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skvaderarts · 13 days

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Petrichor Chapter 70: Puncture

Chapter 70: Puncture

Note: How’s your week been? Did you get to see the Eclipse?

(-~-)

The road stretched out before them like an arrow being nocked in a bow, straight and clearly visible. It didn’t deviate for several miles, unchanging as far as they could currently see. Raised above the ground in a manner not dissimilar to that of a causeway, the road they drove on had a small railing on either side that kept them where they should be and the tree branches contained. They were flanked on their right side by a dense forest and a grassy, tree-scattered embankment on the left. A river lapped lazily at its edge with only a small current to cut around what few rocks it possessed.

Out of a sense of professionalism and a general desire to be as alert as possible for their own sakes, no one had asked to turn the radio in the car on. And with just shy of an hour left before they reached their destination, everyone present was eager to continue enjoying the silence. There wasn’t much to talk about besides work, anyway.

Kayro sat in the front passenger seat, his arm leaning against the door and his chin resting upon it as he enjoyed the rush of fresh air and the smell of the water and the woods. There was a dampness to the air. The trees rustled as the breeze picked up slightly and wicked moisture out of the leaves and onto the ground from the recent rain. It smelled fresh. How many more times would it rain before the snow came? It was cold, but he didn’t mind. He’d always enjoyed the transitional period between “technically winter as far as the Callender was concerned” and “true winter” as he liked to categorize them. He’d been called pedantic once at work for expressing that sentiment, a notion that Sirrus had quickly shot down saying that it was the kind of little thing that many people probably didn’t notice, but something they both appreciated, small though it might be.

That had been the beginning of their work friendship. Over such a mundane thing at the coffee machine. And Sirrus hadn’t even been getting coffee.

The Adjudicator in the black seat thought about his friend at that moment and the individual that he’d introduced to him earlier that week. His name had been V, hadn’t it? He hoped their endeavor was going well in much the same way that he hoped his own would. He felt entirely out of his element right now. He couldn’t wait to be back inside his familiar, climate-controlled box where he knew where everything was and how it worked. He’d been thoroughly institutionalized; the concept of work becoming purpose a long time ago in lieu of anything in his own personal life filling that same role. And although he recognized that having that kind of relationship with his job was probably unhealthy, he still felt a sense of fulfillment. Strange as it was, he enjoyed his job, mundane and filled with legalese and piles of confusing documents as it might be.

Perhaps growing tired of the pervasive silence that had settled over the vehicle, the driver took his right hand off of the steering wheel for just a moment, taking advantage of the fact that they were on a perfectly straight road to point over his shoulder at their passenger. He was not keen to take his eyes off of the road, so looking at the man he was talking about was going to have to wait.

“Should I even ask?” His morbid curiosity towards what their passenger had done had gotten the better of him, it seemed. He wasn’t expecting an in-depth explanation right now, but he certainly was hoping to get the cliff notes.

“Oh, it’s a long story. I stopped eight pages into Sirrus’s report.” Kayro was amused by the fact that his work partner had been incensed enough to actually write a report that long. Sirrus had received side eye at the office on more than one occasion for his penchant towards famously short field reports. Some of their superiors found it amusing and some of them wanted to ring his neck, but the reports had been written and filed within guidelines, so there had been little grounds to complain about it.

Kayro noticed the way that Agreus oh so subtly shifted his head at the mention of Sirrus. Even through the mask he couldn’t help but notice the intense flurry of emotions their prisoner had just experienced in such short order. He didn’t visibly display it in the slightest, but he’d certainly felt them. And Kayro was willing to bet that the summoner was not pleased to know that Sirrus still lived, let alone that he was now in the custody of some of his colleagues.

“I’ll have to take a look at it when we get back to headquarters.” Came the response of the second guard who sat directly behind Kayro. He’d honestly tuned out the fact that he was there about an hour ago for no reason other than a desire to relax and forget what he was doing for a moment. He was more than welcome to join the conversation. It could hardly be considered eavesdropping when they were all in the same car, now could it?

“Yeah, he never writes reports. I have to see this.” The driver chimed in, glancing back for just a moment at Agreus before returning his eyes to the road. A shiver ran down his spine at the very notion of what the summoner might have done. None of them had even the faintest idea what Sirrus was capable of, Kayro included, but if asked they would all attest to his durability and skill. The fact that he’d been put out of commission was not something that had gone unnoticed back at the office.

The three of them chuckled, utterly amused by the notion. They were surely going to have some fun mucking around the office when Sirrus eventually came back to work.

“Hey, do you think-” The driver didn’t get a chance to finish his statement. To the shock of every other passenger in the car, Agreus suddenly latched his cuffs around the neck of the driver from the seat behind them, anchoring him with all his strength to the back of the seat with nearly enough force to break his neck. Somehow in the brief moment that they’d taken their eyes off of him, he’d gotten free. He’d done it so fast that none of them had registered what was happening until it was too late. And only a half second later the air around them shifted and took on an unearthly quality as everything went still. And then the air returned, slamming into them from behind as the guard in the back seat scrambled towards Agreus and Kayro moved to undo his seatbelt so he could better assist his colleague. But a wave of dread hit them both as they felt the air shift again just outside of the now slaloming car, the vehicle lurching out of control as its driver lost his grip on the steering wheel and involuntarily led-footed the gas pedal.

Something was coming.

In the blink of an eye, the car lurched hard to the left as something smashed into them with terrifying force, sending them skidding into the railing as something that neither Kayro nor anyone else in the vehicle could fully make full contact with the right side of the car. They caught a glimpse of what appeared to be a long, serpentine creature, something that definitely wasn’t of this world, but what it was wasn’t clear in the brief moment that they’d gotten the chance to see it. Though some guesses were in order.

Within seconds the car slammed hard into the metal railing and flipped sideways, tumbling with the force of a battering ram down the grassy embankment. The airbags engaged, forcing most of the air out of Kayro and the driver’s lungs as they lurched forward unstoppably. The car struck a tree, sending one of the passengers tumbling out of a now wrecked side door as the car was forced diagonally upward, flipping end to end a total of two times as the driver was thrown through the windshield before the vehicle collided with the treeline nearest to the water. It came to a stop instantly, the sheer force of what was left of the front windshield being blown out as branches impaled the car from multiple angles forcing the car into a hard stop.

Upside-down.

Blinking slowly as everything slowly faded in from black, Kayro came to the slow but worrying realization that everything was the wrong way up and that he was wet, but only the back part of the car was even remotely near water. Outside he heard incoherent screams, gunfire, and the inhuman roars of… something. He didn’t know what, but if he was going to make a guess, a demon of some sort. Several of them.

He needed to get out of the car.

From his current position inside of the now upside-down vehicle, he couldn’t see the second car. It had seemingly vanished in the commotion. Or perhaps it was parked at the top of the embankment. What he could tell was that he was now alone in the car, everyone else either having left him there for the time being or having been forcefully removed from the vehicle during the wreck. He had no idea how long he’d been out of it, But it felt like a minute or two. Probably longer than he should have been, as far as his health and well-being were concerned.

But as he struggled to find the seatbelt latch so that he could unbuckle himself, he felt something warm and wet saturate his sleeve. He wasn’t able to tell what it was instantly due to the color of his clothing, but as he looked intently at the fabric, he noticed a tinge of red. And in an instant, everything around him went silent as his heart pounded like a frightened lamb. The screams of his coworkers became distant, the only sounds he comprehended being the sound of his own blood rushing through his body and the catching of his breath in his chest as he shook in terror.

He understood why he was wet now.

