V's days, day after gluttonous day, do not revolve around anyone but himself. However, he's made a habit of keeping an eye on Vergil, even making conversation no matter how awkward or stilted. Something remains easier, even as it's harder, with the 'complete' version of himself. The siren song of curiosity calls his name, yet what information he learns hardly satisfies him. There's no familiar to bond with and gain memories from, only conversation between two people alike in dignity. It's enough to make Vergil's absence from anywhere he usually is notable. V spends a couple days at Catfe without spotting him. The little Russian Blue starts mewing at him with firm demands pets and plain scrambled eggs do not satisfy.
"Me too," V sighs at her. He doesn't truly have the Lore to spare on treating Vergil's favorite cat, nor the one who has adopted him, but he spends it. Trapping the waitress in conversation about what treats the cats like probably paid for it. Yet the time has come to an end, yet another late afternoon early evening without sight of the man. He better not have vanished—not on Nero and Dante. V doesn't need him.
So he approaches one of the busybody spirits he's overheard gossiping about everyone's business but their own and asks where the Russian Blue's favorite lives. He gets directions to a house in the right neighborhood. It brings a small pep to his step that Vergil is well known enough that someone can direct him. It implies good things, however aloof the man may act. Thankfully, it's not that far, so V doesn't need a break on the way. Nor does he accept Griffon's offer of help. Last thing he needs Vergil to see is him getting carried about.
The house is a normal looking house with enough room for multiple bedrooms and an attached garage. He's not sure why the garage, given he doesn't know of almost anyone here with much in the way of personal transportation. Nero had a van, but surely the van hasn't come with him to Folkmore when so little follows them. Questions, but staring at the house from some ways away does not answer them. The trouble is that Vergil lives with Nero and Dante, and V has no way to know who will come answer the door. Each situation is vastly different. V could take another day or so to prepare, but even he's aware of how foolish that is. He may have more days, but they are not for wasting.
So he walks up to the front door, leans against his cane, and knocks. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. Who will it be?
Nero is doing his best to remain calm and positive, but after several days of caring for both his father and his uncle on their sickbeds, the violent urges are starting to pile up. They're both frustrating in different ways, and everybody's starting to get stir-crazy, even Kyrie, and yeah it sucks that they're not feeling good, and for fuck's sake why does Nero care so much what two stupid old men do when they're sick? Except he's well aware if he leaves them to their own devices he's gonna end up dragging one or both of them home after they're found facedown on the pavement miles and miles away, and just-
It's been trying! That's all!
Fresh off making lunch, Nero is about to make an excuse to abandon the house for a while when someone knocks at the door. Excellent. An excuse. He's not sure who to expect when he goes to answer it, but he's definitely not expecting the impossible, rail-thin familiar form that greets him on the other side.
Nero is visibly struck surprised. He pauses a moment, glances back into the house, then spends a few more seconds fumbling for what he should say or do.
He settles on something simple, a nice and neutral: "Oh. Hey, V."
The roll of the die lands on Nero. Perhaps the most uncertain of them all, not because of how things were last V saw Nero but because of what he's learned since. Logic said Nero had to be Vergil's or Dante's. He knew that from the start. The obvious answer was Dante, and that answer was wrong. Vergil's claimed the role of Nero's father, as is his right. V... what can he do? If either of them will protect or rescue the other, it's Nero, not him. Nero has his father, his uncle... what could he need of V?
Whatever has happened with Vergil, Nero already knows more than V, so while it would be business for V to stick to that inquiry and nothing else, it would only burden Nero and not take him into account. Whatever has happened to Vergil has to wait.
That's when he notices Nero's arm, namely that it is made of flesh and blood. V blinks and glances at it a couple of times. However, it is likely in poor form to ask about the regrowing of a limb one is partially responsible, depending how one views it, is responsible for someone losing. The truth of the matter is that its presence, when Nero recognizes him and has forgiven Vergil for ripping it off, is that its return must owe itself to some demonic ability. Nero must be more powerful than he was last V saw him.
"Nero," V inclines his head. "Is this a bad time?"
If it is, he can quickly ask after Vergil and go. It would be so much simpler, but V cannot help noticing he hopes the answer is no, it's a fine time. Nero has time for him and chooses to give it.
He'd known V was present here in Folkmore. Vergil, correctly, let him know pretty quickly. It's just that knowing he's here and being face-to-face with him are two different prospects. And Nero was kind of hoping he'd process the whole weirdass situation and know where he stood on it before having to face V in person.
So much for that. Now here he stands, the man who Nero now knows is some kind of supernatural piece of his father-- who is currently inside whining profusely.
Nero didn't know V very well. They were... not friends, surely, but partners in a shared aim. Brothers in arms. And Nero cared about him in that respect. He'd rescued the man, honored his dying wish, struggled to bear him that last stretch into the Qliphoth, and listened to him spill his guts about a deep, secret longing. The revelation about his identity had obviously rocked Nero's world, but not so much that he didn't ask after V's safety in the moments after he'd vanished.
V is Vergil, his father. But he also isn't. But even then, Nero sees no reason to turn him away, or treat him like some stranger. That's all he needs to get started untangling this twisted knot, at least.
"No, it's not a bad time," he says honestly. Manners suggest he invite V in, but it's probably not a good idea when there's illness in the house. Or when Nero's about to commit a homicide. "Both of the old farts are sick, and I'm sick of arguing with them about it, that's all. You, um... you need something?"
