darkinferno | [ic inbox]

[In spite of how serious their conversation has been, the corner of his mouth still turns up to see her dressed so casually. It really says a lot for how their friendship has grown that she trusts him enough to lower her shields like this.]

Hey. What sort of drinks? I might take you up on that.

[She quickly steps aside, holding the door open for him and closing it behind him when he steps inside, taking care to quickly lock the deadbolt. Just because she allows Dante to see her like this, doesn't mean she wants anyone else to.]

I don't know if you're much of a wine person, so there's a couple six-packs getting cold now. I thought it would be better to go with something casual.

[A half-shrug.]

I can do wine. I got used to the taste with my parents. [It's not his preference, as it makes him think of all the expectations and etiquette that went along with it, but... hey. If Vera wants wine, he won't be the one to stop her.]

I'm not especially picky. Want me to pour you something too?

[Vera rolls her eyes, smiling as she walks herself to the fridge to retrieve a bottle of red wine and one of the six packs of beer.]

You're so damn accommodating, you know that? Don't forget that you're my guest.

[He snorts, taking the six-pack from her and tugging one of them out.]

With how often we've been at each other's places, I don't think either of us count as guests any more.

[Vera shrugs, taking a glass from her cabinet and working the cork free from the bottle.]

Call yourself whatever you want.

How about a friend?

[Because that's what they are: friends, just hanging out and supporting one another.

He'll wait for her to fill her glass with wine, then raises his beer toward her.]

To stupid powers and feelings of inadequacy?

You know damn well you're more than that.

[But if we need to make stupid toasts to stupid things, then Vera may as well join in. Stepping forward, she clinks the rim of her glass against the side of Dante's.]

Cheers.

[For a moment, he smiles, lifting his bottle slightly in her direction before taking a drink. How the hell had the two of them been lucky enough to find each other? But after that moment of indulgence, he lifts an eyebrow her way.]

So what brought all this on, anyways? Did something happen?

Just... when we went to Magatus and helped those wolves, we ended up fighting a lot of monsters. I fought my hardest, but people still ended up getting pretty messed up.

[She takes a sip of her wine.]

There had to have been more I could have done, but I wasn't strong enough.

[How about they move out of the kitchen? This feels more like a sitting conversation. So Dante will meander toward somewhere cozy to sit before he responds, somewhere the both of them can sit side by side (and he raises his arm to beckon Vera to him, his arm ready to drape over her shoulders if she lets him). Because this... this is a hard reality, one that he still hasn't quite made peace with himself.]

I don't think it matters how strong we get. No matter what we do or how strong we are, we can't control the rest of the world. We can't always be fast enough, or make the right judgment call... there's always gonna be something else.

We're getting stronger, but that just means there are bigger challenges to face.

[It's amazing how comfortable she is around Dante, and he appears to be around her. This is a girl who, on an almost daily basis, goes through painstaking efforts to keep from showing weakness. Yet here she is showing that vulnerability without care. She trusts Dante, maybe more than she trusts anyone else in the world, and if her best friend wants her near, then she'll oblige.

Even if her pride forces a bit of an eye roll as she settles down beside him.]

I need to find a way to protect these people, it's what the... other me had gone to school to do, and now she's given me the power to keep growing. There has to be a way to out-pace the threat, right?

[The eye roll wouldn't bother Dante even if it was sincere. He takes comfort in physical contact, something Vera's probably picked up on as they've gotten closer, and there's something incredibly nice about knowing exactly where their relationship stands. There's no hidden meanings as his thumb brushes her shoulder idly, no need to consider that she might get the wrong idea. It's an easy, comfortable friendship where the both of them can be themselves.

But that comfort and ease doesn't stop him from wishing he didn't have to admit it:] I don't know. I wish I could say there was.

The other you, did she ever out-pace the things that threatened the people there?

[She has to think long and hard about that question, so much so that she hardly notices his idle rubbing of her shoulder.]

It's... hard to say. I don't have a whole lot of memories of fighting, and even when I do, it's mostly my team and I against some freaky demon animal monsters.

[Resting her head on the inside of Dante's shoulder, she lets out a small sigh.]

Even if we won, it didn't really feel like we accomplished anything. I feel like... there was a much bigger threat than what we could handle.

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