#if you could explain to me ANY way that the story would benefit from nico having his identity publicly found out

[buoyantsaturn]

hii, so yk that fic "do you need a little space to breathe?" that u wrote? well, do you think you could maybe do a 3rd chapter where nico's and will's viewers figure out that their dating? thank uuu

i couldnt think of how to answer this ask so ill give u some options:

doesn't ring a bell, sorry

i think you're confusing me with my friend @dreamyzworldlove who you might know from such classic fics as the no love au series

katherine already wrote a sequel

pay me for it

[witchhazelevesque]

There's something about the change and progression from Leo's hesitancy to rescue Nico because it would definitely be a trap to his willingness to go back for Calypso and all the ways his death is involved in that journey.

And I don't even mean progression as in Leo's stance on Nico influenced his decision about Calypso- though that could have been a really satisfying way to take that. But they are at the core the same situation: a rescue mission, with vastly different circumstances.

(I don't like romantic ca/eo, but them as friends? Sign me up. That's the only way I can imagine them, and what I mean when I talk about them here.)

The situation sometimes gets boiled down to 'Leo and Jason wanted to leave Nico in the jar', but there's more to it . For one thing, Leo wasn't even able to voice all his thoughts on the matter, because he was interrupted by Hazel, Frank and Jason. That doesn't negate the overall suspicion/wariness Leo has; he brings up two major points: that the giants are using Nico to bait a trap for the rest of them and that Nico hid the camps from one another. But Leo was surprised by Frank and Hazel’s reaction and question about whether Leo meant they should leave Nico. So, it seems in part 'can we trust him?', but also in part something like, 'this is a trap, we should be aware of that and be on the defensive when doing it'.

Leo's actions later also factor into this, though they were mainly for Hazel's benefit. He wanted to use Nemesis's deal to save Nico. And in a way, this decision is more reckless and dangerous than any ways death was involved in going back for Calypso. And in a way, more romantic, which is kind of funny because it could be interpreted for either Hazel or Nico. That aside, this offer was voluntary and unconnected to Leo’s other duties.

But his decision to die was connected to those duties. It wasn’t dependent on Calypso. He didn’t do it for her. Yes, he does think about how he feels his place is with her and not the rest of the seven, but that’s not the only reason. Even without her in the picture, he was going to sacrifice himself. He died because the Fates put a choice in front of him. He died to defeat Gaea, to spare Jason, to save all his friends and the world.

And to avenge his mother.

Yes, his decision to go back to Ogygia without first letting his friends know he’d be okay is not fair to them, but RR was always gonna make it happen this way, which I'll get into in a second. But working with what is here, I do understand Leo's decision. Leo explains this best when he says, "Calypso is a priority”. It’s plausible that they'd want the other to be a little selfish about them / want to be a little selfish about each other. To prioritize them. This could have been something they connected over, and it would have been cathartic for this to have played a larger role. To choose one another.

And maybe that makes more sense if you look at it in a vacuum, without the context of how their interactions were executed and just the overall shape of their intended dynamic in the story: both isolated and alone, brought together by someone else's design, connecting regardless. Someone who never felt chosen wanting to make sure someone he cared for does feel chosen after waiting so long both to be the first choice and to have her freedom.

And that might not be compelling to everyone, but it is small in comparison to the actual major reason I understand Leo’s decision to prioritize Calypso: because it’s about fulfilling the plot, not about characterization.

Which may seem obvious because these books are about fast paced plot, but it matters so much here. I would say RR wrote himself into a corner, but I don't think he actually minded being there.

But it was still a corner.

It parallels Zeus saying that Hera bringing the seven together wove fate in a way that only left so many avenues open.

It was pretty clear by the end that RR did not care about the quality of finishing the quest, since another line of the prophecy, ‘the world must fall’ was built up so much and then the final battle between ‘fire’ and ‘the world’ took six pages.

Six pages.

RR just got it done. 

The choice to have Leo's trip back to Ogygia happen at this moment ultimately is about tying up loose ends of the prophecy. Prophecy has always been made clear by the end of each book in this verse, iirc. Leo's characterization basically turned into just him thinking about Calypso, which is disappointing. But it feels, at least to me, that Leo only left before talking to his friends because it was a lynchpin for those plot requirements of the prophecy, and because RR wanted the situation the other characters ended the series in to be ✨dramatic and mysterious✨

Sort of a benefit, we at least get to see Hazel and Frank deliver the news (one of the few things they got to do in BoO).

It's also strange that Leo set the timer for 24 hours the night before the battle, maybe it was because he couldn't have anticipated Zeus sending them back to New York so fast, maybe he thought the battle with Gaea might last longer. But it was set to resurrect him long after he died and Festus flew him from camp. Leo heard Asclepius say to administer the cure as soon after death as possible. Maybe Leo didn’t know what would happen, but RR did and he set it up this way. If this time detail had stayed the same but Leo didn’t leave for Ogygia right then, I wonder how that would play out. If he hadn't gone, would the others have taken his body off Festus? Would they have been able to find where he’d put the cure? (That’s a bit of a tangent though.)

The details of how it actually worked are never addressed to maintain the ✨mystique✨ around what Leo’s plan actually was. BUT it could have made a big difference in the reception of the end of the novel if something had been explicitly set up earlier, and that’s if Leo would have needed a massive power source to 'break out of reality' so to speak, to kick start his return to Ogygia, since it doesn't exist in the real world. When Percy ended up there, it was during Mt St Helens' erupting and Hera guided his way. Leo's first trip was powered by another goddess.

And what a convenient power source he had in himself, his body turning molten, releasing everything inside himself, this literal gift and burden from the god of fire, in a genuinely once in a lifetime event- because it was so powerful it literally killed him, created an explosion strong enough to vaporize a primordial deity. It would have been a now or never situation, when else was he going to have the power of a force of nature except the one he has inside of himself?

It's one possibility that wasn’t taken.

Maybe if this had been the case and had been explained beforehand, this plot point would have been more palatable.

But then it also could have supported the idea that Leo did die for Calypso. But it didn’t actually happen this way.

However, a driving force that is known for sure is the oath with a final breath line that RR needed to get done.

Having Leo fulfill the oath with his final breath, when he died, was necessary to deliver on everything the story had been promising. It checked off the last item in the central prophecy of the series. Prophecies have been a focal point of each book in all the PJOverse and having the meaning unfold and come to fruition plays a major role, think Rachel literally crash landing into the Battle of Manhattan to tell Percy he wasn’t the hero in the prophecy.

So, with the way HoO and BoO are written, the only piece of the prophecy missing after Leo defeats Gaea is the ‘oath to keep with a final breath’. It didn’t matter if it made sense or not, if it was a good idea or not, if it was in character or not, the oath being kept had to happen in this moment. Leo had to go back for Calypso right then. It was the plot bending the character, not the character driving the plot, which, I mean, isn't too surprising, these books aren't really deep dives into the characters.

Back to the original topic though, Leo was in very different head spaces with different circumstances in these two rescue missions. He had to take into account the safety of the entire crew and the quest when considering Nico, and when he did decide to take a risk, it was one that would only put himself on the line. With Calypso, he knew he was going to die one way or another, that in doing so he would complete the quest, and that he had to keep his oath 'with a final breath', which, again, is a narrative point that needed to be checked off. There were already multiple plot lines that didn't pay off (Frank bringing his family full circle happened off screen within six pages a g a i n Hazel's curse being washed away wasn’t explained satisfactorily, etc.) but this one had top billing, RR couldn't get away with not delivering.

Again, a plot choice, not a characterization one. RR had to write it that way because of the choices he'd already made.

This got very far away from my original thought of valdangelo pining with Nico cycling through some of these thoughts while waiting for Leo to get back to camp. Him thinking "you wouldn't do it for me, but you would for her.”

And if that was the case, then Leo dying- which would have been an extreme version of one of his worries about rescuing Nico- would make more sense as a point of contention between Nico and Leo in ToA. Maybe Nico would logically recognize all the reasons aside from Calypso that Leo sacrificed himself, but he couldn't get his feelings to understand the difference.

[cupofteaguk]

i’ve seen the way you look at me when you think i don’t notice

FROM THE PETALS COLLECTION 

[pairing] :: jungkook x fem!reader

[genre] :: percy jackson au + angst 

[word count] :: 7.3k 

[note] :: attempted a son of hades!jungkook storyline. vaguely inspired by nico di angelo’s character arc if you’ve read the books (because coughs well this use to be an unpublished nico di angelo fanfic don’t at me LMAO), but you don’t need to remember the character slash be an expert in the story to read this fic! Also this is a friends to lovers fic hidden behind my attempt to write a story of grief. pls enjoy! 

.

When Jungkook is fifteen years old, he arrives at Camp Half Blood with pennies in his pockets, one Kim Taehyung on his back, and monsters on his tail. There are all kinds of creatures that have been following him for weeks—some with wings, some with clubs, but all with the intent of murder in their eyes as they chase Jungkook up the hill. Taehyung had warned him about this happening, that starting this journey would attract lots of unwanted attention from lots of dangerous half-breed monsters. Something to do with Jungkook’s scent, whatever the fuck that’s supposed to mean. 

In the beginning, Jungkook hadn’t known what to expect, hadn’t known what Taehyung meant by strange creatures and a camp just for him. Even right now, as he is running as quickly as his legs can take him with his lungs feeling like it’s about to burst—he doesn’t really understand. 

What he does understand is that he has been alone his entire life. With a childhood filled with no father and a frightful mother, Jungkook has grown up spending time by himself in the company of his own thoughts and emotions. With such a strange (and lacking) family dynamic, it exposed him to lots of bullying and snide comments from peers, most commonly seen during school or walks home. The first half of Jungkook’s childhood is defined by this—by the teasing for being different, for failing classes, for being awkward and shy, for never knowing his place. The second half of Jungkook’s childhood is filled with sleeping on the streets, with stealing food at convenience stores, on how he’s been truly alone since he was thirteen. 

That is, until Kim Taehyung corners him at the midnight strike of his fifteenth birthday—which leads the two of them to this current moment. 

Jungkook doesn’t understand much right now. All he knows is that he needs to run. 

As Jungkook approaches the top of the hill, he sees a group of people surrounding an archway. They’re all bundled up in gears of shields and swords, and each of them turn towards the boys as the monster thudding grows louder and Jungkook’s calls become more clear. 

Half of the group near the archway break off, immediately making their way towards Jungkook and Taehyung. There are a few questions thrown here and there, before the main objective is just to make sure the boys get to safety. Taehyung’s weight gets distributed between Jungkook and another person, and together the bigger group makes their way across the hill. They cross a tall pine tree that Jungkook hardly notices, because he’s completely out of breath, wounded across his entire body, with legs that feel like jello. 

Taehyung’s weight shifts entirely to the other person as Jungkook trips and falls to his knees. Quickly, Jungkook whirls around so his butt and his arms are on the ground. With his eyes directed towards the hill, his heart crawls up his throat as he sees the monsters making their way up towards him. His body moves before his mind does, his arms moving him closer towards the archway. 

Someone settles themselves right behind him. “Woah, hey.” Your voice is soft, your hand between his shoulders is comforting. “You’re okay, you’re safe now.” 

“B-But!” Jungkook stammers, pointing shakily towards the creatures now growing closer and closer to everyone. “Those monsters! They’re coming!” 

As soon as he says that, the monsters stop in their path, right next to the pine tree from earlier. Their collection of beady eyes glare angrily down at Jungkook, their screams are hollow cries that press painfully against his ears. This conveyance of frustration continues on for a few seconds, before one by one the monsters turn around and make their way back down the mountain. 

Jungkook’s breathing is frantic, along with his heart rate, as he watches the creatures disappear below the dip. “W-What the hell…?” 

You angle your head toward in order for Jungkook to look at you—you wear an expression of softness, of understanding, and Jungkook momentarily sees stars. 

That, however, could have also been from the excess oxygen in him, and the fact that one of those creatures had landed a swipe to his head. 

You gesture to the pine tree. “You see that tree? That’s Thalia Grace’s tree—a long time ago, she and some of her friends were trying to get here, and Thalia sacrificed herself to ensure her friends could be safe. She was a daughter of Zeus, so he turned her into a tree that would protect the camp. Monsters just like those can’t get in anymore.” 

Jungkook feels the adrenaline fading, along with his ability to follow conversations. Daughter of Zeus? Like, Zeus from those Greek mythologies? The camp? Had this been the place Taehyung told him about? 

It’s all too much to keep up with. Jungkook faints before he can ask his question, in which the last thing he sees is your eyes, concerned and twinkling. He passes the thudding in his heart off as pure and utter exhaustion. 

Jungkook wakes up on top of a white hospital bed a few hours later, head swimming and Taehyung situated at the foot. He offers a cup of something called ambrosia that immediately clears the headache. “Woah, what the fuck?” He asks, holding the cup away from him and staring at it with wide eyes. He looks over at Taehyung. “What is this? My headache went away as soon as I drank this. Also, it tastes like banana milk. Is this a dream?” Without waiting for an answer, Jungkook leans back and takes in his surroundings. He looks to be an infirmary, beds with white sheets along the walls and light shining in through the windows. There’s a few other people lingering about, hovering over occupied beds. 

“Jungkook.” Taehyung’s soft voice pulls his attention back. “We’re in Camp Half Blood. You brought us here.” Taehyung’s smile is sad, but confident. “You brought me back, even though it was my mission to bring you here. Thanks.” 

Jungkook stares. “So… you weren’t lying about the camp. T-This is all real?” 

It is then that Taehyung explains everything to Jungkook. Explains that the Greek gods Jungkook learned about in class are real, and that sometimes they come down from Mount Olympus to mingle with mortals—which is where their demigod children come from. Demigods are part god, and therefore have enhanced physical ability as well as some level of control or skill over the realm of their godly parent. Taehyung goes over this information as slowly and as calmly as possible, but Jungkook still has trouble processing the information. In a way, it makes sense that Jungkook would be in this position. He’s always known he was different, always felt like he could never fully belong in the mortal world he spent so long occupying. He just could never label his feelings with a concrete answer. 

Until now, that is. 

Jungkook decides to ask Taehyung one more question. “Why couldn’t you explain any of this to me on the way over?” 

Taehyung seems to be choosing his next words carefully. “As we kept going, you were attracting more monsters. That’s something that normally doesn’t happen, unless the demigod the creatures are tracking is one that’s insanely powerful. Like, a demigod that’s born from the Big Three—Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades. I read accounts of what happened to us happening to other kids that were born from any one of those three gods. I figured that the less you knew, the better. A demigod who doesn’t know they’re a demigod is a much less serious threat—your scent isn’t as strong as it could be if you know about who you are.” 

Jungkook ponders this. “So my dad could be Zeus, Poseidon, or Hades?” He’s definitely heard of those gods. The ruler of all gods, and his two brothers. 

Taehyung presses his lips together, leaning forward in his seat so his forearms rest on his knees. “Maybe,” He says. “It’s pretty rare, though, so I don’t want to give you an answer only for it to not be true. Only time will tell.” He must see the lost, the confused, the anxious look on Jungkook’s face, because Taehyung takes a seat on the edge of the hospital bed. “Hey, JK, cheer up.” The usage of his nickname makes the corner of Jungkook’s lips turn up. “While we wait for your dad to claim you, you can stay with me in my father’s cabin. My dad is Hermes. He’s a patron to travelers, so all campers who come here are welcomed until they’re claimed by their godly parents.” 

Jungkook can only manage a nod at this. He still has many questions, still does not fully understand. With what Taehyung is telling him, Jungkook is not even sure he will belong here, or if he will be ostracized once again for being different amongst the different. 

But he trusts Taehyung—so he’ll follow Taehyung. 

.

Jungkook is at Camp Half Blood for a week before Taehyung is called for another assignment. It’s due to a prophecy given by the Oracle who lives on the campgrounds—the figure grants quests to campers to undergo a series of dangerous adventures in order to accomplish something for the long term benefit of demigods, the human race, the Greek gods themselves, anything of the sort. 

In the case of Taehyung, he is chosen by fellow camper Kim Namjoon to join him in and travel west and retrieve stolen items from a museum collection. It seems like an easy quest. At least, that’s what Jungkook is told. 

Kim Namjoon is a son of Athena, someone whom Jungkook met a day into his arrival at Camp Half Blood—friendly and smart and answers Jungkook’s questions about mythology with ease. It had been good when Jungkook first met the former, because he had many questions, some of which couldn’t be answered by Taehyung. Namjoon is someone that Jungkook immediately grows a fondness and admiration for—only leaving him that much more confident that the quest will go smoothly. 

“You guys will be okay… right?” Jungkook asks Namjoon, as the latter is shouldering his backpack. He’s not the only person seeing Namjoon and Taehyung off on their quest, but Jungkook had been one of the first people to show up. After all, when your only friend is leaving on an adventure, it tends to bring in the worry and the anxiety. “And you’ll watch Taehyung, won’t you?” 

“Of course I will,” Namjoon reassures, tight smile across his lips but he distracts Jungkook with a hand on his shoulder. “Taehyung and I have been doing quests together for a few years. We got each other’s back.” 

Taehyung slides in next to Namjoon, glancing over at Jungkook with all the care in the world in his eyes. “Hey JK, just promise me you’ll do your best to be comfortable here, okay? Keep trying out those different skills we were working on, okay? Your dad will claim you, I’m sure of it.” 

Jungkook looks down at his fingers, wringing the hands together. “I-I’ll try my best.” 

Namjoon and Taehyung exchange glances, partaking in a silent language exchange, before Taehyung looks back at Jungkook. “I know someone who can help.” 

Taehyung leaves Namjoon with his backpack before stepping away from the group, making his way down the hill back towards the camp grounds. Jungkook follows shortly behind. It’s still early in the morning, most campers are inside their cabins sleeping away the mist, but there’s a small group of campers near the archery grounds. There’s some laughter as a new person steps in to ready the bow and arrow. Jungkook watches as this new archer aims as the target, pulls back the bow, and—! 

“Y/N!” Taehyung calls. 

The person at the archery station flinches, sending the arrow a few centimeters away from the center of the target. You whirl around, and Jungkook’s stomach drops because it’s you—the person who helped him when he more or less crashed into Camp Half Blood. 

You gape, still holding the bow in your arms as your eyes narrow into a glare as you continue to stare straight at Taehyung. “Kim Taehyung! Where are your manners!” You call out. “Aren’t you supposed to be on a quest now?” 

Taehyung slings an arm around Jungkook’s shoulder. “I need to borrow you for a second, it’s important.” 

You seem to be saying something to one of your friends, because you hand the bow to a friend before walking over to the two boys. 

As soon as you reach your destination, you look at Jungkook and give him a bright-eyed smile of recognition—one that brings him back to the first time he met you, when he saw stars. “Hey!” You exclaim. “I remember you, you came in with Taehyung last week. You looked like you had been through a lot—are you feeling better now?” 

“I-uh…” Jungkook tries to form words. 

“He had some ambrosia, he’s fine,” Taehyung cuts in kindly, sending Jungkook a look he can’t decipher. Taehyung goes on a momentarily rant, explaining that Jungkook would just need someone to help him further adjust to life at camp, as well as help him figure out who his godly parent was. 

Taehyung says a lot of words, but Jungkook isn’t entirely paying attention. His gaze is fixed on you, taking in your easy smile and bright eyes. He can feel his eyes widen and the flush crawl up his cheeks the longer he lets himself look at you—yet, he doesn’t understand what it means. He’s never seen someone like you before, in his years of school and in his years living on the streets. 

“So, I just need you to help him out. Hopefully his dad will claim him before we get back.” 

“That’s something to look forward to,” You reply, sounding genuinely excited for that. You turn your full attention to Jungkook this time and smile. “Hi, I’m Y/N. Nice to finally meet you!” 

He takes your hand. Fifteen-years-old, and he wears his emotions in his eyes. “I’m Jungkook.” 

.

Jungkook is at Camp Half Blood for three weeks when he starts getting nightmares. 

Not only that, but it’s the same kind of nightmare—something horribly realistic and chaotic and messy but so painful that Jungkook finds himself waking up with tears dusting itself in his eyes. 

It always starts off the same: Namjoon and Taehyung on their quest. They appear to be in a room of antiques, each boy looking cautiously at the collection around them, with their backs pressed against each other. There is a low hum in his dream, where the voices emit a low frequency and sound like static—like he’s hearing the conversations underwater. Suddenly, a burst comes from above, a shatter of something in the room, a clatter of hollow bangs and clashes, and a yell. His dream always turns blurry after the fight starts, but it always ends the same—Namjoon pulling Taehyung away from a fight. And the latter is badly wounded. 

And Jungkook always wakes up at the sight of Taehyung. And it’s the same question that swirls around in his mind, over and over again. Did Taehyung die on the quest? 

At first, it’s easy for Jungkook to write off the dream as a dream—nothing more, nothing less. Perhaps his subconscious playing tricks on him, playing around with his fears and turning it into videos to play in his brain. But with each passing night, a voice starts to ring in his mind. 

My dear boy. It’s a deep voice, husky and low and full of pitiful sadness, like it can sense the pain that Jungkook is trying to internalize. Don’t you understand? Kim Namjoon let your best friend die. 

There’s something about the voice that is familiar, like he’s heard it before. 

The voice plays in Jungkook’s mind over and over again, like a record, and it shakes him to the core. The potential of what the voice is and what the voice could mean frightens him, and it shows. 

It shows in when Jungkook just outright misses the target with his bow and arrow in the present day. The pair of you are out on the field today, and you’re furrowing your eyebrows together. 

“Are you alright?” 

Jungkook stares at his arrow, somewhere flung off to the side, before his gaze shifts to you. You’re always so sturdy, so concerned, so worried for him. Besides Taehyung, who else cares so much for his safety and wellbeing—? 

He stops, lowering the bow. He wears a serious expression. “Can I tell you a secret?” He whispers. 

You furrow your eyebrows at his tone. “Of course. Is something bothering you? I know your father hasn’t claimed you yet, but the gods can be really busy around this time…” 

“No.” He shakes his head. “Not that.” He steals himself for speaking the words into reality. “I had a dream that Taehyung died, even though Namjoon promised me nothing would happen to him.” He doesn’t miss the way you flinch at his accusation. 

You don’t reply to him at first. You stare at him, eyes conflicted. Jungkook stares back, briefly wondering whether you’ve had the experience of knowing death. He doesn’t voice the question, choosing instead to maintain steady eye contact with your nervous expression. 

“Perhaps it was just a dream, Jungkook,” You say carefully. “Namjoon always keeps his promises. He and Taehyung have been working together on quests for years. And Namjoon is the smartest person I’ve ever met. If they ran into a situation Namjoon thought they wouldn’t be able to handle, he wouldn’t even think to risk the lives of the people he’s with. He won’t let you down.” You’re smiling tightly, clearly trying to keep the tension light but Jungkook suddenly finds that his heart is not in the mood. 

He wants to believe you. He wants to believe in Namjoon. But he knows what his dreams are. And that voice. These are things he cannot ignore no matter how hard he tries. 

But the thing is, his dreams are real—Kim Namjoon does not keep his promise. Jungkook can see this across his face the moment Namjoon returns to camp, alone. 

“Not only did they know we were coming,” Namjoon explains quietly to the camp counselors, late in the night, at a meeting spot reserved for higher ups. “They had taken over the museum a few weeks before we showed up. It was an ambush. I… I couldn’t save Taehyung.” 

No. 

“No!” Jungkook cries out, standing up and making his position known—loitering in the background of the meeting. 

Namjoon meets his gaze from across the gap that separates them. “Jungkook?” 

Jungkook’s head is spinning, his breath coming out in gasps, as he backs up slowly away from the growing crowd of camp counselors. “Y-You promised me!” He accuses loudly, pointing at Namjoon. “You promised nothing would happen to Taehyung! You lied to me!” 

“Jungkook, I’m sorry.” Namjoon steps out from amongst the group of counselors, a hand out in front of him as if approaching a frightened animal. “We were overwhelmed. If I could take it back and save him, I would—!” 

“Shut up!” Jungkook cries louder, running his hands through his hair. He should have known, should have known that weight in his gut was a warning and not a feeling. The tears in his eyes make it blurry to see anything to understand anything—because Taehyung is dead, along with his kindness and compassion and the safety he brought. “I hate you, I hate all of you!” 

Suddenly, there’s a rumble in the ground, a shake in the Earth so intense that a hushed silence falls over the crowd. At once, the ground splits open and a roar of fire explodes up from the pit, threatening to drag in anyone who gets closer. There are screams from the campers, from the counselors, but Jungkook doesn’t care. He’s so angry, so hurt, so lost. He doesn’t hear any of it. 

Until he hears your voice. “Jungkook!” You scream across the gap. 

Jungkook stills upon hearing you, lowering his arms and opening his eyes. Blinking away tears, he feels his heart rate slow back down to a manageable pace. The split in the ground closes before he looks up. He sees the camp counselors up ahead, equal looks of fear and horror across their eyes. 

He turns just enough to see you. You, with your wide eyes, looking confused and upset by what he has just done. And Jungkook feels nothing but disappointment. He has never done anything like this before, and he doesn’t know what it means. 

So he runs away. He runs away from Namjoon and this god forsaken camp that he knows will remind him of Taehyung. 

He runs away from the whispers from campers, a representation to serve that Jungkook will never truly belong here. 