No amount of 'he is a person, you're a person, talk like people' helps V. It would require he know how people talk like people. Memories of being a child, Vergil's long lonely life after their mother died, his month of existence in Red Grave City, none of it tells him how to behave. More than that, Nero isn't simply a person, a stranger, like the ones he's slowly started to speak with around Folkmore to maintain enough Lore to eat. Conversation it yet will be because it's not a bad time. Conversation—
V's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the shocking information Nero drops. "Vergil and Dante are sick?"
He confirms it quickly with a question, though no one else could meet Nero's lightly crass description. What could get a son of Sparda sick? Both of them? Nothing he has any knowledge of, and that suggests their host. The show of power to bring two sons of Sparda to their knees impresses him. It's a sign how dangerous she is. If not her, then someone else as well. Multiple powerful persons on that scale are not what they need. Best confirm it's her.
"Nothing more pressing than their well being," V says. His lips flatten. This illness is not a problem of his making, but if he can fix it— If nothing else, V owes Nero a favor. He wouldn't be alive without his help. "If I may be of assistance, please let me know."
No matter what V wants of Nero, it's a bad time to impose upon him. He's clearly taking care of a lot. "If they can be left to convalesce, perhaps you could use a distraction."
"They're fine," Nero says flatly, immediately at V's concern. "Just dizzy and weak and coughing. I guess half-demons don't get sick very often, which explains all the goddamn bellyaching about it..."
V offers his assistance, and Nero is sorely tempted to ask if he's got a gag or two handy.
"They're about to be left on the side of the road somewhere if I don't get out of this house." To further make the point, Nero steps outside and closes the door behind him. "What kind of distraction?"
V is not sick the way Nero describes, but he's weak. Everything takes so much effort, and he gets exhausted easily. If he were anywhere else, he'd be dead. V manages the much improved as unwell as ever. Fully human weaknesses. Vergil remembers those times. He may have closer experience to it than Dante, but it must infuriate him to feel such weakness as the whole, the half-demon both demon and human. To think, V may be able to do more now than him.
Nero steps forward, and V takes a half-step back to give him more space. It's well and good except that Nero asks what distraction he means. The question implied V came for Nero and had ideas in mind, a sound choice if only he'd made it. Instead he wracks his mind for a distraction, one that Nero might like and would not exhaust V. Something active, if only to give them more to do than stare at each other uncomfortably. He knows so little of Folkmore.
"I've heard tell of an arcade in Epiphany but not gone," V suggests. His only other ideas involve eating food. That has too much of simply sitting with each other, with no distraction save to take a bite of food in a bid for time. He shrugs. He doesn't need anything of Nero besides Nero. They could row a boat on a lake for all he cares. There's more conversations they need to have, he suspects, than one day can handle. That day may not even be today.
An arcade? That doesn't sound like V's kind of scene... and then Nero realizes he's suggesting it for his benefit, because he thinks it might be something Nero would like. (He's also correct.)
What a very familiar maneuver that is.
For a moment he looks at V, a little bemused, as though trying to read something in his face. What he's thinking, maybe. Whether or not he knows who Nero is-- though the fact Vergil's spoken to him means that the information probably came up. What he might think about that. Just when the moment starts to draw out uncomfortably long, he smiles and turns back into the house.
"Gimme a sec. I'll grab my stuff."
He emerges a few minutes later, pulling on his jacket and more certain than ever that the Sparda family all needs a couple hours' break from each other. For safety reasons.
"Let's go for a walk and see where we end up," he offers. "I need the fresh air and. Well. Guess we probably ought to catch up, huh?"
The silence gets filled, in V's mind, with Griffon's unhelpful chatter. Fortunately, V's gotten good at making no outward reaction to the bird's histrionics. Internally, unfortunately, is another matter and one Griffon gets a sense of, if not those around him. It's distracting, however, from how much dead air stands between V's suggestion and Nero's response, so that his anxiety has not entirely spiked when the boy speaks.
On the one hand, Nero implicitly agrees to spend time with V. On the other hand, it says nothing about the specific offer. V's not especially tied to the idea of an arcade, so it's overall a win. Nero talking with him and continuing to talk with him after what conversations they need to have is the real victory. Not that V would have softballed any challenges in the arcade to let Nero win in order to curry favor. No, any victory would be earned fairly. The same as it feels this win is.
V reads a little poetry while Nero gets his things and closes the book, tucking it away, as the door opens. Since all he sees different is the jacket, V supposes Nero likely checked on his patients and made sure they were ready to brave the world for a short span on their own without anyone caring for them. Knowing the Sparda twins, they would manage no matter what, but as Nero plays babysitter and nursemaid, perhaps not to his satisfaction.
He nods and starts walking... no direction in particular. As much as this part of Epiphany is his most explored, V has no destination in mind. Perhaps not Catfe, as he's already spent hours there today, but that's hardly direction. "There was a great deal we did not have time to speak of while making our way through the qliphoth tree," V comments, "It would do us both good to talk."
Vergil's summary of the rest of that day did not cover Nero's arm regrowing, perhaps not important a topic, but more to the point, there's how V treated Nero. It's not the relationship he wants with Nero now. "If there's any topic you most want to discuss, we can talk about it first."
Nero seems perfectly content to just follow along aimlessly wherever V goes. More of a walk than any kind of destination in mind. He has the distinct sense of deja-vu though, from the day he arrived in Folkmore and found himself wandering aimlessly after Vergil.
Vergil and V. It seems... rude somehow to conflate the two, but how can he not?
"You're looking a lot better. That's good," he remarks. "Though. Hard to look worse than you did last time I saw you, huh?"
Well, that's a hell of an icebreaker. But Nero's good at those.
"So is this... weird for you? With Vergil and all?"
