[ By now anybody who isn't in the caverns with the rest of the group is as good as doomed. But Shinobu is a big girl, capable of looking after herself. That's why the message comes after-the-fact, rather than preemptively. ]
[She's almost a little amused when she gets this message. Shinobu had survived death itself here; a sandstorm was no problem in comparison. Still, there was no way she was going to pass up using a classic from Vergil's playbook in reply.]
Your concern is unnecessary, but appreciated. [Oh, look how sassy she is.]
The details is that I didn't really like breathing sand, so I went to the tunnels. Been fighting with some guy that's even more of a samurai wannabe than I am.
What's been up with you? Hasn't been the same without doing you some kind of favor lately.
( i x : d 3 : lmao they're so bad at social calls )
[ There are, after all, only so many samurai wannabes allowed in a single place at any given time. There's a beat that follows; a tangible pause in the back and forth. ]
I've been preoccupied, unfortunately. Dante's gone missing but I'm confident he'll show up again soon.
Side-by-side. [As much as it chagrined her to admit this, Shinobu saw no point in lying about it.] Those jackals provide more of a challenge than most things around here.
It's about the most fun I've had around this place.
[If not a little frustrating -- if she couldn't defeat one of those things on her own, Shinobu still wasn't at par with the level of skill she desired. Being the assassin champion of Asia meant nothing here.]
Wait. Your brother went missing AGAIN? I'm beginning to think this place has some weird fondness and/or fixation with you and your brother.
[A minute later, she sends another text.]
I managed to avoid the word "fetish". Are you proud?
[Shinobu asks if Vergil is okay, but she felt like she was at least beginning to understand how he functioned -- it was similar to her own ways, at times. He would likely say he was fine and that her concern was appreciated, but unnecessary, even if he wasn't fine.
Might as well not ask questions she wouldn't get a straight answer from. Waste of time.]
He can handle his own. Also, he's a neighbor. Or used to be, if we're ever able to go back to the dorms. It was convenient.
Our current situation is no doubt temporary. COMPASS' gambits never last more than a week, two at best. You'll be able to return to your lack of hot showers soon enough, Shinobu.
Unfortunate for us, but probably better for him. He can get back to cat-sitting, I guess.
I'm fine, really. [And for once, she's actually being genuine here. Sure, she'd sort of miss everyone from her world, but she was also a woman that kind of randomly decided to spend her time abroad in Asia for three years on her own.] Guess this place prefers me more. Only natural when I'm the only one of the bunch with loose ends to tie up.
[Not that she was a little bitter about that or anything, nope.]
[ Shinobu says that she's fine and Vergil doesn't question it. They're not the type to coddle or be coddled — that's not how their relationship works and they're not those kinds of people. He makes a soft sound like an exhale— (cat sitting, he'll never understand Shinobu's world) — and maybe Vergil's even laughed, though it's hard to say. ]
COMPASS' constant aim is to agitate us. Your loose ends are a built-in freebie for them.
[ A beat, then: ] Do you know how it ultimately turns out? For Henry and his brother.
Really, they're just giving me more training. [Really goddamned annoying training that she didn't really want any part of.] But I'll give you that they are kind of agitating at times.
[She hesitates on answering his question, wondering if this was information that should be freely handed out -- this was their business and not anybody else's. Though she supposed it really wouldn't matter anyway, as it really wasn't anything that could be used against either of them, if it should come up somehow.]
Pretty sure I came from a slightly earlier time than both of them. Not by far at all, maybe just by a day or two. But I've heard bits and pieces from the both of them.
Travis went on to conquer the UAA ranks again and apparently had to fight some parade float at the top. Don't ask, even I don't know WTF is up with that. Either way, he got the revenge he wanted. Good for him.
All I really know about Henry is that he somehow wound up cat-sitting Travis' cat. Who knows if he'll ever get to actually fight his brother to the death, if Travis is all up in Sylvia's business now.
[ Vergil takes whatever Shinobu offers which, at the end of the day isn't much, but which still ends up being more than he would have gotten otherwise. Ultimately, he's not surprised by the fact that she doesn't know much — Henry seemed the most frank and upfront out of the three of them but even then there hadn't been much effort to poke or prod.
The idea of Henry cat-sitting at home is confusing, but most of Santa Destroy's culture was. ]
[This reply takes Shinobu a little while, as she debated on just what was the right amount of loathing to put in text.]
Ranking agent of the UAA, basically she's the one that sets up all the matches. Used to be married to Henry, but who knows how he put up with her for as long as he did. Sure, maybe she seems to know more than all of us assassins combined, but she's insufferable. Can't see herself objectively. She has a way of wrapping men around her finger.
[Basically, she has no love for her at all, apart from the information she could pull out of her. Still, not someone worth killing either. Ugh, why was Travis into her.]
Edited (OH MY GOD I've got to quit screwing this up) 2013-12-08 18:44 (UTC)
[ It's not that Vergil particularly enjoys Shinobu's annoyance, but there's something about when she gets judgmental about people that amuses him. He is in fact smirking at his device when he taps out and finally sends a quick:
You don't like her.
[ Which is Vergil pointing out the obvious, but to him you can never be too on the nose. ]
Edited 2013-12-08 22:05 (UTC)
( i x : d 3 : at this point they should get a burn book )
[It's that frankness that might turn off most, normal people, but Shinobu thought it was more amusing herself than anything. Shaking her head (along with a humored smirk), she types back.]
No kidding. It keeps one occupied, though.
[Of course, once her father's killer was found, who knows what she'd do next.]
( i x : d 3 : ngl sometimes i wish one of them had an enemy ingame to DESTROY )
[ If being the head of the Order has taught Vergil anything, it's this: know your audience. Never a fan of lying outright, Vergil specializes in shifting the truth to be best viewed from whatever perspective is necessary. With Shinobu, however, much of that pretense is set aside.
It doesn't make them open with one another, but it makes Vergil frank. He suspects she wouldn't like his company half as much if he bothered with pulling any of his own punches. ]
There's always the question of what comes after.
[ Because hate, no matter the circumstances, always destroyed someone. Whether it was the subject of such strong emotions or the one that harbored them, somebody had to go down. ]
( i x : d 3 : me too, sometimes, it could be beautiful )
You deal with that, whenever it comes up. Best not to stress your mind about what might or might not happen.
[Oh yes, there was always going to be fallout, but Shinobu was someone that lived in the present, never caring too much about what might come up in the future.]
Contingency plans happen to be a speciality of mine.
[ Which, at the end of the day, is just a nice way of saying I'm a control freak with too much spare time. But Shinobu knows that about Vergil just as readily as Vergil knows that anything beyond the Moment isn't really her thing. Like with Dante, it should be a point of contention — but for some reason, it isn't. ]
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