As he undid the seatbelt latch and dropped about two feet to the now crumpled roof of the car on his upper back and shoulders, he inadvertently discovered the source. Several of the branches that had punctured the car had also punctured him. And as he registered the taste of blood for the first time he realized that he’d bitten his tongue during the accident when his airbag had deployed at such close range. A few of the larger branches were still stuck, but they didn’t remain that way for long.

Moments later everything went silent. As Kayro whipped his head around and attempted to ascertain what was going on, he suddenly felt something unseen latch onto the car and compress it like it had just been shoved into a car compactor. The car tipped on its side, the loose door swinging open on its hinges as he tumbled out and fell about ten feet to the ground on his side, ripping loose from the branches in the process. The impact was so ferocious that the only thing he was capable of doing was gasping as the wind was knocked out of him.

A great, serpentine demon loomed over him, baring its teeth before effortlessly tossing the car partially into the river as though it were a child’s toy. Or perhaps more like a dog discarding a thoroughly chewed-out bone. It held off, waiting for its master’s orders. And it did not wait long. Agreus appeared mere seconds later, limping slightly but otherwise largely unharmed. It seemed that the demon had extracted him from the vehicle during the crash or had protected him in some other fashion that he was not privy to. And as things currently stood, he didn’t have the mental reserves to even attempt to.

Despite his grievous injuries, he managed to crawl onto his knees, adrenaline and terror doing most of the leg work. He couldn’t stand, but he also couldn’t just lay there. He had to try to get up. He had to.

Agreus stood before him, regarding him in silence for a moment. The less sophisticated chains that had bound his feet were gone, but the others remained. It seemed that they’d done the trick, at least by some measure.

He continued to loom over him, his breathing even and undisturbed as though he hadn’t just been participating in a vicious blood-soaked battle to the death mere seconds ago. He seemed to stare into his very soul before turning his attention to his demon pet. Was he going to order it to…

Kayro felt his blood run cold as he pictured what the creature had just done to the car, resolving then and there to do what he could to stop the summoner before he got any bright ideas. And as unsure as he was that he’d be of any use in his current state, he knew that he had to try. If there was a chance that he might be able to get out of here alive- that he might be able to save his companions- he had to take it.

Reaching out with what little strength he had left in him, he reached out and tried to sense what the summoner was feeling. Perhaps he could calm him or otherwise put him at ease. Placate him and convince him to back down. Should he be able to utilize his emotional influence against him, he just might stand a chance. He had to at least distract him. He couldn’t stand -or kneel- idly by and watch him kill his entire team, even if he wasn’t armed and had no way of physically stopping him. He might not be a fighter by any means, but it just wasn’t who he was. He had to do something. He had to try.

But as their minds touched, Kayro felt what little blood was left in him run colder than the river adjacent to him. There was nothing to influence there. No conscious. No emotion. Agreus felt no fury, no trepidation. He expressed no hesitation. There wasn’t a single bit of humanity left in him for the adjudicator to work with. Nothing to appeal to. He was a husk of what a person was supposed to be, masquerading as a living, breathing, person. The person inside of him had died a long time ago and had been replaced by a being of single-minded purpose and curated malevolence. He was human in biology only, any semblance of a person with a soul taking a back seat to his own twisted desires.

Agreus was completely calm.

The last thing that Kayro saw was a flash of light reflecting off the demon’s hide as it quickly slithered around its master and barreled down on him, its vast, all-consuming maw wide as its hot throat blocked out the very sun, its putrid breath the only thing he could feel. He swallowed a mortified gulp of air.

And then everything went black.

(-~-)

See you in the comments! Chapter comes out on Friday the 19th of April! *Cries*

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skvaderarts · 19 days

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Petrichor Chapter 69: Unpunctual

Chapter 69: Unpunctual

Note: A shorter one this week, but I still hope you enjoy!

(-~-)

The rain had forced their hand, causing them to remain at the station for about an hour before it had finally let up.

Pouring in an angry, writhing torrent, the maelstrom had battered the train station for what seemed like ages before it had paused, at least initially. People had rushed from the station, attempting to reach waiting vehicles or to make mad dashes to their hotel rooms and homes only to be tangled in the second wave of the storm that arrived not ten minutes later. A sight that the twins found humorous, even if a person or two did slip on the way to their destination. But a bit of freezing rain had never hurt anyone. Right?

Making their way down the street through the puddles and past the racing waters that coursed the storm drains at the curbside, the two of them initially walked along in silence with only the sound of dripping water and boots making contact with the pavement between them. Dante didn’t need to ask if Vergil’s thoughts were preoccupied. He wasn’t stupid. Well, he knew some people who might argue otherwise, but still. He wasn’t oblivious to his older brother’s silent reflection on the situation and the underlying sense of anxiety that radiated off of him even if he didn’t visually give it away in almost any way. It was subtle just as it had been before, but its intensity hadn’t died down at all, either. The devil hunter in the red coat wondered if Vergil would even be able to speak if they finally located her.

No, not if. When. They had to find her. They would find her.

“So what will you say to her when you see her again?” Dante opted to break the silence. It was probably a good idea to distract Vergil from the task at hand, even if only for a moment. Letting him dwell on the past was rarely ever a very good idea.

Vergil didn’t initially respond, lingering on the question in silence as they continued forward. That was a hard question to answer. They both knew that. In fact, that had been the reason that Dante had asked in the first place. It would force Vergil to think about something else for the time being because the younger of the two knew that he hadn’t come up with a script or a stilted response of any sort. That just wasn’t how he worked. As a general rule, he didn’t say things that he didn’t mean. And Dante was willing to bet that that aspect of his personality certainly applied in this case. He wasn’t going to half-ass a response to the woman whom he’d shared such an important part of his life with. He’d decided to have a child with her, for crying out loud. She was important to him. Or at least she had been at one time.

Dante looked over at him as they continued to walk. No. She was still important to him. He couldn’t hide that even if he tried. That hadn’t changed in all these years. Perhaps some of the struggle born of this situation was having to face the reality that she might not feel that way about him anymore. It was a realistic expectation. There was no reality where she had forgotten about him, but she most certainly hadn’t sat around all these years and pined wistfully over him like a lovestruck child. At least he hoped.

Maybe Vergil was just afraid that the love she’d once had for him had turned to hate, something that Dante knew his older twin felt he deserved for his actions, intended or not. And facing that was going to be difficult. Exceedingly so.

“I’ve been asking myself that since we left the office.” Vergil finally said, breaking the lingering silence. He didn’t elaborate any further, proving that Dante’s assumption was correct. Vergil was just going to go in and tell her the truth. He wasn’t working off of a plan of any sort here.

Opting to probe just a little harder at the risk of sparking ire between the two of them under such circumstances, Dante continued, working under the assumption that Vergil was more or less beyond the stage in their relationship where he would attempt to murder him on the spot for digging at a sore spot. Vergil had claimed to be trying a new approach, after all. “And did that get you anywhere or are you still…?”

Looking at him in an almost curious maner, Vergil shook his head before turning his attention forward again. From what he could tell, they were almost at the desired location. “Hmmm. It would appear it did not.”

“Yeah, I figured that,” Dante said with a slight huff. This was going to be one awkward conversation; perhaps the most awkward he’d ever seen. The idea of seeing Vergil attempt to walk to a woman he liked this much would be entertaining if not slightly cringeworthy under any other circumstances, but this? No, this was going to be rough, to say the least. I think I get it, though. In theory, anyway.”

Vergil gave him a skeptical look, silently indicating that he was in the right jurisdiction but perhaps not the right precinct in regards to being 100% sure what his younger twin meant by that. Vergil could make some guesses, though. Or at least he normally could. He was preoccupied. And Dante noticed this, opting not to let him wonder and to elaborate instead.

