SeeD 4 - Pour Another One

[doubledollar]

WHO: Dante + Wolfood + Vash, maybe an appearance of Libra
WHERE: vASH'S cottage out in the woods, on his farmgarden
WHEN: Some time after Vergil's BearLog
WHAT: Dante shows up at Vash and Wolfwood's place needing to loosen the brain a bit. Three idiots get drunk.
WARNINGS: Alchohol, probably a lot of flirting. Three idiots getting drunk and having a good time, whatever that might entail. Might have some violence at the start? The three of them love guns.



[ it hasn't gotten super late yet--late enough that the single sun was setting, leaving the sky a somewhat orange-greying hue as he and at least one of his roommates sit with him next to the river out back behind the cottage. There's a bit of a rocky beachlike area next to it, and since Vash has come to live there, he had made it one of his first personal projects to dig a sort of fire pit down there. Surrounded with rocks and close enough to the water to be easily put out--he and Wolfwood are sitting together on a big, fallen log that he'd dragged over some weeks ago to sit on.

There's some roasting sticks put over a crackling fire that's going in the pit--with a half dozen gutted river fish hanging over it, as well as some silvery wrapped vegetables from the garden thrown directly onto the embers under the live flame. Dinner prep for people who don't have electricity, go.

Between them there's also a few bottles of amber-coloured liquid, and as they're cooking dinner, they've cracked into a small drink. Nothing wrong with a bit of whiskey before dinner.

They aren't exactly expecting a visitor so late, but. It's not like Vash will be opposed when Dante does show up--but for now he's focused on idle chatter with his friend. ]

Yeah, no, worms in this world are pathetic. They're like, single-bodied tubes that wiggle around in the dirt. No eyes, no wings, and they're slimy, too.

I met a real good kid in town a few days ago who taught me how to fish, so. While we can't really keep fresh meat out here, you can probably try some of this to see if it's to your taste.

[ no fish on noman's land, who knows if wolfwood would like it. ]

Comments

[advivo]

[ as curious as he is, dante decides to let it lie with that, focus shifting to the roast trout in his hand. he doesn't go so far as chewing the bones, but he does devour it as though he hasn't had anything to eat the whole day ─ a side effect of his demonic reinstatement he thinks. it isn't long before dante has eaten the whole fish, stabbing the skewer down into the sand as he collects his roasted potato. ]

Can you blame us? You should've seen the look on your face, it was like a determined hamster.

[ vash nudges him and dante chuckles. ]

Not surprised, you should have seen the shit I got up to trapped in the demon world.

[ they still had to eat and in all honesty the plants there were more likely to kill you than sustain you, so he had to go for the next best thing. what is a bit of cannibalism between demons, really? ]

Ah, sounds like you were their favorite.

[doubledollar]

....Mm. 'Millions Knives' is a name he chose for himself when we were .... iunno. 80. Something about him wantin' to collect up a bunch of weapons so he could see his ambition to the end...

[ he seems ... somewhat annoyed at the idea, following Knives around the desert for decades to keep him out of trouble had been the world's biggest fucking headache. It didn't get much better once the July incident happened, but...

Mmm. He's gonna put his glass down on Dante's leg for another shot. ]

Demons, huh. You said that earlier. That you were a demon. Is your demon world nice as this one? [ he has no idea that there's a separation of worlds, so...

but. now he's taking a moment. a long, long moment. to STARE at Wolfwood as he looks up from his own potato, trying to split it with one hand as he SQUINTS at him. ]

Orphanage.
Smoking wormstingers at ... the orphanage--weren't you, like, eight??

[asipofbride]

[ sometimes you are just a little hamter and the world is a banana that you're not done chewing yet. Wolfwood locks eyes with Dante for a moment as he takes another huge bite of his dinner, not even bothering to try and beat the rodent allegations even though he doesn't exactly know what a hamster is, but he will not be shamed out of grubbin'. Dante probably wants to steal his food.

Feral desert child behavior aside, Wolfwood cuts a look around Dante to Vash as the other man throws out a number and the name of his stupid, stupid brother, snorting as... well. Of course. Of course Vash was old as balls. ]

You don't look a day over seventy-two.

