Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on Apr 3, 2013 14:06:12 GMT -5
Dante was a mess, plain and simple. His heart was broken and it seemed there was no fixing it. Of course this wasn’t the first time this had happened, not by a long shot. He’d had other girlfriends, and on a few lucky occasions it was he who had been brave enough to call it quits, but this time he’d been on the receiving end of the phrase ‘this isn’t going to work’. The normally outgoing and flamboyant blonde had been reduced to a crying heap, having locked himself in his room to hide his sorrow from the world. Even his sisters had only seen him briefly when he ventured out for food only to retreat back under the covers, eyes red with tears accompanied by dark circles due to a lack of sleep. Felicia and Guiliana had tried everything, as had their parents. Their mother had only made him mope even more if at all possible and their father hadn’t the slightest clue what to say since apparently it had been him that did the heartbreaking in his heyday. Not knowing what else to do, they let him mope for the most part, but the entire situation was getting ridiculous. Once again, Guiliana rapped loudly on her brother’s door only to receive no answer. The music was so loud she could not only make out the words but also name the exact song and artist. Rolling her eyes and heaving a sigh, she pounded a closed fist against the door, ”Fratellone, questo sta diventando ridicolo!”((Big brother, this is getting ridiculous!)) No response, although she could’ve sworn she heard a dull thud. She waited a moment to see if the sound perhaps meant that her brother had rolled out of bed and was crawling his way to the door. After a moment she growled and threw open the door. There was Dante, lying next to a mostly empty pint of ice cream, spoon still in his mouth as he stared blankly at the ceiling. The blonde hadn’t bothered getting dressed at all; it wasn’t like he was going to school that day. Still clad in his pajamas, his hair was a mess of curls that would usually have been straightened into submission by now. It was worse than she thought. Placing her hands on her hips, the youngest Giovanni child scowled at her brother, “Dante, sono passati tre giorni! Mamma dice che devi venire al piano di sotto e mangiare qualcosa di diverso da gelato. Non si può perdere la scuola solo a causa di una ragazza. Io ti conosco, troverete uno nuovo entro la fine della settimana, probabilmente.”((Dante, it’s been three days! Mom says you have to come downstairs and eat something other than ice cream. You can’t miss school just because of some girl. I know you, you’ll find a new one by week’s end probably.)) Dante still lay unresponsive, apparently dead to the world. His sister waited for a moment before huffing and slamming the door shut. Fine, he could rot in there for all she cared. He’d get over it eventually; he just needed something to shock him out of it. The blonde was currently going through varying stages of shock and sorrow, switching between staring blankly at nothing and sobbing into the pillows on his bed in intervals of roughly every ten minutes. All he could this was that he could’ve done something. He knew why Nat had left, she’d told him as much. She’d been incapable of dealing with the events that had transpired with the creepy bird monster and the madness it had subsequently unleashed. Dante’s only train of thought for days had been that somehow he should have been able to help her then, and that if he’d been able to do so that she would still be here. Like clockwork tears came again, welling up in his eyes easily. Not even trying to stop them from falling, Dante instead let the spoon fall from his mouth so he could roll over and lay face down, hiding his tears that way. This also had the added bonus of muffling any forthcoming sobs, although the music blasting through his room accomplished that quite well. He wondered briefly if he should turn it down rather than risk hearing loss but quickly decided it wasn’t worth it. He didn’t care if he went deaf at this rate, all he wanted to do was wallow in his grief.
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Post by Nathaniel Zsoldos on Apr 4, 2013 0:39:27 GMT -5
Nate knocked on the door of Dante's house, looking concerned. Dante hadn't been to school in three days, and knowing the Sicilian's flair for the dramatic, if he had been sick he would have called Nathaniel and begged him to come keep him company, or at the very least texted him when he got bored. However, it had been radio silence for three days, and now Nathaniel was getting worried. He couldn't say why - something about Dante not answering his phone or showing up to class bothered him. Unable to convince himself that Dante was fine, he had finally bucked up and walked to his house after classes.
