Chapter Seventeen: Dialogue

Note: Thanks for your feedback on the last chapter, and sorry that this one is several hours late. It seems that I'm more than capable of writing this chapter four days early, but I'm not very good at not sleeping until well past seven in the afternoon. FML. At least I got Wednesday's chapter done today!

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The lights in the lobby were dim, providing a soft backdrop to the approaching sunset that was due to settle across the horizon. The shimmering water glistened like a bed of stars, reflecting the menagerie of colors that had just begun to stretch across the sky. Vibrant oranges and reds were paired with docile blues and purples, while white fluffy clouds seemed to rise from the sea itself, reaching towards the very edge of endless skies like mountains composed of white cotton and snow.

Nero paused for a moment as he placed his hand on the door handle. All he had to do was pull it open and go inside, but he wasn't even sure what he was going to do once he was inside of the building. He knew where he needed to go and why, but he didn't have the slightest idea what he was going to say to V once got there. And he didn't even have the key to the room. While he was positive that he could just knock on the door and ask to be let in, he still didn't have a plan of action. Should he just ask V what was going on and then go from there? It was as good a plan as any at this point.

It was worth a shot.

With a sigh, Nero pulled the door open and stepped into the building, letting the door go as he scanned the room. In all honesty, he's forgotten what side of the building V's room was on. He knew where he and the children would be sleeping that night, but he hadn't had much of a reason to keep track of where everyone else was, especially since there were two wings to the building. Luckily (or perhaps unluckily depending on who you asked) Nero wasn't actually alone in the room.

The young demon hunter did a double take as he caught sight of Vergil sitting in a chair relatively close to the stairs. He was flipping through a book, but Nero knew for a fact based solely off of the look on his father's face that he wasn't actually reading it. That entire half of the room radiated a level of discomfort and -was that anxiety- that was practically suffocating, and yet Vergil didn't display any of this on his face. He simply looked… bored as if he found the novel he was flipping through thoroughly uninteresting. Was he actually that adept at hiding his emotions? That would actually explain an awful lot. Maybe Vergil wasn't as emotionless as he had originally guessed.

Well wasn't that a nice big slice of humble pie…

As Nero approached Vergil, he abruptly closed the book with an almost startling snap with not so much as a glance in his direction. He realized then that the older devil slayer had known that he was there from the very second that he had entered the building. Nero had to admit, he was kind pissed at how easily Vergil and V seemed to notice shit like that. And how utterly hard they were to detect in turn. Demons the size of mountains regularly failed to sneak up on him. No problems there. But V walking around his house at night? No dice. That shit scared him literally every time. He'd even managed to sneak up on him in the middle of his fight with Goliath in Redgrave, and he'd been walking around with a metal cane at the time! How the hell were they both so incognito? Was it genetic? Because if so, he hadn't inherited that gene. He was perfectly willing to believe that Vergil was just that light on his feet. After all, he was pretty graceful and well coordinated as a general rule. As much as it loathed him to admit it, Vergil just had a way of making difficult shit look effortless? And the easy stuff? Total overkill.

But V?

Well…

"You're going to tell me that I shouldn't have done that. Clearly I didn't know." Vergil leaned over and placed the book down, hovering over his legs for a moment as he planted his elbows on his knees. He had a distant look on his face as he glanced in his direction as though he had been through this conversation exhaustively and expected such a statement." But regardless… your right. I suppose my response was unwarranted for the most part.

Nero felt a wave of confusion hit him as he literally gave him a sideways look. What had Vergil just said to him? "Yea, I guess. Um… are you okay?"

Vergil shot him a vaguely disapproving, his brow furrowing slightly. Nothing about this situation was humorous to him. "I didn't know you found this predicament entertaining."

The younger demon hunter waived him off, shaking his head. The last thing he needed right now was to get thrown through the front window. If there was one thing he'd figured out it the short time he'd known Vergil it was that he tended to convert any of his negative emotions directly into unbridled rage, a response that he could only assume was involuntary considering that it seemed to directly clash with his otherwise calm, cool, and collected demeanor. Hell, if he was more mellow and less overtly intimidating, he and V could pass off as…

Oh god, were they really that much alike?

It was actually somewhat disconcerting.

"No, no, hey, I don't start. I was being serious! You seem kinda… I donno, upset?" Nero shrugged uncomfortably, unsure of how to describe his intent without seeming purposefully contrary. He wasn't used to really being concerned about Vergil. It was strange." The way I see it, this is both of our faults. I came up with that stupid plan in the firs place. If I hadn't asked him to help me…"

Vergil straightened slightly, giving him a curious look. He didn't seem upset. In fact, his demeanor actually seemed more at ease. It occurred to him that Vergil probably already knew that, but might be surprised that he was actually willing to admit it. He probably wasn't used to that. Or used to having an actual conversation with someone.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is that not everything bad you're involved in is entirely your fault, ya know?" Nero said with a sigh. He wasn't sure he was very good at this sort of thing, but he was trying. And he was hoping that Vergil was at least willing to do that much." Look… what are you doing sitting down here? Did you even try talking to him, or did ya just follow him to the hotel?"

