kaisou | to see a world in a grain of sand

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to see a world in a grain of sand

WHO: Dante, Vergil, Nero, and any visitors to the Auguries within the month of June.
WHERE: Auguries of Innocence
WHEN: Throughout June/July
WHAT: Different logs/stuff that happens at Vergil's apartment-slash-shop
WARNINGS: General sparda family stuff, they talk about demon stuff idk. there'll be a birthday party at the end of the month too.

[ A three-story building with a shop in the bottom-most floor, a sign that is overtly fancy and gilded with silver, Auguries of Innocence. In the window, there is now a smaller, just as fancy, but red glowing sign that says Opening Soon: Devil May Cry.

The second floor a storeroom filled with crates of items unsorted and damaged alike, things Vergil has collected for numerous years and hasn't finished restoring, or is just holding while not ready to sell. The floor also has a number of crafting tools in it for restoring broken items or refurbishing damaged ones.

The third floor is a minimalistic, mostly grey and silver apartment with two bedrooms, one bathroom, a study, a kitchen, a livingroom and a dining area in it. It's covered in antiques, with some weapons hanging on the wall. The furniture looks styled more for looking at than it is for sitting on, which is annoying, at best.

For the Montshs of June/July, Vergil and Dante have forcibly kidnapped Nero to live with them while he's dealing with some rather unfortunate memory issues -- and this post will be used for any threads involving the trio + any visitors while this mess goes on. ]

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[ ...it's annoying. Having someone point out his lack of friendliness, as if it's something new. He's always been like this--people didn't want to spend time around him, and he's used to that; he's settled with that--and yet, since he's gotten to Kaisou his life has gotten so many new people in it that he's now at a point where people are quick to point out his lack of social grace.

Ugh.

Ugh.

He grits his teeth as he bites back what he wants to say, the petty, childish wish at the back of his teeth to say that yes, he doesn't want anyone in his house that isn't Dante and Nero--but then Dante's fucking LOOKING at him, SMILING at him, and saying with his whole chest that 'he isn't so much of an asshole to--' Oh fuck you Dante. He's gonna cross his arms and look like a petulant child, for a moment. ]

--I am not such a terrible person as to turn someone who my family members clearly--[ he grits this through his teeth ]--care deeply about out while they are down on their luck or in a bad situation.

Whichever it is, you...

...

You are welcome to stay here until your situation changes.

Just don't break my things.
And smoke outside.

[ Vergil isn't the only one feeling like a petty child in this moment; Wolfwood wants to shout and carry on and throw Dante's pity, his kindness back in his face, to call his brother out for the undercurrent of loathing in his voice, to yell about how the universe is shit and having to settle for the barest crust of Vergil's tolerance while digging into the meat of Dante's empathy makes him feel absolutely out of his mind with anger and heartache and every other ugly thing between

but he doesn't

he breathes out, slow, shoulders slumping as Dante snaps at him, looking utterly defeated for a moment, lost in his own skin as he does the other thing he's good at, when he can't run

doing what he's told. ]

Fine. That's easy enough. [ and it's not that the tension is gone; Wolfwood is just wearing it around his neck like a chain and he's squaring his shoulders so that the collar doesn't look too heavy, one hand fisted in his gun's cover and the other holding the cooled remains of a cigarette. ]

Thank you. I'll make it up to you. [ and he tries to inject some of that levity into his voice, some of that kind of rude, kind of casual ease that usually colors his speech pattern, though it likely rings hollow in the moment. ]

[ once again dante looks over at his vergil, his expression softening as he mouths a quiet thank you, before shifting back to wolfwood. it can't be easy accepting this, he knows enough about the other man to know that he is probably going out of his damn mind right about now. but he can't just let him disappear into the city, he promised vash after all. ]

Don't worry your pretty head over it, Nick. [ some of the tension melts from dante's shoulders, a hand reaching out to lightly tug at the other's sleeve. ] Come with me, yeah? We can leave Vergil to do whatever it is he was doing.

[ he nods towards a nearby room, pulling wolfwood along gently. later, when the other is asleep or something, he'll go to vergil and explain. later he'll go and smooth over his brother's irritation and thank him properly for this, but for now he needs to make certain wolfwood won't bolt when he isn't looking.

the office is fairly spacious, though a little bare save for the obviously expensive couch, an antique desk vergil pulled out of storage, and a potted plant in the corner of the room dante scrounge up a few days ago. it's only once wolfwood is through the door that dante lets go, turning around to close it behind them and exhales, running a hand through messy silver locks. ]

Talk to me, Nick. You okay?

