Disclaimer: Yeah... I don't own DMC or anything related to the franchise... sad isn't it?
AU: Okay, after debating with myself for a bit, I've decided to proceed with this story differently to how I'm used to do it. Instead of doing long, branching chapters, I will be writing smaller but concentrated chapters, going over the events in order but without overflowing with thigs. So, to put it in simpler terms, this story will be mostly smaller chapters, short and sweet doses... Why I'm still rambling here? Dunno, anyway, enjoy the chapter and as always thank you for reading.
"Think they lost their minds after living together for a week and are now trying to kill each other again?" Trish casually asked with an amused grin on her lips despite her words.
"I don't think…" Lady paused for a moment when another loud bang echoed from inside Dante's shop. "Maybe…?" She shrugged, unable to rebuke the idea.
After a chance meeting in front of their headquarters, Lady and Trish found themselves stuck outside the shop, no matter how much they pushed against the doors they didn't budge an inch.
Even weirder is how much noise is coming from there, mostly heavy and loud bangs as if a bloody war trashing inside the building.
Giving up on the door, Trish stepped down the two steps and moved over to the mess of boxes and barrels sitting at the side of the shop. "Help me with this?" She asked. "May as well go for the window."
Both women dragged two barrels and some sturdy boxes, pilling up to make enough height for the right window.
One quick vault over the gap and Trish landed on the mess piled up next to the door. Stepping aside, she allowed Lady to land at her side just as Dante walked into the office/living room without a shirt covering his chest.
"Goddamit this thing!" Growling the white-haired kicked a black bag across the room, his eyes then settled on the two newcomers. "Yo, you two. Don't mind the mess." He offered with a little smile.
"Bad day at the office?" Trish asked. She noticed the dirty marks of dust as spots over his chest and even his forehead. "Is the world going to end or something? I would never imagine that one day I would find you cleaning this place."
"Yeah, me neither." He shrugged and then pulled another trash bag from the corner and tossed it to the pile at the door. "But Vergil will simply not stop bitching about it. I almost considered leaving my own damn house to get away from his nagging."
The two female hunters laughed at him, making Dante frown at them.
"You have to admit that this place was a mess." Lady said casually as she walked to the middle of the room, sitting on the large desk.
"Like they say, the mess is on the eye of the beholder or some shit like that." Snorting a tired sigh, Dante just tossed over his couch, lying face-first on the sofa cushions. "So, what bring you ladies over here? Got a job for us?" His last question came with a hint of hope of getting out of here.
"For you actually." Lady jumped from the desk, taking a small envelope from one of her pockets. "An acquaintance of ours asked to deliver this to you only."
This made Dante perk up. Rolling over to the side, he sat up and took the envelope from Lady, quickly tearing it open. "Vie de Marli, huh?" Quickly reading through the letter, he got up, wiping the dust from his face. "Looks urgent and far away from here enough. Wanna come?"
Lady just shook her head, while Trish stepped closer and took the letter from him. "Lucia..." She eyed Dante who shrugged at her. "Sure, I'll go with you."
"Nice, just let me get my things and we go." As he jogged towards the stairs to the second floor, he suddenly stopped and turned away. "Well, now that I thought about it, it felt urgent enough for me to go now, huh?" Instead of going to his room, Dante ran to a room at the back of the first floor, quickly coming back with a new shirt and one of his long red coats. "Just the sword will be fine, right?" He flickered one hand, making the demonic blade born from his will to appear. Then with another twirl of his wrist, the sword disappeared.
"What's the hurry?" Trish asked, folding her arms. "One could almost mistake it for you missing someone." She dangled the letter in front of her.
"Yeah, I am missing being very far away from Vergil." Dante walked toward the blond demoness and wrapped one arm around her waist. "Now let's get out of here before he hears us." As they started to walk together, he looked at Lady and quirked an eyebrow at her. "Gonna stick around or what?"
She shrugged. "Just going to rest here for a moment before leaving."
Giving Trish a confused glance, Dante shook his head. "Did she hit her head? Didn't she listen to the part where I said that Vergil is driving me crazy with his bitching about tidiness?"
"Lady is a grown-up woman; I think she can handle a few glares from your brother." Trish commented with a soft chuckle, finding amusing how dense Dante still is.
"Whatever Lady, you deal with mister stabbing flying swords over there. I'm out." Waving one hand, Dante guided Trish to the window. Without fanfare and theatrics, which is rare for the demon hunter, he jumped to the street, leaving Lady by herself in the large room.
Taking Dante's words to heart very much so, Lady waited just a few moments after her friends left to then stand up and wander around the house, dodging the few pieces of junk and broken things that Dante left in the hallway.
