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October-November 2024 Test Drive Meme
October-November 2024 Test Drive
Introduction
Welcome to Folkmore's monthly Test Drive Meme! Please feel free to test drive any and all characters regardless of your intent to apply or whether you have an invite or not. All TDMs are game canon and work like "mini-events". For new players and characters, you can choose to have your TDM thread be your introduction thread upon acceptance or start fresh. Current players are also allowed to have in-game characters post to the TDM so long as they mark their top levels ‘Current Character.’
TDM threads can be used for spoon spending at any time by characters accepted into the game.
Playing and interacting with the TDMs will allow characters to immediately obtain canon items from homes especially weapons or other things they may have had on their person when they were pulled from their worlds! There will always be a prompt that provides some sort of "reward" to characters who complete certain tasks.
🦊 New Star Children meet the Fox still in their worlds, and she brings them into the new realm of Folkmore. As you follow her, your body begins to change and new characteristics emerge. These may stay for a while, or perhaps they will hide away after. And during all of this, the Fox explains to you where you will be going: to Folkmore. Then you fall like a shooting star, falling to the land in a burst of starlight.
🦊 Experienced Star Children are already familiar with this time of the month. There are shooting stars all across the sky, and some fall to the land, which means the Fox has brought new arrivals. These newly arrived Star Children will face some tests, but Thirteen wants the more seasoned residents to participate as well.
Content Warnings: Natural Disaster/Natural Disaster Relief
It seems as if the Star Children will be restricted to Amrita Academy forever, when nothing changes at the one month mark. Yet, after another week has stretched endlessly past, a morning dawns to show that the moat of Lorasses has vanished. The way is clear to discover what the chaotic storms have left behind.
Most of Folkmore's resident spirits return. Good thing Catbus is among them because the train is not operating. Debris litters the tracks throughout the land. Someone's going to have to work to clean all of that up before normal schedules can resume... within the first week or so, everyone fervently hopes.
That is far from the only wreckage from those storms. As Star Children have seen, even Amrita Academy hasn't really been spared; between the Lorasses moat and the various structures built to weather the storms, the past weeks have left a mark on the school.
The rest of Willow shows signs of extreme growth and age, as if decades, not weeks, have passed. Epiphany and Tides suffer major flood damage, and Exile is entirely soggy and saturated with a sense of sorrow. Avalanche debris covers Wintermute, and the mountains aren't in the same place. Cruel Summer is even dryer, cracked, and in part of it littered with exploded, partially melted robot parts. Never Fade may be the best off; the ground has leveled off, and only the unsecured outdoor items have crashed around or dropped off the island. In general, all regions show signs of warping.
Talaria has been outright knocked down (once again) and will need to be rebuilt (once again). The contents of Talarian homes have been thriftily saved by Thirteen (yet again). They'll be back as soon as the homes are ready to be redecorated! There's also a new elevator connecting Tides to a platform in the ocean at surface level, making it a little bit easier to get in or out of the neighborhood. Fly, swim, or use a boat from Nereid marina to reach it.
Many of the buildings throughout Folkmore, businesses and residences alike, have been damaged, some past the point of habitability. For better or worse, some residences will wait unclaimed, as their resident spirits have not returned from wherever they went while gone from Folkmore. Newly arriving Star Children (or those interested in relocating) just might find those residences awfully appealing. As with all unoccupied homes in Folkmore, they're free real estate.
Each neighborhood has a new (and structurally-sound) building near its center: a hospitality station of sorts, stocked with basic foods (to suit a variety of dietary needs, relevant to the known local residents), clean water, personal protective equipment, basic tool kits, fresh clothing, and clean linens. For those ill equipped to cook for themselves for whatever reason, there's also a canteen/soup kitchen area. The canteen tends to collect idle spirits and Star Children who might be willing to assist with any cleanup tasks too big or too complex for one person to tackle on their own.
Working with the neighbors has an additional benefit, of course: sooner or later, whether while helping clear the train tracks or fixing up someone's home or business (including a Star Child's own), shifting the debris will reveal a weathered container of some sort, locked up tight, that will only fall open at a touch if and when the right Star Child finds it. There is only one chest per Star Child. Inside, is an item from home, either that of the resident whose house/business it's found in or the one keyed to the lock. It may even be a magical item or weapon.