[ he doesn't seem inclined to say much, as Dante reaches out and tugs him along--he moves where he's moved, following Dante quietly as the man takes him out of Vergil's eyeline and hauls him off to a tiny, near empty room, and Wolfwood just

wants to be in the cottage with its constant thrum of noise from the nature outside and the little animals running around and chirruping their immediate little animal thoughts, and he winds those feelings up tight and pushes them down deep as well, standing in the middle of Dante's office with his cross over his shoulder and all of his meager possessions tied up in a canvas sack that's tied to the cross, and his shoulders square up again as he trains his eyes on the ground again. ]

Of course I'm not okay, Dante. [ his voice is so tight, so bitter. ]

The monster that was too indifferent to ever hurt me directly showed up in my little slice of paradise and he's a fucking toddler. Where am I supposed to be okay in that? Vash promised me, once upon a time, that he'd do what needed to be done if Knives ever showed up.

... but he never said anything about Kni.

[ he wants to smoke so very badly. ]

[ that's the answer he is expecting and he's almost glad for it, relieved even, walking past wolfwood to the window in the back of the room. yeah, okay, vergil said no smoking inside but what vergil doesn't know won't hurt him so dante opens the window, motioning for wolfwood to come on over and join him. ]

You don't, Nick. You don't be okay but you lean on the people who are here for you, you lean on me. [ because he is here, he isn't going anywhere. ] I doubt he ever thought that Knives would show up here as a child, fuck I wouldn't have thought about it either. But he'll figure it out, we'll figure it out.

I'm not gonna let you ride this shit out on your own.

[ what other answer would it be?

Wolfwood, for all his bitching and complaining, has never completely cut and run on something before, not even when he was actively trying to push Vash and Dante away--so for him to drop the rope this hard, to turn heel and flee like the devil herself was on his heels, it has to be something, right?

he follows Dante stiffly, leaning his cross against the wall as he comes to stand next to the man, grateful for the opportunity to look at anything except for Dante even if it hasn't occurred to him to start smoking yet. ]

Vash can't be here for me right now, and you've already got enough weight on your shoulders. [ he might not be going anywhere, but Dante's already got so much he's holding. his fingers tighten on the windowsill, on his arm as Dante gives him all sorts of pretty words, and he lets out a low, unhappy breath in the wake of it. ]

Ain't nothing to ride out. It is what it is. Kni's here, Vash cleans up the mess, I try incredibly hard not to let my grudge with a man from another world inform a desire for me to murder a child. It's messy and ugly and we all walk away with fun new scars, as usual.

You talking about Vergil and Nero? [ dante scoffs, shaking his head. the thought of those two being too much for dante to handle is funny, hilarious even. ] I've got some big shoulders, Nick, adding your weight to it isn't going to break anything.

[ he almost hesitates to reach out again, to tug wolfwood in closer and wrap his arms around him. he wants to, wants to somehow smother all the grief coming off him, the bottled-up anger and hurt, but dante finds himself almost at a loss. as if reaching out right now might caused wolfwood to run the other way. ]

Sounds like you're already giving up before anything has even happened.

You already told me a little about your own brother problems, and the other one's got his head screwed on wrong, right? That's enough. [ Wolfwood is emotionally equipped for one problem at a time, deeply compartmentalized issues in their neat rows that he pushes away and doesn't think about once he's got them hung down deep.

blood is thicker than water, someone told him once. he'd always thought about how water was better, since you could drink it and drinking too much blood only ended up making your teeth ache and the taste of iron run down your throat, but that's absolutely mental and not worth vocalizing. Dante doesn't reach out, and it feels... wrong, but it makes sense.

he's never reacted well to creature comfort before. why would a dog that he's already kicked come back in for more? ]

... it'll be easier if it goes wrong to mourn it now and be ready for him to pick Kni over me. Kid hates me. I hate him. But he's not him, and I sound like I'm off my rocker for wanting vicious, violent harm on a lost, scared little idiot kid.