It was hard to find his house, since Nathaniel was terrible with directions, but he eventually wandered into the right neighborhood after asking directions from a girl who was riding her bike. Once he found Dante's neighborhood, it was easy enough to remember how to find his house. It wasn't that far away, after all, and Nathaniel had walked to it with Dante enough times that he didn't need to ask directions more than the once.
He knocked again, wondering if anyone was home. He could hear the faint sound of music being played. Nathaniel stepped back slightly, wondering if Felicia or Guiliana were home. Maybe they were in a back room, and couldn't hear him knocking. Maybe the music he was hearing was too loud? He rang the doorbell once for good measure, but eventually pulled his phone out and scrolled down to Guiliana's name. He hadn't told Dante that he had acquired both of the Giovanni sister's numbers at some point, in case he needed to get a hold of his best friend in a situation like this. Well, mostly that. It was true for Guiliana. Felicia had been a bit more of the "wink smile here's my number," not that he minded much. Dante's sisters reminded him of older, sassier versions of his own little sister.
He clicked the "call number" button, holding his phone to his ear and staring up at the second floor windows, wondering what had happened to Dante. Nathaniel hoped everything was all right - it wasn't like the Demon Rapier to suddenly drop off of the face of the earth. "Pick up, pick up," he muttered, getting more and more anxious as the phone rang.
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Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on Apr 4, 2013 20:30:41 GMT -5
Guiliana’s phone was buzzing. Who the hell was calling, didn’t they know she’d skipped school to take care of her lame ass brother? Seeing the caller ID, though, the youngest Giovanni child quickly amended her previous statement. It was Nate! Picking up instantly she waved frantically up the stairs to her sister. Felicia ignored her from where she leaned against the kitchen island with a half empty carton of orange juice, not wanted to deal with Dante anymore at the moment. She’d been up most of the night trying to get him to eat something to no avail save for too much ice cream. Guiliana held the phone to her ear,
“Please tell me you’re fucking nearby because we have got a serious fucking situation here that has gotten stupidly out of ha-is that knocking? Figlio di una cagna, you’re at the front door aren’t you? I’m a fucking moron, hold on.”
Snapping her phone shut, Guiliana placed it back in her pocket and hoofed it to the door, sliding along the wooden floors as she neared her destination and coming to a halt near the small foyer. Throwing open the door she let out an exasperated sigh,
“Oh, grazie a Dio! Get in here, Dante needs you!”
Guiliana unceremoniously grabbed a hold of Nate’s wrist and yanked him inside, slamming the door behind him. Dragging him along forcibly behind her, Felicia gave a wry smile and a wave as the young sister dragged him through the kitchen and up the stairs,
“Felicia and I have tried fucking everything to get him back to his old self but right now the only thing he seems to want to take advice from are hellishly bad break up songs and the ice cream fairy since he’s eaten probably four damn pints of it in the past twenty four hours alone. “
A sharp corner after reaching the top of the stairs came and she continued dragging poor Nate along behind her,
“I mean really, all this fucking drama over some bitch of a girl. Just you watch, he’ll forget her in two fucking weeks tops, but right now he needs a damn good kick in the ass from someone close to him, and that my dear Nathaniel is where you come in.”
Dante’s room sat in the middle of the hallway. Not even bothering to knock, Guiliana kicked the door open and wandered inside, expecting Nate to follow her,
“Fratellone, you have a visitor.”
Dante had not moved save for now being seen lying face down in a half-eaten pit of ice cream, one arm dangling off the side of his bed while the other was buried under a pillow. His hair was a curly mess and the blonde was still in naught but his pajama pants. If his sister didn’t know any better, she’d have thought he was dead. The music hit them both like a wall of concrete, Guiliana scowling and covering her ears as she raced to shut off the stereo at last,
“No that’s okay Dante, don’t fucking get up, not like you’re being total micino for the third day in a row!”
The only response was a muffled whimper coming from Dante’ face being half buried in ice cream. Guiliana rolled her eyes and glided past Nate, clapping a hand on his shoulder and nodded at her brother,
“Good luck. You’ll fucking need it.”
