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- "Drinking doesn't make me cry!"
- "Na aa, Kyrie told me you're a cry baby when you're drunk."
- "Kyrie would never…"
Vergil sighed as he listened to his son and Nico argue. It was a habit for them; it always happened when they were together. It had quickly become annoying for Vergil, but he knew better to say anything about it. If he dared to comment on it, Nero would retort by mentioning that at least they hadn't tried to kill each other like Vergil and Dante had.
- "This is ridiculous Nico."
- "Should I refer you to the name of the business? Devil may cry. As it turns out you're part devil."
- "That doesn't mean anything, it's just a title."
- "Yeah, but…"
Nero and Nico kept arguing on their way out; they were so preoccupied that they didn't even say goodbye to Vergil or Dante. The last point in their argument had caught Vergil's attention. Devil may cry was a peculiar name, why had Dante chosen it for his business? Vergil turned his gaze to Dante's desk. His twin was sitting on the chair, had his legs up on the desk, and was reading one of his trashy magazines. What he found interesting in those mind numbing magazines, Vergil didn't know, he preferred literary classics himself.
- "Why this name?"
- "Huh?" Dante so eloquently inquired without taking his eyes off the magazine.
- "Why did you choose the name Devil may cry?"
Dante momentarily glanced at him, "It's a cool name."
Vergil raised an eyebrow, "It's more strange than cool". When Dante didn't speak, Vergil added: "And it doesn't accurately represent what you do here."
Dante chuckled, "Are you bored with your poetry book already? No wonder, that thing makes no sense."
Vergil smirked, "It makes sense to those who possess the power of critical thinking."
Dante scowled at him but didn't say anything. Vergil thought that his brother was dodging the question. This was a legitimate question, wasn't it? It wasn't like Vergil was asking for personal information.
"Tell me the story Dante, I'm curious."
Dante shrugged, "It was lady's idea."
- "Lady told you to pick that name?" said Vergil in a disapproving tone.
- "No, I just got the idea from something she said." With that Dante turned his attention back to his magazine. In fact it seemed like he was hiding his face behind the magazine.
- "What did she say?"
- "Nothing important."
Vergil realized that his brother didn't want to talk about this. Dante was usually very talkative, annoyingly so. Yet Vergil knew from experience, if Dante didn't want to talk about something, no one could get a word out of him. Vergil decided to stop this line of inquiry for now; if he persisted, he knew Dante would just dodge the questions, gest dismissively, change the subject, or simply walk away. As Vergil continued to watch his twin pointedly ignore him, he decided he would ask Lady about it; it had been her idea after all.
Lady didn't come by for several days; it was alright with Vergil, he could wait. Vergil was sitting at the desk, trying to account for their budget for the month when Lady practically stormed in.
- "Where's Dante?"
"Well hello to you too", thought Vergil. Lady had never made an attempt to hide her dislike toward Vergil. He tried to hold his retaliation to this rude behavior back. Dante wasn't there; this was the perfect opportunity to acquire information from Lady.
- "Good evening Lady. Dante left on a hunt this morning. You're welcome to wait here, he may come back tonight."
Lady cringed the bridge of her nose. She sat on an armchair without a comment, and proceeded to clean her guns. How sweat! If Vergil was an ordinary man, he would fear her. Vergil didn't know how to start up the conversation, but after several minutes, the silence was becoming really awkward, so he just went for it. "Can I ask you a question?"
Lady didn't react. Vergil took this lack of shooting him in the face as confirmation, "Dante said you gave him the idea to name the shop Devil may cry."
Lady glared at him, "That's not a question."
Vergil glared back. She was really going to make him work for it, wasn't she? "May I ask what you said that gave him the idea?"
- "Why don't you ask him?"
- "I did. He refused to say anything more than Lady gave me the idea."
- "He would, wouldn't he?"
Vergil frowned as Lady weighed her options loudly: "Should I tell you? On the one hand, I don't like you; on the other, telling you would annoy Dante, so…", she sighed as if this was the most difficult decision in the world even though Vergil could hear mischief in her tone.
- "You don't deserve it asshole, but Dante has been trying to get me to be nice to you. I'll try this time. Cherish it, it's most likely a one-time deal."
