Chapter Nine: Preparations

Note: Thanks for all your wonderful comments! I got this one done a day early, so I'm feeling pretty good about that! Hope you're all having a good week! This was a fun chapter to write!

(-~-)

A soft sigh escaped Nico's lips as she folded her arms and stared at the note on the door in front of her. They weren't here right now. While it made perfect sense that they would only be gone for a short while, and as such, had no reason to call and alert her of their absence, she still couldn't help but wonder why the note was so exceptionally vague.

"Gone to Zephyr Street. Making an effort to not run too long. -Magnolia"

The young mechanic shook her head and plucked the note from the door, turning towards the top of the stairs. Waiting for them to return wasn't much of a problem, but perhaps heading over to meet them would be a better use of her time. That was what she was going to tell herself anyway. Normally she'd just take a quick nap in the van and wait for them to return, but all the sugar and caffeine she'd indulged in a little more than an hour ago had made swift work of any semblance of tiredness she'd formerly possessed. Now boredom had set and she was ready to do something more productive with her time, even if it probably was a waste of gas.

Nico descended the stairs and headed over to the van. She'd parked it diagonally across two different parking spots, an action that would have surely awarded her a parking citation if anyone had been around to see it. Luckily she had only left the car like this for a split second, so it wouldn't be an issue. The dark haired woman clambered into the driver's seat and put the car in reverse, heading towards the main road. Now it was time to figure out where Zephyr Street was. Where had that map gone off too?

(-~-)

With the front door to the manor locked, Magnolia took the opportunity to open her umbrella. The rain had picked up while they were inside of the house looking around, and neither of them were keen on being soaked through. A chilly breeze blew past them, eliciting shivers from Magnolia as she tiptoed to try and hold the umbrella over them both. V smirked, mildly entertained by her attempt to keep him dry.

"I could hold that for you, if you'd like." V said as he ducked under the umbrella. He honestly didn't really care about being wet, but Magnolia's attempt to help him was so earnest and kind hearted that he didn't feel right elaborating on that fact. He would just play along until they reached the car at the back of the house. After all, it wasn't that far.

Magnolia shrugged and handed him the purple umbrella, chuckling to herself. "Literally everyone in your family makes me feel incredibly short. I wish I had whatever gene runs in your family that makes you all so tall."

V shrugged, unsure of what to say to that. While he had to admit that he was quite tall, he'd never seen it as much of an advantage. If anything, it had been a social ankle weight. He'd always been tall for his age, and that coupled with his unique hair color had made him stand out in the worst way possible to other people around him. It was something that still caused him problems on occasion, but he'd learned to adjust to it. After all, there was nothing he could do about it. He couldn't exactly wish himself shorter, now could he? And he probably wouldn't even if he could. He was used to it now, after all, and he had no intention of changing anything about himself to please others. It did nothing for him.

"Were you invited to this beach trip everyone is going on about?" V asked as they headed down the stairs, being careful to not slip on the stone," From what I've heard, there will be quite a few of us. I've been told we leave tomorrow morning."

Magnolia blinked blankly, her large grayish blue eyes showing no indication that she knew what he was talking about. The lack of recognition in her face was almost jarring, and V knew immediately that he didn't need her to answer that question anymore. How could she go to something she didn't know about?

"I had no idea you lot were planning to leave town," Magnolia said they headed towards the corner, the wind picking up and nearly turning the large umbrella inside out," this trip was someone's brainchild. Any idea as to who?"

V shrugged again, searching his memory for any relevant information. "I… don't actually know the answer to that question," He said after a moment, genuinely unsure as to who's idea this had been," Nero and I were invited by our father, and I'm relatively sure he didn't plan this outing. It doesn't seem like something he would do."

She shrugged as the two of them continued up the sidewalk, V wrestling with the umbrella more and more with every step they took. Magnolia had to take three steps for every one he took, making her pace much more brisk than his despite the relaxed stride he'd taken on.

"You're quite right, it doesn't. But I'm still going to skin him alive the next time I see him for not inviting me," She spoke in a manner so blase that V wasn't entirely sure if she was being sarcastic or not," Does that mean that I would have said yes? Probably not. But still, it's that thought that counts."

The young summoner chuckled under his breath slightly, once again amused by her wiley personality. He could only imagine what she and her sisters had done to Vergil during their youth.

"I couldn't agree more. Lessons must be learned." V responded, nodding in approval.

Magnolia cackled hysterically, giving him a playful but gently poke in the side followed up immediately by a punch in the shoulder. V buckled, taken totally by surprise. He wasn't accustomed to being toyed with in such a manner. He shot her a surprised look as he fumbled with the umbrella, accidentally knocking her upside the head and splashing cold water all over her. She shrieked, still laughing as his cheeks flushed bright pink.