He runs away from you, the only other person he would think to trust from now on. He can’t handle any of this anymore. 

. 

Two weeks after Jungkook runs away from Camp Half Blood, and a shadow of a figure appears to him in the midst of the evening air. It’s a ghost with a dark twisted smile, who calls himself Min Yoongi—a king in a past life, who now resides in the Underworld as a judge for all souls. 

He tells Jungkook that Jungkook is a son of Hades—which explains why he knew about Taehyung’s death, why he split the ground open all those weeks ago. There’s something borderline dangerous about Yoongi’s smile. 

Every fiber and nerve in Jungkook’s body is begging him not to trust this ghost. But, of course, Jungkook doesn’t listen. He stopped listening to things a long time ago. 

Besides, Yoongi soon makes offers that Jungkook cannot escape from. A way to bring Taehyung back, a way to strike revenge upon Kim Namjoon, a way—! 

Jungkook blinks the thoughts away. He had dozed off again, something he’s been doing a lot lately. 

“You should sleep,” Yoongi advises, his voice more of a whisper than anything else. There’s a touch of eerie to him, in his paper white skin and gray eyes. 

Even though Jungkook doesn’t desire sleep, far from it, he settles with listening to the ghost anyways. So he curls up on a makeshift pillow crafted from his beaten down (stolen) leather jacket, and closes his eyes. 

But instead of the previous nights, where he dreams about death and destruction, dreams up different ways Taehyung could have survived, dreams up Namjoon not caring about Taehyung’s death—he dreams of you. 

Dreams about you are such a rarity now, but they always make him feel warm. Content. Almost satisfied. 

In the dream, the pair of you are situated underneath a big tree at the edge of the forest. You’re in the middle of teaching him about Mythomagic—a card game he had immediately developed an interest for—and he realizes he’s dreaming about a memory this time. When he steals a look at you, he sees sunlight curling around your form, lighting up your hair and your eyes. He hears your laughter and sees the crinkle in your eyes. He can feel your happiness and the innocence in the air around you. He remembers the peacefulness, the calming nature of you. 

He misses it—he misses you. 

A cold chill running down his spine startles Jungkook awake as he springs into a sitting position. The fire before him has long since been put out, and Min Yoongi is floating in front of him. The latter wears a sharp look. “You’re dreaming about her again, aren’t you?” 

Jungkook sighs. Good things in his life could only last for so long. He runs a hand through his hair and turns to gather his jacket into his arms. “I thought I asked you to stop peeking into my mind.” 

“You were smiling,” Yoongi observes quietly. 

“That’s none of your business,” Jungkook snaps. 

“It must have been a good dream. I couldn’t see the contents of the dream, just the subject.” 

“Stay out of my head!” Jungkook hisses, standing up and sliding his arms into the jacket. 

“You care deeply about her.” 

“What do I have to say to get you to stop talking about her?” Jungkook retorts hotly, feeling his temper rise. It had been a good dream. The best one he’s had all week. 

Yoongi looks at him passively. “Just answer one of my questions,” He settles calmly. 

Jungkook grunts. “Fine. What is it?” 

“Why exactly do you care so much about her? You hardly know her.” 

Jungkook slides his backpack over his shoulder. He ignores the touch of passive aggressiveness in Yoongi’s tone. “She was the only one at camp who went out of their way to make me feel like they actually gave a shit.” 

“She cares more about Namjoon than you,” Yoongi interjects bluntly. “She and Namjoon have been friends for longer. She only talked to you because of Namjoon, after all. And don’t you hate him?” 

“Shut up.” 

“You worry she doesn’t care for you the way you do. Haven’t you wondered why she hasn’t tried looking for you?” 

“Shut up.” 

“She was only nice to you because Namjoon asked her to be nice to you.” 

“Shut the fuck up!” Jungkook explodes, turning towards Yoongi with his arm out in a striking motion. His arm cuts clean through the ghost, and he watches as the pieces wisp away into the air. Either way, it doesn’t matter. Yoongi will be back soon, probably to reprimand him, but mostly to carry on as if this hadn’t happened—to continue asking questions and continue trying to piss Jungkook off. It doesn’t matter. Jungkook could never bring Yoongi any harm. The latter is a ghost, after all. 

There’s still a lot he doesn’t understand. 

. 

Jungkook calls off his deal with Yoongi shortly after the You Incident—in which a series of dreams about you sent Yoongi on an accusatory streak that sent him back to the Underworld where he rightfully belongs. It’s good because he doesn’t want a ghost meddling in his personal business, and his personal feelings. 

It’s bad, however, because Jungkook no longer has an evil ghost by his side that offers up revenge. 

This leaves him to do the next best thing—try and summon Taehyung. 

As a son of Hades, his powers do include communicating with ghosts like Yoongi and cracking holes into the ground, but it also involves the ability to summon deceased souls. All that is required is a pit, some food, and a cantation in Ancient Greek. It’s supposed to be simple, and in a way it is. 

Except when the soul he’s trying to summon doesn’t want to be found, which is exactly how it has gone with Taehyung. He’s tried to get Taehyung’s attention for weeks now, to no luck. And he’s tried everything. 

Jungkook scowls to himself as he takes in the local convenience store to buy the various items he’ll need to attempt another summoning. Animal blood is one of the best tools for this type of power, but animal blood doesn’t exactly like up on shelves in aisles of grocery stores—so Jungkook has settled with fast food meals, chips, or anything cheap he can get his hands on. 

He glares at the lineup of sodas in front of his gaze, trying to focus but he finds his mind wandering against through his memories, picking the ones that are most guaranteed to make him feel like shit. 

His mind settles on a line Yoongi said to him countless times regarding you: She was only nice to you because Namjoon asked her to be nice to you. 

His hands shake in his pockets, determined not to believe it, but finding himself pool with doubt nonetheless. 

“Jungkook.” 

He jumps out of his skin at the familiar voice he’s spent the past many months thinking about, as the sensation rings through his body. He experiences brief flashes of emotions he hasn’t undergone in awhile: peace, warmth, hope. He turns on his heel and can’t help the way his eyes widen at the sight of you. 

The months that have passed since his disappearance really does wonders to your face. You look older. You look wary, but well prepared. Most of all, your eyes are still that bright light he remembers more often than he cares to admit. But you also look sad, like the sight of Jungkook is worse than you expected. 

“Jungkook…” You say again, quieter this time. 

You saying his name again brings him back to reality, brings him back to where he is and why he’s here. He doesn’t need you. Like Yoongi said, you’re friends with Namjoon—and Namjoon is the reason why Taehyung is dead. His voice sounds hollow. “What are you doing here?” 

“I should be asking you the same question.” 

His scowl deepens as he settles for a Mountain Dew on the rack. “That’s none of your business.” He catches the hurt that flickers in your eyes, but he turns towards the cashier before he can feel sorry for you. 

You trail after him. “Please don’t shut me out,” You plead gently. You stay behind Jungkook as he pays for his food. “I came here looking for you.” 

“Awfully convenient—but I don’t think you should be wasting your time,” Jungkook grumbles, bounding out of the shop and stopping along the sidewalk. “Why don’t you go back to Namjoon and keep being his best friend and just leave me alone?” 

A sort of realization seems to settle in your eyes, as if you’ve just confirmed something. “I’m not leaving,” You say firmly after a moment. “I’m here by myself, Jungkook. No campers, no Namjoon, it’s just me. I know you’re mad at Namjoon, and you have every right to be upset. I know why you cracked a hole in the ground. I understand all that now. But I really think you should stop blaming Namjoon and hurting yourself. Namjoon didn’t mean to let Taehyung die—!” 

Jungkook whirls around, his eyes a twin set of fire. “Don’t say his name,” He snaps roughly, but falls silent when you don’t even flinch. 

How could he raise his voice at the only person who has gone out of their way to ensure his safety? 

He turns away. He doesn’t apologize, and you don’t ask him to. 

The pair of you don’t say anything for a long moment—Jungkook just makes his way down the sidewalk and you follow along. 

He stops after a moment. He turns himself just enough so you can see his profile. “Fine,” He says, trying to ignore the flutter in his chest when you flash him an appreciative smile. “I’ll let you tag along. But only because I feel bad for snapping at you. I’ve just…” He sighs. “Been going through a lot.” 

You step forward to stand by his side. “We can talk about anything you want to, Jungkook. I’m still your friend.” 

He swallows thickly at your offer, hoping that you don’t notice. If you do, you remain silent. “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answer to.” 

. 

Two days after you join Jungkook’s travels, you seem to decide he is calm enough for a sensitive question. But you’re sneaky about it. You wait until the night, when both of you are curling around a fire—you in your sleeping bag, and Jungkook with his signature leather jacket makeshift pillow underneath his head.  “Why are you so afraid to talk about Taehyung’s death?” 

He flinches at the mention of Taehyung’s name, knowing that snapping and causing a scene would do nothing to stop you from asking the question over and over again. You had given him a few days, but something about your tone tonight tells him that you won’t take no for an answer. 

Jungkook turns his head to look at you. Your eyes are flickering against the fire. “I’ll answer your question if you answer one of mine.” 

You shrug a shoulder. “Sure.” 

He sighs, momentarily stumped. “I’m afraid that if I admit it, or let other people admit it in front of me, it’s true and there’s nothing I can do to bring him back.” 

“I don’t think Taehyung would want you to bring him back, Jungkook. He saved Namjoon that day; he sacrificed himself for a reason—!” 

“Okay, my turn,” Jungkook interrupts, refusing to hear any of it. “Why are you here? Really?” 

You are quiet for a second. “I was sent on a quest to come find you,” You reply after a moment. “The oracle told me about a prophecy where you were in danger. It said you had made a deal with Min Yoongi, said you were considering a soul for a soul trade to get Taehyung back. I was scared for you, Jungkook.” You sit up in your sleeping bag, leaning across the space between the two of you. “My turn. Why don’t you want to believe that Taehyung sacrificed himself to save Namjoon?”

“Because why would he do that?” Jungkook retorts back. “Why would he leave behind everything he cared about? Why would he leave me—?” The words choke in the back of his throat as his heart rams painfully against his chest, the underlying reason for his bitterness surfacing up again. He thought he had smashed his grief down far enough where it would never have to see sunlight again. “It’s nothing. I’m not playing this game anymore.” 

You are quiet, watching as Jungkook curls into himself and turns his back to you. “When are you going to start letting me in?” You whisper. “I didn’t accept that quest for no reason, Jungkook, I came because I care about you. I want to help you.” 

I’ve already let you in, far more than I wanted to, Jungkook thinks to himself instead, wrapping his arms tighter around himself. 

“I know that Taehyung would have never wanted to leave you. He cared about you a lot, and saw you as the little brother he never had. You guys deserved more time. You deserved more time to have the family you never got to have. You wanna know the last thing Taehyung said to me, after introducing us to each other all that time ago? He said that you guys only knew each other for a short time, but you were the strongest person Taehyung had known. I know how much Taehyung wanted to be there for you. But he also had other responsibilities.” Your fingers twitch as if you want to reach over and grab onto Jungkook. “Namjoon had been the leader of the quest, he was the main priority. Taehyung had to make the call. He would never have wanted you to take the guilt for a decision he made on his own.” 

Jungkook hesitates, before rolling onto his back. “Why does Namjoon deserve my forgiveness?” 

Finally, he spares a glance at you. You’re still looking at him, gaze sharp over the fire. It distracts Jungkook momentarily, as his mind thinks about how different you are from fire. Fire can be harsh, blunt, unforgiving, and relentless. Like him. 

But you are like the sun—bright, warm, longing. You refuse to give up on him. 

“Because it’s the right thing to do,” You whisper. “Because everyone deserves a second chance.” 

He stares at you. He doesn’t know what longing dances behind his eyes, but you seem to know, because you avert your gaze and grumble something about going to sleep. 

He watches you turn to your side, and he wonders. 

. 

Jungkook has tried to summon Taehyung a grand total of ten times in the weeks prior to his run in with you. Each time is met with failure, because it seems like Taehyung does not want to be summoned which is disappointing and disheartening. To be honest, it makes Jungkook less and less enthusiastic to keep attempting something he cannot guarantee. 

But as you stand next to him over an empty pit the pair of you have spent the last thirty minutes digging up, you take your hand in his. You smile at him, nodding. “It’ll work this time.” 

So Jungkook pours in the Mountain Dew and dumps out the bag of chips he’s acquired into the hole. As he repeats the same cantation he’s said for the past ten times, the food starts bubbling as spirits from the Underworld fight to get a taste of the offering. 

“Show me Taehyung!” Jungkook calls out, although he sounds worried and unsure. 

At once, a spirit with a bright light, brighter than the others around it, shines through. It slides to the front to drink from the food at the bottom of the pit. The figure morphs and forms into Kim Taehyung. 

Despite everything, despite the long hours that Jungkook has committed to summoning Taehyung, the sight of his friend does not fill him with joy. It fills his eyes with tears. 

You notice, you always do. You squeeze his hand, but you also let go of him. “I’ll leave you two.” 

So Taehyung talks. He talks and talks, about his quest, about his sacrifice, about Namjoon, about forgiveness. 

This is something Jungkook has wanted for weeks. Yet, the longer Taehyung talks, the deeper he can feel the rifts of frustration. 

Frustration at Namjoon, for whom everyone is telling Jungkook to forgive. 

Frustration at Taehyung, for leaving him drowning in the sorrows of his own nightmares. For leaving him, even when he wasn’t ready to be left. 

Frustration at you, for always caring about him, even when he’s sure he doesn’t even care about himself anymore. 

When Jungkook releases Taehyung back to the Underworld, he feels like a hollow shell. He simply stands there, in front of the pit that brought forth his best friend. His mind is whirling with questions, with a curiosity. 

You approach him slowly. “Jungkook…” 

“You should go back,” He mutters. 

You actually look shocked at this now. “What?” 

He turns on his heel to address you properly. “Go back to camp.” He doesn’t mean to sound so harsh, but the words come out like a snap. He tries to reprimand the situation when your face falls just a fraction. “Go back to camp,” He tries again, a little softer this time. He keeps his gaze on you, even when you look up to stare at him. “It’ll be okay. I just need a little bit of time.” 

At this, you nod slowly. You try for a smile. “Come back home, okay?” 

He thinks he knows what you mean, but you disappear before he can ask you. 

. 

He returns to Camp Half Blood after a few days, with his leather jacket and black iron sword. The campers that guard the border part for him like the Red Sea—with the exception of one camper. He’s an older camper, who even in the dark shines brighter than the moon overhead. It’s a son of Apollo quality. It belongs to Jung Hoseok, a camper Jungkook met when he first arrived at camp. Hoseok is like sunshine—he’s always bright and cheerful with a positive disposition. 

Today, despite still having that glint in his eyes, the boy wears a much more solemn expression. Almost as if he’s seen everything that Jungkook has gone through. Or, at the very least, has heard about it. “Hey Jungkook…” Hoseok greets. He doesn’t leave much room for conversation, because he gestures past the archway entrance, down the hill, towards the Big House—the main meeting place for campers, the central point of Camp Half Blood. “She’s waiting for you.” 

He doesn’t need a list of camp names to know who Hoseok is talking about. Jungkook just mumbles his thanks, trying not to draw too much attention to the flush against his cheeks as he follows the pathway down into camp. It’s late, so the grounds are devoid of people, making it easier for Jungkook to step onto the porch of the Big House. 

You’re on the porch, pacing back and forth with your thumb in between your teeth and you look nervous. You’re mumbling something underneath your breath. 

But your ears are just as good as your eyes, because as soon as Jungkook steps on the wood, you’re whirling around to face him. “Jungkook!” You exclaim, approaching him with tentative steps. “Y-You came back.” 

He levels you with a look, feeling a bashfulness overcome him. “You asked me to,” He says. There’s a slight pause. “I told you I needed time to think, and I have. You were right. Everyone deserves a second chance. It wasn’t fair of me to go after Namjoon the way I did.” 

You nod, giving him a small smile. “I’m glad you’re feeling better.” 

Jungkook continues to stare at you, feeling a fondness overcoming him. “Thanks,” He finally settles with. “For, you know, finding me. For not giving up on me.” He looks down, scratching the back of his neck. “I should probably go find Namjoon and apologize.” 

You wave away his concern. “Namjoon is asleep.” You angle your head towards the oceanside that surrounds the camp. “Want to take a walk with me?” 

So you lead him through the camp, past the cabins of campers, past the archery set, past all that, to finally the beach located along the outskirts of the camp. It’s home to many boat races, surfing adventures, and firework displays. Currently, it’s devoid of activity. Right now there is merely a wooden pier that stretches out into the ocean, one that you and Jungkook walk down before you settle down at the edge. 

You pat the spot next to you, and Jungkook sits down. Since you don’t say anything, he allows himself to stare out at the horizon, and the movement of the ocean. When you still don’t say anything, Jungkook dares himself to look at you. The moonlight is cascading across your features. You look like home. You feel like home. 

You look at him suddenly, and knit your eyebrows. “Do I have something on my face?” 

“Oh, uh, no…” He trails off, forcing himself to look away from you. Should he tell you? Not tell you, but… “Hey Y/N,” Jungkook speaks before he can think otherwise. 

You look at him. “Yes?” 

Jungkook straightens his back a little. “I-I think I should tell you… I didn’t come back just for Namjoon. Actually, I came back to tell you that I, uh, well, I missed you—I mean, hanging out with you—I wanted to be a better person because of you—I mean, not just because of you, but—!” 

You start to smile at that, before you do something unexpected. You lean over and kiss his cheek. 

He feels like his body has just been shocked, the sensation dancing up and down his spine. “W-What was that for?” He’s trying to sound confused, but his nerves immediately start getting the best of him. 

Your smile is still present, but it’s a kind smile that touches your eyes and assures him of his choice to return. “I’ve seen the way you look at me when you think I don’t notice. You still wear your emotions in your eyes. That’s one that hasn’t changed over the past year.” 

He scoffs, but his face feels hot and he’s sure the effect he’s trying to go for is lost anyways. 

[dmcfsstory]

Also available on Ao3: [link]

Proofreaded a bit by @wikimb​

Partner Artist: @wikimb​

Word count: 13143

Trigger Warning: Graphic depictions of heavy violence/gore, depression cases, PTSD breakdowns(abandoment/bullying/death), severe illness, physical torture(due illness) and emotinal breakdown.

Note: I’m not a native english speaker, fell free to point out via DM any mistakes.

Void Realm(aka Human World) - Same Day 11:30 PM

Victor decided to tell his three visitors everything he knew about the Sparda's twins; Sparda's story, the day Eva was killed, the mess of Temen-ni-gru, and at the end what happened in Mallet Island.

During dinner, Nero, among Kyrie and Nico, told Victor all what they knew and remembered about the Fortuna Incident and the Qliphoth Event.

"And now they're probably stuck in Hell", Nero finished.

"I see…" Victor said, quite thoughtful. "The problem is… the Qliphoth fruit helped Vergil to recover his heavily wounded magic and not make him overpowered like he thought it would happen. But I can't be sure if it also helped with his synchronization. Either way, you two doing Sync will be of great benefit for both."

Nero didn't say a thing. Just the slight idea of having to interact with Vergil, his so called blood father, again was making his nerves itch.

"But…" Victor kept saying. "How could you live this long? Without one of your parents to sync with, you should have died at a very young age, like… two years old."

Nero continued quiet, trying to understand why Victor was insisting so much about that.

Initially, he thought about the day he met Shooting Star Man; he was two years old, the "death age" Victor mentioned. But he’d rather not talk about that with a new person just like that, not even Nico knew about it yet.

"Don't you remember Sync with some woman?" Victor tried to help Nero recall some memory.

"I don't even know how's the sensation of being in Sync, dude." Nero contested, a bit annoyed.

Before continuing to speak, Victor had to adjust his glasses. "Well… as what my mother could briefly study about the twins, Sync in hybrids have some sort of 'bonuses'. Both parts can somehow connect mentally; they can feel what the other is feeling and as well share memories and theoretical knowledge. As for the magic, the twins described it as something very relaxing and peaceful - they didn't know it was a demon magic thing back then, but you got it."

"The peace thing makes sense since the magic energy is calming down," Nico added to Victor's explanation.

After the brief explanation, Nero couldn't hold but make a surprised face.

"Oh. Have you just remembered something?" Victor asked when he noticed Nero's reaction.

Nero was able to recall something, but just the fact of having to tell them that was making him sweat cold. He had a feeling it wasn't a good idea.

Hell - “Same moment”

Vergil and Dante were able to find a shelter to protect themselves from the fire rain: in the middle of the decaying remains of the Qliphoth tree they both sat inside a small cavern inside a massive root.

Dante was quite relaxed, he was laying his back in a small root, calmly waiting for the end of the rain.

Vergil sat a bit in front of his brother, he seemed to be tense for no apparent reason; he was tapping his feet nervously and rubbing his hands as if they were itching or something.

Once Dante couldn't stand his brother's silence anymore he got out of his place walking on his knees, when he got closer he said, "Bro, relax a little. You're too tense" and he gave a small tap on Vergil's right shoulder, unexpectedly making him do a little hop like a cat.

"Geez! Chill it." Dante said, quite surprised. "I'm not gonna attack you." and he moved a few steps backwards when his brother stared at him with eyes wide open scared.

Vergil couldn't think of something to reply to his brother, he was too surprised by how calm he was at that hostile place, such behavior didn't make sense to him; they could be attacked at any moment by some wild demon, but even so Dante was very chill.

Vergil then returned his gaze to outside, leaving his brother in an awkward silence.

The atmosphere was starting to make Dante feel uncomfortable; he recently had made up with his brother, thus regaining their brotherly rivalry, but that was the first time since their childhood they weren't fighting or discussing, instead, they were just in silence sitting close to each other.

Vergil could feel Dante's restless energy coming from behind him, but he had no idea what to say either.

Deep down their hearts, both had a lot of questions to ask each other, but none of them had a single clue in how to start a conversation that wasn't about who's with the highest score.

After long minutes of watching a literal fire rain, Dante was the one who finally took courage to break the ice: "Soooooo… Brother… Who was that 'Baby' you whispered about earlier? I swore you were talking about Nero's mom… Also! How was sh-?"

Vergil quickly interrupted him, rolling his eyes in annoyance, "I told you already, you will learn more about her when I tell Nero about it, he deserves to know that first."

Dante got annoyed by his brother's supposed etiquette, but regardless, he continued in his attempt to create a conversation: "Okay… but, what about the 'Baby'... person…? I guess? You got me curious, man! Especially about the part: 'this wouldn't be happening' thing," he said as he was getting a bit closer to Vergil again.

Vergil's normally stoic expression drastically changed to an uncomfortable one, he looked at the sky, took a deep breath, and let out a very sad sigh,"'Baby' was… a child… That wasn't his name, just how I used to call him. I never knew his name or how he truly looked like…"

Dante highly doubted Vergil's words. "What?! How? That doesn't make any sense yet. You gotta work on those explanations, bro"

"You remember what happened on Mallet Island? After you… -sigh- beat me?" Vergil replied with a bit of annoyance in the end.

"Uhh… yeah, you disappeared in a light…" Dante said a bit confused.

Vergil took a few seconds of silence, mentally gathering all the information he felt necessary to tell his brother before starting his explanation: "I honestly don't know how I did that… probably had something to do with Mundus' magic… I got teleported to somewhere else."

Surprisingly, Dante got quiet and Vergil had his full attention. Vergil didn't look behind him, but he could tell that Dante was staring at him like a curious child waiting for a new bedtime story.

Vergil cleaned his throat before continuing - "Thanks to you, I started to be able to have myself under my control again. I then began to try to fight Mundus' corruption over me, although the more I tried, the more it tormented me. Until I had an idea that would cost much more than I expected…"

Dante's eyes wide opened with curiosity but also of worry about the incoming words.

"Under all that pain...I truly panicked… and tried to Devil Trigger in an attempt to fight the corruption… " Vergil said low, recalling the pain of the said moment.

Dante gasped silently, even not knowing what happened, he was sure that terrible things had happened.

Vergil's voice started to get low and crumbling as those memories were like a living nightmare. "I could feel all my muscles and bones being crushed and twisted by the fight of the magic energies inside me. I couldn't scream, I could barely breathe and move either… I have no idea how much time has passed too."

Dante noticed that his brother started to feel apprehensive about that subject; Vergil was slightly sweating cold and pressing his hands against each other strongly.

But before Dante thought of something to say, Vergi continued to tell the story: "I can remember some very random and quick things that happened… I fought other demons… even humans and perhaps Devil Hunters too? I don't know, but I swore I was destined to feel that pain for eternity, until…"

Void Realm - “at the same moment”

“So, Nero” Victor called his attention. “Have you just remembered something?”

But Nero didn't respond, he was being reluctant to speak, they couldn't tell if it was because of his health state or something else. Kyrie tried to call him back to the conversation, “It’s about Monster, dear?” she said in a soft voice.

He raised his head a bit to look at her, with a visible sad face he replied low and insecure: “Yeah... “

He stayed quiet once again, staring at the void for a few seconds and avoiding eye-contact; Nico was getting anxious to know what was passing through Nero's mind, but Victor kept patiently waiting.

Finally, he looked at Victor and said, "I think… there was someone I connected with this way… but… he was a human that turned into a demon."

