[closed]

[birdflipping]

🧙 WHO: Nero, Kyrie and Vergil
⚔️️ WHAT: Dead weight invites deadbeat dad over for dinner. It's awkward.
🕒 WHEN: Early March
🗺️ WHERE: Nero and Kyrie's place
⚠️ WARNINGS: As always, Nero's potty mouth. Nothing else yet!

[It took a lot for Nero to get nervous. Fighting demons? No problem. Hunting monsters? Also easy. Punching Dante? Fine. But, for the first time in Nero's life, he's doing something as normal as inviting a parent over for dinner. Not only that, but to meet Kyrie.

To make matters more complicated, he's keenly aware that Kyrie has every reason to hate, or at least, to fear Vergil. Even if she's too kind for the former, he can still imagine the latter, with what must be surely etched into her memory of the day she found Nero bleeding out in their garage. Maybe this whole thing is selfish, and a bad idea.

But he wants to give Vergil -- to give his father -- a chance. He has a family now, and he's determined to try and make it work. Which is why Vergil has been invited around. As always Kyrie takes charge of cooking, while Nero helps prepare the food and makes sure the place looks tidy (or at least, as tidy as it's ever going to be, with two kids and a dog around). The rest is just a waiting game, with Nero pacing around checking his phone, looking an irritated mixture of both impatient and almost ready to call the whole thing off.]

He should be here any minute... [Nero advises Kyrie, even if he's not convinced. Maybe he'll show up late, if he shows up at all. Who knows?]

Comments

[sweetsurrenders]

[Kyrie would back up Nero on mostly anything he does. Yet this time she does have a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. Maybe if she knew the term, she would have father-in-law blues? Worrying not only considering what Vergil did to Nero (even if it is in the past now) but also because she has to wonder what type of man he is.

So she takes this worry and pours it into her cooking. Many would say she went overboard, but as Nero knows, she does tend to cook for more people than usual anyway and there will be plenty of leftovers no matter what happens. She's even made the effort to cook different types of meats and vegetables to offer at least something that he might like. By the time it's all done, she's been adjusting the table for about the tenth time when his voice takes her out of her dreaming. Briefly, she hesitates, considering the last time, but then swallows and says;]

Okay. I'll quickly go change, if that's alright.

[At the very worst, they can have a very nice supper between the both of them.]

[reemerge]

[ vergil, only by the virtue of pride, arrives early. he does not announce this however. instead he deigns to loiter near the entrance of the address, double and triple checking that it is correct. it is correct each time he checks and yet the realization that he came too early is... awkward? he doesn't know why it bothers him, but it's enough to stop him from knocking on the door. instead he waits out the ten or so minutes of extra time standing a couple houses down, leaning against a wall and hoping to go unnoticed. he even thinks of leaving, but he only sees that ending with another meddlesome encounter in the middle of a road.

he's not even entirely sure why nero wants him here, apart from some misguided attempt at being a family. he doesn't want to be here, and yet here he is. truly foolish of him.

vergil checks the clock on the smartphone, walks up to the door as it ticks to the minute, and only knocks when he's exactly on time. he can always walk away if nero doesn't answer. what outcome is he hoping for? ]

[birdflipping]

[Nero realises, probably far too late, that showing how worked up he is isn't doing much to reassure Kyrie. So he offers her a grateful smile and reaches to squeeze her hand before she goes.]

Sure. And-- thanks again for doing this.

[With that, he'll leave her to get changed. While he's oblivious to the fact Vergil has been awkwardly lurking outside for a while now, when he hears a knock on the door, he's surprised that his father is exactly on time. Unlike, say, Dante, who would of course be fashionably late in the same situation, and with a terrible excuse to boot.

He takes a deep breath and opens the door, trying to arrange his expression into something as casual and non-awkward as possible.]

...Well, look who decided to show up. [Ribbing him is sure to diffuse the tension, right? Right. He steps aside to let Vergil in.]

[reemerge]

[ vergil's resting scowl doesn't even budge at nero's comment, unwilling to return the favor, and so he takes his steps inside with only the faintest hum. his first thought to mind is wondering how long he has to stay. he knows better than to ask. what should he say then? ]

...Nice place. [ nailed it. anyway- ] Where will we dine?

[ about as awkward a question as can be with an obvious answer. ]

[birdflipping]

[There's no un-awkward way to answer such an awkward question. Great. Nero resists the urge to roll his eyes as he closes the door behind him.] At the... table?

[He nods down the hall and towards the kitchen. The smell of cooking should be pretty self-explanatory on which way to go, even if Kyrie isn't there.]

Kyrie will be back in a minute. What'll you have to drink? Not a beer guy like Dante, I bet.