etrayalogs | it's just the rain that wasn't brave enough to fall (closed + open)

He frowns a little at her muttering to herself about some form of interpersonal drama (from the sounds of it), but offers no reassurances or even a comment upon the matter. He is not ignorant to the fact that she appears to be ruminating over her life back home, but Vergil does not believe himself to be the best choice of person to seek such comfort from. Especially when he does not hold similar concerns. Generally speaking, the people from his world that he would be concerned about or would have concern for him are already here.

"Your focus should be on the matters at hand before you."

Kyoko sighs, nodding mainly to herself. She knows he's right, and that worrying about stuff back home won't help matters here. Unfortunately, that doesn't make it any easier to put her friends - or her childhood bully and boyfriend's ex an what she might be doing behind her back - from her mind. There's a light slapping noise behind Vergil as she brings a hand out of the jacket pocket to slap herself and snap her back to the present.

"Yeah... you're right. I just can't... really help it at times, y'know?"

It's then that Kyoko kinda puts Vergil's lack of concern for his home and some things he's said earlier together and finds herself wondering about Vergil's world.

"What about you? You mentioned your lover and son before. Anyone else from your world here?"

Vergil glances over at Kyoko as he hears the sound of her smacking herself in the face, a quizzical furrow in his brow. He doesn't ask questions, but it is plain that he finds it an odd choice in behavior.

"My twin brother is here as well," he says, coming to a stop in front of a store that appears to specialize in musical instruments to inspect what is in the store window. Vergil attempts to anticipate her next few, mildly nosy questions as he continues, "His name is Dante and he is the younger between us, which will become immediately apparent the moment you speak to him."

He goes to the store's door, whose bell chimes out as he opens it. Perhaps as expected, Vergil steps in first. Perhaps less expected, he holds the door open for Kyoko rather than leaving her to catch it for herself to follow him inside.

Kyoko does actually blink in surprise as Vergil holds the door open. Was not what she expected, but she also wasn't going to make a big deal out of it. Just quietly going to make a note of further documented friend behavior out of Vergil. She does step in and starts looking around with wide eyes as she replaces her phone back in her pocket.

"Ahh, I'm an only child. Always wondered what it would be like to have a little sister or something..."

She steps up to a display reaching out a finger and plucking a string on an electric guitar that she didn't realize was plugged into anything, causing a tone to break the otherwise still air of the shop. Of course as soon as she does, her shoulders shoot up in shock and she offers a sheepish grin in apology to Vergil.

"So... what'cha looking for here?"

Vergil is about to volunteer Dante away as a new younger sibling to her, but then Kyoko cannot appear to help herself and must touch something. Vergil winces at the dissonant tone that echoes throughout the store, frowning at her immensely even as she offers the non-verbal apology.

"A Christmas present for Dante," he says flatly. "Do not touch anything else."

Kyoko puts her hands behind her back as she watched Vergil. Of course as soon as his back was turned, she reached out and pressed her hand to the body of the guitar, careful not to make any more noise while sticking her tongue out at him. Nobody would ever accuse her of being particularly mature.

"Oh, he plays? That's really cool! I've got a friend that's actually a famous rock star now. ...Well, I think Nozomi's famous. She gets pretty good crowds at least."

Kyoko bounces on her heels slightly behind Vergil, peering at the electric guitars lining one of the walls, looking to see if any of them resembled a scythe like Noize's.

"What kind of music do you listen to?"

Everything in the stores may be for free, but there are still reflective surfaces positioned around the store to see down every aisle and corner. It's there that Vergil catches Kyoko deliberately defying him and making that childish face, but he does her the small courtesy of pretending not to have noticed. It's negligible, after all, considering such a touch is not making more disruptive noises, and it is not in danger of breaking anything.

"I listen to whatever happens to be playing," he says. Which tends to be an eclectic mix of genres if Dante is in charge, and largely metal if it is Nero. Vergil never opted to take control of the jukebox in Folkmore, and was never fussed about the music Nero chose to play from his device. "I do not have a particular interest in music like the rest of my family."

Kyoko starts to wander around the shop, a longbox of CD's catching her eye as she starts to dig through them idly. Music had never really been something she had too much of an interest in beyond karaoke nights with her squad, but ever since reconnecting with Nozomi, she'd taken a much larger interest in Noize's music. She couldn't not support a friend, after all.

"Not gonna lie, I'm shocked. I would've thought you would be the type to have a stack of old vinyl records of classical stuff. I'm the same way though, I just listen to whatever's on the radio, except when it comes to... OOH!" She snatches a CD out of the stack, holding it out to Vergil, depicting a dark skinned woman with green hair on it.

"Noize! She's an old friend of mine. She transferred into my class back in fifth grade. ...Of course we didn't get to hang out too much until more recently because I kinda got expelled a couple months later."