Victor raised his eyebrows in surprise, that didn't make much sense but he decided to not question, Nero was already emotionally unstable, it was better not provoke.

"Let's see then. If you don't mind telling the story," he asked politely.

Nero took a deep breath before starting, that subject wasn't that comfortable for him to talk about freely: "I was around six to seven years old, the de-sync started to happen with a higher frequency day by day… The other kids from the orphanage, especially the older ones, never liked me, and one day they were chasing me down in the woods on the outskirts of the city. Even not wanting to fight they still kept hunting me, they weren't satisfied until I passed out." Nero explained.

"Why?" Nico asked confused.

A bit uncomfortable with the subject, he tried to avoid, "I'd rather not talk about…"

He then continued, without making eye contact with Victor, he just continued to look at his own hands and sometimes to the void or away. "I couldn't run anymore, that's when they got me. The oldest was ready to punch me, but suddenly, a horrendous deformed… giant demon appeared from behind the trees. He was like what? four meters(13ft) high? He didn't need much to scare the shit out of them and send them back to the city, just a roar was enough."

Kyrie was the only one that already knew the story and how Nero would feel about it. She honestly wanted to speak in his place, but she felt better letting him put his feelings out by himself.

"I was the only one that didn't run. I was too tired already… and I didn’t want to return to the orphanage either." Nero said in a depressing tone.

(Hell)

"Have you attacked?" Dante asked curiously, yet worried.

"No" Vergil responded. "The others fled away very quickly and the one that left didn't do anything either. I wasn't going to waste my energy and feel more pain for no danger at all."

(Void)

"But the motherfucker didn't do shit", Nero added. "He left me hanging and just turned away!"

"When I saw him turning away, I yelled: "What are you doing?" But he completely ignored me"

"I yelled again, 'What's wrong with you?'."

(Hell)

"The kid came after me, but I didn't want to waste my energy. When I felt him touching my arm and yelling something - that I can't remember - I instinctively just waved my arm and threw him away."

(Void)

"I flew into a tree and all the stuff I was carrying in my small backpack got scattered around," Nero continued, his voice slowing down.

"You will need more than that to get rid of me!' I shouted to provoke him… but…"

He made a pause.

"But when I looked at him…"

"He was staring at one of the books I borrowed from the public library. He simply stayed there, kinda hypnotized by the thing, you know?"

"With the only hand he had entirely -the right one- he tried to pick up the book. His hand was huge and he knew that… but I think… he had terrible eyesight. The first few times he tried to hold the book, he let it fall because he didn't want to… 'hurt' it."

"He tried, over and over again. That scene was pitiful, to be honest. At a certain point, he started to wimp… kinda like a dog's painful crying: 'wimp wimp wimp'."

"and he tried... again and again, and again... the more he tried the louder the wimps we're getting."

"He was clearly in a panic… until then… he let out a very long and painful scream. It was when I noticed… he wasn't supposed to be like that...."

Victor interrupts, "why? What made you think that?"

Nero responded with sadness in his voice as he looked at Victor, "He was crying… Only through the right eye, but he was truly crying."

"'Do Devils cry?' I asked myself."

"During the screeching, he suddenly lost support on his left arm - the most severe and disproportionate one - and fell to the ground. The arm started to bleed around.. where I think it was the pulse… I couldn't tell, but the broken bone pierced through his skin. I noticed that the rest of his body he had various open wounds, that shit surely was hurting him badly. He then started to wimp uncontrollably while he was spitting blood out of the month, he was insanely trying to get up again but he barely could move his body."

"I don't know what the hell happened with me at that moment, but seeing and hearing all that suffering from him was starting to hurt me. I could feel my heart being pressed. My body moved by itself, I took off my jacket and went to try to... somehow help with the wound on his left pulse."

(Hell)

"I don't clearly remember how I got into that situation," Vergil continued. "I only remember very blurry images and immeasurable pain all over my body, especially at my left arm."

"In the middle of all that pain, I somehow could notice the kid getting closer to me. I tried to move away from him but that only was making the pain worse… I was unable to move."

"I couldn't see him clearly, but I heard: 'you weren't supposed to be like that, right?' from him."

"I remember… my heart and breath stopped when I heard he saying: 'Let me help you, stay quiet.'"

Vergil started to get visibly shaken from that point in front.

"Why? He could just have run away… but instead… he came to help me?! Why?! WHY?!"

"I guess... he did some bandages on my left hand… I couldn't move or see it anyway…"

Dante, a bit shocked by his brother's confusion, asked "Why are you so incredulous?"

Vergil turned at him quickly, his face of both anger and sadness. "WHY?! Because never in my entire life someone had lent a hand to me like that! Not even if I asked!"

Vergil recalled for a moment the difficult time he had after his mother's death; food shop owners didn't want to spare not even the smallest thing for him, some even shout him out, with the excuse he was acting. He couldn't find a good place to sleep and winter was a pain. He had to fight demons all alone. He had to manage to steal sustenance and clothes or get from the trash as the last resort.

"I didn't have the same luck as you, brother…" Vergil said harshly.

(Void)

All those memories were starting to make Nero more emotional, recall the monster's pain was very hurtful even to himself.

"I never discovered what turned him into that… but he was destroyed…" he added.

Victor then questioned, "And you just decided to help him? Just like that?"

"Yes… something told me he needed help… a feeling of he didn't deserve that…" Nero said quite sad.

But even being visibly shaken, he continued the story either way, "through the next days I decided to start stealing everything I thought could be the use of help with his open wounds."

Nico interrupted, "steal, man? why?"

"Who would believe in a six years old saying it needs help with a dying demon?!" Nero replied annoyed. "I had to do that myself. Blankets, towels, curtains, all those kinds of stuff I could get around the city, not just in the orphanage…"

-a pause-

"Also food… and the medicine I knew helped with such changes wounds, the one I remember the caretakers using on me."

Nero's tone slowly began to sound grievous, "He didn't leave the place I first saw him… he just waited for me there every day…"

“He couldn’t move, every time he tried he had to do so much strength. He was also… so cold... I tried to cover him the most I could… but even so… he couldn’t stop shivering. I could see that even those smallest moves hurt a lot… even breathing...”

“His wounds weren’t fresh. It was very difficult for me to make some bandages and mostly use the medicine… because whenever I tried he would start panicking and wimping all over again.”

“I used to say things like: ‘Stop, please! I can’t help you like this!’ or ‘collaborate, please!’ to try to keep him calm, but his pain also made me nervous as well.”

“The food was most difficult, the merchants got sharp eyes. The ones that knew me even got so mad that they started to throw stones at me."

Nico quickly stopped Nero's talk, "What the hell?! Fucking stones?!"

He stared at her, his eyes were blank, and then he said, with a low and grievous voice, everyone could sense the pain in the words, "When you are the... 'bastard, son of a whore, demon magnetic child' people just don't care about you…"

Nico didn't expect that, her face was of utter shock, which made her dead silent.

“I didn’t care about my wounds, tho… I just wanted to bring him food and water too. He needed help to eat and drink nonetheless. He used to eat and drink desperately, getting himself dirtier than he already was… he was definitely on his limit…”

Nero let out a desolate sigh while his eyes were getting teary.

(Hell)

Vergil's voice started to sound more painful the more he talked about the child: "The kid kept bringing new things everyday… cover sheets, bandages, food… even water and… medicine...I think? I barely could move anymore either way… I could only stay in the same place and watch…"

Dante started to feel his brother slowly getting more emotional with the subject; Vergil’s voice got low and he was also starting to discreetly sniff, his body was tense and his expression was of sadness: "He… he wasn't bringing all that stuff for himself… he brought blankets for covering me, to help me not suffer that much from the cold nights in the woods…“

“His voice… I’m sure I was hearing every pitch wrongly… but he sounded so… soft anyway: ‘here’s some food’, ‘come on, try to drink this’, ‘I hope you don’t feel so cold now’... and some many others.”

“My vision was a total mess, the colors were switched, the forms were distorted, I never got to know how he truly was or how he sounded… or even if the scent I remember was his true smell…” Vergil vented, as he remembered every single sensation of the kid taking care of him; the way the child had to hold his huge head up for him to drink water, how he had to pick every single food into tiny pieces because Vergil couldn’t chew. The child trying to cover his gigantic deformed body with small cover sheets or even towels.

Breaking Vergil's recall to the past, Dante asked him, “So… you never actually got to ‘know him for real’?”

“I think…” - a pause - “yeah… you’re right…” Vergil told him but looking away to the dark sky and the raining fire in Hell.

"I don't know how he did that… but there were times he used to hug me, or even just touch, and the pain almost got away completely… it was when I was able to breathe without pain for a few minutes..."

He closed his eyes, deep recalling those moments of calm and inner peace. Those were some of the memories he holded dearest, the sensation of being hugged by the child, or at least he thought it was. The kid stroking his head and singing lullabies to calm him down. Such gentle touch from his tiny hands on his wounded head and skin was something he could never forget, even if that used to hurt as well.

Before opening his eyes, Vergil let out a deep sigh, that made Dante get an idea of how much that unknown kid meant to his brother and he was starting to connect the dots with what Vergil said earlier.

"Why?" Vergil said in an indignant tone. "Why did he do all that to me?!"

He turned to Dante, he was very confused and incredulous, "What I did to that kid?! Why did he help me not wanting anything in return?! He never requested something back!"

Dante's eyes wide-opened surprised about his brother's confusion and he asked himself: 'He didn't understand what happened?'

Vergil's voice became louder as he was letting out old thoughts of painful memories, "Why, brother?! WHY!? There were even some days he appeared with wounds; he said it was the people that didn't like him, they hurt him to push him away because they didn't want to give the stuff to him. I could smell the blood, his wounds...he…-inhales- Why was he sacrificing himself?! He was doing all that to me… TO MEEEE! A PITIFUL WEAK USELESS THING I WAS!"

Dante even leaned back scared after Vergil's last scream, that behavior was quite unexpected coming from such a person that is always composed.

"I was weak! I was dying! No one cares for a weakened demon, they just let them die! He could have called hunters to finish me… BUT NO! He did the total opposite!" Vergil kept yelling extremely confused.

"I remember the stories he told me… and sometimes, during moments of physical contact, I saw some of his...memories? -I guess they were - he was an orphan! No one wanted him, everyone else hated him for no reason and the older kids used to hurt him for fun! HE WAS JUST A LITTLE KID! Why didn't he request me to pay back those people in return for the favors he was doing to me?! That's not how it was supposed to work?!” Vergil yelled while huffing out of breath.

Dante gently touched Vergil's shoulder and just gave a calm look at him, like telling him to take easy on his nerves; Understanding his brother's signals, Vergil took an incredibly deep breath in an attempt to calm down, but his disturbed face and stiff body remained.

"That's called empathy, bro…" Dante said softly.

Vergil took a moment to process what Dante said, but he kept looking at him confused. "What?!" he yelled.

Dante hardly believed that his brother never experienced an act of empathy before and stared at him confused as well.

"Empathy. You know… that thing of being able to understand what the other is feeling? To put yourself in the place of the other?" Dante tried to explain, but that only made Vergil more confused. His silence and as well doubtful face made the situation more awkward for Dante - making him visibly worried.

"Well… it's a human heart thing… Empathy generates compassion and that's what moved the kid to help you. He understood your suffering and decided to help you out. He didn't see you like what you described, he saw you as a living being." Dante tried again.

Vergil was slowly starting to understand; it didn't need much for him to recall Nero helping him when he was V and also the people himself helped when he was V during the Qliphoth roots' rampage.

"That's what moves humans to help others? That's how it's called?" Vergil asked confused.

"Yes!" Dante replied happily and a bit relieved. "Such strong empathy like that kid is incredibly rare to be witnessed, especially nowadays. People like that must be protected at all costs, not just because of their kind heart, but also because they can kill themselves because of it. Humans like that are worth fighting for."

Dante's words made Vergil a bit uneasy as if he did something wrong with the kid during a part of the story he hasn't told yet.

And Dante kept talking: "That's what is amazing about humans. But... demons think that's a weakness… well, that's, in fact, a weakness, it's incredibly dangerous but it's also their strongest point! For demons, self-preservation is more important than anything, meanwhile, some humans don't give a shit about that if it's necessary to protect what is important. They rather die sacrificing themselves, and for demons that's a shame, especially coming from a species that's magically and physically inferior…"

*Unfortunately…" Dante's enthusiasm vanished away very quickly. "The own mankind created such a society through the past decades where that kind of stuff is being suppressed...by themselves! And apathy is going apeshit everywhere… This is another reason why that kind of person should be safeguarded… otherwise, mankind will only keep hurting itself."

"I think… 'Apathy' should be considered a Deadly Sin… since the current seven are all based on it…" he said scratching his head.

They stayed in silence for a few seconds, hence Vergil had no idea about what Dante said at the end. They both returned to gaze at the fire raining (supposedly)night sky for a few minutes until Vergil broke the silence: "These kind people you said… It's pretty much like Baby and… Nero…"

"Yeah, you're right…" Dante said calmly without looking at Vergil.

"This thing of sacrifice itself…" Vergil then continued the story, but talking at a more slow pace, "There was one day… Baby didn't come… I was like 'I was abandoned again?'

"Aah…About that..." Dante interrupted a bit unnerved.

But Vergil responded quickly "I know! But back then I didn't! -ahem- I was finally able to get up a bit and worried something may have happened, I decided to pursue his scent…"

(Void)

Nero continued his side of the story, even with the feeling of his throat closing because of the incoming subject: "It was very difficult to take care of him… He didn't have the strength to lift his head or to chew some food… gosh… he smelled so bad, such a strong scent of dry blood and… other disgusting stuff -if you know what I mean- but eventually, I learned how to ignore that awful scent. He used to shiver so much… his extremity members were cold like ice…"

-a pause for a deep breath-

He then continued: "every little movement he tried to do he whimpered in pain… he barely could leave the place we first met. I was getting used to calming him down with some gentle physical contact like strokes on his head… but even so…"

-sigh-

"There were some moments I hugged or when I just touched him and I could feel what he was feeling… it was an immeasurable pain… Other moments… -It's very confusing, to be honest- But I think I was able to see his memories? I guess...?"

"How did they look?" Victor asked, interrupting Nero.

"Aah… well… a huge old man, long-ass beard and with feathery wings… hmmm.. aaaaand... aaaa... red third eye…? He was all white as if he was a statue and had a huge hole in his chest. He always appeared to be torturing him…" Nero said a bit uneasy, he remembered that as if it was his memories.

Victor closed his eyes and let out a concerned sigh, he knew Nero was talking about Mundus, but that wasn't the moment to tell him.

Nero looked at him worried, not understanding what was going on, although he suspected it wasn't something good.

"Just… keep going," Victor said apprehensively.

"The ones that most scared me was when the old man was taking off his members, like, literally. He used them to create monsters…" Nero shivered just with the slightly recalling his eyes even got teary from thinking about that.

He quickly passed his hand on his eyes to clean up the tears, before someone could notice them, "that always made me jump off the place, those images and some others were always storming his thoughts… I guess it was his thoughts… He cried every time I saw them…"

"Considering his reactions about those images and the state he was… I think he didn't deserve to be like that… he wasn't like that because he wanted… I think that old man did that to him…  -sigh- ...he was so needy… he hanged his head in my lap every time I used to sit closer..."

Nero's eyes got more watery than before, he tried once again to hold his emotions and clean his eyes.

Before continuing, he took a deep breath to focus back and keep posture. "Well… there was one day I was trying to stealthily leave the orphanage… but the older kids got me. They were so pissed at me because they discovered it was me that had stolen some of their things… Pfft! They used to destroy and also steal my stuff… so fuck them. But I couldn't escape that time… and I was missing the hour to go meet with Monster…"

(Hell)

"I followed his trail with a bit of difficulty, mostly because of the pain all over my body, but I could find him," Vergil continued.

"Somehow I could hear more people around… so, I stayed behind some trees… or was it a wall? well..." but he hesitated to continue.

"What was happening?" Dante asked curiously.

"Some other kids… I guess… they were not so taller than him and were apparently fighting him. They had the advantage in numbers, he couldn't handle them all." Vergil said low.

"How did you know who he was?" Dante questioned.

"I learned how to recognize him… somehow… his shape and colors we're different from the others and as well his scent…" Vergil answered.

"I remember the other ones saying 'you freak! you're not just the son of a whore but also a thief?', 'what are you doing with our stuff?' I could feel his tiredness of the fight, he then replied: 'I needed them for a…" Vergil suddenly paused as if something got stuck on his throat.

"I needed them for a…?" Dante repeated, anxious for the end of the phrase.

Vergil kept quiet for almost a minute, holding back his next word. He was visibly tense, but Dante attempted to incentive him to continue with the story: "Brother? What happened then?"

No answers, although Vergil had closed his eyes and was biting his lips in tension, he was holding his emotions the maximum he could.

"Bro… listen…" Dante said softly while he put his hand on Vergil's shoulder. "Don't hold back your feelings like this… Put it out, let then go…"

But his brother continued immobile.

"I'm not gonna judge or mock you… I promise." Dante continued to try to convince Vergil. "Look, you can even stab me as much as your heart desires if I do something I shouldn't."

Vergil let out air since he was also holding his breath a little and something Dante never expected happened, not even when they were kids: Vergil's eyes started to become teary.

Yes, tears. Dante couldn't believe what he was witnessing.

"Friend," Vergil said low and with grief.

"He said… 'I needed them for a friend' -sniff- 'I have a friend that needs help, but you wouldn't help me anyway," Vergil said with agony in his voice.

"Friend… friend… friend...FRIEND!" He then looked at Dante with a quick turn and shouted in pain, "HE CALLED ME HIS FRIEND!" and a few tears rolled out in his face.

"WHAT DID I DO?! BROTHER, PLEASE! TELL ME!" Vergil screamed in panic and confusion. "WHAT HAVE I DONE?! WHY HE WAS DOING ALL THAT TO ME?! I CAN'T UNDERSTAND!"

"Why do you think you didn't deserve that?" Dante nearly broke Vergil's sanity with that question.

Vergil suddenly got an empty look, as he never thought about that, he could only stutter trying to come up with an answer.

"T-T-That's not how it works… That never happened before… Y-Yo-you got to do something to receive such a thing… right?! RIGHT?!" Vergil was on the edge of freaking out.

Dante took a long breath, to not absorb his brother's messed up aura. He kept his voice calm and low for don't provoke him more: "No, bro… Kindness is not an award, it is a gift. The kid saw something in you and thought you deserved that… What was it? I don't know."

Vergil's face turned blank, he'd never thought like that before… the way he lived didn't let it anyway, he had no idea about why and how that happened with him.

"So… what did you do to help the child?" Dante asked rather calmly.

(Void)

"The kids were beating the shit out of me… but I didn't give up on trying to flee from them. I didn't want to fight, I just wanted to return to my… friend." Nero continued, his voice getting low while sadness was taking over him.

"I even tried to explain to them that I was doing that for someone that needed more than them, but that only made them madder…"

-a pause-

"I don't know where he came from, but Monster just suddenly jumped off in the middle of the orphanage's backyard. He roared so loud that he even let a huge blue fire column go out of his mouth. He came straight to the bullies and swinging only his right hand he tossed all of them away in a single move! POF! ...He then stayed over me as if he was trying to shield me or something."

"His wounds were bleeding all over again, he must have made a shit ton of strength to reach the orphanage."

"The other kids recognized him from that day… the oldest even shouted: 'I knew it you were a freak, but this is too much!' That only made Monster angrier, he wanted to go for the kill."

"He started to prepare another fire breath, but I couldn't let him do that. I jumped in front of him and shouted 'NO! Don't kill them! It will only make it worse for you!' hoping that he would understand me…"

"And that worked?" Nico asked nervously with the story.

"Yes," Nero responded. "He stopped at the same moment and looked at me very confused. I also could hear the adults screaming to call the Order's knights at the same moment."

"'You have to get out of here' I yelled. 'They will kill you!'"

"I don't think he understood what I meant at first because he suddenly grabbed me by my shirt's collar using his mouth and threw me on his back. He got away from the place very quickly into the woods, I don't know how he was able to stand the pain… he was going relatively fast… and when already far from the orphanage, he tripped on his own legs and arms."

"I was launched out of his back and surprisingly I didn't blacken out when I crashed over a tree. I got up in a rush and the moment I spotted him I saw he was all bleeding… all again, he was back to zero. He was whimpering in pain again, but even so, he was trying to get up."

"I ran to help him out, I didn't know how I would help him, but I went to try anyway."

(Hell)

"I don't remember exactly what happened… The next thing that's more clear in my memory is both of us in the woods. I was trying to get up, but my weakened body and the extreme pain weren't letting me." Vergil explained with a bit of confusion on his face.

"'You have to go! The Order's Knights will kill you!' he yelled at me"

"Hold up!" Dante interrupted. "’Order’? The Order of the Sword?!”

"Yes…" Vergil replied low and slow.

"You were in Fortuna?!” Dante yelled at him quite stunned.

"Yes… Don't ask me how…" Vergil said with a bit of embarrassment.

(Void)

"I was trying to make him get up… but like… he was countless times bigger than me," Nero said with a sarcastic smile.

"I was starting to hear the Knights' yelling and running around the woods looking for him. That only made me more nervous… The only thing I had in mind was: 'they will kill him'."

"Out of nowhere, blue light strips appeared around us and I could make one hell of strength to make him get up. And when I looked at my arms and hands… there were my spectral arms, helping him to stand and move away, they were rather proportional to his size."

"I thought out loud: 'What is this? Your magic?! Thanks! That's gonna help a lot!'"

"Wait!" Victor stopped the story. "Through years you thought your demon magic was a gift from him?"

Nero kept staring at Victor with a surprised, yet embarrassed face. "Oh, well… -scratches his head- I could only use my spectral arms while in contact with him…so..."

"Hmm… makes sense...I would also expect such thoughts from a six years old that grew up thinking it was a human… well, part human in this case." Victor said calmly.

"Sorry for interrupting, continue, please." He asked politely.

Already thinking about what was coming along the story, Nero was already getting nervous and more shaken once more.

The sadness in his voice we're getting apparently the more he spoke: "We ran… and ran… and ran… and like everything can get worse, it started to rain, at least it helped clean his wounds a little. It was so dark, but my 'magical arms' could illuminate the way. At some point, we were able to find a small cave. Monster's absurd size and disproportion nearly didn't let him get in, but he could lay down to rest."

"I could make my spectral arms disappear, but there were the blue strings there yet...They weren't making any illumination tho." Nero said it was a bit uncertain.

"That's because isn't something 'material', it's like...infrared and ultraviolet rays, and only demons and half-demons can see it," Victor explained. "although, it can be seen with special cameras," he added.

Immediately, Kyrie made a worrisome face and Nico looked at her scared as well. The lights that only she could see and apparently, Trish as well, was an actual demon thing and not demon-magic related. That would also explain why Nico couldn't see them. What could that mean? Haven't Kyrie only obtained demon magic but it also turned into one… or she was still turning? After Nero's case, she was the next one to talk with Victor but the feeling of uncertainty we're only making her anxious.

"Ah… that would explain how they didn't find us…" Nero continued, without noticing the girls' reaction. Unfortunately, Victor did and he was already preparing questions for them.

"When the rain stopped I went back to the first place I was taking care of him and got our stuff back. Monster had fainted from tiredness and only woke up the next day."

"I haven't returned to the orphanage either."

(Hell)

"I don't remember too much of how we got in that cave, but the kid didn't return to the city, it was the first time he passed the night with me," Vergil said.

"That night was also the first time I had dreams in a long time… but I don't think they were mine, they were memories from the kid…" Vergil then made a pause, he remembered the child's memories as if they were his.

Dante was getting nervous since he discovered that little kid was from Fortuna; he had a feeling that 'Baby' could actually be 'Nero' since he was aware about the Sync's traits and many of what his brother described matched with.

Vergil had let out a depressing sigh before continuing to speak: "I could see more clearly than before how his life was… It also reminded me of mine… loneliness, pain, and sorrow… But that child didn't have a special sword or demonic powers to take care of himself alone… he was dependent on people that didn't care about him."

(Void)

"When Monster woke up I was outside the cave, wondering what I would do about my little life… the people from the orphanage definitely wouldn't want me back and I was one hundred percent sure I wouldn't be adopted after what happened. I had nowhere to go." Nero said quite sad, his eyes were getting teary again.

(Hell)

"He was just sitting right in front of the cave entrance." Vergil continued. "The pain on my body had returned, I could barely move again."

"'What I will do?' he asked me. 'No one will ever adopt me now… not after they discovered I have a demon friend…' and he started to cry… it was a quiet cry."

"…and ...I still can't understand what happened to me... His painful crying made my heart hurt… psychologically hurt… not literally. I didn't want to see him like that… I knew how much that was painful…"

Dante made an embarrassed smile without his brother noticing; Vergil just had described a moment of empathy, a thing that a few minutes ago he had no idea even how it was called.

Dante then thought: "You have so much to learn about your humanity, bro…"

"He then turned to me and said, 'I don't want to come back…' his voice was more trembling than before." Vergil continued with sadness in his voice. "His face was a big distorted blur to me, but somehow I could identify his tears dripping down his face."

