#toktic

[livelament]

【 @toktic replied 】 : … they're glaring. unsure if it's anger or something more but he should feel the heat of their stare. after all, he's the only one who knows how to read them.

【 👁️. 】 ― He... fails to acknowledge them directly at first. Waits, to see if they remain insistent... only to end up finding trace of anxiety disappointment when they do. With a silent sigh, he turns... and meets their gaze with his. " ....Manager. "

[cognitiveechoes]

This weird cat is feeling much better after being held, and in return, you get to feel him vibrating against you. It's not quite purring...

[gladiius]

➣ . He's not calling you a good manager Dante, that Mirror Dungeon was shit.

[scarletgaze]

the knock was quiet,   understated⸻   a change from the usual harsh rapping of knuckles that came from vergilius’s scarred fist.   he was standing awkwardly in the doorway,   figure looming darkly above as it always did.   it was better to be in or out of the door jamb,   he knew, but he struggled to put himself in any significant point of the threshold.   in would be forthcoming, demanding,   perhaps even friendly,   but out might be shy,    fearful.   so, creepy and in between it was.   vergilius did always struggle with thresholds.   plus,   it was nice to be invited in,   though not a necessity for him, much like the sun hardly hindered him   (   though it was tiring,   it was not some great enemy that would curdle his blood   ). 

head downturned ever so slightly,   he looked through his bangs at dante.   dante  …   a truly enigmatic presence to foil his own.   they sometimes dropped their pens and tripped over nothing,   but the grace they had as both a commander and person was unrivaled.   almost otherworldly.   and vergilius knew the otherworldly,   for he was part of that other world,   one that nipped at the heels of the living.   dante was living.   he could smell it, sense it with every bit of his brain.   they lived in earnesty,   taking it day by day.   if things went wrong,   they would find a way out of it somehow.   this flustered vergilius,   a monster of a man who had seen centuries in his rutilant eyes.   what was it he wanted from them again?

❝   dante   …   i   …   ❞ the words faltered, pushed from his mouth like a child afraid to go down a slide. ❝   …   request your help.   with something.  ❞   stilted, monotone. professional.   how else could it sound coming from him?   vergilius was not so aware of his tone when it came to the sinners, but for some reason he turned inward when it came to charon and dante.

ah   ...   it was going to be a long night.

@toktic

[gladiius]

➣ . Tired Vergilius sigh.

[gladiius]

➣ . ...They're going to be having another long discussion regarding E.G.O. gifts and determining the cost verses benefits of trials aren't they. And the Sixth Sinner's Liu Id.... Manager we need to get you some better identities there's only so many times we can have this conversation before we both tire of it ( he's going to end up on the couch again isn't he ).

[livelament]

out of context screenshots .

[livelament]

【 @toktic 】: COMPLETE US, FILL OUR HUNGER ; from Vergilius.

【 👁️. 】 ― Something was wrong.

Haah, Vergilius rubbed at his face wearily as he tried to collect his thoughts. If only things were as simple as having gone wrong.

Ms. Faust was hiding things from him. That in of itself was perhaps his greatest indicator of how severe the current state of events were. While Ms. Faust had always hid plenty from him, things he had long given up hope on trying to extract from her, well aware of how each their contracts dangled around their necks as a noose, this… This was different.

This involved the manager. The manager under his guidance. The manager who'd been the center of countless discussions he && Ms. Faust have had, starting long before Dante had become a Sinner.

Something had happened upon that damned train. Something which she, for some unknowable reason, had chosen to keep from him && Vergilius held the strong suspicion that the reasoning behind her decision, for once, hadn't been out of obligation to the company.

He'd heard about the incident with the Third Sinner, how the Second Kindred of the Manchegan Family had been briefly brought back to the world, but the circumstances he'd been given were far too lacking to have revealed the full story.

If it'd been the full story, than Dante wouldn't have reason to be so damn sparse. If it'd been the full story, than Dante wouldn't have reason to seem as though they were growing frailer with each time he saw them. If it'd been the full story, then the instincts which had kept him alive for so long wouldn't have been relentlessly hissing at him in warning.

Only for Ms. Faust to insist on remaining a stone wall, even when she'd shown more emotion — more uncertainty, another sign of the gravity of the situation — than he'd ever seen from her before. An argument that'd ended up going nowhere but in circles, resulting in nothing but a headache && more questions than he'd started out with.

…And so here he was. With a silent sigh — any further delay would only be pointless && wasteful — Vergilius rapped his knuckles against the door to Dante's office before him thrice, allowing a brief moment to pass before opening it. His knocking had only been out of courtesy, he had no qualms of making it known that his presence wasn't optional.

While he disliked having to force his presence upon Dante during their moment of privacy, the direct path had ultimately appeared to be the one most likely to yield fruits to his suspicions. Vergilius knew he would have to tread carefully, he'd spent a non-significant amount of time trying to go over his possible approaches, && so — careful to ensure his face betrayed nothing — he walked into the manager's office.

" Manager Dante, " his tone kept even && neutral as he closed the door behind him, sealing them both to their fates, " May I have a word ? "