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The Rest is Silence
They were most certainly up to something.
V had certainly been around long enough at this point to know that much.
It had started like most potentially problematic situations usually did: first thing in the morning when no one was quite equipped to deal with it. V was sleeping peacefully in the guest room at Nero and Kyrie's place in Fortuna, his unconscious form bathed in the serene glow of the morning sun. A gentle breeze wafted in through an open window near the head of the bed, ushering only the slightest movement from curtains. It was accompanied by the pleasant saltiness of the nearby sea. He was content to stay here, his dreams cradling him in a state of much-needed restfulness and the fingers of his left hand interlaced within the pages of his latest literally obsession, the open book laying face down on the pillow next to his head. V's chest gently undulating as he lay on it, his right arm hanging limply over the side of the bed and his hand dusting over the surface of the covers that had migrated there sometime during the night. He couldn't be bothered to raise the limp appendage back up onto the bed. No, it belonged where it was. The scene was picturesque and he was receiving what had to be the best night's sleep he had experienced in an immeasurably long time.
So naturally, someone had to ruin that for him.
As if possessed by Mundus himself, the bedroom door abruptly swung open and slammed against the wall. The doorstop utterly failed in its attempt to stop the door from doing so, leaving an impression in the drywall so deep that you could almost see the support beams that assisted in holding up the second floor of the home. This combined with the fact that V was in a state of sleep so deep that he was concerningly close to being comatose meant that when this happened, he nearly died of shock.
Oh, he should be so lucky...
V jumped up towards the wall in fright and bashed his head against the wall, the side of his head catching the windowsill. He found himself entangled in the blankets like some kind of denizen of the sea snared in a fishing net. He reeled back in a mixture of shock, discomfort, and confusion that send him tumbling to the floor. Naturally, he slammed his back, shoulder, and head (again) on the bedside table on the way down. He pushed himself up into something vaguely resembling a sitting position under the window and kicked the blanket off of his lower body, running his free hand through his white bangs to try to regain at least partial visibility. As soon as he did, he let out a low groan and exhaled the breath he hadn't noticed that he had been holding this whole time.
"Oh crap, I wasn't aiming to kill you. So are ya dead or you gonna get up?"
V shook his head, sleep still present in his eyes. "Nicoletta… What… Why are you…?"
Nico shook her head and stepped forward, extending her hand in an offer to help him up. He gently waved her off at first but then, after failing to use the window and bedside table to pull himself up, relented and accepted her offer. After Nico helped him up, grinned to herself. She was clearly fighting to hold back laughter. "I wasn't tryin' to interrupt your special time, V! Go on, get dressed! Gonna be late! I'm heading back to the van. Don't keep me waiting too long or I'll fall asleep. It's too early!"
It took V a moment to comprehend the inappropriate connotations of Niko's statement. Before he could insist that he wasn't indulging in any form of self-pleasure (which he was confident that she was joking about, but still) or even ask what she was talking about, she bolted out of the room murmuring something about the state of the broken wall and how she'd have to fix that later on. V just sighed and decided to get dressed. He could ask Nico what she was going on about when he got out to the van.
No matter how creatively V asked, Nico wasn't giving him any answers.
V had tried a number of different ways to get her to speak on her reasons for waking him up this early in the morning and dragging him out of the house, but she simply wasn't having it. The only information he had garnered from her was that they were going to meet Nero because he needed V's assistance, but she wouldn't elaborate any further than that. The nature of the situation was largely mysterious, and V had an inkling that something more might be going on. While he had never seen the young woman lie previously (at least, not to his knowledge) he couldn't help but feel that there was something she was keeping from him. Perhaps it was her nervous stutter when she had tried to explain the situation. Or maybe, it was the fact that she seemingly had no idea what was going on, despite the fact that Nero wasn't in the habit of keeping Nico in the dark. Admittedly, the entire situation made him a little uneasy for reasons he couldn't pinpoint. While he trusted them completely and had no reason to suspect anything, he couldn't help but feel that something was very off about this situation.
Oh yes, they were most certainly up to something.
The van pulled to a stop in a manner so abnormally calm that V had to question if Nico was actually driving for a second before he looked to her for an explanation. The young gunsmith gave him a confused look before pointing towards the park they had just come to a stop in the parking lot of. "I didn't grow a second head like Nero grew a new arm did I?" She asked in a baffled tone of voice. V shook his head glanced between her and the park. What did she mean by- "Because you're looking at me like I have two heads and it's wigging me out!"
