Work Text:
Who would have thought that cutting down a tree would be so tiring?
Granted, it was a giant, demonic, foul smelling, and kinda ugly tree, but...welp, still a tree!
Dante was pretty glad that their lumbering was done, honestly. On top of that, they had also managed to not get killed during their stay-cation while checking that the barrier between the demon world and the human realm repaired itself.
Overall, it was a win-win situation. He didn't even have to commit fratricide this time!
The biggest problem now was the absolute chore that was getting back home.
Opening a portal with the Yamato without tearing reality apart by making a gap big enough to cross, all while avoiding allowing other demons out, turned up to be a pretty taxing task.
Apparently, a sword that can cut through space is kinda dangerous. Who knew.
Now this meant that walking to get to Devil May Cry was the next thing on the to-do list. Hurrayyyy...!
Maybe, he would be less bothered by that if he could manage to at least walk on a straight line but, alas, that is too much to ask for.
Honestly, what a pain. Dante is seriously considering that he might as well just sleep on the street and be done with-
He felt a harsh pull on his arm that made him stumble forward on the frozen asphalt and lean dangerously close to the the floor, but he managed to (barely) correct his footing.
"Ouch! Hey, what was that for!?"
He turned to his side, annoyed. His current companion didn't bother to even look at him.
"You are getting slow. I would rather we get back to your office before either of us collapses on the middle of the street because of your stalling."
Whoa, someone was cranky about having to rely on him to walk, huh?
(Granted, Dante was also relying on him, but, eh, details.)
Dante made a wounded gasp, placing his free hand right above his chest.
"Oh, brother mine, I apologize. Would you rather I give you a piggyback ride instead, so we could get faster to my office, your highness? The same office that I am soooo kindly and humbly offering up after-" Vergil cut off his monologue by pocking him in the ribs with his free arm. The younger twin hissed in pain.
Of course the ass had to go and poke him where one of the demons had decided to practice acupuncture just before.
"Quit it. You are the one who wouldn't stop complaining about sleeping on the floor and not having your ridiculous pizza every single time we weren't fighting. You only have yourself to blame for this. Now keep walking."
Now that was just unfair. He had complained, but it was mostly to annoy Vergil. And he could not deny him that pizza was far better than demon meat. There was no contest.
As a response, Dante tried to trip his brother, who glared at him in return, probably debating himself of how much would it actually cost him trying to stab him right now.
Since the devil hunter didn't feel any kind of blade piercing him, the answer was, 'too much time and effort'.
Hah. Fair.
Dante, grinned when he saw his brother roll his eyes.
Of course, his brother would not let Dante's attack pass without retaliation.
He responded, not by stabbing him this time, amazingly enough, but instead by pulling on his arm waaaay harder than necessary, dragging him further along on their path on the street ahead, uncaring about how Dante's arm creaked.
Dante felt how it nearly popped his shoulder out. Honestly, his brother was such a bastard when he wanted to.
Dante refrained himself from starting a scuffle when they were both so expended, and simply let it go for now.
They kept walking the empty city streets, leaning against one another to avoid needing to stop. Dante was pretty sure that if either of them tried to take a pause to rest now, they wouldn't manage to get going afterwards.
That's what spending however-the-fuck long in Hell does to you. More so if when you are not fighting demons, you are fighting your twin, a stubborn asshat, who also doesn't know when to accept that he has lost the match.
And no, Dante doesn't care that during their last fight, one of the reasons for that (apart from his amazing battling style, of course) was that a giant gooey demon liked to nab shiny things.
(And dear Mirage Edge was, regretfully, not as inconspicuous as one might think)
Even if Dante hadn't had to get him out of the weird slime demon that had grabbed him, Dante would have still had taken the biggest win anyway, because seeing a disgruntled Vergil covered in demonic sludge was hilarious.
(But he also was one point up. Vergil was just a sore loser)
In conclusion, Vergil should learn from Dante and update his weapon arsenal. That way he might find something as cool as his motorcycle, a real beauty.
