He could not say he had slept well, and not for a lack of trying. Having refused to let it become transparent to his twin that for almost two decades of his life Vergil had not laid down on a bed to sleep. Technically, he did not need to, even when exhausted all he would need was to let his strengths recuperate alongside his breath and well, Mundus did not feel the need to provide his general with a mattress, after all, why would an untiring tool need sleep? It was for the weak, a thing lesser demons and even lesser worms did due to not being able to hold themselves wide awake with will alone. It was a lie generated from the Demon King's notion that anything related to humans was a cancer and display of weakness.
Of course, it was not just those remaining memories and scars that kept Vergil from sleeping, but the constant hammering on his mind of Dante's own mishaps during all those years his twin was on his own. It made Sparda's Eldest toss and turn trying to get comfortable in the barely used guest bed, attempting to fight his restlessness like it was the most formidable of devils. A battle Vergil eventually conceded as a lost cause and just stared at the ratty ceiling, still as a rock as he focused on the problem at hand, wondering if he could convince himself that Dante's problems were a pointless worry and born out of his twin's buffoonery and silly spendings. The price tag on his latest "smokin' sexy stylish" red leather coat was ridiculous, and way above the monthly earnings of his agency, but no, that was not it. Vergil thought of himself as very good when it came to recognizing patterns and suspicious activities, and his brother's debt tab was a little too organized, a little too clean cut when compared to the lateness of the man's bills and other payments to be truly just him being very strict with the money he owed to that woman.
Could she hold something over him to blackmail Dante into paying in time? No, that was ridiculous. If his twin so desired, he would have her reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye. He had fought her before - well, his pure demonic half had - and while she was formidable by the standards of humans and some kinds of demon, that lady was nowhere near enough to be able to do anything to either son of Sparda. And he absolutely refused to think that Sparda's youngest was that alright with having his well earned money drained like that, even if the state of the Devil May Cry and his perceived apathy could be very well clues that Dante simply did not care that much.
Such notions were things Vergil found absolutely revolting. He had to know the truth, he must know it, lest the doubt and wonder corrode his brains into only being able to think about that. Scowling so hard at the ceiling one would think he was trying to burn a hole into it, Yamato's wielder decided: He would be going after what that debt really was about.
In another room, Dante was equally restless as his twin even if he did not know, unsure of how he would approach the many topics Vergil would have to catch up on. It was a sad thing to keep his musings on, but it was the truth: The world had moved on from when they were younger, and Dante himself struggled with it much to the delight of the most badass women he knew, as well as his own nephew.
"In my world where only time is feared." Dante snickered to himself - It was what Nero had said to him one day after he gifted the little punk with the Devil May Cry's neon sign and his blessing to start the Fortuna Branch. Nero had said it with tons of mockery behind his little remark, but the Legendary Devil Hunter had picked up on the tinges of awe and reverence behind it quite quick: His nephew was right, truthfully the only thing he could have trouble with nowadays were the sands of time, and how things changed in such sudden waves. Of course, he easily hid it behind perfectly measured nonchalance and irreverence. Dante's thoughts soon shifted from his worries and amusement at the truth to his father, and wondered if the same thing had been said of the Legendary Dark Knight. It quickly wiped the little grin off his weary face, the mere thought of how Sparda had just vanished. Not confirmed dead nor captured, much less forgotten. He simply disappeared one day without anyone knowing anything.
Deciding it was enough, Dante jumped from his bed with a needless flip, deciding it was time to go for some middle of the night leftover pizza. He just hoped his older brother did not beat him to the punch about that.
Neither of Sparda's offspring expected to see the other once quietly attempting to close the door behind them. As if they were staring at a slightly warped mirror the entire time, Dante and Vergil's actions were perfectly in sync with each other, from the surprised double take to the jerky pull away from the doorknob. If the youngest was in his full getup instead of down to his dark red boxers, it would seem more like Dante had planned to copy Vergil from the get go, as if he could read his brother's mind and used that to annoy him.
"Bathroom?" They asked each other at the same time, albeit Dante's was a legitimate question, while Vergil's matter of fact tone and particular cadence made it seem more like he was simply assuming he was right, and merely waiting for confirmation from his younger brother.
As Dante stretched both arms behind his back and began to make his way downstairs, he heard the steps down the stairs creak twice, immediately whipping his head back to see that Vergil was right behind him, awkwardness barely managing to creep into his eyes. Sparda's eldest was not managing to figure out a good reason to go down right after Dante, fear and uncertainty creeping into his mind as exhaustion began to slow down his mental faculties at last, of course, only until the younger twin spoke once more.
"If you're after a midnight snack Vergil, you might have to fight me for it." Dante stated mostly in jest, but with a hint of truth behind: He had not eaten pizza in two months and desperately craved it. If either Trish or Lady had stashed the leftovers as he hoped they would, like hell Dante would let his twin have it. Of course, it elicited a dangerous chuckle from Vergil.
"I don't want anything to do with your cold, greasy food brother. I am merely going for a walk." The elder twin retorted with his best arrogant, mocking tone. It was Dante's turn to chuckle however, thinking he had his twin figured out. "What? Way too worried about the big ass demon tree's remnants or something?"
