| Missing Memories | ||
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| Summary: Either Tabitha is losing her mind or something else is at work here. Seeking advice she goes to visit Dante.   |
...or the voices that where once in Johnny's head. It's hard to narrow it down some days. Even still she hesitates reaching her arm out and actually knocking like doing so might take her life. Maybe it would? Does she count as a devil? Will Dante one day come to kill her? That's stupid. He hasn't shot Johnny yet (that she knows of). Letting out a sigh she kicks the concrete step and growls at herself. Why is this so hard?
A voice, gritty but playful, plays around Tabi's ear. There's a bit of a chuckle to it but it's as friendly as ever. "You know, Tabs, despite my reputation...you aren't gonna get a disease just from showing up from time to time." Dante stands a few feet behind her, he has ways of knowing his environment, one hand on a hip and with that ever persistent 'jerk' grin plastered firmly on his face. He's always very happy to see Tabi. True, nothing ever precludes the idea that he might have to take any given entity down but...hanging around these parts has certainly softened his opinion on the matter. That and he's just plain getting older. His hair is silver/white and makes it a tad hard to tell but the facial hair stubble that he always seems to be sporting these days shows the signs of graying, belying the fact that even the most AWESOME heroes succumb to the ever present march of time.
Jumping and flailing, Tabitha nearly falls off the step grabbing her knife in the process and rearing up not unlike a started cat. After a second she puts her free hand over her heart and pants a moment before playfully smacking him in the shoulder. "Dammit, Dante!!" With the same breath she sheaths her dagger and gives him a friendly hug, probably drawing attention to the fact that the eleven year old Nekojin is looking at least a little older as well. (Eleven! She's so old! Although realistically she's probably eight at this point, not that her appearance has ever been in sync with her actual age or maturity.) "I ain't seen you in, like, a year! Where th' heck have you been?" He could probably say the same about her, but the newspapers have probably mentioned her being part of the Council at least a few times by now. Reaching back to find it first, she leans against one of the posts on the sides of the doors. (door? I'm looking at screen shots here.)
(Yeah, there are pillars on the side of the door. You're good n.n) Dante laughs a bit as he's 'hit'. He rubs his shoulder, pretending to look hurt. "This is such an abusive friendship." He happily returns the hug though. Yes, she's getting older. Yes, she'll probably be a looker...but as we've said many times, he'd never see Tabs QUITE like that. ... Well, never say never I suppose He's just happy to see her, at this point. In his old age, he's gotten much less angry and much more calm and it shows. He rubs the back of his head at the whole 'where have you been' situation. "Ya know...where I go and when I come back is...a tough question to answer. Ya might have to look between the lines to get the right answer. (Dante, being cryptic does NOT make you look cool. :P) I'm just gettin' old." He rubs his chin as he regards Tabi, "Now YOU, on the other hand...I hear you're movin' up in the world. A councilwoman now, are ya? Well, I always knew you'd make it big, so I ain't too surprised."
Something about her expression hints things aren't going well. Her eyes glaze over briefly and she seems to space at the thought. Coming back to herself she lets out a heavy sigh, shaking her head slightly in the process. "Yeah..... sure." Before anyone can dig further she taps on the door with her knuckles. "So ya gonna invite me in, or you just like standin' out here?" Assuming he opens the door she waits a moment, tucking a bit of hair behind one of her ears. There's a suspicious glance at the street behind them before she'll enter. Is she worried she's being followed? "I didn't wanna be on the Council. I just kinda got pushed into it." She hugs herself and exhales. "It's kinda why I came looking for you. That an' tha other stuff..."