It might not glow like Vergil's fancy spectral swords, but it makes up for that by being hilarious to use as a demon meat grinder.
Dante noticed his brother falter slightly in his next step, probably because even if the knuckle-head was trying to pull him onwards, he didn't actually know the way to Devil May Cry, so he adjusted his hold a bit and pulled Vergil along to the next intersection.
Another thing that the devil hunter noticed was that, even as exhausted as he was, he also felt strangely refreshed. He side-glanced his brother, who was busy looking straight ahead.
His brother.
Just like every other time since they had stopped trying to kill each other up the Qlipoth tree, when they had decided to work together again, his heart started doing somersaults around his chest and Dante had to make a humongous effort trying to stop himself from smiling like a dumbass.
His brother already called him enough of a fool without having to see him doing that.
Still, he could not avoid the slight spring in his next step. He ignored the exasperated huff coming from his sibling.
Because, well, that was just the thing, wasn't it?
His brother. His twin. Alive. Not trying to kill him or raise another demonic structure off the ground to gain more power.
He was here.
Just...here. By his side, walking back home, his home. Dante had not been expecting that.
While it was true that he had complained about staying in the Underworld...he hadn't really been planning to get back.
Not without Vergil, who, after twenty years give or take, didn't...have any obligation to go back either.
(To go back to Dante, of course.
Vergil needed, had to, get back to the kid.
Nero deserved to know his father, despite what had happened with the Qlipoth. Dante, after all, knew how much the kid had longed to know about his biological family. How much he had wanted for Dante to explain himself, to tell him why did they look so alike, back when they had been mere strangers.
It was a shame for Nero that Dante was such a coward)
But, despite it all, when they had finally finished all the cleanup with the Qlipoth, Vergil had followed him back to the Human World. The two of them now walking towards the office, his office.
Covered in demon guts, blood and riddled by injuries that were still trying to heal.
But they were both alive.
Dante hadn't imagined that he would be…getting back. Not really. Definitely not like this.
When he had first taken the job offered by V (and he should have looked further on that), he had thought that that was it.
No do-overs, no fourth chances to fix anything.
Just a last battle, to end their rivalry, what started so long ago.
And Dante had just…felt so tired.
The thought of having to do everything all over again, repeating the same song and dance present since the Temen-ni-Gru.
Avoid letting Vergil accomplish his current stupid plan and then fight.
Fight until one of them irredeemably falls so that there is a "winner", and then have Dante stop the rest of the demons around from killing all of humanity.
One family member less, again.
And then later, go back, and just try to avoid thinking about any of that, to not let his friends see him like anything else but Dante, the confident, unbothered bastard, because it's easier and less worrying to feign laziness than to show how the horrifying grief claws at his chest making it hollow and drags him back inside that godforsakencloset.
But then, when Dante had lost all semblance of hope, when any kind of wish for reconciliation had been crushed, Nero had stopped them.
The kid had ran after them, so that they could both end their fight alive, despite all their faults.
(Despite all of Dante's failures)
After the fight Vergil just...went to fix the problem he caused. Granted he had still needed an ass-whooping before going, but even then, for once, it had miraculously worked at getting Vergil to stop.
And here Dante was, alive too. Which hadn't been possible even in his wildest dreams, the ones where Nero could know his father, where Vergil was not as much of a prick.
He lifted his eyes from the ground when he heard an annoyed sigh coming from his side. He turned around to look at his brother, who was side-eyeing him with a lifted eyebrow.
Whoops.
Seems like he had been lost in his own head for more time than he had imagined, for Vergil to be looking at him like that. Maybe he was more tired that what he had thought.
"As much as I do appreciate the silence, brother, you haven't come up with anything annoying to say in at least fifteen minutes. A new record for you, I'm sure. What are you planning?" his brother said warily.
Dante turned fully towards Vergil, who in response narrowed his eyes and turned to look at him too, eyeing him as if he was being weird.
Nonsense, Dante was the most sane person around.
He couldn't help but grin at his twin.
"Aww, Verge, are you worried about your poor little brother?"
