Categories > Games > Devil May Cry > Highway To Hell
Amelia Island, Florida
0 reviewsThe beaches of Florida are not what Dante imagined. And then he sees his and his brother's older selves. Not what he'd call a good day.
1Original
AN: Sorry for the wait, guys. I haven't had internet, and real life is crazy. There's several more chapters coming, so keep your shirts on. ;)
Florida was supposed to be sunny. However, when Dante and Vergil finally made it to Amelia Island, the sky was cloudy and grey, the sea itself rough and the color of dull steel. It was obvious they'd come during the stormy season, which did Dante no good at all. That meant no sun, which meant no babes on the beach in bikinis. Dante admitted he was slightly put off by that, because what good was going to the beach if there were no babes? Vergil had rolled his eyes at it, saying Dante was a simple fool without a braincell in his head, but truly. Dante did not give a shit what Vergil thought. Vergil was a supreme asshole to begin with. He hadn't even gotten Dante food, after that disasterous incident in the underground vault in Georgia.
That changed however, as Dante spotted a McDonald's, a few red lights head of where they were stopped, and pulled himself upright in the passenger seat, dropping his feet from the dash where he'd had them propped. "Verg." He didn't even look to see if Vergil had paid him a bit of attention, before he pointed at the building with its tell-tale yellow arched sign. "Food." At that point he didn't care what it was. McDonald's was perfect, if a little skeevy, because he just knew how Vergil was about fast food.
There was a long pause, as Vergil squinted past the windshield to follow Dante's insistant finger, only to roll his eyes in exasperation when he realized what, exactly, it was the younger twin wanted. "Dante." There was patronization in his tone, which made Dante scowl at him from under his shaggy mop of white hair. "McDonald's?"
"Look, there's a Starbucks right across the street. C'mon. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." It was almost like dealing with a little child, eager to get a happy meal, or some other such juvenile nonesense. Not only that, but he was using the most childish method in the book, thinking the fact that there was a Starbucks across the street would sway the elder twin in any direction, other than 'no'. Regardless of the fact that, not only did he want a shower, as he felt absolutely disgusting, but coffee, honestly, didn't sound like that bad of an idea. "Please, Vergil? Please, please, please?"
"Dante." There was another long pause, as the light they were stopped at changed to green, and Vergil, honestly, for once in his life paid more attention to traffic than he did his brother, before the threw him an unamused glance. "If you're that goddamn hungry, we can do a damn sight better than McDonald's." Really, had Dante no taste?
Nope. "I don't want anything else, I want to eat now." As if to punctuate, Dante's stomach growled, and growled loudly. It had been...Well, it had been a long time since they'd eaten, anyway, and while Vergil might have rolled like that, Dante did not. "I will bite you if you don't stop. I swear to fucking God." And he meant it, too. He would lean right over and just chomp right down on any part of Vergil he happened to get his mouth around. He, honestly, wasn't all that particular, as long as it hurt.
"...Fine." It was grudgingly given, in a very snappish tone, just because he wanted Dante to shut up. He very well knew if he passed it by, Dante would whine, and he would complain, and he would make life a living Hell until he was given what he wanted. Vergil, honestly, wondered when Dante had gotten so damned spoiled, never coming to the conclusion it was his own fault Dante was that way, with the way he coddled the younger twin. "However, if we do this, I don't want to hear another peep from you for the rest of the day."
"Yes, Daddy-dearest." It was said with an eyeroll, as Dante flopped back in his seat. Vergil was such a dick. But that was okay, because he was getting his McDonald's, which was far more important than Vergil's attitude.
"Don't go there, boopsie, you know it makes me hot." It was said flatly, because really now. Dante was such a big, fat baby. Wasn't Vergil being decent? He thought he was. He was taking his filthy, shaggy, gross little mutt of a twin to McDonald's wasn't he? Of course he was. That was very decent of him, considering he loathed fast food. Forget the fact that he planned on punting the little monkey out and going to Starbucks, he was still being a good big brother. Which was exactly what he told himself as he hit the brakes, pointing to Dante's door. "Get out."
See, and Vergil was an ass. That proved it. But that was fine, too, because Dante had that bitch's digits. He did. He put one hand on the door handle, before reaching over and gripping Vergil's chin in the other hand, tight, holding him in place as he leaned over and swiped his tongue in a long, slimy trail up the side of Vergil's face before pushing his door open and hopping out of the car before Vergil could grab him and hurt him for that. He would pay for it later, he was sure, but the look of complete and utter shock on Vergil's face when Dante had pulled away had completely been worth it. "Bring me back something," was all he offered, as well, before slamming the door, right as Vergil had gone to crawl across the seat (amazingly keeping one foot on the brake), to grab Dante and beat him senseless.
And skittered as fast as he could inside, because he hoped and prayed Vergil wouldn't go after him, with him in such a public place. Not that that had ever stopped his big brother before, of course, but it didn't kill that tiny bit of hope he had that Vergil would just let it go, at least for that moment.
He was lucky, really. Because Vergil didn't come after him, and Dante thanked everything he held sacred that overpriced coffee was obviously more important than Vergil having his face violated by his little brother's tongue. Either that, or Vergil was just secretly lusting after Dante, which Dante would not put past him, either, with his getting Dante away from people all the time out in weird, off-the-beaten-path places. But that was okay, too. Vergil could be gross and dirty and incestuous and wrong all he wanted, as long as he kept his hands to himself. Dante would let him lust from afar, until the day he got with the touchy-grabby, and then they'd have a problem. And that was that.
And he was glad that Starbucks took forever, too, as he finally kicked back in a booth, squinting through the large windows to the green, white, and brown building across the street. It meant he had time to eat, at least, before Vergil came back and beat the ever-loving shit out of him until he couldn't walk. And if he was really lucky? Vergil would actually bring him coffee back, too, and all would be forgiven. It was wishful thinking, but Dante was a wishful kind of guy.
His bliss was ended shortly after that, however, as he felt the familiar tingle skitter across his skin, letting him know Vergil had once again entered the vicinity. And he looked pissed, too, as he picked his way over to where Dante was sitting, scowling at adults, walls, booths, children, and the floor alike, before he reached the younger twin and thrust a cup out to him, nearly sloshing the contents out through the little sissy sippy lids Starbucks put on their coffee, because some dumbass was too dumb to realize coffee was hot. "You? Are the foulest, most dispicable, filthy, shaggy little-"
"Adorable baby brother you'll ever have, yeah, yeah. Thanks." Dante had no problem cutting Vergil off and taking his coffee, before turning back to the elder twin, finding him digging around in his pockets. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Filthy." Vergil found what he was searching for, extracting a packet of, Dante shit himself not, sanitary wipes from his pocket, before opening it and anally extracting one. "Disgusting. It is germ-infested, and I refuse to sit here until it is clean." And Dante watched, with part embarrassment, part horror, as Vergil very well proceeded to disinfect his side of the booth.
"Dude." He watched Vergil go, barely restraining himself from slapping his forehead with a palm, instead busying himself with clearing away what was left of his breakfast and moving it to the side, and paying attention to his coffee. Maybe, he supposed, if he acted like he didn't know Vergil, no one would guess they were related, and that freak of a psycho wasn't his twin brother. Of course, that was because Dante was completely disregarding the fact that they were, in fact, identical twins. He pulled off the lid from his cup and set that aside as well, before glancing up once more, finding Vergil still doing his thing on the other side of the booth, and pointedly looked elsewhere out the window next to him, watching the traffic go by in the street beyond.
Finally, Vergil determined the booth was sanitary enough to sit down, and stuffed away the wipes once more, before sliding in and reaching across the table, snapping his fingers in Dante's face. "Earth to wibbler, please report why we're acting like a big fat baby, over."
"Do not make me slap you." Dante cut him a glare, before narrowing his eyes right over Vergil's shoulder. "Hey, Verg." His voice had dropped, miracle of miracles, to a pitch only Vergil, no doubt, would be able to hear, and nodded in that direction. "She look familiar to you?"
Vergil gave Dante an irritated look, before shifting in the booth and craning his neck to see behind him, coming face to face with a woman, possibly thirty-five years old, four children, and a nose brace taped to her face. For a moment, Vergil wondered why Dante would even care, as he couldn't place her for the life of him, until Dante said, "Ain't she the one that you smacked in the face with a bag back in that hotel in Alabama?"
Vergil squinted and stared, rather rudely, before turning back around with a shrug. "Yes, and?"
"I dunno, don't you think it's a little odd she's here?" It was said as Dante turned his coffee cup in his hands, trying to find the perfect place to drink from. As much as he bitched about Vergil's OCD, Dante himself had little rituals of the same type he'd never, ever admit to.
"No." And that was that. It didn't matter to Vergil whether it was, or wasn't, the same woman. "Drink your coffee and let's go. I want to get moving and find a room."