There's some good news as well, in the midst of all the chaos: most Star Children will find that their homes are wholly unharmed; their pets, companions, Pokémon, etc. are all hale and hearty, having spent the entire time cozily asleep in their boxfoxes — which can be reused if kept, and just as easily abandoned now that they've released their occupants.
It seems as if the Star Children will be restricted to Amrita Academy forever, when nothing changes at the one month mark. Yet, after another week has stretched endlessly past, a morning dawns to show that the moat of Lorasses has vanished. The way is clear to discover what the chaotic storms have left behind.
Most of Folkmore's resident spirits return. Good thing Catbus is among them because the train is not operating. Debris litters the tracks throughout the land. Someone's going to have to work to clean all of that up before normal schedules can resume... within the first week or so, everyone fervently hopes.
That is far from the only wreckage from those storms. As Star Children have seen, even Amrita Academy hasn't really been spared; between the Lorasses moat and the various structures built to weather the storms, the past weeks have left a mark on the school.
Other regions show clear signs of the warping they have endured similarly.
- Wintermute alternated between blinding light and pitch blackness, with mountains growing and crumbling away alike. Cabins were transformed into igloos.
- Willow experienced all the seasons in a matter of days multiple times, growing crops and new trees, losing old ones, and its buildings weathered as though through decades.
- In Epiphany, the streets ran with water so high it was difficult to walk, and the buildings shifted to reflect related settings.
- Cruel Summer grew hotter and more oppressive, so that survival away from the Selkie River was impossible. On the 13th, there was an explosion, and it rained robot parts.
- Exile was swallowed entirely by the Swamp of Sorrows, leaving no dry land.
- Tides filled with water, dark deep water that could not readily be seen through.
- Never Fade became even more purple, with a thick haze that erased visibilty of borders. It also became steeper, so there was no flat ground.
The rest of Willow shows signs of extreme growth and age, as if decades, not weeks, have passed. Epiphany and Tides suffer major flood damage, and Exile is entirely soggy and saturated with a sense of sorrow. Avalanche debris covers Wintermute, and the mountains aren't in the same place. Cruel Summer is even dryer, cracked, and in part of it littered with exploded, partially melted robot parts. Never Fade may be the best off; the ground has leveled off, and only the unsecured outdoor items have crashed around or dropped off the island. In general, all regions show signs of warping.
Talaria has been outright knocked down (once again) and will need to be rebuilt (once again). The contents of Talarian homes have been thriftily saved by Thirteen (yet again). They'll be back as soon as the homes are ready to be redecorated! There's also a new elevator connecting Tides to a platform in the ocean at surface level, making it a little bit easier to get in or out of the neighborhood. Fly, swim, or use a boat from Nereid marina to reach it.
Many of the buildings throughout Folkmore, businesses and residences alike, have been damaged, some past the point of habitability. For better or worse, some residences will wait unclaimed, as their resident spirits have not returned from wherever they went while gone from Folkmore. Newly arriving Star Children (or those interested in relocating) just might find those residences awfully appealing. As with all unoccupied homes in Folkmore, they're free real estate.
Each neighborhood has a new (and structurally-sound) building near its center: a hospitality station of sorts, stocked with basic foods (to suit a variety of dietary needs, relevant to the known local residents), clean water, personal protective equipment, basic tool kits, fresh clothing, and clean linens. For those ill equipped to cook for themselves for whatever reason, there's also a canteen/soup kitchen area. The canteen tends to collect idle spirits and Star Children who might be willing to assist with any cleanup tasks too big or too complex for one person to tackle on their own.
Working with the neighbors has an additional benefit, of course: sooner or later, whether while helping clear the train tracks or fixing up someone's home or business (including a Star Child's own), shifting the debris will reveal a weathered container of some sort, locked up tight, that will only fall open at a touch if and when the right Star Child finds it. There is only one chest per Star Child. Inside, is an item from home, either that of the resident whose house/business it's found in or the one keyed to the lock. It may even be a magical item or weapon.