"More than anything, worried over the fact that you haven't even complained about the pizzeria we just passed being closed," he drawled.
Dante nearly made them both fall with how suddenly he swivelled to look back.
"Wait, what!? We passed Ciacco's already!?"
"Dammit Dante, stop that!"
From his tone, his brother was this close to screwing everything by simply stabbing him and make them both literally drag themselves through the street to reach the office.
Well, it would be his own fault. How could he not tell him that they had passed Ciacco's?
Although, Dante did want to sleep on a bed, so....he supposed that he would be nice. Just this once.
He gave a puff while he redirected their course again, Vergil giving an offended yelp at being dragged by his movements once again.
"Well, I guess it's too late now, anyway. Tomorrow I'm definitely calling to order. Gotta celebrate our great gardening work."
"You are incorrigible."
"Look who's talking."
Vergil jabbed him in the ribs again.
They were close to the office now. Just a few more turns, and they would finally be there.
Dante hoped that Lady and Trish hadn't messed with his things too much this time around while he was away, unlike during his previous trip in Hell.
There had been more guns, ammo and clothing that wasn't his around, than magazines.
(They had probably stayed around waiting for him to come back. He wondered if they would be here this time too)
He blinked when he noticed his brother slowing down from his previously unrelenting walk. Dante felt himself frowning, momentarily confused.
'Is he getting tired?', wondered the younger twin, slightly worried that he had missed some hidden injury of his brother.
He turned his head towards Vergil.
"What? Is it past your bedtime already, grandpa?" Dante said with a cocky smirk.
While looking at his twin, he assessed Vergil carefully, trying to notice if he favoured some side over the other, or some other indication of being in pain.
(Yes, Dante of course knew that maybe, riling up his brother while trying to check up if he was fine was not the greatest idea, but well, he couldn't just outright ask him about it, and dragging himself over two streets if necessary wasn't that bad.
Nothing he hadn't done before, anyway)
His brother however didn't really react. He glanced at him for a moment before looking ahead again, leaving Dante trying to figure out what that stare meant.
"It's nothing." he finally said, ignoring Dante's confused look. Vergil simply kept going, as if there was nothing amiss.
That…left the red demon feeling how his gut churned uncomfortably.
It rattled on Dante's nerves, the way Vergil simply had passed the opportunity to insult him back. No snappy comment, no attempt at shutting him up with a spectral sword.
Nothing.
The whole interaction made him feel…uneasy.
He at least didn't seem to be in pain. Or, well, not any more than expected, since they still hadn't been able to actually take a respite.
But that was at least some reassurance. He was fine, physically at least.
But that didn't help Dante know what he might be thinking.
(Had Dante done something to bother him? More than usual that is. Was that the reason for this odd silence?)
Dante felt his heart rate spike up at the thought of genuinely making his brother mad at him.
It couldn't be that, right? They had been bickering as usual, nothing more.
Vergil wasn't mad, right? Maybe a bit annoyed by his antics, but nothing worse than usual.
Nothing making him think about leaving now.
They were so close to reaching their destination. He didn't think that he would be able to just see Vergil leave, not when everything had been going so well. Pushy and annoying Dante may be, but he didn't want to actually chase his brother away.
Unless…unless he had been wrong. Unless he had simply taken things for granted without thinking first.
Did…did Vergil perhaps not want to stay at the office with Dante?
(Did he want to go be on his own?)
Dante racked his brain, trying to find anything in their past conversations where Vergil had alluded to the contrary, but he couldn't find anything. Not a single moment where he indicated that he wanted to be with him after getting back to the Human World.
Could he have bothered Vergil unintentionally with his comments, enough so to make him want to flee? Had he been too pushy without noticing?
(Was it really surprising, that Vergil would rather stay away from Dante than spend time with the one person who had previously killed him?)
He must have. Vergil's moods where unpredictable at the best of times, so Dante messing up and pressing something he shouldn't have at the wrong time, would be no surprise. Of course it would be his carelessness the thing to drive his twin away.
It…it would make sense really. It had been a long time since they had actually spent any meaningful amount of time together.