The door is oddly open at this point. For just that moment she's distracted by the action of knocking on the door...Dante seems to have made his way inside. It's not entirely obvious as to the time frame of that movement but...time is weird around here anyway. Normally it's strangely difficult to see through the DMC's open door until you walk past the door frame but Tabi wouldn't have any problems this time around. Dante seems to be seated at his usual desk, feet kicked up on it as per his usual. He taps the other seat by the desk and offers Tabi one of his usual mischievous grins, "You're always invited in, Tabs. Automatically. Gotta seat ready for ya and everything. There's beer in the fridge if ya want any." Yeah, she's a 'kid'. So what? She's a warrior in his mind, anyway, regardless of anything else.
Like a kid, huh? Well, like a kid she sticks her tongue out at the offer of a beer and shakes her head as she makes her way towards his desk. She's too distracted at the moment to notice the oddities about the DMC or she would probably have asked about them. "I...." She pauses looking for the right way to start, but makes it look like she's instead just getting settled into the chair. "Look, I don't know. Somethin's off..." Her ears droop and she leans forwards, burying her face in her palms. "I don't know if it's me, if it's something else, if it's Johnny..." Again she trails off. Uncovering her face she crosses her arms on her knees, keeping her leaning instead of sitting back. "...y'know, I swear tha longer he's gone th' more I seem like I'm losing my mind?" She shakes her head again, "But it's not that. At least I don't think that's part of it. I just can't put my finger on it." Lowering her head to sigh again, the girl's bangs fall in her face forcing her to push them back as she flops backwards into the chair. "That's why I came ta you. I don't know who else to go to ta talk about this."
Dante reaches forward with a light pat on the shoulder and a more genuine smile than he's notorious for. He leans back in his own seat once again and while rubbing the back of his head, replies, "Correlation doesn't imply causation. ... Some shit like that. Vergil was always the heavy thinker." He ponders a moment, tapping his chin as he mulls over what he knows. Sadly, it really isn't much as far as this particular subject goes. "I wish I knew more about your whole situation here. When didja take notice of all of this?..."
Tabitha raises her head up, staring incredulously, and then pulls herself back up to a proper sitting position. "Have ya met Bishop yet?" Bishop of course being the synth taking the place of Gegoshi. The nekojin waits a moment for Dante to respond somehow before continuing, "Because I haven't." She waits another beat before elaborating. "At least, I can't remember it. She's at every meeting, but it's like every time I go near her everything just goes blank. I don't remember any of th' meetings. I don't remember Gegoshi leavin'. I don't remember Bishop being added to th' Council." She pauses again to rub her eyes and once more flops backwards into the chair. "But it's there! It's in the newspapers! I saw my own face standin' there next to 'er." Suddenly her attitude changes and she glares angrily at the ceiling fan spinning above them. After a moment she closes her eyes and continues, "The more I try to think about it..." Her ears fold down and she glares up at the fan again, one eye twitching slightly. "THE MORE I TRY TO THINK ABOUT IT..." Twitch. "...the more I start hearing things that aren't..." She stands suddenly nearly kicking the chair over. Her attention totally focused on that fan. "SHUT THE FUCK UP!! YOU'RE NOT EVEN REAL!!" With a growl she grabs her hair and yanks at it before sitting back down again with a huff. "I swear I'm gonna go find NNY and slice his fuckin' throat." Giving Dante a chance to react, she begins to smooth her hair back out looking far too casual about this. Maybe this has been going on for a while?
Dante folds his arms and ponders. A new synth? He did NOT know about this one, actually. He hadn't seen Gegoshi in a while, but he always figured she eventually got tired of his never ending attempts to bed down a computer. Technology, huh? He chuckles a bit. "I haven't met the new one yet, no. I hope it's still showing up as a hot chick." Eh, he knows computers don't have GENDER. He's not THAT stupid. ... Close, but not quite. c.c; - He watches calmly as Tabi goes through the motions. He's seen various incarnations of this before: Schizophrenia, identity disorders, possessions, puppet control, etc... He laughs a bit at that last one though. "Ya know, I always thought that ceiling fan was talking WAY too much shit. I'm glad it wasn't just me." He goes quiet for just a moment before offering a slightly more saddened look. "I'm...sorry I haven't been around more. I might have better answers to just what the fuck's going on with you...this place...if I was just around." He trails off there. He can BARELY remember HOW he 'goes' and...isn't even sure if he's really supposed to talk about it. Who knows, around here?