[ he's helping. And unfortunately for him, the 'lessons' he learned at the knee of the Eye of Michael give him just enough information to be dangerous, or in this case, to run his mouth a little when Vash hopes for the best. ]

I know you avoid the whole religion thing because of Two Spoons, a Knife, and a Bent Fork, and I wish that were also me, but demons don't get nice anything usually. [ another thoughtful chew, swallowing hard so he can continue. ] It's part of their punishment for siding against God and His angels or being born wrong or something. Granted, demons in this case is basically just... all of humanity because calling everybody sinners all the time wasn't heavy-handed enough, or fuckin' something, I was not paying attention to the whack jobs while they waxed poetic about it.

Dante's pretty choice for a demon.

[ your church sucks and so do you, Eight Sporks, and that's why Wolfwood is an undertaker and not a priest. There's no comfort in God these days; Knives stole it all.

Wolfwood gives Dante a pat on his shoulder as he--kind of? praises him? tossing what's left of his fish skewer into the fire to burn up, giving his lips a satisfied little lick as he sits back and sighs out his contentment. he's about to finish his potato when Dante goes neutral and Vash goes loud, squinting over at both of them from behind his sunglasses.

... because of course he's still wearing them, even as it eases towards dark. ]

Yeah, so? It was something to do to pass the day other than chores, church, and helping with the littler kids. Everybody needs a hobby, Spikes.

[advivo]

[ he won't deny that the thought entered his mind for maybe a split second, or two, like an intrusive thought that has him wondering whether or not wolfwood would try to bite him if he tried to steal his food. but that thought is thoroughly thrown from his head with vash placing the shot glass on his leg again, it's almost automatic how he reaches down for the whiskey all the while keeping his gaze trained on wolfwood, pouring another shot for vash. ]

Seventy-two is a bit harsh, [ it's only then that turns his head to glance at vash, giving him a quick look up and down. ] I'd say he looks not a day over fifty.

[ anyone else might be surprised by the number, but dante? well, when you deal with the demonic and other magical bullshit things like people living to ages that aren't normal for a human being become something you're less surprised by. ]

He's not wrong. You know about the whole heaven and hell thing? [ he waves a hand about slightly as if to accentuate his point. ] Something like that. Earth is stuck in between, that's home. Hell, the demon world, the underworld, it's never been home but my brother and I had to take an extended unwanted vacation there for a while. [ he wrinkles his nose a little before bringing the bottle of whiskey to his lips, he's still too sober to be even considering talking about that. ]

I'm an absolute delight, thank you.

[ dante all but eats up the praise, almost preening despite the dubious validity of it. he takes another swig before putting it back down in the sand and devouring his potato. it's a good damn potato. ]

[doubledollar]

[ children both of you behave yourselves good god.

he watches dante pour him a new drink, but he takes a moment to reach for it--he has a hand full of half of a baked potato and life sucks when you have just one hand.
He scoffs a little as the pair pay him compliments about his appearance, vs. his age, and tossing his potato piece into his mouth, his first response is to throw up his twisted over peace sign. Then he'll pick up his new drink, but not drinking it immediately. ]

I dunno, I just never really believed in the whole heaven and hell thing. What with how I feel an actual God wouldn't let humans suffer the way they do, and that I really don't think someone who acts the way my brother does would be an angel.
Even if Dante looks like a demon, he's a way more decent person than a lot of the humans I've met.

[ hes gonna down his shot. choking a bit with a cough as it goes down this time. ]

When I first met you, you mentioned fighting your way out of some difficult place and havin' not eaten proper in a while. Does that mean the place you were was hell? ...So those places. Actually exist, huh....

[ something to think about. As he tries to move a foot to kick at wolfwood, childishly. the booze has started to kick in, childish behaviors are seeping in. ]

Smoking worm stingers isn't a hobby for a kid! Whatever happened to... iunno, kickball, hopscotch...

[asipofbride]

[ just because Dante cannot yet scavenge off of Vergil doesn't mean he shoulder steal Wolfwood's stuff. does he need to carve his initials into things?

he gives a little snort of a laugh when Dante challenges his age approximation, giving him a lidded look as his sunglasses slide down his nose just a little. ]

You know he's older than 80 right now, right. [ granted, Wolfwood doesn't know exactly how old, and 'as balls' probably isn't something you can pick on a drop down menu, but they both know Vash looks as young as Wolfwood does, sorry for being the father figure in the group, D-man.

he listens to Dante's story as he finishes up his potato, already starting to eye the other foil bricks in the fire, stick coming out to scoot them to less hot parts of the fire pit as Wolfwood tries not to get too into his feelings about religion, about Vash's brother, and all the ugly shit that goes in between there, snorting as it becomes the compliment Dante power hour. ]

Yeah, like I said. Pretty decent, even if he has shitty taste in roadtrips.