[ Wolfwood is also having a very, very hard time reconciling that in himself. it's always been his last little standard, his one thread of morality, and it's gone sailing out the window.

he feels very lost right now. ]

Edited 2023-07-02 03:00 (UTC)

That's nothing.

[ it isn't the first time he has had to juggle his problems, and it sure as shit won't be the last. but his problems feel like nothing in comparison to what is going on right now, in comparison to the shit wolfwood is currently going through.

in the end dante's desire to reach out wins over his fear of wolfwood pulling away, shifting closer to wrap an arm around the other man and pull him in tightly. it's fine if he lashes out if he reacts poorly to the touch. he slips a hand into the other man's jacket, blindly feeling around for his cigarettes. ]

Jesus Christ, Nick. You're crazy if you think he is going to pick the kid over you. If either of us is going to pick the kid over you. That's an impossible choice and you know it, he's gonna sit there tearing himself up because he wants both. [ finding the cigarettes dante withdraws his hands, casually shaking one of the free. ]

I really, really do not like having my worries pared down to 'nothing'.

[ his voice shifts to a deadpan as Dante does his best to soften Wolfwood, to help him lay his tension down, but Wolfwood's lived his whole-ass life not relaxing so it's gonna take a minute before he can get out of his head and join everyone else in the moment. or Nebraska. wherever the hell Kaisou is located.

the half-devil hauls him in and he allows himself to go, fingers still curled in his sleeves, on the windowsill as Dante just--starts groping him? fine. this might as well happen. ]

I'd pick my little brother any day of the week. You'd pick yours too. [ which stands to reason that Vash would also, ultimately, even if it would rip his heart in two, try to side with a Kni that he thought he could still save. he watches Dante tap one of his cigarettes free, taking it mechanically after a moment, hand finally letting go of the windowsill as his hand slips into his jacket and pulls out his heavy silver lighter, half considering pulling his flipping trick... only to flick the lighter open regularly when he can't work up the energy to toss and catch his lighter. ]

Ain't the first time Blondie's gotten himself near ripped to shreds trying to make the impossible happen. Somebody has to know when to let go so no one gets seriously hurt.

You know I'm not trying to par your worries down to nothing, Nick.

[ dante's patient at least, happy to let wolfwood take however long he needs to get out of his own head and settle back down. so his hold on wolfwood is both as tight as it is loose, giving him every opportunity he may just want to slip himself free as much as dante hopes he doesn't. if anyone needs this right now, it's wolfwood. ]

Over you? [ he tilts his head slightly until he is more or less leaning against wolfwood's, watching as wolfwood mechanically pulls the cigarette from the packet. blue eyes following as he pulls the lighter from his jacket, half expecting the flipping trick as he usually does. it's telling that wolfwood doesn't do that, flicking the lighter open regularly. dante sighs. ] A few months ago maybe. Dunno if you've noticed but you're really kind of important to me, same with Vash. About as important Vergil is. I'd have a hard time choosing between you and him.

[ because he's greedy, he wants more than he should. ]

Just give it a day or two before you just give up on us.

And yet here you are, actin' like I'm completely out of line instead of being brutally practical. [ his tone of voice loses some of the empty quality--going for sharp and clipped instead as he finally looks up at Dante for one inscrutable, unhappy look, and then he's busy secreting his lighter again and taking a drag off his cigarette, looking back out to the gray sky as he lets the smoke curl out of his mouth in a heavy exhale. ]

Navigated through at least ten years of my cosmic joke of a life on my own, being careful and doin' what I could to keep myself ready for whatever sandwave of bullshit got thrown my way next, and you think I should just... raise my hands and give it up to faith. [ but not in god. no, not in god; the same revelation that a different Wolfwood would have in two years of holy pilgrimage at Vash the Stampede's side--believe in Vash, in Dante. he wants to make Dante say it, to rip 'hard time' out of his hands and leave him with an absolute instead, because deep down, bitter and hurt and empty, Wolfwood knows where the coin falls at the end of this trick, no matter how silver the magician's tongue is as he offers to double, triple your money, just lay your bets and press your luck, anybody can win if they just have a little faith and a little luck--

but it's rigged. it's all rigged.

