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Devil May Cry was quiet today. Unusually quiet. No Dante's smirky comments, no fights between Nero and Vergil. If the one didn't know they could've thought someone literally died or something of sort. Well…. That's not the case, really.
What happened is that the youngest part-demon got sick. Not dying sick for sure, but he definitely wasn't feeling very fit.
It started last evening when his uncle went to fetch him to go and kick some demon asses. What he saw when he entered Nero's room was his nephew lying in a pile of blankets, cuddled in the middle of his bed snoring softly. His breathing didn't sound right though…
Dante walked to the bed, making sure not to make too much noise, worried he would wake up the young boy. Carefully placing his hand on a sweat covered forehead, he found out that Nero, was in fact, sick. Without second thought he went to inform Vergil.
… When Vergil learned about his son's sickness he… well… he went a tiny little bit livid. He wasn't mad at Nero, of course not! He more turned into a helicopter parent, to Dante's surprise. The last time he saw Nero and Vergil interacting it truly looked like he didn't want anything to do with his son. But no.. oh how wrong he was…
- - -
The problem was, this time it was his son who wanted nothing to do with Vergil. The moment he saw his father sitting next to him on the bed, the boy went full on panic mode, crying for Dante like his life depended on it (even though he wasn't really able to cry with his sore throat and fever, so it was more of rapidly rambling 'I want Dante' and 'stay away' over and over into his pillow).
The demon hunter has never seen his older brother so… heartbroken? Guilty? Could Vergil even feel guilt…? No, it wasn't time for reflections like this. His nephew needed him, and it was the most important thing at that moment.
- - -
So here they are, at 3 am, Dante and Nero on the couch, Vergil sitting on a coffee table opposite to them, visibly worried. Young boy's head on his uncle's lap, body carefully wrapped in a fuzzy blanket, feeling safe as the younger twin held him and stroked his soft silver hair with one of his hands, the other slowly moving up and down his back.
"I have never seen him this… peaceful…" Vergil breaks the silence, his voice unusually soft.
"Yeah, he's a really good kid, actually." Dante says quietly, gently stroking Nero's flushed cheek, not taking his eyes off the boy.
The older twin takes a second to contemplate the sight in front of him. His brother's eyes are full of love, care, he's not sure he's ever seen him like that.
Why couldn't he be like that? Maybe then Nero would at least want to spend a little time with him, at least look him in the eyes. What a terrible father he is…
"Verge, you good? Don't zone out on me, man" Dante says jokingly.
"I failed him… I hurt him, I hurt him so much I don't think I can ever make it up to him…"
"Woah there, brother, I'm sure you ca-"
"He won't even look at me, Dante!" He whispers angrily. Is he angry at his brother? His son? Himself? He's not really sure…
"Maybe it's because you do everything in your power to avoid him? Running away from your problems is not gonna fix it, you know that very well-" Dante stops mid sentence when he feels his nephew shuffling in his sleep. He can hear soft whimpers. He almost sounded like a little kitten. Probably a bad dream.
His uncle tries to shush him, humming softly. Too bad, it doesn't really work. Nero opens his eyes, blinking slowly. His breathing fast and ragged. He looks up at his uncle, eyes teary. Then he starts sobbing quietly, burying his face in the soft fabric of uncle's shirt.
Vergil's heart clenches at the sight. He doesn't dare to move.
"Hey kiddo, what's wrong…" Dante asks softly, gently cupping his nephew's face with his hand, trying to encourage him to look up. Nero refuses, sobbing harder.
"I-I'm not a dead weight…" He wails.
Tears burn in Vergil's eyes. His son. His poor son is hurting so much and he can't even help.
"Oh kiddo…" Dante tries to move Nero to sit up. "Come here" he whispers, grabbing his nephew by his waist so he can sit up normally. The boy doesn't have enough strength to stay in the new position so his head lays helplessly on his uncle's shoulder.
He's clearly exhausted, his eyes closed, tears streaming down his flushed cheeks.
"I'm not a dead weight…" he repeats.
"Aww" Dante sighs, sadness and regret clear in his voice. "Of course you're not, kid…" he buries his jaw in his nephew's hair, moving his head to stroke it. He holds the boy, who appears to be really small curled up next to him, swaying a little from side to side.
Vergil desperately wishes it was him. He wishes Nero would trust him like that. Would trust him to hold him, to coddle him, to-
When did I get this soft? He asks himself. Few months ago, he couldn't even wrap his head around the concept of having a child. His child, let alone care for him. And now? He wants nothing more but to hug his precious son, make sure he's safe. But he can't. Because he fucked up. He fucked up real bad and now he's not sure if he can ever make it up to him.
He stares at his brother, who is still hugging his son, and it actually seems to help. Nero's sobs quietened, and his breathing was more regular.
"There we go kid, no need to cry, huh? You're making your old man worry" Dante says softly, his head still lying in his nephew's hair.
"Dad is here?" Nero asks, shocked.
Everything went silent.
"Hello, Nero" his father finally says
'It's the moment, just tell him what you feel-'
"Oh god…." His son says, panicking.
"Nero, it's-" Vergil tries, but his son is looking really close to hyperventilating, desperately trying to get off the couch, but his uncle's arms are holding him in his place.
"Hey, hey… kid, what's going on in that head of yours, hm?" Dante asks calmly, looking at him with a worried look in his eyes.
Nero starts to cry. Gut wrenching sobs fill the room.
"I'm… I'm pathetic, he's gonna see me like this and…" he takes a break to take a sharp breath. "... Now he's gonna … hate me even more…" he gets out and starts sobbing even harder, burying his face into his uncle's chest, hoping to hide from the world. The younger twin looks into his brother's eyes 'do something'.
"Nero- Nero, son, it's ok." Vergil finally says, moving from the coffee table to crouch next to the couch, taking his son's hand into his own, drawing slow circles with his thumb to soothe him.
"I do not think of you any less, son… I simply do not…" he pauses to think of the right words. "wish to see you hurting, as it hurts me as well."
Nero moves his head from Dante's chest, so he can see his father's face, his eyes puffy from crying.
"I wish I had done something sooner, to make sure you could trust me" he takes a deep breath "I have hurt you, and so I thought that distancing myself was a right choice, but it appears it only hurt you more… and for that…" Come on Vergil, just say it
"I apologize…".
Nero's eyes widened.
"And you mean it?" he asks in a small voice.
"I do mean it." his father says, still gently holding his son's hand, looking into his eyes
Please, believe me.
Nero only nods, clearly out of it.
"Ok, so now that my dear brother finally has pulled the stick out of his ass," Dante says with a smirk, moving to get up from the couch. "You're on babysitting duty, Verge." he finished, getting up, making sure Nero was able to sit by himself.
Vergil stopped himself from commenting on his brother's reckless words.
Foolish Dante.
The kid is visibly unhappy that his human pillow is gone, but quick to replace his brother, Vergil sat on a couch next to his son. Not quite sure what to do, he sat there, still. Nero, however, tiredly laid his head on his father's shoulder, slowly drifting off to sleep again.
Still stiff, Vergil carefully wrapped his arm around the boy, providing at least some comfort. Nero must've been satisfied as he gave him a happy huff and a second later was sound asleep.
It felt… right, sitting here, with his son.
His son.
He could get used to it.