[ he pouts as it registers that though his shot glass is down, it remains bereft, empty, unloved, smacking at Vash's leg when it flails at him as he does exactly what he threatened to do, picking up his glass with one hand and leaning on Dante with his forearm on his leg for balance, snatching the bottle of whiskey up so that he can pour his own shot with a pout. ]

Way to play favorites! An' look, there's only so much kicking and hopping you can do before shit gets too hot to want to exist, let alone run around, and those mid-day hours last forever when you're a kid. [ he downs his newest shot, holding the whiskey hostage for a minute as he pours another, but doesn't take it immediately, putting the bottle back down with an intense look of concentration on his face. ]

'sides, it didn't last too long before I was 'chosen', and then I had the money to get into real cigarettes a couple years later.

[ hmn. next shot, down the hatch, let's not fly too close to that sun, Icarus. ]

[advivo]

Yeah, I heard him. He doesn't look it though, far too handsome. [ hm, the whiskey is starting to hit him, loosening his tongue just enough for the compliments to start flowing. not that dante is worried, he doesn't seem to mind that he said it as he moves his gaze from vash to wolfwood. ] Just like you, Wolfy.

[ a blink and he moves on, leaning back a little on one hand while the other remains clasped around the remains of his potato. the talk of angels and god does make him scrunch his nose up a little, words starting to find their way onto his tongue just as wolfwood leans on him to grab the bottle of whiskey from its spot in the sand between his legs. the noise he makes is nothing short of indignant, reaching out with his full hand for the bottle as wolfwood holds it hostage. ]

Hey, I was eating! [ as if that is an excuse. maybe he got a little distracted by vash but that isn't his fault - but then wolfwood puts it back down where it was and dante's indignance seems to fade, replaced by a look he can't properly place. ]

Uh, yeah. I was in hell, I guess. [ he shifts forward, picking up the bottle of whiskey again to take another quick swig before filling both their shot glasses again. see? no favorites. ] My brother... before I beat the sense into him he ripped open a tear between the human and demon worlds. It let a big fuck off tree grow from it and really messed some things up. In order to close the tear we had to go to the demon world to cut down the tree, sealing us both inside.

[ he didn't have to go, he wanted to go. didn't want to leave vergil alone again, didn't want to lose him a third time. dante exhales, finishing the last of his potato, and turns his attention to wolfwood. ]

Chosen? That's not a fancy way of saying adopted, is it?

[doubledollar]

[ time for vash to turn his head and blink at Dante for a second. Maybe a little amused that the man outright calls him handsome. What's a compliment between friends, besides--he said it to Wolfwood, too. ]

I'm great to look at. So long as my shirt's on. Do you know how much work I put into my appearance before I leave the house. [ like. his hair DOES NOT naturally do this spiky thing, you know!!! and he even needs to shave!!! like it's a manufactured look.
He's gonna take the offered next shot, though, once again swaying in place a little as he listens to his pair of companions talk. Opening a tear between realities... well. That sounds... a bit not good. Probably? He frowns a bit, taking only a sip from his shot this time--nursing it a moment as thoughts are coming into his head a little less quick than before. alchohol's working, at least. ]

Big tree from hell sounds. Bad. Probably. Gates between dimensions should probably stay closed. Good thing you got out of there. A place like that you said doesn't have good food or water, right. Better to be here. Just be right here, and it's fine.

[ a pause. He finishes his shot. ...He wants to ask if there's a heaven, too, but. He'll leave that off for the moment, deciding to instead turn his attention to wolfwood, too. a frown. ]

Adopted in a sense, I think. [ not even he knows the full details--even if he knows Some Things, wolfwood always kept things... close to his chest. ]

[asipofbride]

Don't tell him that, it'll go to his head. [ Wolfwood grumbles as he goes back to herding potatoes towards the edge of the fire pit, reaching down to test them with his fingers--only to jerk up a little when Dante ricochets the compliment from Vash to him, a pair of black cat ears folding back on top of his head and motherfucker they were gone. ] Don't tell me that either!