"I honestly didn't think rationally at that moment, I just wanted his welfare. That child… he's been doing so much for me without me saying a thing and for nothing in exchange… I couldn't leave him hanging in the wind like that."

Dante, even having an idea about what was coming, became so hyped to know what would happen next that he got very close to his brother, nearly starting to invade his personal space. Vergil didn't like all that proximity, but he hasn't complained… yet.

"I extended my right hand to him, inviting him to get closer to me, hoping that he would understand what I meant with that."

"He did?" Dante asked curiously.

"He hasn't understood the first few times I made the signal, he kept staring at me for a brief moment, until he said 'Do you want to adopt me?'" Vergil explained.

(Void)

Nero was already in tears without even finishing to tell that part of the story. He was sobbing and crying as if he was living that moment all again. He began to desperately try to stop crying and to clean his tears, Kyrie even got closer and handed a soft tissue to him.

"It's okay to cry, Nero. No need to be ashamed of your tears." Victor said in an attempt to tranquilize Nero.

"Yeah, man," Nico said worriedly. "No one will judge you, I promise."

Nero tried to take his breath back between many hiccups and sobbings in an attempt to regain his posture, but that was impossible, that moment was too shocking for him.

"H-He.. he.. -sob- He wanted me -sniff- he was the only o-one… tha-that… -sniff-  aaa-accepted me… that didn't see me as a… -sob sob- freak… a-a-a problem…-sniff sob sob-"

(Hell)

"I just waved my head confirming what he asked and he suddenly broke. He began to cry out loud like a newborn baby."

"sniff"

That "sniff" totally surprised Dante; Vergil was unexpectedly once again shaken and teary with the story. That kid surely meant a lot to him after everything they passed together.

"He came at me running for a hug… and kept crying like that for so long that he nearly lost his voice. He hugged me tight around my neck -sniff- as if I just had saved him from. death..."

Vergil stopped to take a breath and, surprisingly, he tried to clean a few tears. "And then... -sniff-...after that we began to live together… but I have no idea for how long… I just remember that he grew up a lot."

(Void)

"We then lived together for… six years…" Nero said between sobbings.

"He was my best friend… almost like a father… still… -sniff-... we had to take care of each other. But through the years his condition was getting better -sob- his body was getting more proportional and looking 'human-ish', he didn't have more pain like before… almost none to be more exact -sob- the pieces of the some short of armor he had started to fall off his body too."

"What do you mean?" Nico asked. "He was like… 'healing' or something?"

"I think?" Nero replied a bit confused as he scratched his head.

"Most of the time his actions weren't like a demon's, he mostly looked like a human in a demon body." Nero tried to explain.

"One day I asked him if he was a human once, he took a long time to answer, like five minutes almost, but he said 'yes'. Although… It took him hours to explain to me that he was half-human. He tried to explain other things but he couldn't because of his condition; he couldn't write or draw and much less speak. He gave up on the explanation and we never talked about it again."

"So, you never asked him how he was when human?" Victor asked with a bit of suspicion.

"No…I was waiting for him to speak and move better..." Nero answered quickly. "But I would be lying if I say I never tried to imagine…"

-a brief pause-

Nero giggled when he remembered about a silly thing.

"We.. we made up a 'special handshake' if he returned to be human when I wasn't looking…" he said with an embarrassed smile. "I never forgot how it was -sigh"

(Hell)

"It was very difficult to live around a demon-infested forest with a dependent child, a debilitated body and the Order of the Sword hunting us down," Vergil said sadly.

His face became sadder and more tears started to form as he continued to speak

"But he was someone I swore to myself I would protect", he said fiercely but still with a sad tone in the voice.

Vergil quickly cleaned his tears, expecting that his brother hadn't noticed them. But even sitting a bit behind him, Dante could tell by his movements what was happening.

"I tried to teach him what I knew of sword and fist fighting, fortunately whenever we touched each other and some kind of...lights...? I guess, appeared around us, I only had to think about the theory and he would learn right away, he just had to practice."

"While the time was passing I could feel Mundus' magic fading away veeeeeery slowly... as if I was being purified somehow. My body was getting back to normal, I wasn't feeling that much pain anymore, sometimes I even felt nothing wrong… but I was still a mess."

Dante dry swallowed a bit audible; that was more proof of Sync, a Parent and Child or Siblings of same parents exclusive stuff. A little brother of them the kid couldn't be, so the only possible conclusion was a child from Vergil.

Confused, Vergil turned back after hearing his brother's nervous noises. Dante couldn't hide his anxious face, that gave to Vergil a very suspicious feeling.

Dante then giggled nervously, "sorry, keep going…"

Vergil stared at him with skepticism, but he continued the story either way. "There were some moments I… I just wanted to hold him closer… comfort him with gentle strokes and give him kisses in the head."

He then wrapped his arms around his chest, like demonstrating a hug, while he made a face of joy and he said with a tender voice: "I wanted to tickle him to make him laugh… Play silly children activities like hide-and-seek…I wanted to read bed-time stories for him, cooking him food… and so many other things…sigh..."

His face was of pure happiness, that kid was very precious to him; thinking about the good times they passed together was one of the few ways for Vergil to be able to smile, a discreet but honest and pure smile of happiness.

Dante finally came to a concrete realization and interrupted Vergil: "You mean… The things mom used to do for us?" he asked, expecting a certain reaction.

Vergil stopped to think for a brief moment; his brother was right. Everything he wished to be able to do was everything he remembered what their mother did for them.

He turned to look at Dante, his face was of surprise, he never related the things like that before. It was when Dante knew that his brother had some parenting instincts and love hidden somewhere inside him. He just needed a chance to put them into practice.

But the problem was: what if Baby is Nero? Vergil had hurt the most precious person in his life for his "more-power-quest"? And how both parts would react when they discover they already knew each other?

Should he tell Vergil his thoughts? Tell him the deep details about Sync, since he seemed to not know them? Dante saw himself in a very complicated and delicate crossroads.

"I think...I understood why you called him 'baby'" Dante said calmly, trying to keep his anxiety away.

"Ahn?" Vergil blurted. "That was a misunderstanding, to be honest: a few days after I invited him to stay with me, he asked if I would give him a name. My debilitated mouth and tongue didn't let me speak a single comprehensive word. I tried to say 'maybe', but he understood 'baby', and no matter what I tried there was no way I could either speak or he understood me. So, we stuck with 'Baby'".

Dante surely wasn't expecting that; the disappointment had hit him like a truck, he was expecting something cute, something special… but no, it was just a misunderstanding.

"But… Why… "wanted"? You weren't able to do a single thing of that?" Dante asked, even already knowing the answer.

Vergil's joy quickly vanished, as if Dante just had stabbed him on his back. "How could I? In that state?! Even after all that time, we passed together, in the end, I could not even speak or see him clearly. The maximum I could do was hold him closer and nothing else."

They passed a few seconds in silence until Dante came with the worst question he could have done about that subject: "Well… what happened with the kid then?”

Vergil's soul left his body at that moment. Only to think about it made him visibly depressed. He started to stare at the void, his eyes had no shine anymore as if he just died that moment.

(Void)

"He used to teach me how to sword fight and also how to fight bare hands. I learned all the basics with him… although… I don't know how, but when that lights appeared, I used to instantly know about whatever he wanted to teach me." Nero explained, with a bit of confusion on his tone.

“Sometimes I had those… ‘de-sync breakdowns’… but being with him helped me endure the pain… I don’t know how that happened…but somehow it hurt him a bit as well. With time that stopped to happen and only came back a few weeks ago nowadays."

Now even Nico and Kyrie were with the feeling that Monster was in fact, Vergil. Everything Nero was describing matched with the description of Sync Victor gave to then early.

Nero giggled remembering every good moment he passed with his best friend. "When he was feeling good, we used to go to the city late at night and steal stuff. Clothes for me, food, cover sheets, and so on. Hehe. When he was in a good mood, rare times, we used to steal food from delivery guys, especially the ones from pizzerias. Or even watch TV from the windows of some houses… I could watch something, I don't know about him. I remember he loved to hear me reading books to him too… He always wanted to try to read them too, but he definitely couldn't because of his wounded eyes… - sigh."

"Why did you call him Monster?" Nico questioned, quite curious about.

"I don't know exactly, I just started to call him like that… Nowadays I think it's quite an ironic name… he only looked like a monster… but he was more human with me than every actual human I ever met…"

"He was so affectionate…" he said with a smile. "Not at the very beginning, he turned with time. He liked to hold me closer, especially during bedtime. He tried to do some gentle moves like… stroke or pat my head, but his size and lack of better control of his moments didn't let him do that so well…"

"... he even made up a clicking noise to pretend it was a kiss… sigh…"

"But… what happened to him?" Victor asked, taking off Nero's happiness from his face. That was the worst question someone could make about the monster.

Then, both Nero(at Void) and Vergil(at Hell) started to recall and talk about that fateful day:

Fortuna - back to 13 years ago - 04:00 AM

Baby and Monster were sneaking their way through the city, going in the direction of the port area.

Monster was wearing a dirty cloak, he was almost the size of a tall human by that time, although his large horns made a weird shape on the cloak’s hood. Since his body was almost proportional now, he was able to walk on his legs, only needing an improvised cane Baby made using hardwood to support himself standing.

Baby was at the end of his childhood, around twelve years old. He was wearing some humble clothing that he stole from a shop and on his backpack, also stolen, he was carrying the few material things they had. On his waist, it had a badly forged iron sword, a failed attempt to recreate a katana that he made among Monster.

When the Port got on sight, Baby whispered, "Finally! We need to get into one of those big commercial ships and we will finally get out of this hell.

They both went slow and silent through the darker areas of the place, contouring every lamp post and the one or two workers they spotted. Until they reached a medium-sized cargo ship; an uncommon kind of commerce ship that docks on Fortuna's Port bringing special products from the continent.

"Now we just need to get in thought the anchor" Baby whispered excitedly.

But before he gave the next step, Monster gently touched his shoulder calling his attention to him. Baby turned at him visibly confused but when he saw the gesture Monster was doing he understood what it was: he was calling him for a hug.

Baby could tell that his friend was trying to smile, Monster had to kneel to look at him eye to eye and his arms were stretched toward him, calling him closer.

Nero didn't get why that right now, but he didn't question, he went straight to the hug. They hugged tightly and tenderly and the time seemed to have stopped, they were enjoying every second of that comforting hug. Monster felt his heart warming, that feeling of seeing Baby happy was indescribable. While Baby was immeasurable happy about how much his friend got better.

They didn't want that moment to end, it was the first time they were able to do a decent hug, even if Monster's arms weren't totally recovered. Monster was even purring like a big cat for much of Baby's fun.

"Thank you...I love you Monster, you're my hero." Baby said from the bottom of his heart.

Those words were going to get stuck on Monster's mind forever, but it was him that wanted to say that most.

'No… you that saved me, my baby… I love you too' Monster thought. But he was so desperate to say such words that he tried to talk, unfortunately his vocal cords and tongue haven't healed enough and he could only mumble mostly random demonic noises and a syllable or two.

"it's okay…" Baby said when he noticed his friend's despair. "I can't wait for your mouth and neck to get better so we can have actual talks" he giggled.

"Let's go" he called him, gesturing for them to keep walking.

Once they were side by side with the anchor's huge chains, Baby said quite confidently:  "Are you rea-?" he suddenly was interrupted by a loud painful screaming from Monster.

When he turned, he couldn't believe his eyes, Monster got stabbed on his back by a silver sword that pierced through his chest. It wasn't the same sword type the Order's Knights used.

The sword slightly opened its blade in the middle like a jaw and quickly drained Monster's energy, making him scream in pain again.

"MONSTER!" Baby shouted with all his strength.

He sprinted to help his friend, but twenty or more Order's Knights jumped out from inside the crates that were closer to the ship.  

"The Order?! How?!" Baby yelled in panic. All those years living hidden from them, how they finally found the double?

The silver sword got out of Monster's body quickly; the fatigue caused by the energy drain made his -already unstable- body fall to the ground. Behind him, it had a woman in the Order's Knight uniform, the hood and low light were hiding her face and she was holding another sword, of the same look, on her other hand.

"Finally found you, you brainless beast," she muttered. "What's your problem in dying?"

Baby ran towards his friend's body on the cold metal floor of the dock, he was bleeding tremendously. He didn't have time to think about what that sword did to him. The moment he got closer Monster was still conscious, but he was weak once again.

Baby was on the edge of freak out: "No. No. No. No. No! You just got so much better! Why?!"

He tried to help him get up, but two Knights rapidly dragged him away from Monster. They quickly turned his hands to his back and wrapped his pulses together with a silver rope that had some strange runes written on it - immediately he felt his strength being drained and he kneeled tired as if he had just trained for the entire day.

"NO! Monster!" He shouted, feeling even his breath getting heavier.

Monster was feeling weak because of the energy drain, he felt the same tiredness he had years ago. But this time there wasn't pain aside from the stabbing on his chest, he could do that, he MUST and he WILL protect his child.

He started to concentrate strength on his arms to get up, his almost fully regenerated wings opened wide to intimidate the Knights, revealing his demonic body under the cloak, they also now had a blue glow inside that helped to illuminate just a little the place.

The woman with the pair of odd swords rolled her eyes before going straight to stab Monster's left hand against the floor. He didn’t scream but his face was of real pain.

She stabbed his hand so strong that the sword got stuck on the metal floor, with the strength he had left he couldn’t take his hand out of the place so quick and easy, dragging him into the beginning of insanity.

He roared scared, kinda telling Baby to run away.

Baby tried to untangle from the Knights' tight grips: He jumps and shakes his body, fighting to get free… But the ropes had cut off all of his strength and the Knights were being able to hold him like a normal kid. All that effort only made him more breathlessly.

Under all that stress he could only think: "What's going on with me?! If I don't do something they will kill him! He's not one hundred percent yet!”

Monster realized that Baby wouldn't get out on his own, he tried to get his hand out of the sword trapping, with no results. The only way would let the sword cut its way through his hand for he can get out, leaving his left hand useless for the moment.

"Spare me of this shit…" the woman said, annoyed by the attempts of the double to get out of that situation through the last minute.

"Listen, you piece of shit!" She called Monster's attention. "If you come with us in peace, we won't do anything with the kid."

She gets very close to him and whispers, for only him to hear it: "I know you can understand me… Nelo Angelo."

Her last two words made his blood boil.

Hear that name again triggered nightmares and traumas that he already had suppressed years ago thanks to his life with Baby.

Monster roared loudly and in despair, just for the fact that the woman had that information, she was surely dangerous and probably somehow knew Mundus.

He goes fully charged with his right arm at her, his claws ready to slaughter, but she could easily dodge by kneeling.

Monster barely could move his chest to turn around because of his stuck hand.

He threw his body forward, his mouth was wide open to get her.

Unfortunately, the woman was countless times faster than him.

He got close enough to take a piece out of her, but he had bitten the air. She did a high jump over his head and landed on his back, going down with everything she got and smacking his chest against the metal floor.

For some reason, she hated Monster and that could easily be seen in her vicious eyes.

With the other sword she had in her hands, she began a quick yet cruel multiple stabbing on his back.

The sword had not just pierced him, but it also drained his energy and magic at every stab.

Baby screamed in pain so loud that he almost lost his voice. Monster could do nothing either except shout in pain.

"STOP! STOOOOOOOP!" Baby screamed in panic and started to cry uncontrollably, that was the only thing he could do in that situation.

The woman jumped off from Monster's back, her sword dripping his blood as well her leggings and cape dirty with it as well. She took off the sword from his left hand and stabbed in his right hand, but he couldn't move anymore, he returned to zero all over again.

"WHY ARE YOU DOING THIS?! YOU ARE THE MONSTER HERE, YOU SCUM!" Baby shouted with his most honest anger and panic towards the unknown woman.

Baby couldn't see her face but could feel her stare at him. The pressure was immeasurable, but it hasn't shaken him anyway.

She made a hand signal to one of the Knights to let the kid go. At the moment they had taken off the rope from his pulses, he ran away towards his friend - his face was completely wet with his desperate tears.

"Monster! Monster please… no… you have to get out of here!" Baby cried in panic, trying to help him get up.

But he was so weak… again. He tried to give his arms some strength the maximum he could, but the energy-draining made that an impossible task.

The woman pulled Baby, holding on the neck collar of his jacket, with ease away from Monster.

Very close to losing his conscience, Monster kept trying to get up and even charge some magic to help Baby. Unfortunately, all of his efforts were useless, he was already out of battle.

Baby couldn't speak, he only could stare at the image of his best friend dying in front of him and he couldn't do a thing about it.

Mentally, Monster was in a total panic, his body and magic weren't responding to his commands anymore, but he kept trying to get up anyway.

"AAAAAH!"

Monster had a bad vision, but he could see and understand what happened right in front of him: Baby was stabbed in the chest by the woman and a few blood drops had fallen on Monster's face.

The sword then electrocuted him with a deadly high voltage: "AAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!"

Monster's heart and soul slowly started to die together with Baby.

"You two can't stay together, that's not how it's supposed to work," she told him drily and dreadfully while she threw Baby's dead body in the ocean.

Monster died inside together with the sound of the “splash” of Baby’s body in the water.

The Knights could easily chain him up and take him to a big vehicle, transporting him to the Order's Headquarters after that.

Through a few years, the Order used him and the pieces they found of his armor to create their Angelos. They thought they were draining his magic, although, somehow he managed to hold the most he could his own magic and he made them drain all of Mundus' corruption out of him.

That nearly had the cost of his life, but he was able to regain his full consciousness and "original form" at a high cost.

One day we faked his death and was able to flee from the facility in a killing spree. That happened a few weeks before the Fortuna incident.

Through the next years, he lived that moment of Baby's death over and over, corrupting him from inside out; making him realize once again how weak he was, that he didn't deserve a human life or either love. His human side was only responsible for his and his loved ones suffering and that he had to return for his search of power because of his weakness and this time… no matter what, even if that meant discarding a part of himself.

Meanwhile, Baby survived the stab of that day and found himself on a shore later, still at Fortuna.

He went to live around the outskirts of Fortuna for a long time, attacking and sometimes even killing by accident every Knight he spotted on the path between the city and the Order's headquarters. He questioned every single one of them about Monster, but none of them knew what he was talking about.

Until he attacked Credo, that had an idea about what he was looking for.

Credo and Kyrie's parents accepted Baby to live among them since he had white hair and some connection with demons, very similar to the description of the figure they worshipped: Sparda.

Unfortunately, a few weeks later they got killed by a demon, thus, bringing the "demon magnet curse" back to haunt Baby.

He then joined the Order with the only intention of getting good equipment and to get inside the HQ to look for Monster.

A few weeks before the incident with the Savior, Credo was able to bring for Baby, in secret, a copy of documents talking about Monster… only for him to discover that his best friend had died.

Void Realm - Pitch Black City: Back to the present

Kyrie had to finish the story from Nero's "death" in front since she knew it as well, all because Nero was sobbing and sniffing uncontrollably, his tears were too much for he could clean it and he was too shaken to be able to speak.

Nico never expected to feel so sorry for Nero, she was aware he had a tough life, but not that much… Victor was also feeling bad for him, but he had to tell him the truth, the only possible truth. What he didn’t expect was the reaction that was about to come.

They waited in silence nearly an hour for Nero to calm down, it was already very late in the night.

“Nero...” Victor started slowly, breaking the silence. “I don’t think Monster really died…”

Nero raised his head to look at him, he couldn’t understand how Victor got to that conclusion.

“Have you payed attention… on the things you described?” Victor continued calmly. “Be able to feel what the other is feeling… see memories… receive the knowledge from the other…”

Victor’s words weren’t clicking Nero’s memory, he was still a bit shaken with the story.

Noticing that, he decided to be more direct: “You described every characteristic of Sync”

Nero’s brain gears began to work again, Sync was a recent subject Victor explained to him: an exclusive ability of Siblings of the same parents and… Parent and Children exclusive thing.

“No! Wait!” Nero blurted confused. “Ar-Are you… Are you trying to tell me that Monster… - a pause- was Vergil?!”

“I’m sure about that,” Victor said quite seriously, staring at Nero’s eyes.

Nero immediately got up from the seat, scaring Kyrie that was closer to him. His face had changed so quickly as if someone had pressed a switch. He began to yell angrily at Victor for no apparent reason: “VERGIL ISN’T MONSTER! No way that cold-blooded motherfucker is Monster!” he screamed between tears, but this time tears of anger.

“Dude! Chill! What’s up?!” Nico yelled scared with his reaction.

“Why are you in denial?!” Victor questioned, keeping his calm and serious posture. “Can’t you see that everything you said described Sync perfectly?”

“NO!” Nero shouted angrily.

Kyrie could see some sparks starting to blink around Nero, but before she was able to say anything Victor went first: “Why then?!” he yelled confused.

Nero took a deep breath and concentrated all his anger and depression on his next words and tears: “I’M NOT THE BASTARD CHILD OF A DEMON!”

And immediately after those words of sorrow, he started to bleed through his eyes, nose and mount at an alarming quantity. He lost control of his body and fell off the ground, shaking so much as if he was having a convulsion.

Only Kyrie could see the mess of blue and red bolts circling around Nero: “Oh my God! He’s desyncing again!” she shouted scared and instinctively rushed to help him out.

“Kyrie! Wait!” Nico shouted, but it was too late.

The moment she touched him, purple and white energy strings came out of her and touched his energy streams. At exactly the same moment, his energies repealed hers away, sending Kyrie a few steps backward.

“Are you a demon?!” Victor shouted quite surprised. “Or a half demon?! - he quickly turned to Nico - “You said she was human!”

Hell - at same moment

The situation got quite awkward between Dante and Vergil.

Vergil was holding his feelings the maximum he could, he was even holding his breath to do so, his body was shaking of so much tension and a tear or other was going down his cheeks, his face was red of stress.

“Ah… That’s why you did that then…” Date said low, finally understanding what initially motivated his brother to go after the Qliporth and throw away his human half.

There was no way Vergil’s uneasy and tension could pass unnoticed. Dante started to feel sorry for his brother like he never thought he would; Vergil lost the most precious person in his entire life. Baby was his savior and he barely could do something to help him in return.

The way Vergil was holding himself made Dante recall how he felt that day; Yeah, that fateful day he couldn't hold Vergil to destroy his own life. That killing sensation of feeling useless and powerless. The thought of 'everything could be different IF...'

“Bro…” Dante said soft and low, trying to call Vergil’s attention. “Listen… even a Devil may cry when they lose a loved one.”

When Dante thought he couldn’t see his brother more shaken, the inevitable happened: Vergil couldn’t hold anymore, not after his brother’s last words; he started to sobbing and crying in grief. Baby's death was too painful for him: he hugged himself trying to endure the pain and he stuttered uncontrollably many incomprehensive words, he brought his legs closer and assumed a fetal position.

Dante got closer and in an attempt to comfort the desolated man he laid his left hand on his left shoulder. Vergil couldn’t resist and laid his head on his brother’s shoulder; he was crying and sobbing as if Baby just had died that moment and even being a silent crying, he was in pure pain. His chest and shoulders were giving small jumps because of his strong sobbing and hiccups, his lips and jaw were trembling as if he was shivering and his nose was very runny.

“I-I-It-t-t w-as just like… just like that day… - sob- just like… -sob sob- just like that day…! -hic hic!” Vergil cried. “I-I-I I couldn’t protect him! I WAS WEAK! t-t-THE SA-ME SHIiiiT-T! ALL OVER AGAIN! -sob sob... hic- aaaaahh...!”

Dante tried to stroke Vergil’s shoulder to comfort him more, it wasn’t helping that much, but he was trying. He had no idea what to do, he’d never been in a situation like that before. Now… should he tell his thoughts to him? He was more than certain now that Baby is Nero. But how would his brother react? That would help? Would it make it worse? There was only one way to know.

Dante waited for a long time in silence, for his brother to catch his breath back before he could say something again.

For several minutes, if not an hour, Vergil's crying was the only sound around, echoing in their hideout.

“Vergil… Do you remember… that thing… we used to be able to do it when we were kids?” Dante tried to start slow, touching the wound with a bit of care.

“Sob - W-What… - hic - thi-thing…?” Vergil asked, very lost.

Dante got a bit nervous, he didn’t want to go to the point so quick. “You know… that when we touched… we could see each other’s memories, learn what the other learned… and so on…”

“Sob- Th-That thi-ing... -hic- Rose was studying about us - sob - ?” Vergil tried to remember but it was a bit blurry at that moment. “Sob sob - that later I dis-dis-covered -hic- with Vi-Victor that it was… -sob- a demon thing?”

“Yeeeeaaaah…” Dante said a bit awkwardly.

There’s a moment of silence before Dante gets the courage to continue: “Sooo… Have Victor told you everything about that?”

“No -sob- why?” Vergil replied as he raised his head to look at his brother.

Dante let go of him and gave a small distance, afraid of his reaction.  “Well then… Victor explained to me… that’s a demon thing like you said… BUT it’s a thing… exclusive to siblings of the same parents… and...”

“And?!” Vergil started to notice Dante’s reluctancy on the subject.

“And a parent and children thing too… and a lot of you described about what used to happen between you and Baby matches with what Victor explained to me....” we said very slowly. “So… I’m afraid that… maybe... Baby…”

“NO!” Vergil understood very fast. “No no no no no no no no no no no! NO!”

