[It's strange to think that Vergil would ever possess a positive feeling towards being lectured, but oddly enough, he does. If she could feel comfortable enough to speak her mind to him like that, it would hopefully be a good sign of things to come even if Nero's prediction that she would be warmer afterward didn't come to immediate fruition. He smiles a little at the prospect without realizing he is as he sets his cup back down on the table.]
[At Nero's comment about the growth of their family, Vergil's smile does not fade, not exactly, but his gaze is momentarily a little more wistful. For so much of Vergil's life, he's really only ever known loss. First it was father, and then soon after his mother and brother. The only home he'd ever known. Beatrice was there for a time, but he was the one who denied himself that future out of his own fear and insecurities of being able to protect it. And in doing that, he unknowingly both lost her forever as well as his son. It was much the same with Dante in that he could not take his brother's hand, could not reconcile what he knew to be true with what Dante proposed. He lost the Yamato. He lost his memories, his very life. It is a wonder, frankly, that Vergil found any reason to carry on, to claw his way back to the human world and reclaim his blade after that much loss.]
[But somehow by the end of it, he found himself again. More than just the broken things that survived and carried on the day his mother died, but the whole of himself. He found his brother again. He found his son. And for all the aspects of this place that Vergil finds to be tedious and irritating, that sense of loss he might have felt at having to leave behind his son again because he knew he could not have him or that future unless he cleaned up the mess he created... He's managed to ultimately avoid that here. He's had time to get to know Nero, and realize there is a place for him in Nero's life after all. He's grown closer with his brother, too. The pair of them trying so hard to find another way beyond fighting to connect and understand one another, and these days only getting into petty squabbles with one another as siblings are wont to do. And he's found... Well, there's really little denying it anymore, is there? Even if it still feels impossible to say so directly, he's found love.]
[His smile fades then, although it's not the most serious of expressions that takes up residence when it does. It's more a calm neutrality that arises, the look that no doubt Nero has come to learn signals Vergil has something to say that is important, but is not something that should raise alarm or concern.]
On that note, there is something that I have been meaning to tell you for a while now. There just has not been...a good time to tell you until now.
[It certainly would not have been the time to say anything when Nero first arrived and there was so much they needed to sort through first. It also would not have done well for Vergil to make mention of it too soon after their conversation. Much of that needed to settle and simmer, and a routine of sorts needed to be found.]
[But Vergil has also been uncertain whether or not it was appropriate to tell Nero. He hasn't been concerned Nero would somehow be upset that Vergil was not pining after Beatrice. He loved her. Some part of him still loves her and always will. She was his first love, after all, and the mother to his child. There is nothing that could possibly remove her from his heart like that. But even if she were alive and within reach, Vergil would not presume to rekindle something with her. No doubt she would be a different person than she was back then and likely moved on a long time ago. He imagines the most they might be is friends if she could find it within her to forgive him for abandoning her in the first place. He also does not even particularly worry himself necessarily over Nero's opinion of Mizu. While he wouldn't necessarily categorize Mizu as one of Nero's favorite people, there does not appear to be contempt or disdain there. He's not opposed to her, at the very least. And beyond that, Vergil trusts that Mizu is no more interested in parenting Nero than Nero is interested in being parented by her.]
Mizu and I...
[No, the hold up on Vergil's part has been more on the words for what they are. He's avoided any such label for so long now. Even when they were just friends to one another, he always couched it in being sparring partners. As though their interest in one another or the camaraderie they were building was rooted solely in their ability and interest in fighting one another, and had not naturally blossomed into other things. It seemed better to him not to presume anything in calling Mizu a friend lest the feeling was not reciprocated and Vergil truly was a means to an end. Since their relationship evolved and their intimacy deepened...]
[Well, this is not something that will last beyond this world. At some point, Vergil will leave with his family, and Mizu will return to her world to seek her revenge. Words have power and weight, more than most give them credit for. Vergil does not believe he could withstand the weight of calling Mizu or what they have something only for it to be taken from him regardless of who bears responsibility for that loss.]