In Hell they had been too busy fighting, surviving between all the demons attacking them and their own sparring, so their talks had been a bit…lacking.
Most of their conversations had revolved around their score, really.
And despite Dante thinking that they had been making a bit of progress on repairing their messy relationship maybe he had gotten it wrong.
(Wouldn't surprise him. Most of that last part had consisted on screaming matches and fighting anyway, so...)
It had been like pulling teeth trying to open up, so it wouldn't surprise him if Vergil had actually been annoyed by his pestering. He was naive at thinking that maybe this time everything could turn out fine.
At thinking that Vergil wanted the same thing as Dante did.
Maybe that had been his problem all along, assuming that Vergil agreed with him on something.
When had that ever happened before?
What a joke.
He felt a lump appear in his throat. He tried to ignore how watery his eyes felt, and cast a glance at the blue devil beside him, who was moving even slower than he had been before.
Dante's previous energy, now had turned into a sour nervousness.
Maybe…it wouldn't be that bad. It wasn't like Vergil could just lose all contact.
Nero would be furious if that happened, and Dante did mean it when he had say that he would keep an eye on him. He was not up for another apocalypse, thank you very much.
And…it wasn't as if Dante was used to sharing his stuff, so maybe it would be better like this.
Vergil would get his own place, and Dante would keep his. It would avoid them from fighting the whole time, but it would let Nero know where his old man was hiding and let him visit.
Everyone could be happy with that arrangement, totally.
(Even in his own thoughts, Dante could feel how utterly hollow that sounded)
They were walking the last intersection before getting to the office. Just a bit more and they would arrive.
He nodded to his side, indicating Vergil where to turn. His brother didn't even complain about being told about where to go this time, a testament of how tired they both were.
Dante was still reeling, when he nearly fell face first ready to take a bite out of the pavement, thanks to his slippery blood-soaked boots and the damn slippery curb.
His brother managed to keep them both steady, but by the demonic growl he made, it was pretty clear that he was definitely not amused.
"Are you really trying to make the last stretch more annoying on purpose, Dante?"
Normally, he would have answered that yes, of course he was. He would have made a point at that by putting his whole weight for Vergil to drag, since getting immediately stabbed would be a small price to pay just to annoy his sibling.
But right now, he simply couldn't.
He wanted to at least avoid a fight before Vergil…went off on his own. Keep everything nice before he had to go back to the before, even if it would have the jarring difference of his now alive brother being added to the mix even if he would be absent.
Dante only managed to mumble a low, "Sorry..." while trying to regain his footing. His brother tensed slightly, apparently surprised by his words.
Heh, he probably expected to have to go with the stabbing, for sure.
There was a strange pause, tension that had been building up for the last stretch of their procession finally apparent, feeling like a string pulled taut and about to snap.
Dante felt his anxiety return with a vengeance. The walk was becoming unbearable.
He didn't want to face what would come next, of course, but this thing in-between, this tension that would only serve as a reminder of what they couldn't fix was worse.
Dante was far more used to his loneliness than whatever this was. He could at least draw some comfort from that, even if he wished for his brother to stay.
But no, that was just not possible.
He couldn't find anything to say to Vergil that would help him with that. Nothing that mattered, not really.
He didn't have anything that would make him stay.
And Dante also really didn't want that conversation to be like this, spilling his guts right outside his office, in the middle of the street while still drenched in gore.
He was only hoping that he could hold up his unbothered front long enough for it not to break while his twin was near, because he knew that the moment he was alone again he would probably crack like a glass held too tight.
Dante decided to continue to walk, trying to appear as if nothing had happened.
Regretfully, they were still leaning on each other, so Dante didn't manage to really get away from the root of his anxious thoughts, who was right now, burning a hole through his head.
What was up with that?
(Well, he could only try to make the best of having his brother near still, at least while it lasted)
Just before reaching the first step towards the door, he heard Vergil call him.
"Dante."
The devil hunter froze.
The door handle was right there. He could see it, glimmering under the light of the streetlamps, mocking him.
