Rewards Of A Difficult Lover

A Late Lover (Part 4)

I stand by the window, looking out worriedly at the pouring rain. It reminds me of the days we met, the days we spent kissing with the raindrops on our face. Somehow, our love has become so strong that the sight of raindrops remind me of the days we love each other so hard, the raindrops dripping from our hair as we hug each other to share some warmth.

I am not out there today, but I hope you don’t mind. We still have a life to live through together, and right now, our family is waiting.

I check the time, and it is past the time you said you would come home. I begin to get worried. You must understand my heart, my love. I am not trying to be controlling or over-bearing. I understand that you might have met with some complications in your job that delays you. Don’t worry, I understand it. After all, am I not also a demon hunter?

But you are a son of Sparda, and that makes me the most afraid. I know you are capable of protecting yourself, but with the recent return of Damon, the fact that we now know that Mundus is out for our family’s blood worries me greatly. Not only are you the son of the considered traitor of Hell, but you are also a member of the Kries family. There is a plain target painted on your back whenever you go demon hunting now, and every time you leave the house, I wonder if you will ever come back.

But I have faith in you, Vergil. You will do anything to come home to me. Everyone is here, waiting for you to start the party. We understand that you have a job, and we are willing to wait. Though I must say your brother is making a mess of the place. We won’t be able to hold him back for long. Please come back and control him, for Lady is busy in the back preparing the cake.

Do you remember what occasion we are celebrating, my love? It is your birthday. The day where you, Dante, and both my brothers were born so many years ago. Today is the day where we commemorate your years of living, and I have a treat for you tonight. You must look forward to the nightgown I bought just for today, and bear with Dante throughout the day, alright?

The children are playing with Dante, though by ‘playing’ I mean that they are having fun insulting and hitting their uncle while your brother tries to retort. But the children, after all, are Damon’s –they know exactly which buttons to press. But you should know better, don’t you? You’ve been working with them since young. You know exactly how loving those two can be, and how mischievous they can be at the same time.

Will we ever have children like them? Damien and Wynter are the perfect epitome of what Trish and Damon are; the perfect mix of their characteristics. If we have children together, my love, what will our children be like? I do hope that they will be as silently caring as you are. But pray that they do not inherit your need for silent suffering. But no matter how they turn out, Vergil, I will still love them with my heart because they will be your children. Our children.

I am thinking too far, aren’t I? But sometimes, I wonder if our future is going to consist of only the two of us. Perhaps we should wait until the dangers are over. I definitely do not want to be nursing a pregnancy bump when we face down Mundus.

The rain makes soft patters on the window pane, but you are still unseen on the road. Has something happened? You usually aren’t late, and if you are, you always call to set me at ease. I must say I have gotten reliant on your call to be settled, but you aren’t calling now. Are you alright?

A raindrop strikes on the window, and I chart its progress down Dante’s dirty window. How often he cleans those windows; I will never know. Has it even been cleaned at all? After so many years, has Dante even done anything to ensure the general cleanliness of the office? I doubt so.

Damon and Trish are chatting in the corner, and Lady is in the back preparing. Dante is entertaining the kids. Daniel is off celebrating his birthday with his new girlfriend that I have yet seen. But you still aren’t here, and I begin to worry as I watch the minute hand of the clock move once more, just a slight bit to indicate that another long minute has passed. Where are you right now? Must I send my brother to check if something has happened to you?

Please do not be offended, Vergil. It is not that I do not trust your abilities to keep yourself safe. Rather, it is that I love you too much to keep my mind from wandering. If anything happens to you, I will never be able to live with myself –by myself. Please, my darling son of Sparda, come home safe.

My phone rings, and my heart leaps when I see that it is you calling. You’ve called! You’re fine!

I am so glad to hear your voice, Vergil, as I find my grin once again. You are still not on the road, but I hope that you are close. I tell you that everyone is waiting for you, but you inform me that you might be a little late. You silly boy, you are already late! Just do not stay out for too long; we are still waiting for you.

I worry a little when I hear the demons growling in the background. You must have been ambushed again, haven’t you? You, a son of Sparda, must find it a norm now to turn around a corner to see a horde of demons waiting to slice you down. You must kill them all and come home to me safe and sound, Vergil. You assure me that it is fine, and I hear no effort in your voice while the demons moan and scream in the background.