The girl casually flips the bird to the ceiling fan, "Yeah, that thing is a prick." She forces a half-hearted smile to signify that she's playing along at the moment despite everything. Then with a little more seriousness, "...you should replace it. Teach it a lesson." She gives it an evil eye before chuckling at herself. "You've gotta do your own thing. I know how it goes. Just... I feel like yer the only one who seems to get where I'm comin' from with all this kinda crazy. Johnny just..." She bites her lip a moment, "Well it's his fault so I can't go ta 'em even if he where around." TECHNICALLY she's not wrong. "Plus I ain't seen ya since..." Her mind tries to remember but everything is a fog. Something about Johnny dragging them over and standing on a fence? "...it's been too long. Yer like my super cool uncle who slips me beer when the adults are looking away." Almost as soon as she says it she remember him actually offering her a beer at the start of this conversation and starts laughing. She didn't even intend to reference that. At least it's a genuinely happy laugh.
Dante laughs a bit at that one, slapping the desk once or twice. The whole room shakes slightly under the impacts, which in his moment of mirth he forgets to 'pull'. "Ah, Tabs, I appreciate the sentiment but...at my age ya just don't want to hear the world 'uncle' when someone is describing ya. My poor pride." He waves it off and leans back into the seat once again. "Then again, I'm pretty old and worn out these days I guess. Maybe it's fitting. ... I'd be honored and privileged to have you in my immediate family anyway." Having made his jokes and a surprisingly heartfelt comment (more common these days, must be the aging!) he takes this time to crack open a nearby beer, who the heck KNOWS how it got there, and chugs it. Some things don't change, evidently. "I haven't seen Johnny in a while. We had some weird bonding moment the last time. It started with my accidentally shooting him. ... To be fair, I had no idea who it was and he was playing 'gothy brooding mystery' at the time, so...you know. " He offers a shrug at that one. He considers he and NNY....'friends' as much as one can befriend someone like that. He tries to be genuine with em. It's shocking they HAVEN'T had to fight yet but...eh. Life is complicated, even life in other universes.
Tabitha scoffs at his complaints about being called an uncle. "I meant it as a compliment, 'old man'." He's the one who brought up his age. "Like family, but not. Uncles get ta be the cool ones because they don't lay down rules or have to adhere to specific age groups." She grins a second before adding, "Uncles can be younger than their nieces and nephews, y'know." Eh, but the conversation turns to Johnny again. To be fair she kept bringing him up, but it was more just to point blame at him. "Eh, who knows what he was up to. What's really surreal is having some a'his memories. Like just enough to see those damn comics he used ta throw at people and realize that you're lookin' at his life with speech bubbles." She shudders slightly at the remembrance. "The idea of someone invadin' your life and your thoughts like that? Maybe I'm just oversensitive to it, but it scares th' hell outta me."
Dante clutches his chest, toppling off his chair and collapsing to the ground. He lays there, eyes closed, hands splayed out for a moment or two...before softly whispering, "The...old man comment...did me in. Goodbye cold, cruel world." After a beat or two he pops an eye open and grins a bit, "No? Ok, acting was never my thing." He kicks back to his feet with a fair amount of agility for an 'old timer' and dusts himself off. Returning to his seat, he waves the comment away. "I'm not actually upset, of course. I definitely consider you a part of my extended family. You go ahead and call me uncle Dante anytime ya feel like." We won't get in to any weird subconscious joy at being called 'uncle' by a catgirl. Japanese people are weird. ... Not that it has anything to do with... ... Don't mind me. Just a narrative here. innocent whistling
She's a nekojin! It's 30% less creepy and weeaboo (supposedly). She's also standing at his desk nervously watching as he opens his eyes again and pulls himself back up. Satisfied that he's okay, Tabitha rolls her eyes and drops back into her chair. "How about we just stick with me callin' you Dante and we find some way to figure out why my mind goes loony when talking about th' new synth? You're a detective or somethin' right? Can't 'cha detect me or Bishop or somethin'? Ain't that what you do with your fancy office?" She adds to that after a momentary grin, "Y'know outside'a snacking and drinking?" She knows he does something involving hunting monsters, but the specifics? Does anyone know what the specifics of Devil May Cry are? The advertisements really left a lot to the imagination.