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Post by Nathaniel Zsoldos on Apr 4, 2013 20:56:17 GMT -5
It was worse than Nate had thought. When Guiliana had picked up the phone, her frantic voice had done nothing to soothe his fears, but as soon as he was unceremoniously ushered inside and the story poured out in between curses, he suddenly could see the situation with absolute clarity. He managed to get a wave in to Felicia before he was pushed and pulled up the stairs - for such a small girl, Guiliana was extremely forceful. There was nothing he could do but nod along and try not to trip as she yanked him up to Dante's room.
She kicked Dante's door open, and Nathaniel sighed and shook his head at the sight and sounds that greeted him. He turned around to ask Guiliana to turn the music off, but she had disappeared. He didn't blame her. When Dante got in his drama queen-ish moods he could be a bit hard to work with, but Nate had no idea how to get him out of something like this. Breakups were rough. Guiliana and Felicia were probably at their wit's end.
Anyways, before he could do anything he had to hear himself think. He made his way over to the stereo and turned the volume down until it was just a quavering whisper. The sudden lack of noise made Nathaniel's ears ring. He pushed up his sleeves and, carefully making his way to the window, shoved the curtains back and let the sunlight flood in.
"Up you get, Dante," he said, voice sunny. No response. Not that he was really expecting one - if it wasn't for the small movement that suggested breathing, Nathaniel would have thought Dante was dead. Hooking his arms around his friend's waist, he lifted him up in a fireman's carry over his shoulder, hefting the depressed Dante like a sack of potatoes - and he was much heavier than he seemed. "That ice cream was not good to you," Nathaniel muttered as he steered himself in the direction of the bathroom.
He knew Dante wouldn't do anything. He would let himself be carted anywhere and he'd languish wherever he was dropped, too sad to move. It was up to Nate to get him back to his usual self - or, at least, a Dante that didn't lay in bed for three days crying.
Setting Dante in a sitting position in the shower, still in his pajamas and back facing the shower head, Nate winced and said, "Sorry, buddy," turning on the ice cold water before Dante had a chance to either slump down or escape.
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Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on Apr 5, 2013 21:26:21 GMT -5
The music being shut off barely registered to Dante. He was still buried deep within his thoughts of self-loathing and pining over his now ex-girlfriend. The silence hit him and somehow made his chest hurt even more. He could hear himself breathe and think and that wasn’t something he wanted. Self-awareness was low on his list of things to achieve at the moment, but the Sicilian could not force himself to move regardless and lay there like a slug, hoping that whoever had been fool enough to come over would leave him to mourn the broken pieces of his heart in piece. He silently prayed to the ice cream that currently was numbing his face that is wasn’t his Meister. He didn’t think he would be able to handle Tori seeing him in such a state, she’d never let him hear the end of it, but he expected there would be more yelling by now if the Brit were present.
What the hell was the torment that seared his skin? The curtains had been drawn for three days and Dante had only ever ventured downstairs for food at night when nobody would be around to see his disheveled state. The sunlight felt like tiny pinpricks along his skin. The blonde fidgeted but did not stir until a moment later, letting out a string of garbled and muffled whimpers as he blindly waved an arm in front of him signaling the voice he identified as Nate’s to shut the damn window. That didn’t happen though, so only seconds later Dante became motionless again.
Dante made no move to stop Nate from picking him up; he didn’t have the strength for it. He didn’t feel like he could do anything, all of his limbs felt heavy and his face was totally numb as a result of being half buried in ice cream for the past twenty minutes at least. As Nate lifted him over his shoulder, the container stuck on the blonde face for a bit, only falling to the floor as they reached the hallway. Dante’s food of choice when attempting to eat his feelings happened to be coffee ice cream, resulting in most of his face looking like he’d gotten into a fight with a latte and lost.
The Sicilian let himself be hauled down to the bathroom at the end of the hall without protest, feeling more pathetic than ever now that his best friend had seen him in such a sorry state. Dante let Nate drop him into the shower, barely registering where he even was; at least until the freezing barrage of water droplets hit his back. All at once the blonde was wide awake, letting out high pitched yelp he previously wouldn’t have thought himself capable of and curling into a ball and falling over on his side. Why? Why freezing water? Why anything? He should be in bed wallowing in despair, not soaked through to the skin and shivering. Maybe he’d catch a break and turn into an icicle in the shower. He was pretty sure then he wouldn’t feel so miserable. Still not saying anything, he batted a hand at the stream of water, hissing at it as he became drenched.
