View source for 2025-01-27 - Breakfast Catchup

{{Logsummary|
Title    = Breakfast Catchup
|Summary = A brief bit of breakfast chatting between Dante and Tabitha following their reunion the night before. This log sadly got lost until recently.
|Who     = [[Dante]], [[Tabitha]]
|Date    = January, 27th, 2025
|Where   = Devil May Cry
|Log=

'''Devil May Cry(#3063RJ)'''

''From the inescapable darkness of the entrance to a fairly brightly lit room, your eyes most likely take a moment to adjust. Or not. Who the heck am I to tell you what your eyes are doing? I'm just a stupid narration. The paint scheme in here is a messy, splotchy mix of black and red. It looks as though the original paint was all black and perhaps someone decided to 'art' the place up a tad with some red highlights. It doesn't do much for the decor, to tell you the truth. A single pane of windows lie on either side of a very plain looking brown desk in the middle of the room. Yeah, nothing special about it. It's a desk. Cope. A non-descript black office chair lies just behind that desk. Nothing special about it either. There seems to be a theme here. - Off to one side is what appears to be a secretaries desk, which may or may not be manned. A single workstation with an LCD monitor and attached keyboard seems to be the only thing adorning the desk usually, although whomever is currently playing the role might very well spruce it up. - In the back of the room are a set of stairs that lead upward to another section of the building.''

''Looking really out of place, a set of metal doors have been added to the wall behind the desk. They don't seem to have any obvious way of opening. Strange...''
----

Dante feels his way along familiar walls as the morning sun breaks the gloom of dawn. Dante gives the narration an irritated look as if to remind it not to be pretentious. ... This is one of those mornings. Dante felt as though he should verify the location of his towel...but he may have used it as a spooge rag...so take that for what you will.

He meanders downstairs with a yawn, having cleaned up and dressed in his usual. He has, remarkably, shaved his rough facial hair. He looks...old. Yeah, sadly he still looks old and worn out. Although, worn out for Dante Sparda isn't awful...so he can't really complain!

Announcing himself with a nasty, old man fart (happy, Dante? Rough enough for you?) he glances around the main office. His player is unaware of where Tabs may be at, so he'll pause right here n.n
 
 
 
His pausing was exceedingly well timed as Tabitha pushes open the double doors, entering with two large styrofoam containers and the smell of eggs and syrup. In one hand is a drink carrier and two large cups of coffee. Seeing Dante awake, Tabitha gives him a warm smile.

"Mornin'!" She steps closer, setting the containers on the pool table so she can pass one of the coffees over. "Did'ja know it's just sugary drinks that get me drunk? I want someone ta explain how that works. Am I miss-wired or somethin' 'cause sugary foods? Nah. Those are fine." 

Once her hands are free, the Nekojin grabs one of the two containers and hops up onto the edge of the pool table to sit. "I should try blendin' somethin' one day and see what that does." Without waiting for anything she opens her container revealing a large mess of French Toast practically drowning in syrup and butter. "Th' other one's yours. Don't worry, there's those weird plastic syrup containers in there. No sane person needs this much syrup."

The only thing she doesn't explain is where she suddenly gets the fork in her hand. Maybe that's just one of life's great mysteries? Oh, wait. There's a single-serve plastic cutlery set in a little baggy next to Dante's coffee. But when did she open one?
 
 
 
Dante returns the smile with his usual gusto. His teeth look a bit more shark like than in the past, but that's PROBABLY nothing! "Heya Tabs! Hope ya slept well. I haven't slept that well in YEARS now. Good to be home.*

He plops down to attend his food. After syruping his French toast, he promptly dumped the rest into his coffee. Ironically perhaps! "I dunno. Sorry. I'm not the heavy thinker in the family. Maybe we could ask Vergil...at least before he abruptly ends my existence." He sighs at that one, looking nostalgic. "Maybe....something something...about your... narrative? ... I dunno. I don't remember anything.. didn't ya ask me that once before?...I have no idea what the hell I'm rambling on about..." 

He trails off for a moment ... A small trickle of somewhat familiar black ichor pours from his nose for JUST a moment...and then flecks away into black ashen material. He doesn't see to notice and eventually dives into his food. His appetite seems healthy enough.