... and Wolfwood is stupid for fishing out his last few doubledollars anyway, leaving his heart on the table when he's asked. ]

I haven't given up on anything. I'm just... ready for the worst case scenario. Like you promised me you'd be. Remember? You're supposed to be my realist, not my optimist. I can't handle two of that.

[ as he leans into Dante, eyes lidded, cigarette burning slow between his fingers as he just sort of sags against Dante, all that rage and adrenaline burning up and leaving him emptier than usual. ]

Edited 2023-07-02 05:22 (UTC)

You're not completely out of line, you might be jumping the gun a little but that's it. [ if their positions were reversed can dante honestly say he wouldn't be doing the same? preparing for the worst, assuming the worst, and refusing to see anything else? isn't that exactly what he did when watched v merge back to urizen? he assumed the worst, he climbed that tree with every intention of putting his brother down once again as he had done before. ]

I don't think you should leave it all to faith, but it isn't gonna hurt to have a little of it. [ faith in vash at least, in the fact he wouldn't just toss wolfwood aside like some sort of torn and old blanket. that he means more to vash that wolfwood thinks he does, that he means more to dante than he thinks he does. he feels like they've regressed back to the beginning of june, dante struggling to convince wolfwood to allow himself to relax, that it is okay to take the happiness that comes his way. some terrible part of him can't help but wish that this hadn't happened, that they didn't get this younger form of vash's brother dumped on their doorstep. it'd had been simpler then, easier. they had been happy. ]

'course I remember. [ dante frowns, turning his head into the mess of wolfwood's hair. ] I'm still your realist, Nick. That hasn't changed. I've been ready for the worst from day one, but we're not there yet.

And what's wrong with jumping a gun? Not all of us can wiggle our chest and have the bullets fall out. I either have to go fishing in the holes or take one of my limited doses of chemicals. [ because he is just a human--a very sturdy, very fucked up human, but just a human. he's seen what Vash and Kni can do when Vash stops playing around. he's not--he's not wrong for being ready to move, for taking himself out of a situation where he's not gonna be a help, for... being ready for circumstances to change.

because Dante didn't end up putting Vergil to the sword last time, did he? not that Wolfwood knows it, but Dante and Vergil united to a new common purpose--and Nero got left in the dirt to hold down what was left over without knowing if they could ever come back.

Wolfwood's not wrong. he's not. faith is a fun idea and a funny leash to put on someone, and Wolfwood doesn't think choking is one of his kinks, and yet here he is, staring at one of the people he thinks he kind of trusts if he really goes soul-searching and Dante's waiting so patiently with a rope and collar and the devil's own silver smile. you can come to a realization that you need to get rid of some of your life's clutter without just slamming it into trash--but Wolfwood's not sure he wants to be ripped at his seams to be sewn into something new. being folded and stuffed into the bag and being tossed out might just be kinder. ] Funny thing to say to someone when faith really wanted them to believe that they were worthless and only fit to be cannon fodder.

[ it's a joke, kind of? but Wolfwood's sort of shut down a little emotionally in the wake of packing up and taking off, the conversation he had with Kni, and a dozen other little things that's just hit him and left him limpet against Dante, letting go of his own arm to rest the hand on Dante's arm where it's slung around his waist. ] You're being so optimistic I keep expectin' you to bust out Vash's catchphrase and his dumb peace sign.

Nothing, I guess. But do you have to cut and run from me too? You really think I'm just gonna focus all my attention and energy on Vash when you're just off on the side barely holding yourself together? If I hadn't come down when I did, you would've taken Vergil's money and left. [ no, wolfwood isn't wrong for being ready to move, but he's moving too far too fast, slipping through dante's fingers as everything they built this past month goes to shit around them. he can't lose this, can't lose them, not when he only just got used to having them within arm's reach.

his hold on wolfwood tightens then, just enough to relay the underlying fear in the back of his mind, just enough to have his shoulders sag and his heart sink. it feels like he is asking too much of wolfwood, of himself, talking until he can somehow convince the former to trust in something as finicky as faith when it's been nothing but cruel to him his entire life. he's waiting with rope and collar while placing his own on in turn. ] Sorry. [ he mumbles against the other's hair, eyes fluttering closed. ]

I can promise you I'm not going to be nearly as cringe as that. [ no, he is going to do something worse, he thinks. tearing into his own chest and exposing the tender parts of himself, placing his heart on a silver platter for wolfwood to do whatever the fuck he wills with it. because he should know, right? should let words, something dante is famously terrible at in situations like these, back up his actions right? ] You're not worthless or canon fodder, for the record. Not to me. You're─ [ important, a chink in his armor, a blade between his ribs. ] You don't have to ride this out alone, Nick. I'm not going to let you ride all this out on your own. Just stay with me. Please.