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Post by Nathaniel Zsoldos on Apr 16, 2013 15:27:34 GMT -5
Head propped up on his chin, elbow resting on the side of the shower, Nathaniel shook his head sadly at his friend. "Dante, it's just water. Stop acting like some sort of feral cat." He rose and turned the icy stream of water off, pulling a towel off of the throwing a towel over Dante. "Here, dry off. If you're still not behaving normally I'm gonna let your sisters at you."
He had no idea if the threat would fall on deaf ears or not. In any case, he continued on, sitting on the closed toilet lid and waiting to see what Dante did. While he observed, he continued talking, hoping to draw Dante back from wherever he had gone.
It must have been pretty bad, considering the state his friend was in now. For the first time, Nathaniel realized that Dante's hair was curly. Had it always been like that? A cursory glance at the hair supplies on the counter nearby showed at least two straighteners and more hair products than Nathaniel had seen outside his own bathroom. For some reason, the fact that Dante tried to hide his curly hair didn't surprise him. It sort of fit into his dramatic personality.
Opening the door and walking to the opening of the stairs, Nate waved at Felicia, who was in the kitchen, to get her attention. "Hey, would you mind boiling some water? I'm gonna make Dante some real food," he called down, hoping that for once the older Giovanni sister wouldn't make a large fuss. Getting acknowledgement from her that she heard him, he trekked back to the bathroom to see how far Dante had gotten in drying himself off - or even moving out of the shower.
"So. Guiliana said something about a breakup," Nate said, deciding not to sugar coat anything. "You wanna tell me what happened?"
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Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on Apr 16, 2013 22:49:13 GMT -5
Dante continued to be hunched over, leering at the frigid water that pelted him until Nate was kind enough to turn it off. If the gentle giant listened closely enough, he may have heard the blonde give a very low growl. It was meant for the shower head, but could have been easily mistaken as Dante merely expressing his displeasure at being suddenly doused in cold water. As a towel was thrown over him, the Sicilian vaguely began to return to his body. He’d been living in his head for so long he’d nearly forgotten how. The blonde barely moved, suddenly feeling how achy his body was from keeping mostly still for three days. In addition, a tad of bitterness rose up in him before he could stop it, though it seemed like nothing more than the mutterings of a teenage boy half mad with heartbreak. Peering out from under the towel, a single golden eye could be seen as he finally spoke to Nate,
“Maybe I am a feral cat. Maybe I’m relapsing.”
This train of thought made absolutely no sense. At the moment, though, Dante nearly wished he was a cat. He could sleep all day and be adored for it, plus he’d never have to worry about break ups. There was the matter of having to go to the vet which was ultimately why his brain decided being cat wasn’t all that great after all. As Nate vanished for a moment, Dante managed to roll himself up into a sitting position. That alone made a few joints pop, unused to the sudden movement. Groaning, Dante tried to remember the last time he moved that wasn’t to go downstairs to get ice cream. His eyes suddenly were wide open in a blank stare as the sheer amount that he’d eaten hit him. Good God.
So. Much. Ice cream.
Just thinking about it made his stomach hurt. Downstairs, he could hear Nate speaking to one of his sisters, although he didn’t quite catch which. Felicia, while still looking a haggard mess, had given the punk boy a salute and a rather flirtatious grin before rising from where she sat and going about the task of putting on a pot of water to boil. She couldn’t cook, but she could at least do that. When Nate returned, he’d find Dante had not yet migrated from the shower but was at least sitting up and had the towel draped over his head and shoulders.