Passing by the first two doors, Lady leaned over to the open door of the kitchen. Her steps were quiet and careful, but even still the shirtless pale man kneeling over the open fridge noticed her presence.
"How long can you take to dispose of a trash bag?" Vergil growled quietly. But instead of getting another cursing word from who he expected to be his brother, he heard a soft laugh with a feminine tone. "Mary…" He simply stated after glancing behind him. "Where's Dante?" He asked, turning his attention back to the almost clean tray in front of him.
"I'm afraid he left with Trish." She noticed the older twin getting tense. "To his defense, this is WORK related. A client asked for him specifically."
"And my good brother felt the need to leave as soon as possible… with that woman attached to his belt." Vergil growled once more, tossing the wet towel at the tray as he got up to move at the full sink.
Watching the man angrily work on the dirty dishes, Lady walked in, casually sitting on one of the two chairs around the small table. "I don't get it, why do you hate Trish so much?"
"Hate?" He snorted quietly. "I don't hate her If I did… It would be troublesome."
"Then? Why do you glare and growl every time she's around?" Lady asked, resting her chin on her hands.
"Her presence is… hard to bear, true. However, what I find most disturbing is the implied relation she has with Dante." He explained, rubbing the weird-colored stain from an old pot.
"That should bother you why exactly?" She eyed him; the man clearly rolled his eyes from the way his head moved. Then, sensing his indifference toward her, Lady felt the spark of a little mischief taking over her. "Oh… I see the problem. Trish is a very beautiful woman, it's okay, I understand. You're jealous of your brother."
Plates clattered over the sink. Shooting foam in the air, Vergil turned in a swirl to give a disturbed glare toward her.
"What?" She asked innocently.
"That woman has my mother's face. Dante may not care about those details, but I do." He then snarled and turned away from her. "I find your implication of such… feelings, truly disgusting."
"Oh… I… forgot about that." She sighed, feeling silly for her small joke. "I think Dante has forgotten about that too. He knows that Trish is just… you know, Trish."
Vergil hummed quietly in reply. Their small exchange ended right there and then. Putting his focus on the task at hand, Vergil continued to scrub the dishes clean, the muscles of his bare arms twitching whenever the cold water hits his skin.
Kicking herself for the sharp turn the mood around them took, Lady sat quietly in the chair, watching Vergil work, sometimes letting her gaze wander to the scars and fine lines over his broad back.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to upset you." She started with a soft voice, meaning her words. In response, she got an indifferent grunt from the white-haired. "Can you stop making noises and just talk normally again?"
"Can you scrub?" Vergil asked simply.
"Come again?!"
A small brush fell on the table, the tall white-haired stepped to the side and leaned over the turned-off open fridge. "You want to talk, correct? I want to clean this place. We both want something. So, I repeat my question. Can you scrub food stains from glass trays?"
Taking the brush with one hand, Lady looked at Vergil and smiled. "Want me to go shirtless too?" She nodded at his state of clothing, her smiling growing as the man turned very conscious of himself from her peering gaze. "Please don't go all plank mode on me, it was just a joke."
"Your sense of humor is dangerous… Mary." Vergil's lips twitched in a faint grin. "Maybe more so than those guns you carry with you."
"Maybe, that's why I find it so much fun." Pulling up, Lady went to work on those trays. Pulling the first one to continue the work Vergil had started, she almost gagged at the weird colored stain tinting the glass. "You know… I thought with you being like you are, things like cleaning would be beneath you."
"And how I am, Mary?" Vergil asked with a quirked eyebrow.
She glanced at him, mostly to see if he was frowning or glaring at her. Surprisingly he is doing none. "Well, you behave very dignifiedly. Some would call you snobbish. All high and mighty, even the way you speak is very-"
"I think you've given me enough compliments." He said cheekily. "To clarify your misguided confusion, I don't find such labors to be beneath my efforts. It takes discipline for one the keep themselves and their surroundings in order. And a house is much more pleasant to stay in when cleaned properly."
"Dante would argue against that point." She added with a chuckle.
"The man eats two-day-old pizza on a stained plate, his opinion on the matter is completely invalid." Vergil spat back, getting mildly angry just for remembering the occasion. "What about you, Mary? Do you also live in a house that resembles mice's nest?"
"Please, only Dante can be this lazy. But… I have a feeling that if you came over to my place, you would be disappointed." She said sheepishly.
"After living with Dante for a week, it takes quite a lot to disappoint me, Mary." To her surprise, Vergil actually smiled at her. "And it seems I can leave the kitchen for you. That tray looks satisfactorily clean."