Vergil nodded; he didn't care about her opinions as long as he got what he wanted. He waited patiently as Lady collected her thought.
- "Maybe somewhere out there, even a devil may cry when he loses a loved one. Don't you think?"
Vergil was confused, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Lady smirked, "I quoted myself. That is the exact same thing I told Dante, word for word."
- "Why would you even say something like that?"
Lady flashed a smug look, "Because Dante was a little shit who wouldn't admit that he was crying. He told me devils never cry."
Vergil stared at lady, his mind reeling. She had seen Dante cry? Vergil was under the impression that his brother never cried, at least not in front of other people. Vergil himself thought of crying as a weakness no one was allowed to witness. Nevertheless, Lady had seen Dante cry, even if he hadn't admitted to it. What had he cried about? If Vergil had to guess, it would be about Eva. Their mother was someone over losing whom the twins felt equally sad. Maybe the day Lady was talking about, was an anniversary of Eva's death.
- "When was this?"
Lady frowned at him, "Tamen-ni-gru, after he came back from hell."
After he came back from hell… Did that mean after Vergil and Dante's fight? After Vergil let himself fall into hell? Wait…. Vergil stiffed. Did she mean his brother cried over Vergil? He almost laughed; that was stupid, Dante wouldn't do that. Vergil studied Lady; there was no longer any hint of mischief in her expression, she looked uncomfortable, as if she regretted talking to Vergil. Did that mean she hadn't been messing with Vergil? Were her words the truth? Vergil's mind reverted back to that day. Dante had tried to stop him from falling. He could remember clear as day the hurt look on his brother's face when Vergil cut his outstretched hand with the Yamato. Even after everything they had been through, even after Vergil had stabbed his brother twice, Dante had tried to save him.
He barely noticed when Lady told him she was leaving. She might have asked him to tell Dante to call her; Vergil hadn't paid much attention. He lost himself to the memories of Tamen-ni-gru; he hadn't moved an inch when Dante came back hours later.
Dante looked down at him before dropping in the couch, "It's after midnight Verge, why are you still up?"
Vergil suddenly noticed how stiff he felt, sitting in a wooden chair for hours would do that to you. He joined his brother on the couch while saying: "I guess I lost track of time."
Dante gave him a curious glance, but didn't ask anything. He didn't have to, he was all too familiar with how Vergil could zone out for hours thinking about the past.
Maybe this wasn't a good idea; maybe it was the exhaustion driving him, or maybe he was just confused. Anyhow, he felt like he wanted to talk to Dante.
- "About the shop's name…"
Dante pursed his lips in disapproval. Vergil ignored it. "I asked Lady."
Dante's gaze shot up in surprise, "You what?"
- "Well you wouldn't tell me…"
- "You had no right," Dante all but shouted.
Vergil too raised his voice: "You didn't make it clear that it was a personal matter!"
Dante huffed at him.
- "I'm sorry brother. I didn't realize it would be a breach of privacy."
Dante's expression softened, he couldn't stay mad at his twin for too long, not these days. "I guess it's not really a breach of privacy. You were somewhat involved after all."
Vergil examined his brother's expression, he looked hurt. He must be thinking about that day too. Vergil was preparing himself to apologize to his brother when he heard the exact same words he had been about to say: "I'm sorry brother."
Vergil was confused, why would Dante be apologizing? "What for?"
Dante smiled bitterly, "Not succeeding in catching you? Not jumping in after you?"
Vergil shook his head, "Stop it Dante. You are well aware that I wasn't in the mindset to be talked out of fighting Mundus. You would have had to beat me unconscious to get me out of hell."
- "Maybe I should have done that." This time there was an amused hint to his smile.
- "I'm also sorry."
- "What for?" Dante repeated Vergil's words.
- "For cutting your hand."
Dante stood up, "I'm sure you'll get over this sentimentality when you've had a good night sleep."
- "And I'm sure you'll go right back to annoying me."
Dante flashed him a fake surprised expression, "You mean I wasn't annoying tonight? What a shame."
Dante offered his hand to Vergil to help him up. Vergil smiled, this time he wouldn't refuse taking his brother's hand.