Chapter 10
'Pathetic.'
Vergil contemplated on how the sons of Sparda could sink so low as to actually watch – oh horrors of all horrors – a romance on some stoic idiot called Darcy and a rash, emotional girl called Elizabeth…
…and enjoy it.
Ten minutes into the film, Dante had quit complaining and had actually begun to ask Kyrie questions relevant to the movie. She answered him with the infinite patience of someone used to explaining shows to inattentive children, and, to his chagrin, even Vergil found himself showing mild interest at the plot.
'Dad would be rolling in his grave if he could see us now.'
Elizabeth had just begun to read the letter Darcy had thrust into her hands, when the phone rang shrilly. When nobody moved after two rings, Kyrie gave a sigh of defeat and rose to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Kyrie." Lady sounded irate. "Is Dante there?"
"Yes, hold on." Kyrie looked at Dante who was sprawled on the couch. "It's Lady…"
"Nu-uh, I'm not speaking to her until she grovels." He gave a sullen shrug, glaring at the television.
She returned to the phone. "Um… do you have a message for him?"
"Tell that idiot that he better not still be sulking – and that has the keys to the Agency so he better get his butt down here before I shoot him to kingdom come." Lady growled back.
Kyrie covered the mouthpiece. "Lady just wanted to check how you were doing, and she's asking if you could go over to the agency and please unlock the doors."
Vergil, who was near enough to hear Lady's voice on the phone, raised an eyebrow.
Dante gave a languid stretch. "Tell her to open it herself. It's cold out there and she expects me to open doors for her?"
"Lady?" Kyrie lowered her voice. "…He said don't stay out in the cold for long."
"He did huh?" Lady sounded slightly mollified. "Whatever. I'll be at front so just tell that guy to hurry up."
"Lady said that she'd really appreciate it if you would go, and that she'll be waiting for you at front." Kyrie hung up and Dante gave her a suspicious look.
"That sounds too nice to be Lady."
"It's what she means though. You have to learn to read the heart of a woman." Kyrie gave him her most winning smile. "So you'll go right?"
Dante heaved a sigh and rose to his feet. "Might as well. I do have a couple of cases to wrap up."
"Take care," Kyrie handed the demon hunter his coat. "I'll leave you something nice for dinner."
"That better be a promise." Dante winked. "See you later babe."
The front door slammed behind Dante's back.
"'The heart of a woman'?" Vergil broke the silence.
"I merely paraphrased a little." Kyrie gave him a guilty grin as she retreated into the kitchen. "Now, what to cook…"
The setting sun painted the sky an ominous blood red.
"Here?" Nero skidded the car to a stop in a perfectly performed parallel park against the sidewalk.
"Yes. Based on register yesterday, this was where we first received the calls complaining about demon activity. This should be the epicenter." Credo exited the car, wrinkling his nose at the smell of burnt tires and glowering disapprovingly at the skid marks on the pavement. "…Remind me to revoke your license later."
"A bell tower. How quaint." Gloria's frosty eyes glimmered strangely in the light.
The three gazed up at the stone hewn tower wrought with black iron railing. It had a simple, no-nonsense design, as if the architect formed it for function rather than aesthetics. Its only ornament, a rather grotesque statue of an angel wrapped with chains, was perched upon the jutted sill of the bell window. The tower stood starkly out of place from the modern styled houses and apartment buildings, like a tarnished glass piece amongst plastic baubles.
"Locked." Nero tried the iron gate with a rattle. He shifted his weight on one leg and was about to lift his foot up when he caught Credo's stare. "Uh… permission to kick it open?"
"Denied." Credo spoke curtly. "I'll find the caretaker."
He marched off, only to hesitate and give Nero a weary look over his shoulder. "Be polite."
Gloria waited until Credo turned the corner before slamming a high-heeled foot against the rusty gate. The bolt gave way with a loud protest, swinging open to reveal the unevenly paved pathway that led to the bell tower.
"I rank higher than him." She smugly told Nero, setting down the path with sashaying steps.
Nero hesitated at the gateway, some instinct telling him not to stay alone with the provocative Gloria. Her blatant flirting and pointed stares had put him on the edge and he couldn't wait to escape her overbearing presence.
She looked back as if sensing his hesitation and curled her painted lips. "What's the matter boy? Don't tell me your waiting for Credo's permission like a good lapdog."
That did it.
Nero looked indignant and brushed past her. "Whatever lady. If you're that scared to go alone, just ask."
"I'm glad a brave strong boy like you is willing to protect me." Gloria purred.
Nero marched up to the bell tower and didn't hesitate – he leaned back and delivered a jarring kick that shook the doorway but the heavy door refused to budge. He threw it a nasty look.
"Double barred." Gloria examined the lock. "Looks like we'll have to wait for Credo after all."
Nero crossed his arms and leaned against the wall. "What's your business here anyway? You big shots have never been interested in our city before."
"That's incorrect – while his holiness hasn't much patience with the complications of its structures, he does care about the people in them." Gloria spoke with a tone that denoted boredom more than conviction. "That's why I've been sent, so that I may see the situation and deal with it as necessary."
"That's a smooth speech. Had it memorized didn't you?"
"That and various variations of it." Gloria spoke breezily, "Enough about that though, tell me more about you: what's an exciting boy like you doing in the by-the-book police force?"
"Credo invited me." He replied brusquely.
Polite. I'm the shinning example of polite. Watch how I refrain from throwing up.
"Ah, good old Credo." Gloria tilted her head sideways like a cat admiring its prey. "Have any family here?"
"No."
