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"What'cha doing?" V looked up from where he'd spread out the deck of tarot cards to the direction of Nero's voice coming from the stairs into the van. He tilted his head in greeting at the younger man as he took a seat across from V at the pull out table he'd unfolded for his purposes, arms crossed and chin propped on the backs of his hands.
They had traveled just to the outskirts of Red Grave City and were spending a brief, restless night together before heading back into the challenges that awaited them. Nico sat outside enjoying what was certainly her twentieth cigarette since they had parked for the night and Nero had joined her, chatting and planning their contact points throughout the city. Knowing the voracity with which that woman smoked, she had likely chased Nero indoors from the smoke, and so V was tasked now with humoring him.
"Tarot. It is... a form of meditation, though some believe the cards to possess the powers of divination," V said, shuffling the cards carefully while he offered his explanation to Nero. The devil hunter quirked a brow in interest and held out his hand.
"Sounds fake. Can I see one?" Nero asked as V finished shuffling the cards and with a flourish sat them down on the table before fanning them out in a perfect, even crescent shape before him. It'd been years since he'd held a tarot deck, but the action came to him easily, and he was pleased that he'd managed to create such an appealing arc now with such little practice.
"Take one. We shall read your fortune," V said, gesturing over the cards with his right hand. Nero sat up and leaned forward, face screwed up into a look of extreme concentration as his devil breaker hovered over the cards in indecision.
"Hm... How about this one," he said, placing his fingertip on the card before pulling it slowly from the stack and toward his half of the table. V reached out and took it, smoothing the rest of the cards back into a neat pile to the side as he did so. He let it linger between them, face down on the dingy kitchen table, watching as Nero learned forward in his eagerness to see the results of his decision. He had no idea what could possibly be under that card, had learned of their nature only mere moments before, and yet his curiosity and enthusiasm were child-like in their honesty. It was sweet, V decided as he flipped the card over with a flick of his wrist.
Ah, the Chariot. Depicted on the face of the card was a man standing tall and powerful atop a mighty chariot, flanked on each side by twin sphinxes, one dark and one light. V shook his head, fighting to keep his expression neutral. Though the sphinxes faced in opposite directions, the will of the charioteer kept them resolutely on their course. It was an oddly fitting choice.
"So what's it mean?" Nero asked, pulling the card a little closer to himself so he could get a clearer look at the man depicted on the front. "Looks badass, at least."
"The Chariot. A sign of success. Though there will be many obstacles that stand before you, your strong willpower will allow you to persevere," V said with a small laugh, reciting the words that he had long ago memorized when he had studied the art of tarot in his past. He quirked a brow at the way that Nero broke into a little grin at his words, yet still managed to sound skeptical in his response:
"That could be referring to anything, though," Nero said, pushing the card back toward V. It was V’s turn to pick up the card and he examined the artwork closely. At a glance, the man atop his chariot almost looked like Nero--though that was perhaps wistful thinking on his part.
"But of course. However, you cannot deny that you thought of something specific when I said it," V responded, and Nero leaned back on the couch and rubbed at the back of his neck, cheeks turning pink. "Such is the beauty of tarot. It is an avenue for self reflection and meditation."
"Where'd you learn all this, anyway?" Nero asked, switching the subject away from his reaction to the card and back toward V, a talent he had acquired in the last four weeks while he tried to learn more about the mysterious man. V considered that for a moment--as with most questions from his companions, he had to carefully consider what information to reveal for fear of giving away too much detail. It was a rather harmless question in the long run, and so V carefully slipped the card back into the deck and began shuffling them once more while he spoke.
"From my mother, many years ago. She was... an expert, shall we say, in most things mystical. To see the cards in her hand was to see true divinity at work," V said, remembering the way their mother had spread the cards before her, performing readings for them and their father at their requests. It had always been a bit of a game to them, something entertaining and enchanting to pass the time when the weather barred them from going outside. Though his brother had cared little once the novelty hard worn off, V had always been particularly fond of the cards and their respective meanings, spending countless hours pouring over the artwork and related guidebooks in his mother’s possession.