There's some good news as well, in the midst of all the chaos: most Star Children will find that their homes are wholly unharmed; their pets, companions, Pokémon, etc. are all hale and hearty, having spent the entire time cozily asleep in their boxfoxes — which can be reused if kept, and just as easily abandoned now that they've released their occupants.
- The moat is gone! Freeeeeedom!
- The train is not operating for one week until October 27th due to debris over the tracks.
- Every region of Folkmore shows scars from the past month's extreme disturbances. Things have not reverted to before.
- Most spirits have returned; some remain absent. Claim the free real estate, if quick or bold enough.
- Hospitality stations have appeared in each neighborhood stocked with food, water, clothing, and linens.
- The canteens serve as a social hub and place to ask for/volunteer assistance.
- One time only, cleaning up or moving debris will reveal a container holding an item from home: yours or the person's you're helping.
- Most Star Children's homes will be unharmed; any damage should match the region's damage flavor. The level of destruction is up to you.
- Creatures in boxfoxes are out, fine and dandy! Boxfoxes can be kept/used again.
Offshore near Agrona Academy, there's something new. Something bewildering, maybe. Something growing. There's also something swimming up to any Star Children near the coast: a very large sea turtle, not willing to come far ashore. She's singing and chirping to get attention, in case being big enough to have a six-foot-long shell isn't quite good enough for some reason. (Or the way she has a blue-green bioluminescent glow when underwater, as becomes quite visible around dusk.)
She's happy to explain that she needs a place to lay her eggs. She doesn't have eggs to lay, just yet, but she wants to have her place all ready anyway. To that end she's busily building a brand-new island not very far from shore. It's just over there, visible once she indicates it with a flipper, barely any higher than the waves cresting around it. Here's the sad part: while she's used a great deal of cleverness in building it, from rocks and sand and bits of broken reef, she's all out of construction materials that she can reach! So she needs help: more construction material for the island.
It seems she's got a very loose definition, though, so pretty much anything that can later be covered in sand or dirt is fair game. Lucky that she wants it now. There's a perfect place todump all that debris in the ocean recycle all the debris, anything not structurally sound enough for a repair-in-place job. Bigger is probably better, too. Work together with other Star Children to haul up the big stuff. It brings more and more joy to her songs as she finds the exact place for each and every item, making her island grow bigger and bigger.
Anyone who actively participates will be rewarded five (5) spoons by the turtle directly, as a thank you for helping her to keep her eggs safe. (If anyone asks, she'll explain that it's the number of limbs she has, so she thought it was perfect!) In addition, she gives each person a smooth and shiny sea rock that fits in their palm perfectly! If the island gets big enough to be more than a sandbar, anyone who helped with the construction will find it far more welcoming than those who didn't. She isn't expecting to use anything but the beach.
She's happy to explain that she needs a place to lay her eggs. She doesn't have eggs to lay, just yet, but she wants to have her place all ready anyway. To that end she's busily building a brand-new island not very far from shore. It's just over there, visible once she indicates it with a flipper, barely any higher than the waves cresting around it. Here's the sad part: while she's used a great deal of cleverness in building it, from rocks and sand and bits of broken reef, she's all out of construction materials that she can reach! So she needs help: more construction material for the island.
It seems she's got a very loose definition, though, so pretty much anything that can later be covered in sand or dirt is fair game. Lucky that she wants it now. There's a perfect place to
Anyone who actively participates will be rewarded five (5) spoons by the turtle directly, as a thank you for helping her to keep her eggs safe. (If anyone asks, she'll explain that it's the number of limbs she has, so she thought it was perfect!) In addition, she gives each person a smooth and shiny sea rock that fits in their palm perfectly! If the island gets big enough to be more than a sandbar, anyone who helped with the construction will find it far more welcoming than those who didn't. She isn't expecting to use anything but the beach.
- A large sea turtle—with a 6 foot in diameter shell and about 3 feet tall at the shoulder—starts building an island off Cruel Summer.
- She needs help getting more building supplies. Bring your debris, bigger the better, here!
- All Star Children who help will be rewarded five (5) spoons and a shiny and smooth rock from underwater that fits in their recipients' palms just so.
- Star Children who help find the island more welcoming than those who didn't.