The compliment from Nero earns a quirk of the brow. V looks no better or worse than he did when he arrived, which is to say than he did the moment he came from. So he clearly got worse before he succeeded in his mission—not a surprise by any means, simply an unpleasant reality. With Nero (and presumably Dante, though to a lesser degree), it shifts from a matter of logic to lived truth. It makes him appreciate being here—alive and "well"—and simultaneously irritated with Thirteen given that must be the effect she's going for.
He's not irritated with Nero over it. The remark probably means little, other than something to say. Perhaps along a similar line of 'you have twice as many arms as last time I saw you.' V will pass on saying as much.
"It's... unexpected," V says, "I never considered the possibility of meeting Vergil. His existence would mean both I succeeded and I no longer existed. Yet he was one of the people I met my first day in this place."
So there was no time to consider the odds of Vergil coming to or being in Folkmore. All the other vast amounts of information flooded at him was enough. He should have thought that far in advance. Except, Vergil isn't a threat, nor his presence a risk to V's well being. Not on Vergil's account.
V's response catches him a little off guard, and he has to think about it for a moment. Is it possible, maybe, that V doesn't remember all of what happened? That seems like something the stupid fox would do.
"What's the last thing you remember?" he asks, going off the hunch. At least it should prevent him from saying anything else really stupid, or... dropping any truthbombs he doesn't mean to, come to think of it.
Smart kid. V wonders how much of the time between what V remembers and what Nero remembers the boy will share. The question is likely to calibrate himself, but that information can get put to multiple uses. V doesn't expect to learn or know everything about the future, that infinity between him and Vergil that can only be hours. Yet some of it is surely relevant to know, of his interest and right. Vergil knows it all. Vergil remembers it all, but he said nothing of V's memories from that day.
"Vergil told me what he thought I needed to know," V answers that question first. "After I merged with Urizen, he and Dante left you to finish destroying the qliphoth roots in the demon realm."
That summarizes it really. A single sentence without notably more detail. His lips curl up. "I know that must leave a great deal out, even of what I cannot remember. I'd just caught Malphas's attention and thought it likely my mission would fail."
Someone saved him. It's the only explanation for how he'd make it farther. V considers Nero again. Process of elimination would suggest it was him. Dante forged ahead without waiting for them, and everyone else remained in the van. Yet it's too large a thing to assume based purely on that logic, when so much happened that chaotic day.
Vergil told him what he thought he needed to know... well, that narrows it the fuck down. So anything between "everything in excruciating detail" and "absolutely nothing."
V is then at least good enough to be more specific. So he was told about the twins fucking off and leaving Nero behind. Doesn't really clarify some of the more important bits...
"Malphas..." Nero murmurs. "That ugly bird freak? With the chicks on the back?" He remembers, of course. Just didn't catch her... its... their name? "I strung her up like a rotisserie and stuck a fork in her."
His tone gets a little more solemn. "Then you were... dying. Crumbling to bits. You asked me to take you to Urizen, so I did. Then the whole... pillar of light and Vergil bit, yeah."
His heart flops over in his chest, rather like a dying chicken, when Nero confirms that he killed Malphas, that he saved V. The one means the other given the situation he came from. He feels like a small child of eight again surrounded by demons and desperate, not for power, but to be saved. For someone to step in and stop the demons from killing him. Only the yamato answered his call, and with it, his power. He had to save himself, no matter how much it hurt. His chest aches with longing, that strange dissonance between knowing he'll be saved and not yet having been saved. Could the fox not have come for him moments later?
No, it seems. As difficult a time as V has now, dying and crumbling to bits is not a sustainable state to be in. Despite the burn in his chest, he inclines his head in recognition of what Nero says. Words take longer.
His legs carry him down the river of emotion that threatens to sweep him away. Nero was the key. Even if Dante was strong enough to defeat Urizen that day without Nero's help, V wouldn't have succeeded without Nero. Vergil wouldn't exist without him. They both owe him their lives. He had no idea how right that feeling was to go to Fortuna that night Dante lost to Urizen.
"Thank you," V says seriously. "You did more than I ever hoped."
Nero blinks. Turns slightly pink. Clearly has no idea what to do with the sudden and sincere expression of gratitude. Not that V had never expressed gratitude to him before, but it was more in the way of "I owe you one" or other cryptic, distant statements. It's a bit startling to hear this from... not from Vergil, but from someone with enough of Vergil in him to make Nero realize how bizarre open gratitude is.
"Um... sure. You're welcome." He reaches up to itch his nose, a nervous tic. "It wasn't a big deal. We were all on the same team."
V watches the way ahead of them to give Nero and himself some privacy from that bare emotion. He needed more time before he spoke, perhaps a matter of hours. No matter that he has those hours now, it always feels like he doesn't, like whatever he's doing may well be his last. Instead of dying of shame, he has to live with it. It sounds like it was too much.
It was a big deal, but V isn't going to reinforce that. It's no larger or smaller for shying away from it in conversation. Nor does he feel any less... everything about it. It matters to him.
"We were," V confirms. Save the world. Fix his mistake. Whichever lens best suited the person in question, the outcome was the same. Whatever else he did, whatever lies he told, V was always honest that he wanted to stop Urizen's reckless pursuit of power and that he needed help to do so.
Nero never pictured himself as manipulated or tricked during the Red Grave incident. He didn't need any convincing or prodding for a shot at avenging himself on Urizen-- even if the decision to abscond from his hospital room put him in the doghouse with Kyrie for the next month. He was, of course, absolutely in the dark when it came to the true meaning of events and the true nature of the enemy they faced. But that was as much Dante's doing as it was V's. He even sort of understands why Dante lied by omission, at this point.