With that, V smirked to himself. Oh, so that's what she meant. "I was admiring the fact that you had failed to destroy any public property on your way to..." V glanced over at the park again, honestly confused as to what they could possibly be doing here. He didn't sense any demonic activity. Well, not that he really could considering the current state of his powers. "Whatever this is. And, you parked between the lines. Very inspiring, Nicoletta."
Nico growled and gestured towards the park before hopping down onto the pavement. "You act like I can't drive or somethin', V! I'm the best driver around here, I'll have you know! And if you call me Nicoletta one more time I sware I'll-"
V put his hands up defensively, successfully shushing her before she finished the mock threat. He joined her in the parking lot as they headed towards the entrance to the park, a slight smile on his face. Truly, she was the very definition of the phrase "neurotic". But, to be honest, he liked her better for it. Her no-nonsense attitude was something he had come to enjoy after coming to know her better. "You misunderstand my words. I was complimenting you. And there is to be no doubt that you are the best driver Devil May Cry has to offer." Nico smiled proudly at the statement. At the sight of the self-satisfied look on his face, he almost snickered and gave himself away. "But considering that your competition is Lady and Dante, that isn't a very hard criteria to hit. Simply getting the car from one place to another without killing someone or destroying the vehicle is a momentous accomplishment for them."
The smirk disappeared. "Just get your lame ass in the park before I run off and leave you to get lost on your own."
They rounded the corner just as V was going to point out that it would be basically impossible for him to lose her in such a small space, but before he could, a relatively large (at least by his standard) group of people jumped out from behind various hiding places and yelled "surprise" at the top of their lungs. The sheer volume that the word was spoken at almost broke his eardrums and, for the second time that day, V almost died from fright. Standing before him were all the people he had come to recognize as his friends. All the girls where here, even a two that he didn't recognize at all. One was a young curly haired blond the other was a vibrant redhead with medium toned skin. Both had smiles on their faces and they were joined by several unlikely faces. Even Morisson was here, a surprising aside from his normal habit of not showing up to large group gatherings. Naturally, Dante and Nero were front and center. Kyrie hung onto Nero's left arm giggling madly with a happy smile on her face while Dante was shaking his head at the look of surprise on V's face. But that wasn't the most surprising thing that he noticed.
For some inexplicable reason, Vergil was here.
The eldest Son of Sparda was perched quietly under the pergola towards the back of the group. While he didn't look thrilled to death to be there like basically everyone else did, he also didn't look like he would rather be dead than attending this little gathering, so that was something. He looked quietly content, more or less. Although there was a dash of discomfort thrown in for good measure. Vergil wasn't exactly a party person. Or an outdoor person for that matter. V could only guess that it had been a massive hassle to get him to attend... Whatever this was. And then it occurred to V: what in the world was going on here?
No sooner had the thought crossed his mind that the group practically dragged him over to the shaded picknick area, accosting him with various happy claps and kind words. What in the world had gotten into everyone? Was he dying and laying in an emergency room, the last of his thoughts trying to conjure up some happy ending. This was all so very strange.
Taking his flabberghasted silence and the blank look on his face as a signal that he had absolutely no idea what was going on or how to cope with it, the group counted up to three and began to sing their own awful version of the Happy Birthday song. Well, everyone except Vergil who, needless to say, wasn't singing a goddamn thing in his entire life, ever. It was probably the most awful thing V had heard a group of people sing in his entire life, but he was too stuck on one thing to really care all that much about their lack of musical skills:
He had forgotten that it was his birthday today.
How on earth had he forgotten his own birthday?!
In fact, how old was he now? Perhaps it was better that he didn't dwell on that. He could feel himself die a little inside at the very thought. He looked around at his friends and allowed a rare smile to find it's way to his face. Everyone that he knew was here and they were here to celebrate him. That was so surreal to him. This was a new experience in his eyes and one that he had never seen coming. To think that his friends and family cared so much for him was as heartwarming as it was touching. Even Vergl was attending, although it was in his special detached way.
But that was enough for him. Truly it was.
The festivities had finally calmed down and everyone was starting to leave. Everyone had had a wonderful time. V was never going to forget all the truly awful gifts that everyone had given him, or the devil arm that Dante had gifted to him that everyone thought he was crazy for handing over. He had no idea how this magical attache case worked, but there had been looks of paralyzed fear and disbelief throughout the crowd when he had unwrapped it. The funniest part was how Dante had tried to play it off as though literally anyone else in this rabble of misfits just happened to have a demonic suitcase sitting around to pawn off on someone. When V had tried to open it to look inside, everyone immediately panicked as though he were opening the gates of hell themselves and the man had immediately closed it again. Apparently, he had been gifted a weapon of mass destruction that could change into multiple forms, and it was surprisingly light compared to most of the devil arms that were catching dust at Dante's office. More importantly, it was relatively discrete and hand a handle that made it easy to carry.
