Dante's House, Limbo City, Sunday

[spin_kick_snap]

Last night after finally exiting the tower, they had made their way back to Dante's place in Limbo City. Kathy had been half-tempted to get a portal back to the island, worried about Eliot, wanting to be home, but she'd been too sore and exhausted to do much more than look at her phone before letting it fall back to pocket.

At least her texts to Raven had gone through, even if she probably seemed like a madwomen in them.

Exhausted as she was, she didn't manage to sleep much past sunrise. Too many thoughts, too many memories, too many feelings crowding close to keep her asleep. She got up, limping a little unevenly downstairs, scrounging to see what kind of breakfast she could make from the remains in the kitchen.

The answer was apparently coffee, so she set that to perking and went to sit in front of the big window, staring out at the street, eyes blank and seeing very little.

[For them who are in Limbo City with her! SP for forever because BDE and also brain.]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante glanced down at his hand, instinctively. Bad idea - a wave of something tried to force its way up his throat.

"It was a goodbye present," he said, trying to get his voice to stay light and failing miserably. "He was falling..."

[not_every_mage]

"You tried to catch him," Anders guessed. "And he ... oh, Dante."

He didn't even need to know if he was right. The whole miserable scenario merited an oh, Dante.

"I was so glad you came back."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You know me," Dante said. His attempts at casual were getting less convincing by the second. "I'm always comin' back and in style."

Shit. The wave had made its way up and now the corners of his eyes were itching in a way he really couldn't hide.

[not_every_mage]

"Like a bad penny, or a cat on its seventh life, or something," Anders agreed, and he squeezed Dante's hand. "We're stuck with each other."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yeah, we are."

Dante squeezed Anders' hand back.

They were stuck together, him and Anders. Anders, who'd never left him of his own free will.

... and shit, now the tears came rolling in.

[not_every_mage]

"Darling," Anders said, and then stopped because he didn't have words.

What he did have was an embrace too close to be called a hug, arms wrapped around Dante firm as he could. He badly wanted to hurt Vergil somehow for wrecking Dante again.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm fine," Dante mumbled into his shoulder. "I'm fine. 's just raining."

[not_every_mage]

"I know," Anders agreed firmly, hand drawing circles on Dante's back. "Rain and an allergy attack. That's it. And I'd fight anyone who said differently."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed softly against Anders' jacket. It sounded wet and snottery.

"See, you get me."

They were standing in a fucking alley in Limbo City and he had this deep pit of something inside of him that felt like it was never going to be okay.

(And he wasn't alone. And Anders made it be okay that he wasn't alone.)

[not_every_mage]

"I try to," Anders said simply, swaying the both of them side to side. "Sometimes my imagination fails, but I try."

[rebelseekspizza]

So Dante stayed there, and let him, in further silence. Just until all the fucking treacherous water had left his eyes.

Why the fuck was he crying over Vergil? Vergil, who'd rather fucking pall around with demons in hell than stay here, with him, and act like a normal fucking person--

(Vergil, who'd once been this kid who always needed protection, the fragile brains of an operation Dante had kept safe with his fists. Vergil, who'd saved him from a life on the run from demons, only to kick him into the dirt for not serving his purposes.)

"Fuck," Dante muttered, strangled.

And pulled away, taking a few steps back to lean against a wall.

[not_every_mage]

Anders watched him with keen, moist eyes. A sudden fierce wish for revenge moved through him like a dagger of heat.

If he could have killed Vergil where he stood, entirely for making Dante cry, he would have.

"You didn't do anything wrong, you know," he said. "Don't blame yourself for any of it."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Wasn't gonna," Dante promised.

(That was a lie.)

(What was it about him that made people he cared about choose horrible shit over him?)

[not_every_mage]

"If only I believed that," Anders sighed. "I mean it. Whatever happened to Vergil after the two of you got split up, you couldn't have stopped it. I know how hard you tried back in the tower."

[rebelseekspizza]

"He just needed to stop," Dante said quietly. "Just for one fucking second."

[not_every_mage]

"And then what?" Anders asked -- not harshly, but just curious.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Maybe he'd finally snap out of this bullshit," Dante said, running his fingers through his hair.

[not_every_mage]

"He's had plenty of chances to do that," Anders said skeptically.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I know," Dante muttered, and shut his eyes.

[not_every_mage]

"So --" Anders frowned, not sure what point he'd just made, and sighed. "So, maybe he's just not a good person anymore."

[rebelseekspizza]

"We're brothers," Dante said. "You'd think--"

Fuck. Nope. Done the crying thing once, not doing it again.

[not_every_mage]

Anders rested a hand on Dante’s arm. “He has nothing to do with who you are, not anymore.”

[rebelseekspizza]

"It'd be easier if I could think like that," Dante said. He wiped at his eyes. "Ugh. Fuck this shit."

He needed to stop falling apart on Anders all the time. Fuck.

[not_every_mage]

“I don’t know if I could think that way if it were my brother, either,” Anders said. “But you have to, if you want to go on. You can’t get stuck on this.”

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm not stuck," Dante said.

Mostly because he'd been stuck all summer.