It's less clear to him why V kept things so close to the chest, apart from the sheer unbelievable audacity of his story. Would Nero or Dante have even believed him if he did tell the truth? It probably wouldn't have changed any of Nero's actions or choices. And now, he certainly can't deny that, short of the entire mess being prevented from the beginning, things ended about as well as they could have under the circumstances. They all lived. Vergil lived. And V... Well. He's alive now, anyway.
"What else did Vergil tell you?" he asks, nearing what he thinks might be the real crux of the matter. "About me?"
Nero gives a practical answer, and whatever complicated feelings lie behind it, V can only take him at his word. It's disrespectful to do otherwise. He will not assume where that leaves them. Being on the same side is the bare minimum for remaining civil with each other. It says nothing to what their relationship might be here where there is not a common enemy that urgently must be fought. Whatever Thirteen is, even should V be able to defeat her, that might only spell his death and the end of Vergil's life with Nero.
It's not time yet for V to ask questions. He offered to answer questions for Nero, and the next question is entirely reasonable. If V hadn't spoken with Vergil yet or if Vergil said nothing of the matter, Nero would be in the position to reveal the truth to V—the alternative being to wait for Thirteen to do so. It's too shocking a revelation to be left alone.
"When we first met, I knew you had to be a Sparda," V says. "I assumed at the time you were Dante's. After speaking with Vergil, I know I was wrong."
He words it carefully, neither claiming nor rejecting Nero as his. He's had days—days!—to think about it, and it still confounds him. Oh, not how it happened. He understands when that happened, but what it means for him and Nero? It elevates the uncertainty between them to a whole new level.
V looks over at Nero. "Foolish though it may be, it was more confounding to learn than anything about this place."
Man... was it really that obvious to everyone else?
Like, okay. Nero had also known, in some respect, that he was probably related to the Sparda line. White hair? Superpowers? It's not like there are all that many other demon hybrids running around. But he supposed it never occurred to him how very few there were.
For a long time he, too, wondered if Dante might be his father. He was old enough, and they looked similarly, and had so much in common... but Nero also assumed that Dante would have told him so, were that the case. (In hindsight he wonders why he assumed that, given Dante acts like being straightforward with Nero will actually kill him more often than not. Not unjustifiably, Nero suspects, but still...) But it still surprises him to hear that V-- a shade of his own father-- assumed that as well.
(This whole V business is fucking weird, make no mistake, but it does provide some deeper insight into Vergil... a fact Nero suspects Vergil probably hates.)
V's words leave him a little caught off guard. He frowns, raising an eyebrow. "Confounding how? What do you mean?"
What people may glean about Vergil from their interactions with V is Vergil's problem, something the man no doubt realized as soon as he lay eyes on V. V will do, did, whatever his duty by Vergil. He is the reason Vergil exists. It's difficult enough without trying to cover Vergil's ass. Nor would it likely work. He's not one to take up a lost cause.
He is not sure how much thought Nero has given him or more accurately them, their relationship. If the boy has a clear idea of what he wants or does not, it would be simpler no matter what that answer is. V could set aside any thoughts of his own as to what it could be and accept what it is. Until then, the ground is unsteady at best and threatens to crumble.
"Oh, I know whence you come," V says, "I did not have all my memories when we first met, but they've stitched themselves together with time. It simply complicates what we might mean to each other—
"A question I don't expect an answer to today or by any certain date. You have more than enough on your hands right now."
He motions behind them toward the house and its patients they left behind. It's an issue Vergil is no help on. Vergil made clear he's Nero's father, and V is glad for him, for them both. In the long run, when they leave this place, it is no issue, but for as much of a life as V has, it's an answer he'll have to find. He doesn't even know what it would be, should Nero leave it entirely in his hands.
Nero opens his mouth to retort, but finds he doesn't know what to say. Obviously the situation with Vergil and V is quite unique. He's uncertain what the both of them actually think or feel about any of this or what they may have spoken of when they met up. He's also not sure what he would even begin to call V if pressed for a label now. A friend? An ally? A family member? But what family member, then? A brother? Maybe even a... stepfather?
He feels a sudden pang at that thought. Pictures Vergil's face crumbling to hear it spoken aloud. Is it possible to cheat on your dad with a weird supernatural remnant of himself?
But at the same time, is that fair to V? He'd described him to Kyrie as "everything good in Vergil." It feels quite cruel to deny that, to deny the sprouting feelings and realizations that would, theoretically, blossom into the way Vergil feels about Nero now. And even without any fucky-wucky time bullshit factored in, it feels wrong to treat V as a castoff, as a lesser person. Even if he literally is.
God. He went from having zero parents to having a father and a half and not knowing how the fuck to handle that. Ain't that just the way?
After a moment of silence, awkward fretting, glancing at V here and again, he finally lets out a quiet sigh.
"Well. Okay. What might I mean to you, then?" He folds his arms, looking a little self-conscious. "I'm not... sure how we should deal with this."
A clear no, Nero has not thought about it. That's fine. It's hardly a situation most people ever find themselves in, and as Folkmore has made abundantly clear, there is no shortage of issues on which to spend his time. It's one reason V's hesitated to call on the house and to speak with Nero or Dante. Whatever they thought of him before, they must think something differently of him now. An issue that seemed the past, only a part of Vergil's story, until the day V arrived. So they've had no more time to ponder it than him.
The question gets turned back on V, both eminently reasonable and imminently uncomfortable. Entirely unavoidable as well. It's only natural that Nero's opinion of what he wants would be influenced by what V wants. The question that stares him down in the mirror (when other people are not busy appearing in said mirror) in many iterations: what does he want? what does it mean?