After a moment, he frowns. "What the flying fucknuts is a narrative? I've gone senile. We could go talk to Johnny I suppose. He ever give ya any kind of answers? He'd probably tell me to go fuck myself." Dante chuckles a bit at that one. 
 
 
 
Raising an eyebrow at Dante's comment, Tabitha pauses with a piece of toast dangling from it's corner in her mouth. Syrup seems to be just running off of it. "Narrahiff?" She bites the corner off, letting the rest drop into her container with a wet plop. After a brief chew and swallow, she tries again. "Narrative…?"

Her head tilts comically to the side as she ponders the phrase wondering why it seems so familiar to her - like a conversation she'd had somewhere else. Maybe in a dream?

A few moments later she shrugs and returns her focus on her food, adding "Well, I mean. NNY's NNY. He made me so… it's kinda like talkin' to myself." She pauses long enough to take another bite. "It's like, y'know how sometimes ya have that voice in yer head?" She gestures towards herself with the plastic fork. "It tells you somethin' like 'This is a bad idea, but let's do it anyways?' Now imagine that voice personified an' sitting in front of ya. It's kinda like that."

She gives another shrug at the analogy. "Plus I did kinda start off as part of 'is brain, so I've got a lot of that in 'ere too. I useta have a lot of what he imagined Sis-uh-Samantha was like, but not so much when it all broke. Most o' that became Meria." One of her other personalities that became it's own entity. This last part is said while shoveling more food into her mouth as well. 

Pausing long enough to take a drink, Tabitha lets out a playful laugh. "Right. I still gotta get ya caught up on everythin' that happened after the Shatterin'." Not that she's explained the phrase, but it's a safe bet that it has to do with the event that occurred as Dante left last. 
 
 
 
Dante noddles. Choking down the rest of his coffee he replies, "Yeah. I get the idea. Sometimes I feel like I have a bit of A fUcKiNg VoIcE iiiin m...." His eyes widen at that last statement...his voice fluctuates rapidly between 2 distinct voices...one of which seems to fade in and out of reality...from every corner of the room. He pauses....and speaks softly, trying again. "Jesus...old age takes it's toll I guess... that's a new one. Testing, testing?..."

He shakes his head with a shirt and continues. "The name Samantha sounds really familiar to me...but...I just can't fucking place where..."

He glances over at Tabs. "Sorry kiddo, I'm still recovering I guess. Yeah, you're gonna have to explain this whole Shattering thing..."

 
 
Hearing someone speak in a demonic voice isn't new to Tabitha and she barely reacts when the voice comes rolling out. The question about Samantha gets an odd look though. It's the reason she's alive after all. Before she can say something the subject changes and Dante asks about the Shattering. 

"Oh, so. That's what we call it. The day you disappeared? Bishop, th' Synth that replaced Gegoshi just before all that, decided ta move th' portals on the old TASK buildin'. I remember that awful noise, like th' sky was screamin'." Her ears suddenly droop down like she's upset. After a moment of staring at her food she closes the lid and sets it aside like she couldn't stand the sight of it anymore. 

With a sigh she continues. "What they say happened was th' portals ripped through Twisted Street like razor wire. It shattered everythin'." Tabitha crosses her arms, hugging herself tightly. "Th' whole world broke apart an' for a bit everythin' was darkness." She reaches out suddenly as if grabbing something in front of her and pushing it together. "Then Bishop goes'n puts this place together. Called it Mabase. It's like a bunch of broken pieces of Twisted City all smashed together floatin' in the dark. As soon as th' pieces where pushed together the skies came back, so people started buildin' stuff ta hold it together. The further out you go from th' fountain, the worse it all is." 

She crosses her arms again, giving the whole mess a shrug. "The Red Light District is kinda the outer bit. It's why all th' businesses started helpin' each other out with food and stuff." Tabitha gives Dante a weak smile, "It's not all bad though.  Just a little weird here an' there. We lost some people, but a lot more have shown up since then. No one's seen Setsuna since all that though. Bishop still tells everyone she's in charge, but who knows? I haven't been back to any of th' Council meetings since that happened."
 