"Uh huh." Vergil was just lucky Dante was willing to comply with him on that one. He wanted a shower, too, to clean the blood that was still there, dried, on his face from where the skeleton demon thing had attacked him. And it didn't take him long at all, to drain the cup and place it with the rest of the remains of breakfast, before starting to scoot out of the booth. "Let's go."
And, of course, it wasn't like he bothered to clean up after himself, as he and Vergil left the mess on the table behind as they made their way back to the car. Dante was tempted to just go ahead and dig right through Vergil's pockets, for the car keys. However, he very well knew he'd pushed his luck as far as it was going to get, what with licking Vergil from before, so firmly kept his hands to himself, as he didn't want to lose one or the other, or both, knowing Vergil.
Once back in the car, while Vergil situated himself to drive (which always took forever), Dante took the liberty of turning the key in the ignition and fiddling with the radio, even though Vergil let out a huff. "Hey, shut it. My car, my radio, we listen to what I want to."
"I believe the rule was the driver picked the music." It was said as Vergil slapped Dante's hand and turned the radio off, before shifting into reverse and releasing the emergency brake. "Now sit back and shut up. We have to make a stop before finding a room."
Again: Vergil was lucky Dante was willing to comply, as he settled back into his seat and watched the world from being level with the doorframe at the window. Traffic was somewhat heavy, surprising with how stormy the sky looked, but there was no real reason to complain about that, even when fat, heavy raindrops started splattering against the windshield, and Vergil fumbled around for the wipers. It figured his elder brother couldn't even do that right, really. The fucker was completely out of his element, trying to drive. It was almost funny, if Dante wasn't worried he'd cause them to wreck or something.
Most of the ride was spent in silence, while Vergil hunched over the steering wheel, even though the rain wasn't falling very hard at all. Dante didn't want to, heaven forbid, break his concentration or anything, because Vergil, honestly, looked like he was thinking way too hard about how to navigate through the light rain. It was sad that Vergil was the creature he was forced to call brother, being inept in nearly everything normal he was forced to do. Driving was just one example. Dante could think of several more, and most had to deal with other people. That was the rub, though: Where Dante considered himself among 'people', Vergil did not. Of course, Vergil was crazy, and figured their status as nephilim gave them some other boost beyond the physical, and Dante just didn't see it that way. Oh, they picked up accents and languages faster than normal people, sometimes within days, and no doubt they'd both be tainted with a slight southern drawl when they finally left the south, and they read faster, and absorbed knowledge faster, and all that happy shit, but as far as Dante was concerned, they were a little different, not better.
He'd drifted off, however, surprised when he heard the engine cut off and glanced up, wondering how in hell they'd gotten to a spot at the boardwalk on a stretch of beach, spotting lines and lines of seagulls where they'd landed during the rain, along a row of covered picnic tables that were all deserted. In fact, as Dante looked around, there wasn't another soul there, or another car, or anything. "Verg?" It came out rather fuzzy, as though he'd been asleep, and he really wasn't surprised when Vergil didn't answer, and instead shouldered his door open and climbed out of the car.
Dante sat there a minute, watching Vergil tug the collar of his jacket up as he walked away, before opening his own door and shuffled out, taking a moment to stand there, the wind forcing his already shaggy hair into his eyes, before pulling his own jacket a little tighter around himself. He was surprised how chilly it had gotten, figuring Florida wouldn't know chilly if it bit them in the ass, and the rain, too, wasn't the slightest bit warm where it pelted him lightly. But after a moment, he started after Vergil onto the beach, picking his way over the damp sand carefully, feeling it shift and clump under his feet.
He had no idea why Vergil was there, and he didn't bother to ask, as he stayed a good distance behind, focusing instead on looking up and down the beach, realizing how lonely it was, with no one there. Vergil passed through his field of vision, but he didn't focus on him, really, as more than a splash of blue and white against the grey, before finding a spot with a few large rocks and sitting upon one, drawing his knees to his chest. Outside of the seagulls and ocean, it was far too quiet for his tastes. And it was an odd place to be, while it was raining, and so chilly, and with Vergil...
He shook his head, sitting up and dropping his legs to look for Vergil, surprised to find two more people on the beach, headed his way. For him, the most noticeable thing was the fact that one was a splot of red against the greyed-out sand, the other a splotch of blue, both the same height with white hair, which was a rarity, on people who were of the decidedly younger variety. Not that he could tell, at that distance, how old they were, but their posture said they weren't in the final years of life. He stayed where he was, watching them draw closer, feeling a prickle along his spine, as their features started to become clearer, as well as the details of their clothing.
The one in red wore his hair longer, at least...Longer than Dante kept his, his jacket with the high, black leather collar fastened tight except for the tails, which flapped slightly in the wind behind him. Dante couldn't say with certainty why it skeeved him out, at least not at that moment, but there was something oddly familiar in his mannerisms as his moved, something about the lazy and confident gait he moved over the sand with, that struck a chord with him.
The one in blue was the same way, though his hair was, as far as Dante could tell, shorter, and probably neater kept, though it was being blown about carelessly by the wind. He watched them closely, leaning forward on the rock for a better view, as they came ever closer, not even hearing Vergil step up behind him. "What are you doing?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin, and he clung to the rock, where he almost tumbled right off, facefirst into the sand, before answering. "Hey. You see them?" He nodded toward the two that were starting past them, a ways down the beach, closer to where the water hit the sand.
"Yes, so?" Dante ignored him, narrowing his eyes closely at them, and catching faint bits of their conversation.
"Would you just shut up, already? Fucking loony." The one in red, obviously, had a mouth on him.
"And this is precisely why I take you nowhere, and we can't have nice things. Because you are both retarded and childish." For some reason, that was oddly familiar, coming from a figure in blue. It made Dante smirk a bit, as he glanced behind himself slightly at Vergil.
"I'll fucking show you retarded. Keep it up, and I'm pitching your ass in the water."
"Of course you are, boopsie."
They moved along, out of earshot, before Dante shook himself from his trance, and moved to stand once more, finding Vergil glaring at him. "What?"
"Way to waste some time, genius. Come along." Vergil took his arm, none too gently, and gave him a tug back toward the car. Dante glanced back, one last time, surprised to find the two that had been walking the beach had vanished, which was odd. The beach was a long, straight stretch, and logically that couldn't have happened.
"H...Hey. Dude. They're gone." He tugged against Vergil and drew to a stop, glancing up and down the beach once more. "What the fuck."
"Oh, like it matters. Get in the car." It was with a harder tug, more like a jerk, that Vergil began dragging him forward once more, until Dante gave in and trailed along a step behind, allowing Vergil to lead him to the car.
"But...Were they ghosts?" It was an honest question, as Vergil dropped him off at the passenger door, and he began climbing in, peering out toward the water through the windshield as he did so.
"And I know?" Vergil climbed in as well, slamming his door shut. "Proof, little brother, that you are insanely slow on the uptake."
"How the hell do you figure?" Dante scowled at him, reaching up to push the wet hair from his face before he paused, feeling as though he'd been hit with something over the head. "Dude." He fumbled a moment, before getting his door open once more and jumped out, already jogging back to the beach before Vergil could say a word. Which, of course, left Vergil bitching under his breath as he moved to follow, to see what, exactly, had pulled on Dante's cock in such an asinine way, the retarded baby sheep.
Dante made his way down the beach, to put himself in line with where the two had been walking, not at all shocked to find no footprints there. Still. He thought he had it figured out, and when he heard Vergil come from behind, he didn't bother turning around, instead looking to the point he figured they'd vanished. "Vergil."
"What, you moron." Oh, he knew Vergil was pissed at him for running off, but he'd had to see for himself. Could he really be blamed for that? Dante didn't think so.
"I think I get it." It was like a lightbulb had physically gone on over Dante's head.
"Uh huh."
"No, really." Only then did he bother turning around, satisfied they were truly gone. "You know what a doppleganger is, right?"
"No, Dante." Vergil said it with a roll of the eyes, dramatically waving a hand. "Yes, Dante, I am well aware of what a doppleganger is. Get to the point, as it is freezing out here." They didn't acclimate to cold weather very well, given their demonic heritage.
"Dude, they were us." Dante was absolutely sure of that fact, after thinking about it for a moment. "I think they were older, but they were us."
Vergil squinted at Dante a long moment through his hair, whatever he used in his hair to give him the porcupine do having long since given up the battle against the wind and rain. He was, as of that moment, convinced Dante was completely off of his rocker entirely, which said something, given it was Vergil. "Of course they were. Time paradox!" He waggled the fingers of both hands, in a sarcastic gesture, before grabbing Dante by the jacket collar and tugging him once more to the car.
Dante gave up with a sigh, stumbling to catch up and walk back on his own, pulling himself free. "Ass." It was true. Vergil could be a fucking douche if he wanted to, Dante had seen them. It just hadn't connected until they were in the car. But that was okay. Vergil could be a smartass and throw around the 4chan lingo all he wanted (and here Vergil had claimed he never visited that 'bleeding sore on the ass of the internet' ever), because Dante was right for once. It couldn't be helped Vergil was too stupid to put it together, the crazy fucker.