They were perhaps silly, but they were a connection to a past that he felt so very far away from now. He welcomed it in a way he hadn't allowed himself to for many, many years.
"Let me do one for you," Nero said, cutting into V’s inner musings and remembrances. V hummed while he shuffled the cards.
"It is considered bad luck to use another's deck," V said, disregarding the fact that V himself had stolen this deck from an abandoned house he'd stumbled upon in Red Grave several weeks back while he had been working to evacuate the city. Nero rolled his eyes and began settling into one of the fierce pouts V had come to recognize so well on his face in the last month and he laughed, sitting the deck face down before him. "I suppose once cannot hurt."
He slid the deck toward Nero, gesturing with his hand to demonstrate the motion he should use to spread the cards. His attempt was far less perfect than V's own, the cards an uneven and rather sloppy mess, and the pink glow on his cheeks spread to the tips of his ears at his failure. V leaned forward and hovered his hand over the cards, tracing his fingertip along their backs while he considered his options.
He stopped at one that was mostly buried beneath the half of the deck that Nero had failed to properly spread, inching it out of the stack with his fingernail. When he had pulled it free Nero collected the cards back into a messy pile and slid the card toward himself.
"I feel like I should be sayin' some kind of magic words or some shit," Nero muttered as he flipped the card over, revealing the artwork beneath.
V couldn't help but laugh. A man stood on an open field, a sword clutched in his hand. Beside him lay four more swords, piercing the ground and coming together at the point, and two other men stand with their back turned in the background, as if they are retreating from a defeat. The Five of Swords.
A fitting choice. Perhaps the cards were being truthful tonight.
"What's it mean?" Nero asked, once more pulling the card closer so he could get a good look at the artwork. He cocked his head to one side while he considered it before continuing on before V could: "Lemme guess. Something about a conflict." V smiled.
"Yes. It is a card of disagreements and resentment, of a battle lost. It is... a reminder to focus on what is most important to you rather than the petty conflicts of life," V said as he reached across the table and retrieved the deck and the Five of Swords, slotting it back among the other cards. Perhaps too truthful, he thought, shaking his head as he settled back into the soothing monotony of shuffling the cards once more.
"Again, sounds fake. Could mean anything," Nero said, folding his arms behind his head and crossing his legs, leaning back against the couch to get comfortable. V shrugged.
"And again, it is not about predicting your exact situation. It is merely a channel for reflection, the cards intended to focus your thoughts so you may work through whatever might be plaguing you," V said, remembering how his mother had once said the same to his brother when he'd become agitated during one of their readings. His card had sounded too negative, in his opinion, and he'd wanted a "do over," a request that, even at the time, had made V roll his eyes in exasperation. What was the point if they could simply start over from scratch whenever they pleased.
Their mother had corrected them both, stating that there was benefit to both situations--if a card had not inspired in you a thoughtful response, drawing another may help peel back the layers, hone your inner reflection further. It had sounded incredibly ridiculous to their ears at the time, the meaning lost on them at that age, but looking back on it now, V found a new appreciation for his mother's words.
He often did, as loath as he was to admit it. Being back here was making him reflect on the past more than he cared to.
"So, we going back in tomorrow?" Nero said, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. He was looking toward V, concern and eagerness both equally present in his bright eyes. V nodded.
"Yes. Back to the Qliphoth. It is time we ended this," V responded, and Nero just nodded, flexing the fingers of his devil breaker in anticipation. They would charge head first back into the fray tomorrow, for better or for worse, and whatever happened would happen. Despite his eagerness to see this conflict concluded, he must admit that he'd grown comfortable with Nero's presence in the last month while they had gathered their strength in preparation for their upcoming battle.
V sat the deck of tarot cards down on the flimsy table once more, fanning them out in front of him again. Nero raised an eyebrow at him.
"Shall we do one more?" V asked and Nero grinned, dropping his arms and leaning forward across the table, eagerness obvious in his every move.
It was a silly game, yes, but it was a welcomed distraction all the same.