Vergil, you shouldn’t be speaking on the phone while you kill demons. What if you lose concentration and got hurt somehow? I don’t want you to come to your birthday party hurt and injured. Please, do take your time and take care of yourself. Now that you’ve called, I am not so worried anymore.

You tell me that we should start the party without you, but don’t you forget that you are also one of the birthday men of the day? Yes, we are sharing the party for sake of cheering the children up, but you have to be present. We must make a happy memory as a family, and what kind of party would it be without one of its special attendees?

Dante apparently doesn’t think so, as your brother pops the champagne, yelling. The children cheer for the start of the party, apparently forgetting that you still aren’t here. Damon exchanges a look with me, seeing me on the phone, but both of us shake our head with a small smile. I’m sorry that the party started without you, my dear. You must understand what your little brother is like.

When you reply through the phone, I hear a smirk in your voice. Are you smiling at the other end of the phone too, Vergil? You must have heard Dante’s yell –of course, who wouldn’t? I sigh with exasperation at your little brother, wondering if there was ever a moment in Dante’s head where you mattered at all. But still, the party has started from the popping of champagnes, and there will be no controlling Dante from now onwards.

I wish for you to come back as soon as possible, and you give me your promise that keeps my heart settled. You will be fine, and you will be back to the warmth of our family soon. I smile, pocket the phone and walk to the back to help Lady with the cake decorations, carefully dodging Dante as he ran around the room, chugging the champagne while the children chase him, trying to get a sip. The young ten year olds have been pestering to try alcohol and while their mother had adamantly refused, Damon had promised the children that they would get their first sip of champagne during his birthday.

It obviously wasn’t a good promise to make while Dante was around, as your younger brother run around, drinking and running and pushing Damien away. Still, I cannot help but laugh when Damien pretends to trip, faking a bruise. The idea of his child hurt makes my brother jump up immediately, charging towards Dante with the intent of revenge. Damon is being so over protective again, but it is still refreshing to see this side of him, especially after the ten years.

As Damon begins to scold him, your twin begins to complain about how alike he is to you with the same protective instinct. Dante is obviously annoyed by how you and Damon both protect the children from his playful pranks, but I smile. Every one of us love the children of the family, but we all have different ways of showing it, don’t we? I know you are strict with them, and while Damien and Wynter sometimes don’t look forward to your teachings, don’t be disheartened. They still love their Uncle Vergil. After all, you are the one who protects Damien the most from Dante, even if he doesn’t deserve the protection sometimes.

Lady and I ensure that the decorations on the cake are perfect, and by the time we walk out, Dante is already drunk as hell. There is no questioning how he got so drunk, considering he had chugged the entire bottle of champagne in less than five minutes. He can’t even walk straight now, Vergil. Does he have no restraints?

He is so different from you, my love. I can’t believe there was a time in my childhood where I looked at him in a better light than you. But you must not blame me, for you do know how Capcom portrayed you in the Devil May Cry Series. And even though whatever that transpired in DMC 3 might be true, that you might have once been a power-hungry man, Vergil, I still love you.

Because you learnt your lesson, and you learnt to cherish your family. You used to care so little about your family, used to hate your little brother. But now, I know that you will never bear to even harm a single hair on Dante’s body. Of course, verbally, you still tear him down with sarcastic words, but it is fine, because who doesn’t make digs at Dante? He is the easiest target around for digs and insults.

As I watch your brother lumber to his feet, struggling to catch the children, who have turned around to be running from him instead of them chasing him, I take a quick peek at the clock. You still haven’t arrived yet, Vergil. How much later will you be? It is not that I am impatient but…

I admit.

I am impatient. But forgive me, for I am impatient for the sight of you, my love. The thought of you being out there and alone scares me, though I know that you have been outside and alone for most of your teenage life. But you have me now, and you have our family now. You have a warm place to come home to; please don’t make me worry about you so often.

I check the clock again, and you still haven’t arrived yet. Have you been sidelined by some more demons again? Where are you? Are you close to DMC yet? I am waiting for you my love, please don’t make me wait for too long. Or maybe you’ve gotten another lead in your mission, and you have forgotten about home again. It is so normal for you to do that that I sigh in exasperation at the idea of that happening. It is so possible for you to forget everything when you work, my love.

Have you forgotten about the party and gone on chasing another lead, Vergil?

“He’s coming!” Wynter’s cry suddenly sounds so clear in my voice, and I look out the window to see you, my gallant prince, walking with your back so straight and strong through the rain. I almost forget to breathe at the sight of your face, the raindrops hanging off your hair. I force myself to stop from running out the door, to meet you in the rain and to kiss you so hard on the lips. You are beautiful, walking through the rain like a god, and inside DMC, Lady turns off the light.

