OPEN POST; [ SEPHIROTH / FFVII ]

[supersoldier]

those chosen by the planet.

(( despite the ominous choice of music i default to a pre-nibelheim canon point, but can play post-nibelheim upon request! ))

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got no more shelter, no more sun.

[supersoldier]

[He can’t find him.

Vergil was supposed to meet him beyond the boundaries of Shinra HQ, adhering to their clockwork agreement like so many times before. He’s worked with the other man for a few weeks now, and while that’s not enough to develop true trust — especially for an individual like Sephiroth, who opens up only with time, and trusts completely in small increments — the other man had seemed reliable. No nonsense, straight to the point. All characteristics that Sephiroth could appreciate, that made him easier to work with than most of Midgar’s populace who always expected just a little more from him in turn.

Shinra included.

But he wasn’t there two days ago. Same spot yesterday, same time, and he’s just as missing. Today, he chooses not to stand around and wait, instead taking to Midgar’s murky streets, eyes scanning for anyone familiar.

He isn’t the usual visitor to the slums, or anywhere in the close vicinity. In this sector, he can feel every person’s eyes on his back, and it funnels him deeper into military professionalism, stone-cold and unapproachable. It works — there are only whispers of his passing, but none are bold enough to walk up to him, not even the children. Not when he looks like there’s something he’s seeking, suffering no interruptions.

For a long while there’s nothing, just a struggling populace and night threatening to overtake Midgar. But finally, down an alleyway, he sees a familiar stature, a familiar shock of white hair, and his gait turns, hastens, and he calls out with each syllable shearing outbound through the air—]

Where have you been? If our arrangement is suddenly disagreeable to you, I expect communication on that front.

[slapntickle]

[here was dante, minding his own business in kicking down a couple of trash cans and just overall being a menace, the surly owner of the devil may cry shop. scaring kids off is easy when you make a big show of it, but they seem to keep coming back to try and prank him or get inside the shop and play with toys that are definitely not for kids.]

[he's in the middle of grabbing one of the children by the ankle and pulling them up from the dumpster—the child, laughing like this is the best thing to ever happen to him, squirms and wriggles, but dante's hold is stalwart.]

Listen here, you little demon—

[and yet his words are cut off as a man of defined poise and too-long hair comes bearing questions at him. he's in some kind of uniform, so dante just glares at the kid, hissing hurriedly you got the cops involved, i'm going to gut you and make minced meat pie out of you. but the kid quickly denies any kind of knowledge about this — and is desperately trying to remove himself from dante's hold.]

[dante does relent, setting the kid back on his feet—it's just playing around, after all!—and the kid scampers off the opposite way to meet his friends. orphans have it rough in midgar.]

Hey, hey, mister polished!

[casual as can be, dante approaches with nonchalance and a smartass vibe.]

I've been here, in my shop, minding my own business. I ain't got anything to talk to your kind, so if this is one of those schemes to get me thrown into jail, I won't go quietly. I got a clean-ass record to upkeep.

[supersoldier]

[It only takes a moment, but Sephiroth knows nigh immediately that this is not the right man.

If the act of dangling a kid out from a dumpster did not inform him of this revelation, everything else about the other stranger would. He has the look of Vergil (the right features, at least, even if the hair and manner of dress was all wrong), but there’s a swagger to this one where the other had been straight-backed and no-nonsense. His words are heated, cocksure, aggravating if Sephiroth were the sort to easily be aggravated.

As it stands, the silver-haired SOLDIER remains still as Dante approaches him. The faint glow of green eyes flicker dimly in the dark, casting an eerie mako haze across a few planes of his face.]

I’m not here to detain you. Unless you give me a reason.

[The warning is purposeful. Sephiroth does not suffer fools when they come sauntering his way; he hasn’t the time for it tonight.]

You look just like him.

[slapntickle]

[all it takes are those words for dante to know immediately what this is about. he rolls his eyes then tilts his head downwards, shaking his head and clicking his tongue like this is some funny joke he's heard too many times for his particular liking.]

[when he raises his head, there's a grin on his face, but his eyes are cold and hard, as if representing the rage that he's working hard to keep inside and paint pretty with easy mannerisms and upwards curves of his face.]

No shit, Sherlock.

You're looking for Vergil. [a hand moves forward, pointing, accusing.] My idiot brother.

['idiot' is hardly the word to describe vergil, for he's incredibly smart. and yet, calling out his idiocy doesn't seem to stem at all from how smart dante may or may not think his twin is; rather, it comes from somewhere else, at how dante considers his brother's ideas and ways of going about things idiotic.]

[pulling his hand back, dante pushes the bangs on his forehead to resemble the twin, but they fall into place soon as he brings his hand back down.]

Good luck finding that asshole, unless he's already dead. [his jaw tightens. vergil's been missing for some time now.] But you Shinra dogs would know all about that.

[supersoldier]

Are you insinuating something?

[Sephiroth refuses to let surprise show on his features when Dante pushes his hair back, looking like a cocksure version of Vergil. As far as he’s concerned, he’s just found himself a connection — one that, apparently, is less than willing to help.

But shared blood is a connection nonetheless. He wonders if it’s bad blood, but that will provide him context, if nothing else.]

Shinra’s had nothing to do with his disappearance. Why else would I be out here looking for him?

[He steps forward, closer, and finally that distance is closed between them.]

But if you’re his brother, then you’re my first real lead. Help me locate him.

[slapntickle]

[dante breathes sharply through his nose, making a face in response to the question. the silver-haired man does make a point, but dante is not about to give him the satisfaction that dante thinks he's right. truth be told, for all the bravado and rebel attitude that dante represents, he's genuinely concerned for vergil's disappearance. his older brother is never gone for too long, and never without letting the younger of the two know if he's going to fuck off for a while or not. this is different—rather out of nowhere, really, and it's enough to cause concerned.]

[as much as he'd hate admitting he was worried in the first place.]

How could I possibly help? Vergil does as he wants. Don't you got trackers on the people in Midgar anyway? Big rooms with hundreds of screens, monitoring our every move. Huh?

[#conspiracy theories]