antimetabole: (94)
Vergil ([personal profile] antimetabole) wrote in [personal profile] pullit 2025-06-13 01:30 am (UTC)

[At this point, Vergil is well accustomed to the disruptions to his reading when he isn't alone with it. With Dante, it's incessant chatter about whatever comes to mind which Vergil has gotten quite good at tuning out. Well. He tunes most of it out. Dante still has the tendency to occasionally say something that sparks his temper or otherwise hooks him into a conversation whether he likes it or not. And if it's not that, then it's Dante's need to constantly keep moving that eventually pulls Vergil from his book to deal with his little brother elbowing him in the side or nearly clocking Vergil in the jaw with a knee or foot every couple of minutes. Mizu has a tendency to read with Vergil albeit she favors nonfiction, typically reading something that contributes to her research on London. So, occasionally, she shares something she's read or asks him a question to clarify the veracity of whatever claim has been made by the author. Most of the time, a brief response is all she needs. It's rare that she goes looking for conversation, and she tends to be just as still as Vergil. Nero, oddly enough, tends to occupy a middle ground between Dante and Mizu on both fronts when he hangs about while Vergil reads. If he chooses to make conversation with Vergil, he tends to either keep it brief or something that will be of interest to him. He can't keep nearly as still as Mizu, but it's blatantly obvious to Vergil that Nero tries his very best to tamp down his urge to fidget lest Vergil nudges him back into his own space.]

[Thus, Vergil never held any expectation that Nero would stay perfectly still nor perfectly quiet with his own book. At some point, he was bound to speak or move, or both. Vergil hardly minds, glancing up briefly from his own reading.]


Tantalized means to have tempted someone with something they really want, but without giving it to them. It's typically an impossible desire they're being tempted with, but not always. It's derived from Tantalus in Greek mythology, if you're familiar.

[Which he says as a way for Nero to remember the meaning of the word easier, not to condescend or make him feel stupid for not being able to guess at the word's meaning. Honestly, if Nero doesn't know the myth, that's a mark of failure on the part of schooling in Fortuna either for only teaching the myths surrounding Sparda or being unable to actively engage Nero in learning. Regardless, it's not a reflection of his son as far as Vergil is concerned.]

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