The devil-may-care way his twin had said that made Vergil's stone-faced stare harden even more somehow, trying to hide his want to scowl and with a quick "hmpfh!", the eldest son of Sparda power walked the rest of the steps down, opening the door just as swiftly. "I should return in an hour's time. Do not bother waiting." And then he shut it close behind himself. Dante sighed, bringing both hands to his waist and then shook his head, going back to his plan of delighting in the possible freezer pizza.
Sadly for the Legendary Demon Hunter, his fridge was as empty as it had ever been. Nothing but exactly two cans of tomato juice were inside for some reason. Dante did not recall ever buying those…Or the last time he had stepped into a grocery store outside of a job.
To say Vergil was highly disappointed as he returned to the Devil May Cry would be an understatement. His investigations - Or what his exhausted brains thought could pass as investigating - lead to nowhere. He did not find Lady hunting down devils as he thought she would be, he did not find any clue about her whereabouts and above all, he did not even have a clue about where to start his self imposed quest. Almost pulling the door from the hinges as he opened it with little to no regard about property damage, Vergil made its way to the kitchen to at least try to brew some coffee. The kitchen was just around the corner and after a few quick steps, Sparda's eldest began to rummage through the old cabinets and drawers seeking a tin and a pitcher to make some of the delightful beverage.
Only after a good eight minutes of looking through Dante's barely used utensils did he realize his twin did not have coffee, or anything other than water in his kitchen. It was like he never used it. Bewilderment and absolute horror were more than apparent on the appalled Sparda heir's face, his hand holding the last drawer to be checked so hard his digits were crushing the handle. Vergil could not believe that his younger brother, the one to take down Mundus, subsisted exclusively on pizza and gods-damned beer. His usual eloquence was stripped down from him out of sheer shock. There was simply no way a grown man in his early forties was living on a kid's dream diet plan. It was just too ridiculous!
But also perfectly in character for Dante to simply indulge and let his demonic half make it work. Vergil's slack jawed and wide eyed face hardened into a scowl as outrage settled in, finally releasing the drawer he had been gripping for a minute now and slamming it back to the point the rarely used silverware rattled as the wooden compartment wedged itself stuck on the counter. For now, his investigations were not his main goal.
Vergil had to teach his little brother how to eat like an adult, and part of him felt like it would be an herculean task at the very least.
Dante was no stranger to being woken up in a harsh way. Being a heavy sleeper of hellish levels meant that there was very little he could not sleep through unless it was a serious matter, and so his companions had often taken to finding ways to amuse themselves while trying to wake him up. So far, Trish was the winner with just shocking him awake.
Or she would be, if his flight or fight response was not triggered by the way his dear brother had decided to get him off bed: Kicking his door down and lifting Dante by the neck like a ragdoll, something had seriously ticked the guy off, and this time Sparda's youngest had little to no idea what had happened for Vergil to basically be so intense that he could only think the elder twin was trying to kill him! Dante even had summoned forth the devil sword in a panic, almost running his twin through if he had not realized that there was not the same cold intent to harm in Vergil's eyes that he had grown accustomed to seeing when he had done something stupid or they fought.
Instead, he just saw concern and the hints of fading horror. There was not a single thing Dante could pinpoint to be the cause of it, as so many possibilities and conjectures formed on his barely awoken mind he could not figure what of his myriad of mishaps had caused Vergil to act like this.
"Dante, you have nothing in your kitchen." He said, his voice almost losing the peculiar way Sparda's eldest spoke his twin's name to concern. Dropping Dante to the floor, he stared, waiting for a response that came after the slowest, most awkward couple of seconds.
"Yeah? There's no need to have anything there. Y'know, there are a couple dozen p-"
Dante never managed to end the sentence, his brother's patience with his pizza obsession having ran out and so did all leniency Vergil held, the yamato's blade puncturing Dante's chest and back in the harshest "shut up!" he had ever received, well, perhaps with the exception of Lady shooting him in the head, or Vergil himself when he impaled his twin with the Rebellion so many years ago.
"Was the yamato really necessary? Sheesh Verge, you have words y'know, why don't you use them?" Dante teased, taking being stabbed in stride as he pulled himself away from the sharpest blade in the universe, his blood pooling down and without a doubt leaving a permanent stain on the floorboards. Now he needed a shower and unbloodied underwear thanks to his twin.
"Dante. You are a grown man living off pizza and blasted beer. What does that say about you?" Vergil's disappointment was palpable, and so was his once more rapidly fraying patience. Somehow, Dante had gotten into his nerves by just existing now. Guess living alongside his twin would be harder than the youngest of Sparda's heirs thought.
"I dunno, that I have great taste and the best genetics in the w-"
Indeed, the Legendary Devil Hunter did not expect his morning to begin so early, nor with him being stabbed by his recently returned twin twice in the same conversation. It was far from the most unusual way he started a day, but indeed one of the funniest once he looked back at it. Would make for a good way to embarrass Vergil in the future, even if the misfortune had fallen onto him in the present.
"Quit with the stabbin' and jabbin' Verge. I just woke up and it's not even noon yet! Cool your jets!" Dante said a little more grumpier than he wanted to come off as, getting up from his pool of blood under the heavy glare of his brother, who pointed the ancient katana alongside the spectral blade he had conjured towards their target.
"Neither would have been necessary had you managed to eat like a normal person your age. Get yourself ready for the day, we will be going to buy actual food Dante."