(Laughing at his childish believe that his brother was ever going to be with him again)
No. Nope, not now, he vehemently refuses to do this. The door is literally right there, just a few steps out of reach.
He couldn't do this to him. Not this close.
(Please, just a bit longer. Just right before everything hurts again, please)
"Yep, that's me." He tried to move towards the door, and winced slightly when his answer came out sounding waaaay too close to wobbly.
Vergil clenched his arm, stopping him from moving further.
Dante took a slight breath. He couldn't make himself turn around to face his brother's stoic look, not now.
"Jeez, Verge, I know that the office doesn't look particularly pretty from the outside, but come on, the sofa is actually really comfortable, you know?"
He heard his twin sigh.
"Do you think it...wise, to let me in? I doubt your friends would approve of me being here."
"Shame that it's my office then." Dante said, with a bit more bite than what he was going for. Dante took a breath, trying to focus on something different.
He already knew what his friends would probably think, he had seen Redgrave too, he had been there.
But he felt himself incapable of caring about any of it at the moment. Despite how that made him rethink if he truly was ever a good person, he couldn't bring himself to care about that now, not when his sibling was right beside him.
(Couldn't he be selfish, just a bit, at least this once?)
He turned towards Vergil, looking him in the eye. He gave him his best grin, which right now was as good as a grimace.
His brother's gaze bored into him. His smiled wavered, but he managed to hold it up.
(Just roll with it, Dante. Just. Roll with it)
"What, don't think that my place is good enough? Not my fault that you don't have my good taste, Verge."
His brother looked at him. Really looked, now. Studying him.
Dante felt his body tense, pinned by his twin's piercing eyes.
He wasn't even sure what Vergil was looking at.
His brother furrowed his brow.
Oh. That was it. He was going to say it now, Dante knew it. He should have known better. His smiled began to slip away, despite his best efforts. He should have never gotten his hopes up like this, he should have been realistic.
Why would his brother ever want to deal with his annoying sibling again when he could-
Vergil's eyes flashed with an emotion Dante didn't manage to catch, his expression shifting for a split-second. Before the devil hunter could even begin to try and decipher it's meaning Vergil closed his eyes, giving a tired and definitely annoyed sigh.
"Very well then. Let's see how great are your living arrangements then, little brother." answered Vergil mockingly.
His brother, who was looking at him, head tilted up, smug smirk on his face, the perfect image of the self-assured asshole that his twin could be when he wanted to. But-
Dante blinked.
Huh.
Just…
Huh.
Was…was Dante seeing concern on his brother's eyes? Was he really?
Before he could think too hard about it, his brother made him a gesture towards the door, looking impatient, as if asking him 'Well, are we going in?'.
Well…Dante couldn't say no now, could he?
Dante wasn't even (too) bothered when Vergil prodded him again in the ribs to get him going, after he failed to move fast enough for Vergil's standards.
He turned towards the door and opened it, Vergil in tow.
He tried to turn on the lights, but no luck. Well, he had said that the office was nice, not that they would be able to fully see how nice.
Perks that, as half demons, they didn't really need any light to actually move around and distinguish things in the dark.
For example, even without any lit lamp Dante could make out Vergil's smirk, mocking him at the blatant state of his office. He could nearly hear his haughty voice, laughing over this being his 'great taste'.
Ass. At least he had a house.
For all his smugness, walking through Hell definitely lowered someone's standards over where to sleep, because despite his reaction, the next thing Dante knew, was that they were both dragging each other towards the sofa, so they could finally rest.
Dante is positive that he is not waking up in a week at least. And that's only because he needs his pizza back.
…
Okay, maybe just a few hours, actually. You see, Hell doesn't have a very varied menu, and he is famished. He needs to fill his pizza-eating quota.
They fell on the sofa hard, both of them absolutely spent thanks to both the road-trip over the least desirable vacation spot ever, and the trek back just now.
Dante is glad that the sofa is so big, because otherwise, having them both trying to lay down would not even be a possibility. Even at this moment, it's barely big enough to fit the two of them.