AN: Sorry for the wait, guys. I haven't had internet, and real life is crazy. There's several more chapters coming, so keep your shirts on. ;)
Florida was supposed to be sunny. However, when Dante and Vergil finally made it to Amelia Island, the sky was cloudy and grey, the sea itself rough and the color of dull steel. It was obvious they'd come during the stormy season, which did Dante no good at all. That meant no sun, which meant no babes on the beach in bikinis. Dante admitted he was slightly put off by that, because what good was going to the beach if there were no babes? Vergil had rolled his eyes at it, saying Dante was a simple fool without a braincell in his head, but truly. Dante did not give a shit what Vergil thought. Vergil was a supreme asshole to begin with. He hadn't even gotten Dante food, after that disasterous incident in the underground vault in Georgia.
That changed however, as Dante spotted a McDonald's, a few red lights head of where they were stopped, and pulled himself upright in the passenger seat, dropping his feet from the dash where he'd had them propped. "Verg." He didn't even look to see if Vergil had paid him a bit of attention, before he pointed at the building with its tell-tale yellow arched sign. "Food." At that point he didn't care what it was. McDonald's was perfect, if a little skeevy, because he just knew how Vergil was about fast food.
There was a long pause, as Vergil squinted past the windshield to follow Dante's insistant finger, only to roll his eyes in exasperation when he realized what, exactly, it was the younger twin wanted. "Dante." There was patronization in his tone, which made Dante scowl at him from under his shaggy mop of white hair. "McDonald's?"
"Look, there's a Starbucks right across the street. C'mon. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." It was almost like dealing with a little child, eager to get a happy meal, or some other such juvenile nonesense. Not only that, but he was using the most childish method in the book, thinking the fact that there was a Starbucks across the street would sway the elder twin in any direction, other than 'no'. Regardless of the fact that, not only did he want a shower, as he felt absolutely disgusting, but coffee, honestly, didn't sound like that bad of an idea. "Please, Vergil? Please, please, please?"
"Dante." There was another long pause, as the light they were stopped at changed to green, and Vergil, honestly, for once in his life paid more attention to traffic than he did his brother, before the threw him an unamused glance. "If you're that goddamn hungry, we can do a damn sight better than McDonald's." Really, had Dante no taste?
Nope. "I don't want anything else, I want to eat now." As if to punctuate, Dante's stomach growled, and growled loudly. It had been...Well, it had been a long time since they'd eaten, anyway, and while Vergil might have rolled like that, Dante did not. "I will bite you if you don't stop. I swear to fucking God." And he meant it, too. He would lean right over and just chomp right down on any part of Vergil he happened to get his mouth around. He, honestly, wasn't all that particular, as long as it hurt.
"...Fine." It was grudgingly given, in a very snappish tone, just because he wanted Dante to shut up. He very well knew if he passed it by, Dante would whine, and he would complain, and he would make life a living Hell until he was given what he wanted. Vergil, honestly, wondered when Dante had gotten so damned spoiled, never coming to the conclusion it was his own fault Dante was that way, with the way he coddled the younger twin. "However, if we do this, I don't want to hear another peep from you for the rest of the day."
"Yes, Daddy-dearest." It was said with an eyeroll, as Dante flopped back in his seat. Vergil was such a dick. But that was okay, because he was getting his McDonald's, which was far more important than Vergil's attitude.
"Don't go there, boopsie, you know it makes me hot." It was said flatly, because really now. Dante was such a big, fat baby. Wasn't Vergil being decent? He thought he was. He was taking his filthy, shaggy, gross little mutt of a twin to McDonald's wasn't he? Of course he was. That was very decent of him, considering he loathed fast food. Forget the fact that he planned on punting the little monkey out and going to Starbucks, he was still being a good big brother. Which was exactly what he told himself as he hit the brakes, pointing to Dante's door. "Get out."
See, and Vergil was an ass. That proved it. But that was fine, too, because Dante had that bitch's digits. He did. He put one hand on the door handle, before reaching over and gripping Vergil's chin in the other hand, tight, holding him in place as he leaned over and swiped his tongue in a long, slimy trail up the side of Vergil's face before pushing his door open and hopping out of the car before Vergil could grab him and hurt him for that. He would pay for it later, he was sure, but the look of complete and utter shock on Vergil's face when Dante had pulled away had completely been worth it. "Bring me back something," was all he offered, as well, before slamming the door, right as Vergil had gone to crawl across the seat (amazingly keeping one foot on the brake), to grab Dante and beat him senseless.
And skittered as fast as he could inside, because he hoped and prayed Vergil wouldn't go after him, with him in such a public place. Not that that had ever stopped his big brother before, of course, but it didn't kill that tiny bit of hope he had that Vergil would just let it go, at least for that moment.
He was lucky, really. Because Vergil didn't come after him, and Dante thanked everything he held sacred that overpriced coffee was obviously more important than Vergil having his face violated by his little brother's tongue. Either that, or Vergil was just secretly lusting after Dante, which Dante would not put past him, either, with his getting Dante away from people all the time out in weird, off-the-beaten-path places. But that was okay, too. Vergil could be gross and dirty and incestuous and wrong all he wanted, as long as he kept his hands to himself. Dante would let him lust from afar, until the day he got with the touchy-grabby, and then they'd have a problem. And that was that.
And he was glad that Starbucks took forever, too, as he finally kicked back in a booth, squinting through the large windows to the green, white, and brown building across the street. It meant he had time to eat, at least, before Vergil came back and beat the ever-loving shit out of him until he couldn't walk. And if he was really lucky? Vergil would actually bring him coffee back, too, and all would be forgiven. It was wishful thinking, but Dante was a wishful kind of guy.
His bliss was ended shortly after that, however, as he felt the familiar tingle skitter across his skin, letting him know Vergil had once again entered the vicinity. And he looked pissed, too, as he picked his way over to where Dante was sitting, scowling at adults, walls, booths, children, and the floor alike, before he reached the younger twin and thrust a cup out to him, nearly sloshing the contents out through the little sissy sippy lids Starbucks put on their coffee, because some dumbass was too dumb to realize coffee was hot. "You? Are the foulest, most dispicable, filthy, shaggy little-"
"Adorable baby brother you'll ever have, yeah, yeah. Thanks." Dante had no problem cutting Vergil off and taking his coffee, before turning back to the elder twin, finding him digging around in his pockets. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Filthy." Vergil found what he was searching for, extracting a packet of, Dante shit himself not, sanitary wipes from his pocket, before opening it and anally extracting one. "Disgusting. It is germ-infested, and I refuse to sit here until it is clean." And Dante watched, with part embarrassment, part horror, as Vergil very well proceeded to disinfect his side of the booth.
"Dude." He watched Vergil go, barely restraining himself from slapping his forehead with a palm, instead busying himself with clearing away what was left of his breakfast and moving it to the side, and paying attention to his coffee. Maybe, he supposed, if he acted like he didn't know Vergil, no one would guess they were related, and that freak of a psycho wasn't his twin brother. Of course, that was because Dante was completely disregarding the fact that they were, in fact, identical twins. He pulled off the lid from his cup and set that aside as well, before glancing up once more, finding Vergil still doing his thing on the other side of the booth, and pointedly looked elsewhere out the window next to him, watching the traffic go by in the street beyond.
Finally, Vergil determined the booth was sanitary enough to sit down, and stuffed away the wipes once more, before sliding in and reaching across the table, snapping his fingers in Dante's face. "Earth to wibbler, please report why we're acting like a big fat baby, over."
"Do not make me slap you." Dante cut him a glare, before narrowing his eyes right over Vergil's shoulder. "Hey, Verg." His voice had dropped, miracle of miracles, to a pitch only Vergil, no doubt, would be able to hear, and nodded in that direction. "She look familiar to you?"
Vergil gave Dante an irritated look, before shifting in the booth and craning his neck to see behind him, coming face to face with a woman, possibly thirty-five years old, four children, and a nose brace taped to her face. For a moment, Vergil wondered why Dante would even care, as he couldn't place her for the life of him, until Dante said, "Ain't she the one that you smacked in the face with a bag back in that hotel in Alabama?"
Vergil squinted and stared, rather rudely, before turning back around with a shrug. "Yes, and?"
"I dunno, don't you think it's a little odd she's here?" It was said as Dante turned his coffee cup in his hands, trying to find the perfect place to drink from. As much as he bitched about Vergil's OCD, Dante himself had little rituals of the same type he'd never, ever admit to.
"No." And that was that. It didn't matter to Vergil whether it was, or wasn't, the same woman. "Drink your coffee and let's go. I want to get moving and find a room."