Your drunken brother asks blurrily if there was another power outage, because he forgot to pay the bills again. Damien giggles, but Lady covers her hand over Dante’s mouth.

The doors open, and against the rain outside, I see you stand in the doorway; your posture so strong. It takes me a moment to breathe, to remember that you are mine.

You turn on the lights, and that is cue for us to jump up, wishing you happy birthday. Damien screams it the loudest, but your eyes find me instantly in the crowd while I smile. The water drips from you, and I can’t wait for tonight. I have so many things planned for you, my birthday-man.

You dispense with the pleasantries, and banter for a short while with Dante while you take off your shirt, wringing off the water. I feel myself go warm instantly at the sight of your top-half naked body. Do you not know how crazy you are making me feel inside right now? If the children weren’t here, I would have long flown on top of you, kissing you senseless.

You approach me, and I ask you how the job was. You give me the usual reply, but you don’t know that it has made me the happiest woman in the world at the moment.

Nothing made me happier than knowing that you are safe, my love.

You might always be late; you might always be in danger as the son of Sparda.

But when you come home after a long day’s work, when the raindrops hang from your hair and when you take off your shirt to wring off extra rainwater, I am rewarded for a whole day’s worth of worrying.

You sure are a difficult lover, my dear Vergil.

But you make me love you over and over again every day when you come home safe.

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Picking Up The Pieces (Part 14)

I step out of the cab, looking up at the darkening skies. It is going to pour again, the sourness in my heart seemingly mimicked by the outside. It is pathetic fallacy, as I step on the sidewalk, and taking in a deep breath doesn’t really do anything to tape back the pieces of my broken heart. It is so sad to see everyone in this current state where we all are. We all hurt so bad; I’m sure you hurt too.

But still, every day, I force a smile on my face. I read in a book before that smiling will make people around me feel slightly better unconsciously. I’ve been trying my best. Do you feel just a slight bit happier when I smile? I definitely do feel a whole load better when I see you smile. So please, smile for me. These days, things are just too heavy. I’ve been smiling for the children, for Trish.

The Kries Tower looms over me, but if I squint, I can see the tenth floor where you are at. I imagine my brother being there, imagine him trying to throw himself off the tenth floor. Knowing my crazy, whacked-out brother, he probably had already tried. I wouldn’t know, would I? I’ve moved to DMC to live with you since our marriage, but now that I’m back here, I am reminded by the past, where I would visit Damon and him at the Tower.

No one asked why Marcy Kries has suddenly returned back to town, suddenly taken an interest in the company to be coming in every other day to visit her ‘brother’. The lady at the concierge smiles at me in greeting, and I nod to her, making for the door. The security waves me through, because who would want to impersonate Marcy Kries to come in?

I could think of a million businessmen and spies wanting to steal the latest information about Kries Technologies, but what was the point? If they all knew there was someone so powerful sitting on the tenth floor, they wouldn’t dare. You would chase them all away, won’t you, my love? You would protect everything my brothers fought so hard for.

The door of the elevator opens, and it opens a straight corridor in front of me. I remember the endless days where I walked down this corridor, fully expecting to see either of my brothers sitting at the other end of this corridor. Tragedies have happened to the both of them, my love. Please don’t be afraid of something like that happening to you. I won’t let anything happen to you. I won’t let you fade away from me.

I might be a weak Marcy Kries, but when it comes to you, Vergil Sparda, anyone who goes against you will find that I am a great big monstrous woman hell-bent on protecting her husband.

Daniel and Damon’s secretary recognizes me and stands up to greet me with a smile.

“Here to see Mr. D again?” The secretary asks, and I nod. It’s hard to hear that name again.

‘Mr. D’. Daniel just had to make himself so special, so different. Do you listen to that every day my love? It must make you sad; listening to everyone else in the world calling you the name of a dead man, our dead brother. They don’t know anything; do forgive them. Our world doesn’t know that Daniel is dead; doesn’t know that we are suffering in silence.

Like everyone else in the world, the secretary doesn’t question why I’m here again to see Daniel. She doesn’t ask about the mysterious ‘husband’ I have married to, doesn’t question about where, who and when she will see him. She doesn’t know it, but she sees you every day. The question is obvious in her eyes whenever she sees me. She wants to know who I have given my love to –just being plain curious.