That's right Nero, keep it short and simple…
"So you must stay in the dormitories? Made lots of friends? Have a girlfriend? A boyfriend perhaps?"
"Yes, yes, no… what???"
"Ooh, fervent denial." Gloria spoke gleefully. "We must be on the right track."
All thoughts of politeness vanished from Nero's mind. His hand strayed towards Blue Rose. "Look here you – "
The shrill pierce of a cell phone interrupted him.
Gloria pulled out a phone and raised it to her ear. "Yes?"
Her expression changed horrifically, as something akin to panic or fury flashed across her face. "I'm on my way."
"What's up?" A weaker man than Nero would have flinched at the look of venom Gloria threw at him.
"Tell Credo there's been an emergency." Her voice was cold and dispassionate, all trace of lazy cat gone. "I'll contact him."
With that, Gloria took off at a skipping run, somersaulting smoothly over the iron wrought gate and out of sight.
Kyrie had just ironed the last of the clothes when she caught sight of the darkening sky.
With a weary stretch, she pulled off her apron and gathered her things before heading out into the hall. She paused at the living room doorway, about to call out to its occupant only to hesitate at the sight before her.
Vergil was seated on the windowsill, seemingly engrossed on the book in his hands. The pale autumn sunlight illuminated white hair into a soft silver, relieving the hard angles in his stern face. He had foregone the trench coat for once, and suddenly bereft of the stiff garment that he had employed to physically close himself off, he looked… almost approachable.
There was none of the guarded hostility that had always surrounded him like a dark aura and he had even relaxed the almost painful rigidity with which he held himself upright to allow the barest hint of a slouch. The sleeves of his dark sweater had been rolled up to his elbows, and sunlight skimmed over the pale skin of his forearm, tracing lean muscles and delicately shading the curve of his wrist and long, elegant fingers. It was a decidedly masculine arm, all muscle and bone, looking almost too hard anything but carved out of marble.
Kyrie vaguely wondered if it was capable of a gentle touch.
Then as if feeling her gaze, he looked up, all defenses immediately snapping back into place.
"Are you going home?" Vergil put the book down and wondered at the sudden blush that stained her cheeks.
"Y-yes." Kyrie stammered, feeling as if she had pried on some private moment. "Dinner's in the fridge if you'd like some. It's getting dark so I better hurry…. Goodbye!"
She all but fled the room.
Vergil arched an eyebrow and followed the girl out into hall where she was struggling to pull on her coat and keep her grip on her bag at the same time.
"You're going alone?" His voice was slightly sharp. "I thought someone was coming to pick you up."
Kyrie gave him a sheepish smile. "It'll be fine. I brought pepper spray."
"You mean you didn't tell anyone that you were coming here." Vergil narrowed his eyes at her guilty shuffle. "Haven't you learned from yesterday? There are more dangerous things out there than you can hope to fend off with… pepper spray."
In reply, Kyrie pushed the door open. The cool autumn wind swept past Vergil and into the hall, spicy and enticing especially after being in the house the whole day. The sparse trees against the suburban housing were a vivid gold and crimson against the purple streaked watercolor sky.
"I can't live my life locked up because I'm forever afraid of what lies outside my doors." Kyrie took a graceful step out into the afternoon and all of a sudden it seemed to him a crime to cage up any being that belonged so naturally to the sun. "I appreciate the fact that everyone worries about me – I really do – but it's not as if I'm being targeted or so fragile as to need constant watching. I'm not a civilian; I know what lurks in the night but… I want to help as well. I may not be strong or smart, but I daresay even the heroes need some help from the people in the background."
She paused and frowned. "I mean I can clean and cook… I'm sure that'll count for something in the long run."
"…If you do die, I'll laugh. Hard."
"Laugh all you want but I refuse to die: I even brought a stun gun."
"Of all the stubborn…" Vergil let out a soft snort of disbelief. "A modicum of caution would be appreciated by those of us who have to clean-up your dead body. There's a difference between bravery and foolhardiness and right now you don't seem to know the difference between the two. In a face-off with demons you don't want to let them get close enough to use… pepper sprays or stun guns." And despite himself, he smiled at the mental image. "Don't be difficult about it; I'll walk you home."
He waited for some form of protest but Kyrie merely stared at him absently.
"That's the longest speech I've heard you say yet." She liked the way he smiled: with his eyes rather than his lips, forever mocking and yet shadowed with sincerity. He looked slightly puzzled and she gave herself a mental shake. "I mean, I'll be fine really – you don't have to –"
"Walk." Vergil gave her a light tap on the shoulder and strode ahead.
Kyrie stared at his back, one hand instinctively reaching up to where he had touched her.
His touch had been no more of a feather-light nudge but it had been firm, almost friendly, slightly impatient, warm and…
Gentle.
She shook her head free of embarrassing thoughts and ran to catch up to Vergil's long strides.
AN
At last - a miniscule hint of the romance that I've been itching to write! I swear, Vergil gets so prickly that it's hard for me to hint even this much. Well, that's why we love him I suppose...
I'll be back to my weekly updates, although i'll try to update even sooner than that if the muses permit me.
My deepest gratitude to BleachedFighter, Dias, Yuu-ko (I MISSED YOU!!! XD), The Black Inferno Devil (Thankies! I needed that, and I'm REALLY HAPPY to hear from you again!!! MWAH!!! XD), Hao is Hot (I MISSED HEARING FROM YOU AS WELL!!!), Zhee (Hurrah! XD As to that... we'll see.), Trinity Archangel and especially - ShyAnon (TRY HER STORIES - works of art, I swear!) and xXxzeldaxXx (Thank you, thank you, thank you.)