 
 
Dante frowns at the name. "Setsuna...? I...know that name. She gave me a..way out. I only escaped, long ago, because she gave me..." He trails off, peering over at Tabs. "Ok. Thanks for catching me up. That's a lot of info for my pea sized brain, but I roughly get it, I think. ... Does anyone remember the last place Setsuna showed up? I'm sure she's....fine. I don't need another mission and I ain't worth a damn anymore but...although I think we're all payed up on debts, I can't help but worry. ... If I only still had that fucking (uh, shit. Was it a necklace? Pendant?)..."
 
 
 
Tabitha tilts her head to the side at Dante's confusion. "Setsuna?" She has all the tone to her voice of someone being asked where the ground is. "She was th' Senshi that was put in charge when they tossed Diablo out for messin' with everyone's heads. Sailor…. Pluto?"

She gives another shrug at the name. "No. She started missin' back before all that. When I came ta you because Bishop was makin' me nevous an' I kept losing track of my memory." There's an odd spark in her eyes as she says that, like she'd forgotten about all of that until she said it aloud. "…huh."

Changing the subject she leans forward and peers into Dante's face directly from her perch on the pool table. "You forgot a lot, huh?" She sits back adding matter-of-factly, "I guess that happens in Hell." Unfolding her arms, she rests them on the tabletop. "I guess I should ask what ya DO remember so I can try ta help you fill in th' gaps…"

 
 
Dante snerks at that. As Tabs moves in closer, he attempts to very lightly intercept her nose with a finger poke. "I think we're all a little forgetful these days, Tabby cat."

He does ponder the question at hand, "I remember...a WHILE back...sitting around for a while ..and speaking with Setsuna for a moment ..but I can hardly remember what about. There was someone else ..some other girl. Or...maybe there wasn't anyone..."

His eyes glass a moment at that. He shakes his head clear, a spike of blue energy whipping off of his left eye and streaking into nothingness. He seems to get control of himself and continues, "Before I ended up back in H....back in Hell? Jesus. Before I ended up in Hell, I was chasing after some...fat demon broad. She and her partner were trying to kill me, for some fucking reason or another. I can barely remember...she backstabbed her partner. Murdered her and dragged her away before this decrepit old body could react ... I chased her down for as long as I could...but she easily gave me the slip. I... I don't remember what happened this time. All of a sudden, this demonic energy that I've had to deal with my whole life...wants to kill me. It fucking HATES me ...I didn't even know it had a mind of its own. I don't remember how I got here... Just that I needed to get home. If I spoke to Johnny when I was in Hell, I don't remember it."

He offers a weak shrug, "Sorry Tabs. I'm fucked up these days. That's all I got. I barely remember the good old days. Something fucked me up long before...and I have no idea what."
 
 
 
Taking the final bite of her food, Tabitha leaves the fork in her mouth as if to prolong her breakfast while she ponders. Eventually her shoulders fall and the Nekojin sighs. Slowly she pulls the plastic fork out, tossing it into the now empty styrofoam container. 

"Look. I dunno if it's some weird side effect o' Johnny makin' me as an imperfect mem'ry of Sammy, some leftovers of havin' my brains scrambled bein' left alone on a murder rampage, runnin' around with that creepy doll o' 'Blivion's, or just th' fact that this rock we're standin' on is still part of Twisted…" She pauses just long enough to push some stray bangs out of her face. "…but sometimes th' whole world just don't seem real. People forget stuff that just happened, other people disappear without a trace. Heck sometimes a whole block will blow up an' then just be back depending on who's lookin' at it."
 
She gives a brief apologetic shrug while she tries to reign in her thoughts again. "I guess what I'm tryin' ta say is, I don't think yer fucked up. You're you an' I'm me. Better to live in th' moment than try to make sense if it all." 
 
Tabitha gives another sigh before hugging herself tightly again. "I've had a lot of time ta think since you've been gone, I guess." Her lips twist into a forced smile. "A year ago I'd have been all 'We gotta solve this mystery!' But now?" Her smile becomes a little more genuine, "I'm just glad yer back." She laughs. "Fuck th' rest of it."


|}}