[ he's red from the whiskey, not from the compliments. He definitely doesn't get completely thrown off his game when people compliment him and talk nicely to him. Definitely doesn't. Vash was never in the worm stomach so Wolfwood's secret is safe... until the whiskey decides it isn't, but shut up, shut up, shut up. ] You look fine without your shirt, Spikes. Stop gripin'.

[ at least Dante remembers his shot this time, because Wolfwood's going to need it, though he doesn't drink it right away. the concept of a big fuck off tree, of a gate between worlds--he wasn't enough up in the organization to know, was too damn determined to stay emotionally locked down to care, but he remembers the edifice the vines twisted into, a giant woman cradling Julai in her writhing, pitch-black tentacles, crushing the city in a loving parody of an embrace

and then Julai was gone. ]

Fuck big trees and gates to other worlds. Here is fine.

[ and maybe it's a cold day in hell that Wolfwood agrees with Vash without any sort of correction, any sort of attempt to distance the two of them, to nitpick his version of the narrative, but the words feel right. he shakes his head, sipping a little from his shot as well, just enough to chase the outline of that writhing, living tower from his mind.

and then he's very, very aware that people are paying attention to his words, and isn't that weird and uncomfortable. ]

Adopted in a sense. 'Picked for a higher purpose'. This organization used to come to the orphanage and see if any of the kids worked for their plans--I tested highly compatible for chemicals, so I got pulled to join their program. After a couple of years of work on me, they inducted me into the organization proper. They gave me the gun.

[ it's weird to be this cagey and this open in the same breath, and maybe if he's lucky, this Vash hasn't heard about the Eye of Michael and won't connect the dots. he downs his next shot and plays with the shot glass a little, focusing real hard on the potatoes still in the firepit. ]

I can do that little trick you pulled with the bullets too, uncle Scruffy. Not right now, but usually.

[advivo]

I'm gonna tell him that, he deserves to hear it! [ honestly, vash could do with some compliments to boost his self-confidence, you know? he is about to say something similar about wolfwood as well until the ears make their re-appearance and dante lets out a laugh. ] Hey, they're back. [ maybe he's had too much whiskey, but he suddenly very much wants to reach up and scratch them. hm, he'll keep his hand at his side for the time being. ]

And, Vash buddy, don't go saying shit like that because it makes me want to see you without your shirt. [ he keeps wolfwood in the corner of his vision as he looks at vash, the look he gives him incredibly pointed. ] I'll be the judge of whether or not you're great to look at without a shirt, thank you.

[ he decides, incredibly quickly, that he doesn't want to go into any more detail about the qliphoth and the destruction it brought ─ it brings with it far too many feelings he'd rather stay buried and not thought about for another twenty years. so he doesn't, focusing instead on wolfwood's words as he speaks, a frown finding his face. ]

Always knew being adopted was bullshit. [ they tried to put dante in an orphanage not long after the fire, it didn't stick. ] That's bullshit, they're bullshit. Who does that kind of shit to a kid? It really pisses me off.

[ it's then that dante gives into the intrusive thought from before, reaching up to scratch behind one of the black cat ears as if doing so would apologize for bringing up a likely painful memory. ]

It's not a trick, it's a 'gift' passed down by daddy dearest. [ ugh, sparda. ] More like a curse some days.

[doubledollar]

[ he was GOING to say something about 'it wont go to my head, i deserve to hear nice things,' but. Wolfwood's cat ears are out again and he's fighting down the desire to laugh his heart out. He's fighting. trying to catch a few drops from his shot glass as a distraction as a cut-off chuckle escapes his throat.

Attention back on him. shit. ]

Oh, nono don't worry about it, it's nothing. It's pretty cold out here anyway, you know?? [ it's actually pretty warm. even moreso because of the fire. he's wearing his big oversized hoodie over that black, strappy belted pair of slacks and those stupid fuckoff steel-bottomed boots. He's gonna try to flip to the other conversation, fast.

