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Zulius
You got Zulius. I'm busy being fabulous. Deposit hot goss here.
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[ he gives wry grin, and hey, at least Wolfwood cleans up nice? he leans a little in the doorway as Zulius totally doesn't fret about Vergil, giving a low hum as he thinks. ]
Well, to illustrate, me an Vash went over to see Dante, an' you know the golden naked guy that lives with Vergil? He opened the bossman's office and Vergil whanged a whiskey decanter at him. Goldie quietly shut the door and politely informed Dante he might wanna go see after the guy.
Then I went out and bought a lot of alcohol to make God's forbidden swamp juice so he could actually get drunk.
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[They can have themselves a little eye candy. Or maybe they can enjoy mussing him up again. Wolfwood wins either way. He's absolutely not fretting at all. No sir.
He's assuming the "golden naked guy" is Gil, and he lets out a soft little snort. ]
Might be due to walking into his office naked. He gives major vibes of someone who doesn't appreciate that.
[He's joking because that. It does sound bad. It sounds really bad. He saw how deeply messed up Vergil was in the container and nothing Wolfwood has to say bates his concerns at all.]
Thing getting hammered was one of the few things that could've helped. Maybe. [Because he's sure as hell at a loss on how to help, even if he really wants to. He's not so sure how good he is at the actual emotional healing thing. He's usually better suited to debauchery and catty pep talks. This is out of his wheelhouse.] There's not really a wikihow on dealing with being kidnapped by psychopaths who put you through actual hell, huh?
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they'd definitely get their hands on him, to be sure. Wolfwood's also not fretting and not picking up on an ounce of anxious zebranxiety, not at all. ]
To be fair to Goldie, he was wearing all his clothes. He opened the door, smash, and then Vash an' I went home because Dante was busy for the rest of the night. Usually Blondie roams around in a little robe when he's out of his... weird fuckin' magic house teapot thing, if it's not pants time.
[ because prior to all of this, Wolfwood had been over often enough to provide his services and there Gilgamesh had been, skulking corners and exasperating Vergil, but now Vergil's not exasperated, he's just--drawn tight, like a wire, or a noose. ]
Probably not, unfortunately. In my case, I worked for 'em, but apparently ya'll get all sorts of weird opportunities to get even with your kidnappers an' psychopaths. [ it's supposed to be a joke? it might ring a little too true? clearly it'll make Zulius feel better right?? ]
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[No zebranxiety here, no sir. No wrestling of feelings or anything at all. He's the finest he's ever been!]
Oh yeah, a friend of mine has one of those magic teapots. It's weird. [And is in his own apartment. Not that he's going to share that information. He promised MOxxie the location of his teapot would remain secret and that's one he intends to keep. ] But that's- hm. That's bad. Verg doesn't usually lash out like that. He's got a serious grip on his emotions.
[To the point of excessive stoicism, sometimes. The worry gnaws at his chest and he doesn't know what to do with it. He doesn't know how to help. Still, he glances in Wolfwood's direction, giving an apologetic smile.]
Yeah, I don't think a lot of people get to go on revenge trips, sorry Buddy. Wish you could have that for you.
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he gives a rueful little hum and a shake of his head, watching Zulius as he's the picture of calm and serenity with no anxiety or upset to speak of in the slightest. ]
Vash wants one, I think. Otherwise we're gonna have to figure out how to build more house onto the cottage, and like... I know how scrap shelters work, not. Masonry. [ moments of normalcy, prancing around like there's no danger in the water, giving a little shrug when Zulius gives a nervous look at the depths of what might be swirling in Vergil. ]
Sometimes when you've been ripped up like that, you need to vent it, and hope that there's big enough pieces to be picked up after the evil's left you. It's not easy working, piecing yourself back together, but Vergil's stubborn. He doesn't seem like the type to let someone else hold him on that chain forever, he's just gotta shake the ghost of the shackle, you know? That's the hardest part--the little things that they bury deep in you that take a long time to dig out. [ he speaks, probably, with a little too much experience under his belt, breathing out slow.
has Wolfwood even dug out all the things buried deep in him? probably not. but he knows they're there, festering, like bullet shells he healed around because what else was he supposed to do? he smirks a little when Zulius moves to console him, giving him a wry look, trying to shift back to playful, back to not looking at the deep parts of the water. ]
I'm not in a hurry. Far as I know, time's standing still back home, and I can take the leisurely route to the second grave that's waitin' at the end of a bloody revenge tour.