He scoffs lightly at her assumption if only because that's not the first time he's heard that before. In Folkmore, Dante went to the trouble of securing a few vinyls of classical music to put in the jukebox in an attempt to offer something musically that he assumed Vergil would like. But he did not inherently favor it more than other music even if he perhaps appreciated it a little more than say Nero did. Vergil's brow furrows a little as he inspects the CD she holds out to him, but he does not reach out to take it from her.

"I see." He is never going to get used to the amount and extent to which people offering up unsolicited information about themselves. "You should see if there is a CD player here then so you can listen to your friend's music."

By contrast, Kyoko doesn't know how to turn it off. She's always been an open book but that also seems to be a trend in River City itself. The amount of times she's had to sit through someone monologuing about their background before punching them is rather astounding really. For now though she takes the CD and stuffs it in her jacket pocket.

"I've got most of her songs on my phone actually. Heard much of synthwave? Noize is a great synthwave artist!" Thankfully, at least, she doesn't seem to be interested in digging her phone out and playing anything for Vergil. ...For now.

"No."

Vergil doesn't express any interest in listening to the music, and turns away from Kyoko and the CD collection back to the wall of guitars. He doesn't know the first thing of what makes a guitar good or not, but he doesn't believe it will matter all that much to Dante. Vergil could put together a cardboard box with rubber bands and Dante would likely be satisfied by the gift. But he is aware of his brother's favorite color. So, it is a matter of finding something that appeals to that if nothing else.

Kyoko goes suspiciously quiet for a moment as she steps away to hunt down one of the bots in charge of running the shop. A couple moments later she reappears at Vergil's side looking very pleased with herself. A second later, a song starts to play softly over the store's speakers.

"So, what kind of thing are we looking for here?"

Vergil frowns down at Kyoko. We? He's allowed her to tag along (primarily because he doesn't believe saying no would result in her leaving him be), but he didn't invite her. And he certainly wouldn't expect her to be if any help when she doesn't know Dante.

"I am looking for a guitar for my brother's Christmas present. I don't know what you're still doing here."

He doesn't say it harshly even if it comes across a bit cold. It's too much of a statement of fact for it to be particularly unkind.

Kyoko makes a noise somewhere between a scoff and a laugh as she starts inspecting the guitars on display.

"What, I'm not allowed to help? Electric or acoustic?"

While she may not have a lot of know how about music, she's definitely got an eye for aesthetics at least.

"No, you're not," he says with an edge of warning to his tone. Vergil does not exactly care to explain it to Kyoko, but it feels important to Vergil that he more or less does this on his own. With how long Vergil and Dante have been estranged or at diametrically opposed odds with one another, it feels important to Vergil that he make the effort to do this on his own rather than enlisting anyone else's help. It's why he has not asked Nero's perspective whatsoever on what to get Dante for Christmas. Not that he would anticipate Nero having any great insights given how much Dante has kept him at arm's length since discovering the boy, but he could likely do at least a little better than Vergil with less thought and effort put into it with identifying something Dante wants.

But it really is not about whether or not Dante immediately falls in love with the present or if Vergil manages to stumble directly into what Dante was secretly hoping for. He wants Dante to know that whatever Vergil arrives upon for a Christmas present, it was something he put the thought and effort into. To Vergil, it seems far too simple and easy and ultimately lazy to ask for the input of someone else rather than trusting his own instincts and what he knows of his little brother to guide him in the right direction. This is their relationship, their bond. There should be no one else involved in what they make of it. Thus, this is not something he is willing to accept any guidance from anyone.

Kyoko's eyebrow shoots up at that unexpected response. It's definitely something she wants to understand, but also not something she's going to press right now. After a second she just shrugs, sticking her hands back in the pockets of her jacket. She also takes a step back from the displays in an attempt to signal that she's not gonna press the matter or offer any unsolicited help - something she actually knows how to say now - no matter how much she wants to.

She may not have known Vergil for very long, but just given her experience with Riki and the guys in his gang, she has a leg up on how to read the emotionally closed off. If anything this only serves to make her fascination with what Vergil's deal really is deeper. It's definitely something she'll ask about at some point down the line, but for now she simply lets Vergil do his thing in peace, even if she doesn't make any move to wander off.

Frankly, Vergil is surprised by the step back. He briefly turns his gaze towards when she does, looking at her with obvious skepticism and almost as if he was waiting for her to say something. Kyoko, however, does not appear to be asking any sort of questions or making further comments. So, Vergil's gaze slowly returns to the guitars.

