Chapter Text
Vergil toed the door open as he dropped a couple bags on the desk, he had gone out to get groceries after having told Dante how it was impractical they keep living off deliveries and convenience stores. "Dante, I've returned." Vergil wasn't loud perse, but he knew his voice carried in the worn down building especially if he was attempting to speak up; nothing answered him back. Trusting intuition Vergil made his way down to Dante's room, it was too quiet for the man to be here and in a good state.
Lo and behold, Vergil was correct. Pushing the door open Vergil found Dante slumped back against his headboard, head tilted uncomfortably as he stared at his wall eyes unfocused and unmoving. The twin seemed to pay no mind as Vergil knocked against the door nor when he moved across the room to crouch in front of him. "Dante? Whatever is the matter, can you hear me?"
Worry bloomed in Vergil's system as Dante continued to not answer him, what was happening? Why was Dante so unresponsive? Was it a curse, some spell, a delayed effect of a fight? As Vergil's mind reeled and he searched through his mental catalogue of books Dante's gaze slowly shifted to him. "Dante, are you feeling okay?" Vergil reached up and placed the back of his palm against Dante's forehead. Within seconds Dante was gone again, his vision unfocusing as his breath hitched and stuttered out of his throat.
That's it Vergil is calling in the big guns, Nero. Vergil twisted the dial, quickly inputting the number he had memorized over his few months staying with Dante. Worry was twisting and suffocating his system, it was horrifying watching his brother who was usually ever so present fall away into some unknown limbo. "Nero, son, something is wrong with Dante."
"What?" Nero's voice was muffled and crackled with the old phones quality, but the worry was clear as day. "What do you mean? That doesn't- I'll be there soon." With that the phone disconnected, leaving Vergil to sit and stare at his brother in the eerie silence that set him off in the first place.
Nero arrived quicker than expected, the van skidding into place as the younger hunter was bursting through the doors. "What- what happened? Did you just find him like this?" Nero crouched on the floor, watching the limited blinks and hazy gaze Vergil had been staring at for who even knows how long. Vergil hummed out an agreement, letting Nero lean in and study Dante's condition. "I haven't seen anyone like this before, I don't know what's happening."
Helplessness coated the words Nero forced out, unable to grapple with the problem he couldn't fix let alone understand. The two debated between what to do, finding a doctor was out of the question - Vergil nearly tossed him out at the idea - next was books. Scouring each and every one they owned praying for an answer in the pages. "He's moving." Nero whipped around at Vergil's words, watching as Dante's fingers twitched and gaze slowly looked about before landing on Nero.
"Hey, are you with us?" Nero tried to speak softly, not wanting to scare Dante with being too loud. Carefully Nero went to reach out, his fingers aching to fix in the way he knew best - touch. Vergil's hand snapped around Nero's wrist, freezing him in place before he could even think to move too far.
"He withdrew last time I touched him," Vergil's eyes never left Dante, watching to make sure that even the threat of touch didn't force Dante away.
Nero sucked in a breath between his teeth, "okay that..complicates things." Both men watched as Dante fought to stay above the fog that wanted to encompass his mind. It was a depressing sight.
Vergil's hands twitched at his side, clearly fighting the same want to fix that Nero found himself in. "I think, we should just stay by his side and keep watch. He is merely unwell."
Dante's head lolled slightly, his gaze hazing slightly as he fought to stay with his family. Nero crouched down forcing himself back into Dante's vision, "it's okay, come back when you can bring yourself up." With those words the two watched as Dante let himself sink back into his head; Dante's body losing it's strength as he tipped to the side and crashed into an awaiting Vergil.
"Should we sit in the lobby with him?" While the bedroom could of worked, the room was a bit too small for all three of the men. It was built just big enough to qualify as a bedroom and Dante clearly hadn't cleaned it up in awhile. Vergil glanced around the room after Nero's words hit him, humming out an agreement and a quiet 'I'll fix this later'.
Vergil was laying on the couch his head against the sofa arm and Dante laying against his chest, a book was held between his hands as he read over his brothers shoulder. "Thousands of souls must seek the realms of light / And walk together on the clouds of heaven / Prepare, prepare." Vergil read the poems softly words muffled in Dante's hair as he spoke. Part of Vergil hoped that this was helping; the passive touch and murmurings of poetry Dante had probably already forgotten.
A keen whine broke the ambience as Dante turned his head from the side to face Vergil's jacket, his face twisting up in pain and hands twitching. Nero leapt up from where he sat, glancing around before shutting off the lights figuring that's the only thing that could of hurt Dante besides himself. "You're okay, Nero is fixing it." Vergil uncrossed his legs attempting to make Dante more comfortable before draping his arms over the mans back. "It's okay, we're here for you. I'm unsure of what is happening, but I'm still here." A soft hum pierced through the leather - then Dante went limp.
