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[twins_right]

Who: Vergil (twins_right) and Dante (combust)
What: The brothers finally meet face to face instead of just mocking each other over the internet, due to srs bsns.
Where: Flapper Fraps. Only Dante could get Vergil to enter a place named that.
When: Probably mid to late afternoon.
Warnings: Dante's mouth. :| Although it may not be as bad as usual, since he's being

Comments

[combust]

And there Dante sat, slouched back in his chair, one leg propped on a chair catty-corner from him, his cup of coffee sitting there neglected on the table. It was a damn shame that it had been so expensive, because Dante was going to be honest: It tasted awful. He made far better coffee himself, and that was sad.

"Nah, you know me, they just get intimidated by my awesome good looks." It was punctuated with a snort, as he let his leg drop from the chair and straightened, reaching up to crack his neck. "It's about damn time you showed up. I figured you'd discovered the wonders of touching yourself in the shower, and you'd gone blind or some shit."

But all smartass comments were waved aside, as he reached for the awful-tasting coffee, just to have something to keep his hands busy. He didn't want Vergil to accuse him of nervousness or fidgeting. "So. You look good. Must have got some sun, since your ass ain't transparent, like it was the last time I seen you."

Perhaps these trivial small-talk formalities didn't have to be observed, not with Vergil, but it was something Dante was doing, stalling for time. Though he'd called this little brotherly pow-wow, he wasn't quite sure how to phrase what it was he wanted to pass on. How did you break that kind of thing to anyone, much less a complete psychopath? Thus, the stalling.

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"Dante." Vergil had never been terribly patient, but he had even less tolerance for his twin's clearly skirting whatever important subject he'd called Vergil to some run-down human restaurant to discuss. Of course, not all of it was annoyance; some of it was genuine concern, whether or not he would ever admit it. It wasn't like Dante to be anything less than brick-to-the-forehead direct; what could make him so uncomfortable that he'd rather make small talk first? "Forget your uncontrollable attraction to me for a minute. What did you want to talk to me about?"

[combust]

The knee-jerk reaction was to smart off again, and it was out of Dante's mouth before he could stop it. "It's so hard to forget, baby, when you're right here in front of me."

It wasn't like he could call the words back, and it wasn't like he was going to apologize to Vergil for saying them. Vergil was a big boy, he could take it.

But as much as he'd wanted to ease Vergil into the situation, of course the asshole wanted to just plow ahead. Dante inwardly rolled his eyes, almost blurting out a mocking apology for wasting Vergil's precious time. But then his face grew serious, probably more serious than Vergil had ever seen it, and he squinted at his brother a moment, trying to find the perfect way to open the floor.

He finally decided on a question. "What do you know about dopplegangers? I'm not talking about the same person being in two places at once, but, like...Doubles. Ones that have completely separate lives and shit, but they're still the same."

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Vergil dismissed Dante's automatic smartass remark without comment; taking offense would be like resenting a skunk for stinking. Dante simply couldn't help his nature, and Vergil knew it well enough. Besides, there were more important matters at hand.

"Doppelgangers?" he repeated dubiously. "They aren't what you're describing. They can take another's form, but it's not their form, and the similarities end with appearance. Twins like us are the closest comparison I can draw to what you seem to be referring to, but twins aren't the same, either; just very similar."

[combust]

Dante spread his hands before him in a supplicating gesture, not entirely sure he was going about things the right way. With Vergil, it was hard to tell what would set him off, and - though it was a truly rare occurance - that was the last thing he wanted to do. Despite how hilarious that vein pounding in Vergil's gigantic forehead could be.

"That's...Not quite right though. Not what I'm talking about, anyway. Sure, we're doubles, 'cause we're twins." It was pointing out the obvious, but Dante was working toward something. "We're only doubles in looks, right? You don't run around with the name Dante and tell people you're a demon hunter and all that good shit, right?"

Here he paused and shot a somewhat dark look at Vergil. "At least you better not be, or I'll kick your ass."

"Anyway, I was talking to Ase- this chick. Over the school network. And I ended up in her room, right? And there was a fight." He gave another pause, absolutely certain Vergil was going to have some smartass comment about that. "Anyway, she claimed to know us. Not me. Not you. Us. And Mother and Sparda, too."

He stopped there, taking a breath and wanting all of that to sink in. And he watched Vergil carefully, probably more carefully than anyone thought possible, for his reaction.

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If Dante was expecting some sort of dramatic reaction to his news, then he would be disappointed. Vergil simply gave him a steady, slightly dumbfounded look. This...was even thicker than he'd ever honestly thought his brother could be. "And you believed her?" he asked, with a slight shake of his head. "Tell me you're not that gullible, Dante. I share genes with you; I don't want to believe any part of me could be capable of being so easily tricked."

[combust]

Dante physically rolled his eyes then. It wasn't he himself that was stupid, it was Vergil. But, then, that was really nothing new.

Instead of answering right away, he went for the coffee again, pulling the sissy sippy lid off and tossing it aside.

"No, Vergil, I'm not that goddamn gullible. But listen." He leaned forward, eyes widening slightly as he braced himself on his forearms. "She knew things, dude, that she couldn't possibly know. Not just about...What we are. She knew how old we are, and about the weird eye change thing and everything. And..."

He broke off there, looking off to a point in the distance. "'Course, now that you mention it she said something about this other me and her..." He gestured, sure Vergil would get the meaning. "And you and I both know one of my cardinal rules is no relationships."