Because his brain is trying to put two and two together with wolfwood being adopted into some insane organization, but... ... surely, the man wasn't
involved with legato and knives, right
they were on their way to go combat them, after all. Ah, maybe he was involved with them, but had a personal score to settle? that's probably it. the man had come looking for him with the specific idea in mind to fight that hellish organization for the good of mankind, so... he's smiling again, waving a hand. ]

When you come from a hellish desert with the amount of desperation to survive or find a way to survive, people kind'a. Do all sorts of unsavory stuff. Especially if you somehow get involved with the mess surrounding my brother.

[ hmn

...and now dante is petting wolfwood. and he can't help but to grin. Wide. forgetting, all of a sudden, about any of his own plights as he watches it happen, almost in slow motion. ]

I can't say I heal as fast as either of you.
But bullets don't stay long in my body either. I'd count it as something of a blessing, you know. Otherwise we'd be at the hospital right now.

[asipofbride]

Shut up! [ it works for both Wolfwood's aversion to complimenting Vash and Dante giggling like an asshole over his newly returned cursed ears, Wolfwood continuing to flag down local airplanes with how flat the appendages were folded.

he gives Vash a look as both Dante and the blond man do their whiskey-soaked best to read into what Wolfwood said further than he really intended for them to do, giving a heavy exhale through his nose as Vash flirts just alongside guessing the game for its fullest context. ]

They'd probably call it a gift too. 'Creating a better strain of humanity' or something obnoxious like that. Assholes.

[ the intrusive thoughts win and Wolfwood has to try really, really hard not to make a noise as Dante begins to give him ear scritchies, the sensitive going up Wolfwood's spine like the ridge of fur that spikes up on a cat that's taken offense to the proceedings. It's hard to stay melancholy when somebody is giving you pettings--though Wolfwood remembers, then, that Vash had seen a whole lot of some sort of additional context when he'd come to pull Wolfwood out of his own personal entry to hell Kaisou, and if left to his own thoughts, the man might actually start to piece things together in a way Wolfwood really wasn't sober enough to deal with, so--

time for measures. Drunken ones.

he swats at Dante's hand, trying to get it out of his hair and off of his ears as he leans forward, weight braced on his feet. ]

Enough about the ears, we're talking about Vash's dumb chest now.

[ and then he lunges over Dante to grab at Vash, clasping onto the hoodie and working to peel it off the plant so that people stop laughing at him or thinking about his tragic backstory too in depth. ]

[advivo]

[ for all his faith in humanity, for all that he sides with them over his own flesh and blood again, and again, and again, there are some things that just rub him the wrong way. things that he struggles to forgive. whatever the hell they did to wolfwood? dante decides that is high up on the list.

but he refuses to think much more about it now, enjoying the way the wolfwood tries not to make a noise at the scratch, how he leans just a little into it despite himself. dante could honestly sit here and do this for a while, he thinks because honestly, it is kind of cute. but then his hand is batted away and dante can't help the pout that finds his face, whiskey definitely hitting him now, a look that lasts all of a couple of seconds before wolfwood all but lunges over dante towards vash. ]

Huh? [ instinctively dante's arms go to brace wolfwood, to basically stop him from falling from the half demons's lap as he tries to rid vash of the hoodie. that ─ he can honestly say he didn't expect wolfwood to do that, but he sure as hell isn't going to stop him. ]

1/2

[doubledollar]

[ dante isnt the only one irritated by it. through somewhat drunken thoughts, he himself is getting slowly annoyed with realising he hadn't really THOUGHT about who had messed around with wolfwood like they had.

it's not like he has time to think about it either, though, as his shot glass goes tumbling from his hand, fortunately harmlessly down to the sandy riverbank by his feet as Wolfwood suddenly is on his feet. One moment ago, wasn't he like, enjoying getting scruffles from dante?? oh no why is he up and why is it dark, he can feel his reflexes trying to catch up with his whiskey-dancing brain and with one arm, well. all it takes is for one hard yank from a dante-braced wolfwood to divest him of that oversized hoodie. ]

2/2

[doubledollar]

[ Where Vash makes a rather unmanly sound as he tries to raise the one hand he has to cover himself, but.
He's surprisingly a lot broader than he looks under his clothes, so one arm does nothing to cover up the roadmap myriad of scars absolutely tearing up nearly every inch of his upper body. Metal plates screwed into certain places along his chest and ribs, and even some screws holding together certain joints and part of his spine.