"I must first preface that whatever relationship we might develop does nothing to undermine, demean, or lessen your relationship with Vergil in any regard," V says, "He is your father, and I am given to understand he has worked hard to make amends, gain your trust, and take on that mantle."
No one has implied V would do so, but his presence alone impacts their lives. The ties between him and Vergil cannot be cut, only acknowledged.
"Handling Urizen, I lacked the time to consider what you or Dante might mean to me. You would mean nothing if I failed, and it all seemed like it could wait until then—despite the fact that means until the point I no longer existed as myself," V says. It's so hard to speak of the matter itself, but he cannot speak around it entirely. "Even should you ever decide I mean nothing more than a stranger to you, you will always mean something to me. Something more than the means to stop Urizen and correct my mistake."
The word hangs in his mind.
"Family, I expect. The shape that might take remains more nebulous. Father, uncle, brother, they rise and fall as questions. As something we might be. The only clear thing about it is that whatever we are will take time and effort." His heart races, as though he's running and fighting with all his might. It's only one foot in front of the other, and that feels challenging at the moment. V leans on his cane at the immensity of what he's said.
"A title without what comes behind it is meaningless."
He knows how difficult this must be for him. Just because V is the human parts of Vergil doesn't mean that he's particularly adept at being honest, or forthcoming, or feeling feelings... cuz Vergil fucking sucks at those too. Nero does try to make the same approach work, listening quietly, giving him the time to get out what he wants to say.
He at once does and does not need the acknowledgement that whatever V is to him, it doesn't take away from Vergil. In fact, he finds himself deeply, deeply relieved to hear it. These are anxieties he didn't even realize he was feeling, but giving them a name has made them suddenly far more intense and looming in their dread. The last thing he wants is for some kind of spat to form between the two. Wouldn't that affect something, logically? Would V becoming angry or upset with Nero translate over to Vergil's feelings, too? He's barely found his father (and his shadow), the last thing he needs is to alienate him (or his shadow.)
Nero waits until V seems to be done speaking. Mercifully, he doesn't leave him hanging to sit there and wonder if what he said was being accepted or rejected.
"Yeah." Okay, it isn't the most in-depth response, but he does at least elaborate a bit. "You're right. I don't... know what we are, but I know we're not nothing."
He glances over at V. "You're not nothing. We'll... see what happens, I guess."
V feels as pathetic as he looks in the short time between ending his words, his long stream of words that he barely controlled, and Nero's response. He may as well have eviscerated himself and offered his organs to Nero, how raw it feels. How quickly that could turn to rejection and crumble to dust.
One word, and his feeling feel foolish. Childish even. Nero has never treated him cruelly and helped him where Dante focused on the mission, on Urizen, on (in his mind) Vergil. Nero is not the person to reject V out of hand. If he were, they would not be on this walk or having this conversation. A simple exchange about being busy caring for Vergil and Dante would have been enough. V would have respected that answer and left. Instead, it's this uncertain unsteady footing.
"That may be the most apt description of me I've heard," V remarks dryly. Not nothing, no matter what Vergil thought in the moment he discarded V. He's the human weakness left behind and more. That weakness is more than weakness. Without his need for others, his experience asking for help, he could not have reached out to Nero as he had. As he is.
"We have the time," V says. They're walking nowhere so far as he knows. It's farther from the parts of Epiphany he's become familiar with. They walk, and V has no further idea what they might do together—eat? fight? Nero rejected the idea of the arcade (just as well, V cares little for the location on a personal level, more at ease in a bookstore or library). "I'm in a guest cabin near Elder Mother Station. Until I find more permanent housing."
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While Vergil is sick
"Me too," V sighs at her. He doesn't truly have the Lore to spare on treating Vergil's favorite cat, nor the one who has adopted him, but he spends it. Trapping the waitress in conversation about what treats the cats like probably paid for it. Yet the time has come to an end, yet another late afternoon early evening without sight of the man. He better not have vanished—not on Nero and Dante. V doesn't need him.
So he approaches one of the busybody spirits he's overheard gossiping about everyone's business but their own and asks where the Russian Blue's favorite lives. He gets directions to a house in the right neighborhood. It brings a small pep to his step that Vergil is well known enough that someone can direct him. It implies good things, however aloof the man may act. Thankfully, it's not that far, so V doesn't need a break on the way. Nor does he accept Griffon's offer of help. Last thing he needs Vergil to see is him getting carried about.
The house is a normal looking house with enough room for multiple bedrooms and an attached garage. He's not sure why the garage, given he doesn't know of almost anyone here with much in the way of personal transportation. Nero had a van, but surely the van hasn't come with him to Folkmore when so little follows them. Questions, but staring at the house from some ways away does not answer them. The trouble is that Vergil lives with Nero and Dante, and V has no way to know who will come answer the door. Each situation is vastly different. V could take another day or so to prepare, but even he's aware of how foolish that is. He may have more days, but they are not for wasting.
So he walks up to the front door, leans against his cane, and knocks. Eenie, meenie, miney, moe. Who will it be?
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Nero is doing his best to remain calm and positive, but after several days of caring for both his father and his uncle on their sickbeds, the violent urges are starting to pile up. They're both frustrating in different ways, and everybody's starting to get stir-crazy, even Kyrie, and yeah it sucks that they're not feeling good, and for fuck's sake why does Nero care so much what two stupid old men do when they're sick? Except he's well aware if he leaves them to their own devices he's gonna end up dragging one or both of them home after they're found facedown on the pavement miles and miles away, and just-
It's been trying! That's all!
Fresh off making lunch, Nero is about to make an excuse to abandon the house for a while when someone knocks at the door. Excellent. An excuse. He's not sure who to expect when he goes to answer it, but he's definitely not expecting the impossible, rail-thin familiar form that greets him on the other side.