The blonde sat in the corner, still looking quite crestfallen. Now that he was mostly back in his right mind, reality had hit him very hard upside the head with a rather large hammer, or at least that’s what it felt like to him. He was still miserable for the most part, and Natsuki was still gone. At Nate’s words, he nodded. It would be Guiliana, but then again she’d also threatened to go after his now ex-girlfriend and show what happened when you made a Giovanni cry. Dante’s mother had dissuaded her, thankfully. The Sicilian didn’t particularly want to talk about it, but he owed Nate a bit of an explanation. God, he hoped his friend would let him live this down. He felt like such a loser. Not looking him in the eye, Dante instead stared at his hands that were folded lightly in his lap,
“You had to have heard about what happened at Shibusen a little while ago with that damned bird thing and how it let out that madness laden shriek. Well, Natsuki and I were both there when it happened. Right next to the thing, that was where we were and that was what led up to this more or less.”
Dante drew his knees up to his chest, huddling in the corner of the shower and pulling the towel tighter around him. He rested his chin atop one knee and looked up at the ceiling,
“It got to me, but my Meister was there and she pulled me back from it before I did something stupid. Natsuki wasn’t so lucky; the madness knocked her out cold. That scared her, bad enough that nothing I said helped or comforted her at all and now she’s gone. She went back to Japan, said she needed some time away from Shibusen to get a handle on things. Neither of us wanted to do the whole long distance thing so we split up.”
His voice broke a bit at the end, but he reined in it quickly. He wasn’t going to cry in front of Nate, his pride wouldn’t let him.
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Post by Nathaniel Zsoldos on May 5, 2013 18:12:20 GMT -5
Sitting down near the tub, Nate propped his arm up on the side and waited for Dante to tell him what was going on.
The first thing he heard was slightly surprising, but as Nate listened he realized how it went together with the breakup. Nate had heard about the bird thing - that day, he had been taking a nap, and hadn't heard any of the commotion until later when other students had filled him in. Whatever it was, it had been very big and very scary. In secret, Nathaniel wondered if Natsuki didn't have the right idea, somehow - he had never met her, but if she was scared enough, removing herself from the environment couldn't be a bad thing if it freaked her out that badly. Maybe a break from Shibusen was what was best for her.
Then again, he did feel bad for Dante - obviously a breakup wasn't what was best for him. The kid was four seconds away from breaking into tears. Nate reached out and patted his friend's knee, giving him a sympathetic smile. "I can't blame her for getting scared, but I am sorry," he said. "Breakups suck."
He felt a little traitorous thinking it, but Nate was having a hard time seeing how a situation like that lead to Dante being out of school for three days. He chalked it up to his pal's flair for the dramatic - that, and the freshly broken heart. Nathaniel had been through a few breakups, but he was inherently too practical to miss school, no matter how much he hurt. It was time to inject some practicality into Dante, because although Nate could understand his feelings, enough was enough. If he came across as insensitive, so be it.
Straightening up and putting his hand on the cold water tab, Nate began talking. "Okay. First, you're going to get dressed, or I turn the cold water on again. Then, you're gonna meet me in the kitchen, because you need to eat something other than ice cream. We're gonna have a cry session, and then we're going on a walk, because you've been moping for long enough." He raised his eyebrow at Dante. "Deal?"
There was a scarily calm look in Nate's eye. Even though his face was just as pleasant and smiley as usual, he was being incredibly serious, an air that didn't often surround him.
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Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on May 6, 2013 21:41:50 GMT -5
The pat on his knee jostled Dante enough that he looked a bit like a bobble head doll on a dashboard for a moment before righting himself. He didn’t have the will to make himself sit still. Dante did, however, agree with Nate. He knew that Nat had been scared, he’d heard it in her voice and seen it on her face plain as day when they’d talked a bit after the occurrence just before she left. Maybe it wasn’t the whole breakup thing so much as it was the way he hadn’t been able to do anything for her that was upsetting him. Dante had wanted to protect her and Tori, and he’d technically failed at both considering they’d all gone mad for at least a little bit. He still remembered the rush he’d felt and a chill went through him just thinking about it. He never wanted to feel that sadistic towards anything ever again.