He's a fucking mess, honestly. ]

--Come on, I just said I was cold!!! [ it's time to whine. ]

[asipofbride]

[ he is not enjoying ear scratchies and he is not going to sit here while everyone works through whether or not they wanna pump Wolfwood for more information about his whole deal, so he does what he does best

he peels Vash's hoodie up and over his head, mistreating the one-armed man with absolutely no guilt in his veins, too full of whiskey to be bothered with doing anything but laughing at the squeal Vash gives when his goodies are exposed to the air. Wolfwood settles back, triumphant--kind of. kneeling? on Dante's thigh as he gives Vash a once over, eyes squinted, sunglasses gone... somewhere. it's probably near the whiskey between Dante's legs. ]

Huh. The titty grate is new.

[ and then he's wiggling into Vash's hoodie, fighting with the garment and taking way, way longer than he should to get it on, but damn it, he does get it on, and now it serves a second terrible purpose--the ears are covered under the hood. the hood is clearly an impenetrable fortress that no one will ever be able to surmount, leaving his ears safe from pets and his dignity completely intact. ]

Yeah, Spikes? A couple of months here in a temperate paradise and you're ungrateful for the luxury of being cold?

[ he continues to lean on Dante, making sweaterpaws out of the sleeves of Vash's sweater to best mock the man in the most effective way. ]

[advivo]

[ a lot happens in the span of a couple of seconds, so much that it takes dante's brain a moment to truly catch up as to what is going on as he keeps an arm wrapped around wolfwood's waist. vash is shirtless, not just that vash is shirtless, it's more than vash is shirtless and covered in scars that immediately draw dante's gaze. they had both said that vash is old but it's one thing to say it and another to actually see evidence of it. ]

Shit, [ scars say a lot about a guy and vash is littered with them, with bits of metal, and it makes dante almost feel... sad. maybe it's the whiskey, maybe it's the fact he knows intimately the sort of violence that inflicts scars like that, maybe it's the fact that vash isn't the kind of guy to hurt a fly. but his chest aches slightly and dante unconsciously tightens his grip around wolfwood's waist. ] I don't know what you were talking about, Vash. You look perfectly fine without a shirt on, chicks dig scars you know?

[ he attempts to inject levity back in his voice but it doesn't quite work, the smile on his face doesn't quite reach. ]

If you're cold you can always shift closer, I always run warm.

[doubledollar]

[ you were fucking enjoying them you goddamn coward admit it.
He's gonna sit like a petulant child on the log with his shirt missing and frown loudly about it because not only did the man steal his sweater but he now has the audacity to wear the goddamn thing.

It does soothe his metaphorical wounds when dante does offer him that sort of compliment though, giving a goofy sort of laugh as he presses his knees together, arm shooting down to try to grope out wherever it was he dropped his shot glass. ]

Idunno, I think the gentle eyes of most ladies would be pretty put off, but it means a lot to hear you say that anyway.

[ it's always a point of embarrassment to him, he doesn't like the horrified look some people give him when they see the mess on his skin. ...Maybe he'll press up against dante anyway, because maybe he is cold!!! it's only early spring, but also. Dante's leather coat is nice and warm. His cheek is gonna squish right up against the man's upper arm as he gives an annoyed sigh. ]

Another demon thing, huh.
Do you get scars when you heal up like that?

[asipofbride]

[ he would rather die than admit to liking ear scratchies, you will never get him to confess. not in a million years. the sun will burn out first, on god.

Wolfwood does take a moment to really look at Vash now that he has him peeled--once again, noting the differences between the man he knew and the man in front of him. no matter how many times Vash says that Wolfwood is Wolfwood, how many times Vash says something and he sounds just like Wolfwood's lamb to the slaughter, there's just enough things that are... off. Different.

the titty grate is new. The scars are also a lot deeper and more jagged, bitten into Vash. he wonders if he still has the implant on his spine, but he can't see it from this angle. Vash muses about women as Dante reassures him, and Wolfwood peels his tongue from behind his teeth. ]

Does that make Dante chicks.

[ deadpan and flat, helping nobody in the conversation as Dante holds him both steady and hostage; so he lays one of the sweater sleeves overtop Dante's head as he kind of leans on it with a sway. ]

C'mon, Needlenoggin. If a girl can't look at you and keep it together, she's not gonna be able to keep up with you. The way you look is the least of your problems.