Look, if you want me to be honest about it-- [ not that Wolfwood and honesty are on great terms, but sometimes the little harlot slips out of him when he's too drunk or tired to play up pithy, rough exterior, and he is nothing if not exhausted and full of weird, contrasting emotions that he's not being allowed to destroy--whether it's the furniture, or himself, or the feelings, he's got nowhere to go but on a gentle slope downwards.

he wishes he could crash land. he's good at running after crash landings. ] I woulda, yeah. But that's because I know myself--I'm really, really good at keeping myself together. And yes, I can already hear you sayin' it--so's Vash. Vash has a hundred years on me of being alone and taking care of himself.

[ he sucks his teeth and takes a drag off his cigarette, holding the smoke until his lungs ache, and then his hisses it out in a vague plume, letting himself be drawn in and curled around. ] ... so Vash has done his time, don't you think? Havin' stuff taken away because of his stupid brother. Havin' to pick up and carry on alone. If it comes to--choices and sacrifices, maybe it's somebody else's turn to catch the bullet for once.

[ cringe or not, Vash's heart is free, and Wolfwood closes an eye as he thinks, as he toys with his cigarette. ] Some of the gangs back home, when they were executin' people, they'd load them up on food and water and then they'd tie them up for the worms--because it'd hurt more when they ran dry, rememberin' the feeling of being full an' not being thirsty. If this goes... bittersweet, that's what I think it'd be like for Vash, and he's done that enough in his life. I'm not gonna take the canteen away, you know? You're a tall drink of clean water, big guy.

[ and then Dante pulls him in, mentally and physically and emotionally, serving him his heart with all the trimmings, and Wolfwood finds his mouth is running a little dry in a less proverbial sense. the older man is so kind in his way, in how promising to destroy Wolfwood utterly comes as easily as promising to keep him safe, as if it's all interchangeable hallmarks of care, and Wolfwood just doesn't know what to do with all the red running and pulsing in his hands.

so he leans in. he reaches out. cupping the side of Dante's face and pushing up so he can rest their foreheads together, his sigh highlight in silvery smoke as he does so. ] What am I gonna do with you, you big sap? You keep rollin' out this red carpet treatment and I might get used to it.

You know as well as I do he isn't gonna be alone in this. That guy... he's probably got more people around him at any given moment than either of us. I'll be there for him if he needs me, when he needs me. Doesn't mean I can't be here for you too.

[ he can't do it, no matter how hard he tries, because the thought itself sets anxiety loose through his bones. it's selfish, but he needs them within reach, needs them close enough that he can reach out and pull them in close. he is terrible, isn't he? wanting so damn much. it's almost ironic how little he has changed over the years, how part of him is still that eight-year-old boy always trying to hold onto everything with his small hands. ]

There is more than enough of me to go around, you know? [ wolfwood is reaching out, cupping the side of his face, and dante leans into the touch as though it is the only thing keeping him tethered to the ground. he huffs out a laugh, lip twitching into a brief smile as they stand there, silvery smoke coiling up and around them. ]

You may as well get used to it. [ it's light the nudge he gives wolfwood. ] Cause I'm not going to be stopping anytime soon.

He's not gonna be alone, but he's gonna need everyone he can get his hands on to deal with this. I'm just--

[ trying to plan for all possible factors, to see as many bad endings as possible and deal with them ahead of time; Wolfwood's always looked for his outs and his fight another days and what is planning for Kni's existence if not a danger that needs to be accounted for? he continues to rest his hand on Dante's face, grounding the two of them together as he swallows down the truth and then coughs it back up, letting himself be honest even if it's ugly and unpleasant to hear. ]

I'm just tryin' to avoid the bitter 'it blew up in our faces' stage of things because I'm the one who's gonna get blamed for it. Blood goes to blood. I know Vash--and from what you've said about it, I know you are more than happy an' willing to get ripped apart from one end to the other trying to save everything and earn your happy ending, but I also know that everybody's got a breaking point and sometimes, things go to shit.