He ignores the acoustic guitars entirely. It's not that he thinks Dante wouldn't appreciate it and still be able to play whatever it is he'd like to play on it, but he knows his little brother than that. He's been a tornado of noise as far back as Vergil can remember, and likely even further back than that. So, in that regard, an electric guitar is really the only choice. He's quiet as he considers the options, occasionally reaching a hand out to touch the body of one or two as he considers them. He lightly strums one of them, although not one hooked to an amp that it would create a racket upon touch. Eventually, he finds one that gives him pause and he knows without a doubt is the right now. Vergil carefully lifts it from where its display.

Kyoko stays quiet as Vergil inspects the guitars. She wants to offer input but with how Vergil responded to her offers before, she keeps it to herself. Once Vergil lifts the guitar off the display though she pokes her head out from behind Vergil.

"Oooh, that's a nice color!" She doesn't say anything else though for a moment. She considers her words very carefully for a change, actually. "If you need an amp, I can at least carry it for ya. That way you don't risk scuffing anything before you get it in a case or something."

Vergil considers her offer for a moment. Much as he would like to say he doesn't require any assistance, the extra pair of hands would prove to be helpful. Between Yamato and his tea—the latter of which he has momentarily set aside on a clear spot of shelving—he does not exactly have the means to easily carry the guitar. He holds it out to Kyoko.

"Drop it, and I promise there shall be retribution," he says, although there is a notable dissonance between the words Vergil uses and the way in which he delivers them. Not to say that it is half-hearted or the opportunity to misunderstand that it isn't an authentic warning presents itself, but rather there is a degree to which Vergil vaguely recognizes that it isn't necessary. Kyoko will not let him down with this responsibility. Because even if she is a bit...Well. She appears to at least be attuned to relationships and the importance of them. She would know better than to do anything that would risk Vergil's gift to Dante.

Kyoko just beams with delight as she bounces on her heels for a moment. It's clear that the gesture means a lot to her, reinforcing in her mind that they were, in fact, friends forever regardless of what Vergil said outwardly. She nods and takes the guitar and holds it in such a way that shows that she's very familiar with at least carrying guitars, even if she doesn't play.

"You got it, boss!" The hand that goes to support the body of the guitar she even pulls back into the sleeve of her jacket. That way she's sure not to leave any hand prints on it. Likewise, she pulls her fingers back into the sleeve so that she's not directly touching the cords and muffled any noise that it might make as she walked.

"So this is for your brother, right? He play in a band?"

"No," he says, taking his tea back up as he moved them along further down the aisle. Vergil notices the care and lengths to which she goes to be careful with the guitar, but makes no remark upon it. He continues speaking briefly, "Dante is...an exuberant sort of person."

Where Vergil errs on the side of quiet, Dante absolutely does not.

"He simply likes to play."

A case almost seems unnecessary in that regard. Vergil doesn't anticipate Dante will take especially good care of the instrument given how hard he is on most things in general, but he also won't have much reason to be traveling about with it either. But given that Vergil is far from done with his efforts in finding gifts and it will be exposed to whatever elements may transpire outside in the interim, a case is still in order for protecting the chosen guitar.

Kyoko hums and nods as she follows behind Vergil, listening to him speak. It's clear she definitely doesn't find it an odd proposition to just play, band was just the first place her mind took her. In fact she's quiet for a moment as she reflected on what little time she and Nozomi got to have together in fifth grade, wondering if that's how she made the transition to Noize. After all, it was her on the album cover, not her band.

"Well, if he ever decides to put on a show, let me know! I'll be in the front row."

She just grins as she kind of hugs the guitar to her body a bit more. "I may not know much about music, but seeing how happy it makes Nozomi is more than enough to get my interest." After all, it must be important to her if she was willing to let a Yakuza boss fund her first album.

"I will be sure not to relay the message," Vergil says flatly, more to himself than to Kyoko, as he dreads the thought of any unearned ego and confidence something like that would inspire in Dante. More pointedly at Kyoko, he asks, "Is that the basis of most of your interests? What your peers are interested in?"

Kyoko stops dead in her tracks for a minute, head tilted in thought. If one listened closely, you could hear the hamster running on the wheel inside her skull as fast as it could until it got its foot caught in the bars and starts getting spun along the wheel with how fast it's going. "...Kinda, yeah. Like, even the boy bands I like I listen to mainly because Misako introduced me to 'em. Huh."

She shrugs, the revelation not seeming to bother her. "I guess people are more my hobby than anything else. Well that and fighting. I dunno, never really had interest in anything unless I could do it with someone else."

He pauses when she comes to a stop, turning slightly to look back at her with a raised eyebrow. Vergil did not think the question to be overly complicated, but perhaps he has overestimated the girl's ability to reflect upon herself.

"I see..."

Vergil cannot relate to that, and so does very little to mask his skepticism as to how exactly that could be even remotely enjoyable. He continues making his way further down the aisle towards the amps.

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