[Vergil drifts off before he really addresses leaving Nero behind for the underworld. But he picks up shortly where it's left off.] I know there wasn't any other choice. You guys had to go. That doesn't mean I have to like it, or it didn't fucking hurt.
[It's the whole reason he's in Folkmore too, after all: looking for a way to reunite with his stranded father and uncle. And the first thing they'd both done is give him guff about not staying behind. Nero suspects that's going to be a pattern that plays out many, many more times, come what may... and now Vergil's been fairly warned about it.
It's still such a strange thing, to have someone say they'll protect you. You, specifically, because you're you, not because you're just a child or their responsibility. He gazes into his bowl and tries to process it. He thinks of Credo, and a thick knot forms in his throat.]
I won't let it happen. I won't let it get to that point.
[And if it does? It won't. It's just that simple. It cannot.]
[Vergil doesn't really know if it's actually possible for that to be the case. After so much bloodshed and loss, it seems difficult to believe that regardless of anyone's will, things will not reach that point yet again. But it can never be said that it got to that point because none of them tried. All three of them will fight like hell for it. Whatever it takes.]
Use that next time you train with me, [he says with a slight nod.] Don't get lost in your head thinking about trying to keep up with me, or with Dante. Don't dwell on what might happen if you fail or do not meet your expectations. Focus on why it is you are doing what you are doing.
[Nero needs to think about motivates him as being what he is protecting, not what he might lose. That is the righteous sort of anger that will allow him to press forward and grow.]
You will find your strength then to get back up regardless of how many times you are knocked down. If you can even be knocked down.
[It's a much better thing to focus on, though Nero knows that frustration and a perceived lack of progress are both slippery slopes for him. He can go careening back down the trail of feeling inferior and getting furious about it all too easily. But maybe he can try to catch himself next time.
He shoots Vergil a brief, somewhat sheepish edge of a smile. Honestly, he's pretty impressed he's been this eloquent in this conversation. Like he clearly wasn't going to get the disappointed dressing-down he feared, but Vergil's unusually astute on this topic in particular. From experience, no doubt... but it's something nice that he's able to offer his son in a time of need. All in all, Nero's glad that they did bring it up.
He does scoff at that last bit, though.] Yeah, think it's safe to say I can be knocked down. I can barely fucking sit still, my ass is so bruised.
[He hums in light amusement at Nero's complaints.]
You may wish to remember your bruised ass the next time you accuse me of being old then.
[It's said with a sly smile and a light kick to the shin under the table in the sort of playful roughhousing Dante really only ever seems to pull out of Vergil when his mood isn't too sour to find Dante's attempts at play obnoxious. But here it is now, directed at Nero as if it were the most natural thing in the world.]
[Sometimes, Nero thinks Vergil looks a lot like him. Others, he looks a lot like Dante. The shin-jab under the table is such a Dante maneuver he has to laugh.
But oh, no. He's not gonna take this lying down. (Because as soon as he lies down he's not getting up again.]
Oh my god. Did you just swear? Maybe I did hit you pretty hard...
[Vergil raises an eyebrow because this is undoubtedly one of the most juvenile, foolish things he's been party to in a while, but absolutely at all with Nero. It's possibly enough to make Nero think he isn't going to do it. Deem it beneath him both in being challenged like this and the general use of the word.]
[While Nero busts a gut laughing, Vergil suppresses any wider smile from forming at his son's laughter by taking a calm sip of water. It is a nice sound though, and it is certainly a much better sight than the hot, angry tears before they departed for the noodle shop.]
[Okay, fair enough... He's got quite a bit more of the bowl to go and Vergil probably has better things to do than pat his ass and watch him eat all afternoon. Nero shakes his head again and looks like he's going to make some sassy retort to that, but doesn't.
Instead, he tucks back into his noodles and hesitates a moment before coming up with something else to say.]