We are more than just friends to one another. We have been for a few months now.
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[At Nero's comment about the growth of their family, Vergil's smile does not fade, not exactly, but his gaze is momentarily a little more wistful. For so much of Vergil's life, he's really only ever known loss. First it was father, and then soon after his mother and brother. The only home he'd ever known. Beatrice was there for a time, but he was the one who denied himself that future out of his own fear and insecurities of being able to protect it. And in doing that, he unknowingly both lost her forever as well as his son. It was much the same with Dante in that he could not take his brother's hand, could not reconcile what he knew to be true with what Dante proposed. He lost the Yamato. He lost his memories, his very life. It is a wonder, frankly, that Vergil found any reason to carry on, to claw his way back to the human world and reclaim his blade after that much loss.]
[But somehow by the end of it, he found himself again. More than just the broken things that survived and carried on the day his mother died, but the whole of himself. He found his brother again. He found his son. And for all the aspects of this place that Vergil finds to be tedious and irritating, that sense of loss he might have felt at having to leave behind his son again because he knew he could not have him or that future unless he cleaned up the mess he created... He's managed to ultimately avoid that here. He's had time to get to know Nero, and realize there is a place for him in Nero's life after all. He's grown closer with his brother, too. The pair of them trying so hard to find another way beyond fighting to connect and understand one another, and these days only getting into petty squabbles with one another as siblings are wont to do. And he's found... Well, there's really little denying it anymore, is there? Even if it still feels impossible to say so directly, he's found love.]
[His smile fades then, although it's not the most serious of expressions that takes up residence when it does. It's more a calm neutrality that arises, the look that no doubt Nero has come to learn signals Vergil has something to say that is important, but is not something that should raise alarm or concern.]
On that note, there is something that I have been meaning to tell you for a while now. There just has not been...a good time to tell you until now.
[It certainly would not have been the time to say anything when Nero first arrived and there was so much they needed to sort through first. It also would not have done well for Vergil to make mention of it too soon after their conversation. Much of that needed to settle and simmer, and a routine of sorts needed to be found.]
[But Vergil has also been uncertain whether or not it was appropriate to tell Nero. He hasn't been concerned Nero would somehow be upset that Vergil was not pining after Beatrice. He loved her. Some part of him still loves her and always will. She was his first love, after all, and the mother to his child. There is nothing that could possibly remove her from his heart like that. But even if she were alive and within reach, Vergil would not presume to rekindle something with her. No doubt she would be a different person than she was back then and likely moved on a long time ago. He imagines the most they might be is friends if she could find it within her to forgive him for abandoning her in the first place. He also does not even particularly worry himself necessarily over Nero's opinion of Mizu. While he wouldn't necessarily categorize Mizu as one of Nero's favorite people, there does not appear to be contempt or disdain there. He's not opposed to her, at the very least. And beyond that, Vergil trusts that Mizu is no more interested in parenting Nero than Nero is interested in being parented by her.]
Mizu and I...
[No, the hold up on Vergil's part has been more on the words for what they are. He's avoided any such label for so long now. Even when they were just friends to one another, he always couched it in being sparring partners. As though their interest in one another or the camaraderie they were building was rooted solely in their ability and interest in fighting one another, and had not naturally blossomed into other things. It seemed better to him not to presume anything in calling Mizu a friend lest the feeling was not reciprocated and Vergil truly was a means to an end. Since their relationship evolved and their intimacy deepened...]
[Well, this is not something that will last beyond this world. At some point, Vergil will leave with his family, and Mizu will return to her world to seek her revenge. Words have power and weight, more than most give them credit for. Vergil does not believe he could withstand the weight of calling Mizu or what they have something only for it to be taken from him regardless of who bears responsibility for that loss.]
We are more than just friends to one another. We have been for a few months now.