All she has to do is to walk through the door to see you, as she does now. She announces my arrival, and you look up from the papers you were looking at. Are the proceedings of Kries Tech boring you, son of Sparda? Do you desire to be back killing demons, hunting for answers as to how to kill Mundus? Damon is doing our job for us. But don’t blame our brother, he really is in a bad place.

“Hey.” I say as I smile, but you must know about the pain I hide behind my smile, don’t you. My dearest, you are closest to my heart, I don’t expect you to know otherwise. You reply my greeting, but neither does your eyes shine as bright as it usually does. I have hugged you crying so many nights, but still you do not tire of me. We share true love, and right now, we share true pain with each other. Daniel was my blood brother, your half-brother. He meant a big part of us, and his sudden death, it broke all of us.

I remember you screaming and crying so badly for the first time I have ever seen you in my life. You cried before, Vergil, but never so badly. But you bounced right back up again –like my brother. You bounced back up, and you are strong now as you hold me every other day while I cry softly.

I ask you if you’re fine with the job, and your honest reply makes me smile a little. Of course, what else did I expect from you? You, as a son of Sparda, have sharpened your wits through researching and hunting demons. You have the brains where Dante lets his rot with sleep. Dealing with Kries Tech must not be much trouble to you at all.

In all honesty, does running Kries Tech really take so much? Daniel and Damon are always disappearing from the company, and yet it has still stood so strong against all outside forces. Our family business is still strong with or without Daniel, and my heart settles a little to know that this baby business that my father nursed, that Damon and Daniel both labored to protect, have grown.

I tell you my true ideas, and you smirk in reply, as if you found something funny in my question –or perhaps the answer to it. Your answer betray nothing, but when you pass the paper over to me, I can’t help but laugh. Daniel, my stupid brother, he was just such a joker. Could Daniel have ruined his company any worse than this? Oh, if Damon knew of this, he would murder him all over again.

But at the same time, with the laugh, I am even more saddened, even more reminded that my brother, with all his cheekiness, is gone from our lives. No more will I return to the Kries Mansion with you, my love, and see Daniel again. No more will I hear him arguing with Damien about his small issues, no more will he appear as and when he likes, doing everything according to his own free will.

Did you know that when you were missing, Daniel sprang a surprise visit on our home? I never expected to find him, and I regret so much that I didn’t treasure him then. I was so worried about you, my love, that connecting with Daniel all over again was negligible at that point of time. Oh, how I wished I could rewind time and go back to that day. I would hug him tight and tell him that everything was alright, and tell him I love him.

But we are too late, and now all we can do is hold on to what we still have with us.

And I have you.

I love you with the whole of my heart, Vergil Sparda. I cannot hug you here in the office nor kiss you –for we would be in such trouble if the secretary were to walk in right now –but I hope you understand my feelings through my eyes. I love you so much, Vergil, and I won’t let you go. Even if you were to pass like Daniel, you must go knowing how much I love you.

But still I miss my brother, and I tell you honestly what I feel. Daniel’s death was all so sudden, no promises made. You told us the circumstances of how Daniel perished, Vergil, but there was no promise made at all, was there? Daniel never left a promise. We never even knew his last words…

You forget that we are in Daniel’s office as you walk over to give me a hug. Then you whisper the words in my ear, and I am shocked. It must have hurt you so much to say them, didn’t you? Daniel’s last words…

When Dante asked you previously, you said Daniel never said any last words to you. You said Daniel just died peacefully, but the pain was in your eyes because you didn’t want to remember. But now… do you mean that you are finally forgiving yourself for what happened to Daniel? Please, don’t ever blame yourself, Vergil. It was never your fault. It is nobody’s fault that Daniel died.

If we have to blame someone, we must blame Daniel’s impulsive instincts to go charging down on the instant he heard about the demon Kalina.

‘Go home.’ If that was Daniel’s last words, last wishes, then you have fulfilled them. You have brought him home to his family, Vergil.

You pick up the phone, but I still spend some time thinking over what you have just told me. I close my eyes and put my hands together in prayer and thanks.

Thank you, my love. While I still hurt at my brother’s death, you telling me his last wish, his last words… it makes it all better.

Like your love for me, your words make a salve on my fresh heart wound.

It is still broken, Vergil. It is still like yours, broken and bleeding.

But together, we can do it.

Together, we can hold hands and pick up the pieces of our hearts together.