He'd never blame me to my face, but it'd be in the back of his eyes, like it always is when the smile doesn't get there. [ like it does for Dante because he's got the same way about him, but Wolfwood is shorter than Dante and kind of pinned against a windowsill by him, so he keeps his mouth shut at least a little. he rubs the side of Dante's face and gives a sigh, shifting a little (elbow in Dante's ribs if need be) so he can heft himself up so he's sitting in the windowsill, facing Dante to give him a flat look. ]

Yeah, yeah, don't come gripin' at me if you get me all used to the goldstar treatment and you run into a silver or bronze kind of day and I'm all put out about it. I tried to keep it lowkey. [ he says, taking another drag off his cigarette, giving Dante a half-joking little smile to continue the theme. ]

[ dante adjust silently giving wolfwood the space to heft himself up onto the windowsill before settling in front of him, hands resting on the other's hips as dante wedges himself between wolfwood's legs. he barely flinches at the look he is given, nor the way in which wolfwood slips the proverbial knife between his ribs and exposes his faults for them both to see. because he is right about that, painfully right about how willing dante truly is to let himself be ripped apart for the sake of saving those closest to him. he is just that kind of guy, the sort not to let go even as his hands burn and he bleeds out.

he can't fight wolfwood on that. ]

You're an idiot if you think anyone is going to blame you if things blow up in our faces. No one is going to blame you, dumbass. [ dante's hands move from wolfwood's hips to the sides of his face, pulling him in to rest their foreheads together again. ] But I get it. I understand what your saying and why you're saying it, but you need to get one thing through your head for me. I'm not going anywhere, no matter what you say or do, I'm not going to toss you to the wayside no matter what.

[ dante kisses him then, almost as though to prove his point, sharp canines lightly dragging across his bottom lip chasing the taste of nicotine. ]

You really think I'm gonna run into a silver or bronze kind of day? Indulging you happens to be one of my favorite pastimes.

[ sometimes you look at someone you care for and you dig your fingers into the wounds between their bones and sinew, and they know that you can't help yourself because you don't know what affection feels like without pain, without prices, without cost. he breathes out soft as Dante slots himself in where he goes, knees resting on the other man's hips as he hands come to grab his face, pulling Wolfwood into his space as they come together

and Wolfwood is terribly proud of himself that he doesn't even feeling the starting twitch of wanting to dig the burning tip of his cigarette into Dante's wrist to make him let go. baby steps, little pieces of progress. ]

C'mon, you know that the weakest guy in the gang's the one who gets left holding the bag if the job goes to shit. [ whether he means that in a proverbial or a literal sense can stay up in the air--Wolfwood maybe an enhanced human, but he knows he's on the backfoot between an angelic alien and a devil (hunter). ] But. I can at least believe you until you show me I can't.

[ it's such an act of faith from Wolfwood's part as he leans into the kiss, takes the little sting of Dante asserting the points of his teeth over Wolfwood's lip, breathing fragments of cigarette smoke into the other man's mouth as he brings his arms up to loop around Dante's neck. ]

You're as bad at the other one with that best in show shit. Your favorite pastime is teasing me, don't change the answer just to look good. [ he says, donking their foreheads together lightly. ] Nobody in this world, the next, or the one I came from can pull off gold everyday, big guy. Don't burn yourself down trying. Just pat me on the head and promise it'll be better so if you need a day off bein' the impossible standard, eh?

[ it isn't the first time he's had someone he cares for dig their fingers into his wounds and rip them open for all to see, it might have been a hot minute since it's happened, but it sure as shit hasn't been the first. he can't help but think that trish would like wolfwood for that alone, that she'd be pleased someone is out here keeping the devil hunter humble in her absence. ]

I'll take it. [ he could argue the point until he is blue in the face, but what is the point? he's certain there is no way he could properly convince him of it, not with how he's lived his life up until this point. but he can take this at least, and hold onto it tightly.

dante takes the fragments of cigarette smoke greedily, his hands falling from the sides of wolfwood's face and moving down his sides down down down until he has hooked them underneath wolfwood's legs and tugs him closer. ]

'm not changing the answer, only adding to it. [ he's all grins now, a far cry from the worry that has been creasing his brow up until this point. ] Alright, alright. But I'm still gonna try no matter what you say.