[ he's helping? and kind of slipping off Dante please don't go anywhere arm you're his only hope ]

Is this the part of the night where people's clothes come off so ya'll can compare scars?

[advivo]

Hey, some guys dig scars too.

[ dante doesn't seem to mind when wolfwood leans on him, trying to shift the sleeve that falls in front of his vision with a short puff of breath - it works just enough for dante to be able to see vash. he won't lie that looking over him does make dante wonder about the story behind the scars, each one would have a story after all and he can tell from here that they are varying ages. some look old, some a little newer. ]

He's right you know, if a girl or guy can't get spooked from just this? Then they're just not worth it. Someone who really cares won't give a crap if you're covered in scars of missing ninety percent of your limbs.

[ vash does shift up against him, his natural body heat seeping through shirt and coat. dante shifts a little to make a little bit of space, his other arm lazily draping around vash's shoulders as wolfwood starts to slip a little. even with his mind somewhat muddled by the whiskey dante is quick to pull wolfwood back in, securing the hold he has around the other man's waist. ]

Not really, heal too fast for a scar to settle. [ if he didn't then... well he'd be as covered in scars as vash is. ] Who knows, maybe, but I've got my hands full right you two so maybe later?

[doubledollar]

[ you peel vash? you leave him without sweater? he is cold and unloved? he makes such a whiny, pouty expression as wolfwood seems to get comfortable in his jacket and he just decides it's a loss. this asshole steals the blanket when they sleep often enough, he's never getting the sweater back. ]

Maybe everyone should dig scars. [ he grumbles with some small amount of childishness to it. He's got his shot glass in his hand again, and he's probably looking to get it refilled, but--he squints at it, noticing that its brief time in the beach sand got it all gritty on the inside. lame. time to abandon it, he supposes. ]

Talk about a confidence boost, though. [ he actually, legitimately feels uplifted? weirdly? by the fact that both wolfwood and dante are saying something like that? it isn't long before he's gone back to grinning like a goon as ... dante's arm comes to settle over his shoulders.

His eyes widen a bit and he blinks. Looking up at dante a little like a deer in the headlights.
...It's been. Years? Since he'd gotten a hug? When was the last person? ...His whiskey-addled brain can't? actually remember when?
So
uh
dont
mind if he
leans right into it
he's just cold
yep
hes just cold. ]

Hmm. Both of you with your fast healing. It's not fair, you know. If Demons can can heal that fast, so should I, yanno. [ he isn't about to be rude and rip dante's shirt off though WOLFWOOD you jerk.
there's a crime about stealing someone's nice leather jacket. ]

[asipofbride]

There's nothing wrong with being chicks, Dante.

[ Wolfwood is squinting a little as he tries to focus while he imparts his sage wisdom from the depths of his ill-begotten hoodie. And hey, Vash, I thought having your blanket stolen totes wasn't a problem? Where was all that bravado in this moment, where Wolfwood has acquired three layers of torso clothing to your none. ]

Scars are a story, ain't they? Who you are, where you've been, what failed to take you out. Why you're makin' that everyone around you's problem, since God hasn't managed to take you out yet. [ Wolfwood's idea of compliments for people who are not children are probably... a little weird. He's a little focus-brained on the concept of survival, of doing whatever it took to make it to tomorrow so you could get your goals squared away.

He's also very, very drunk. He catches Vash's pout at his shot glass and briefly looks around for his own, likely lost in the forward dive to get Vash's sweet hoodie, and decides that the shot glass belongs to the streets now. He makes a move with Dante's sturdy help, getting his legs stretched out so he isn't kneeling all of his weight directly into Dante's tree trunk of a thigh, moving to sit on it instead, the arm that'd been on top of his head hooking around his neck instead as he goes on a mission.

a bending mission. he comes up successful with the mostly empty bottle of whiskey and it's sexier, fuller twin. ]

Anybody wanna call dibs on the last swig from the first bottle? [ he is a kind and benevolent bottle overlord, still squinting to make his eyes work good.

also that's coward shit, Vash the Wimpede--just as children crave the mines, Dante craves to be shirtless. set him free. ]

I mean if you wanna shoot me a little right now, I'd scar if it healed. I could be your new twin. My murderous tendencies are on a much more manageable scale, I feel.