"Where are you going?" She asked a little disappointed that he was halfway to leaving the room.
"I doubt my stupid brother managed to put the rest of the house in order before leaving. Which means I have a lot more work to do." Stretching his arms over his head, Vergil grabbed another trash bag lying against the wall. "Fear not, I will be just over the hall."
As he had said, Vergil left to tend to the other rooms much to his companion's disappointment. Lady looked at the remaining mess in front of her and she sighed. "Okay… this was not how I wanted to spend the afternoon today..."
If someone told Lady that she would spend hours brushing, scrubbing, and washing, on her very nice Thursday, she would have shot the cretin for jinxing her day off.
Now laying exhausted on the couch at Dante's shop, she still can't believe how much time she wasted working at the man's kitchen. Who would've thought that an overdriven man focused on something would not be open to a very productive chat?
She sighed feeling slightly frustrated at her day. "I'm never cleaning this place again." Lady tossed her head back onto the cushions, one arm resting against her eyes.
"A feeling that I share." Vergil's stoic voice sounded from the right, his quiet steps getting closer and closer until his weight dropped on the couch next to Lady. "Let's hope Dante can learn his mistakes and at least…"
Before he could finish, a soft snort escaped her. "Really?" She said in a tease.
Vergil sighed, the way he shifted next to her made Lady picture his frustration even though her eyes are still closed. "You have a point… Please sit properly."
"Haaa… why? I'm tired, let me die in peace." She cried out in a complaint.
His rich voice echoed in another sigh. "Please just behave… and take one of these."
Her interest picked up at that. Shuffling around as she straightened herself next to him, Lady looked at Vergil and saw him holding two steaming bowls in his hands, both with folded dishcloths at their base.
He also isn't half-naked anymore, instead, he is wearing a black undershirt with long sleeves and a dark blue sleeveless vest with golden buttons.
Leaning a bit closer, she looked at the bowls and then looked at Vergil with questioning eyes. "It's green. Should I be worried?"
Growing a little tired of her antics, Vergil pushed one bowl to her, only letting go when Lady properly held with the protection of the cloth. "You saw the state of Dante's kitchen. With all I had available, this is the best I could do."
Lady eyed the soup again, really not digging the green look of it.
"Just eat." Vergil growled softly as he took a large spoonful to his lips.
Following his lead, now at least knowing that this thing is at least safe enough to eat, Lady brought the spoon over her lips to blow the steam away, only then did she bring it onto her mouth. "Hm… hey, this is amazing! What is this anyway?"
An approving hum came from the white-haired man. "A simple kale soup with a little touch of pepper and onions."
"My god and he can cook too… what can't you do?"
Placing his spoon down, Vergil gave Lady a serious look, his brilliant blue eyes showing a powerful glow in them. "A lot of things…" He replied with a dead-serious tone, giving no hint of sarcasm.
"Sure…"
A streak of silence befell the room with only the casual sound of Lady slurping at her spoon here and there. She glanced to the side and saw Vergil staring at the space in front of him with a weird seriousness.
"So… now that you made me work to the bone can we continue that talk from before?" She asked with mirth.
He hummed, his eyes flickering back to his bowl. "I noticed you enjoy that quite a bit… talking, that is."
"Sometimes yes, then other days I just want to stay hidden in a hole away from everyone." That made him look at her and she quickly gave him a wink. "Okay, sorry but I have to ask. How did you do it?"
"That is as vague as it can be, Mary." Vergil said back.
"Nero!" Instantly Vergil shuddered, giving her an odd glance. "Come on, ever since we found out about it, we started to make one theory after the other. After some point, it just turned ridiculous, so I gotta know how it happened."
"We?" Was only what Vergil breathed out tiredly.
"Trish and I." She replied simply. "Most of what we know of you came from Dante, and even he doesn't know much. So how was it? Did you find a crazy hunter that tried to kill you and you two got close? Or maybe you two met over the beach where she was fetching for seashells."
Lady knows that this is a very risky move. The man doesn't like to talk much, talking about his past just seems worse. But she just had this feeling on how to go and went for it.
Yet, after saying the words she kept watching Vergil stew his soup over, a little bit of anxiety creeping over her. Maybe she went a bit too much in the wrong direction.
"Seashells… that sounds ridiculous." Vergil at least replied normally instead of lashing out, it was enough to push her a little more.
"Oh, I know. Maybe you made her clean someone's very dirty kitchen and then offered a romantic dinner to make it up for her." She giggled at his short grin. "That was a close one, right?"