“You probably won’t admit it, but you care what she thinks about you. And you don’t want to know how much her opinion has changed since you’ve been gone.” Dante made the executive decision to not dance around the topic any longer and to just dive head-first into it instead. Maybe it was better to just rip the bandaid off now and get it over with. “That’s what I’m thinking, anyway.”

“Since I vanished into thin air and seemingly abandoned her when she needed me most, you mean,” Vergil said, his tone noticeably more morose than it had been a moment ago. He wasn’t going to say yes, but he wasn’t going to disagree, either. Both of them knew that was essentially the same as direct confirmation as far as their personal standards were concerned, anyway.

“Yeah. Something like that.” Dante almost wanted to laugh at how bad that sounded, but he didn’t want to seem like he wasn’t taking his brother seriously. He absolutely was. This entire situation sucked and they both knew it. But there was no running from it. That wasn’t what they did. And it never had been unless there was literally no other choice. And even then sometimes they stood their ground like the fools that they were, refusing to back down and retreat. Surrender just didn’t run in their blood. “I think this is it. Pretty sure this is the right street.”

“Mhmm.” Vergil nodded a single time in agreement as they stepped around the corner onto a quiet street. His brow furrowed slightly as they scanned the addresses, taking in the block in front of them. It was a street shaded by old, established trees. It was tidy, shady, and peaceful with rows of duplexes lining either side of the street and parking spaces on either side of each unit with small fences dividing the individual properties. Shaded porches and landscaped yards were a staple of the area. All in all, an unassuming, quiet little neighborhood.

But as they searched for the address, the two of them noticed something that neither of them had expected to find. A moving van. And it was at the address that they’d been looking for.

“Well… That’s not good.” Dante said, somewhat stating the obvious but not really thinking about it at the time. Vergil heard him but didn’t acknowledge him, instead heading over towards his previous destination just that little bit quicker. Dante followed closely behind, unsure as to what his older twin was about to do, but certain that he didn’t want to lag behind. Oh no. This wasn’t good…

… This was a problem. Had they just caught her in the process of moving out, or were these new people moving in?

Were they too late?

(-~-)

Ah yes, this cliffhanger is pure evil. I apologize. But you will find out soon enough! I’ll see you in the comment section and next Friday on 4/12/2024! Take care and I’ll see you all soon! Bye bye!

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skvaderarts · 23 days

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I missed the boops...

Will they ever come back? I was on Tumblr on my phone and not the browser and I was so confused but now it's too late...

#boop #april fools 2024

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skvaderarts · 26 days

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Petrichor Chapter 68: Homesick

Chapter 68: Homesick

Note: Gosh, I feel terrible today. Sorry if this has more errors than usual as a result. My brain isn’t working. I’m finishing this up right before uploading it because I want to give you guys something this week and I was already half done, but gosh, I feel like crap. My bad. Let me know if this needs a second edit.

(-~-)

Meanwhile in Fortuna…

Dinner, like always, had been utterly delectable.

The topic of potentially moving to the mainland eventually came up, much to the confusion of the children and the bewilderment of Nico. She wasn’t against the idea. In fact, she was all for it! Sure, she loved the little place that she’d come to call home, but change had never been something that scared her, especially positive change. And leaving everything behind to start over somewhere new without their past to hold them back couldn’t be anything but positive. She was just shocked that Kyrie had been the one to suggest it. She just seemed to be rooted in this place. Perhaps that was why she wanted to start over someplace else. Nico knew nothing of Kyrie’s past, but it seemed painful.

Opting to retire to the front stoop after utterly decimating a minimum of two plates of food, Nero was surprised to open the door and find that the space was already occupied. Sitting on the stairs looking out over the rest of the street was Nico, seemingly just hanging out. Apparently, he was going to have company for a few minutes because he could use the fresh air.

“Man, you were on that phone earlier forever,” Nero said teasingly as he closed the door behind himself. Her phone call with Rock had lasted quite a while. He hadn’t clued into the details, but he was pretty sure she’d been filling him in on everything that had happened since she’d left. Perhaps it was better to mail him a self-written book because he was going to need it. The poor man probably had so many questions.

“Oh, shut your trap. No, I wasn't!” Nico said as she folded her arms, kicking her legs up on the banister. After a moment she let out a long sigh, throwing her head back and resting it on the railing. “I was, wasn't I. Damn.”

Nero sat down next to her on the opposite side of the stairs. They weren’t that wide, but there was enough room for them not to touch. “Yep. Sure were. We were there for an hour, give or take.”

Nico looked surprised but didn’t dismiss or disagree with the statement. Somehow that sounded about right. She’d had a lot to say during that conversation, and it seemed like it probably would have taken about that long to get everything off her chest now that she thought about it. And the million questions he’d had for her sure hadn’t made that time any shorter.

It was kind of funny to think about, really. She wasn’t the kind of person who had long, drawn-out conversations, especially over the phone. She’d just had a lot to talk about this time around, presumably. Or maybe there was a little more to it than she’d care to admit. Maybe…

“I guess… maybe I just miss him. Miss the shop and everything, ya know?” Nico said, not really sure if she was talking to Nero or herself. Maybe both. Just putting it out there made it feel more real, though. Made her feel more certain about it. Yeah, that was probably what it was. She just hadn’t thought about it until then.

Nero thought about it for a moment and nodded a single time in understanding. He wasn’t going to admit it, but that was kinda how he’d felt when Dante had left that Day in Fortuna after everything that had happened. For a second there he’d felt like less of an outcast. But as the days and weeks had gone by, he’d almost wanted to go looking for the man in the red coat. He heard from him again not too long after, but for a while there something had just felt… different. And it had come back with a vengeance during the six weeks after the Redgrave City Incident when Dante had been in the Underworld with Vergil.

It was much less a case of homesickness and more a general longing to see Dante again as a whole, even if the older devil hunter did drive him crazy at times, but the sense of displacement was similar. Both Nico and Nero knew what it felt like to be separated from a core person in their life, even if it was under vastly different circumstances.

“You know… It's okay to cry about it.” Nero said in as serious a tone as he could muster considering how hard he was trying not to laugh. He half expected to get strangled for throwing that particular joke back at her at a time like this, but he couldn’t help himself. It was just too tempting. And he’d been almost correct, although the vehicle of her revenge had been a simple punch to the shoulder as opposed to a full-on strangeling.

“Oh, don't you start-” Nico said as the vestiges of a small laugh escaped her lips. Okay, that had been a good one, but to hell if she was going to let him know that. Instead, she let out a sigh and shifted sitting positions, putting her feet back down on the stairs. It was easier to strangle him from this angle if she needed to.

Silence fell over them for around two minutes, the two of them just enjoying the silence. Nero had been surprised that she hadn’t been smoking when he’d opened the door, something he’d noticed she seemed to be doing progressively less these days. Was she trying to quit? He wouldn’t ask, but he did wonder. And while he was at it, there was something else on his mind. Something that maybe he should ask her about.

“Do ya think you'll ever go home? Go back to how things were before all this happened?”

Nico turned around to face him, seemingly taken aback by the question, but not in a way that indicated that she was genuinely angry. Maybe more shocked that he’d had the nerve to ask than anything else, but not mad. It was a fair question. He was probably just wondering when the grocery bill was going to go back down.

“The hell do you mean “go home”? I am home, jackass!” She said with a genuine laugh, playfully shoving him towards his side of the banister. Fortuna had been the last place she ever could have imagined making a friend, but it had happened nonetheless. And as things stood, she had no such plans. She’d make Nero disappear before she did. “Rock is still family, don’t get me wrong. We're both Goldstone's and all that and he taught me practically everything I know, but… I've got a good thing here. I'm not gonna just leave.”