“I’m afraid that maybe… Baby was your child all this time… He’s...Nero.” Dante finally said.

Vergil’s soul left his body and returned for a brief moment. Had he hurt Baby for real? Someone that only deserved love and care met his worst? His face became full of total despair and panic, he brought his hands to his head, pressing his fingers against his scalp. The more and more he recalled what he did wrong with Nero the thoughts started to storm his mind like a hurricane. Until he let all the panic concentrated on his gut explode away in a loud despair scream, that even called the attention of nearby demons.

Vergil began to freak out in tears, he was insanely crying in pain that he started to hurt his head with his nails, digging them on his scalp. Dante quickly grabbed him by his arms to hold him still, for he didn't get himself hurt in the middle of his panic.

“Bro! BROTHER!” Dante tried to call. “Easy Vergil!”

Between the heavy sobbing, he could split out a few words. “No no no! -sob sob-  I would ne-never -sob- hu-hu-hurt him! - Sob sob”

“You can’t blame yourself for that, man!” Dante attempted to help him get in control. “You thought he was dead, you saw him being killed in front of you and you didn’t know he was a hybrid like us!”

Vergil looked at him, a desperate face and eyes red of so much crying, but he was listening to his brother.

“If you explain to him what really happened I think he will understand.” Dante said, very worried with Vergil.

It was very hard for Vergil to believe that he would be forgiven for such doing, especially the arm literal take off. He couldn’t think clearly about that now, he was too worried that it was very likely he had hurt the most important person of his life.

By now, he laid his head on Dante’s shoulder once more and let go all the tears as possible.

Inside Vergil (figuratively)

The place was close to being dead for real, the sun was hidden behind very heavy dark clouds, the ground was totally dry and crackly and there was a small pool of water at the center of the place. A loud painful crying was echoing very high around that infinite desolated place.

It was V, crying uncontrollably as he stared at a very small dying flower, smaller than his fingers, with another one starting to blooming at the side. He got his arms, legs and neck chained to a dead tree stump in front of the pool that had scorched marks at the roots. Although the chains were heavy, he could move his members. He was wearing the same clothes as Vergil and his hair and facial hair was purely white now.

Urizen was sitting behind the stump, he was quiet, only listening to V’s painful crying.

V kneeled to the little flowers that were at his side, with the point of his fingers he gently touched the dying flower, and raised it a little.

“My little one.. -sob- my little little one…. - sob - I’m so sorry… -sob sob- I’m so sorry for having hurt you… - sob - my baby…!”

To be continued...

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico - The No. 1 Masseuse in the Universe

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~1.8k Rating: T’ish? Time Frame: Summer break of Maki’s 2nd year of high school and Nico’s 1st year of college. Story Arc: “Beach Reunion” Sunscreen The No. 1 Masseuse in the Universe

Author’s Note: This was originally intended to be about a 100 - 200 word addition to the end of Sunscreen, but I thought I might be able to build a full scene around it. So I did.

I’m also hoping my readers have seen the LL movie by now, as it’s referenced a little bit here.

And here she comes… Nico thought to herself as she spied a certain meddlesome purple haired girl heading in her direction. Ughn… that smug face of hers… Unfortunately, Nico was busy tending the grill as her part of preparing dinner for the group and thus had no means of escaping the teasing she knew was incoming.

“Ne~, Nicocchi~,” Nozomi drawled as she approached “I heard someone was having a bit of fun earlier.” She emphasized the word heard, accompanied by a wholly unnecessarily waggle of her eyebrows.

“Shut up, Nozomi.” Nico grumbled, trying to make it obvious she was focusing on the meat skewers in front of her.

But of course, someone like Nozomi would never just let something like this go. “You and Maki-chan seem to be getting along nicely as of late.” She continued. “I haven’t even heard much of your usual study session bickering. Are you two perhaps making some progress I should know about?”

“No.” Nico dismissed flatly. “And you know the reasons why.”

“I see, well, that’s too bad.” At least that part sounded sincere. “I still think you two would make a cute couple, and you know I’m here to support you however things go.”

“I know.” Nico nodded. “Say, what’s that behind your back?”

“Oh, Elicchi and I just prepared some fruit kebobs” Nozomi revealed the food “with the extra sticks and thought the No. 1 Grill Master in the Universe would be willing to cook them up.”

“Wow, those look amazing.” Nico marveled. “I mean,” she puffed out her chest with pride “of course Nico would be more than happy to reveal more of her mastery of the flame.” She clapped her tongs together a couple times for emphasis.

Nozomi giggled and started to place the kebobs onto the grate.

“Wait, not quite…” Nico snapped up one of the meat skewers and turned it for inspection “well, maybe it’s fine. Uhm, hand me that plate so I can put these on it.”

“Here you go.” The purple-haired girl did as instructed.

“And don’t be stealing any of these before putting them out on the table.” The raven-haired girl warned.

“I wouldn’t dream of it.”

“Uh-huh…”

Once the plate was full, Nozomi turned and began to walk away.

“So that was it?” Nico couldn’t help asking.

“Hmm?” The other girl paused and turned to look back over her shoulder.

“I mean…”

The Cheshire cat grin returned. “Don’t worry, Nicocchi, the cards told me something good will happen very soon.”

“Hrm… Hey! What did I say about taking…” Nico was about to chase after Nozomi when she remembered the freshly loaded fruit kebobs that now needed tending.

“Oh, Mama just messaged me” Maki announced, retrieving her phone as the credits began to roll for the movie the girls had just finished “she says she’s sorry for not remembering earlier, but the staff moved all of the futons to one of our other places for some retreat a friend of hers hosted last week and they haven’t been able to bring them back.”

“So, we can’t all sleep here like the other times?” Honoka asked.

“Well, we could.” The redhead acknowledged. “I’m sure there are enough blankets, but there are four bedrooms we could use if we don’t mind sharing.”

“So kinda like our New York trip?”

“Something like that, though each room only has one bed...”

“That’s fine! Umi-chan and Kotori-chan and I can share one.”

“The biggest guestroom is at the end of the hall.”

“Alright, let’s go to bed!” Honoka cheered, grabbing the arms of her two fellow third-years.

“H-Honoka…” Umi protested verbally, though didn’t appear to offer any appreciable resistance. “You had better not start snacking on chips the moment the lights go out.”

“That was just one time!” The orange-haired girl pouted.

“More like pretty much every time…”

“Don’t worry, Umi-chan,” Kotori chimed in “I’ll be sure to check her bag for any contraband.”

“Kotori-chan!” Honoka whined. “You two are mean.” Though despite her words, she continued to drag her friends up the stairs toward the room she had claimed for them.

“Rin and Kayo-chin are fine with the smallest bedroom.” Rin proclaimed next. “We’re used to sharing a bed these days, nya!” She pulled the other second-year into a one-armed hug.

“Rin-chan…” Hanayo murmured but didn’t disagree.

“Actually, the remaining two guest rooms are the same size.” Maki explained.

“You’re taking the master bedroom, Maki-chan?” Nozomi asked of the host.

“Of course, I thought that much was obvious.”

“Then Elicchi and I will take whichever room Rin-chan and Hanayo-chan don’t use.” She tossed a quick wink to Nico.

“See you all in the morning.” Eli said before yawning and following her girlfriend.

“So, that leaves…” Nico turned to the other remaining occupant of the living room.

“You can stay with me in the master bedroom.” Maki offered quietly. “If that’s alright with you, of course.”

If it’s alright? Nico thought to herself. Of course, it’s alright! This is how I wanted the room arrangements to be in New York!

But instead of giving voice to these thoughts, what came out of Nico’s mouth was “I suppose it can’t be helped. Nico will grace Maki’s bed with her presence tonight.”

“Or you can sleep on the couch.” The younger girl motioned to the mentioned sofa.

Nico giggled before striking a dramatic pose and held out her hand. “Lead the way to the master suite, Maki-ojou-sama.” She teased with the title she had heard used by the Nishikino household staff.

Maki rolled her eyes but took the older girl’s hand anyway as the two headed up the stairs.

“Ne, Nico-chan…”

“Mmm?” Nico looked up from the idol site she was browsing on her phone and took in a pleasing view.

Maki had just exited the bathroom, clad in her favorite purple pajamas with white stars and still drying her hair. She had insisted that since Nico was the guest that the older girl take the first turn in the tub and was now done with her own.

“About that offer of a massage…”

“Oh ho!” Nico couldn’t help feeling a bit giddy. As if sharing a room wasn’t enough to make her believe Nozomi’s prediction, this certainly solidified things. “Maki-chan is anxious to take advantage of the No. 1 Masseuse in the Universe’s skills already?”

“Just realized in the bath that I’m a little sore after everything we did today.” Maki admitted.

“Someone having a bit too much fun?” Nico happily added a sing-song tone to her voice.

“…” Maki puffed out a frustrated breath as she made her way toward the bed.

“Well, Nico is ready to provide the service, even if Maki-chan hasn’t paid for it yet.”

“You know I’m good for it.” Maki lay down on her stomach. “Besides, I’d probably end up helping you anyway, even without this; heck I’ve probably already paid for it several times over.”

“You sure you want to strike an attitude with someone about to give you a massage?”

Maki sighed. “No, you’re right. It’s just that cram school has been really stressful lately…”

“Yeah,” Nico said, getting up off the bed “I figured that when you upped your order from quad to quint.”

“Nico-chan?”

“Just getting you some water. I’ve read studies recently that say drinking before a massage may actually be better than after, as the water is already starting to work through your system when the toxins are released from the massage.”

“Hrm…”

“Trust me. Here.” Nico held out a bottle.

“Alright.” Maki accepted the water and drank a good portion of it before handing the remainder back. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.” Nico put the bottle on the nightstand.

“Anyway, this little vacation has honestly been the best break I could ask for…” Maki continued. “And… I’m happy you’re here with me for it.”

“Wouldn’t have it any other way.” Nico couldn’t help smiling at the unexpected, but by no means unappreciated honesty. “Nico always enjoys her time with her favoritest Maki-chan.”

Maki hummed an affirmative response.

“So, how thick are the walls here?”

“Hm?”

“Because…” Nico placed her hands on the other girl’s back. Immediately, she found one of the knots she had noticed earlier that day and pressed into it with her thumb.

“Ughn…” Maki pressed her face into the duvet.

“That’s why.”

“I’ll… be fine…”

“So you say…” Nico chuckled as the redhead was forced to muffle herself again.

As Nico found yet another knot, she wondered how hard she should work it. She had taught herself many advanced techniques over the years to help her mother deal with the stress of working multiple jobs, and nowadays to help a certain roommate deal with tensions stemming from things that made Nico jealous. As such, if she really put her weight into things, she could probably completely alleviate most of the smaller knots, if not a few of the larger ones as well.

However, it was almost time to turn in for the night and the group still had another day of fun planned as well as a long train ride back to Tokyo. She didn’t want to leave Maki too sore because as much as the tsundere’ish girl would deny it if confronted, she would want to participate in tomorrow’s activities. With this in mind, Nico decided to keep things on the lighter, more relaxing side. If Maki enjoyed the massage and its benefits, Nico could offer another one later that would leave the redhead unwilling to leave the couch the next day.

Of course, with that thought, Nico began imagining other things she could do to Maki that would leave her sprawled out on the bed, exhausted. For example, she could…

No. Nico shook her head. Focus. Now is very much not the time for that… We’re not even going out yet! … yet… She sighed with that last thought.

Having been lost in her own mind for so long, Nico suddenly realized that whatever conversation she had been holding with Maki had ceased, likely a while ago.

“Maki-chan?” Nico ventured quietly.

Silence.

Did she fall asleep? Nico smirked to herself before leaning over to confirm her suspicions. Sure enough, Maki’s eyes were closed and her breathing had slowed to a soft and steady rhythm. Good thing I had you drink beforehand. Nico glanced at the mostly empty bottle on the nightstand. Or else you’d really be sore in the morning.

Now Nico faced a dilemma, Should she wake Maki so she could get under the covers or find something else to use and let her sleep? Hrm… Nico eyed the closet door for a moment before getting off the bed to investigate. Thankfully, her suspicious proved correct as she located a small collection of folded blankets. As it was summer, she chose the lightest one and brought it back to the bed.

As Nico spread the blanket over Maki, she noted that it was not the right size for the humongous mattress and as such, it didn’t leave much room for her. She could, of course, just retrieve a second blanket, but… After a moment, Nico shrugged and slid in close to the other girl.

“Good night, Maki-chan.” Nico murmured as she pulled her share of the blanket over herself and closed her eyes.

Author’s Notes Continued in Followup Post

[nellie-elizabeth]

Grey's Anatomy: You'll Never Walk Alone (17x04)

Awww George! That was the best possible answer as to who was waiting for Meredith in the pseudo-afterlife. It was so amazing seeing him!

Cons:

I thought Maggie's boyfriend's thing with his dad was a little unrealistic in how blunt it was? Like, he saw his dad on a Zoom call and was immediately like "here is the major family drama that we have, let me explain it to the viewer and then sign off the call." It might have just been an issue of clunky writing.

Okay, Jo and Jackson... tread very, very lightly. I don't mind a good old fashioned friends with benefits situation, but that never seems to go the way we want it to, and I'm not about Jo/Jackson as an actual romantic pairing. This show has convinced me of weirder, but at the moment I just don't want them to pair up because they both happen to be single. Also, any storyline that touches on Jo healing from Alex just gives me visceral flashbacks to how stupid Alex's exit from the show truly was. It's hard to see past that.

Pros:

Okay, starting with a small thing, but I actually thought Nico and Levi's conversation was hilarious. I'm not aboard the ship for them anymore, after everything Nico put Levi through, but it's just occurred to me what the funniest and best way forward would be for them, if they keep this story going. What if Levi actually does a good job with boundaries, is totally emotionally over Nico, and really is just using him as a sex buddy, and then Nico catches overwhelming feelings and realizes how badly he screwed up? And Levi is just like... "nah, man. Thanks, but no thanks." I would watch the hell out of that. I just liked when Levi was like "I want to invite you over, but you and I were not good to each other and nothing's changed." And Nico's like "there's a global pandemic." And Levi's like "good point, let's go." It made me laugh.

While I have serious reservations about Jo and Jackson, I do think their friendship is really sweet, and I hope they continue to be able to lean on each other through the tough times. I'm all aboard the pandemic sex buddy agenda.

George and Meredith talking was so great! I loved how he described being dead, and not getting a choice, and regrets, and do regrets matter? It was so cute, when Meredith got all giggly, asking George if he haunted his mother sometimes. And George bringing up the way Meredith used to dance it out when she got stressed or sad. It was such a lovely callback to the earlier days of the show, the twisted sisters... I miss Cristina so much, I really do.

Giving the main character of the show Covid-19 makes a certain amount of sense from a dramatic perspective, but I was a little nervous going in that they were going to be disrespectful about it. It's still possible they could make some bad choices here, but so far I think the balance is working well. See, Meredith is hovering in this in-between place, and she gets to see Derek, she gets to see George, that's all well and good... but they aren't really implying that it's entirely Meredith's choice. This isn't some metaphysical decision about whether or not to live. She needs to have the will, but also, on the outside, she's sleeping all day and really sick, and her doctors and friends need to make medical decisions to save her life. If it's even possible.

Speaking of, I like the conflict we're setting up here with DeLuca, Teddy, and Richard all taking different roles in Meredith's healthcare. Obviously Andrew is pushing for a risky new trial, and Teddy backs him up, which seems to set Richard at ease... but it's still a big decision for him to make. If he puts her in the trial and she dies, will it be his fault? I loved the moment when we saw Richard come into the dream space with Meredith and George, that subtle blending of these two states of mind.

Amelia and Link for the win! I loved that Amelia lost her shit a little bit, but instead of devolving back into the Amelia of old, who would have totally spiraled and caused big drama, we got Link trying to be a good partner for her, and then telling her in no uncertain terms that he too needs support as he deals with the situation his own way, by not talking and processing, but by focusing on the good things and playing his damn guitar. Open communication for the win!

Poor Tom really cannot catch a break. If they kill him off in a "surprise, you thought Meredith was in danger but it's actually Tom" kind of way, I will be PISSED. The guy is acerbic, and kind of a jerk, but I honestly think he's a good person who tries his best, and he doesn't deserve the crap he's gone through. I'd love for some sort of hilarious reconciliation between Owen and Tom where they put aside their differences and become friends, and both leave Teddy behind in the dust. It's what she deserves, to be quite honest. In any case, I loved Helm and Tom talking about a zombie apocalypse game and doing simulations for COVID... I think this is based on a true story of something that happened in an MMORPG game, although I can't remember which one... probably WOW... it was used to test pandemic conditions.

Even though there was a bit of awkwardness in the writing, I still really love Maggie and her boyfriend. I like how chill and reasonable she's being about this, in a clear example of growth from... oh... all of Maggie's other plot threads! I hope that these two can stay together, and that their long distance relationship will continue to grow throughout the season. I think they're really cute!

I wasn't entirely sure what to think of Owen's racism plot at first, but ultimately I liked how it was portrayed, how you can't exactly hate Owen for making this mistake but at the same time, he needs to own his biases and do better. He says "there's no excuse" and then makes an excuse immediately... and Bailey calls him on it. Owen sucks and I don't like him, but I hope he learns from this mistake. I also liked the intern lady whose name I don't know, who wanted to talk to Owen about his mistake but couldn't figure out how to do it, and the fact that Nico did it for her, basically, telling Owen off in no uncertain terms. That was a good character beat for him.

As always, I feel fairly certain I'm missing someone. This show is just too huge, too many characters to juggle! For now, I'll end things there. This was a perfectly fine installment, it felt like filler for things to come, but I don't mind that! And we got to see George!

8/10

[eliza-writes-stuff]

Our Sweet Guardian Demon: Pilot Episode

Hey, guys! I have been working on this pilot for a few weeks now.

Now, for the fanfic, it will take me a few months. Our Sweet Guardian Demon will be released somewhere in the fall or early winter.

It’s strange that this idea came from “Imagine Your OT3″ XD

And as always, I hope ye enjoy!

Dogs barking, cats meowing, and parakeets tweeting their away. The pet store can be busy either way with people or animals in general. The phone vibrates in a man's pocket. His hand reaches for it and accepts the call. His other hand is scratching the dog's fur.

“Brian, do you need something?” The man in green apron asked. “I'm at work right now.”

“Yes, I know Brock, but can you stay over for the night?”

Brock hummed, “Why?”

“I know yer scared of this shit and don't want to get involved because my magick can hurt ye.” Brian ramble. There was some rustling in the background. “So, do ye, I don't focking know summon a demon with me?"

A demon? That is dangerous even for Brian's standard of black magick. Does he need to curse Evan again for coming over at his place without permission, but Brian isn't really angry at him. Did he got dared again on his group chat again? Brock thought he told him not to interact with them.

"Why do you need me?" Brock questioned. The dog barked next to him with curious puppy eyes. It laid down its head on Brock's lap.

"Yer the only one I can trust. Evan might touch me things without my goddamn permission and Nogla's a bit of a dumb-ass figure this shit out." Brian sighed. "I'm sorry ye don't want to do this and-"

"I'll join." Brock giggled at the stutters and 'whats' Brian said. "Just buy me lunch after this okay? Also, we better get out of this alive or I'll be stuck with you."

"Is that a bad thing?"

"Maybe."

Brian chuckled on the line, "I'll see you tonight Brocky."

When Brock's shift is over and he told Maxi watch over the shop tomorrow because he might be dead. Well, he left out the dead part. He says he has personal reasons. Maxi didn't pressure him and they were nice about it. They say that their sister and his two dogs, Oli and Nico  is coming over. Brock took an uber and tell the driver for the locations to the apartment.

The urban life is always bustling and chattering among the citizens. If he rolled down his window, there could be the smell of cooked processed fast food or baked chocolate chip cookies. At least the shops has a nice smell.

The uber driver came to an abrupt stop. There's the apartment building. Brock gave some money to the driver and gave him 5 stars since he didn't care about the rating. He got out of the car and hoisted up his backpack. This is it. His stomach sink, but his heart lighten up at the thought of Brian. He could protect him, right? Only one way to find out is to go in.

Brock pushed the glass door opened. The manager with pink hair is sitting down with his eyes seem to be always closed. The manager's expression light up and eyes slightly opened. When the glass door light out a creak. He gave a small wave to him and continue writing down. How can he see without his eyes opened? Never mind that. Brock has a date-hangout with Brian.

Both of them has to come out alive.

He stepped into the elevator and took a shaky breath. Maybe the ritual is a fluke. His trembling fingers pressed the buttons to go up on the fourth floor. The lobby was his view before it closes on him. Don’t chicken out now.

-

The candles are set up, the sigil is draw on the floor, and his other magic items are there. His hand wiped off the remaining sweat on his forehead. Thank god, Brian read the instructions. It has to work or it will be not worth it. He got out of the side room of his bedroom, which you should never have. Brian pulled out his phone and checks the text again.

~

Teh Terroriser: are u sure this would work?

Sarah: yes

Sarah: he’ll give you a special item that will reveal brock’s s/o

Sarah: but it’s for a price

Sarah: good luck :)

~

Brian knows he shouldn’t do this to reveal his friend’s secrets, but his friends tells him that Brock likes him back. No matter what they say, his brain denies, but his heart yearns. For years, he has considered practicing black magick as a hobby and finds it especially when it comes to pranking Nogla.

His hands gripped around his phone. Brian sighed and put his back in his pocket. A loud two time thud from his front door. It must be Brock. He ran from the bedroom to the front door and opened to see a small smile from a man.

“I thought you weren’t gonna join.” Brian said in disbelief.

Brock’s erupt into small, cute giggles, “Can’t let my friend die.” Brian lets him and hangs up his coat. “So, when we are summoning?”

“Either 2 or 3 in the morning.” He nervously laughed as Brock crossed his arms. “But in the meantime, wanna play Mario Kart 8?”

-

You had plenty of money in 1922.

A song from the jukebox softly plays throughout the tavern. Fairy lights almost covering the ceiling. A few folks chatting among themselves, either about rumors or sweet-talk. People had strange taste when it comes to alcohol. Vodka with orange juice? Now, you’re a true drunk toddler. At least there’s mineral water. A distinct smell came through the noses. Smoke. People aren’t allowed to smoke in the bar, so they had to take it outside. Strange.

You let other women make a fool of you.

Luke Patterson is the owner of Mystic Drinks. With his charming nature and sultry voice, it pleases the women and men. He’ll throw a smile, it swoons the ladies in the back. However, despite his seductive personality, you don’t want to leash the beast out of him. Well, he did in bed, but if someone ticked his long beard off. They’re either kick out or never be seen again. When Luke found the source of the smoking problem, he grabbed them by the collar. Kicking and yelling, people stared at the two. Finally, the door slams shut as the person got kicked. Luke’s eyes order to ignore it.

Why don’t you do right, like some other men do?

“That’s the third time you kicked out someone.” The man in glasses giggled.

Luke sighed and ruffled the man’s tied up bun. “Look I want to make a safe place for y’all and this is the thanks I get? People treat this like a dumpster fire Ohm.” Luke’s shoulders tensed, but calm when another bartender put his hands on it.

Get out of here and get me some money too?

“Don’t let that asshole get to you. He can take that nasty cigar and shove it up his ass.” The jiggly man retorted.

“Thanks Anthony.” 

Ohm enjoy his friends. Hearing Anthony laughed every time he makes a dumb, somewhat sexualised jokes. He knows Luke longer than Anthony. Some say they were friends with benefits, which it is true, but it’s over when Luke found a special someone, or two. They all became a couple, and they own a bar called Mystic Drinks. It’s a safe place for humans and creatures as well. Creatures, such as demons, wendigos, avains, lizard-folk, and dragons. Luke is a Lust demon, he and Anthony are Wrath demons, and Mini is an Envy demon.

“Hey, where’s Mini?”

“He got summoned.” Luke explained. “He said there’s this bitch who got jealous of this other bitch.” He let a breathy laugh, “Humans are so dumb.”

“Yep. I got summoned one time by this guy. He said ‘hey uh I want you to kill this asshole’ and I thought ‘you kill himself!” Anthony complained as he grabbed the mixer and shakes it. “Does it look like I’m your bitch?”

Ohm and Luke laughed at his story, “Sorry, but you and Mini are my bitches.” Luke put his arms around Anthony, but he shoved him off.

“Treat me first, you bottom bitch.” Then he pours the drinks in the blonde woman’s glass. Ohm laughed and takes a sip from his mineral water.

Humans meant nothing to demons. Just an object to toy around and maybe take souls from. At least a few souls because there’s an overpopulation going in the Nine Circles of Hell and they can’t handle more new souls coming to hell. What about humans who are satanist? They’re wannabes who thinks they know their emotions and what they’re going through. Some demons think it’s funny and plays along or can be their friend.

Why would Ohm be friends with a disgusting human? He gets a tug on his wrists, and he rolled down to see his sigil flashing.

“I have to go,” He sighed as he got up from his chair. “It was chatting with you guys.” Ohm walks away from the two and went outside. The guy who got kicked out because he was smoking. The man grumbled, but Ohm quickly snaps his fingers and the man is now in the trash can. He struggled while Ohm chuckles silently. He disappears from sight.