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But he doesn't push for more than that quiet okay from Nero. Instead, without moving his head, Vergil's gaze drifts down before he resumes their walk and lets the matter and the subsequent silence come to rest.
He only breaks the silence after a time as they round a corner on one of the streets.
"Epiphany possesses two train stations: Jami and Luan. Luan is closer and where we are headed. That's normally where the vast majority of food vendors are."
It's small talk, and perhaps not the most relevant given that the train itself isn't functioning right now. But it's information Nero will likely need at some point, and it doesn't leave Nero spiraling on whatever he might think with knowing his father didn't know of his existence until it was revealed to him near to the same time Nero learned the truth.
"Although there is also a convenience store that also just...appears."
no subject
Right. Better keep dreaming, there.
He zones back into the moment when Vergil starts talking again, pointing out the train stations. Food vendors at Luan. Magical convenience store.
"I crashlanded out in the desert and it was a long damn walk. This is more my style of civilization," he remarks. "Especially if they sell coffee and beer." He almost asks about pizza, but he concludes that Dante wouldn't be anywhere near this place if pizza wasn't at least sometimes available here.
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Vergil spent a length of time living in a burrow. Or, well, he was assigned to be in the burrow. Vergil spent most of his time outside to avoid the low ceilings while the roommate foisted upon him enjoyed the interior most of the time. He's found himself suddenly no longer in his apartment, but out in the snows of Wintermute with the task of bringing new Star Children to warmth and safety.
"It sounds she afforded you the opportunity to familiarize yourself with Cruel Summer."
It may fly clean over Nero's head as most don't have the tendency to pick up on it given Vergil's typical delivery, but Vergil is, indeed, teasing him a little.
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"Yeah, I familiarized my face right into a dune." He smirks, glancing at Vergil sidelong. "Then got even more familiar with the sand in my pants."
He's reminded abruptly of V, the quips they'd occasionally trade, and his constant interjections of poetry. Really, he supposes, he's still right here trading lines with him. That's a strangely comforting thought.
"It's not like there's been anything dangerous I can't handle anyway, but I feel naked without my sword. Part of me was worried I dropped it on impact."
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He's fairly certain back then he would have taken the sand dune, but his perspective has changed a bit since then.
"I'm sure it will take you little time to reclaim it."
Even with as little as Vergil knows of Nero, he knows his temperament ultimately differs from Vergil's by a large margin. He sees far more of Nero's mother reflected in him than himself in that regard even if he's arguably a little rougher around the edges than she was. Particularly with that foul mouth of his. Regardless, he isn't nearly as reserved or disinclined to conversation as Vergil. He will generate Lore far more quickly than Vergil who really has only kept consistently company with two people at the most. The rest tend to be happenstance that he never follows up on, and they often do not go looking for him afterward. Which normally would have been just as well for him, but with the Yamato not yet returned to him... It was frustrating at times.
And normally, Vergil would be a touch bitter over his brother and son acquiring their weapons so quickly, but he would ultimately much rather than they are armed once more. Whatever sense of wounded pride he feels over it is something he can set aside for neither Dante nor Nero feeling that sense of unease and vulnerability that comes in being without their weapons for longer than is strictly necessary.
"But you are right that there's generally little that can stand to cause you harm here natively. There are beasts out in the desert and I believe Exile has its fair share as well, but they are only mindless beasts. Even if you were to instigate something with them, you would make quick work of them."
One of the reasons why the fighting pits in Cruel Summer have never held Vergil's interest. An animal is strong, but it does not possess the cunning of another warrior. And most here are content not to fight even for sport. Needless to say, Vergil has been a bit restless here on his own. Sparring with Mizu has been exhilarating in its own right, of course, and he would never detract from it. A certain degree of strategy is still required for Vergil to hold back appropriately, and she still occasionally manages to surprise him with her tactics even if he shall always best her in speed and strength. But it's not quite the same as fighting someone who can meet Vergil at his level, and he's almost as eager for his kin to acquire their weapons for the sake of a real challenge to present itself again finally as he is for them to not feel the discomfort of being without.
no subject
It's good and bad news that there's nothing much in the way of threats here. Good, because that means people won't get hurt while Nero is comparatively less ready to protect and fight for them. Bad, in that he's going to get rusty. Though something tells him Vergil wouldn't turn down another duel at some point. A friendlier one, he's hoping. Not exactly the sort of bonding he has in mind, but maybe it would take the sting off their last violent confrontation to make it a more regular thing. Less impaling this time, though.