"Uh huh." Vergil was just lucky Dante was willing to comply with him on that one. He wanted a shower, too, to clean the blood that was still there, dried, on his face from where the skeleton demon thing had attacked him. And it didn't take him long at all, to drain the cup and place it with the rest of the remains of breakfast, before starting to scoot out of the booth. "Let's go."
And, of course, it wasn't like he bothered to clean up after himself, as he and Vergil left the mess on the table behind as they made their way back to the car. Dante was tempted to just go ahead and dig right through Vergil's pockets, for the car keys. However, he very well knew he'd pushed his luck as far as it was going to get, what with licking Vergil from before, so firmly kept his hands to himself, as he didn't want to lose one or the other, or both, knowing Vergil.
Once back in the car, while Vergil situated himself to drive (which always took forever), Dante took the liberty of turning the key in the ignition and fiddling with the radio, even though Vergil let out a huff. "Hey, shut it. My car, my radio, we listen to what I want to."
"I believe the rule was the driver picked the music." It was said as Vergil slapped Dante's hand and turned the radio off, before shifting into reverse and releasing the emergency brake. "Now sit back and shut up. We have to make a stop before finding a room."
Again: Vergil was lucky Dante was willing to comply, as he settled back into his seat and watched the world from being level with the doorframe at the window. Traffic was somewhat heavy, surprising with how stormy the sky looked, but there was no real reason to complain about that, even when fat, heavy raindrops started splattering against the windshield, and Vergil fumbled around for the wipers. It figured his elder brother couldn't even do that right, really. The fucker was completely out of his element, trying to drive. It was almost funny, if Dante wasn't worried he'd cause them to wreck or something.
Most of the ride was spent in silence, while Vergil hunched over the steering wheel, even though the rain wasn't falling very hard at all. Dante didn't want to, heaven forbid, break his concentration or anything, because Vergil, honestly, looked like he was thinking way too hard about how to navigate through the light rain. It was sad that Vergil was the creature he was forced to call brother, being inept in nearly everything normal he was forced to do. Driving was just one example. Dante could think of several more, and most had to deal with other people. That was the rub, though: Where Dante considered himself among 'people', Vergil did not. Of course, Vergil was crazy, and figured their status as nephilim gave them some other boost beyond the physical, and Dante just didn't see it that way. Oh, they picked up accents and languages faster than normal people, sometimes within days, and no doubt they'd both be tainted with a slight southern drawl when they finally left the south, and they read faster, and absorbed knowledge faster, and all that happy shit, but as far as Dante was concerned, they were a little different, not better.
He'd drifted off, however, surprised when he heard the engine cut off and glanced up, wondering how in hell they'd gotten to a spot at the boardwalk on a stretch of beach, spotting lines and lines of seagulls where they'd landed during the rain, along a row of covered picnic tables that were all deserted. In fact, as Dante looked around, there wasn't another soul there, or another car, or anything. "Verg?" It came out rather fuzzy, as though he'd been asleep, and he really wasn't surprised when Vergil didn't answer, and instead shouldered his door open and climbed out of the car.
Dante sat there a minute, watching Vergil tug the collar of his jacket up as he walked away, before opening his own door and shuffled out, taking a moment to stand there, the wind forcing his already shaggy hair into his eyes, before pulling his own jacket a little tighter around himself. He was surprised how chilly it had gotten, figuring Florida wouldn't know chilly if it bit them in the ass, and the rain, too, wasn't the slightest bit warm where it pelted him lightly. But after a moment, he started after Vergil onto the beach, picking his way over the damp sand carefully, feeling it shift and clump under his feet.
He had no idea why Vergil was there, and he didn't bother to ask, as he stayed a good distance behind, focusing instead on looking up and down the beach, realizing how lonely it was, with no one there. Vergil passed through his field of vision, but he didn't focus on him, really, as more than a splash of blue and white against the grey, before finding a spot with a few large rocks and sitting upon one, drawing his knees to his chest. Outside of the seagulls and ocean, it was far too quiet for his tastes. And it was an odd place to be, while it was raining, and so chilly, and with Vergil...
He shook his head, sitting up and dropping his legs to look for Vergil, surprised to find two more people on the beach, headed his way. For him, the most noticeable thing was the fact that one was a splot of red against the greyed-out sand, the other a splotch of blue, both the same height with white hair, which was a rarity, on people who were of the decidedly younger variety. Not that he could tell, at that distance, how old they were, but their posture said they weren't in the final years of life. He stayed where he was, watching them draw closer, feeling a prickle along his spine, as their features started to become clearer, as well as the details of their clothing.
The one in red wore his hair longer, at least...Longer than Dante kept his, his jacket with the high, black leather collar fastened tight except for the tails, which flapped slightly in the wind behind him. Dante couldn't say with certainty why it skeeved him out, at least not at that moment, but there was something oddly familiar in his mannerisms as his moved, something about the lazy and confident gait he moved over the sand with, that struck a chord with him.
The one in blue was the same way, though his hair was, as far as Dante could tell, shorter, and probably neater kept, though it was being blown about carelessly by the wind. He watched them closely, leaning forward on the rock for a better view, as they came ever closer, not even hearing Vergil step up behind him. "What are you doing?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin, and he clung to the rock, where he almost tumbled right off, facefirst into the sand, before answering. "Hey. You see them?" He nodded toward the two that were starting past them, a ways down the beach, closer to where the water hit the sand.
"Yes, so?" Dante ignored him, narrowing his eyes closely at them, and catching faint bits of their conversation.
"Would you just shut up, already? Fucking loony." The one in red, obviously, had a mouth on him.
"And this is precisely why I take you nowhere, and we can't have nice things. Because you are both retarded and childish." For some reason, that was oddly familiar, coming from a figure in blue. It made Dante smirk a bit, as he glanced behind himself slightly at Vergil.
"I'll fucking show you retarded. Keep it up, and I'm pitching your ass in the water."
"Of course you are, boopsie."
They moved along, out of earshot, before Dante shook himself from his trance, and moved to stand once more, finding Vergil glaring at him. "What?"
"Way to waste some time, genius. Come along." Vergil took his arm, none too gently, and gave him a tug back toward the car. Dante glanced back, one last time, surprised to find the two that had been walking the beach had vanished, which was odd. The beach was a long, straight stretch, and logically that couldn't have happened.
"H...Hey. Dude. They're gone." He tugged against Vergil and drew to a stop, glancing up and down the beach once more. "What the fuck."
"Oh, like it matters. Get in the car." It was with a harder tug, more like a jerk, that Vergil began dragging him forward once more, until Dante gave in and trailed along a step behind, allowing Vergil to lead him to the car.
"But...Were they ghosts?" It was an honest question, as Vergil dropped him off at the passenger door, and he began climbing in, peering out toward the water through the windshield as he did so.
"And I know?" Vergil climbed in as well, slamming his door shut. "Proof, little brother, that you are insanely slow on the uptake."
"How the hell do you figure?" Dante scowled at him, reaching up to push the wet hair from his face before he paused, feeling as though he'd been hit with something over the head. "Dude." He fumbled a moment, before getting his door open once more and jumped out, already jogging back to the beach before Vergil could say a word. Which, of course, left Vergil bitching under his breath as he moved to follow, to see what, exactly, had pulled on Dante's cock in such an asinine way, the retarded baby sheep.
Dante made his way down the beach, to put himself in line with where the two had been walking, not at all shocked to find no footprints there. Still. He thought he had it figured out, and when he heard Vergil come from behind, he didn't bother turning around, instead looking to the point he figured they'd vanished. "Vergil."
"What, you moron." Oh, he knew Vergil was pissed at him for running off, but he'd had to see for himself. Could he really be blamed for that? Dante didn't think so.
"I think I get it." It was like a lightbulb had physically gone on over Dante's head.
"Uh huh."
"No, really." Only then did he bother turning around, satisfied they were truly gone. "You know what a doppleganger is, right?"
"No, Dante." Vergil said it with a roll of the eyes, dramatically waving a hand. "Yes, Dante, I am well aware of what a doppleganger is. Get to the point, as it is freezing out here." They didn't acclimate to cold weather very well, given their demonic heritage.
"Dude, they were us." Dante was absolutely sure of that fact, after thinking about it for a moment. "I think they were older, but they were us."
Vergil squinted at Dante a long moment through his hair, whatever he used in his hair to give him the porcupine do having long since given up the battle against the wind and rain. He was, as of that moment, convinced Dante was completely off of his rocker entirely, which said something, given it was Vergil. "Of course they were. Time paradox!" He waggled the fingers of both hands, in a sarcastic gesture, before grabbing Dante by the jacket collar and tugging him once more to the car.
Dante gave up with a sigh, stumbling to catch up and walk back on his own, pulling himself free. "Ass." It was true. Vergil could be a fucking douche if he wanted to, Dante had seen them. It just hadn't connected until they were in the car. But that was okay. Vergil could be a smartass and throw around the 4chan lingo all he wanted (and here Vergil had claimed he never visited that 'bleeding sore on the ass of the internet' ever), because Dante was right for once. It couldn't be helped Vergil was too stupid to put it together, the crazy fucker.