[twins_right]

"Forget how old we are," Vergil said patiently, as though he were speaking to a small and very stupid child. Which, frankly, was very close to what Dante was. "How old is she? You say she claimed to know our parents, but Eva died about a century ago - I know you haven't forgotten. And Sparda died even earlier than that. And even if she were that old, do you even remember what it was like growing up? Our family lived in almost complete isolation to protect us from Sparda's enemies. At what point during that time could she possibly have met them?" He sat back in his chair. "And don't let knowledge fool you, Dante. There are any number of ways she could have learned about us, ways that don't involve being close personal friends with our family. They have Ritual classes at the school; she could have learned how to summon demons out of hell who could give her any amount of information on us, our parents...anything she'd need to convince you." His eyes narrowed. "All I wonder is why. What is she hoping to accomplish?"

[combust]

Dante shook his head,more in frustration than a negation of what Vergil said.

"No, see, you don't even have the whole story." He glanced up at the ceiling, noting how dusty it was, and as though asking for some kind of guidance, before looking down once more, leaning even closer and widening his eyes further so Vergil could see he was completely serious.

And, okay, to weird Vergil out a little, because it was hard not to be annoying with him around.

"She said that...The other you...He pulled a ressurrection stunt with Mother." He paused, because he really didn't have many details on that one. "That the other- That Vergil brought this other Mom back from the dead, and that Dante and him had this big blowout fight about it."

He shook his head again, flopping back into his chair before raking the hair from his eyes. "Not that that's exactly surprising, considering. But she said the old man was around, too. And this...Wasn't that long ago, Vergil. Not that I gathered, anyway."

[twins_right]

Vergil raked a hand through his hair, thoroughly annoyed now. "And how," he snapped, "does that make it more believable rather than less? Are you even listening to yourself, Dante? You find it easier to believe that some alternate versions of you and me were running around here with our parents who died centuries ago miraculously alive and well than that a girl might lie to you?" He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know why I'm surprised.

"Besides," he continued, relentless in his denial, "what sort of claim is it to make that I revived Eva? Even if there were any such ability, in the human or the demon world, I wouldn't waste my time."

[combust]

"That's what I said." His voice was unintentionally soft, and he looked away, at the scuffed linoleum under his feet. He was silent for several moments after that, simply watching the floor as though it would do something amazing, before slowly dragging his gaze up to Vergil's once more, something shuttering behind his eyes.

"Either way, whether it's real or not, doesn't it constitute some kind of threat? If she knows enough about us, we could be in deep shit." A hand twitched on the table, along with a muscle in his jaw. "I almost killed her, when she told me."

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"Of course it does," Vergil replied absently, eyes distant as he thought the matter over. "The only question is what manner of threat. I don't know why you didn't kill her." He blinked, eyes focusing back on Dante and his voice taking on a tone that was at once both thoughtful and predatory. "Although perhaps it's best you didn't. I'd like to know where she got this information before she dies; just because she's the only visible link doesn't change the fact that we need to deal with the entire chain."

[combust]

Dante wanted to snap because I'm not you, but he held it in check, instead absently reaching for a napkin, tearing thin strips from it. "I didn't kill her for exactly that reason. And it...Well."

He shook his head, shifting in his seat, doing his best to keep both his gaze and his voice level. "You're not the one she's pining over like you broke her heart. Hell, I didn't even know this chick until a few days ago, before she snapped like a bitch with monster pms and laid all this shit on me."

[twins_right]

"Just as well," Vergil replied, with a distaste that was entirely unfeigned. "I've no patience for that sort of thing."

He studied Dante silently for a minute, really taking him in for the first time, and found himself almost surprised by the realization of just how shaken his twin clearly was. Whoever the woman was - and he already thought he had an idea; Dante letting half her name slip had been rather telling - she was clearly good, because Dante really wasn't this gullible without good reason to be fooled.

He would kill her, Vergil decided. Excruciatingly. Attacks on his family, even such indirect ones as this(although he assumed it was simply leading up to something more direct later), wouldn't be tolerated. And he would see to it that anyone who had ever even looked at her, much less helped her, knew exactly what had happened to her, and how, and what the price was for trifling with a son of Sparda.

In the meantime, however...on some level it was actively unsettling to see Dante like this. Something had to be done. "Forget her," Vergil instructed, perhaps a whisper more gently than was normal for him. "She raked up everything about you that could possibly make you vulnerable. Allowing yourself to become preoccupied and uncertain only ensures that whatever she's planning might actually work. I'll take care of it." He wasn't really very good at reassurances, but the one thing he did know how to do - knew he was supposed to do - was take care of things his little brother needed help with. This, apparently, fell under that category.

[combust]

Dante stiffened. He didn't need to be babied, and that was exactly what Vergil was doing. He was a big boy, and he could watch his own back. And didn't it figure? The few times Vergil bothered acting like a real damn brother, and they were all wrong.

"No, I'll handle it." His voice was firm, brooking no argument. "This is my fuckup, letting her worm in this far. I'll just have to be...More careful. That's all." It wasn't like he hadn't done it his whole life to begin with. Vergil wasn't ever around to pull his ass out of a crack, and in truth, Dante didn't want him to be.

"Figures, though. Can't even leave our world without somebody trying to fuck with me. Really, it's almost fucking poetic. Remind me to find a book about Sparda and burn it. It'll make me feel better."

[twins_right]

Vergil snorted, looking away. One of the few times where helping Dante didn't mean sabotaging himself, and Dante didn't want his help. It figured.

"Fine," he said carelessly. "Do whatever you want. But try to be more careful for both our sakes; I really didn't need to come all the way here just to see you get so serious over something so ridiculous."