"Thanks," he says, with regard to making quick work of the beasts. Vergil has certainly seen him fight. "I've barely got the chance to try out... you know. The new stuff." He was about to say "arms" but decided at the last second that was loaded. "Shame there isn't something a little more challenging to practice on."
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Vergil keeps his eyes trained firmly ahead as he half-expects some snarky comment to be made. Dante certainly hadn't hesitated with his laughter at the notion Vergil could not obtain the Yamato without doing something he generally tried to avoid. Which should not come as any surprise to Nero even with as little as he knows of Vergil. He was perhaps a touch more talkative at times as V, but he could still not be mistaken as someone particularly well-versed in conversation or social graces.
"The spoon the fox gave you," he say, "that is your way of tracking how much you've generated. You should notice that it's already changed since you first acquired it."
Regardless if Nero chooses to fiddle with his spoon now or later, he will notice that true to Vergil's word, the energy within it has indeed grown both from his helping others with cleaning away the debris and this conversation with Vergil.
Vergil glances at Nero when he mentions the lack of anything worthwhile to practice on. He feels a small amount of warmth that he immediately recognizes to be pride. If there could have possibly been any doubt that Nero is his son, that right there would have been more than enough to eliminate it. His reasons for doing as much likely differ vastly from the reasons Vergil ever possessed, but unlike Dante, he does not reject the demonic blood flowing through his veins. Instead, he wishes to embrace his power. Master and understand it as an intrinsic part of himself so that when he needs to call upon it, he's ready.
"If Dante can manage not to whinge over a single strike again, you might perhaps convince him to spar with you," he says both as a mild dig at Dante for how quickly he yielded to Nero, and subtle reminder that Nero doesn't need to figure this out on his own. Although he does not give in to the temptation to offer himself directly.
Despite being quite confident he could train Nero more efficiently than Dante given that he's never taken half-measures with his own demonic powers, Vergil doubts Nero would be open to it. He's had time to build a relationship with Dante over the course of...however long it was exactly. Dante hadn't said, but regardless, he brought Nero into his devil hunting business a while ago. That was something. Certainly far more than Vergil could claim to have with Nero.
So, frankly, he'd rather feel that sting that his brother is able to claim yet another thing that should be rightfully Vergil's, but isn't because of Vergil's failure in being what he ought to be than feel that crushing feeling of rejection when Nero inevitably rebuffs the offer. They're both unpleasant in their own ways, but one is familiar. The other... Vergil knows it will likely come in its own time, but he need not invite it now.
no subject
He scoffs at the dig on Dante. Frankly, Dante's lucky he only got decked once given how pissed off Nero was at him, in between being worried sick about him. It's never just one feeling about Dante, is it? It's mild annoyance and amusement, or major annoyance and fury, or relief combined with the desire to feed him his own teeth. That's not changed at all in five years. (Come to think of it, Dante's been performing the uncle role to a perfect T all this time.)
Weird that he only offered Dante though. Perhaps not that weird... maybe it's touchy to bring it up, but there's no point pretending they didn't kick the shit out of each other last time they spoke.
"What, not you?" He glances back at Vergil with a very subtle rise of an eyebrow. "I wouldn't mind another go sometime. A friendlier one. Less impaling. Unless you ate enough dirt last time..."
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"Don't get so cocky, child," he says, looking forward to the road ahead of them with a slight huff as he tries to shake off the warmth he feels. Or at the very least, set it aside for now. Yet his words do not have the harshness of his earlier admonishment. The warning there isn't severe. It isn't even particularly all that serious. "I yielded because there were more important matters to attend to at the time.
"You'll have a right to boast if you can manage to best me when that isn't the case and I haven't wasted energy dueling with Dante." Vergil glances at Nero. "I will admit, I am curious as to what you are capable of now that you have fully awakened the devil inside you."