-

The red candles lit up and surrounds the circle. Inside of the circle is a sigil. The room faintly smells of raspberries. Brock and Brian sit crossed legged. The room doesn’t have any windows or one of those air vents. Not to mention it’s quite small. The phone glowed out the locked screen with the time of 3 in the morning.

“We got this set up, now what?” Brock asked. His eyes darting around the room.

“Now, we get to say the magic words.” Brian wiggled his fingers out, his friend giggle at the actions. He gives him a piece of paper. “This is what I’ll be saying and it’s not focking Latin. Thank god.”

“Wait, you’re doing this alone?”

“Well, yeah.” As much he wants Brock around, but he can’t join in because the demon might want something from him as well. He can’t risk it. “But ye get to drag me out in case shit backfires.”

“So basically I’m dragging your ass out of hell.”

“Yep.” He laughed. Then stares at the circle. It’s time. Brian took a deep breath and closed his eyes. 

“Lord Satan, by your grace, grant me, I pray thee the power to conceive in my mind and to execute that which I desire to do, the end which I would attain by thy help, O Mighty Satan, the one True God who livest and reignest forever and ever. I entreat thee to inspire Ohmwrecker to manifest before me that she may give me true and faithful answer, so that I may accomplish my desired end, provided that it is proper to his/her office. This I respectfully and humbly ask in Your Name, Lord Satan, may you deem me worthy, Father.” 

A few minutes and still is in the air. Brian took a shaky breath and opened his eyes. This has to work because all that black magick he learn has gone to waste in the dirt.

Within the circle, the sigil glows bright red. Little red candles fire up more and sways. Then spreads in the circle. Brock gasped while Brian is shocked in disbelief. It’s supposed to glow pink, not red. Did he mess up the sigil? Oh god, what kind of demon would it be?

Fire and smoke rose from the ground, causing the two to scoot back. Brian wrapped his arm around Brock. Smoke fades when a man wearing a white t-shirt. Red marks on his arms when he crossed. His eyes are covered by a blindfold with an omega symbol on it. The demon scowled on the cowering men. If you look at another angle, you could see a small bun near his neck.

“Jeez, you humans are so irresponsible. Don’t you know I can end you?” Despite his tense aura and vexation, his appearance alone is heating up the room. Literally, Brian cheeks rushed with flushed and it appears that Brock’s cheeks has become too. “Just tell me what is the problem?”

Be respectful and welcoming, “Ye see, I accidentally summoned ye-”

“Accidentally?” His voice booms and the room almost shakes. A small desk in the corner almost felled.

“I wasn’t supposed to summon ye! I was trying to summon another demon. I must’ve got the sigil wrong or said the name wrong.” Brian explained. His sweat soaked his forehead and armpits. Surprised, it didn’t stink.

The demon clenched his nose before pointing fingers at Brian, “At least I know you waste my precious time and pissed me off even more.” He gives a low chuckle. “I supposed you deserve to be perish.” He raised his hand as Brian stands up to floating above his toes. Before the demon could grab his collar, Brock stands between them. “Mortal human get away or you’ll end up like your pathetic friend.”

“I could do that, but aren’t we supposed to make a deal?” Brian could almost hear his friend’s heart beat getting louder. “How about we find something you greatly desire: money, food, or heck even animals. Just don’t kill Brian please.” Brock begged, his voice wavering. Before you know it, Brian dropped onto the ground. He scrambled up to his feet and quickly hold his hand.

“Anything?” The demon rubbed his imaginary beard. “Fine. In order to save your soul, you must find a certain group of people and when you do. Kill them.” a shiver ran through their spine. “No matter depending on your morals or alignment, you still have to kill them. Including you cutie.” he points at Brock.

“You can’t do that! Don’t involve Brock into this bullshit. This is between me and you, ye cu-”

“Brian.” Brock gave a soft smile, “Please, you created this mess and I’m always the one who has to clean it up. You did promise to buy me lunch.”

 “Enough with the sappy talk. I have to make sure the both of you won’t try and escape.” With the snap of his fingers, visible chains on Brian’s right wrist and Brock’s left wrist. It’s connected to the demon’s wrist. “It’s better that way.”

“Sorry, but can you please tell us your name?”

“I’m quite sure ‘Brian’ knows who I am, but I let it pass since you do have a good soul.” Before he could introduce himself, he kinda stop. He seems to be his thoughts while glancing at two, but shake his head. “I am known as Ohmwrecker, but my companions call me Ohm.”

[marquis1305]

Touch

A little pick me up for @hoehoehoelt regarding Nico Mahariel and Kaili Tabris, featuring Aya Tabris, in the role of big brother, Percy Surana, in the role of confused innocent, and Kellen Cousland, in the role of free cuddles. 

This came to life after we discussed jealousy and misunderstandings.

Enjoy.

There were only so many spots near to the fire for sitting, before people started to feel a little crowded. The campsites they choose were never exactly spacious, with just enough room for the wardens and their witchy companion to not be laying directly on top of each other, while not being completely obvious to anyone passing down a road that they were there. The wolf and Mabari never quite minded where they ended up.

Though, none of the wardens were against fighting for a spot when the time came.  

So Kaili had found another solution, taking up residence in Kellen's lap. The human never much seemed to mind, often wrapping his arms around her whenever she chose to curl closer. From her seat, she would watch Aya's amused smirks, Percy's confusion, and Nico's annoyed glares. It also had the added benefit of allowing her heat from both the fire and the man.

She and Kellen had never defined the thing between them, neither had needed to.  

Tonight, she was curled up in his lap, head resting against Kellen's chest. He had been drawing designs on her back with the tip of his forefinger, occasionally soliciting a shudder from the ticklish sensation.  The two were listening to the others plot out the final leg of their trip to Lothering, doing their best to withhold snarky commentary.  

It wasn't until they mentioned possibly splitting the group that Kaili spoke up.

"So, does this mean we get to choose our travel partners? Because if we do-"

"You choose Kel, we know," Nico nearly snarled the words, making Kaili shift her gaze directly to him.  

"As much as I enjoy his dear company," she lifted a hand to pat Kel's cheek, soliciting a chuckle from the human. "I was going to suggest that we keep to pairs of short and long range. And I was going to ask you, but if you would rather I stick to Kel, I'm more than happy to. Less likely to have a mob come chasing after us that way."

"You two as a team would be the only reason there would be an angry mob,"  Aya teased from his seat across the fire.  

"Your brother might be right Kaili," Percy said, smile as bright as always, despite the inner shudder at the thought of the chaos the two thieves could cause.  

"So then, back to my original idea. Aya and Kel; Percy and Alistair, and Morrigan if she wishes to join in; and then Nico and I."

"You would rather partner with me?" She could feel the suspicion behind his glare. Rolling her eyes, Kaili knocks her head against Kel's chest. Then pushes herself up to stand. Crossing her arms as she meets Nico's stare.  

"I trust your aim more than Aya's, and you are far less likely to let me get myself into trouble. Plus, other than Kel, I'm the only one I trust to barter for the pelts you got us back in Ostagar. No offense Aya."

"None taken, you drive a harder bargain than I do." "I know"

Nico hesitated, his gaze flitting over to the still lounging Kellen. Then focusing back on Kaili, face nearly unreadable. "Very well. We split into groups of two, one ranged, one close. Falon and Barkspawn can stay with Morrigan to guard the camp. I don't believe we should be in Lothering for long."

"Perfect, now..." Kaili stalked back over to Kellen, and crawled back into his lap with a vengeance. Forcefully taking his hand and putting it back on her back. Closing her eyes and doing her best to drown out any further conversation. Allowing herself to drift off to sleep while feeling safe and warm.

When she woke the next morning, it was on top of her own bed roll. Fist clenched around the dagger hidden beneath her pillow. Kel or Aya must have placed it there when they put her to sleep, she didn't remember having hidden it the night before.  

Her first sight was Nico was scowling as he stirred the pot nestled in the fire. Quickly taking in her surroundings, Kaili realized that the others must have left already.  

"Took you long enough to wake. I would have had us up at dawn, but Aya warned against me waking you."

"I still don't know if I am actually awake," she grumbled, rolling off the bedding to slump her way over to him. Sitting on the ground directly beside him. "Is there coffee or tea or something I can chew on to fix said problem?"

"Unfortunately, not, and I had to shoo Alistair away from your portion of the porridge."

"My hero," the words were half lost in a yawn as her head thuds against his shoulder. Not catching onto the sudden tension that rippled through his body.  

"Kaili," his voice grits out through clenched teeth.

"Hmmm?"

"I am not Kell."

"I know you aren't, you are too elfy to be Kel." She let loose a giggle at the words. Then took a deep breath, trying to force her mental facilities to catch up with where this conversation seemed to be going.  

"I doubt he would be pleased that you are so close to me," Kaili couldn't tell, but she thought that Nico sounded sullen. She peeped open an eye to peer at him. Then pulled away slowly.  

"I don't know why it would matter?" She was genuinely confused at this point. Taking in his scowling features, Kaili reached out to touch Nico's shoulder.

"Of course, you don't. There are many things that don't seem to matter to you," this time, there was no mistaking the tone of Nico's voice. The venom that dripped from his words.  

"Nico-"

"No, Kaili. I don't want to hear it. Does he know about the ring? The dress? Or have you tossed those to the side now that you have a new distraction."

A sudden pain bloomed on Nico's face, where Kaili's hand had connected with it. Blood welling in the cut where the metal of her ring had made contact.

"Don't you dare Mahariel," she hissed the words, hand pulled back again for another strike should he continue. "I owe no explanation for my past before the Wardens, to anyone, and I certainly don't see you jumping forward with your own life story. We all have secrets, even Percy. But don't you dare imply that I have forgotten what brought me here."

"And yet no one but you and Kell are quite so eager to bury your past with new pleasures," he pauses, swallowing hard enough that Kaili can catch the movement of his adam's apple. "I would not have been quite so forward in the clearing had I known that you were so free with your affections. I had thought-"

"What? What more could you possibly think of me?" Kaili stands, quickly stalking over to her gear. Throwing it into her pack without care for how it settled. "No Nico, I don't believe you need to think anything else of me. I'm heading into town, stay here, go, do whatever you want. I want nothing more from you."  

Throwing the straps of the pack onto her shoulders, she takes off as quickly as she can. Leaving Nico behind without another glance.  

She took one of the hunter's trails into Lothering, doing her best to avoid the main road. She didn't want to run into the others.

Not if it meant explaining why she had fresh tear tracks running down her face.  

It wasn't until she reached the edge of the town that she realized that Nico had had all of the pelts and teeth that she had intended to sell.  

"Well, shit."

Kaili stood there for half a minute, staring at the movement in the refugee camp. Then decided to go straight to the tavern. A few drinks, some rifling through locked rooms, and maybe the company of anyone except for a certain Dalish elf sounded like exactly what she needed to shake off her mood.  

After asking directions from a few of the citizens of Lothering, and ducking around the corner when she saw a very concerned looking Percy, it didn't take long to find the only tavern in the town. She ignored the warnings of those loitering outside that the place was full up with soldiers. Those types had never much bothered her, not after spending so much time either avoiding them in the alienage, or flirting with them while waiting for Aya at the Pearl. Kaili figured that she could handle whatever came at her.  

She wasn't expecting an entire unit of Loghain's soldiers with a wanted posted calling for her head. And the heads of any other grey wardens in the area. And that they were checking any and all refugees for those who might fit known warden descriptions.  

"Didn't we spend all morning asking about a woman by this very description? And everyone had said they hadn't seen her?"

"Boys, look. Do I honestly look anything like the type one would expect a Grey Warden to be?" She stood with her hands held out wide, showing that she had no weapons drawn.  

"Don't know, I heard that the wardens took all sorts. Even small little knife ear sluts like you," one of the warriors sneered at her. The others leering as they closed in on what appeared to be easy prey. It didn't take long for Kaili to realize exactly how badly they outnumbered her.  

Having the random cloister sister try to intervene on her behalf wasn't exactly helping either. Even if she did seem to mean well. Kaili took the distraction as a chance to pull her blades, the left one held loosely as she also palmed a small frost bomb.  

"She's more than that, even if she doesn't look much. Now stay out of our way, Sister. You protect this bi-"

The man seemed to struggle finishing his sentence when the arrow lodged in his throat. Kaili risked a glance towards the door.  

It took every ounce of willpower not to sigh with relief when she saw Nico, looking every inch the proud Dalish Hunter. Bow already drawn and looking for it's next target.  

"Nico, right!" Kaili threw her bomb at the men on the left, lunging to push the Cloister sister out of the way.  

Now was not the time to deal with that one.  

She plunged into her blood lust, letting the adrenaline wash over her as she felt her blades cut deep into each of her targets. She focused on the two in front of her, crippled as they were by her bomb, they seemed the lesser threats. Allowing Nico the space he needed to time his shots. She trusted him to keep them off her back, dodging as a new blade entered the fray.

Attached to the same Sister she had just pushed out of the way. "Where in the Maker's name did you learn how to fight?"

"Not every sister grew up in the Chantry, my dear."

"Yeah, well, just.... try not to stab me while you swing that around. Nico! Don't hit the pretty one, she's on our side."

"As you say."

More warriors joined the fray. Kaili clashing with two of them, her blades whirling around her in a deadly dance. Arrows singing as they fly past her, burying into men before they became threats.  

When the last man fell, she spun to face the Dalish elf. And saw her brother and Kellan running up to join him. The latter causing the small smile that had been on Nico's face to fall.

"I see you decided to start the party without us Kaili." Kell raised an eyebrow at the mess of bodies littering the tavern floor.

"What can I say, you know I can never turn down a dance."

Kaili caught the way that particular phrase made Nico sneer.  

"You should have saved one for me then," Kell jogged towards her, but Kaili took a step back. Holding up a single hand, letting her eyes gesture towards Nico. Kell raised an eyebrow, but nodded once. They would talk later, he understood.  

Just as Nico was turning to leave, Kaili called out. "Hey, Mahariel. You still have the furs to trade?"

"I do."

"Good, then we can let Aya and Kell speak with our pretty friend in the chantry clothes. While you and I can take care of business."

"Very well."

She caught Aya's hand on her way out, squeezing it briefly for support, before following Nico outside the tavern. Over towards the cart they hoped was a good place to sell supplies.  

"You came after me," she said it as nonchalantly as she could manage, though curious.

"I did."

"After..."

"We argued Kaili. I obviously said something that hurt you, based on what I hope was a misunderstanding. That does not mean that I would not do my duty, nor that I would let you run off without protection."

"It was," she huffs a small laugh. "A misunderstanding. I think. Kell and I... it's nothing. We play, and flirt, and need physical touch more than the rest of you. So we get it from each other. He recognized it in me. That we do the same thing. We don't go quiet like you. Or smile like Percy. Hell, even Aya talks more about real life stuff. Me and Kell, we hide it behind the laughs and touches. It comforts us. Makes things a little bit easier. I know that before, in the water..."

"You don't need to explain yourself. I offered comfort, I should not have expected anything in return."

"Nico."

"No."

She fell silent. This wasn't the time to try argue this. Not when she wasn't sure about what she wanted the answer to be. All she knew, is that she didn't want him to think what he had been. That she didn't care. Or that she was willing to throw herself into the first willing bed.

She might tease about it, but she was no where near ready for anything more than what Kellan had offered her. Open arms and no questions.

The feeling of a warm hand slipping into hers brought her quickly out of her thoughts. She looked down quickly, to see Nico's fingers entwining with hers.  

A glace up showed that his face had not changed from it's usual brood.  

Kaili couldn't help but smile.

[mexhunter976]

Dwight's Second Life

Dwight Second Life

Dwight's Name In Second Life

Dwight Schrute Second Life Quote

Dwight's Second Life Episode

Everyone's favorite workplace comedy, The Office, is now on Peacock! Watch the mockumentary sitcom about the everyday lives of the workers at Dunder Mifflin, a paper company in Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Second Life is an online virtual world, developed and owned by the San Francisco-based firm Linden Lab and launched on June 23, 2003. It saw rapid growth for some years and in 2013 it had approximately one million regular users; growth stabilized and by the end of 2017 active user count had declined to 'between 800,000 and 900,000'. In many ways, Second Life is similar to massively multiplayer. Describes Second Life,1 an online virtual community.2 Dwight explains that he “signed up for Second Life about a year ago” because “back then, his life was so great he literally wanted a second one. Absolutely everything in Dwight’s Second Life was the same. Except in Second Life, Dwight could fly.”3. Dwight also acts as the Lancer for Gail in her leadership of the Old Town girls. Gail's more vengeful and murderous than Dwight's strategic approach, but Gail's unquestionably in charge and Dwight doesn't forget it for a moment. Woody plays this role against his friend Eric in Quantum and Woody. In Runaways Nico was originally this to Alex. Second Life is always wonderful, sometimes weird, and 100% wow-worthy. Explore Now Remote Meetings Redefined Make meetings fun again with virtual hangout spaces, classes and conferences. For over a decade, leading companies and educators have trusted Second Life for branded social spaces for events and remote meetings.

Second Life is not a game: it is a multi-user virtual environment. It doesn't have points, or scores, or winners, or losers.

'Oh, it has losers,' our somewhat geeky hero Jim states, watching his co-worker and erstwhile beet farmer Dwight play Second Life. The Office has also prominently featured Call of Duty in a past episode, so having the sitcom wander into the world of gaming isn't a big surprise. While the appearance of Second Life may seem random in last night's episode, if you think about it, the story is pretty sad.

Dwight just lost his girlfriend after mercy-killing her cat Sprinkles, and now has to watch one of his co-workers put the moves on her. When this all gets too much to handle, he retreats into Second Life, where his name is Dwight Shelford, his job is selling paper, but he can fly. It's like role-playing yourself with one notable super-power.

It's a game reference that's in-character, makes sense, and is also strangely bitter-sweet. This is yet more evidence that Second Life is the lamest game with the absolute best PR team.

Frank's Thoughts

As though I didn't love The Office enough as it is, the nods to the gaming world are much appreciated. I'm glad to see the show tackle games that aren't necessarily the 'obvious' choices: god forbid World of Warcraft makes an appearance. I will say this, though: not having hour-long episodes every week makes me sadface.

By/July 8, 2019 5:43 pm EDT

The Office may have shut its doors in 2013, but Rainn Wilson's hilarious portrayal of Assistant (to the) Regional Manager Dwight K. Schrute remains a part of the pop culture consciousness. After all, Dwight is a hard-hearted geek, a wannabe martial artist, a neo-fascist salesman, and an absolute lapdog to Regional Manager Michael Scott, and Wilson's performance created one of the most well-loved misanthropes in TV history.

Initially based on Gareth Keenan (Mackenzie Crook) of the original UK version of The Office, Schrute went on to become his own unique freak. He's the kind of guy who distrusts everyone but Michael, yet he's willing to believe faxes from Jim Halpert claiming to be Dwight from the future. He's loud, intense, and a hilarious collection of complex contradictions that combined to make one of television's most memorable dunces. However, even though Dunder Mifflin might have closed down a while ago, there's still a lot you might not know about the owner of Schrute Farms. From who almost played the character to the ways art wound up imitating life, here's the untold truth of Dwight Schrute.

Dwight Schrute could've been Seth Rogen

Dwight Schrute and Rainn Wilson seem as inseparable as beets, bears, and Battlestar Galactica. As difficult as it is to imagine anyone other than Wilson playing Dunder Mifflin Scranton's fire safety chief, it's utterly impossible to contemplate what would've happened if one famous comedian who auditioned for the role had actually gotten it.

In 2013, the final season of The Office was released on DVD, and included in the extras is a short video revealing some of the actors who auditioned for the series. Among other noteworthy surprises, Bob Odenkirk of Better Call Saul fame auditioned for the role of Michael Scott, Kathryn Han tried out for Pam, both John Cho and Adam Scott took a crack at Jim Halpert. But perhaps most surprising of all is that Seth Rogen tried his best to land the part of Dwight Schrute.

We don't see much of Rogen in the clip. He talks about the benefits of cleaning someone's wounds with urine, and then the video moves on to Odenkirk doing Michael Scott. But what we do see of Rogen makes it clear he wouldn't have been within a galaxy of the same character Wilson gave us. Reading the same line, Dwight would be obnoxious and condescending, speaking as if he were delivering the lesson to a child. Rogen seems absolutely likable, not very bright, and not at all Schrutish — kind of like Kevin the accountant if he knew a few more factoids and was awake for more of the day.

Rainn Wilson wanted to be the regional manager

Throughout the course of The Office, Dwight Schrute both worships Michael Scott and has ambitions for his office. And in one of the many ways in which life imitates art, Rainn Wilson didn't initially audition for the role of assistant (to the) regional manager. He wanted to be the big dog himself.

Much like Bob Odenkirk, Wilson went into his audition taking aim at the role of everybody's favorite regional manager, Michael Scott. Alas, it wasn't to be, possibly because, as Wilson puts it, his audition amounted to a 'terrible (Ricky) Gervais impersonation.'

Considering how amazing Wilson is as Schrute, as well as Steve Carell's success as the equally clueless Michael Scott, it's probably for the best. It might be interesting to take a peek in the alternate reality where Wilson got cast as Michael Scott, but it's not interesting enough to stay there. Although, we'd definitely love to hear that Gervais impression.

Both Dwight Schrute and Rainn Wilson have the strength of a little baby

When Michael Scott calls his employees into the conference room for an impromptu group therapy session in season three's 'Grief Counseling,' Dwight Schrute tells one of the most insane stories to ever come out of his face. While most of the office is tight-lipped, Dwight volunteers a grotesque tale about his birth. He claims he shared his mother's uterus with a twin, but that he 'resorbed' his counterpart, effectively killing it. Schrute says he doesn't regret the in utero murder because it gifted him with the superhuman 'strength of a grown man and a little baby.'

It doesn't seem coincidental then, that Rainn Wilson takes the first five paragraphs of his 2016 memoir The Bassoon King to describe the 'doughy giganticness' of his head at birth. The first line of the book reads, 'I had the biggest, fattest head of any baby that was ever born into the human species.' He describes his infant dome as a 'white, bloated, Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade head,' says he looked like 'Louie Anderson with the head of E.T.,' and describes his younger self as a 'Jabba the Hutt-like infant that sounds like a calf being strangled by an octopus.'

It doesn't seem like a huge leap to imagine Wilson has a few issues with his family's baby photos, and that those issues were possibly reflected in his character's story about 'resorbing' his twin like a tiny cannibal.

Dwight Schrute almost took us to The Farm

In January 2012, Deadlinereported NBC was considering an Office spin-off with Rainn Wilson starring as Dwight Schrute. The Farm would've been a family comedy in a setting Office fans had grown familiar with over the years: Schrute Farms. Among others, the series would have featured Matt Jones (a.k.a. Badger from Breaking Bad) as Dwight's cousin Zeke, veteran character actor Tom Bower as Dwight's Nazi Uncle Heinrich, Thomas Middleditch of Silicon Valley fame as Dwight's Bigfoot-hunting brother Jeb, and Venezuelan-born Majandra Delfino as Dwight's sister Fannie. Of course, Michael Schur would reprise his role as Dwight's creepy, neck-bearded cousin Mose.

For better or worse, The Farm wasn't meant to be. In October 2012, Wilson tweeted the news that NBC had passed on the series, although he'd 'had a blast making the pilot.' The pilot for The Farm was then recut as a single Office episode in the show's final season. But would that story have worked as a full-fledged series? It's hard to say, but Vulture writer Matt Schimkowitz notes that Dwight's popularity came mainly from him acting as an antagonist to Jim Halpert. Making him the lead in a comedy series about a disjointed family that he's expected to bring together changes Dwight's role dramatically to 'the likable hero we've never seen.' In other words, maybe it's best that we never visited The Farm.

Dwight Second Life

Schrute Farms is real.. sort of

When Dwight lures Ryan to his farm in season three's 'The Initiation,' it's little more than a beet farm where teens like to hook up. But by the time Jim and Pam visit in season four's 'Money,' Schrute Farms has been transformed into a bed and breakfast. In spite of a slight overabundance of manure-related activities, Pam and Jim leave a glowing review for Schrute Farms on TripAdvisor. We're led to believe this is mostly because the couple feels sorry for Dwight after being subjected to the loud, sorrowful moans he falls asleep making every night since his split with Angela.

If you're an Office fan this is all old news to you. But what you may not know is that while The Office is over and The Farm never got to materialize, TripAdvisor has made Schrute Farms a reality. Sort of.

That's right. TripAdvisor maintains a page for Schrute Farms, listed as a bed and breakfast in Honesdale, PA. Apparently, you can actually book a stay there, though, we have no idea where you go if you bother doing that. The farm currently has over 1100 reviews giving it a rating of 4.0 or 'very good.' Some of the more recent reviews include 'visitors' calling the farm's beets 'Elvis in plant form,' praising Dwight's power drink 'made from beet runoff,' and happily proclaiming, 'I couldn't have been more satisfied (that's what she said) with my stay.'

Schrute Space

From his obsession with having a second Second Life to his epic sales struggle with a (supposedly) self-aware A.I., Dwight is well-known for some of his online shenanigans. What you might not know is that Rainn Wilson used to maintain a blog in Dwight's voice. Unfortunately, it doesn't exist anymore, but NBC used to host Schrute Space, which let fans read Dwight's thoughts on different Scranton radio stations or his invaluable martial arts tips. While NBC eventually opened the blog up to the masses, it started as something that existed exclusively on the set of The Office.