The shift in her tone of voice to something a bit more serious and sincere at the very end of her statement didn’t go unnoticed. Good. She better not get any ideas. But she wasn’t done giving him a peace of her mind and he knew it, so he just put his hands up in defeat and opted not to interrupt her. He’d interject once she was done if need be.

“I came here to make sure that my deadbeat daddy was actually dead and gone. Quick in and out trip, ya know? But it didn't work out that way. And for once I'm glad things didn’t go the way I was hoping it would.” She said as she looked back at the front door of the house. She was glad that she’d shadowed one of the boys back to Nero’s garage door. She was glad that she’d met him; met Kyrie and the other two kids. She was glad that they’d welcomed her into their home. No one had done that since her mother had died and Rock had decided to take her in as his own. It was a rare sort who looked at someone they didn’t even know, especially someone related to one of their enemies, and decided to just throw caution to the wind and try their luck. And she’d been lucky enough to meet two of them in one day. “Besides, you and I both know all your crap would break the second I leave and you wouldn't be able to fix it so you're stuck with me! You, me, and V. We might as well be Devil May Cry 2.0!”

Nero chuckled at the statement. She was half right. Red Queen probably would have ended up getting fixed eventually, but she’d certainly sped things along to an unbelievable degree. And she’d played a big part in getting the van up and running. And she’d created the Devil Breakers in such short order. In fact, as handy as he was, he was just going to have to admit defeat and let her have this one. Yeah, all his crap probably would break if she wasn’t around to do maintenance on it. And then he’d have to go back to the days when he had no one to tinker with or talk shop with. And that would suck.

Hell, they were probably the only two people in town who even liked guns, let alone who knew how they worked. Whatever one-in-a-million chance that had ended up bringing them together in the first place would probably never happen again with him and anyone else. He wasn’t going to squander that. They were a match made in hell, but in a good way. And that was rare as far as both of their lives went.

“What about Lady and Trish? They a part of Dante’s team, or are they their own thing since they only show up as backup and he's got Vergil now? Wouldn't they be the original 2.0 team?” Nero inquired humorously. “Team 1.5 at the least, right?”

Nico seemed to linger on this for a second before realizing that he might be onto something and that she didn’t really have a comeback to that assertion. Shoot. She hadn’t thought about that.

“Shit. Okay so maybe, but they don't have a sign so I'm calling dibs. Dante isn't gonna fight me. He likes that hat I made him.” She said with a confidence that Nero could only laugh at. She was right, though. Dante didn’t even know how to talk to Nico half the time, let alone stand up to her if he needed to. He just couldn’t overcome her unique brand of charisma. None of them really could.

That was kinda why he liked her, to be honest. She didn’t let anyone walk over her. They probably would have been great friends growing up. Just two little troublemakers running around town driving all the fanatical religious folks absolutely hatstand. And it would have been a great time, too. Maybe V could have just tagged along behind them as the obligatory quiet kid in the friend group. Maybe he would have joined in. Nero had no idea how his personality had been when he was a kid. He just knew that they all would have probably been fast friends. And now that he thought about it, he was kinda sad that he and V hadn’t ended up in the same orphanage. That was the true tragedy.

Nero could’ve protected him from so much bullshit. He would’ve been happy to.

“You’re probably right,” Nero said with a hearty chuckle, punching his thoughts aside for the time being. He couldn’t change the past, even if there were parts of it he certainly would have liked to edit. People that would still be here if he’d had a say in it. Or more of a say in it, at least. Like Kyrie’s entire family…

“Speaking of V, you heard from him since he left town?” Nico interjected, fully interrupting his thoughts. It was probably for the best, to be honest. He didn’t need to go back down that rabbit hole of miserable memories. “I… kinda miss him if I’m bein’ honest.”

“You getting all sentimental all of a sudden?” Nero said, a heavy layer of sarcasm lingering on his words. Truth be told, no, he didn’t have the slightest idea where he was located. He’d heard something about him leaving town before he’d actually left, but Nero had long since forgotten the details even if he was pretty sure he probably shouldn’t have.

“Heck no! I'm no such thing. But I do kinda miss when he was here at the house, ya know? He's… a good listener. I could dump all my problems on him.” She said with a shrug. He’d sat with her in the garage one day as she’d given him all the gory details about exactly where and when Vergil had stolen Nero’s arm despite already having most of them himself. But he hadn’t bothered to point that fact out. He’d just been enjoying her company, and she’d been enjoying having him around, even if he’d looked like he was going to keel over from exhaustion the entire time since he’d just come back from the dead quite recently. Those two weeks he’d been at the house recovering before shit had hit the fan on their little family vacation had been… fun.

Nero considered making a joke for a moment before deciding against it. She was right about that. His older brother was an excellent listener. And to be honest, he'd missed him ever since he'd moved out. Nico was right. He just hadn't really thought about it until then.

“Yeah… You're right about that.” Nero said with a sigh. V was nothing if not a good listener. And he remembered everything. Every little silly story the kids had told him. Every insignificant date. Every minuscule, unimportant detail. It was one of his best and worst qualities. Great for everyone else, but certainly awful for himself. “Got some problems to dump on him?”

“Yeah, you.” She said with a small snicker, earning her an eye roll from her companion. He’d walked right into that one. They both knew it.

“Now that you mention it, I think I miss him, too. Maybe I'll see if I can call him tomorrow before we leave. No idea where he is or how I’d do that, but it's worth a shot. Maybe someone knows where he is.” Nero said as he stood up, ready to go help round out the little ones so that he and Kyrie could have some semblance of peace for the rest of the evening. It hadn’t been a busy day, but he was still ready to relax.

“Try Magnolia. I bet she has Sirrus’s number, and he definitely knows where V is. Fella follows him around like a shadow. I don't think he can help himself.” Nico snickered to herself knowingly. Sirrus couldn’t hide the way he looked at V if he tried. Hell, he might already be doing that. And if he was, he was utterly failing, but in a good, very entertaining way. The poor man was utterly smitten, and who could blame him? There was a lot to like about V. Too bad the target of his infatuation was either completely unaware, or brushing him off, and she was 100% certain it was the former and not the latter. V wasn’t that passive-aggressive.

Now that was a statement that Nero wasn’t going to disagree with. But he liked that about Sirrus in a weird way. At least he knew that V was safe when none of the rest of them were around. He could take care of himself for the most part, but in a pinch, it was good to have someone as uncharacteristically loyal as Sirrus at your side. He was unyielding and uncompromising, and utterly merciless towards people who pissed him off. And those people just so happened to be the same people that they didn’t like, either. “You know what, that might not be a half-bad idea. I'm going to bed. You coming inside?”

Nico shook her head. She wasn’t ready to head in just night. She was going to take it all in just a little while longer. It was nice out. The dead of winter was rapidly approaching. She wouldn’t be able to hang out outside without a jacket like this for much longer. “Nah, I'm going to hang out for a while. Need to think.”

“Sure thing. See you tomorrow, then.” Nero said with a friendly nod before turning away. She waved at him over her shoulder as he headed back inside, the door closing quietly behind him followed by the sound of several sets of footsteps and the laughter of multiple children. And then a characteristically loud thud. Yup. The kids had just tackled him. Again.

She shook her head and leaned back to get another look at the night sky. Why would she ever go anywhere else?

(-~-)

Aw. This was unexpectedly wholesome. I like Nero and Nico. It was about time we checked in on them! As always, I hope you liked the chapter! See you in the comments and take care! I’m going to go eat dinner and turn in for the night. I’m beat! See you on 4/5/2024! Bye bye!

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skvaderarts · 28 days

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🥺 This line work is incredible! I love it!