He leaves it implied that he believes there's more that Nero can do than just what he demonstrated atop the Qliphoth. It will just take a bit of training and focus to tap into that potential.
no subject
This is much more normal. Much more satisfying... harder won, too, in his opinion.
"Yeah, important like cleaning my bootprint off your ass." He does not drop the cockiness even a little bit. "Now that the world's not ending, I'll take you on anytime. Once I get my sword back, at least."
That smile grows a little wider at Vergil's curiosity. A nod to his capability. "Until then, we'll just have to improvise, huh?"
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"I suppose we will," he says as the road finally curves to move alongside the train tracks. Debris of varying size litters the tracks all the way up through to the station that lies further down the line. It's strange to see the street so empty and quiet, Vergil notes. Especially quiet. Normally, this particular street is lined with birds in the trees and rooftops or flitting about in the air with their enchanted birdsong, and on the street itself is always a crowd for the food stalls and various modern shops. Now, it's relatively quiet with some clean-up efforts underway and the local fauna not yet returned. A shame that Nero has to experience it like this for his first time. Vergil thinks he would likely enjoy it as it normally is. "We are nearly there."
no subject
Epiphany looks like a bomb went off, and the abandoned buildings and wreckage remind him a little too closely of Red Grave. But unlike Red Grave, there is life seeping back into this place. Slowly, surely, as people lend a hand in the streets and work together, maybe this will all look as it did before. Nero fully intends to get back to work after he's had a bite to eat.
"You like to hit up any places around here?" he asks. "Places to eat or hang out... stuff to do?" It's a subtle way of feeling out more information about him. V was the theatrical type and loved to read-- maybe that came from Vergil originally?
no subject
He's still attentive to Nero, however, even as he's surveying the damages and his mind wanders a little, and doesn't miss his question, and sensing no particular motive behind it beyond continuing a bit of small talk as they continue together.
"I like the library," he says. "It's located here in Epiphany at the school, Kuma Lisa."
It's quiet. There's books on nearly every subject regardless of if it's more academic leaning or fiction. All a library should be so Vergil does not offer his reasons for enjoying it when they should be so self-explanatory.
"There's also a bakery here that's quite nice," he says. This one he elaborates upon a little more because it's not as though there is one singular bakery in all of Folkmore let alone all of Epiphany. "I don't quite understand why cats are its theme, but what they bake is perhaps the best I've sampled thus far. So, it is worth the disruptions from the cats they keep there if one chooses to stay rather than taking it home."
There is a cat-free section of the bakery that Nero will discover for himself should he ever visit the Catfé which may call into question just how disruptive Vergil finds the cats to be, but that's for him to discover on his own.
"I also frequently travel to Wintermute to spar with a friend. We've sparred with one another all over Folkmore at this point, but he is both human and a stubborn fool who doesn't always know when to yield. It saves a bit of time if his cabin is nearby for him to rest and recover in afterward." Vergil pauses a moment, glancing at Nero. While he couches it in something less than the certainty he knows to be true, he adds, "I imagine he may wish to spar with you as well should you ever meet. If you accept, make certain you enforce a rule not to duel to the death. Had I not insisted on that as a rule, he may very well have pushed himself to that point several times by now."
During their very first spar, it was Vergil who yielded because it was Mizu who lost control. She's been better about it since. Vergil isn't certain whether that's because Mizu actually gained a touch of awareness—it seems unlikely—or if she simply did not wish to have him fussing over her as much after the fight came to a close. Or there is the possibility that was enough for her to realize he meant it when he said no one was to die as a result of their sparring or they would not happen again. Or perhaps she simply did not like that he yielded in order to protect her life, and Mizu wants to ensure in that impossible scenario wherein the next time he yields, it's because she's bested him. Whatever the reason, Mizu has done much better about knowing when she's at her limit and not forcing Vergil's hand to put a stop to the fight. But sparring with Vergil with those limits in place may not inherently translate to sparring with Nero. While Vergil trusts Nero would not cross a line in a friendly sparring match with her, Mizu may not take such care with her own well-being.
no subject
Nero zones back in at the mention of sparring. With a... friend? Vergil has friends? Wow, good for him. A friendship based on sparring is pretty predictable. It's the ruleset that makes Nero raise an eyebrow.