"No dirty kitchen, and definitely no seashells. That happened a long time ago. I was young, hurt, and… needing…" He lingered on the word, a hidden meaning missing on what words he wouldn't say. "It happened before I could think about it… it laid forgotten before the sun had risen."
"Wow… that's it?" Lady said with clear disappointment in her tone. "I mean, after theorizing about the happenings and it was just one-night fling? That's lame. Do you even remember her?"
"Does it matter? At the time I wanted power… at any cost. Attaching myself to someone was the last thing on my mind." He frowned, digging a little deeper into his soup.
"To tell the truth, that answer right there was not as bad I was expecting." She said before bringing another spoonful to her mouth. "I half expected you to say that 'Love is a weakness' or 'Humans are just trash' or whatever."
"Presumptuous of you, no?" Vergil looked at her with a neutral look in his eyes. "Should I try to assume what thoughts are wandering inside your head?"
Lady looked directly onto his eyes, green and red staring into icy blue. "I'm game." She chuckled, licking her lips. "Tell me, Vergil. What is going on in my head right now."
Vergil matched her gaze, his eyes penetrating in their stare. Yet, he was the first to waver, it was a slight and almost inconspicuous move, but his eyes shifted their attention to the rest of her face, casually brushing a shy glance at her smiling lips.
It was almost insignificant, but it made Vergil break their locked gazes. "You play a dangerous game, woman." He growled almost like an angry animal, his face shifting into a burdened frown.
"Hahah, is the great Vergil, son of Sparda, scared of me, a silly human girl?" Lady faked a shocked gasp. "Imagine what the demons of the underworld would think right now."
"Insufferable human." The hybrid devil/human growled, but his words carried no real bite to them.
Giggling to herself, Lady watched Vergil as he subtly ignored her in favor of the soup he made. Her eyes traced the line of his jaw, the shape of his nose and then they were drawn by the pretty color of his eyes.
She finally noticed that his hair is damp and just lying in its natural style, falling over in silk locks almost resembling Dante's haircut but strangely tidier.
"You should keep your hair like that. Suits you better." She said in a thrown-away comment.
His icy blue eyes shifted to her again, this time they carried an annoyed look on them. "That is one insulting compliment." He said coldly.
"Why? I meant it." She argued back.
He turned to face her again, running his hand over his hair to let it truly cascade down. "Take a good look… who are you seeing right now?"
"Vergil…?" She furrowed her brow.
"Don't play coy, woman. You know exactly who has the same face as I but wears his hair like a mop over his head."
"Stop that, you don't look like Dante with your hair like this." She said back.
At this Vergil chuckled, but with no humor in his voice. "You say I don't resemble my identical twin brother? Hm… see how I find that hard to believe?"
"Oh, don't be difficult. Sure, you two have the same face, BUT, you two are very different from each other, it matters." She shifted closer to Vergil, pointing one finger at his face, mildly annoying the man. "You frown most of the time, Dante always has that stupid grin on his face. You keep your jaw straight like you're always on edge, takes a lot to make your brother to be serious, even more to look serious."
"Those are insubstantial claims. Should we keep our faces perfectly neutral then your theory is gone?" He debated, looking rather proud of his point.
"Even if you two had the same clothes, making the same face at the same time, I can still tell the two of you apart very easily."
Vergil almost puffed his chest at her challenge. "Please illuminate me on how would you ever manage that?"
"Simple, I would just tell a joke. The first one to growl at me would be you." Her lips parted in a wide smile. "Didn't expect that did you?"
"Brat."
Lady's laughter echoed in the room, the look on Vergil's face is too funny for her to hold in. "I win. You have to keep your hair down now. But I won't be mean, so you just have to do it for tonight."
One glare from him and she shifted a little away on the couch. Her smile never faltered from her lips.
"You truly are insufferable." Vergil growled. He raised one hand to comb over his hair, as he always does as per habit when feeling anything resembling nervousness. But as his fingers grazed against the soft texture of his hair, his hand stopped, slowing falling to the side.
"That's a good sport." She winked at him.
Shaking his head, Vergil found himself wondering why in hells he is suffering this woman's antics. Looking at the playful glint on those duo-colored eyes his mind made a quick assumption as of the why, but he made himself ignore it very quickly.
"So am I… Mary Ann." He softly smiled.
Closing her eyes and clenching her hands, Lady let out a frustrated growl just like his. "Okay, now you are just doing it on purpose!"
Despite getting aggravated over the name he keeps calling her, deep down she has started to feel like the day was not entirely wasted.
Maybe cleaning Dante's dirty mess kitchen was worth it in the end.