[Although Vergil says nothing to it, only acknowledging it with a slight nod to allow Nero to return to his noodles in relative peace, it still remains no small thing to hear Nero call him Dad. There had been a bit of a gap from when Nero said it the first time to when he heard it again afterward, and still gaps between that and the time after. But little by little, the gaps are closing. Nero does not seem to be awkwardly debating which name to call Vergil by, or building himself up to say it confidently, or whatever it was going through his head before he says it, and Vergil cannot think the last time he heard his name from Nero. So, by now, it's perhaps not an entirely novel thing to have Nero call him Dad. But Vergil's heart feels all the fuller for it regardless, warmed by such simple affection in a single word that Vergil once thought would be nearly impossible for him to possess.]
[He feels...good about today, he reflects.]
[For as little as he (hopefully) displayed to Nero, Vergil had some nerves going into this training session with him. Vergil knew their fight atop the Qliphoth was not reflective of his own skill and strength, for one. The potential for such inaccurate expectations easily set the stage for something precarious all on its own. Factor in that it was the first time the pair were to clash with one another physically since agreeing to put off sparring with one another until there was a degree of comfort... Well, it was hard for Vergil not to feel a degree of nerves about the whole affair. And, of course, Vergil did not like witnessing Nero's breakdown when it finally erupted. What parent could watch their child tear themselves apart the way Nero had and do so without their own heart aching as well? It was only an additional layer in knowing that Nero was afflicted with a similar anxiety that had hounded Vergil for most of his life, and still does in moments when he's allowed his guard to lower or unwanted reminders arise.]
[But Vergil felt... Well, it may be an oversimplification all that happened today and what Vergil did, and it feels a bit foolish to think of it this way, but he's felt like a dad today. Like he earned it this time when Nero says it. Even with the anticipatory anxiety and the moments of uncertainty and the discomfort of vulnerability, he was able to guide Nero through today and helped him through hot, angry tears to full belly laughter. So, he felt like a dad. Feels like one even now while Nero focuses on eating and Vergil sits in companionable silent with his water. He feels so oddly grateful to Nero not just for giving him the word to describe how it feels in this moment, but for allowing him to help in the first place. For trusting him enough to make it better, not make it worse.]
[Once Nero is done eating, there is nothing else to do in the shop, but leave the dishes behind for the staff to bus. They leave behind the warmth of the noodle shop and step back out onto the chilly street. With home so close, there's no sense in using the Yamato, and so they walk instead.]
[They are only a few paces away from the noodle shop before Vergil reaches over and ruffles Nero's hair. It's brief—and nothing too rough given the soreness throughout most of his body still—but it's a silent gesture of affectionate gratitude. There will not always be days like today, but it is these sorts of days that Vergil can easily understand why they are what make the harder ones worth it.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
[It's the whole reason he's in Folkmore too, after all: looking for a way to reunite with his stranded father and uncle. And the first thing they'd both done is give him guff about not staying behind. Nero suspects that's going to be a pattern that plays out many, many more times, come what may... and now Vergil's been fairly warned about it.
It's still such a strange thing, to have someone say they'll protect you. You, specifically, because you're you, not because you're just a child or their responsibility. He gazes into his bowl and tries to process it. He thinks of Credo, and a thick knot forms in his throat.]
I won't let it happen. I won't let it get to that point.
[And if it does? It won't. It's just that simple. It cannot.]
no subject
[Vergil doesn't really know if it's actually possible for that to be the case. After so much bloodshed and loss, it seems difficult to believe that regardless of anyone's will, things will not reach that point yet again. But it can never be said that it got to that point because none of them tried. All three of them will fight like hell for it. Whatever it takes.]
Use that next time you train with me, [he says with a slight nod.] Don't get lost in your head thinking about trying to keep up with me, or with Dante. Don't dwell on what might happen if you fail or do not meet your expectations. Focus on why it is you are doing what you are doing.
[Nero needs to think about motivates him as being what he is protecting, not what he might lose. That is the righteous sort of anger that will allow him to press forward and grow.]