That leads to Dante knocking Vergil in the chest with his elbow, trying to get him to make some space dammit, and he gets a knee to the kidney in return.
They scuffle for a bit, before they manage to get in a position that allows them both to be comfortable, even if they are a bit squished.
Dante can't say that he really minds it too much.
Vergil huffs at him, giving him a half-hearted glare. He sounds exasperated when he talks next. "Don't you have an actual bed available? Or perhaps it's buried under a mountain of pizza boxes."
"Excuse you, my bed's great, thank you very much. And you can see the pizza boxes right over there." He says pointing to where he usually piles up all of them up. His brother turns his eyes toward it briefly, before Dante continues, "I like to call it 'The Leaning Tower of Pizza'" .
Trish finds funny the outrage that name provokes, Lady thinks it's dumb and Patty is going to tear it down for the millionth time when she visits again, but Dante thinks his creation it's quite clever and charming.
(And he finds the outrage the name causes too funny to stop)
Vergil stares at him, judging him with only his look. Dante can see how his twin is rethinking all of his life choices with that comment.
"You just can't appreciate my art."
Vergil rolls his eyes at that. His brother must be actually really tired, if he can't even muster an actual insult to give him.
"Of course, it must be that. Still, do you really find staying here necessary, when you have your oh, so great bed upstairs?" His brother says, sarcasm dripping off every word.
Jeez, and then Vergil wonders why he calls him a moron. Dante thinks it's pretty obvious that he is NOT willing to move after just laying down.
"Verge, we have literally just walked out from Hell. Are you really asking me to walk up the god damn stairs when I have a sofa right here? Because if you are, just gonna mention that, nope. Not happening."
"Lazy."
"Hog. The sofa is mine, anyway." He sticks his tongue at him, childishly. His brother tries to punch him in the chin to make him bite on it. Dante manages to twist away in time to dodge.
Current attack avoided, Dante then feels a mischievous idea spark in his brain, so instead of trying to flee from Vergil's next attempt at hitting him, he grins and proceeds to snuggle against his brother, who tries to back himself into the sofa and push him off of it at the same time.
"Besides, I couldn't ask for a betterer sofa buddy, even if you are terrible at sharing pretty much anything. Actually, you may not be that great of a sofa buddy. Boooo."
Vergil groans, annoyed, still trying to shove him away.
After his twin manages to push him, and Dante narrowly avoids hitting the floor by clinging to the sofa with his life, Vergil finally responds.
"Fine, do as you please. But if you manage to wake me, you'll end up with all those damn boxes up where the sun doesn't shine."
"Ouch. Mean."
"You better not monopolize all the cushions, either."
"Rude. And you better not kick me off the sofa while we sleep."
"Apologies. I'll do my best to kick you off while you are awake, then."
Dante smacks him in the face.
Several minutes of fighting to get the biggest amount of couch available later, they come to a truce, tiredness finally catching up again.
(Before that though, Dante vows to spray his twin with the cold shower the moment he is able to get him near the bathroom. He did say that he would like to have a shower didn't he? Dante is sure he mentioned it while they were still down in the Demon world.
The consequences his actions may result in, are a small price to pay in exchange)
They stay quiet for a bit. It's the most comfortable they have been since…well, Dante isn't really sure. Before jumping to Hell for sure. Probably before the Qlipoth too.
Dante is beginning to feel the exhaustion settle, but he doesn't really want to go to sleep yet.
He opens his mouth, ready to begin another squabble, but before he manages to even make a sound, he feels his hair being tugged, hard enough to make him yelp.
"Ouch! Hey!"
His brother glares at him, sleep starting to colour his eyes.
"Shut up. Go to sleep already Dante."
"I didn't even say anything."
"Yet."
Dante scoffs, rubbing his hair. It hadn't hurt much but still. His hair is serious business. It's part of his brand after all.
Strangely enough, Vergil's action make something in Dante's chest stir, a half-forgotten fuzzy feeling from his childhood resurfacing.