In the meantime, while I work on some other stuff, have this little study sketch dump of V back from december/january. Just as a lil' bonus treat~ (All of these are direct redraws of game screenshots and such)

#v #devil may cry v #dmcv #devil may cry 5 #dmc #devil may cry #dmc5

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skvaderarts · 1 month

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Saudade Chapter Twelve: Nostalgic Nascency

I'm posting this for this week (3/22/2024) because I had the flu and didn't finish writing the latest chapter of Hiraeth! Thanks! Enjoy!

Chapter Twelve: Nostalgic Nascency

Note: Hey, everyone! I feel better now! Thank you for the well wishes! Thankfully we caught it relatively early so it didn't end up becoming too horrendous. Wow, I can't remember the last time I got the flu. It just never stops, does it lol? But anyway, I'm feeling better now. I figured I'd give you guys this fun little chapter while I finish the three bigger chapters I'm working on for Petrichor. Didn't get much done while I was asleep for like four days!

(-~-)

The office had been quiet for the majority of the day, Dante having vacated it rather early that morning to go and do something that had come up at the very last minute. It had apparently involved the girls if the note that he'd left for his older twin on the desk was anything to go by. He'd given no further details, but considering that he'd left at the crack of dawn, the older of the two couldn't do anything other than assume that it must be important and that he would probably get a briefing about it when he returned if it was worth talking about.

Planting himself in the front entrance just in case the phone actually decided to ring for once, he settled in with a book and spent the majority of his morning there after eating whatever he'd managed to find in the fridge. It seemed he was going to have to cook dinner again. He couldn't say that that bothered him, but it was something he made a mental note of. Cooking wasn't something that he minded, but he did mind when it was sprung upon him at the last possible moment. Like this.

As he was approaching the midpoint in his book, he heard a familiar sound. Morrison's car had just pulled up in front of the office, and he didn't need to guess as to its potential occupants. Moments later, the devil hunter in the red trench coat entered the premises, surprisingly alone. And the sound of the car backing out of the parking space out front told him that they would remain that way. Interesting. Perhaps he'd returned to town alone? And that raised an intriguing question in of itself as far as he was concerned. Did Dante even know how to drive? He'd never actually seen him do so. Was that just another one of those peculiar things he didn't know how to do at his age? Not that he could say much. He didn't either. But he wasn't going to volunteer that fact.

Making his way over to the desk, he plopped his coat down on top of it, returning his sword to the wall behind it. He then let out a long sigh and made a beeline for the couch, something that Vergil considered commenting on verbally but didn't get the chance to before he'd reached his destination. And the look on his face made it rather hard to tell if this was about to be good or bad news.

“Hey, so while we were out I gotcha somethin’,” Dante said with a slight huff. He didn't seem out of breath, but he did seem slightly… anxious. That was uncharacteristic of him.

Vergil stared at him as though he'd just spoken to him in a dialect that he'd never heard of before. Had he taken ill while he was gone? He couldn't recall Dante ever doing that and vice versa. The only thing he could recall was him snagging things that he'd been given as a child, but never the other way around.

“Are you daft?” It was a genuine question, one born of a mixture of disbelief and intrigue. That was the last thing he'd expected to hear that day.

“Nah, just saw this and thought “hmm, my terminally grumpy older brother might be into it” so I grabbed it. But if you’re not interested I could-.” Dante didn't get to finish his statement before Vergil interjected, something that he seemed to find vaguely humorous if the gradual shift in his expression was anything to go off of. Ah. So he had the Darkslayer’s attention, did he? Good.

Looking at him with an air of suspicion, the older of the two bookmarked his page and set the book aside, folding his arms as he gave his younger brother his full attention. “What is it?”

“A surprise,” Dante said, almost too pleased with himself. He couldn't skip the opportunity to mess with his brother at least a little, now could he? Where was the fun in that?

Sighing slightly as he set up from the partially reclined position he'd been sitting in, Vergil gave him a curious look. This day had certainly taken an unexpected turn, hadn’t it? “Have I ever been known to enjoy surprises, Dante?”

“Nope! But have I ever done things the way you’d prefer me to?�� Dante said with a laugh, folding his arms around his chest as he gripped the box in his offhand. It was small, mostly flat and rectangular. The kind of box that you couldn't fit most things in, so it had probably been specifically made for whatever was inside of it. That roused suspicion in of itself.

“Fair.” Vergil sighed. How… transparent of him. For better or for worse, that was a brutally honest response. It was rare that they both agreed to do something on mutual terms, but they had been managing to do that more than not lately. Still, he genuinely wasn't someone who was fond of surprises, and he knew that his brother knew this. What was this about? “How can I know if I want it if I have no idea what it is?”

“By opening it, obviously,” Dante then thrust the box into his grip before pulling his hands away and holding them up in a defensive stance as if to signal surrender. The box was within the care of the blue devil now. What he did with it was his decision. But he wasn't going to take no for an answer in regards to at least giving it to him. “The girls thought I'd lost my mind when they saw that I grabbed this. After all, it's not really my kind of thing, but they had no idea it was yours.”

“Quite. As I do now.” Vergil thought to himself as he looked down at the box. This was… interesting. Was he wrong to think that he could almost smell what was in the box? He only barely resisted the urge to shake it like a small child out of reflex, but decided against it. At least for now. Knowing his luck he would destroy whatever was contained within if he did so.

“No occasion. Just our birthday.” Dante said almost too nonchalantly considering the gravity of the statement he’d just made. “No big deal.”

Vergil’s head whipped upward towards his younger twin with mind-boggling speed and away from the box that he held within his grip, a look of profound, visible shock apparent to anyone who could see his face. He knew he hadn't misheard him, but that just didn't seem possible. And yet…

“That's today.” It wasn't a question. It was a statement. A statement of confusion. He'd spent so long not paying that much mind to the date that he'd honestly forgotten what month it was, let alone the passage of time. And yet he knew in his gut that it was correct. It was something he always knew. Except this time for whatever reason. Perhaps being back in the human world for so long had skewed his perception of time? Perhaps the fact that it mattered for once had caused it to slip his mind like all important things seemed to. But that also raised an important question. “How old are we, exactly?”

Dante shrugged, incredulous. His reaction came off as partially sarcastic but also mostly genuinely unsure. The truth of the matter was that he actually hadn't given it much thought. His focus had been simply on seeing what his older brother's reaction would be to what was inside of the box for the majority of the day, and that hadn't changed in the slightest since he’d arrived home.

“Hell if I know. I stopped counting years ago. Just felt kinda… hollow. And it was always a reminder.”

Vergil didn't have to ask what it was a reminder of. That much was rather obvious given the circumstances. Their shared birthday was a difficult topic for various, multi-faceted reasons, none of which he liked to think about. But he would still accept the gift. If only to humor Dante. He had no reason not to. Besides, The barely concealed pained look upon his younger twin's visage was evidence enough that he probably shouldn't probe into the depths of something he already had taken a dip into previously.

Without another word, Vergil opted to simply open the box. It was one of those little cardboard boxes that gave the appearance of already being wrapped. A smart choice considering that his brother was… incapable of neatly wrapping anything with paper. Try as he might, he always seemed to either get the paper cut wrong, cut it too short, or wrap it crooked. He was good at eyeballing many things, but wrapping paper was not one of them. Best to leave it to the professionals.

More to his surprise than he’d perhaps initially expected, Vergil instantly recognized the item within the box.

It was an extra-large chocolate bar. And a fancy chocolate bar at that.

Blinking in evident surprise, he looked at the piece of candy and then back at Dante… and then back at the piece of candy. He hadn't so much as seen one of these in at least two decades. He couldn't even recall what they remotely tasted like, but he did faintly recall that he'd had a great fondness for them when they'd been children. They'd even fought over it once on their birthday due to his younger twin's preference for strawberries as opposed to his own. Neither of them hated the other's personal preferences on this matter, but their preferences were preferences for a reason. He couldn't believe that he'd actually just given him this.

