Covent Garden, Monday

[greenexorcist]

The florist shop was open and Shiemi was there. By herself, though, so if you were looking to have some fun conversation with a cute little demon, you were out of luck. Shiemi was still too tired from Friday's trip to Dante-sempai's world to even bring Nee-chan out.

Sure she'd slept most of the weekend, but she'd used a lot of her spiritual

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[rebelseekspizza]

Shortly before his trip home, Dante ducked into the store for a minute. This was where Shiemi worked, right?

"Hey," he called. "Anybody here?"

[greenexorcist]

Shiemi startled at the sudden noise, jerking awake. "Eh? I wasn't asleep!!"

She definitely had been. There was drool.

"Ah. Dante-sempai." She grinned at him, slightly embarassed as she reached for a towel to wipe down the counter. "Welcome!"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Hey," Dante said, letting the door fall shut behind him. "You doing okay?"

... Probably better not to lead with that, but oh well.

[greenexorcist]

Shiemi's smile brightened considerably at his concern. "I'm fine, I'm fine! A few burns and some bruises, but I've treated them so there's no danger."

And then she yawned, her hands coming up to cover her mouth in embarassment. "Oops. Sorry! I'm still a little tired, too, I guess. Are you okay?" He didn't seem too tired or injured?

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm fine, I heal fast," Dante said.

Putting it mildly. "Maybe you shoulda taken a day off?" he said. "'m not gonna judge if you sleep like a week after that."

[greenexorcist]

"I slept most of the weekend! I feel like all I did was sleep and eat." She yawned again, though not as big this time. "It's fine. It just takes a lot of power to keep a demon in Assiah and to control him in a fight. Even Nii-chan."

Which was why he wasn't around right now.

"But even if I get this tired, I am glad I could help at least a little."

Her smile softened. "And I didn't just mean injuries like that. You had to fight your brother."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yeah, well," Dante said, rubbing the back of his neck. "That's a thing that happened. Anyway, I just wanted to say thanks. You didn't need to show up, but you did."

[greenexorcist]

"I did; you asked for help and you're my friend." Then Shiemi was quiet for a moment. Was she gathering her courage or calming herself? She wasn't sure. "Are you going to just forget about him?"

[rebelseekspizza]

That question gave him pause. "...Well, I don't exactly want to talk to him right now."

[greenexorcist]

"Don't you? That seems so sad, though. You only just found each other again."

[rebelseekspizza]

"It was his choice," Dante said, his expression hardening. "He wanted world domination over me, so be it."

[greenexorcist]

"But that's not true!" Shiemi wasn't happy with that, sorry. "Vergil-san said so, didn't he? He wanted to be with you."

[rebelseekspizza]

"He wanted to rule the world with me, sure," Dante snapped. "Or have me stand by while he enslaved mankind. You think I should've picked one of those choices? You're nuts."

[greenexorcist]

"That's not what I meant." Shiemi didn't snap back so much as, well, puff up like an angry kitten. "I mean, he didn't not choose you."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yes, he did," Dante said flatly. "He had a choice. Stand down and stick with me, or fight me because he wanted to rule the world so goddamn bad. He picked that last part."

People with delusions of grandeur deciding Dante wasn't important enough to stick around for. Story of his life.

[greenexorcist]

"You had a choice too. I'm sure Vergil-san feels like you chose to not be with him, even though that's not why you fought."

"I'm just saying," she folded her arms and tried to glare at him. "You can't just be mad and forget him. Brothers should be brothers. Vergil-san is making bad choices and is being very stupid, but he's still family. You should think of ways to get him back."