Florida was supposed to be sunny. However, when Dante and Vergil finally made it to Amelia Island, the sky was cloudy and grey, the sea itself rough and the color of dull steel. It was obvious they'd come during the stormy season, which did Dante no good at all. That meant no sun, which meant no babes on the beach in bikinis. Dante admitted he was slightly put off by that, because what good was going to the beach if there were no babes? Vergil had rolled his eyes at it, saying Dante was a simple fool without a braincell in his head, but truly. Dante did not give a shit what Vergil thought. Vergil was a supreme asshole to begin with. He hadn't even gotten Dante food, after that disasterous incident in the underground vault in Georgia.
That changed however, as Dante spotted a McDonald's, a few red lights head of where they were stopped, and pulled himself upright in the passenger seat, dropping his feet from the dash where he'd had them propped. "Verg." He didn't even look to see if Vergil had paid him a bit of attention, before he pointed at the building with its tell-tale yellow arched sign. "Food." At that point he didn't care what it was. McDonald's was perfect, if a little skeevy, because he just knew how Vergil was about fast food.
There was a long pause, as Vergil squinted past the windshield to follow Dante's insistant finger, only to roll his eyes in exasperation when he realized what, exactly, it was the younger twin wanted. "Dante." There was patronization in his tone, which made Dante scowl at him from under his shaggy mop of white hair. "McDonald's?"
"Look, there's a Starbucks right across the street. C'mon. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." It was almost like dealing with a little child, eager to get a happy meal, or some other such juvenile nonesense. Not only that, but he was using the most childish method in the book, thinking the fact that there was a Starbucks across the street would sway the elder twin in any direction, other than 'no'. Regardless of the fact that, not only did he want a shower, as he felt absolutely disgusting, but coffee, honestly, didn't sound like that bad of an idea. "Please, Vergil? Please, please, please?"
"Dante." There was another long pause, as the light they were stopped at changed to green, and Vergil, honestly, for once in his life paid more attention to traffic than he did his brother, before the threw him an unamused glance. "If you're that goddamn hungry, we can do a damn sight better than McDonald's." Really, had Dante no taste?
Nope. "I don't want anything else, I want to eat now." As if to punctuate, Dante's stomach growled, and growled loudly. It had been...Well, it had been a long time since they'd eaten, anyway, and while Vergil might have rolled like that, Dante did not. "I will bite you if you don't stop. I swear to fucking God." And he meant it, too. He would lean right over and just chomp right down on any part of Vergil he happened to get his mouth around. He, honestly, wasn't all that particular, as long as it hurt.
"...Fine." It was grudgingly given, in a very snappish tone, just because he wanted Dante to shut up. He very well knew if he passed it by, Dante would whine, and he would complain, and he would make life a living Hell until he was given what he wanted. Vergil, honestly, wondered when Dante had gotten so damned spoiled, never coming to the conclusion it was his own fault Dante was that way, with the way he coddled the younger twin. "However, if we do this, I don't want to hear another peep from you for the rest of the day."
"Yes, Daddy-dearest." It was said with an eyeroll, as Dante flopped back in his seat. Vergil was such a dick. But that was okay, because he was getting his McDonald's, which was far more important than Vergil's attitude.
"Don't go there, boopsie, you know it makes me hot." It was said flatly, because really now. Dante was such a big, fat baby. Wasn't Vergil being decent? He thought he was. He was taking his filthy, shaggy, gross little mutt of a twin to McDonald's wasn't he? Of course he was. That was very decent of him, considering he loathed fast food. Forget the fact that he planned on punting the little monkey out and going to Starbucks, he was still being a good big brother. Which was exactly what he told himself as he hit the brakes, pointing to Dante's door. "Get out."
See, and Vergil was an ass. That proved it. But that was fine, too, because Dante had that bitch's digits. He did. He put one hand on the door handle, before reaching over and gripping Vergil's chin in the other hand, tight, holding him in place as he leaned over and swiped his tongue in a long, slimy trail up the side of Vergil's face before pushing his door open and hopping out of the car before Vergil could grab him and hurt him for that. He would pay for it later, he was sure, but the look of complete and utter shock on Vergil's face when Dante had pulled away had completely been worth it. "Bring me back something," was all he offered, as well, before slamming the door, right as Vergil had gone to crawl across the seat (amazingly keeping one foot on the brake), to grab Dante and beat him senseless.
And skittered as fast as he could inside, because he hoped and prayed Vergil wouldn't go after him, with him in such a public place. Not that that had ever stopped his big brother before, of course, but it didn't kill that tiny bit of hope he had that Vergil would just let it go, at least for that moment.
He was lucky, really. Because Vergil didn't come after him, and Dante thanked everything he held sacred that overpriced coffee was obviously more important than Vergil having his face violated by his little brother's tongue. Either that, or Vergil was just secretly lusting after Dante, which Dante would not put past him, either, with his getting Dante away from people all the time out in weird, off-the-beaten-path places. But that was okay, too. Vergil could be gross and dirty and incestuous and wrong all he wanted, as long as he kept his hands to himself. Dante would let him lust from afar, until the day he got with the touchy-grabby, and then they'd have a problem. And that was that.
And he was glad that Starbucks took forever, too, as he finally kicked back in a booth, squinting through the large windows to the green, white, and brown building across the street. It meant he had time to eat, at least, before Vergil came back and beat the ever-loving shit out of him until he couldn't walk. And if he was really lucky? Vergil would actually bring him coffee back, too, and all would be forgiven. It was wishful thinking, but Dante was a wishful kind of guy.
His bliss was ended shortly after that, however, as he felt the familiar tingle skitter across his skin, letting him know Vergil had once again entered the vicinity. And he looked pissed, too, as he picked his way over to where Dante was sitting, scowling at adults, walls, booths, children, and the floor alike, before he reached the younger twin and thrust a cup out to him, nearly sloshing the contents out through the little sissy sippy lids Starbucks put on their coffee, because some dumbass was too dumb to realize coffee was hot. "You? Are the foulest, most dispicable, filthy, shaggy little-"
"Adorable baby brother you'll ever have, yeah, yeah. Thanks." Dante had no problem cutting Vergil off and taking his coffee, before turning back to the elder twin, finding him digging around in his pockets. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Filthy." Vergil found what he was searching for, extracting a packet of, Dante shit himself not, sanitary wipes from his pocket, before opening it and anally extracting one. "Disgusting. It is germ-infested, and I refuse to sit here until it is clean." And Dante watched, with part embarrassment, part horror, as Vergil very well proceeded to disinfect his side of the booth.
"Dude." He watched Vergil go, barely restraining himself from slapping his forehead with a palm, instead busying himself with clearing away what was left of his breakfast and moving it to the side, and paying attention to his coffee. Maybe, he supposed, if he acted like he didn't know Vergil, no one would guess they were related, and that freak of a psycho wasn't his twin brother. Of course, that was because Dante was completely disregarding the fact that they were, in fact, identical twins. He pulled off the lid from his cup and set that aside as well, before glancing up once more, finding Vergil still doing his thing on the other side of the booth, and pointedly looked elsewhere out the window next to him, watching the traffic go by in the street beyond.
Finally, Vergil determined the booth was sanitary enough to sit down, and stuffed away the wipes once more, before sliding in and reaching across the table, snapping his fingers in Dante's face. "Earth to wibbler, please report why we're acting like a big fat baby, over."
"Do not make me slap you." Dante cut him a glare, before narrowing his eyes right over Vergil's shoulder. "Hey, Verg." His voice had dropped, miracle of miracles, to a pitch only Vergil, no doubt, would be able to hear, and nodded in that direction. "She look familiar to you?"
Vergil gave Dante an irritated look, before shifting in the booth and craning his neck to see behind him, coming face to face with a woman, possibly thirty-five years old, four children, and a nose brace taped to her face. For a moment, Vergil wondered why Dante would even care, as he couldn't place her for the life of him, until Dante said, "Ain't she the one that you smacked in the face with a bag back in that hotel in Alabama?"
Vergil squinted and stared, rather rudely, before turning back around with a shrug. "Yes, and?"
"I dunno, don't you think it's a little odd she's here?" It was said as Dante turned his coffee cup in his hands, trying to find the perfect place to drink from. As much as he bitched about Vergil's OCD, Dante himself had little rituals of the same type he'd never, ever admit to.
"No." And that was that. It didn't matter to Vergil whether it was, or wasn't, the same woman. "Drink your coffee and let's go. I want to get moving and find a room."
"Uh huh." Vergil was just lucky Dante was willing to comply with him on that one. He wanted a shower, too, to clean the blood that was still there, dried, on his face from where the skeleton demon thing had attacked him. And it didn't take him long at all, to drain the cup and place it with the rest of the remains of breakfast, before starting to scoot out of the booth. "Let's go."