Perhaps brought to a state of discomfort by his lack of response and the lingering silence that fell over the room, Dante cleared his throat slightly. “I, um figured you probably hadn't had one of these in a long time so… “

He wasn't sure what else to say about it. That had been why he'd purchased it aside from remembering that he'd snagged one of his as a kid and never given it back. Call it payback for being a greedy little git all those years ago. Not that he was going to bring that up. No need to remind him. He'd been pretty pissed about it back then.

To his surprise, Vergil actually sat the box down and started to unwrap the candy bar. It was one of those fancy ones wrapped in gold foil and encased in a cardboard sleeve you had to remove it from before unwrapping it. The label read “milk chocolate” in a cursive font so complex that it was almost illegible. That was how you knew it was the good stuff.

As it turned out, it was partitioned into squares and didn't contain any fillings or toppings. It was just a pure, no frills except for the fancy design stamped into it, high-quality chocolate bar. And upon snapping off a piece and popping it into his mouth, he discovered as much. Sitting there in utter silence, he closed his eyes for a moment and felt a wave of nostalgia he hadn't expected to wash over him hit him like a tidal wave. He was suddenly flooded with a menagerie of fond memories from his youth that he had forgotten he’d once had. The last time he could recall eating chocolate had been with Vivienne. It had truly been that long. A lifetime ago.

Yes. That was right. He’d loved this stuff once upon a time.

And apparently, he still did. This candy bar wasn't surviving the rest of the day. It probably wasn't surviving the next few minutes. And he felt no shame about it, either. This was simply a reality he was going to accept. He was going to eat the entire thing in one sitting, spend the rest of the day feeling just so slightly off as a result, and then he was going to procure more. Dante had opened the floodgates. There was no going back. Now that he'd re-experienced one of life's simple pleasures, he felt no desire to backpedal.

Dante continued to stare at him, perhaps concerned that he'd simply closed his eyes and stopped moving. Was he having an allergic reaction? Was that even possible? Just as the silence was beginning to become unbearable, Vergil opened his eyes and looked up at him. And he genuinely seemed pleased, even if only in a subtle way that was barely noticeable to most people. But he could tell. He just could. He liked it.

“... Thank you, Dante.” He said simply, looking down at the candy bar again in utter bewilderment. He genuinely had forgotten just how much he loved this stuff. It was strange how much his time in the underworld had taken from him. Strange, startling, and disheartening. “I suppose I should return the favor.”

Dante immediately waved his hands to dismiss the notion. “No, you really don't. I’m not really into gifts. I mean, I don't even know how you would-.”

For the second time since their conversation had started, Vergil cut Dante short, this time with a halting brandish of the palm of his hand. He wasn't hearing any arguments about this. He had something in mind.

“... What if I made you a pizza?”

Dante looked as though he would need to be defibrillated shortly. He just stared at him in pure and utter disbelief, a look of genuine excitement crossing his face. There was no way in hell he was going to pass that up. Vergil's cooking was actually really good, even if he kept trying to force him to eat vegetables that weren't tomatoes. He had high standards (no shocker there) and made basically everything from scratch. This was going to be nothing short of artisanal. “Okay. Never mind. Yeah. That sounds good. Forget what I just said.”

Vergil considered pointing out that he was going to make dinner regardless but decided against it. He would allow him his simple happiness. Just this once. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen him look forward to something. Perhaps he understood his love of his favorite food just a slight bit more now. Maybe. “Very well. Consider it done. But first, I'm going to enjoy this.”

At that exact moment, the phone rang, diverting Dante's attention to the front desk. They exchanged a silent but knowing look, both of them unwilling to vocalize their mutual pleasure at the arrangement they’d just made and the gifts they would exchange that day, but both knowing it either way. They… appreciated one another. Even if they had absolutely no idea how to say it most of the time. But they were trying. They really were. And as the younger of the two returned to the desk to answer the phone, Vergil broke off another piece of the chocolate bar and ate it, satisfaction washing over him for a second time.

He was glad Dante had done this for him. He truly was.

It seemed there really was a first time for everything. Even enjoying surprises.

(-~-)

Not so fun fact: I'm pretty damn sure that Dante killed Vergil on their birthday. I'm sure that makes the day extra… yeah. So many layers to how messed up that is. I can't even. They needed a good birthday for once. It was the least I could do!

Also, I want to know your opinion about something in the comments! Do you want me to resume posting chapters of Petrichor now and then take a short hiatus during my surgery, or would you prefer I delay them until then and continue to update Saudade in the meantime? It's supposed to happen at the end of April, but the date isn't set in stone just yet. I'm just curious what you guys think! I don't have a preference one way or the other! I just want to make sure you guys are enjoying the content I'm making for you and figured you might not want to be left in suspense for like a month! Let me know what you think of the chapter in the comments below, and I'll see you on Friday, March 29th! Take care and bye-bye!

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skvaderarts · 1 month

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Caught the Flu so this chapter will be a little late because I'm basically constantly sleeping lol.

So I caught the flu! Who's shocked? Not me. Not at this point lol!

Pretty sure it's the flu because I NEVER catch a cold and haven't had my flu shot yet this year due to other procedures that were going on and it certainly feels like the flu. It's not COVID though so I'll take it because I don't want that ever, especially with my chronic asthma. Probably got it from all the doctor's office visits I had in the last 2 weeks about my surgery. Still waiting on a date for that, but it's looking like the end of next month at the latest so far so there will be some updates between then and now. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know that I'll be updating the next chapter on Friday since I should feel better by then. I tried writing, but I just couldn't this week because I felt like crap smh. I'd post on Wednesday, but I have a doctor's appointment (yes, another one!!) with my Hematologist on the 19th so that would be squeezing hard for time, especially with my cold. So I ABSOLUTELY WILL SEE YOU ON FRIDAY THE 22ND OF MARCH. UGH! This year, man... It's been unbelievably crazy, and we haven't even made it to APRIL yet?! *Cries*

Hopefully, you are all doing well! And if you need anything, I'll still be checking comments here, on Discord, on the Discord server, and my Tumblr account. See you all in a few days! I hope you're all having a good week! Thanks for your patience. If you want to chat, please feel free to reach out wherever you like. You aren't bothering me! Links are in my bio! Bye bye!

#SkvaderArts #SkvaderArts Updates #Update #Update on Me #I'm okay!#I should have my doctors check to see if I'm immunocompromised #because FFS!#See you soon everyone!

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skvaderarts · 1 month

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*Gobles them all up*

New items have been added to the shop!

I've also slightly updated the design and added holographic effect to my SDT charms and they look so cute now ❤️

SHOP LINK

#no preorder this time everything is already in house ready to ship!#also if you click through the link I save on etsy fees ;A;#Im also now making all my sticker sheets myself and Im so excited to make more!!#dmc

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skvaderarts · 2 months

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Welp, I'm back from the doctor, and I have news.

So remember that important doctor's visit I mentioned last week when I said I might have to push a chapter back? Well, I went to it and it turns out I need very major surgery. They are hoping that it will fix the root cause of what's been plaguing me for the last few years, but it's going to require about 6 weeks of bed rest and I don't have a surgery date yet. I'll keep you posted. They are trying to rush me in for a date as soon as possible due to the severity of my condition so I've been to THREE doctor's appointments this week alone and two last week. I've had no time to write, so I'm aiming for next week as long as they don't call me and say I have to hop on the table because right now I'm waiting to hear back from them about the dye contrast MRI I had done yesterday (It's an internal surgery to remove two golf ball sized tumors that are putting pressure on some of my organs that may involve moving some organs around so they had to get better images smh) so that they know what they are working with. It's... scary.