Dante snickers at that one. She's a comedian now, is she? He grins widely. "I also use the facilities for entertaining female company. If you'd LIKE me to go into details, although you're a bit young..." He's obviously just fucking around at this point, though. She left herself kind of open for that one. He gets more on the point, "I can /detect/ you just fine. I know your smell. I know the... ... I don't remember what the fuck Vergil called it, your...disruption in...ley lines....something. Shit, I dunno. Sure. You're the best friend I have here. This Bishop individual though...I've never met em. I had enough trouble sniffing out Gegoshi because I barely interacted with 'er..."
Now if we're being totally honest the temptation to start cracking jokes about 'you wish you were entertaining female company' is strong, but not something Tabitha would do. Instead her ears fold back and she sticks her tongue out at the idea. She's inherited enough knowledge to know exactly what he means, age or not. Letting out another sigh she crosses her arms and slinks against the back of the chair again. She's not even going to ask about ley lines, whatever they are. "So, back ta square one - which means I'm left with the idea I'm just goin' crazy." She waits a second and then rolls her eyes, "...again." Sitting up again, the girl rests her arms on her knees and lets her head hang limp. "Ta think last year my biggest worry was 'Newt' gettin' me thrown into preschool..." It has been a very weird life for her after all. "...I should just embrace th' crazy and find me a nice padded cell like all th' Neo-Edo catgirls."
Dante shakes his head. "You don't wanna go to that place. Bad shit happened there. It's no place for anyone to be, especially anyone with mental issues." He seems oddly adamant about that one. He drums his fingers on the table while he continues, "I dunno if 'going crazy' is detailed enough. Something's goin' on but...the usual medical shit might not apply in your case. ... I can't go to anyone I used to, for answers like this. The one....'person' I know that might have an answer isn't someone I can make appear whenever I feel like." ...He recalls there IS someone he can summon but he's genuinely not sure that she'd know anything about what Tabi's going through, although it might be good to keep in mind.
The humor once again removed, Tabitha raises her head enough to look at him through her fallen hair. "I can't keep goin' on like this. I'm gonna have to step down from th' Council if this gets worse. I'm not sure I'm helpin' as I am now anyways. I walk out of our meetin's with no idea if I've done or said or agreed to things I can't remember." She finally pulls her hair back and sits up again proper. "I can't even TRY to remember it because then I start falling apart." And once more she flops backwards. "That's where I'm stuck. Do I quit? Do I keep going? What if while I'm like that I do something awful like vote for somethin' that makes everyone's lives worse?" She sits up, eyes wide. "What if I already did that? What if-?" Suddenly the nekojin grabs the first thing she can reach on his desk and chucks it at the fan above her making it wobble violently. "STAY OUT OF THIS!"
Dante watches her grab a small 'Shadow' statue (Enemy from DMC1) and huck it at the fan. Ebony appears in his hand and a single shot rings out, shattering the statue into harmless particles right before it strikes said fixture. He quietly puts Ebony away again and speaks gently to Tabi. "Tabs, it's ok. The fan is just obnoxious. Ignore him. Listen...maybe there's a reason those memories aren't available. I...I've had memories like that since I started going back and forth from this place. I agree that the council thing is probably bad for ya. Look, if you've got any interest at all...I was thinking...I could train you. Outside of town. Away from everything. I'm not like.....Caliga....I think we could make some progress. What do ya think?..."