You will find your strength then to get back up regardless of how many times you are knocked down. If you can even be knocked down.
no subject
[It's a much better thing to focus on, though Nero knows that frustration and a perceived lack of progress are both slippery slopes for him. He can go careening back down the trail of feeling inferior and getting furious about it all too easily. But maybe he can try to catch himself next time.
He shoots Vergil a brief, somewhat sheepish edge of a smile. Honestly, he's pretty impressed he's been this eloquent in this conversation. Like he clearly wasn't going to get the disappointed dressing-down he feared, but Vergil's unusually astute on this topic in particular. From experience, no doubt... but it's something nice that he's able to offer his son in a time of need. All in all, Nero's glad that they did bring it up.
He does scoff at that last bit, though.] Yeah, think it's safe to say I can be knocked down. I can barely fucking sit still, my ass is so bruised.
no subject
You may wish to remember your bruised ass the next time you accuse me of being old then.
[It's said with a sly smile and a light kick to the shin under the table in the sort of playful roughhousing Dante really only ever seems to pull out of Vergil when his mood isn't too sour to find Dante's attempts at play obnoxious. But here it is now, directed at Nero as if it were the most natural thing in the world.]
no subject
But oh, no. He's not gonna take this lying down. (Because as soon as he lies down he's not getting up again.]
Oh my god. Did you just swear? Maybe I did hit you pretty hard...
no subject
Just because I don't share in the amount of vulgarity you prefer to employ does not mean I never do.
no subject
[He's really more of a like... "scum," "curses," "inconceivable" kind of guy. Maybe a "damnation" if he's feeling spicy.]
Say "fuck."
no subject
[But then...!]
Fuck.
no subject
[Too bad Dante is never going to believe this... Nero shakes his head and works out the last few snorts before taking a sip of water.]
Amazing. I think it works for you.
no subject
Finish your noodles, child.
no subject
Instead, he tucks back into his noodles and hesitates a moment before coming up with something else to say.]
Thanks. Dad.
no subject
[He feels...good about today, he reflects.]
[For as little as he (hopefully) displayed to Nero, Vergil had some nerves going into this training session with him. Vergil knew their fight atop the Qliphoth was not reflective of his own skill and strength, for one. The potential for such inaccurate expectations easily set the stage for something precarious all on its own. Factor in that it was the first time the pair were to clash with one another physically since agreeing to put off sparring with one another until there was a degree of comfort... Well, it was hard for Vergil not to feel a degree of nerves about the whole affair. And, of course, Vergil did not like witnessing Nero's breakdown when it finally erupted. What parent could watch their child tear themselves apart the way Nero had and do so without their own heart aching as well? It was only an additional layer in knowing that Nero was afflicted with a similar anxiety that had hounded Vergil for most of his life, and still does in moments when he's allowed his guard to lower or unwanted reminders arise.]
[But Vergil felt... Well, it may be an oversimplification all that happened today and what Vergil did, and it feels a bit foolish to think of it this way, but he's felt like a dad today. Like he earned it this time when Nero says it. Even with the anticipatory anxiety and the moments of uncertainty and the discomfort of vulnerability, he was able to guide Nero through today and helped him through hot, angry tears to full belly laughter. So, he felt like a dad. Feels like one even now while Nero focuses on eating and Vergil sits in companionable silent with his water. He feels so oddly grateful to Nero not just for giving him the word to describe how it feels in this moment, but for allowing him to help in the first place. For trusting him enough to make it better, not make it worse.]
[Once Nero is done eating, there is nothing else to do in the shop, but leave the dishes behind for the staff to bus. They leave behind the warmth of the noodle shop and step back out onto the chilly street. With home so close, there's no sense in using the Yamato, and so they walk instead.]
[They are only a few paces away from the noodle shop before Vergil reaches over and ruffles Nero's hair. It's brief—and nothing too rough given the soreness throughout most of his body still—but it's a silent gesture of affectionate gratitude. There will not always be days like today, but it is these sorts of days that Vergil can easily understand why they are what make the harder ones worth it.]