He made a mental note not to ever try and look inside of it again, though.
Getting to meet Lucia and Patty had been wonderful as well and V would have been lying if he said he didn't find the sweet redhead warrior with the exotic accent entrancing. Her keen intellect and distinct lack of any negative qualities made her perhaps the most interesting person that V had met in a long while. Perhaps they would meet again in the future. One could only hope. Although he hoped that the next time they met she wasn't helping Nero smash a large piece of red velvet cake into his face like she had this time. It was going to take a lifetime to get all of the cream cheese frosting out of his hair, and yet he would be remiss to wish for anything less. The feeling of being loved was something he enjoyed more than he ever thought he would.
As V was helping himself to an extra piece of cake, Vergil suddenly materialized from seemingly nowhere and approached him, taking him off guard. The oldest of the set of twins had spent most of the party quietly observing, but not getting involved. The fact that he had stayed for the entire party was almost unbelievable, but here he was. Before V could say anything (his mouth was full of cake) Vergil placed a small, impeccably wrapped gift box on the table in front of him. The silver and black foil wrapping paper shimmered in the afternoon light and the fancy, multilayered green bow that sat atop the box was perfectly done. This was a box that had taken quite some time to wrap.
He stared at the box quietly, taking a moment to slide the remainder of the cake out of the way so that he could pick up the gift and truly appreciate it. "... This took you quite some time to wrap, did it not?"
Vergil simply nodded, confirming his suspicions that he had taken care of the dressings himself. Dante had done a hilariously bad job of wrapping his own gift, but this was the total opposite of that. Maybe he should have asked for a few pointers, but it was the thought that counted in the end. There was a certain uneasiness to Vergil's demeanor that struck V as he began to carefully unwrap the gift. He wanted to put the same care and attention into unwrapping it that had gone into packaging it. When the paper was removed, he stared at its contents in surprise. It was a journal. A beautiful leatherbound notebook filled an expensive looking stationary that looked designed to take heavy inks. The cover of the book was black with a jade V engraved into it, a metal clasp holding it shut. What looked like a set of mini clock gears held the lock closed. A combination lock on a book?
"It's stunning. Where do you find a book like this?"
Vergil shrugged and glanced towards the gated of the park. They were alone now. Everyone else had either left or had regrouped to chat in the parking lot. "You don't find a book like this. You find someone that makes one."
V stared at him in quiet disbelief. He had taken the time to have a book made for him? Who would have guessed that Vergil of all people would do something so involved for someone? V opened the cover of the book. The lock wasn't set yet, so he still had wiggle room. To his surprise, the first page already had writing on it. Given the circumstances, V logically deduced that it was Vergil's.
"I have no name
I am but two days old.—
What shall I call thee?
I happy am
Joy is my name,—
Sweet joy befall thee!
Pretty joy!
Sweet joy but two days old,
Sweet joy I call thee;
Thou dost smile.
I sing the while
Sweet joy befall thee. "
V smiled quietly to himself as he read those words. Infant joy. Had Dante told Vergil that those were the very first words he had ever spoken to him? Was it happenstance? Regardless, it was perfect. Everything about today (aside from the way he had woken up) had been perfect. "... Thank you, Vergil."
Vergil turned around and headed over toward the parking lot. After taking a few steps, he stopped and glanced over his shoulder. The discomfort that had previously radiated off of him had disappeared. "... You're welcome..."
He turned back towards the parking lot but did not move to leave. After a moment, V took the hint and joined him. They walked quietly towards the rest of the group, but this time it was a pleasant silence. The need for verbiage had passed and what could be expressed in words had been attended too. The rest could only be expressed by the rapture of silence.
Notes: Thank you so much for reading this. I hope you liked it! I had a really hard time writing this. It sat open from May 12th-30th with not a word typed past the first two paragraphs while I just looked at it trying to motivate myself to write. I'm glad I didn't give up on it though. If you want a fic, head over to my Tumblr Skvader's Epos and drop me a prompt or just yeet yourself into my messages or my Discord SkvaderArts#2729. I wrote this in 2019, but I fugured I'd repost it here in preperation for one of my bigger stories to come. I also love feedback. I don't care how silly it is!