Nero is visibly struck surprised. He pauses a moment, glances back into the house, then spends a few more seconds fumbling for what he should say or do.
He settles on something simple, a nice and neutral: "Oh. Hey, V."
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Whatever has happened with Vergil, Nero already knows more than V, so while it would be business for V to stick to that inquiry and nothing else, it would only burden Nero and not take him into account. Whatever has happened to Vergil has to wait.
That's when he notices Nero's arm, namely that it is made of flesh and blood. V blinks and glances at it a couple of times. However, it is likely in poor form to ask about the regrowing of a limb one is partially responsible, depending how one views it, is responsible for someone losing. The truth of the matter is that its presence, when Nero recognizes him and has forgiven Vergil for ripping it off, is that its return must owe itself to some demonic ability. Nero must be more powerful than he was last V saw him.
"Nero," V inclines his head. "Is this a bad time?"
If it is, he can quickly ask after Vergil and go. It would be so much simpler, but V cannot help noticing he hopes the answer is no, it's a fine time. Nero has time for him and chooses to give it.
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So much for that. Now here he stands, the man who Nero now knows is some kind of supernatural piece of his father-- who is currently inside whining profusely.
Nero didn't know V very well. They were... not friends, surely, but partners in a shared aim. Brothers in arms. And Nero cared about him in that respect. He'd rescued the man, honored his dying wish, struggled to bear him that last stretch into the Qliphoth, and listened to him spill his guts about a deep, secret longing. The revelation about his identity had obviously rocked Nero's world, but not so much that he didn't ask after V's safety in the moments after he'd vanished.
V is Vergil, his father. But he also isn't. But even then, Nero sees no reason to turn him away, or treat him like some stranger. That's all he needs to get started untangling this twisted knot, at least.
"No, it's not a bad time," he says honestly. Manners suggest he invite V in, but it's probably not a good idea when there's illness in the house. Or when Nero's about to commit a homicide. "Both of the old farts are sick, and I'm sick of arguing with them about it, that's all. You, um... you need something?"
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V's eyebrows shoot up in surprise at the shocking information Nero drops. "Vergil and Dante are sick?"
He confirms it quickly with a question, though no one else could meet Nero's lightly crass description. What could get a son of Sparda sick? Both of them? Nothing he has any knowledge of, and that suggests their host. The show of power to bring two sons of Sparda to their knees impresses him. It's a sign how dangerous she is. If not her, then someone else as well. Multiple powerful persons on that scale are not what they need. Best confirm it's her.
"Nothing more pressing than their well being," V says. His lips flatten. This illness is not a problem of his making, but if he can fix it— If nothing else, V owes Nero a favor. He wouldn't be alive without his help. "If I may be of assistance, please let me know."
No matter what V wants of Nero, it's a bad time to impose upon him. He's clearly taking care of a lot. "If they can be left to convalesce, perhaps you could use a distraction."
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V offers his assistance, and Nero is sorely tempted to ask if he's got a gag or two handy.
"They're about to be left on the side of the road somewhere if I don't get out of this house." To further make the point, Nero steps outside and closes the door behind him. "What kind of distraction?"
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Nero steps forward, and V takes a half-step back to give him more space. It's well and good except that Nero asks what distraction he means. The question implied V came for Nero and had ideas in mind, a sound choice if only he'd made it. Instead he wracks his mind for a distraction, one that Nero might like and would not exhaust V. Something active, if only to give them more to do than stare at each other uncomfortably. He knows so little of Folkmore.
"I've heard tell of an arcade in Epiphany but not gone," V suggests. His only other ideas involve eating food. That has too much of simply sitting with each other, with no distraction save to take a bite of food in a bid for time. He shrugs. He doesn't need anything of Nero besides Nero. They could row a boat on a lake for all he cares. There's more conversations they need to have, he suspects, than one day can handle. That day may not even be today.
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What a very familiar maneuver that is.
For a moment he looks at V, a little bemused, as though trying to read something in his face. What he's thinking, maybe. Whether or not he knows who Nero is-- though the fact Vergil's spoken to him means that the information probably came up. What he might think about that. Just when the moment starts to draw out uncomfortably long, he smiles and turns back into the house.
"Gimme a sec. I'll grab my stuff."
He emerges a few minutes later, pulling on his jacket and more certain than ever that the Sparda family all needs a couple hours' break from each other. For safety reasons.
"Let's go for a walk and see where we end up," he offers. "I need the fresh air and. Well. Guess we probably ought to catch up, huh?"
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On the one hand, Nero implicitly agrees to spend time with V. On the other hand, it says nothing about the specific offer. V's not especially tied to the idea of an arcade, so it's overall a win. Nero talking with him and continuing to talk with him after what conversations they need to have is the real victory. Not that V would have softballed any challenges in the arcade to let Nero win in order to curry favor. No, any victory would be earned fairly. The same as it feels this win is.
V reads a little poetry while Nero gets his things and closes the book, tucking it away, as the door opens. Since all he sees different is the jacket, V supposes Nero likely checked on his patients and made sure they were ready to brave the world for a short span on their own without anyone caring for them. Knowing the Sparda twins, they would manage no matter what, but as Nero plays babysitter and nursemaid, perhaps not to his satisfaction.
He nods and starts walking... no direction in particular. As much as this part of Epiphany is his most explored, V has no destination in mind. Perhaps not Catfe, as he's already spent hours there today, but that's hardly direction. "There was a great deal we did not have time to speak of while making our way through the qliphoth tree," V comments, "It would do us both good to talk."