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[Zulius lets out a soft, amused snort- grabbing onto the brief distraction from all the worry he's definitely not feeling. ]
No wonder. That cottage has gotta be getting cramped by now. Maybe one will show up at that weird store with the guy who talks about stars all the time? Because...yeah, I know we've got like, one architect here? Dunno how well he'd work at renovating it though.
[Ah. And there's the worry again, nibbling at the back of his mind incessantly. He remembers how bad Vergil looked in that container. He's never seen the other man so small and exhausted. Like the pieces of him were already shattered and he was terrified of picking them up just in case they were ripped from him again. He's used to Vergil just dealing with everything with a long-suffering sigh or a sharp word. Not this. Never this. A layer to the man has been removed and there's no putting it back.
He chews his lip, shifting uneasily from hoof to hoof. He doesn't like this unsettled feeling at all. He doesn't like not knowing what to do, or how to help despite wanting nothing more than to see Vergil himself again. Even if he knows Vergil's "himself" is probably changed for good from this experience. Even just a little.]
...Yeah. That's right. It's like...SO much, but he's like, the most stubborn man alive. If anyone can figure out how to deal with that, it's Verg.
[He says that with far more confidence than he's really feeling. Fake it til you make it. Boy has he noticed Wolfwood said that with a lot more experience though. That hasn't passed him by. ]
You never know, you might get on top of this one, you've got a lo- [No. Wait. What. He blinks.] Second grave?
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[ his grin is more of a crooked lifting of the corner of his lips as he continues to try and lure Zulius' down the path of audacious calm in the face of harrowing trauma, like he's leading the horse to a mojito fountain so it can quench its thirst, if it so chooses. ]
I mean, it was cramped when I turned up, and now the kid is there, an' if it's all the same to you? Magic teapot bullshit sounds way, way better than back-breaking physical labor. I have no idea where we'd pull the money out of to pay somebody else to build a whole-ass cottage extension, especially now that there's two devil birds runnin' around an' I don't mean Brad cloned himself. [ rambling, roving, saying whatever comes to mind to do something about the tension because Nicholas D. Wolfwood isn't much of a coward, but he also isn't much of a comfort. he's always been rough around the edges, and the skills that were trained into him don't make him much for saying it'll be all right, it'll be okay, because it might not be.
do one bad thing at a time so you have less shit to keep track of--why glue lying onto everything else for no discernible gain, but a lot of chances for personal loss?
Zulius is a fretful picture, and Wolfwood considers him for a long moment, trying to think about how to articulate--what Zules' place in the aftermath might look like. it's hard to say; Vergil's his own man with his own desires, and no one ever came for Wolfwood. but people had come for Vergil, and the others--lots of people, full of rage and love and care, and he thinks, for a moment, what he might've wanted to see on the other end of those big metal doors clanging open, the silhouette in the blinding white light anybody other than Bluesummers, than Conrad, than some husk in a mask with a gun, and he breathes out slow, rolling his shoulders as he fishes out a cigarette from the depths of his jacket. ]
There's a lot he's going to have to figure out, in the wake of everything, though 'come to terms with' might be a better way to phrase it. An experience like that is meant to break you down and make you into something else; they like to say 'better', but it's not better. It's just what they want, you know? [ god, he hopes Zulius doesn't know, if some far off, unkind deity could do him a fucking solid for once in his life. ] And usually the 'as God am I' types like to leave you with two, maybe three choices; give up and die, do as they say, or live through it and do what you can.
They really hate option three. Bossman's in a wonderful place to pick that one. Especially if he's got people like Dante, or Goldie, or you to reach out for when he needs to steady himself. There's a lot he's gonna have to do to get right with himself at the end of the night, but he doesn't have to do it alone in a time an' place like this, even if he tries to play it off like he does. Sometimes caring for someone looks like shovin' a shoulder under their cross no matter how much they say they can carry it alone. You might not know how to fix his wounds, but he doesn't have to try to reach the weird part of his back alone.