The computers on The Office https://mexhunter976.tumblr.com/post/658079246720368640/go-to-spotify. 's set were networked together, and Wilson would write the Dwight-voiced blog while scenes were being the filmed so the rest of the cast could enjoy it. Wilson told The Morning Callthat during the filming of the pilot episode, 'The producers saw (the blog) when they walked by and thought it was funny.' A few emails later between NBC and Wilson, and Schrute Space was born. Now, if only NBC would bring it back, the world would be a better place.

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Dwight Schrute was almost assistant to the president

Over a decade ago, Senator John McCain — then the Republican candidate for the United States presidency — appeared on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart. When asked if he'd picked a running mate, McCain apparently didn't remember the character's name, but the senator joked his vice presidential pick would be 'that guy from The Office.' Host Jon Stewart clarified for viewers, 'You heard it here first, Dwight Schrute.'

About a week later, Dwight Schrute responded. Appearing as a guest on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno, Rainn Wilson read from a list addressed to McCain. Schrute agreed to be McCain's running mate, but only if his demands were met. The demands included a flamethrower, an Iron Man suit, government research into beets as an alternate fuel source, and the right to use Air Force One whenever he wanted (with the added note that, while he piloted Air Force One, he was only to be referred to as 'Iceman').

Dwight's Name In Second Life

Obviously, it was all just a joke, so we never got to see Dwight retool Mussolini speeches for press conferences at the White House Rose Garden. It's regretful not only because of the lost comedic potential, but considering who McCain ultimately chose as a genuine running mate, it isn't like Dwight could've done any worse.

The Bassoon King

In 2016, Rainn Wilson's memoir The Bassoon King: Art, Idiocy, and Other Assorted Tales from the Band Room was released, and like many nonfiction books, a different author was invited to write the foreword. Namely, the foreword is credited to 'Dwight Kurt Schrute,' and it's written entirely in Dwight's disdainful voice.

Schrute spends the first bit of the foreword discussing why he's agreed to write it, which he clearly doesn't want to do. He explains, 'When someone asks me to do a task, the first thing I do is determine whether the request is some sort of trick.' The job of writing the foreword survives his exacting vetting process only because Dwight can't 'adequately determine if this request is a trick.' He tells us he doesn't like The Bassoon King or any books that involve 'funny stories' regarding some stupid actor,' but he then proceeds to list a long number of exceptions (books by Charles Bronson, any Game of Thrones cast member, Sam Neill, Dolph Lundgren, etc). Dwight calls Rainn Wilson a 'laughable idiot,' and eventually reveals he has only agreed to write the foreword for the money.

Before turning things over to Wilson, Dwight gives us some other book ideas like Mennonite Ghost Stories, a 'fun games for kids' book titled Hold This Book over a Candle, and the revealing Conspiracy Theories: Who's Really Behind Them? Seriously, we'll take a whole book written by Dwight, please.

Dwight Schrute and the next generation

Even though he's gone, he's not forgotten, and the legend of Dwight K. Schrute lives on. On Halloween 2016 — a little over three years after The Office's finale aired on NBC — Jenna Fischer tweeted a photo sent to her by a fan of a pint-sized version of Dwight Schrute.

Dwight Schrute Second Life Quote

With a disapproving scowl and Schrute's signature hairstyle, Toddler Dwight wears a yellow short-sleeved dress shirt, a sticker announcing 'Hello, My Name Is Dwight Schrute,' and holds what is presumably a carefully grown Schrute Farm beet. Behind him, a blackboard leans against the wall and spells out one of Dwight's early and memorable lines: 'How would I describe myself? Three words: hard working, alpha male, jack hammer, merciless, insatiable.' Of course, if the young Dwight happened to put the words up himself, then his age and comparative lack of schooling gives him more excuses than the original Dwight for not knowing the difference between three words and eight.

Dwight's Second Life Episode

Even though it's one of the most popular shows on Netflix's streaming service, The Office will sadly leave Netflix in 2021. Still, it seems inevitable that younger fans will come to know the joy that is The Office, including the nuggets of Dwight Schrute's invaluable wisdom like, 'When someone smiles at me, all I see is a chimpanzee begging for its life.' Expect more unsmiling alpha males to become fans of the beloved beet farmer for years to come.

[rebaobsessivelywrites]

A Story of Shadows (ch 4)

You can find this entire fic here on AO3.  (and fanfiction.net here)

Fandom: Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV) and Percy Jackson and the Olympians (Books)

Entire Fic Description:

Nico flees the Camp Half-blood infirmary and into a shadow. He's aiming for San Francisco (specifically his sister in Camp Jupiter), but ends up in Los Angeles. In a warehouse. Filled with vampires. Like, honest to goodness VAMPIRES-- not empousai. And who in Hades is this "Angel" guy?

Aka: Nico stumbles into a world radically different, but just as dangerous as his own.

Entire Fic Warnings: cannon-typical violence, uh… not much. I’ll add as I go…

Chapter word count: 3,003

Chapter warnings: cannon typical violence, let me know if there’s more

Summary: Nico calls for help.

Please read the fic! First chapter, previous chapter, next chapter, master list. And let me know if you want to be tagged.

Cordelia was at a loss. They had hit the warehouse on a run-of-the-mill vampire hunt and come out with completely unexpected baggage. Nico was so… strange. He was quiet and brooding, kept using unusual phrases, was super hostile, and had enough sarcasm to drown a city. Cordelia didn’t know what to think about him.

He was the epitome of ‘goth’, the ‘King of Ghosts’, and the son of the ruler of the Underworld. He was badass and freaking deadly with that sword of his, but he was also so… young. And vulnerable.

After only a few hours with the kid, Cordelia knew better than to even think of telling Nico, but she just wanted to wrap him in a warm blanket and pop him in front of the TV with a bowl of soup until he stopped frigging fading into nothing.

Just… seriously? He was disappearing—like, poof, gone… not invisibility or a gaping wound… just gone. And he was so… unconcerned. He just kept glaring at the members of Angel Investigations whenever they tried to help, and drank out of that precious little flask.

What was even in that thing?

He hadn’t put it down once. Not in the car on the way into town, not in the hotel as he surveyed his surroundings critically, and certainly not during the near-constant arguments the worried adults kept provoking with him.

Wesley was the one currently attempting to talk some sense into the boy, but he didn’t appear to be listening to the worried tirade. Nico was simply settled into his little spot on the circular couch in the entryway, digging around in his pack.

“—perhaps a spell?” Wesley was suggesting, “We have plenty of books; we could look for something to bring your hand b—”

Nico suddenly straightened with a satisfied exclamation, a golden coin held aloft in victory in his only solid hand. Wesley cut himself off mid-sentence and stared at the demigod in confusion. Nico turned to the room at large, the first real smile Cordelia had ever seen on him plastered across his face, “Do you have any rainbows?”

A long moment of silence followed. Wesley and Lorne (who had arrived a few minutes ago and failed to provoke any reaction at all from Nico) both looked utterly gob-smacked, while Fred looked up from the book of Greek Myths she had been firmly absorbed in, face full of abject confusion, and Angel turned slowly towards the boy with a deep frown on his face. From the office, there was a faint crash and a colorful curse followed by Gunn poking his head out to stare at the demigod, “What did you say?” Cordelia was in full agreement with the sentiment. Rainbows? What?

Nico gave them a thoroughly annoyed look. “Rainbows,” he repeated in mild exasperation, “You know, a split spectrum of light made by prisms, or fountains, or mist…”

Cordelia was still completely baffled, and by the looks of it, so where the others.

“Why do you what to make a rainbow?” Fred asked curiously.

“I need to let people know I’m not dead,” the son of Hades huffed impatiently.

“With a rainbow?” Wesley voiced Cordelia’s own confusion.

Surprisingly, Fred cut Nico off before he could do more than glare and open his mouth, “Iris, right? The Goddess of Rainbows,” she continued for the benefit of her teammates, “She’s a Messenger of the Gods.”

Nico gave the physicist a brilliant smile, evidently quite pleased that they weren’t all idiots.

Cordelia was still confused though, and frowned at the teenager, “And you can’t use a phone…. why?”

Nico’s trademark scowled reappeared and was directed at her. “Demigods don’t use phones,” he explained with an air of resignation, “they’re like homing beacons for everything that wants to eat us.”

Cordelia blinked. Right. Greek monsters think demigods are a delicacy. She must have selectively forgotten that piece of Nico’s explanation from the car ride over.

“So?” he prompted impatiently, “Rainbow?”

Angel looked at Gunn, who was the closest to the office still, “Do we still have that scrying crystal?”

Gunn nodded, apparently speechless, and disappeared into the office. A moment later he emerged and delivered the small crystal to the waiting demigod. Nico, in turn, evaluated it critically before nodding in satisfaction and pulling a flashlight out of his bag. Cordelia was starting to wonder if it had originally belonged to Mary Poppins.

Angel Investigations watched in interest as the demigod juggled the prism and light one-handed, until he managed to balance the prism and flashlight on the seat so a clear rainbow was cast across the floor. Once satisfied neither component would roll way, Nico moved so he was standing above the rainbow and pulled out the coin he had been brandishing earlier. He flipped in in his hand once, murmured, “O, Iris, Goddess of the Rainbow, accept my offering,” and dropped it.

Cordelia watched in shock as the coin disappeared into the rainbow like it was a puddle.

“Show me Will Solace in Camp Half-Blood,” Nico declared.

Obediently, the rainbow rippled and shifted, forming an image. It was a blond boy sitting at a desk, chewing on a pencil. He looked up in surprise before his expression darkened dramatically. “Nico di Angelo, you insufferable idiot!” he hissed up at the other demigod, “I swear by your father that I will track you down, drag you back to the infirmary, and chain you to a bed surrounded by sun lamps so you can’t slip away!”

“Hey, Will,” Nico greeted softly. He looked positively cowed, which was rather concerning; Cordelia had only known the kid for a few hours but even she knew that was unusual.

The boy’s angry expression faltered and faded, “Where are you? Everyone’s been so worried about you…”

“I just needed to get out,” the son of Hades murmured.

“So you shadow traveled?! Nico—”

“I know, I know,” he cut Will off and held up his handless arm, “And you were right. I wasn’t ready.”

A panicked note crept into his voice, “Do you have nectar? Unicorn draught?”

Cordelia was completely lost. She understood the words, but it might as well have been Ancient Greek—she didn’t comprehend their significance at all. Nectar was fruit juice, right? And showdown traveling must be some demigod thing, and unicorns surely—wait. Unicorns?

Ignorant, or perhaps just uncaring, of the confusion on the adults’ faces, Nico gave the image on the floor an annoyed look that clearly said ‘I am not that stupid’. “I ate some ambrosia and I’ve drunk two flasks of draught. I haven’t faded any more, but it hasn’t gotten better either.”

The boy in the image did not look reassured, “Nico, you need to get back here now. Where are you?

“California,” the son of Hades sighed reluctantly, “Los Angeles, apparently.”

“You were trying to visit Hazel, weren’t you?” he rubbed his forehead.

“Yeah, but…” Nico sighed again, “It went a little wrong and I ended up in a warehouse full of vampires.”

“Empousai?” Will asked in mild surprise, “What were they doing—”

“No. Vampires. I swear on the Styx— they were actual vampires.”

“Gods, Nico,” he shook his head, “The things you get into…”

“There were vampire hunters too,” Nico continued, looking up to glare at the group who were still watching with unabashed interest. “They’re refusing to help me get to San Francisco.”

“What?” Will looked a little pissed, “Why?”

Wesley, who was closest, took a step forward and leaned over the image on the floor, “Because he’s disappearing. That’s why.”

“No, no… Listen,” the boy shook his head rapidly, “He needs help. Help you can’t give. Nico’s condition is unique to him and only him. He needs a rigorous regimen of nectar, ambrosia, unicorn draught, rest, bright light, and soil compresses.” He frowned sternly at the man who was probably twice his age, “Which, not only do I doubt you have, I do not trust you to administer correctly.”

“Will is my doctor,” Nico explained before looking down at Will, “Soil compresses? Really? Who told you about that? Reyna or Coach Hedge?”

The boy wrinkled his nose, “It saved your life, Nico. You nearly faded completely after that show of magic… Hedge was lucky to find something that worked.”

“I’m not letting you or anyone smear mud all over me.”

“Oh, alright…” Will smirked, “I’ll tell Reyna you said that.”

Nico’s eyes widened comically for a brief moment, before he got control of himself and gave an unimpressed huff, “Will…”

“Wait,” Angel spoke up, “Your doctor is a kid?”

In the rainbow puddle, the blonde’s eyes flashed dangerously, “Who said that?”

Angel moved hesitantly forward to stand beside Wesley and stare down into the puddle. He opened his mouth, probably to introduce himself, but Nico beat him to it.

“This is Angel,” the demigod told his friend, a hint of annoyance in his tone, “He’s an ensouled vampire who hunts vampires.”

Will’s face scrunched up in confusion for a split second, but he quickly shrugged it off and glared at Angel, “Well, regardless of who or what you are, I’ll have you know that I am a fully qualified healer and the head of the Apollo cabin.” It looked like he was going to continue, but once again Nico jumped in.

“Basically what that means is Will is in charge of the medical care of an entire camp full of demigods—demigods who train with pointy weapons, participate in weekly mock-battles amongst themselves, and must learn to defend themselves against the monsters waiting beyond the camp.” He shrugged, “Injuries are common, especially with the lava climbing wall.”

“The what?” Wesley hissed. Cordelia, after she had finished processing that, totally agreed.

“You forgot to mention Quests,” Will pointed out, “Or the Wars.”

“Wars?” Cordelia practically yelped, “What?!”

“Oh yeah,” Nico nodded seriously. Cordelia got the distinct impression that he was making fun of her somehow. “We just finished one a few months back. The Titan War. Though really that’s an understatement as Gaea—Mother Earth herself—was waking up and trying to kill everyone.”

“Before that, we had the Battle of Manhattan,” Will supplied helpfully, looking almost cheery, “With Kronos trying to take Olympus.”

Nico gave Cordelia (who was pretty sure she had her mouth hanging open) a hard look, “We are more than capable of taking care of ourselves.” He shifted his glare to Angel, “And Will is my doctor.”

“And as Nico’s doctor,” Will continued cheerily, “I must insist you take him to Camp Jupiter in San Francisco.”

There was a beat of silence and the adults stared at the kids and each other. Angel raised his eyebrows at Cordelia, so she shrugged. She wasn’t sure what to think about it all, but Will seemed genuine and everything he said lined up with the little Nico had explained.

“Hey, Will!” a voice called from out of view in the rainbow puddle. A moment later a second voice asked, sounding much closer, “Who you talking to?”

Nico let out a groan and covered his face with his corporeal hand. Will was giving Nico a mischievous smile that looked almost dangerous. A second later, a boy popped into view at Will’s shoulder, his very green eyes opened comically wide.

“Why’s the perspective all weird?” he asked cocking his head to the side. He had black hair and was wearing the same orange shirt as Will.

“Move over, Percy,” grumbled the first voice, preceding the appearance of another boy—this one was blonde and had glasses. He peered up at them out of the rainbow for a moment before gasping, “Nico?”

Percy glanced at the other boy before looking back at the image, seemingly recognizing the dark boy covering his face for the first time, “Neeks! Dude, what happened to your hand?”

Nico merely let out a muffled groan.

Will turned to the others, an angry gleam reminiscent of his initial reaction in his eyes, “Nico tried to shadow travel to New Rome, missed, landed in a warehouse full of vampires, and started to disappear.”

“Nico!” the boy with the glasses admonished like a very angry and concerned parent.

“Jason,” Nico muttered miserably, removing his hand from his face so he could look down, “Can we please not do this right now?”

Percy was frowning, “Vampires? You mean empousai?”

“No, I mean vampires,” Nico huffed in annoyance as he gestured at Angel, who was alternating between frowning at the son of Hades and scrutinizing the other three kids in the image, “like him only bad.”

Percy peered up at Angel in interest, “You’re a vampire? Do you drink blood?”

Jason jabbed Percy in the side, prompting a sheepish look, but Angel shifted uncomfortably and nodded anyway. Percy’s eyes went wide, causing Nico to let out a despairing moan and bury his head in his hand again, and Will to start cackling.

“Percy! Will!” Jason turned his admonishing parent look on the boys at his side, “Focus.”

Will stopped laughing and cleared his throat awkwardly, “Right, sorry.” He turned back to the group standing above the image, “So, will you just take him to San Francisco already?”

Observing the four strange boys, who she assumed were all demigods, interact, Cordelia found it very hard to argue with the reasoning they had been presented. They may just be kids (who definitely acted like kids) but they clearly knew what was happening to Nico and had stopped it before. Since they had no idea the logical thing would be to hand him back to the people who could help. Even if they were teenagers. Which, Cordelia reflected, she couldn’t really protest against, considering the things she had gotten up to in high school.

The others seemed to be reaching similar conclusion (though Lorne seemed to be in a state of confused shock still). Out of all of them, Gunn seemed the most concerned and was scowling at the image on the floor with his arms crossed, while Fred seemed the least phased, having wandered off to collect one of the mythology books from where she had been set up researching the stuff Nico had shared. Angel peered across at Wesley, and an understanding passed between them.

“If you’re certain he’ll be alright…” Wesley ventured hesitantly, looking back down at the three demigods on the floor.

Nico glared across the image at the researcher. “You do realize I’m right here,” he asked in a flat way that was more of a statement than anything else.

“Definitely,” Jason answered Wesley’s question, seemingly to everyone’s surprise. “Nico’s sister is there; there’s no way she’ll allow him to be anything but alright.”

Percy nodded in emphatic agreement, but Will narrowed his eyes at Nico, “You have told Hazel, right?”

“Uh,” Nico shifted uncomfortably, “No? I only had one drachma and I needed someone to convince these people,” he gestured towards the group still watching him with interest a few feet away, “to take me to Camp Jupiter.”

Will’s expression softened, but Percy looked at Nico like he was crazy, “You chose Will over Hazel to convince them?” He glanced at Will, “No offense, dude.”

Will simply rolled his eyes, and Nico snorted.

“I could go get Piper,” Jason offered, seemingly out of the blue.

Nico quickly waved him off, “That’s not necessary. I think they’ll shut up about spells and rituals and actually help now.”

Angel and Wesley, who were the only two visible to the kids still, nodded hesitantly in agreement.

“Good,” Will said, “I’ll let Hazel and Reyna know so if you don’t show up in a few hours they can send the Legion out to find you.”

Nico didn’t look thrilled at the prospect.

Percy gave him an unsympathetic smile, “Man… they’re going to whoop your ass to Tartarus and back.”

“Thanks, Percy,” the son of Hades grumbled, “I totally needed a reminder.”

Jason scowled, “I’m going to whoop your ass too, when you get back here. We’ve all been worried sick.”

The other boys blinked at him. Will shook his head, “Jason, never say ‘whoop your ass’ again. Percy can pull it off—”

“Because he’s an idiot,” Nico filled in.

Percy straightened up with an indignant look on his face, “Hey!”

“But you can’t,” Will finished.

Jason blinked at him in mild confusion. “Because… I’m not an idiot?” he ventured hesitantly.

Percy let out an affronted squawk, “Grace! How could you?”

Jason frowned at his steaming friend, “Huh?”

“You, me, arena, now,” he declared, grabbing the still confused boy and dragging him out of view.

“Jackson! What the hell?”

“I’m going to whoop your ass, Sparky!”

Cordelia found herself watching in fascination, amusement, and a great deal of confusion as Will started cackling helplessly again, clearly watching his friends disappear. Nico was turning an impressive shade of pink, too. It was rather shocking, and encouraging, seeing the strange teen display so much emotion.

Said demigod was backing up towards the crystal and light, embarrassment clear on his face. “Talk to you later, bye!” he yelled and swooped up the flashlight, effectively ending the connection.”

“Kid,” Lorne said into the stunned silence, “You have some strange friends.”

Nico sighed and ran his hand through his hair, “Yeah, I guess I do.” He looked down at his missing hand, a pleased smile spreading across his face, as though the very thought was foreign to him. “I guess I do.”

“And I guess we’ve got a road trip to get started on,” Cordelia announced. “Shall we?”

As the group gathered up some things—weapons for Angel and Gun, the medical bag for Wesley, a stack of books for Fred, and the flask and bag for Nico—and drifted back outside to the cars, Cordelia took the chance to center herself and start processing the additionally information she had received. It was all rather daunting still, even after meeting more kids like Nico. Or was that especially?

Cordelia had been right though. This was one hell of a day.

[rnrmarineservices-blog]

Why cruising sailors should consider using a professional weather router

If you're making an ocean crossing this year, employing a weather routeing service could make for a safer, smoother, and faster sail

Should you consider support from aprofessional weather router on your next ocean crossing? With costs lower than you might realise, maybe it's time you should. Employing the services of an expert meteorologist is not just the preserve of the record-chasing ocean sailor or professional crew.

Avoiding heavy weather or potentially dangerous conditions is the main reason bluewater sailors seek out weather routeing advice. Stephanie Ball is a forecaster and router in Gibraltar, whose MeteoGib service covers the busy shipping lanes of the English Channel and Strait of Gibraltar, as well as yachts making transatlantic and other ocean crossings.

Safety is always foremost in my mind, she explains. If the accuracy of weather data and availability has improved so much and many storms are now so well documented, why are ships still caught out? Admittedly there are situations when stormy conditions can develop very quickly or where in a vast ocean one has nowhere to go, but I wondered what I could offer to help.

Data such as GRIB files is now commonly available, but only of use if you are a seasoned sailor with the communications tools to download all the available data, and confident enough in your weather skills to interpret these. GRIB data is fantastic and around 90 per cent of times is correct, but I think there can be an overreliance on its accuracy.

GRIB data is also only as good as the resolution being downloaded, it can't always capture the finer detail or tell you the options of a developing storm which perhaps isn't being handled well. This you would only gauge by reviewing several models. The invaluable benefit that I as a professional forecaster can bring is the improved safety aspect when the weather falls foul, because I have all the data to hand and can analyse the bigger picture.

Category 4 hurricane

Ball's services were tested in 2015, when a Cat 2 cyclone developed along the route of the 67ft Blue Pearl. In late October and early November I was instructed by Nicolas Vergnes to help his team with a delivery from Turkey to the Maldives. Weather forecasts were sent every two days as requested with wind, weather, sea state and swell.

After passing through the Suez Canal, I informed them on 28 October about a low which had developed off western India. Over the next few days this became more of a concern as it intensified unusually rapidly. While communications were difficult in the area, I shifted to sending several forecast updates daily and advised that Nico head for land and seek shelter as a matter of urgency.

Cyclone Chapala developed from a low pressure system into the strongest cyclone on record to hit the Gulf of Aden

In the matter of a few days, what had now become Cyclone Chapala had intensified to a Cat 4 or Extremely Severe cyclone, heading into the Gulf of Aden on 2 November sporting winds up to 215km/h and a 30ft swell where it became the strongest cyclone on record to hit the Gulf of Aden. Blue Pearl made it to safety.

Skipper Nico Vergnes recalls: When we came out of Bab el Mandeb Strait, things changed for us; Stephanie detected a cyclone rapidly heading direct to the entrance of the Gulf of Aden. Stephanie was with us at all moments, she really worried for us, our security and health. In all she sent us 24 messages with forecasts and attempts to warn/advise us of the cyclone position. We are very grateful for her sending us the forecasts so early and [because of] this we had time to take action. Without her work, our situation would have been completely different and we might not be here to tell our story.

With so much at stake, why don't more sailors use a shore-based forecaster?

Not that many are actually using the service, says Simon Rowell, who is meteorologist for the British Sailing Team and has forecast for events such as the Clipper Round the World Race as well as individual sailors. Not among amateur sailors anyway, because I think the perception is that it can be quite expensive and if you've done your RYA courses then you know about weather anyway.

Simon Rowell of Rowell Yachting Services provides routing for individual yachts as well as events and pro teams

However, Rowell recommends that anyone sailing beyond their comfort zone should consider having some onshore back-up, even if you don't use a professional service. If they are going over waters which are significantly further away from their normal cruising ground, or if they're doing something that is potentially at a more messy time of year, then I would recommend it. For example, if you bought your boat in the Med and you've got to get it back home in winter because that's the only time you can take time off.

Basically whenever you're doing something you haven't really done before, then it's worth if nothing else just picking up the phone and speaking to someone who's a little bit more experienced or has access to a little bit more data. That's quite important, and I think it's important for people like me not to automatically charge 300 for that.

Even if it's just a friend that you trust who's done a lot of sailing and knows his or her way around a synoptic chart, if you ping them an email each day and at least someone ashore is looking out for you.

Ten potential routes for the same yacht over the same period using ten different weather forecasts

Eye from shore

Weather routeing support is not a substitute for having sufficient knowledge on board, and Rowell is keen to point out that he requires skippers to stay engaged with the conditions and forecasting for their own safety.

If I'm doing forecasting or routeing for, say, people on their first transatlantic, I'll ask them to tell me every morning at 0600 what the weather's doing, so basic observations and their thoughts on what's going on. The way I do it is like leaving a note for the milkman: so if the weather's fairly settled and they don't need me to give them any input then they can mail me and say: We're at this latitude, this longitude, we're going in this direction heading towards the next waypoint, and don't need anything from you today, thank you very much.