I've never gone through anything like this and I'm very concerned, so hopefully, writing will help distract me if I get the chance. I was NOT expecting this when I got that emergency doctor follow-up phone call after my last visit post anaphylactic incident. I knew it was something, but I wasn't expecting this. I'll share more if any of you are interested since I don't mind, but yeah, I just wanted to let you know. At least the bed rest recovery being as long as it is will clear up my schedule, though I have no idea how I'll be feeling and I'll be in the hospital for several days so I have no idea how soon I'll be recovering after that. So it's a lot, yeah. But at least after fighting with my doctors for like 4 years, it's finally going somewhere. Hopefully somewhere better.

I'll keep you in the loop about dates and such so we know the schedule and have some idea of how long that will impact the near-term schedule, but yeah, it's a lot. I just wanted to update everyone. Thanks. I hope you're having a better week than I am lol! You take care out there. And if you need anything, let me know! I'll... be okay. Yikes, though. Have any of you ever had surgery? How did it go? If you are willing to share, that is. I'm just still in a little shock, I think. I hate pain. This is a lot. But hopefully, it will help. I'm hopeful that it will be worth it.

#SkvaderArts #My Health #Update #Just wanted to keep you updated #Hopefully I can get back to writing soon after this #Not because I have to #But because I want to.#I like writing.#I really do.#And I like interacting with all of you #I hope this makes things better

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skvaderarts · 2 months

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That's why I was there. I was AroAce and didn't know it yet and everyone was nice to me and were also LGBTQ. Also, I liked the music and they just accepted me. My home life was (and still is) a disaster. Even after moving to 4 different states and over a dozen schools growing up, I was ALWAYS welcome in the Alt community. And especially as a member of a minority group who got additional hatred for that and my gender combined (especially when I moved to an area that was predominantly that group of people, crazy enough) I could go sit down at the table with the "weird" kids and they were always just like "oh. Hi new kid. Wanna listen to some music." And that was powerful for me. I even took up music production and became a band kid because it helped spark my love for music. Not to mention that love for music led me to specific videogames and writing and helped me break into anime. So basically everything I love.

Thanks Alt kids. And the Alt community. You're awesome.

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skvaderarts · 2 months

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Saudade Chapter Eleven: Stormy Stay

I'm just now realizing that I probably didn't post every chapter of this series to Tumblr (and with everything going on I sure as hell probably shouldn't aside from a link) but this is a stand-alone series. It ties into the larger Soliloquy Saga, but the chapters of this book are all individual shorts. So you don't need to read the others to know what's going on. Reading up to at least chapter 45 of Petrichor would give you a tiny bit of probably unnecessary context, though. But otherwise, you're fine. You can still read it either way.

Chapter Eleven: Stormy Stay

Note: Wow. It’s been a LONG TIME since I’ve written a chapter for Saudade. February 18th, 2022 in fact. That feels like a lifetime ago! Enjoy! March is going to be… fun.

(-~-)

Outside the wind whipped with gale force, carving a path through the narrow streets and quiet alleyways like a flood. Wind and water combined to make a spectacle of freezing water and cutting wind that tore through coats and umbrellas alike. Dim lights flickered in every room of every home as the majority of the city stayed within the confines of their cozy little bunkholes, warmer by leagues than they would’ve been should they have ventured outside. Few were that brave. The rattling of their windows and the quaking of their front doors were warning enough.

The rain was cold. Colder than most rain ever got the chance to be. At a mere 34 degrees Fahrenheit, it was quite literally just warm enough to still be raining outside and an overnight drop in temperature that would send the city plummeting into the low twenties guaranteed that it would progress from nearly freezing, to freezing rain, and finally, true snow. Perhaps even thundersnow or some hail. But until that time came to pass, it was storming. And it was storming with a vengeance. As though some primordial god had awoken that day and grown tired of the sight of that entre hamlet, deciding to wipe it and all traces of it from the surface of the planet with a storm of legendary proportions.

Returning to the more sensible confines of the apartment, Sirrus entered the apartment and closed the doors behind himself. It took both hands as he had to force the wind out with the double doors acting as a sort of wind sail, but he succeeded after some measure of effort, letting out a huff from exertion as he locked them and turned back towards his living room. He was going to need a towel.

“Well it’s… not exactly improving, I’ll say that much.” He said as he walked through the living room, heading towards his bedroom. He entered, grabbed a towel that he intended to use to dry himself off, and then slinked out of his clothes, draping the wet clothing over the edge of his bathtub. He would worry about laundry later. This wasn’t going to be the only time today that he got sopping wet.

Returning to the living room with drier skin and warmer clothing, Sirrus turned his attention back to the windows around him and the storm beyond. He sat down in his lounge chair next to the couch, taking the time to enjoy the scent of the candles he’d lit earlier that morning. He was going to need to replace a few of them soon. They’d lasted quite a few lightings as they were handmade and high quality, but some of them were melted down to the very ends and would need to be retired. A pity. He wasn’t sure where to find a few of them. But that was a worry for another time. For now, he was going to relax and enjoy the company of a friend.

V had long since parked himself on the couch in Sirrus’s living room, allowing himself the perfect vantage point with which to enjoy the storm. He understood that many people found storms of this magnitude terrifying, and with good reason, but he had never felt that way about them. Bundled under a plush blanket and having just finished a mug of real, genuine, actual hot chocolate (not the powdered stuff that was always slightly too weak but the kind that required the melting of chocolate into actual milk with other possible flavors such as vanilla and cinnamon mixed in) he knew he was safe and that the storm couldn’t touch him. This was a cast iron building in the rough shape of a triangle. Its shape was practically built to redirect water and not fold under pressure.

He’d spent the last two hours or so merrily dancing through the pages of a book that he’d snagged from Sirrus’s rather impressive collection of classical literature. He had taste. The sheer variety of genres, authors, and cultures represented in his home collection was staggering. Almost as staggering as his desire to sit here and read them all and never get up to do anything else ever again. He had everything from Frankenstein, Les Miserables, and The Tale of Two Cities, to The Yellow Wallpaper, the King in Yellow, and No Longer Human.

A captivating mixture of science fiction, mystery, suspense, and various forms of long and short-form poetry and epics, there was no shortage of things to read. He was positive he’d ever seen The Illiad and Dante’s Inferno mixed in there somewhere along with Paradise Lost. There were plenty of contemporary works and even a few notable manga present. Full collections of some of them, in fact. V had never realized that Sirrus was that avid of a collector. After all, how did he own all of the current volumes of the Berserk Omnibus for hell's sake?! They could be notoriously difficult to track down from what he’d heard. Some of these had probably been hellish to procure. Many of the books in his collection were even first editions!

I suspected as much.” V said almost tiredly, stifling a yawn as he responded to his friend’s statement from a few minutes prior. He hadn’t wanted to yell across the house so he’d decided to wait. That would’ve been in poor taste. One look out those windows was enough to tell him that it was best to stay inside unless he absolutely had to go out there. He didn’t mind being wet, but he didn’t prefer being soaked to the bone and being wet. That was rarely his preference. “Is this normal?”

Sirrus stretched out, allowing the heat from the wood-burning fireplace just a few feet away to warm him back up. He shivered harshly for a moment as the warmth overcame him and he started to warm up. He was privileged to live on the very top floor like he did. His suite was the only one with space for the ventilation required to have a wood-burning metal fireplace like this. After the building had undergone renovations a few decades back, the others had been replaced with gas or electric ones if they hadn’t been scrapped altogether. He was the only one with one of these beautiful cast iron statement pieces. And he would never get tired of that smell.