And, of course, it wasn't like he bothered to clean up after himself, as he and Vergil left the mess on the table behind as they made their way back to the car. Dante was tempted to just go ahead and dig right through Vergil's pockets, for the car keys. However, he very well knew he'd pushed his luck as far as it was going to get, what with licking Vergil from before, so firmly kept his hands to himself, as he didn't want to lose one or the other, or both, knowing Vergil.
Once back in the car, while Vergil situated himself to drive (which always took forever), Dante took the liberty of turning the key in the ignition and fiddling with the radio, even though Vergil let out a huff. "Hey, shut it. My car, my radio, we listen to what I want to."
"I believe the rule was the driver picked the music." It was said as Vergil slapped Dante's hand and turned the radio off, before shifting into reverse and releasing the emergency brake. "Now sit back and shut up. We have to make a stop before finding a room."
Again: Vergil was lucky Dante was willing to comply, as he settled back into his seat and watched the world from being level with the doorframe at the window. Traffic was somewhat heavy, surprising with how stormy the sky looked, but there was no real reason to complain about that, even when fat, heavy raindrops started splattering against the windshield, and Vergil fumbled around for the wipers. It figured his elder brother couldn't even do that right, really. The fucker was completely out of his element, trying to drive. It was almost funny, if Dante wasn't worried he'd cause them to wreck or something.
Most of the ride was spent in silence, while Vergil hunched over the steering wheel, even though the rain wasn't falling very hard at all. Dante didn't want to, heaven forbid, break his concentration or anything, because Vergil, honestly, looked like he was thinking way too hard about how to navigate through the light rain. It was sad that Vergil was the creature he was forced to call brother, being inept in nearly everything normal he was forced to do. Driving was just one example. Dante could think of several more, and most had to deal with other people. That was the rub, though: Where Dante considered himself among 'people', Vergil did not. Of course, Vergil was crazy, and figured their status as nephilim gave them some other boost beyond the physical, and Dante just didn't see it that way. Oh, they picked up accents and languages faster than normal people, sometimes within days, and no doubt they'd both be tainted with a slight southern drawl when they finally left the south, and they read faster, and absorbed knowledge faster, and all that happy shit, but as far as Dante was concerned, they were a little different, not better.
He'd drifted off, however, surprised when he heard the engine cut off and glanced up, wondering how in hell they'd gotten to a spot at the boardwalk on a stretch of beach, spotting lines and lines of seagulls where they'd landed during the rain, along a row of covered picnic tables that were all deserted. In fact, as Dante looked around, there wasn't another soul there, or another car, or anything. "Verg?" It came out rather fuzzy, as though he'd been asleep, and he really wasn't surprised when Vergil didn't answer, and instead shouldered his door open and climbed out of the car.
Dante sat there a minute, watching Vergil tug the collar of his jacket up as he walked away, before opening his own door and shuffled out, taking a moment to stand there, the wind forcing his already shaggy hair into his eyes, before pulling his own jacket a little tighter around himself. He was surprised how chilly it had gotten, figuring Florida wouldn't know chilly if it bit them in the ass, and the rain, too, wasn't the slightest bit warm where it pelted him lightly. But after a moment, he started after Vergil onto the beach, picking his way over the damp sand carefully, feeling it shift and clump under his feet.
He had no idea why Vergil was there, and he didn't bother to ask, as he stayed a good distance behind, focusing instead on looking up and down the beach, realizing how lonely it was, with no one there. Vergil passed through his field of vision, but he didn't focus on him, really, as more than a splash of blue and white against the grey, before finding a spot with a few large rocks and sitting upon one, drawing his knees to his chest. Outside of the seagulls and ocean, it was far too quiet for his tastes. And it was an odd place to be, while it was raining, and so chilly, and with Vergil...
He shook his head, sitting up and dropping his legs to look for Vergil, surprised to find two more people on the beach, headed his way. For him, the most noticeable thing was the fact that one was a splot of red against the greyed-out sand, the other a splotch of blue, both the same height with white hair, which was a rarity, on people who were of the decidedly younger variety. Not that he could tell, at that distance, how old they were, but their posture said they weren't in the final years of life. He stayed where he was, watching them draw closer, feeling a prickle along his spine, as their features started to become clearer, as well as the details of their clothing.
The one in red wore his hair longer, at least...Longer than Dante kept his, his jacket with the high, black leather collar fastened tight except for the tails, which flapped slightly in the wind behind him. Dante couldn't say with certainty why it skeeved him out, at least not at that moment, but there was something oddly familiar in his mannerisms as his moved, something about the lazy and confident gait he moved over the sand with, that struck a chord with him.
The one in blue was the same way, though his hair was, as far as Dante could tell, shorter, and probably neater kept, though it was being blown about carelessly by the wind. He watched them closely, leaning forward on the rock for a better view, as they came ever closer, not even hearing Vergil step up behind him. "What are you doing?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin, and he clung to the rock, where he almost tumbled right off, facefirst into the sand, before answering. "Hey. You see them?" He nodded toward the two that were starting past them, a ways down the beach, closer to where the water hit the sand.
"Yes, so?" Dante ignored him, narrowing his eyes closely at them, and catching faint bits of their conversation.
"Would you just shut up, already? Fucking loony." The one in red, obviously, had a mouth on him.
"And this is precisely why I take you nowhere, and we can't have nice things. Because you are both retarded and childish." For some reason, that was oddly familiar, coming from a figure in blue. It made Dante smirk a bit, as he glanced behind himself slightly at Vergil.
"I'll fucking show you retarded. Keep it up, and I'm pitching your ass in the water."
"Of course you are, boopsie."
They moved along, out of earshot, before Dante shook himself from his trance, and moved to stand once more, finding Vergil glaring at him. "What?"
"Way to waste some time, genius. Come along." Vergil took his arm, none too gently, and gave him a tug back toward the car. Dante glanced back, one last time, surprised to find the two that had been walking the beach had vanished, which was odd. The beach was a long, straight stretch, and logically that couldn't have happened.
"H...Hey. Dude. They're gone." He tugged against Vergil and drew to a stop, glancing up and down the beach once more. "What the fuck."
"Oh, like it matters. Get in the car." It was with a harder tug, more like a jerk, that Vergil began dragging him forward once more, until Dante gave in and trailed along a step behind, allowing Vergil to lead him to the car.
"But...Were they ghosts?" It was an honest question, as Vergil dropped him off at the passenger door, and he began climbing in, peering out toward the water through the windshield as he did so.
"And I know?" Vergil climbed in as well, slamming his door shut. "Proof, little brother, that you are insanely slow on the uptake."
"How the hell do you figure?" Dante scowled at him, reaching up to push the wet hair from his face before he paused, feeling as though he'd been hit with something over the head. "Dude." He fumbled a moment, before getting his door open once more and jumped out, already jogging back to the beach before Vergil could say a word. Which, of course, left Vergil bitching under his breath as he moved to follow, to see what, exactly, had pulled on Dante's cock in such an asinine way, the retarded baby sheep.
Dante made his way down the beach, to put himself in line with where the two had been walking, not at all shocked to find no footprints there. Still. He thought he had it figured out, and when he heard Vergil come from behind, he didn't bother turning around, instead looking to the point he figured they'd vanished. "Vergil."
"What, you moron." Oh, he knew Vergil was pissed at him for running off, but he'd had to see for himself. Could he really be blamed for that? Dante didn't think so.
"I think I get it." It was like a lightbulb had physically gone on over Dante's head.
"Uh huh."
"No, really." Only then did he bother turning around, satisfied they were truly gone. "You know what a doppleganger is, right?"
"No, Dante." Vergil said it with a roll of the eyes, dramatically waving a hand. "Yes, Dante, I am well aware of what a doppleganger is. Get to the point, as it is freezing out here." They didn't acclimate to cold weather very well, given their demonic heritage.
"Dude, they were us." Dante was absolutely sure of that fact, after thinking about it for a moment. "I think they were older, but they were us."
Vergil squinted at Dante a long moment through his hair, whatever he used in his hair to give him the porcupine do having long since given up the battle against the wind and rain. He was, as of that moment, convinced Dante was completely off of his rocker entirely, which said something, given it was Vergil. "Of course they were. Time paradox!" He waggled the fingers of both hands, in a sarcastic gesture, before grabbing Dante by the jacket collar and tugging him once more to the car.
Dante gave up with a sigh, stumbling to catch up and walk back on his own, pulling himself free. "Ass." It was true. Vergil could be a fucking douche if he wanted to, Dante had seen them. It just hadn't connected until they were in the car. But that was okay. Vergil could be a smartass and throw around the 4chan lingo all he wanted (and here Vergil had claimed he never visited that 'bleeding sore on the ass of the internet' ever), because Dante was right for once. It couldn't be helped Vergil was too stupid to put it together, the crazy fucker.