Nate’s sympathy did make him feel a bit better, though. Giving his friend the smallest smile he could must, Dante finally made eye contact, teary eyed though he was,
“I don’t blame her either. We were all scared and half mad that day, and I’ll be damned if the thought of that thing doesn’t still terrify me. I just wish I’d been able to help her more, you know? I wanted to keep her safe and protect her and I couldn’t do that.”
The blonde hunched his shoulders, the towel over him shifting and falling back to reveal half of his face. Dante looked ten times better just being actively awake, even if he was still wet and mildly freezing from the cold water that had been unceremoniously sprayed on him. He didn’t blame Nate, though, he actually was glad it was him that had found him and not someone like Tori. Nate he could handle, but Tori seeing him like this he would never live down, what’s more she’d probably only taunt him and make him feel worse. Dante adored his Meister, she was like a third little sister to him, but she really wasn’t one for emotional touchy-feely situations like he currently seemed to be stuck in.
While Dante would have moved more gradually out of huddling in the shower corner, seeing Nate put his hand back on the cold water tab made the blonde press back against the wall and looked suspiciously at his friend. What was he up to? Listening to the tall boy speak, Dante blinked up at him. At a glance he still seemed a bit dazed, but that was just because his eyes still appeared a bit watery. Dante would do just about anything to avoid being hit with a cascade of cold water again truth be told, but he figured being verbal would be better than trying to simply bolt from the room. All things considered, he also wasn’t in any condition to be running having eaten nothing but frozen dairy treats for three days. Holding up his hands and looking rather pointedly at the hand grasping the cold water tap, his eyes never left it,
“I think I can manage that, just please no more impromptu showers from the ice age! You’re gonna give me hypothermia!”
Judging by the look on Nate’s face, the generally gentle giant meant business too. Dante would have agreed regardless, but he thought it best to be prompt rather than pause and risk getting hit by more freezing water for taking too long to answer.
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Post by Nathaniel Zsoldos on May 12, 2013 13:55:10 GMT -5
Nate moved his hand off of the tap and smiled plesantly. "You won't get hypothermia. Stop being so dramatic. Meet you downstairs, okay?"
With that, he stood up and made his way out of the bathroom, lightly traipsing down to the kitchen. True to her word, Felicia had started some water boiling, and it was simple work to grab a couple of eggs and set them carefully inside the pot. Nathaniel wasn't sure what he'd be making Dante, but protein and fruit and vegetables were high on his list. He grabbed an apron from the usual drawer (he had been to the Giovanni household enough times to know where they kept them) and started setting things out - bread for toast, eggs for pancakes, knives and spoons, mixing bowls. He took his rings off and put them carefully in his back pocket - the last thing he wanted to do was lose them. He washed his hands, rolled up his sleeves, and then threw himself into work.
He didn't know how long Dante would take to get downstairs, but he wanted to have at least something for him in the next five minutes. Setting a frying pan on the stove, he cracked two eggs and let them begin to fry, then bustled over to the toaster and put a couple of slices of bread in. By the time Dante did make his way into the kitchen, there would be fried eggs on toast for him, as well as orange juice and ice water that Nate had set on the counter. The tall mietser was busy alternating chopping fresh fruit and mixing pancake batter, humming to himself. He had set coffee up in case the sisters wandered though, knowing they'd come in to bug the boys eventually.
What Dante said kept running through his mind, though. I wanted to keep her safe and protect her and I couldn't do that. Nate realized he'd paused, and went back to stirring, ladling batter into another small pan he'd set on one of the back burners, flipping the eggs. It was just like Dante to take something like this pretty hard, but Nathaniel wondered if he could take it better, if he couldn't protect someone he loved. Realizing he'd spaced out again, he let out a small cry and, catching the toast just as it sprung up from the toaster, quickly saved the almost burning eggs by plopping them on top. "Phew," he said, setting the egg-on-toast on a plate and hoping Dante came downstairs soon.
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Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on May 14, 2013 20:29:05 GMT -5
Dante stop being dramatic? He’d cease to be. Surely Nate must have known that of his friend, but the blonde relaxed as soon as the imminent threat of being showered in freezing water was no longer hanging over his head. He watched Nate go and lingered for a moment. The Sicilian then heaved a sigh and clapped his hands to either side of his face. He’d spent three days teetering on the edge of emotional oblivion. It was time to wake up.