"He's gone again huh?" Nero leaned over the couch and tilted Dante's face a bit so he could breathe without the leather jacket interfering. "I hope that he's gonna be okay, this isn't like him at all." Vergil glanced away from his book, watching Nero chew on his cheek, worry eating away at him.
"Dante will be fine son," Vergil reached over with his free hand and mussed at Nero's hair - an action he's seen Dante do a plethora of times to comfort Patty and Nero. "It's just an off day, he will be back with us soon enough. I am certain."
Nero nodded and leaned against the couch; if the boy couldn't join the two on it he will be as close to them as he could. "What are we going to do about getting him to eat?" That was an issue, the duo couldn't just simply let Dante starve and solids didn't seem like much of an option in his current state. "Do you guys actually have anything to even eat?"
"I had acquired groceries before finding him." Vergil leaned his book against the wall and couch backing before carefully sitting up and maneuvering Dante with him. Attempting to lessen the jostling Vergil pressed Dante into him with a quite 'sorry' and hooked an arm under his legs. "Let's see if we can do anything with what I bought." Dante was moved to sit on the couch, his body leaned back so if he did tip it wasn't forward.
Both Nero and Vergil searched through the groceries, putting them away as they worked. "I mean, you got a lot of greens we could try a smoothie?" Nero sat out some of the fruits and vegetables, assessing which ones would go well together. While the options were limited it at least was enough to make a decent smoothie that would leave something on Dante's stomach.
"That shall do." Vergil let Nero pick through what he needed before stashing the rest in a random drawer in the fridge. He can organize it all later. "Let me know when you are done, I will take care of the dishes." With that the elder stalked off and was back to sitting with his brother, the poetry book in his hand and mumbling out the lines.
Nero will admit: the smoothie looked awful. It wasn't like he had the grandest of options though and all the two needed were to simply get some sustenance into Dante. "Done, let's find out how well this goes over." Nero grabbed a random spoon from Dante's silverware drawers and stirred the drink, anxiety settling in his stomach. Hopefully the man doesn't choke.
"What's with the spoon." Vergil had barely even glanced away from his book, how did he notice? The man was hyper-aware to a scarily extent and sometimes Nero completely forgot that by how lax he could come across.
"I don't want him to choke so uh," Nero held up the spoon, some of the smoothie caught on it, "I figured I should just try spoon feeding first, make sure he can swallow stuff normally, y'know?"
Vergil stared at the cup for a moment before going back to his book, "whatever eases your worries I suppose." The words were clipped yet Nero saw the way his fathers shoulders lowered in ease, he too was worried about Dante choking.
Crouching down in front of Dante Nero carefully spooned out some of the smoothie and tipped it into Dante's mouth; watching and hoping that Dante didn't spit it back out or start coughing it back up. All was well as Dante - albeit slowly - swallowed the drink. "Score for us,"
For a short while Nero took up the position of spoon feeding Dante as he idly chattered at Vergil every so often. The process was going quite smoothly, enough so that Nero felt confident enough to stop using the spoon instead tipping the cup and dropping it back down ever so quickly as to not overwhelm Dante. The two went through the motions, developing a comfortable rhythm between small sips.
Nero tipped the cup up and quickly dropped it back down, wiping at Dante's cheek as he waited for the man to swallow. "We're almost-" Dante's breath stuttered and all life was shot into him. The mundane task now threatening as Dante doubled over while coughs racked his frame. Nero dropped the cup grabbing at his uncles forearms, he can clean the floor later. "You're just coughing, deep breaths." Vergil reached over from his spot and ran his fingers through Dante's hair in an attempt to comfort his brother. "Drank that one a little too fast, huh?"
Dante shuddered against Nero while he was no longer coughing his breaths still rattled his body; witnessing his uncle like this made every fiber of Nero's being ache. "You're okay, I promise." Comfort was all Nero knew how to do in these moments, wether it was from spoon feeding or simply whispering words at his uncle he tried to offer it.
Vergil looped an arm around Dante's waist, hoisting him back up from leaning against his son, "he'll need a bath." That was the biggest 'no shit' statement to Nero, his uncle had coughed up the smoothie and saliva which now was soaking into his clothes and running down his chin. It was gross and pathetic and made Nero want to drown because how dare something pain his uncle so much it makes him look like this.
It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that letting Dante bathe himself was not going to happen; Vergil kept a hand balanced on his brothers waist as he removed the iconic red jacket with the other. It was difficult and required a lot of maneuvering and mumbled reassurances but the brothers got there. Next up was the shirt…this was going to be a long process. Vergil kicked his leg up to rest next to Dante and moved both his hands to the hem of Dante's shirt and began to lift it up.