[ and yet Wolfwood is trying so, so hard to choose something like gentleness, even if he's not sure what that should look like, feel like, and he's just putting it together from the things that he's been watching other people do in this new, less angry world. he'll always keep Dante some measure of humble; a wolf is a wolf, even if you put a collar on him.

that doesn't mean he wouldn't look good in a collar though. ]

Good thing, 'cause it's what you're getting. [ he could argue until he's blue in the face, but Wolfwood is nothing if not stubborn; you don't stay alive on sand hell planet without being able to grind down and hold on when it matters most.

maybe he wants to hold onto Dante at least a little bit. he brings his knees in tighter and loops his arm around Dante's neck, pulling him in so that Wolfwood can rest his forehead on the other man's temple, kiss ghost over the jut of his cheekbone. ] Yeah, yeah. You can strive to do your best if you want. Appreciate it.

[ and maybe he'll take a long drag off his cigarette and then turn Dante's head towards him, leaning in close to push their lips together and breathe out into him--

hey, it worked for Vash, didn't it? ]

[ it's a good thing that dante doesn't always want, or need, gentleness he can take the blows that others can't, almost prefers the blades on those days when he struggles to make the smile on his face reach his eyes. he doesn't ask wolfwood to dull his teeth but rather bares his throat, welcoming the wolf to lean in and bite down whenever he so pleases.

dante seems to relax a little more now that they've come to some sort of agreement, now that wolfwood's knees squeeze his sides and his arms pull dante in to smother what little space there is left. for now, at least, the other man isn't going anywhere, and not just because dante's determined to hold him tightly. ]

Always will.

[ he goes easily, blue eyes darkening just a touch as wolfwood turns his head, lips already parted slightly. unlike vash, dante doesn't become like a deer in headlights, breathing in the smoke and holding it in his lungs and hums lowly. he takes a minute to simply enjoy the way his lungs slowly start to burn before releasing it slowly, silvery-white wisps curling up from the corners of his upturned lips. ]

That couch is big enough for two, you know.

[ it's old habit to cover his teeth in blood, but even a wolf can learn to sing a lovesong if you listen to the crooning right.

he doesn't back down on anything he's said, keeping his worst ending portents at hand and writing up his escape plans, over and over to exhausting detail in the back of his mind, but... for now. he'll let Dante hold him, keep him close; holding and held, letting his warmth mingle with the devil hunter's.

maybe he'll admit it to himself just how nice it can be to be a little warm. just to himself, though. ]

You an' Spikey an' always. You love the idea of forever, huh? [ must be nice to be functionally immortal, like weird lobster people who'll only die when they can no longer molt out of their proverbial shells.

Dante might not fall to pieces with a little kiss and a little smoke, but it gives Wolfwood what he wants all the same--a little positive attention, a little thrum of pleasure from the man in front of him. he meets the smile with a little quirk of his own lips, fingers running through Dante's hair and giving him a little scritch on the scalp. ]

Dunno how much fun I've got it in me to be, but... if you wanna hold me a while and see what happens, I can do that, I think.

[ intimacy doled out piece by piece, inch by inch, Wolfwood reaching out to the hand reaching down to him. ]

It's nice, can't deny that. [ dante almost purrs as fingers run through his hair, scratching just a little against his scalp. ] Spent too long losing, got tired of it. So I'm gonna cling onto forever as long as I can.

[ in this position it isn't hard for dante to simply lift wolfwood from the windowsill, hands hooked underneath the other man's ass to keep him upright as he moves them both to the couch - the room isn't big enough to make the trip long, nor laid out in a way that a blind drunk dante will knock into every sharp corner of his way to the couch itself. ]

I'll be fine as long as you don't go anywhere, Nick. [ upon reaching said couch dante allows himself, and wolfwood by extension, to all but flop down onto it snaking an arm around his waist. dante grins toothily, a puff of laughter dancing across his lips, shifting a little until he finds a spot he can comfortably sit in for the next few hours; wolfwood in his lap, legs spread, one hand resting against the small of wolfwood's back while the other slides down his thigh. ]

You can give me a few more of those kisses if you'd like, I'm really enjoying the taste.

to see a world in a grain of sand

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