Vergil's summary of the rest of that day did not cover Nero's arm regrowing, perhaps not important a topic, but more to the point, there's how V treated Nero. It's not the relationship he wants with Nero now. "If there's any topic you most want to discuss, we can talk about it first."
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Vergil and V. It seems... rude somehow to conflate the two, but how can he not?
"You're looking a lot better. That's good," he remarks. "Though. Hard to look worse than you did last time I saw you, huh?"
Well, that's a hell of an icebreaker. But Nero's good at those.
"So is this... weird for you? With Vergil and all?"
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He's not irritated with Nero over it. The remark probably means little, other than something to say. Perhaps along a similar line of 'you have twice as many arms as last time I saw you.' V will pass on saying as much.
"It's... unexpected," V says, "I never considered the possibility of meeting Vergil. His existence would mean both I succeeded and I no longer existed. Yet he was one of the people I met my first day in this place."
So there was no time to consider the odds of Vergil coming to or being in Folkmore. All the other vast amounts of information flooded at him was enough. He should have thought that far in advance. Except, Vergil isn't a threat, nor his presence a risk to V's well being. Not on Vergil's account.
"We're managing."
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"What's the last thing you remember?" he asks, going off the hunch. At least it should prevent him from saying anything else really stupid, or... dropping any truthbombs he doesn't mean to, come to think of it.
"Did Vergil catch you up on everything?"
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"Vergil told me what he thought I needed to know," V answers that question first. "After I merged with Urizen, he and Dante left you to finish destroying the qliphoth roots in the demon realm."
That summarizes it really. A single sentence without notably more detail. His lips curl up. "I know that must leave a great deal out, even of what I cannot remember. I'd just caught Malphas's attention and thought it likely my mission would fail."
Someone saved him. It's the only explanation for how he'd make it farther. V considers Nero again. Process of elimination would suggest it was him. Dante forged ahead without waiting for them, and everyone else remained in the van. Yet it's too large a thing to assume based purely on that logic, when so much happened that chaotic day.
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V is then at least good enough to be more specific. So he was told about the twins fucking off and leaving Nero behind. Doesn't really clarify some of the more important bits...
"Malphas..." Nero murmurs. "That ugly bird freak? With the chicks on the back?" He remembers, of course. Just didn't catch her... its... their name? "I strung her up like a rotisserie and stuck a fork in her."
His tone gets a little more solemn. "Then you were... dying. Crumbling to bits. You asked me to take you to Urizen, so I did. Then the whole... pillar of light and Vergil bit, yeah."
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No, it seems. As difficult a time as V has now, dying and crumbling to bits is not a sustainable state to be in. Despite the burn in his chest, he inclines his head in recognition of what Nero says. Words take longer.
His legs carry him down the river of emotion that threatens to sweep him away. Nero was the key. Even if Dante was strong enough to defeat Urizen that day without Nero's help, V wouldn't have succeeded without Nero. Vergil wouldn't exist without him. They both owe him their lives. He had no idea how right that feeling was to go to Fortuna that night Dante lost to Urizen.
"Thank you," V says seriously. "You did more than I ever hoped."
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"Um... sure. You're welcome." He reaches up to itch his nose, a nervous tic. "It wasn't a big deal. We were all on the same team."
He... thinks so, anyway.
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It was a big deal, but V isn't going to reinforce that. It's no larger or smaller for shying away from it in conversation. Nor does he feel any less... everything about it. It matters to him.
"We were," V confirms. Save the world. Fix his mistake. Whichever lens best suited the person in question, the outcome was the same. Whatever else he did, whatever lies he told, V was always honest that he wanted to stop Urizen's reckless pursuit of power and that he needed help to do so.
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Nero never pictured himself as manipulated or tricked during the Red Grave incident. He didn't need any convincing or prodding for a shot at avenging himself on Urizen-- even if the decision to abscond from his hospital room put him in the doghouse with Kyrie for the next month. He was, of course, absolutely in the dark when it came to the true meaning of events and the true nature of the enemy they faced. But that was as much Dante's doing as it was V's. He even sort of understands why Dante lied by omission, at this point.
It's less clear to him why V kept things so close to the chest, apart from the sheer unbelievable audacity of his story. Would Nero or Dante have even believed him if he did tell the truth? It probably wouldn't have changed any of Nero's actions or choices. And now, he certainly can't deny that, short of the entire mess being prevented from the beginning, things ended about as well as they could have under the circumstances. They all lived. Vergil lived. And V... Well. He's alive now, anyway.
"What else did Vergil tell you?" he asks, nearing what he thinks might be the real crux of the matter. "About me?"
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It's not time yet for V to ask questions. He offered to answer questions for Nero, and the next question is entirely reasonable. If V hadn't spoken with Vergil yet or if Vergil said nothing of the matter, Nero would be in the position to reveal the truth to V—the alternative being to wait for Thirteen to do so. It's too shocking a revelation to be left alone.
"When we first met, I knew you had to be a Sparda," V says. "I assumed at the time you were Dante's. After speaking with Vergil, I know I was wrong."
He words it carefully, neither claiming nor rejecting Nero as his. He's had days—days!—to think about it, and it still confounds him. Oh, not how it happened. He understands when that happened, but what it means for him and Nero? It elevates the uncertainty between them to a whole new level.
V looks over at Nero. "Foolish though it may be, it was more confounding to learn than anything about this place."
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Like, okay. Nero had also known, in some respect, that he was probably related to the Sparda line. White hair? Superpowers? It's not like there are all that many other demon hybrids running around. But he supposed it never occurred to him how very few there were.