"It's good to see that you do have a sense of humor!" She said with a bright smile, shivering from the cold rain," Let's get back before this storm-"

Before she could continue her statement, a loud screech could be heard from a few blocks around the corner. Within seconds, the van came rocketing around the corner of the building on it's side and skidded to a halt. The van slammed upright on all four of it's tires as Magnolia and V stared at it, startled.

"There you are! I thought I was lost for a while there!" Nico said as she rolled down the window, waving at them," Were ya ready to head back?"

V glanced over at Magnolia and she nodded, waving back at Nico. "You two go on ahead. I need to be getting back to my shop soon. I have some customers to meet with today. it was good to see you both again! Drop by after your trip and I'll make you both dinner!"

Nico nodded excitedly as V gave a single waive over his shoulder towards Magnolia. "Farewell. I'll think on your offer and meet with you when I return."

She nodded and grabbed her umbrella before jogging towards the opposite end of the street. V clambered into the van and closed the door with a final glance in her direction before settling into the passenger seat and closing his eyes. He had a lot to think on.

"Hello, Nico."

(-~-)

Blinding light shined through the floor to ceiling windows as the hanging fans spun lazily, barely circulating any meaningful air. The office was unusually quiet. No music played and all the lights were out since the window provided ample light, even with the stormy weather outside. Dante yawned and stretched as she descended the stairs, still in the process of waking up from his restful slumber. Considering the fact that they would be waking up across from the seafront this time tomorrow, he was trying to capitalize on the peace and quiet while he still could. The twins would more than likely be splitting a hotel room for a day or two. Part of him didn't expect to survive such an experience.

As he approached the middle of the staircase, he glanced over towards the couch that sat directly adjacent to his desk and stopped. Vergil had supposedly woken up in the middle of the night and made his way into the living room. That didn't really surprise him. What did was the fact that he was laying on the couch asleep with an all too familiar book spread out in front of him.

In the just under two weeks that they had been living together, the youngest Son of Sparda had come to realize that Vergil didn't really sleep very much. Aside from the day long nap that he had taken just after arriving, he was almost always awake and on alert. But in the last few days, he had been slowly easing into domestic cohabitation. Despite the fact that he seemed to be physically incapable of relaxing and didn't really have anything interesting to do with his abundance of spare time, Vergil hadn't stabbed anyone to death yet.

Morrison had instructed Dante to contact him when they returned from their trip, and he intended to do so. From what he could tell, this job was going to be big and maybe dragging Vergil along would give them both the opportunity to blow off some steam. It was worth a shot, at least. Better that than to let him stay at the office with the girls. Someone wouldn't make it out of that equation alive. Of that he was certain.

He walked past him and stole a glance in his direction. The only time he seemed to be totally at peace were the brief intervals of rest he indulged in from time to time. The rest of the time he was either reading from that book or seemingly thinking. About what, Dante couldn't say, but keeping him out of his head for extended periods of time seemed like a good idea considering his past track record. While he was making a concerted effort to not go back down that road, the youngest of the twins knew that it was still a possibility if he were pushed far enough. A faint possibility, but still one that existed. Actual meaningful change took a long time, and Vergil was making small but important steps. He needed to be realigned from time to time.

Just as he approached the desk, the phone suddenly roared to life, ringing relentlessly. He groaned and grabbed the phone off of the receiver, holding it up to his ear. Before he could say a single word, a voice on the other end chimed in.

"Omigosh! I can't wait for this trip tomorrow! I already have my bags packed and everything! I'm gonna take so many cute pictures and show all my friends when we get back and eat a bunch of good food and buy so many souvenirs! It's gonna be AMAZING! I know you have to be excited, too! Right Dante? Are you even listening?! So help me, Dante, I swear if you hang up on me I'm gonna hit you so hard in the head Morrison is going to have to have to fix you like he does everything else around your office!"

Dante blinked, shaking his head as if to kickstart his mental process. Despite the abundance of demonic blood flowing through his brains, his brain didn't work any better than an average human upon waking up. In fact, at times it seemed to work even slower. He sighed and rubbed his face with his free hand, leaning back against the desk as he stretched his shoulders and neck in an attempt to loosen up. Upon sparing a glance at the nearest clock, he came to the conclusion that it was just a little past nine in the mourning. As far as he was concerned, if it was too early for his older twin than it was too early for him.

"... Hey Patty. Just woke up. You're gonna have to save all of that for the train ride," Dante said with a yawn, rubbing the back of his neck," It's too early for me to understand anything you just said. Talk to you later. Gotta keep the line open, ya know?"

She groaned and let out an exasperated sigh. Dante could practically see her folding her arms grumpily before she responded. "Ok then! I'll meet you at the train station with the others at four o'clock sharp. Don't be late, you lazy butt! later!"

With that she hung up the phone, beating Dante to the chase as she did so. He stared at the phone blankly for a moment before shaking his head and tossing the phone back onto the receiver. He then flopped back into his seat and put his feet up. Was it too early to order pizza? Somewhere half decent had to be open, didn't it?