Tabitha noticeably flinches at the gunshot, her ears folding against her head for a moment, but she relaxes when he puts the gun away. She listens to what he says with a bit of apprehension, the mention of Caliga making her wince. "Train me? Train me for what?" She lets out a nervous laugh and starts to count people on her finger tips "Y'know I've been 'trained' by Sun, Xue, Johnny, Caliga, an' a week outside of time with Samantha that TECHNICALLY took place when th' old me murdered her. I'm not sure I can handle anymore trainin' at this point." Realizing she comes off harsher than she intended she adds with a grin, "Besides I thought I told ya I don't like beer."
Dante chuckles a bit at that one. He shrugs at the 'beer' comment. "Well, everyone grows up. Even I got old. I figured once life gets ya past that particular snapping point, we'd be drinking buddies. Eh, it's a shitty habit though." He sighs softly, an unusual noise and gesture for him, and leans back in his seat, balancing it on one leg as he was prone to doing. He nods slowly at Tabi's main point. "I get it. I don't really wanna train you to fight. ... Don't ever tell anyone I said this, but what I actually want to train you on...is meditation and introspection. Yeah, I got that from my bro. He's kinda the master of dealing with the darkness within, if ya will..." He rubs his forehead. "Although even he keeps snapping like a twig. Maybe I dunno what the fuck I'm talking about anymore. I might be going senile."
She doesn't say much at the mention of his brother. On one hand it feels like he's bringing him up because he wants to talk about it, but on the other hand she kept bringing on Johnny and she really didn't want to talk about him. Maybe a change in subject might help? "Y'know there's a reason I don't drink beer, an' there's a reason I don't talk about it. I'd laugh about it if I wasn't me." She rubs her forehead and elaborates. "So I was 'made' when Johnny went an' poured all his memories of Samantha into a clone." That's kinda common knowledge at this point. "Apparently he mistook her bein' hyped up on caffeine as bein' drunk and just thought that's how catgirls are." She does her best dead-pan stare but is clearly struggling to keep a straight face about it. "So guess what stupid personality trait I inherited?" She lets the laughter overtake her a moment and relaxes finally. "Do ya know how awkward it is ta get a buzz like that every time I drink a soda? I can't even have those damn Brain Freezies NNY use'ta rant about." The girl bites back her laughter to a snicker. "Samantha was so pissed for me on that one."
Dante looks jokingly aghast. "He can truly be a monster." He snickers, waving it off. "No one can hate the guy just for getting confused and being lonely. ... Hell, we're all fucking lonely, even surrounded by people." He glances back at the kitchen briefly, "That does make me want another beer, though." He taps his foot on the floor a few times. "Another beer, por favor." Shortly afterwards, the sound of a fridge opening emanates from the kitchen, closing shortly after that. A can of beer of someone locally sourced variety floats into view and sets itself on his desk. He offers....something?....a thumbs up and a grin. "Much obliged." He pops the tab and CHUGS it, looking content. "On the other hand, I'm ALMOST jealous that you can chug soda for a buzz...eh. I'm not big on soda anyway."
Tabitha just stares blankly at the phantom bringing him his drink. What the hell was that? In fact it throws her off long enough that she doesn't snap back to the conversation until he mentions sodas, then she shakes it off and adds matter-of-factly, "Cream sodas are -the best-." Implying to those who would know that she's mistaking caffeine for sugar, but that hardly matters. "I've got a few other stupid traits like that thanks ta him. Sammy got pretty irate about my accent too." She lets out a small sigh thinking about her. Even if the specifics about her relationship with Samantha is complicated, she was the closest person to herself that existed and now she's gone. Well, this changing the subject plan backfired. Dante can pick a conversational topic now.