[ he gives a little shrug, casual, as if it's... simple. maybe Wolfwood is simple. he does what he can because he it's the closest he can come to still feeling like he deserves to be called human sometimes. then Zulius' brain catches up with everything else Wolfwood's been rambling about, and he grins again in a nervous tic. ]
Don't they got a sayin' these days about--'when you go seekin' revenge, dig two graves' because gettin' even with someone no matter the cost kills you metaphorically or some shit? Maybe that's just the messed up religion I grew up in twisting words to suit their purposes better. You don't really want your little pet monsters to wake up and take offense over what's happened to them, one supposes.
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[It sure doesn't care enough to give anyone a breather. Doubly so here. This particular
zebrahorse could very happily be led off to that metaphorical mojito fountain. Something about leaning into denial feels very tempting. It's how he grew up in both this life and his last one. Cover something up with enough glitter and you can hide just about any amount of hurt. Equally, though, he knows it's probably not the...healthiest way of dealing with this.But, my god, it's TEMPTING.]
Oh no, believe me, I HEAR you. Besides, the magic teapot is like, super transportable. You can just move it to another spot in the house if you need alone time or whatever. [He has moved Moxxie right into the ass-end of his theatre some nights and he will do it again. ] ..Wait, did Brad have like... a Baby Brad or did you guys somehow just inherit a second big, weird bird? Did Vash find it and bring it home? Did he give you puppy eyes until you let him keep it? I think he has a problem with strays.
[No, Zulius, that's YOU. That's how you met Vash in the first place.
Wolfwood might not think he's much comfort- but Zulius sees him as a dear friend, and just having someone to talk to about this does help. Even in their talking-about-it-while-not-talking-about-it magic act they've got going on right now. Because as much as the denial is extremely tempting, he knows it won't actually solve anything.
He does listen to what Wolfwood has to say. His ears pin back with the anxiety and sadness and whatever the fuck else bubbling away in his stomach. This is so out of his wheelhouse. Aside from one pretty terrible experience, his life before being dragged into the Libra app was pretty charmed. Lonely at times, sure, but still charmed. Even his past life wasn't...like this. There was the war to be sure, and the cold, wet touch of the Nowhere King is gonna haunt him for the rest of his days, but none of it was this. He never got taken from a place he felt safe. Never got chained up and tortured. Never had anyone tried to break him, piece by piece. He doesn't have any experience to fall back on to properly understand how horrifying this was for Vergil. For Rose and Takame. Hell, for Jun, Ash and Zero. All he can do is sympathize that it was horrifying and have the desire to help with the healing process. But is that enough? He doesn't know.
For the first time in his life, Zulius feels like he's lacking, and he hates it. ]
...Yeah. From what I've heard, Krusnik were all about the breaking and building up again. They sure managed it with some people. Did you see some of the people fighting for them?
[People that HAD been broken and given up, people that had accepted Krusnik's doctrines and taken up the mantle because they had nowhere else to go. No one to lean on. No one to save them. He sucks in a breath, hugging the box a little closer to himself. ]
Yeah, obvi. I don't think Verg will have the chance to deal with any of this alone. Muuuuch as he'd probably try to grump his way out of it or push people away. He's got way too many stubborn people in his life for that. I sure as hell won't take any of that bullshit and he knows it. Not from me, no SIR.
[So there is that, at least. And it does help to hear that maybe he doesn't need to have the perfect fix-it-solution to help here. Just being there is enough and he can absolutely do that. He offers Wolfwood a little smile. ]
Thanks, Nick. That actually helped a lot.
[If he needed a little boost himself. Zulius is of the opinion that humanity is overrated- after all, his own was robbed from him here. No, being a person is what matters here, and if someone chooses to be a good or a bad one. And he would be unshakable in his belief that Wolfwood is the former. ]
Ohhhh, ha ha, yeah. I get you. I think it was some smart guy that said that one? Anyway, yeaaaaah, given what a mess happened with Krusnik? Well. I don't know. I'm not a big fan of the whole...violence revenge thing, but sometimes it kinda needs to happen. I think there's a line and if someone crosses it- bets kinda have to be off.