"Ug, four o'clock in the mourning? Why did Morrison and the girls have to book those tickets so early?" He said under his breath as he reached for a magazine. Had he read all of them a million times over? Yes. Was he going out in the rain to procure new reading material? Absolutely not. He didn't care if he could get away with using Cavaliere on a public street or not. He wasn't going anywhere.

"... Is she always that energetic?"

Dante's head darted over in the direction of the couch, not so much startled as he was surprised. It made sense that Vergil had woken up in response to all the noise the ringing phone and subsequent conversation had made, but he hadn't noticed him sit up and resume reading his book. The eldest Son of Sparda sat with his legs crossed in a reclining position, indulging in another section of his already well read book. A part of Dante made him wonder what it was with their family and rereading the same goddamn books over and over. Why didn't they ever pick up anything new?

"Basically. She's actually calmed down a lot since she was a kid. At least she hits me with less cleaning supplies now." Dante said with an incredulous look, his eyes traveling over to the phone again. Patty had always been Vibrant, both in her manner of dress and her overabundance of energy. While it was true that he found it exhausting, he'd be lying if he said he didn't enjoy that aspect of her personality. She was such a stark contrast to the other ladies in his life and she always brought something new and exciting for them to enjoy.

Vergil raised an eyebrow but didn't look away from his book. "What, did she beat you over the head with a mop or something?"

Dante half laughed. "I wish you were wrong, but yea. All the time. Said I was lazy and that she wasn't my cleaning lady. That I "was a grown adult and needed to clean up after myself. Feistiest kid I've ever met besides Nero."

To Dante's surprise, Vergil let out a sound somewhat similar to a scoff cracking a momentary smirk as he turned the page of the book. "I don't see a flaw in her logic. She makes a valid point, aside from the notion that you were ever an adult, that is.

Dante shot him a dirty look, shaking his head. "Sure, take her side." Vergil said nothing, simply continuing to read his book quietly. A smug look lingered on his face for a short while before dissipating as he focused more intently on his current source of literary interest.

Content that someplace that delivered had to be open by now, Dante reached towards the phone, intent on ordering himself something to eat. Just before his fingers could make contact with the phone, Vergil let out a discontent sigh.

"You don't know how to cook, do you?" He said, closing his eyes and shaking his head slowly," Am I going to have to start making actual food for us to eat?"

Dante shrugged and picked up the phone, going through a mental list in his head. Vergil closed his book and placed it on the couch before standing up and heading towards the kitchen. Dante wasn't sure what he expected to find in there besides cans of tomato juice and dust bunnies, but he had no intention of stopping him, either.

"I've been fine until now. Don't see the problem." Dante said as he dialed the number to a bar up the street. Their pizza was... passable at the very least. A clatter in the kitchen told Dante that his twin was more than likely going through the cabinets.

"Yes I'm sure it has," Vergil said as the sound of a cabinet door closing echoed through the building followed by another and then a third. There was a pause as he presumably checked the last of the cabinets in the small kitchen. Dante could feel a sudden shift in the atmosphere as Vergil returned to the main room, a look of what he could only describe as murderous intent plastered upon his face."

Explain to me how it is possible that you don't own a single dish, cup, or piece of cookware?!" He said as he leaned over the desk to make eye contact with him, looming menacingly across the small space between them. Dante couldn't pinpoint what it was about the question that suddenly made him deeply uncomfortable, but he suddenly felt the need to be as far from Vergil as possible. He could practically feel Vergil snapping his neck just by making eye contact with him.

"I… don't really have an answer to that." He said, reclining in his chair in an effort to put some space between them. Vergil looked about two seconds from whipping out Yamato and harpooning him like some sort of deranged deep sea fisherman.

Vergil closed his eyes and shook his head, repressing the urge to twitch in discontent. "Get up. We're fixing this. Now."

Dante groaned and glanced around him, noting the rain that fogged up the windows and ran down them in lines like a fogged up glass coated in condensation. "You do know it's storming outside right? And we won't even be here tomorrow. Why worry about it?"

"...Did I stutter?" Vergil stated flatly in a tone so devoid of humor that Dante could practically feel the room grow darker.

They stared at each other for a moment before the younger Son of Sparda sighed and shrugged, pushing his chair upright again. There was no point in battling this one out. He'd just end up laid out on the floor with a katana stuck through him. And getting the stains out of the floor was probably more expensive than whatever Vergil had in mind.

"... Let me get my coat?" Dante said, almost pleadingly. He didn't feel like having to ring himself out like an old towel when they got back.

Vergil shook his head, no hint of humor, mercy, of sympathy anywhere to be found in his vicinity. "No."

(-~-)

The beach arc starts next week one Wednesday! Writing this fic has been a blast so far! I love hearing from everyone, and I hope you're enjoying the series so far! Take care and sorry for any spelling errors I missed during editing!