So they're not locked in to paying for every single day if they don't want to, but they also have the knowledge that even if they don't specifically want something back from me that day I am plotting their position electronically and I'm having a look. And if I think that they really should be getting some advice from me I'll do that anyway.

What they have, which I don't, is that vital eyeball on the barometer which is a really important thing, which is why I get them to send it in every morning. If nothing else, it gets them to look at it.

However, what a forecaster can offer is a huge time saving, both in downloading and examining data. Rowell explains: I'm sitting here in Cornwall with a massively fast internet connection, whereas if you're on a boat it's a bit tricky and really expensive to do. So I have access to an awful lot more weather here than they will on board.

It's also the time, and the faffing around. If there's only two of you or four of you on board, there's other stuff going on.

Stephanie Ball adds: A good forecaster can take the worry out of your sailing, and hours spent poring over charts and pondering the options. A good forecaster should look at various models, and also keep an eye on any real-time data such as from ocean buoys or satellite imagery to help make as accurate a forecast as possible. By tracking your daily progress a forecaster can offer a bespoke forecast exactly to your location. A good professional won't just look at winds but also sea state and where possible will try and help you avoid the more challenging or uncomfortable conditions for your boat.

Ball has advised boats that are becalmed and re-routed yachts when the situation changes on board. For instance my client John Alcantara found himself halfway between Portugal and the Azores with a steering cable failure and having to set up an emergency tiller. It's having someone to help you make safe decisions for you and your crew, to watch over you and to take the worry out of your sail.

John Alcantara confirms: In August 2016, we set off on Citadel, a Jeanneau 54DS, on our adventure. A trip from Gibraltar to Azores and back had been on my bucket list for a while but we never expected a steering cable failure to make the passage more challenging than anticipated. Helming a 54ft boat with an emergency tiller is very hard work. We were almost 400 miles from the Azores when the steering cable parted.

We considered a diversion to Madeira 175 miles to the south but on advice from MeteoGib we decided that conditions on the 375 miles left to the Azores were more benign.

The invaluable YB trackerenabled us to stay in contact with Stephanie and feel that someone ashore was aware ofour predicament.

Stephanie Ball, of MeteoGib, launching a weather balloon

Surprisingly affordable

Having someone with a land-based connection crunch the data for you can be relatively cost effective. The data I use for a standard forecast to send out to people, I'm downloading here probably the best part of a quarter to half a gigabyte per forecast. And over a sat connection that would be an immense cost, explains Rowell.

There is still a cost associated with receiving the forecast, but this it can be edited down to key information. I spend quite a lot of time getting my file sizes as efficient as possible so I try and really make sure that the stuff I send them is as small as possible email size, and if they do want pictures which not many people do these days then I cut that right down. If it's GRIB files that they want, then I make sure they are at the most efficient size.

Ball comments: It doesn't have to break the bank. There are various options for accessing professional support including calling by satellite phone, marine planning forecasts, or receiving short simple forecasts to your satellite phone or tracker.

How much?

Simon Rowell says that for an average 40-footer Atlantic crossing, his company Rowell Yachting Services charges no more than 500 for his time and email support.

For an estimated two-week Atlantic crossing, MeteoGib* charges 70 for daily 24hr SMS-type forecasts to a sat phone or tracker. Full support over a two-week crossing, with MeteoGib available for advice, tracking progress and forewarning of inclement weather which may develop across your route, is 140.

Cheaper options include forecasts every two or three days. Additional forecasts and outlooks cost 5.

*Costs as at April 2017

The post Why cruising sailors should consider using a professional weather router appeared first on Yachting World.

[ryqoshay]

How to Handle a Nico: Nineteen and a Day

Primary Pairing: NicoMaki Words: ~3.8k Rating: K? Time Frame: Very early in Maki’s 1st and Nico’s 3rd year in college Story Arc: "Nineteenth” Nineteenth Nineteen and a Day Twin-Tailed Laundry Service

List of all HtHaN scenes

Author’s Note: I cannot help feeling that it is a bit ironic to post a scene that involves a belated birthday celebration on the actual day of said birthday. I mean I know I posted the scene for the birthday itself a week ago, but that was mostly because I had hit a wall with what I wanted this scene to be; I had intended them to be one chapter initially. I figured I had plenty of time to figure things out and if I was late by a bit, that was fine because it would fit the topic. But here I am posting it on Maki’s birthday anyway. Que zura, zura.

A strange and unexpected sound cut through fading dreams to Maki’s consciousness. The metallic noise came again and she opened her eyes.

“Nico-chan?” The redhead murmured as her vision slowly focused on a raven-haired girl over by her desk.

“Ah, sorry, I didn’t mean to wake you.” Nico turned with an apologetic smile. “G’morning, sleepyhead.”

“What are you…?” Maki was interrupted by a yawn.

“Cleaning up after a useless bachelorette who can’t do so herself, obviously.” The older girl tossed another energy drink can into the bag she was holding.

“I… I…” The younger girl struggled for an answer; any answer.

“Yeah, yeah, I know, you’ve been busy studying.” Nico made a dismissive motion with her free hand. “And you’ve been sick, so I’m happy to help you out this time. But you’re not living with your parents anymore; you don’t have a crew of housekeepers to take care of this kind of stuff for you. So, you’ll have to eventually do it yourself.”

“… Sorry…”

“Don’t worry about it.” Nico laughed. “As I told Maki-chan last night, Nico is here now, so let her help out a bit, alright?”

“Also sorry… for uhm…”

“Mmm?”

Maki averted her gaze. “For making you stay… with me… last night…”

Nico sighed. “Maki.” She said firmly, causing the other girl to look back up. “You don’t have to apologize about that kind of thing. Nico doesn’t do anything she doesn’t want to do. Maki-chan should know that by now.” Her voice softened again as she continued. “Besides, it helped you sleep better, right?”

Maki nodded slowly.

“Good.”

“I just… don’t want you to get sick as well…”

“I’ll be fine. Probably. Don’t worry about it.” Nico shrugged before smirking as an idea came to her. “If Nico gets sick, then Maki-chan will have to pay her back by taking care of her.”

“A-alright…”

“But, you know, Maki-chan wa~s pretty clingy last night.”

“I… I-I was j-just cold…” Maki sputtered while blushing. “And Nico-chan is always warm, so…”

The sly smirk turned into a toothy grin. “It’s alright. Nico didn’t mind sharing her warmth.”

“T-thank you…”

“Well, your voice sounds a lot better than it did last night.” Nico observed. “How are you feeling?”

“Tired…”

“I can see that. But I mean like headaches, body aches, sore throat…” Her mind cycled through the differences between a cold and the flu, though she was pretty sure it was the flu.

The college first-year coughed.

“… or coughs.” The third-year added. “I can check for a fever in a bit if you want.” She realized she probably should have checked last night, but Maki seemed to be getting better, or at least moving in the right direction.

“… Hungry…”

“Well, you’re in luck. Nozomi just stopped by a little while ago with breakfast for us.”

“She did?”

“Though I suppose it’s more of a brunch by now…”

“Wha…?” Maki glanced at her phone to see the time.

“You were sleeping pretty soundly and we didn’t want to wake you because you obviously needed it.” Nico explained. “But, yeah, I’ve already gotten ready for the day. You know this place has some pretty decent facilities. Nico is impressed.” She smiled. “Anyway, before we eat, you should probably call, or at least message your mother.”

“Mama?”

“Yeah, she called me earlier this morning because she was worried that you hadn’t responded yet. She was willing to let it go for a while because she assumed you’d be busy with me or the others, but then this morning came and you still hadn’t gotten back to her, so…”

“I didn’t hear…” Maki picked up her phone.

“You didn’t plug it in properly, so it didn’t charge. I suppose that explains that’s why you didn’t respond to anyone yesterday when we were all trying to wish you a happy birthday. Don’t worry, though, I’ve already explained everything to them. Still, you may want to apologize to them as well.”

“I think… I’ll get the others later…” Maki thought aloud as she unlocked her phone to reply to her mother. “After breakfast so I can chat if they want.”

“Breakfast first it is.” Nico said, starting to set up. “Let me know if you need help getting over her.”

“I’m fine.” Maki slid her legs off the side of the bed.

“Alright, stubborn girl.”

Maki grumbled an unintelligible retort before shuffling, unsteadily to the table to take a seat. “Uhm…” She glanced at what was available.

“What’s up?”

“I thought there was some pasta leftover…”

“You mean what I brought last night?”

“Yeah…”

“There is some,” Nico acknowledged, “but I figured we could maybe have that for lunch. It seemed odd to have it for breakfast as well as two meals in a row.”

“Oh…” Maki’s shoulders slumped dejectedly.

“You really want the pasta that much?” Though even as Nico asked, she began to realize the reasons.

“Tomatoes have vitamin C in them…”

One reason down, sort of. Nico wondered if she could coax the other out of the often dishonest girl. “Well they do, but vitamin C is heat sensitive and most of it was probably destroyed when I made the sauce.” She explained. “What Nozomi brought here,” she made a sweeping motion with her hand to indicate the food on the table “should be better for dealing wi…”

“… And you made it…” A quite murmur cut off the older girl.

There it was. That had been surprisingly easy, though Maki’s guard had been lowered by being sick. But with all of the flu-conscious choices available, Maki wanted something Nico had made. A swell of pride filled Nico’s chest and she couldn’t help but grin.

“Well if Maki-chan insists, Nico supposes we could swap breakfast and lunch plans.” Far be it for a caretaker to ignore the request of their charge, right? “But you’ll have to wait a bit for me to heat it.”

“… That’s fine.” The younger girl nodded.

Still smiling widely, Nico retrieved the containers she had brought last night and began reheating them in the microwave. She then began repackaging the food Nozomi had brought so she could store it for the next meal. All the while, Maki sat quietly, looking like she might fall back asleep at any moment.

“Here we go!” Nico announced a few minutes later. “Round two of Nico-nii’s Super Special Birthday Pasta made just for Maki-chan!”

“Thank you…” A small smile formed on Maki’s lips.

Nico watched as the other girl brought the first forkful to her mouth, waiting to see the little indications that she was enjoying her meal. She didn’t have to wait long. Nico loved these little moments and couldn’t help thinking that she would love to see them every day. This would of course mean that she would have to cook for Maki every day. However, she had long since realized that idea appealed greatly to her. Certainly, she shared cooking duties with her roommate Nozomi now, but that was normal for friends living together, right? Also, while there was no question that she liked seeing Nozomi enjoy her cooking, and Eli, and Honoka, and Rin and… cooking for Maki was different. There was just something…

“Mmm?” Maki blinked as her eyes met Nico’s.

“N-nothing.” Nico shook her head as she returned to reality. “Sorry.” She began eating as well, still watching, though trying to be more discreet. “You know I don’t recall seeing your RA today or yesterday.” Nico mused, deciding to steer things in a different direction. “I figured that as big of a µ’s fan as she is, she’d be buzzing around, maybe even asking Nico for autographs or something.”

“She’s a fan of µ’s?” Maki tilted her head with the question. “How do you know that?”

“She’s a mod on one of the idol forums I frequent.”

“Mmm.” Maki nodded. “Anyway, she’s on vacation this week.”

“Vacation? This early in the school year?”

Maki shrugged.

“So, your RA is on vacation and your parents are on a business trip. Hrm… I guess Nico really is the o~nly one around to take care of po~or, sick li~ttle Maki-cha~n.”

“I-idiot…”

“You like it.”

“Maybe…”

Truth be told, from among the choices that had just been listed, there was no doubt in Maki’s mind that she preferred the current caregiver over the others. And though Nico had neglected to mention the possibility of Nozomi or Eli or any of the other girls, Maki felt little need to make the correction; she was fine with how things had turned out.

However, as Maki also had little intention of saying any of this out loud, she turned her attention elsewhere, to the bottle of water in front of her. This wasn’t her usual morning beverage, so she started to get up to get something else.

“What’s up?” Nico asked.

“Coffee…” The redhead responded, eyeing the device that would produce the much-needed drink.

“Nope.” The raven-haired girl shook her head.

“Huh?” Maki paused.

“Caffeine dehydrates you and that’s not good when you’re sick.” Nico explained. “And if you’re tired, you should really sleep.”

“Yeah, but I get headaches if I don’t…”

“Maki...” Nico shook her head again. “You’re way too young to be that addicted to caffeine.”

“I know, but…”

“Do you have any caffeinated tea?”

“Don’t they all have caffeine?”

“Well yeah, unless they’re decaffeinated, but some teas have more caffeine than others and most green teas tend to be on the low side and they’re pretty much all lower than coffee.”

“Oh…”

“But tea has a lot of health benefits, especially when you’re sick.”

“Coffee has some health benefits as well.”

“For stuff like possibly preventing diabetes and some other stuff, sure.” Nico conceded. “But you have the flu, not any of that other stuff.”

“But it still has more caffeine…”

“I suppose. Anyway, let’s see…” She quickly scanned the labels of the packages available. After a moment, she sighed. “Coffee it is then.” She conceded. “But I’m going to make some tea for myself if that’s alright with you.”

“Mmm…” Maki nodded.

“And I’ll make you some tea later.” The raven-haired girl added.

The redhead shrugged.

The two girls continued to debate about coffee and tea as they finished their breakfast. As Nico cleared the table of their plates, Maki retrieved her phone and opened the group chat.

NishikinoMaki: Sorry for the delay in response

NishikinoMaki: Thank you, everybody, for the birthday wishes

NyaCat: no worries maki-chan!

Rin’s response came in so quick, Maki paused in typing her next message.

NyaCat: are you feeling any better?

Maki smiled and deleted the text to replace it with a proper reply.

NishikinoMaki: I’m feeling a lot better

NishikinoMaki: Thanks, Rin

ARISEfan1: so sorry to hear that you were sick on your birthday!

ARISEfan1: but its good to know youre doing better!

NishikinoMaki: Thank you, Honoka

SpiritualPower: I heard Nicocchi took really good care of you last night, Maki-chan

Niconii: Shut up, Nozomi

Maki blushed a bit and looked up at the other girl in the room.

Nico sighed. “I swear, that girl…” She shook her head and went back to cleaning up.

LittleBirb: It’s also good to know you didn’t have to spend your birthday alone, Maki-chan

NishikinoMaki: It was nice to have some company

Elichika: Happy Birthday, belated!

NishikinoMaki: Thank you, Eli

Elichika: Since we missed you on your actual birthday, I suppose we’ll just have to celebrate later

Elichika: How does this coming weekend work for you?

Elichika: Providing you’re feeling up to it by then, of course

NishikinoMaki: That works for me

NishikinoMaki: And I’m feeling better already, to be honest

SpiritualPower: So do you want to do things here, then?

NishikinoMaki: Sounds good

SpiritualPower: Anyone else who wants to come is also welcome, of course

NyaCat: im coming!

ARISEfan1: so am i!

NyaCat: im sure kayo-chin will want to come as well

NyaCat: ill talk to her after class and have her respond here

LittleBirb: Umi-chan and I will be available

SpiritualPower: Looks like we got everyone, then

ARISEfan1: im looking forward to it

NyaCat: me too!

NyaCat: im going to give maki-chan the bestest gift this year!

Maki set down her phone as the conversation continued beyond her desire to participate. She made a mental note to check in later, but for now, she wanted to get back to studying before she depleted her already limited energy for the day. As such, she moved her books to the table before settling in. Shortly after, Nico pulled out her own books and sat down in her spot.

“I think this is the first time we’ve studied together here.” Nico commented, opening her book.

“It is.” Maki confirmed.

“I mean I know classes just started a couple of weeks ago, but…”

“It’s nice. I like it. Though I prefer studying at your place.”

Nico resisted balking at the upfront and honest admission. First, Maki had said something similar in the group chat, now she was saying so in person. And while Nico was quite happy, part of her hoped that it wasn’t just because Maki was sick that she was saying such a thing.

“Yeah…” Nico agreed after a moment. “Oh, but you know what would be even better?” She reached over to her bag and retrieved an MP3 player and a set of earbuds. “Music.” She held out one of the buds.

Maki smiled as she accepted the tiny speaker. “Whose turn is it to pick?” She asked as she slid the device in her ear.

“Uhm… I don’t remember.” Nico admitted. “But since Maki-chan isn’t feeling good, Nico is willing to let her choose.”

“Alright.” Maki agreed, found her playlist on Nico’s device and pressed Play.

“No, look…” Maki said, stretching her arm over to point at something in Nico’s textbook. They had been studying for a while now, but Maki kept finding herself distracted by the older girl taking what she felt to be far too long just to end up writing down wrong answers. “… here…” She could reach, but it didn’t make for the most comfortable of positions. She muttered something under her breath before pressing Pause on the player, pulling out her earbud and scooting out from the table. Finally, she crawled around the corner to Nico’s side.

“Maki-chan?” Nico questioned.

“Move over.”

“Uhm… alright…”

The redhead slid in beside the raven-haired girl as soon as there was room. “As I was saying…” She leaned against the other girl to get a better angle to show what she was talking about.

For her part, Nico immediately lost her concentration on her school work as her attention switched to the sensations shifting across her side. What the heck is Maki-chan doing? Her mind reeled. Certainly, Maki had become more accepting of Nico’s physical affection over the years, but she was not the initiating type. Except, in the span of a day, Maki had insisted Nico share a bed, snuggled into her and was now pressing against her while tutoring. Sure, she was sick and probably had no idea of the effect she was having on Nico, but…

“Nico-chan?”

“I’m sorry, what?” Nico tried to shove the unnecessary thoughts out of her mind, but failed utterly as the other girl brushed against her again.

“Are you alright?”

“I’m fine, I just… uhm… Do you mind repeating that?”

An expression of exasperation flashed across Maki’s face and she sighed. “Fine.” She was just about to begin her explanation again when her stomach grumbled.

Nico giggled. Maki pouted.

“Well at least your appetite is returning.” Nico commented with a smile. “That usually indicates you’re at the tail end of things.” Despite part of her wanting to stay in her current position, she stood up. “Shall I set up lunch?”

“Sure…” Was it Nico’s imagination or did Maki sound a little downhearted once she moved away?

“Sorry, we’re out of pasta.” Nico joked as she opened the fridge. “So, we just have what Nozomi brought over. H~o~w~e~v~e~r~…” she drew out the word far more than necessary, “there is one more thing Nico made for Maki-chan that we can have after lunch.”

At that announcement, there was no doubt that Maki brightened. “Alright.” The redhead replied as she cleared some space on the table.

Upon her return, Nico was tempted to take her previous place but ended up deciding she wanted more elbow room to eat and took Maki’s old place instead. No obvious objection was raised by the other girl, though Nico did note that Maki ate a lot quicker than she did during the last two meals. Also, though Maki commented verbally on the food, she displayed none of the same expressions. As if Nico wasn’t already convinced that her junior preferred her cooking over pretty much anything else, this definitely drove home the idea. And Nico was loving it.

“Done already?” Nico smiled as she watched Maki swallow her last bite.

“Mmmm.” Maki hummed an affirmative response.

“Ready for dessert?”

“Very much so.”

“Alright then, close your eyes.”

Maki raised an eyebrow.

“Clo~se you~r e~yes.” Nico repeated, more sing-songy

After a moment, Maki closed her eyes, though not before deadpanning.

She definitely must be feeling better if she’s starting to behave like that again. Nico thought as she retrieved the item. She quickly removed it from its container and set it on the table.

“OK, you can open your eyes now.”

“Nico-chan…” Maki breathed. “It’s…”

“Happy belated birthday, Maki-chan!” Nico cheered.

“It’s so…” The redhead continued to marvel at the cake before her.

It was by no means the most extravagant dessert ever crafted, but the dark pink candy stars scattered across a dusky-colored frosting brought back memories. Taking center stage on top, her name and birthday greeting were expertly emblazoned in scarlet.

“Adorable, huh?” the raven-haired girl beamed.

“Amazing.”

“Not bad for a rush job, right?”

“Huh?” Maki blinked.

“I thought I would have more time, but since I ended up coming over here instead, that didn’t work out.” Nico explained. “Also, Nozomi helped. A bit. But it was still mostly me. Anyway, pose for me, Maki-chan.” She whipped out her phone.

“Buweeehh?”

“Perfect!”

Click!

“N-Nico-chan!” Maki protested as red dusted her cheeks.

Click!

“Lean down a bit, Maki-chan. I want to get the cake in at least one of these shots.”

“Mohhh…” Despite her tone, Maki leaned forward, placed her elbows on the table behind the cake and propped her chin her hands.

“Just like that, good.” Nico reclined back to get a better angle. “Smile! …  Close enough…”

Click!

“Hee… Thanks, Maki-chan.” Nico grinned as she opened her gallery. “Nico is a good photographer, but it helps having a cute subject.”

The redhead’s blush began to match her hair as she returned to a normal sitting position.

“So,” The raven-haired girl stowed her phone before motioning toward the cake, “do you want a slice?”

“Yes, please.” Maki nodded.

Cutting the cake with a plastic knife was not exactly optimal, but Nico made the best of what she had available and carved out a serving for both the birthday girl and herself.

“Here you go, Maki-chan.” She handed over the first piece.

“Thank you, Nico-chan.” Maki replied with the warmest smile Nico had seen since arriving last night.

As Maki was enjoying her first few bites, Nico dug into her bag for… Oh, no… Apparently, in her haste to get over here, she had forgotten one of the most important things; her gift for Maki. Nico glanced quickly over at the other girl whose attention was focused solely on her second bite of cake. Maybe, if Nico didn’t say anything, Maki wouldn’t notice? No. Nico immediately dismissed the idea. Maki had been abnormally honest over the last dozen hours, so Nico should follow suit.

“Uhm… I’m sorry, Maki-chan…”

“Hmm?” Maki looked over with her hand still in motion with a forkful of cake. Unfortunately, her dulled reflexes were unable to redirect completely, causing her to miss by about a centimeter, smearing frosting from there on her cheek to the edge of her mouth.

Nico snorted out a chuckle.

“Mmmph…” Maki glared as she pushed the stray frosting into her mouth with her finger.

“Sorry, sorry…” Nico repeated, trying to hold back more laughter. “Anyway, I really am sorry, though, because it looks like I forgot to bring your present.”

“My present?”

“Yeah… sorry…”

“It’s alright, Nico-chan.” Maki assured. “You’ve already done a lot for me since yesterday and I don’t think I could thank you enough.”

Nico smiled at the sincerity of the other girl. “You know I’m happy to help.”

“I know.” Maki nodded. “And thanks to you, I’m actually having a pretty good birthday.”

“Belated.”

“Belated, yes,” Maki agreed with a slight shrug “but, it still means a lot to me. So, thank you, Nico-chan.”

“You’re welcome, Maki-chan.” Nico returned to her position. “I suppose I will just have to give you your present at the party later.”

“That’s fine.”

“Or… earlier, if you want to come over sometime before… I could make more spaghetti.”

Maki smiled. “I’d like that.”

“Alright.” Nico returned a smile of her own before digging into her portion of the cake.

The two ate their dessert in a comfortable silence. Afterward, Nico once again cleaned up while Maki moved their books back into place.

“You just want to go right back into studying, don’t you.” Nico sighed, as she closed the fridge door.

“I didn’t get to finish what I was showing you earlier.” Maki replied simply.

“I suppose…” Nico moved back to the table. “What?” She asked when noticing the questioning expression on the other girl’s face.

“Uhm… weren’t you over here before?” Maki motioned to the area next to her.

“Well, yeah, but…” Oh, why are you questioning it, Nico? Maki-chan wants you to sit next to her again! Just do it! “Never mind.” Nico shook her head and sat down where Maki had indicated. “This is fine.”

“Right, so, where were we?” Maki searched the paperwork in front of them. “Ah, yes…”

Unlike the last time, Nico paid closer attention to her younger tutor’s explanations. After a little while, she felt like she was getting the hang of things, so Maki let her try a few problems on her own. However, it didn’t take long before she came across something new that she couldn’t quite grasp.

“Say, Maki-chan, what’s this?” Nico pointed to something in her book.

“…”

“Maki-chan?”

Still no response, but a moment later, Nico felt the other girl lean against her. She craned her neck to get a better view and immediately noticed that Maki’s eyes were closed. Well, so much for this tutoring session. At least Maki was leaning against her left side so she could still use her right hand to continue working. Nico knew she would get bored of studying on her own after a while and would eventually want to get up, but she was more than happy to let Maki rest for now.

“Have a good nap, Maki-chan.” Nico murmured before going back to work.

Author’s Note Continued: Geh... I kept typing “the couple” or something similar every time I found myself referring to both girls at the same time, but they’re not dating yet at this point in the timeline. Probably didn’t help that the scene is about them doing a morningful of everyday things in a relaxed and comfortable way as though they were a couple that was familiar enough with one another to behave this way. But that is kind of one the points that I want to emphasize in at least some scenes leading up to them actually dating; that they practically were beforehand.

On another note, I am not completely satisfied with some of the transitions in this scene. I had a lot of key points I wanted to get to and for the most part, I think those are fine, but I feel like some of the threads I used to connect them could be better. As such, I may come back to this scene at some point.

And I still need to retcon those other scenes...