[advivo]

[ if dante notices the whole deer in the headlights look, he makes no show of it, happily pulling vash in closer as he goes to lean against him. it's nice, warm, and dante has always been something of an affectionate kind of drunk ─ not that he is drunk, not completely, not yet ─ especially around people who have somehow managed to make it to the top of his approval list. a place that both wolfwood and vash seem to have occupied for a hot minute.

his fingers lightly dance across one of vash's scars as wolfwood talks, gaze flicking up toward the man he can't properly see. ]

Exactly. They're stories. Some good, some bad, some hilarious. [ dante has his fair share of those, more than he can properly count. ] They're proof you're still kicking, that you're strong─ woah.

[ he cuts himself off as wolfwood shifts on his lap, his weight moving from the specific spot on his thigh to stretching out across his lap. he shifts a little, and adjusts his hold on the other man as he bends down to retrieve the bottles of whiskey. oh, yeah, he had almost forgotten they were down there. ]

Give it here. [ because frankly he deserves it. ] Might need some help though. [ though in truth dante could easily let go of one of them to take the last swig from the bottle, but he's frankly comfortable and doesn't exactly want to let go of vash now that the other is leaning against him. so please, oh kind and benevolent bottle overload, do a guy a solid.

though before that can even happen dante is screwing up his nose, giving wolfwood an almost dead pan expression. ]

No one else is getting shot tonight, not with that gun. I don't feel like digging a bullet out with my teeth tonight.

[ which is to say dante would definitely dig a bullet out with his teeth if he had to. ]

Healing fast isn't all that it's cracked up to be, honest. Makes drinking a pain in the ass.

[doubledollar]

Mmm, stories, huh. [ he does consider that. Taking a moment to glance down at his missing arm, the grate along his chest--some of the more jagged-looking ones near his hip. He remembers them all, of course--right down the the pockmarked ones that had been held together with stitches and string until his own personal brand of very slow but effective enough regeneration kicked in. ] I can see what you mean. Some of them ARE pretty funny, if I take the minute to think abu--whuuh--

[ he wobbles as Dante is pushed and manhandled around a bit by wolfwood looking for the extra booze. He's squooshed right up against Dante's side, so he's pulled along for the ride a little, bracing an arm around the man's middle to try to keep himself from wobbling right off the log. digging his heels into gritty riverbank sand, he's gonna laugh a little loudly with a lift to his shoulders. ]

I only got one arm but here, I'll help, givvit. [ He's gonna wiggle that arm up that was bracing Dante for a second, reaching to snatch that mostly-empty bottle in his hand. Tipping it up so he can drip the rest of it down into dante's mouth with a grin on his face. ]

Mmmmn, no shooting. No more shooting. I don't like it when my friends get shot.

I don't even have my feathers to protect you so you can't go getting shot anymore.

[ he drops the now empty bottle down onto the sandy riverbank, dropping his chin onto his palm. ]

Oh noooo. Wait does that mean you'll need more to even get a bit more drunk.
Got another whole bottle at least...

[asipofbride]

I bet Blondie has at least one bullet hole on his ass that's a riot an' a half. [ Wolfwood's voice is probably garbled as it wafts up during his Bending Adventure as he roots for the booze, and he doesn't bother to repeat himself when he's up and comfortably settled on Dante's lap, uncaring of the havoc he wreaked on the two men trying to stay balanced on their rounded log seat.

Vash reaches for the mostly empty bottle and Wolfwood gives it easily enough, leaving the blond to his devices as he feeds Dante the last of that bottle's booze as Wolfwood dedicates all of his own pretty, sodden brain to opening the other, untouched bottle.

he's momentarily distracted when both men deny him his fun scar adventure, pouting a little--and giving Vash a Look when he mentions feathers, having not even the foggiest idea as to what that's supposed to mean, and that's a problem for like, three days from now sober Wolfwood to contemplate. there are more pressing things.

like Dante not being as drunk as he and Vash are. ]

Well, that's no fun. You gotta catch up to us, big D.

[ and Wolfwood, being the giver that he is when he thinks it'll be funny to do, peels off the cheap wax and conquers the twist-cap to free the next bottle of booze, the whiskey immediately making its way to Dante's face hole, ready to pour. ]

Open up. You get the in-inaug-innagural-you get the first drink off this one. Go 'til you stop or die, whatever happens first.