Your uncle and I only want you to be safe and happy, [he says, wiping away the tears with the hand not upon his shoulder. Normally, he would not speak for Dante like that, but he cannot imagine Dante objecting to that assertion. Not when he sacrificed so much in those five years in keeping Nero at arm's length to avoid drawing Nero further into his grandfather's legacy and the consequences that come from it.] It is not for us to decide anything else for you beyond that.
[He wonders if Nero knows just how different his life would have been had circumstances been so that Vergil would have had the courage to stay with his mother even if not in Fortuna. He knows there's likely been fantasies built up in his head of what it would have been to have two parents who loved him more than anything, but there are probably still yet some things he cannot fathom because it simply is impossible to know so intimately the things one has not experienced firsthand. But Vergil would like to think in those circumstances, where he had it within him to stay instead of running away as he had in reality, Nero would have been permitted to grow up without ever needing to pick up a sword. That he would have been allowed to pursue any number of passions long before learning to wield a blade or firing a gun. And even in the absence of that ideal, Vergil would hope that Nero would know his worth had either one of his parents if not both of them in his life. He did not need to prove anything to anyone because he was loved so tremendously beyond just the moment he was born and whatever time Beatrice was able to give him.]
If all I cared for was your strength and skill in battle, why would I ever watch those videos of those men beating one another senseless with chairs or dropping down on one another from ladders with you when you ask? Why would I see to it that your home here has a place where you can work on your projects at your leisure? Much less, why would I ever allow you to put me in that horrendous sweater on Christmas?
Frankly, if the sweater did not result in me renouncing you as my son, you should remain confident nothing will.
[He's joking a little by the end there with the commentary upon the matching Christmas sweaters to lighten some of the tension he knows Nero must be feeling, but the point is nonetheless a serious one. If all he was ever interested in was knowing his son's strength as a warrior, and it was that alone that sparked any interest in Nero, he wouldn't have wholeheartedly agreed to delay sparring with him like this, and instead taken the time to learn more of his interests and hobbies. Even as Vergil asks perhaps too many questions during the wrestling videos and he somewhat awkwardly just keeps himself out of the way when he pays a visit to Nero in the garage, he's present in those moments for the same reason he's willing to listen to songs that are far from the sort of music he enjoys and tries a sample of food when he's asked. They are things important to his son, and whether or not Vergil necessarily likes any of it or understands their appeal, it still helps him to understand and know Nero better. And it's worth whatever confusion or discomfort or awkwardness that might sometimes come along with it for the sake of knowing Nero because Nero shall always be worth it.]
no subject
[He wonders if Nero knows just how different his life would have been had circumstances been so that Vergil would have had the courage to stay with his mother even if not in Fortuna. He knows there's likely been fantasies built up in his head of what it would have been to have two parents who loved him more than anything, but there are probably still yet some things he cannot fathom because it simply is impossible to know so intimately the things one has not experienced firsthand. But Vergil would like to think in those circumstances, where he had it within him to stay instead of running away as he had in reality, Nero would have been permitted to grow up without ever needing to pick up a sword. That he would have been allowed to pursue any number of passions long before learning to wield a blade or firing a gun. And even in the absence of that ideal, Vergil would hope that Nero would know his worth had either one of his parents if not both of them in his life. He did not need to prove anything to anyone because he was loved so tremendously beyond just the moment he was born and whatever time Beatrice was able to give him.]
If all I cared for was your strength and skill in battle, why would I ever watch those videos of those men beating one another senseless with chairs or dropping down on one another from ladders with you when you ask? Why would I see to it that your home here has a place where you can work on your projects at your leisure? Much less, why would I ever allow you to put me in that horrendous sweater on Christmas?
Frankly, if the sweater did not result in me renouncing you as my son, you should remain confident nothing will.
[He's joking a little by the end there with the commentary upon the matching Christmas sweaters to lighten some of the tension he knows Nero must be feeling, but the point is nonetheless a serious one. If all he was ever interested in was knowing his son's strength as a warrior, and it was that alone that sparked any interest in Nero, he wouldn't have wholeheartedly agreed to delay sparring with him like this, and instead taken the time to learn more of his interests and hobbies. Even as Vergil asks perhaps too many questions during the wrestling videos and he somewhat awkwardly just keeps himself out of the way when he pays a visit to Nero in the garage, he's present in those moments for the same reason he's willing to listen to songs that are far from the sort of music he enjoys and tries a sample of food when he's asked. They are things important to his son, and whether or not Vergil necessarily likes any of it or understands their appeal, it still helps him to understand and know Nero better. And it's worth whatever confusion or discomfort or awkwardness that might sometimes come along with it for the sake of knowing Nero because Nero shall always be worth it.]