The older of the two glanced away for a moment before staring up at the ceiling fan for a moment. He seemed to be considering what Nero had said to him. Was there actually a universe where everything wasn't his fault? Did Nero actually think that?

"... Is this about your brother, or about me?" The Darkslayer gave him a serious and unrelenting stare, but it wasn't laced by the cool, barely concealed irritation anger that had been there so frequently when Nero had first encountered him. He'd just asked him a genuine question, and Nero wasn't actually sure what to say to that. He knew what he thought, but how to articulate it? That was a different matter entirely.

"Look… I don't know. Both of you, I guess. What does that have to do with you not going up to talk to him?" Nero said, folding his arms and tilting his head in the direction of the stairs.

Vergil didn't move, but his gaze traveled towards the floor slightly, breaking the eye contact that Nero had inadvertently drawn him into. This conversation actually made him uncomfortable, didn't it? That was good. Maybe Vergil would actually give him a straight answer then.

"He has no desire to speak with me. I know that. I don't need to disturb him to confirm that." Vergil's tone quieted a few octaves as he spoke, but was still as firm and audible as it normally was.

Nero's slightly irritated glare softened some. There was a certain level of resigned despair and… was that regret in his voice? Vergil was actually sorry, wasn't he? He was capable of believing that he could regret something that he'd done. He got the distinct feeling that he regretted a lot of his past actions. But then why didn't he express that better? It wasn't easy to admit when you'd done something wrong, but for fuck sake…

How had Vergil and V turned out to be this bad a conversation and expressing their emotions? It was astoundingly sad. He had to do something about that. After Dante was better at…

Shit they were all like this, weren't they?

Fuck.

In an attempt to regain his father's attention, he leaned over him slightly, gripping the arm of the chair in an attempt to maintain his balance and keep himself from face planting through the glass coffee table and breaking his teeth on the floor. Vergil would probably flip his shit if he did that. Clearly he'd had enough child injury for one day.

"Or maybe that's exactly what he wants you to do? I mean do you ever ask other people for help?" Nero stared at him firmly. Vergil immediately stated back. He sensed a challenge.

"I have no desire to… I don't need-" Vergil was too irritated by the perceived accusation to ever respond properly. He seemed slightly flustered, and the fact that he couldn't hide that and that Nero could see right through him seemed to really piss him off.

"Oh, so you're just going to feed me a load of bullshit then, hu?" Nero said, keeping the mild amount of entertainment he'd derived from that statement at bay. He already knew Vergil was going to say something like that. No use in getting upset about it." Go up stairs and talk to V. It's not like you have somewhere else to go tonight anyway. You have to sleep at some point."

"No, he totally doesn't. Vergil basically never sleeps. It's pretty creepy."

Nero glanced over his shoulder, shooting Dante a startled glare mixed with a questioning look. When had he come in? Since when was Dante that sneaky? And why didn't Vergil say anything. Was he just going to let him eavesdrop? "So what the fuck were you planning to do all night, then? Just ignore him? How can you sleep with him at your office?!"

Dante shrugged. "Look, I don't know. He's already stabbed me several times, once with my own sword. Not much else he can really do that would surprise me at this point. I'm just kinda along for the ride." He glanced between them and then over towards the stairs, closing his eyes and then sighing." Look… you go talk to V. I'm gonna talk to my dear old brother here. Then you can do whatever you want with him. I just wanna go to bed sometime tonight. Hope V's alright."

Vergil seemed horrified by the prospect of having that conversation with Dante, his brow raising slightly as he shot him a disapproving glare. There was more concern and discomfort in his eyes than anger despite everything. It was as if both the father and son were wondering what Dante could possibly be aiming to add to this already dying conversation. After a moment, Nero shrugged and stood up all the way. Whatever. That probably wasn't an awful idea. While he didn't have the highest hopes for their ability to talk things out after seeing their track record in action, he knew that at the end of the day he could just kick both of their asses again if they decided to do something stupid or get in a huge brawl in the middle of the hotel lobby. And if all else failed, he could get Patty and Kyrie to come in and give them a stern talking to. They didn't seem to be able to resist that one.

Nero repressed the urge to ask both of them why they didn't just get up and go tell V how they both felt and groaned. They really were twins, weren't they? Equally insane but in different ways. He would go talk to V, and they would sit down here and hash it out. And there would be hell to pay if they didn't, vacation or no vacation.

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Oh boy, I don't know if this is going to be more fun or more painful to write lol! But at least they are talking, right? Thanks for your comments on the last chapter! I'll see you all next week on Wednesday! Stay safe out there and make sure to take some time to decompress. Everything is insane right now.