He vaguely recalls being about six or seven, awake after a nightmare. He remembers going to wake his twin, asking him if Dante could sleep there too for the night, just this once, and how Vergil had let him, despite grumbling and complaining the whole time while Dante climbed into the bed with him.
He had been tossing and turning, still jittery after the nightmare, when Vergil had grabbed one of his locks of hair, and pulled. Not hard enough to really hurt, but more than enough to be annoying.
"Go to bed already."
"Vergiiil"
Another tug, more insistent this time.
"I'll let you stay here, but only if you let me sleep."
"But-"
Vergil sighed, and smothered him against his chest, trying to make him shut up. He sniffed, too snootily considering he was someone still unable to do divisions.
"You are being silly. I'm here, you'll be fine."
Dante quieted down after that.
(Mum had thought they looked adorable when she found them hugging, still asleep, the next morning)
In the present day, his brother is sending him a look, and Dante blinks.
Oops. He spaced out for bit there, again. Vergil must have thought he was being weird, staring blankly in his direction. Which…
…
Yeah, okay, this one is fair, he'll give him that.
Vergil rolls his eyes once more, just before closing them, seemingly done with their conversation. Dante shifts around trying to feel less fidgety.
He wants to go to sleep, but-
Half of himself is more than ready to shut down and greet Morpheo, but the other half of him feels restless.
He is not used to having people in the office like this, and having Vergil of all people is even weirder, his twin so close and within reach. Dante cannot stop wondering if this is actually real, or if Vergil is simply humouring him this time, or that he needs to protect his twin and that he can't fail again and-
He hears a sigh and another tug in his hair, a bit less strong this time, but still noticeable.
His brother sounds sleepy, "Dante. Stop that. Sleep."
"I'm on it, I'm on it. Just, give me a sec, will you?"
Dante stills, trying to lay down and not move. He stays in that position for a minute, focusing on going to sleep, trying to stop himself from disturbing Vergil, because he is pretty sure he didn't really ever slept while in Hell and he needs to rest.
He focuses, unmoving, reaching for that inner peace that will allow him to finally sleep.
And then he starts to fidget again.
He hears an exasperated sound between a huff and a laugh. Then, his brother shifts minutely, carefully, allowing Dante more room.
Dante looks at Vergil.
His brother doesn't shift again, keeping his position, letting a small gap for Dante to move towards.
Dante takes a second to consider what this means, before he moves closer to his brother. He does it carefully, hesitation in all his movements.
He wonders, just for a second, if he is interpreting his brother's actions wrong. If maybe Vergil is not offering what Dante thinks he is.
However, Vergil doesn't move, doesn't make a complaint or even lets out a laugh, so Dante reaches towards his twin. His brother huffs and grumbles a bit, but he let's him stay close, a good indication that his complaining is only to keep some semblance of aloofness.
It makes Dante feel bold enough to rest his head against Vergil's chest, curling into him. He is able to hear his big brother's steady heartbeat from this position, just within reach of his hands if he moves them.
An arm lightly drapes around him. The initial movement is awkward, even hesitant, but Dante doesn't move, holding his breath as he feels his brother's arm circling him in a loose hug.
Vergil's voice is awfully quiet when he finally speaks, but Dante hears him anyway.
"Go to sleep."
And Dante does sleep.
(He has the best shut-eye since he was eight)
When they wake up, Dante groggily registers that he is being hugged, just before he crashes against the floor. Better said, just before somebody pushes him down the floor.
Dante grabs Vergil by his ankle, and drags him down too, so they end up on the floor in the middle of the office in an impromptu wrestling match. Thankfully, before they damage Dante's place too much, their stomachs grumble, and they agree on a cease-fire until they get breakfast.
It looks like Dante's office will live another day.
It's a beautiful morning, and one of the few of them where Dante actually feels excited over waking up.
(The cease-fire doesn't last when Dante guides Vergil towards the bathroom. He is awfully glad to learn that he does have running water. Perfect way to get refreshed.
Dante sees Vergil summoning Yamato.
Maybe the office won't live another day, after all)