to show up again, or for him to go to Devil May Cry. Something that connects both of them beyond the demonic shit. Maybe neither of them wants it, but Vergil's still a connection. And if he has to use it to try to keep them together... then he will.]

[ For as much self-deprecating humor as Dante can be prone to, it's not an admission he makes easily. His true shortcomings, born of a very, very complicated game of cat and mouse.

He isn't exactly sure what to expect when Nero stands, but the non-confrontational pat of his shoulder and quip in return is a relief. He let's out a huff and rubs his stubble in a sort of self-soothing manner. ]

So you think an old dog can learn new tricks, huh?

[ He finally takes another drink of his coffee. It's cooled down considerably, but he's drank much more questionable blends at much more lukewarm temperatures. (Talk about days sitting in the pot.)

There's a pause as he drinks then a slow nod as he lowers the mug from his lips. ]

Maybe.

[ From anyone else it may sound like an out, but from Dante, it's an agreement. There's plenty to tell... and it won't be pretty. ]

Did you know your old man's fashion sense hasn't changed in over twenty years?

Maybe even dead-ass ancient ones.

[It's what Kyrie would've encouraged, if she was here. He knows that. It's why he did what he did in the first place -- well, not entirely. But he was so sure his choice was right. And he still is. Nero might regret a lot of things, but he doesn't regret stopping the two of them from killing each other. No matter what would've caused it in the first place.

Maybe even Vergil recognized that. Not sure what else he would've bothered thanking Nero for.

Maybe even that asshole could admit he'd made mistakes.

Nero slurps the coffee without a pause. He's had worse. Mostly at Dante's, but after the first time he'd learned to just not eat or drink anything there.

Huh. If Dante's not taking that as an out for the moment, maybe he will get something out of it. In the past, he would've pushed. Would've said it's the least Dante owes him, when he's the only one who knows fuck-all about Vergil now that V's gone. The least Nero can have is something, anything, about who his father is.

But he's learned. Pushing doesn't get him anywhere. It just makes everyone clam the fuck up.]

And yours has? [He bumps his boot against Dante's. Not that he knows, but he can definitely guess.] At least you ditched the chaps.

[ It's not that Dante wants to kill Vergil--far from it. It's the last thing he wants to do, but it's also his job if it needs to be done. How many times has he tried to turn the tide only for Vergil to turn him down at the last second? There's a big part of him that isn't sure how long the tenuous truce they have in Hell will last. As much as he doesn't want to be stuck in that eternal loop, he still misses his brother.

His stupid brother who does nothing but cause him trouble. How many lives have been lost in Vergil's pursuit of power? Of his sense of self?

It's fitting that Nero was the one to finally knock some sense into him--literally. At least for now. Maybe that's just what he's needed all this time--to see that he can create something good for once.

The quip about his own fashion sense pulls a little smirk out of him as Dante lifts his chin. ]

I was just thinking the other day I should bring those back.

[ Was he actually, who knows? He raise a cheek brow in Nero's direction. ]

Vergil would fit in well with the cravats in Thorne, but chaps would really endear me to the common folk, don't you think? A little bit country.

Don't you fuckin' dare. [But, for Nero, the threat is almost... good-natured. At least it will be everyone in Thorne's problem, not his. 'Cause after this, they're still going their separate ways. He'll only see Dante in the Horizon.

Not that Thorne could stop him, if he made his way over there. That, Nero would bet on.

But the memories of the pit do linger. Of being so human, some days he'd just laid there and slept, without energy to even plan on taking another cultist out with him.

He snorts between one drink and the next.] You're fucking with me. He did not wear a goddamn cravat.

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[CLOSED] who let dante out of his cardboard box

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