For a long time he, too, wondered if Dante might be his father. He was old enough, and they looked similarly, and had so much in common... but Nero also assumed that Dante would have told him so, were that the case. (In hindsight he wonders why he assumed that, given Dante acts like being straightforward with Nero will actually kill him more often than not. Not unjustifiably, Nero suspects, but still...) But it still surprises him to hear that V-- a shade of his own father-- assumed that as well.
(This whole V business is fucking weird, make no mistake, but it does provide some deeper insight into Vergil... a fact Nero suspects Vergil probably hates.)
V's words leave him a little caught off guard. He frowns, raising an eyebrow. "Confounding how? What do you mean?"
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He is not sure how much thought Nero has given him or more accurately them, their relationship. If the boy has a clear idea of what he wants or does not, it would be simpler no matter what that answer is. V could set aside any thoughts of his own as to what it could be and accept what it is. Until then, the ground is unsteady at best and threatens to crumble.
"Oh, I know whence you come," V says, "I did not have all my memories when we first met, but they've stitched themselves together with time. It simply complicates what we might mean to each other—
"A question I don't expect an answer to today or by any certain date. You have more than enough on your hands right now."
He motions behind them toward the house and its patients they left behind. It's an issue Vergil is no help on. Vergil made clear he's Nero's father, and V is glad for him, for them both. In the long run, when they leave this place, it is no issue, but for as much of a life as V has, it's an answer he'll have to find. He doesn't even know what it would be, should Nero leave it entirely in his hands.
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He feels a sudden pang at that thought. Pictures Vergil's face crumbling to hear it spoken aloud. Is it possible to cheat on your dad with a weird supernatural remnant of himself?
But at the same time, is that fair to V? He'd described him to Kyrie as "everything good in Vergil." It feels quite cruel to deny that, to deny the sprouting feelings and realizations that would, theoretically, blossom into the way Vergil feels about Nero now. And even without any fucky-wucky time bullshit factored in, it feels wrong to treat V as a castoff, as a lesser person. Even if he literally is.
God. He went from having zero parents to having a father and a half and not knowing how the fuck to handle that. Ain't that just the way?
After a moment of silence, awkward fretting, glancing at V here and again, he finally lets out a quiet sigh.
"Well. Okay. What might I mean to you, then?" He folds his arms, looking a little self-conscious. "I'm not... sure how we should deal with this."
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The question gets turned back on V, both eminently reasonable and imminently uncomfortable. Entirely unavoidable as well. It's only natural that Nero's opinion of what he wants would be influenced by what V wants. The question that stares him down in the mirror (when other people are not busy appearing in said mirror) in many iterations: what does he want? what does it mean?
"I must first preface that whatever relationship we might develop does nothing to undermine, demean, or lessen your relationship with Vergil in any regard," V says, "He is your father, and I am given to understand he has worked hard to make amends, gain your trust, and take on that mantle."
No one has implied V would do so, but his presence alone impacts their lives. The ties between him and Vergil cannot be cut, only acknowledged.
"Handling Urizen, I lacked the time to consider what you or Dante might mean to me. You would mean nothing if I failed, and it all seemed like it could wait until then—despite the fact that means until the point I no longer existed as myself," V says. It's so hard to speak of the matter itself, but he cannot speak around it entirely. "Even should you ever decide I mean nothing more than a stranger to you, you will always mean something to me. Something more than the means to stop Urizen and correct my mistake."
The word hangs in his mind.
"Family, I expect. The shape that might take remains more nebulous. Father, uncle, brother, they rise and fall as questions. As something we might be. The only clear thing about it is that whatever we are will take time and effort." His heart races, as though he's running and fighting with all his might. It's only one foot in front of the other, and that feels challenging at the moment. V leans on his cane at the immensity of what he's said.
"A title without what comes behind it is meaningless."
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He at once does and does not need the acknowledgement that whatever V is to him, it doesn't take away from Vergil. In fact, he finds himself deeply, deeply relieved to hear it. These are anxieties he didn't even realize he was feeling, but giving them a name has made them suddenly far more intense and looming in their dread. The last thing he wants is for some kind of spat to form between the two. Wouldn't that affect something, logically? Would V becoming angry or upset with Nero translate over to Vergil's feelings, too? He's barely found his father (and his shadow), the last thing he needs is to alienate him (or his shadow.)
Nero waits until V seems to be done speaking. Mercifully, he doesn't leave him hanging to sit there and wonder if what he said was being accepted or rejected.
"Yeah." Okay, it isn't the most in-depth response, but he does at least elaborate a bit. "You're right. I don't... know what we are, but I know we're not nothing."
He glances over at V. "You're not nothing. We'll... see what happens, I guess."
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One word, and his feeling feel foolish. Childish even. Nero has never treated him cruelly and helped him where Dante focused on the mission, on Urizen, on (in his mind) Vergil. Nero is not the person to reject V out of hand. If he were, they would not be on this walk or having this conversation. A simple exchange about being busy caring for Vergil and Dante would have been enough. V would have respected that answer and left. Instead, it's this uncertain unsteady footing.
"That may be the most apt description of me I've heard," V remarks dryly. Not nothing, no matter what Vergil thought in the moment he discarded V. He's the human weakness left behind and more. That weakness is more than weakness. Without his need for others, his experience asking for help, he could not have reached out to Nero as he had. As he is.
"We have the time," V says. They're walking nowhere so far as he knows. It's farther from the parts of Epiphany he's become familiar with. They walk, and V has no further idea what they might do together—eat? fight? Nero rejected the idea of the arcade (just as well, V cares little for the location on a personal level, more at ease in a bookstore or library). "I'm in a guest cabin near Elder Mother Station. Until I find more permanent housing."
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