Scratch that. Dante immediately began trembling as his hands moved to bat at Vergil's while mumbling out different pleads for him to stop and let go. "Okay, I've let go. I'm sorry." Vergil leaned himself back trying to give his brother a moment of space. "We can just bathe with the clothes on."
Careful to not accidentally hit Dante off something Vergil moved him from the sink counter and into the bath tub. Eventually he's going to need to peel those clothes off Dante and it won't be fun. "We've gotten somewhere," Vergil winced as his knees hit the floor - he's too old to be doing this. Luckily, the man had the foresight to line up the products he would be using before putting Dante in the bath. Uncapping the shampoo Vergil began to lather it into his brothers hair, it smelled like strawberries and that ached.
Massaging the shampoo into Dante's hair was so domestic it felt alien, as if this was a part of life Vergil shouldn't be allowed to have. "And, father, how can I love you / Or any of my brothers more? /I love you like the little bird / That picks up crumbs around the door." Vergil pressed his fingers against the top of Dante's head and began to lightly scratch at his scalp with his fingerpads while he recited A Little Boy Lost. The repetition seemed to drag Dante back, his head lifting slightly as he tried to figure out where he was. Words slipped from his mouth but none were audible enough to be made out.
"I know brother, I know." Vergil's whispered as he brushed bubbles back from Dante's forehead, shampoo running down from his scalp. "I know it's been a really hard day for you," Vergil pressed his fingers under Dante's head just behind his ears as he massaged the shampoo into his hair. "I got you, don't worry." Vergil winced at the whine, it was high and cracked in the middle. The sound was pathetic and made his heart ache, it felt too vulnerable to see his twin this way. Dante's face twisted, confusion evident as he looked down at his clothes still on.
"You freaked out when I tried to take them off," Vergil spoke softly, careful to not startle Dante away now that he was finally emerging. Dante let his head loll as he tried to piece together the day yet Vergil caught him and gently guided his head back to the edge of the tub. As suddenly as Dante came back he was gone, his chest stuttering a moment in panic before his eyes hazed back over. "The weeping child could not be heard / The weeping parents wept in vain."
Vergil did his best to work through the rest, ignoring the aching in his chest as he looked at his brother's face. If he could rip the problems from Dante like his brother had done for him by killing the nightmares at the Qliphoth roots Vergil would.
Nero hummed a song he had heard Kyrie sing to the kids while running a brush through Dante's hair. It was old and bristles were falling out but it got the job done. Nero tipped Dante's head back, fingers featherlight against his jaw as to not set his brain off and - oh Dante was attempting to hit at him. "Hey, welcome back. It's almost time for bed, just giv'me one second." Nero attempted to quickly finish brushing the knots out of Dante's hair so the man could be laid down and go to bed for the night. The door creaked open as Vergil walked in with a blanket under his arm, "my task is done Nero, whenever you're done let me know." As he spoke Vergil looked down at Dante and pushed his bangs back. "My hard work.."
Dante was staring at Vergil as he moved about the room, almost as if the man had hung the stars. "Verge?" Dante's voice was quiet if it wasn't for their weirdly heightened sense Nero is sure they would of missed it. Vergil threw the blanket onto the edge of the bed and quickly strode over to Dante, crouching a bit to get on his level - even if his knees disagreed with it.
"What is the matter?" Vergil hesitantly cupped Dante's cheeks, he was still there but Vergil could see the confusion and distance. "I'm right here brother, it's okay." It didn't matter how long it took for Dante to come back or find his voice, Vergil would wait. The two had waited thirty-seven years to have domesticity, he could wait for his brothers mind to find a safe haven in his body.
Nero leaned back and placed the brush on the nightstand, attempting to give his dad a moment with his uncle without feeling like there was a disturbance. Vergil lifted Dante up off the floor, careful that he didn't move to quick and hit anything or startle his brother; Nero was there keeping a hand out so if somehow Vergil dropped Dante he could catch him. Nero was too human in contrast to his father, he knew that realistically it would never happen but Nero saw his dad aging and new with humans age comes with a loss of strength - yet that didn't happen with devils.
It had been a long day, nobody could fault the other for the way a sigh landed from them as they all slowly gathered in the bed. Vergil sitting next to Dante who buried his face into his hip bone. "Get some sleep brother, we'll be here when you wake." Nero exaggerated getting into bed, throwing himself down next to Dante.
"We're never going to leave you Dante, especially when you're not doing well." An itch to curl up next to his uncle buried itself in Nero's body, he wished he could be as close to Dante as Vergil was to extend the best comfort he had. Nero knew though that his relationship with Dante was different, while he had been in the mans life for awhile, it wasn't as long or as deeply connected to Dante's core being like Vergil was.
None of that mattered in the grand scheme though, both men were there for Dante and kept him as comfortable as they could. Sure they had no clue what they were doing but they got through it and would continue to for as many times as they needed.