AN: Sorry for the wait, guys. I haven't had internet, and real life is crazy. There's several more chapters coming, so keep your shirts on. ;)
Florida was supposed to be sunny. However, when Dante and Vergil finally made it to Amelia Island, the sky was cloudy and grey, the sea itself rough and the color of dull steel. It was obvious they'd come during the stormy season, which did Dante no good at all. That meant no sun, which meant no babes on the beach in bikinis. Dante admitted he was slightly put off by that, because what good was going to the beach if there were no babes? Vergil had rolled his eyes at it, saying Dante was a simple fool without a braincell in his head, but truly. Dante did not give a shit what Vergil thought. Vergil was a supreme asshole to begin with. He hadn't even gotten Dante food, after that disasterous incident in the underground vault in Georgia.
That changed however, as Dante spotted a McDonald's, a few red lights head of where they were stopped, and pulled himself upright in the passenger seat, dropping his feet from the dash where he'd had them propped. "Verg." He didn't even look to see if Vergil had paid him a bit of attention, before he pointed at the building with its tell-tale yellow arched sign. "Food." At that point he didn't care what it was. McDonald's was perfect, if a little skeevy, because he just knew how Vergil was about fast food.
There was a long pause, as Vergil squinted past the windshield to follow Dante's insistant finger, only to roll his eyes in exasperation when he realized what, exactly, it was the younger twin wanted. "Dante." There was patronization in his tone, which made Dante scowl at him from under his shaggy mop of white hair. "McDonald's?"
"Look, there's a Starbucks right across the street. C'mon. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon." It was almost like dealing with a little child, eager to get a happy meal, or some other such juvenile nonesense. Not only that, but he was using the most childish method in the book, thinking the fact that there was a Starbucks across the street would sway the elder twin in any direction, other than 'no'. Regardless of the fact that, not only did he want a shower, as he felt absolutely disgusting, but coffee, honestly, didn't sound like that bad of an idea. "Please, Vergil? Please, please, please?"
"Dante." There was another long pause, as the light they were stopped at changed to green, and Vergil, honestly, for once in his life paid more attention to traffic than he did his brother, before the threw him an unamused glance. "If you're that goddamn hungry, we can do a damn sight better than McDonald's." Really, had Dante no taste?
Nope. "I don't want anything else, I want to eat now." As if to punctuate, Dante's stomach growled, and growled loudly. It had been...Well, it had been a long time since they'd eaten, anyway, and while Vergil might have rolled like that, Dante did not. "I will bite you if you don't stop. I swear to fucking God." And he meant it, too. He would lean right over and just chomp right down on any part of Vergil he happened to get his mouth around. He, honestly, wasn't all that particular, as long as it hurt.
"...Fine." It was grudgingly given, in a very snappish tone, just because he wanted Dante to shut up. He very well knew if he passed it by, Dante would whine, and he would complain, and he would make life a living Hell until he was given what he wanted. Vergil, honestly, wondered when Dante had gotten so damned spoiled, never coming to the conclusion it was his own fault Dante was that way, with the way he coddled the younger twin. "However, if we do this, I don't want to hear another peep from you for the rest of the day."
"Yes, Daddy-dearest." It was said with an eyeroll, as Dante flopped back in his seat. Vergil was such a dick. But that was okay, because he was getting his McDonald's, which was far more important than Vergil's attitude.
"Don't go there, boopsie, you know it makes me hot." It was said flatly, because really now. Dante was such a big, fat baby. Wasn't Vergil being decent? He thought he was. He was taking his filthy, shaggy, gross little mutt of a twin to McDonald's wasn't he? Of course he was. That was very decent of him, considering he loathed fast food. Forget the fact that he planned on punting the little monkey out and going to Starbucks, he was still being a good big brother. Which was exactly what he told himself as he hit the brakes, pointing to Dante's door. "Get out."
See, and Vergil was an ass. That proved it. But that was fine, too, because Dante had that bitch's digits. He did. He put one hand on the door handle, before reaching over and gripping Vergil's chin in the other hand, tight, holding him in place as he leaned over and swiped his tongue in a long, slimy trail up the side of Vergil's face before pushing his door open and hopping out of the car before Vergil could grab him and hurt him for that. He would pay for it later, he was sure, but the look of complete and utter shock on Vergil's face when Dante had pulled away had completely been worth it. "Bring me back something," was all he offered, as well, before slamming the door, right as Vergil had gone to crawl across the seat (amazingly keeping one foot on the brake), to grab Dante and beat him senseless.
And skittered as fast as he could inside, because he hoped and prayed Vergil wouldn't go after him, with him in such a public place. Not that that had ever stopped his big brother before, of course, but it didn't kill that tiny bit of hope he had that Vergil would just let it go, at least for that moment.
He was lucky, really. Because Vergil didn't come after him, and Dante thanked everything he held sacred that overpriced coffee was obviously more important than Vergil having his face violated by his little brother's tongue. Either that, or Vergil was just secretly lusting after Dante, which Dante would not put past him, either, with his getting Dante away from people all the time out in weird, off-the-beaten-path places. But that was okay, too. Vergil could be gross and dirty and incestuous and wrong all he wanted, as long as he kept his hands to himself. Dante would let him lust from afar, until the day he got with the touchy-grabby, and then they'd have a problem. And that was that.
And he was glad that Starbucks took forever, too, as he finally kicked back in a booth, squinting through the large windows to the green, white, and brown building across the street. It meant he had time to eat, at least, before Vergil came back and beat the ever-loving shit out of him until he couldn't walk. And if he was really lucky? Vergil would actually bring him coffee back, too, and all would be forgiven. It was wishful thinking, but Dante was a wishful kind of guy.
His bliss was ended shortly after that, however, as he felt the familiar tingle skitter across his skin, letting him know Vergil had once again entered the vicinity. And he looked pissed, too, as he picked his way over to where Dante was sitting, scowling at adults, walls, booths, children, and the floor alike, before he reached the younger twin and thrust a cup out to him, nearly sloshing the contents out through the little sissy sippy lids Starbucks put on their coffee, because some dumbass was too dumb to realize coffee was hot. "You? Are the foulest, most dispicable, filthy, shaggy little-"
"Adorable baby brother you'll ever have, yeah, yeah. Thanks." Dante had no problem cutting Vergil off and taking his coffee, before turning back to the elder twin, finding him digging around in his pockets. "What the hell are you doing?"
"Filthy." Vergil found what he was searching for, extracting a packet of, Dante shit himself not, sanitary wipes from his pocket, before opening it and anally extracting one. "Disgusting. It is germ-infested, and I refuse to sit here until it is clean." And Dante watched, with part embarrassment, part horror, as Vergil very well proceeded to disinfect his side of the booth.
"Dude." He watched Vergil go, barely restraining himself from slapping his forehead with a palm, instead busying himself with clearing away what was left of his breakfast and moving it to the side, and paying attention to his coffee. Maybe, he supposed, if he acted like he didn't know Vergil, no one would guess they were related, and that freak of a psycho wasn't his twin brother. Of course, that was because Dante was completely disregarding the fact that they were, in fact, identical twins. He pulled off the lid from his cup and set that aside as well, before glancing up once more, finding Vergil still doing his thing on the other side of the booth, and pointedly looked elsewhere out the window next to him, watching the traffic go by in the street beyond.
Finally, Vergil determined the booth was sanitary enough to sit down, and stuffed away the wipes once more, before sliding in and reaching across the table, snapping his fingers in Dante's face. "Earth to wibbler, please report why we're acting like a big fat baby, over."
"Do not make me slap you." Dante cut him a glare, before narrowing his eyes right over Vergil's shoulder. "Hey, Verg." His voice had dropped, miracle of miracles, to a pitch only Vergil, no doubt, would be able to hear, and nodded in that direction. "She look familiar to you?"
Vergil gave Dante an irritated look, before shifting in the booth and craning his neck to see behind him, coming face to face with a woman, possibly thirty-five years old, four children, and a nose brace taped to her face. For a moment, Vergil wondered why Dante would even care, as he couldn't place her for the life of him, until Dante said, "Ain't she the one that you smacked in the face with a bag back in that hotel in Alabama?"
Vergil squinted and stared, rather rudely, before turning back around with a shrug. "Yes, and?"
"I dunno, don't you think it's a little odd she's here?" It was said as Dante turned his coffee cup in his hands, trying to find the perfect place to drink from. As much as he bitched about Vergil's OCD, Dante himself had little rituals of the same type he'd never, ever admit to.
"No." And that was that. It didn't matter to Vergil whether it was, or wasn't, the same woman. "Drink your coffee and let's go. I want to get moving and find a room."
"Uh huh." Vergil was just lucky Dante was willing to comply with him on that one. He wanted a shower, too, to clean the blood that was still there, dried, on his face from where the skeleton demon thing had attacked him. And it didn't take him long at all, to drain the cup and place it with the rest of the remains of breakfast, before starting to scoot out of the booth. "Let's go."