"That should go without saying." Maybe his friend's a glutton for punishment. (After all... he's friends with Vergil, isn't he?) "People duel to the death around here often?" And yet the Sparda twins have managed to refrain? Now he's really proud of them.
"There a lot of other people like... well. Like us around?" Nero gestures vaguely. "Demons and shit?"
no subject
"I would hazard a guess that is part of the reason why the fighting pits are so popular in Cruel Summer. As long as one does not possess a fear of pain, there is nothing to fear for some."
And those already callous enough not to care nor fear death remain as they ever were.
"Like us? No," he says with a slight shake of his head. Which is not even a matter of Vergil's pride as a son of Sparda setting them firmly apart even from other demons of their world. There haven't been any demons that Vergil has sensed since arriving in Folkmore nearly a year ago. Even those with features that could be considered demonic, those are a consequence of being in Folkmore and not something reflective of their species. "But there are others that are not human. There is at least a small group of vampires that I've been made aware of, and there are others with abilities beyond what human could otherwise do."
no subject
Or, well. At least try to be dangerous. Maybe it's naive but there's very few people who can pose much of a threat to a Son of Sparda (or a Grandson of Sparda). Vampires, superhuman abilities... He's interested to see what's out there, but he's not particularly worried about any of it.
He'd be even less worried if he was reunited with one of his weapons.
"Sick of me asking you questions yet?"
no subject
Nero is, after all, new to this realm whereas Vergil is not. Ignoring for a moment their shared blood, it is a good plan of action to take the time to ask his questions about Folkmore and hear what Vergil has to say. It's entirely up to him whether or not he feels Vergil is providing him with the truth or a thorough enough answer—both of which Vergil believes he is doing—but it is important that Nero listens to even begin to make that determination regardless of what he decides.
"That's the station," he says, nodding in the direction of it as it comes more clearly into view. "The train reaches most places in Folkmore, and typically runs all hours of the day every day. So, you needn't worry about missing the final train for the day if you happen to be out late."
no subject
He really can't help but subtly roll his eyes at the praise for asking. Not sure if that's an attempt to be Wise Father Figure or an impression of a fortune cookie. He feels a little bad about it a moment later. Guy's trying, which is more than he might have expected.
The station appears up ahead. He's pretty much memorized the route they took here, keeping an eye on landmarks and street signs. Now if only he knew where he'd be departing from-- though that will come soon enough whenever Vergil shows him the apartment.
"Good to know." He'd make a joke about curfews, but he's still feeling guilty about his inner snark and decides it would be more acidic than he intends, even to himself. "I smell... something cooking. Is this where all the food places are?"
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Vergil thinks it's something to remember moving forward. They barely know one another, and Nero may not be entirely receptive to remarks that could come across as potentially critical. He tries not to kick himself for mistaking comfort in the conversation at present with there being comfort between them just yet. They are, after all, talking about a much safer topic of learning what there is to know about Folkmore as a place, hence Nero's questions about places Vergil has discovered for himself and wanting to know about the sort of people Thirteen has brought here. This has little to do with either of them or their relationship even if it at least is talking to one another.
Nero pulls Vergil from his thoughts with his follow up question, and Vergil quietly clears his throat.
"Most of them in Epiphany, yes," Vergil says with a slight nod. "There are some not along this road, and not every place here sells food. There are clothing boutiques and other sorts of shops around here as well. But I believe the idea is that it is mostly food you can bring with you on your travels or as you shop."
Hence why this isn't a terrible place to find a decent burger. Something easy to grab and take along wherever it is you need to go.
"There are also normally food trucks outside the apartment building that might appeal to you," he says, continuing in his answer. "You'll find other regions have their own cuisines, but I believe what Epiphany has to offer will be among the closest things to what you and Dante are used to."
Vergil brings them to a stop and looks up at the second floor of the building to see any signs that things are open given that the downstairs appears to be closed. There's the smell of a grill wafting down if nothing else.
"It appears fortune may favor us today," he says, glancing at Nero as he heads over to the stairs at the side of the building leading up. "Come."
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"Nice." Nero follows him up the stairs, and will open and hold the door for him, too. "I'm starved. I hope they're not low on inventory." He's about to make a dent. But he's not at all a picky eater, and if they don't have everything available he'll go for whatever they do have.