Dante can't help but laugh again. "I think your accent is adorable." He reaches over to give Tabi a very light, playful pinch on the cheek as one would a younger niece or sibling. "Who's a little puddum?" Mind you, Dante is generally thought to have lived somewhere in NY for a large portion of his life so he has a bit of an accent himself. At times. Since he has to change the topic now, being his turn n' all, he ponders. "So, is there anything you can tell me about this new synth we have? I'm assumin' they all have pretty similar directive's n' all that but...if there's some kinda change in the way this place is....run, I wanna know about it. Again, I've only got one REALLY good source and...it's rare it shows up, cryptic as hell when it does AND I can barely remember it afterwards. Almost like my early sex life. ... No, that's bullshit. I was always great." Dante: Never missing an opportunity to brag about how much trim he's gotten. >_>
Cheek pinching? The urge to stab is strong with this one. She does flail a bit though. Rubbing her cheek she ponders his question and shakes her head, "Nope. I know nothin'. I told ya that. I know what she looks like, but that's mostly from th' papers. I told ya I can't remember anything an' I mean that literally. There's just a foggy haze that I'm aware of like I'm asleep or somethin'." Her eye twitches as once more voices start assaulting her as she tries to think of anything specific. "...I... could... ask th' other 'me's' if they know somethin' but they kinda faded after I spent that time with Samantha." Her voice drops down to nearly a whisper, "...I'm kinda scared if I do that they'll all start talkin' again." She refers of course to the other personalities that lived in her head from all the damage done to her. Since Samantha they all mostly fused back into her core personality. All for one at least... (not that she knows any of that)
Dante shakes his head. "I dunno what the fuck is left of the damage they caused but the last thing I'd want is for you to re-live it." He cracks his knuckles absently, looking off into space on that one. He STILL holds his actions for Tabi's sake, of course. Has the whole time. Still... He waves it off. "All that aside, I agree that this council bullshit is probably bad for you. I think you'd DO just fine but...the last thing ya need is way more stress. Hell, the main thing ya need to learn from me is how to DEstress. ... The lack of alcohol as an option leaves me with few others, of course." He rubs his chin, as is his go-to 'I'm thinking' posture these days. What to do with a broken, stressed out catgirl that you AREN'T trying to get in the sack?...
Unfortunately Tabitha doesn't have the answer to that either or she wouldn't be here, a problem that leads to an uncomfortable silence which is finally broken when she says, "Y'know... there's this nagging thought in the back of my head an' I keep trying to ignore it because it's ridiculous, but it keeps bubbling back up." She tilts her head to the side a little as she asks him, "Ya know what I mean, right?" Hopefully he does because she can't work out how to explain it. "...basically, it's a little too convenient, right? Like if there was a secret plot ta take over the Council, th' first thing I'd do is make the rest of th' Council quit. If I leave that's just.... Setsuna and Rayne, right?" She lets out a sigh at the thought, "....not much of a council is it...?" Technically Bishop would still be involved in the meetings, but officially Bishop isn't a part of the Council.
Dante quirks an eyebrow. Boy, he HAS been out of the loop. Setsuna and Rayne? Huh. He rubs his chin. "Setsuna's a part of the council? Christ. I'm feelin' more senile by the minute. I should...have a chat with her." He laughs a bit. "So, everyone I knew is off already? Eh, figures. So, who's acting as the 'figurehead' then? Are you leading things?" He's a little piqued by the idea that he doesn't even know WHOM reconstituted the council in the first place. At least it's filled with people he knows. Or thinks he knows, anyway.
Dante laughs a bit at that one, shaking his head. "I liked fucking with the guy. I'm surprised we never had it out...but...yeah. He's normally who'd I'd be discussing this with, honestly. He was...consistent, at least. I could always find 'em if I needed to." There he goes on about 'people he speaks to that aren't always there'. He sounds nuts, doesn't he? Well, we're ALL mad here I suppose... He continues, "I should talk to old Sailor P. It's been a while anyway. Who knows? Maybe she'll accept my offer to go get a drink this time." His playful eyebrow waggle reveals that he probably doesn't suspect that she will. n.- | |
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