And, of course, it wasn't like he bothered to clean up after himself, as he and Vergil left the mess on the table behind as they made their way back to the car. Dante was tempted to just go ahead and dig right through Vergil's pockets, for the car keys. However, he very well knew he'd pushed his luck as far as it was going to get, what with licking Vergil from before, so firmly kept his hands to himself, as he didn't want to lose one or the other, or both, knowing Vergil.
Once back in the car, while Vergil situated himself to drive (which always took forever), Dante took the liberty of turning the key in the ignition and fiddling with the radio, even though Vergil let out a huff. "Hey, shut it. My car, my radio, we listen to what I want to."
"I believe the rule was the driver picked the music." It was said as Vergil slapped Dante's hand and turned the radio off, before shifting into reverse and releasing the emergency brake. "Now sit back and shut up. We have to make a stop before finding a room."
Again: Vergil was lucky Dante was willing to comply, as he settled back into his seat and watched the world from being level with the doorframe at the window. Traffic was somewhat heavy, surprising with how stormy the sky looked, but there was no real reason to complain about that, even when fat, heavy raindrops started splattering against the windshield, and Vergil fumbled around for the wipers. It figured his elder brother couldn't even do that right, really. The fucker was completely out of his element, trying to drive. It was almost funny, if Dante wasn't worried he'd cause them to wreck or something.
Most of the ride was spent in silence, while Vergil hunched over the steering wheel, even though the rain wasn't falling very hard at all. Dante didn't want to, heaven forbid, break his concentration or anything, because Vergil, honestly, looked like he was thinking way too hard about how to navigate through the light rain. It was sad that Vergil was the creature he was forced to call brother, being inept in nearly everything normal he was forced to do. Driving was just one example. Dante could think of several more, and most had to deal with other people. That was the rub, though: Where Dante considered himself among 'people', Vergil did not. Of course, Vergil was crazy, and figured their status as nephilim gave them some other boost beyond the physical, and Dante just didn't see it that way. Oh, they picked up accents and languages faster than normal people, sometimes within days, and no doubt they'd both be tainted with a slight southern drawl when they finally left the south, and they read faster, and absorbed knowledge faster, and all that happy shit, but as far as Dante was concerned, they were a little different, not better.
He'd drifted off, however, surprised when he heard the engine cut off and glanced up, wondering how in hell they'd gotten to a spot at the boardwalk on a stretch of beach, spotting lines and lines of seagulls where they'd landed during the rain, along a row of covered picnic tables that were all deserted. In fact, as Dante looked around, there wasn't another soul there, or another car, or anything. "Verg?" It came out rather fuzzy, as though he'd been asleep, and he really wasn't surprised when Vergil didn't answer, and instead shouldered his door open and climbed out of the car.
Dante sat there a minute, watching Vergil tug the collar of his jacket up as he walked away, before opening his own door and shuffled out, taking a moment to stand there, the wind forcing his already shaggy hair into his eyes, before pulling his own jacket a little tighter around himself. He was surprised how chilly it had gotten, figuring Florida wouldn't know chilly if it bit them in the ass, and the rain, too, wasn't the slightest bit warm where it pelted him lightly. But after a moment, he started after Vergil onto the beach, picking his way over the damp sand carefully, feeling it shift and clump under his feet.
He had no idea why Vergil was there, and he didn't bother to ask, as he stayed a good distance behind, focusing instead on looking up and down the beach, realizing how lonely it was, with no one there. Vergil passed through his field of vision, but he didn't focus on him, really, as more than a splash of blue and white against the grey, before finding a spot with a few large rocks and sitting upon one, drawing his knees to his chest. Outside of the seagulls and ocean, it was far too quiet for his tastes. And it was an odd place to be, while it was raining, and so chilly, and with Vergil...
He shook his head, sitting up and dropping his legs to look for Vergil, surprised to find two more people on the beach, headed his way. For him, the most noticeable thing was the fact that one was a splot of red against the greyed-out sand, the other a splotch of blue, both the same height with white hair, which was a rarity, on people who were of the decidedly younger variety. Not that he could tell, at that distance, how old they were, but their posture said they weren't in the final years of life. He stayed where he was, watching them draw closer, feeling a prickle along his spine, as their features started to become clearer, as well as the details of their clothing.
The one in red wore his hair longer, at least...Longer than Dante kept his, his jacket with the high, black leather collar fastened tight except for the tails, which flapped slightly in the wind behind him. Dante couldn't say with certainty why it skeeved him out, at least not at that moment, but there was something oddly familiar in his mannerisms as his moved, something about the lazy and confident gait he moved over the sand with, that struck a chord with him.
The one in blue was the same way, though his hair was, as far as Dante could tell, shorter, and probably neater kept, though it was being blown about carelessly by the wind. He watched them closely, leaning forward on the rock for a better view, as they came ever closer, not even hearing Vergil step up behind him. "What are you doing?"
He nearly jumped out of his skin, and he clung to the rock, where he almost tumbled right off, facefirst into the sand, before answering. "Hey. You see them?" He nodded toward the two that were starting past them, a ways down the beach, closer to where the water hit the sand.
"Yes, so?" Dante ignored him, narrowing his eyes closely at them, and catching faint bits of their conversation.
"Would you just shut up, already? Fucking loony." The one in red, obviously, had a mouth on him.
"And this is precisely why I take you nowhere, and we can't have nice things. Because you are both retarded and childish." For some reason, that was oddly familiar, coming from a figure in blue. It made Dante smirk a bit, as he glanced behind himself slightly at Vergil.
"I'll fucking show you retarded. Keep it up, and I'm pitching your ass in the water."
"Of course you are, boopsie."
They moved along, out of earshot, before Dante shook himself from his trance, and moved to stand once more, finding Vergil glaring at him. "What?"
"Way to waste some time, genius. Come along." Vergil took his arm, none too gently, and gave him a tug back toward the car. Dante glanced back, one last time, surprised to find the two that had been walking the beach had vanished, which was odd. The beach was a long, straight stretch, and logically that couldn't have happened.
"H...Hey. Dude. They're gone." He tugged against Vergil and drew to a stop, glancing up and down the beach once more. "What the fuck."
"Oh, like it matters. Get in the car." It was with a harder tug, more like a jerk, that Vergil began dragging him forward once more, until Dante gave in and trailed along a step behind, allowing Vergil to lead him to the car.
"But...Were they ghosts?" It was an honest question, as Vergil dropped him off at the passenger door, and he began climbing in, peering out toward the water through the windshield as he did so.
"And I know?" Vergil climbed in as well, slamming his door shut. "Proof, little brother, that you are insanely slow on the uptake."
"How the hell do you figure?" Dante scowled at him, reaching up to push the wet hair from his face before he paused, feeling as though he'd been hit with something over the head. "Dude." He fumbled a moment, before getting his door open once more and jumped out, already jogging back to the beach before Vergil could say a word. Which, of course, left Vergil bitching under his breath as he moved to follow, to see what, exactly, had pulled on Dante's cock in such an asinine way, the retarded baby sheep.
Dante made his way down the beach, to put himself in line with where the two had been walking, not at all shocked to find no footprints there. Still. He thought he had it figured out, and when he heard Vergil come from behind, he didn't bother turning around, instead looking to the point he figured they'd vanished. "Vergil."
"What, you moron." Oh, he knew Vergil was pissed at him for running off, but he'd had to see for himself. Could he really be blamed for that? Dante didn't think so.
"I think I get it." It was like a lightbulb had physically gone on over Dante's head.
"Uh huh."
"No, really." Only then did he bother turning around, satisfied they were truly gone. "You know what a doppleganger is, right?"
"No, Dante." Vergil said it with a roll of the eyes, dramatically waving a hand. "Yes, Dante, I am well aware of what a doppleganger is. Get to the point, as it is freezing out here." They didn't acclimate to cold weather very well, given their demonic heritage.
"Dude, they were us." Dante was absolutely sure of that fact, after thinking about it for a moment. "I think they were older, but they were us."
Vergil squinted at Dante a long moment through his hair, whatever he used in his hair to give him the porcupine do having long since given up the battle against the wind and rain. He was, as of that moment, convinced Dante was completely off of his rocker entirely, which said something, given it was Vergil. "Of course they were. Time paradox!" He waggled the fingers of both hands, in a sarcastic gesture, before grabbing Dante by the jacket collar and tugging him once more to the car.
Dante gave up with a sigh, stumbling to catch up and walk back on his own, pulling himself free. "Ass." It was true. Vergil could be a fucking douche if he wanted to, Dante had seen them. It just hadn't connected until they were in the car. But that was okay. Vergil could be a smartass and throw around the 4chan lingo all he wanted (and here Vergil had claimed he never visited that 'bleeding sore on the ass of the internet' ever), because Dante was right for once. It couldn't be helped Vergil was too stupid to put it together, the crazy fucker.
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