“Seasonally? Quite. In general? I can scarcely recall the last time it stormed like this.” Sirrus said as he leaned back in the recliner. He remembered the time that V had fallen asleep in it. That was a pleasant memory, much like the quiet time they’d enjoyed today. It had been entirely uneventful, but getting to share a quiet moment together like they were right now was something that he would never say no to. Just touring his library with V earlier that day had been a blast. This was nice. And the day was still young, too.

“I see…” V said as he looked up at the window again, regarding Sirrus pleasantly. He still couldn’t believe that he’d gone out there. V had always enjoyed a good storm, but it was horribly cold out there. “It is beautiful though, isn’t it?”

Falling silent for a minute or so, Sirrus closed his eyes and took in the moment. He’d finally warmed most of the way up. But he was going to have to get up and add some more wood to it sometime soon, so he couldn’t get too comfortable.

“Yes.” He said softly. There was something to a day like this to be savored. He didn’t mind the sun or a clear blue sky, but there was something about the majesty and power of a good rainstorm that captivated him. And he didn’t need to ask V to know that he felt the same. He imagined that slowing down and reading a good book like V had decided to do today would be a nice change of pace. Perhaps he’d grab one when he got up to add wood to the fireplace in a little while.

“What did you end up picking?”

V turned the book so that Sirrus could see the cover, peering over the top of it as he spoke, his gaze still half on the words on the page in front of him. He obviously wanted to make sure that he realized that he was paying attention to him, and talking directly into a book without making eye contact with someone was just awkward to begin with. “The Portrait of Dorian Gray.”

Sirrus went quiet, but not in a relaxed way, something that V seemed to sense as he lowered the book and gazed over at Sirrus, noting the perplexing look on his face. It appeared to be a mixture of nostalgia and heartache in equal measure, almost as though he’d just stabbed him in the chest out of nowhere. That had not been the answer he’d expected, but he wasn’t angry. He was… wounded?

“Ah… That one. How ironic.” He let out a chuckle that indicated a slight tinge of disbelief. Nearly a thousand books in his collection and he’d picked that one. A breathless look crossed his face as he looked out towards the balcony again before lowering his gaze. He needed a moment, to be sure. It was undeniable. “A solid pick, to be sure. I’m curious to see what you think of it.��

Closing the book and placing a bookmark that he’d borrowed from a small bowl of them that Sirrus kept on his bookshelf (yes, really) he closed the book, still grasping it but more curious as to what had just happened than he ever could be about the contents of the book he’d been reading. “There’s a story here. I can feel it.”

Sirrus nodded silently, glancing back over at him. There was a glimmer of something distant in his eyes. A trace of a longing for something long since passed. He almost seemed to regret something that V couldn’t place and it made the young summoner wonder what had happened in his past that had hurt him so deeply.

“I… was close to someone with the same first name once. Although they were born considerably before the release of the book. It was one of their favorites.” He said, a sort of sadness hanging in his voice. He almost sounded like he was describing someone who was no longer alive. Someone he’d lost forever. And although V wasn’t sure that was the case, he still felt for him. “He had the most radiant smile. It was like sunshine parting through storm clouds. And his hair shimmered like gold. And the sound of his laughter…”

Sirrus stopped there, sighing heavily as he shook his head and allowed his chin to rest in his cupped palms, his elbows on his upper legs as he looked out across the sky. He spoke as though his heart ached to think of him. But just as V was going to reach over and ask him if he was alright and tell him that he was free to drop the subject, a small but genuine sad smile crept across his face, an unmistakable wetness to his eyes. He looked back over at V and at the book, clearly deep in thought. “I hope he’s found new love. The kind he truly deserves. The kind he gives.”

Things hadn’t ended well between them. He didn’t get the impression that they had ended in anger, but there had certainly been pain. But he wasn’t going to dig. It wasn’t his place too. But V would wonder. Wonder what had happened between them that brought such pain to the surface of what had been such placid waters. And what made Sirrus long so for things to be better for him? He wondered who this individual was and what had made them mean so much to him, once upon a time. He recognized the emotion he saw upon his friend’s face now. Bittersweet.

“I want to make sarmale.” He said with a sort of sigh, clearly ready to change the subject. This had been a trip down memory lane that he hadn’t expected to take today and while he didn’t hate it, he was ready to get off at the next stop, so to speak. He stood up and stretched, his arms out in front of him as he straightened out his back. He wasn’t stiff, but he did just want to stand up for a moment. Take a deep breath before fully settling back in. “It’s the perfect weather for it.”

V’s ears perked up as if he’d just heard something he’d never heard before in his entire life. He was quite obviously intrigued, to say the least, but for reasons that were uncertain to Sirrus. Had he accidentally just suggested that he make V’s favorite dish or something? “Make what?”

Sirrus folded his arms around himself, quietly thankful that his windows weren’t nearly as drafty as they could’ve been when the age of the building was taken into consideration. There was still a slight draft, to be sure, but he’d gone through the lengthy expense some time ago to have the windows painstakingly replaced with double-glazed ones that matched the originals almost perfectly. The historic state of the building had to be preserved by both his own personal standards, and those of the city council. This much glass in a building of this age was stunning visually, but the building had been erected quite a while before that technology had been in vogue.

“Sarmale. They’re cabbage rolls. Quite simple to make, at that. You just-”

“You’ve said enough. Yes. Why are we still in your living room and not in your kitchen making them?” V said, completely straight-faced. He couldn’t fathom why they were talking about how delicious they were and not making them so that they could devour them whole like barbarians. Food like that on a day like this was the sort of thing that made him crawl out of the grave in the morning. He wanted this. Now. And he was willing to put in the work.

Sirrus blinked blankly before chuckling, an amused smirk crossing his face as he scoffed softly. I wicked almost knowingly wolfish grin spread across his handsome vassage. “Well because… that would require a trip to the grocery store. I’m out of everything but the spices.”

V quirked an eyebrow, weighing his options for all of about half a second before setting the book he’d been reading down on the end table next to him, shrugging out of the blanket he’d been under, and standing up to go get his coat. It wasn’t waterproof by a long shot, but there was no way in the nine circles of hell that he was going out there in that with just a sweater on. No umbrella was that strong… But no storm was going to keep him from eating a delicious regional delicacy, either.

As he returned from the guest room with his coat he was only half surprised to find Sirrus by the door waiting for him already, coat already zipped tight and ready to go. Sometimes he genuinely forgot that Sirrus could move that quickly. The young summoner shook his head as he slipped into his coat. It was going to be cold as hell outside. Hopefully, the stores were still open in this weather. He wanted to be back in front of that fireplace as soon as possible. Especially since Sirrus had understandably tuned it off while he was getting his coat.

How had he done all of that so quickly…

V could only dream of that level of coordination when it came to mundane things. In combat? Sure, sometimes. But he would’ve tripped over the rug or something if he’d tried moving through this apartment at that kind of speed. It seemed that Sirrus had him beat in that department. How funny, indeed. But enough of that. It was time to go. They had places to be. And places to return to.

“Let’s just hope this trip to the grocery store goes better than the last one…”

Sirrus blanked for a second before a look of horror crossed his face. “By the gods, yes. Let’s hope so…”

(-~-)

This was a fun little change of pace for a moment before things get real in the main book. And I mean REAL. Phew. I’m not ready. But I hope you liked this chapter! I’ll see you in the comments and next Friday on the 8th of March. Take care out there. The weather been very stupid where you live, too? I hope not. Bye-bye and see you soon! Thanks for reading!

#Soliloquy Saga #V #Vitale #Sirrus #DMC #DMC V #DMC 5 #Devil May Cry #Devil May Cry AU #Post DMC5 #Post DMCV #Post Devil May Cry 5 #Post Devil May Cry V #Post Devil May Cry 5 AU #Post Devil May Cry V AU #Post DMC5 AU #Post DMCV AU #AU #OC

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