"You're getting something too, right?"
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If Nero finds there to be a mismatch between Vergil and this place, he would not be inherently wrong. The wood paneling all generally matches in color, but it's obvious that it's not even remotely the same cut of wood from booth to booth, table to table, or even wall to wall. The walls themselves are also quite busy. While there are a few framed posters that sell the vibe of some dreamy Americana, the majority of what lines the wall are doodles and scribbles from previous patrons, and even the occasional sticker. But despite all this, Vergil is not perturbed by it.
"I will have something, I suppose," he says, his appetite not nearly as voracious as Nero implies his own to be. Not that Vergil shall be eating like a bird. If he's going to have a burger, he's going to have a burger. But he allows Nero to go first with ordering. Vergil nods to the kitchen window. "Order as much as you like."
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So that'll be a double cheeseburger (medium rare) with extra cheese and an obscene amount of mustard and pickles, half fries and half onion rings with yet more condiments on the side in paper cups ("please and thanks," he tells the raccoon), and a large chocolate malt. Then he perches outside the pickup window and folds his arms, getting comfortable leaning on the wall beside the counter.
"I'll grab it. You pick the booth."
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At Nero's offer to bring the food to the table, he hesitates for a moment before nodding and leaves Nero to wait for the food. He picks the booth furthest from the kitchen window, which may not come as a particular surprise to Nero. The Yamato is set down, resting against the end cap before Vergil himself sits. He does not sit far into the seat, sitting near the edge instead of towards the middle or its extreme alternative of being against the wall, and folds his hands on the table. His back is to Nero, and he looks over the opposite seat to out the window facing the street. It helps alleviate the need to find somewhere else to look besides at Nero, and overall gives Vergil a bit of time to figuratively catch his breath.
This isn't going...poorly, he thinks. They are conversing with one another about topics that matter but don't particularly carry much weight, of course, but there is no overt animosity between the two of them. Nero has even expressed interest in learning further mastery over his demonic abilities under Vergil's guidance. That is certainly a positive if the boy wishes to spend more time with him beyond what necessity dictates. Granted, that could change after they have been under the same roof for a time, but... Perhaps not. Barring his misstep a few moments ago, yes, Vergil thinks, this is actually going better than he would have anticipated. Despite knowing that not every conversation with Nero shall be as easy as this—and this has not felt entirely easy either—and there is so much they really need to discuss with one another, to mend from, Vergil does feel a small, burgeoning sense of hope that brings a small smile to his face.
Perhaps there is a chance here after all.
He lifts his gaze back up from the table where it had drifted to without his knowledge and goes back to looking out the window.
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This has gone better than he expected. Granted, with as little as he knows of Vergil and how volatile their encounters have been so far, he expected to be bleeding by now. Maybe the guy's got a massive stick up his ass, and maybe he's awkward as hell, but he's being cordial, if not friendly. He seems to want to try. And that may have been what Nero was most nervous about seeing him again, even more than the possibility of violence. He knows how to handle it if some maladjusted half-demon asswipe comes at him with a sword. He would absolutely not know how to handle a father with no interest in him, dismissing him as weak and not worth his while.
Neither of them have a clue how to handle this. Vergil's probably just as nervous as Nero is, but he's trying. They're both trying.
The order comes up, and Nero takes one tray in each hand. As he passes by the napkin dispenser on the counter, one of his wings appears and snatches a small stack to bring with him.
"Looks good," he says, sliding Vergil's tray in front of him, then passing up the napkins from his wing. Damn, that thing is handy. He slides into the booth across from him and snatches a napkin, placing it politely in his lap before he starts mixing the little paper cups of condiments together into a strange beige-pink concoction. "Thanks for paying."
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"You're welcome..." he says, the slow tempo of his words stemming from the culinary horror he's watching unfold before him rather than because he possesses doubts of Nero's gratitude. He takes a sip of his water and almost decides to let it be, but as he's setting his glass down, he can't help but ask, "What are you doing?"
He's wary of it, that much is likely unmistakably certain. But it's more from a lack of understanding than anything close to disgust or disdain.
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cw: blood/injury mention
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