Hoisting himself up, Dante didn’t even make it out of the shower without managing to hurt himself. His toes caught on the edge of the tub and he fell completely forward, arms flailing uselessly and a rather shrill sound leaving him. For a moment the blonde simply lay there, face turned to the side to stare at the grating that sat over the heating vent. Clearly three days in bed had thrown him totally off his groove. Another sigh left him and Dante managed to push up off the ground, slowly getting to his feet. Each and every one of his limbs felt stiff and achy, but that was entirely his fault. After lying in bed for three days and eating nothing but ice cream, he was surprised he could move half as well as he was.
He made it down the hall alright but managed to bump his shoulder harder than he’d have liked in the doorframe upon reaching his room. Man, even the layout of the house was out to get him. Taking a glance around his room, it was all he could do to resist cringing. He hadn’t cleaned his room in three days either. Papers were strewn about and clothes that should have been in the dirty laundry hamper in the corner were tossed over random bits of furniture. Well, he knew what he was doing after Nate left at least. Future plans for cleaning aside, Dante stretched his arms over his head for a moment and winced at the dull popping of joints before deciding to make good on his promise of getting dressed.
A weight still hung off of him, though, even as Dante sifted through his dresser and threw on whatever he saw first that was clean. He didn’t feel quite right, but he felt better than he had even fifteen minutes ago. Even with Nate having kicked him in the ass, the events that had occurred wouldn’t leave him. He remembered the giant bird, everyone crowding around it. He remembered how Nat had told him to be careful, how he’d yelled the same to her. Then the memory of the scream came, the image of Nat succumbing and hitting the ground, and worse of all the feeling and thoughts of sadistic glee as his own mind had been overtaken by madness.
He’d frozen in place. Dante blinked, shook his head, and then covered his face with both hands. That was right. Natsuki leaving him had broken his heart, but the knowledge that the madness had taken him even for a brief few moments had broken his spirit and that was what had rendered him little more than a sobbing husk for three days. If Tori hadn’t been there…Dante didn’t want to think of about he may have done. At the least he would have gotten himself badly injured, at worst he may have gotten himself killed. She could be a piece of work sometimes, but God bless Victoria Pelham for slapping him across the face when she did. He couldn’t have asked for a better Meister.
Remembering himself at last, Dante realized he should have been downstairs by now. Turning a bit too quickly, he tripped his way to the door and put forth the effort to at least walk quickly downstairs and to the kitchen. Whatever Nate was cooking, it smelled divine. Then again Dante supposed that may have had to do with eating so much ice cream and ice cream only for three days. Felicia had been sitting relatively half asleep near the kitchen island until she saw him an suddenly she leapt to her feet,
“Stelle sopra, do my eyes deceive me? Nate you’re a miracle worker, Dante’s alive! He lives!”
Felicia hopped up from her place and hugged her older brother who protested instantly. Dante squirmed and made a rather pathetic mewling noise until she released him, flicking her on the forehead when she moved away,
“Zitto! I’m not dead, I’m a hot mess now go do your homework.”
Yup, her big brother was at least back in a sense. Felicia gave a smile and a wink towards Nate and exited the room. Dante sighed and leaned his head to one side for a minute. It felt awkward to move still after doing nothing but lie down for so long. Catching whiff of the food again, though, Dante’s stomach grumbled loudly and reminded him just how horribly he’d been treating it lately. Spying the egg-on-toast, Dante leaned nonchalantly against the kitchen island and plucked it from the plate, devouring half of it in seconds. The blonde was instantly convinced it was the single most delicious thing he’d ever tasted, nearly bringing tears to his eyes. Leaning his head on the counter to compose himself, he eventually looked to Nate,
“You’re my best friend, you know that right?”
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Post by Nathaniel Zsoldos on Jun 10, 2013 19:13:11 GMT -5
Turning once again and putting a fresh-off the griddle plate of pancakes in front of Dante, Nate smiled at him. "You're my best friend too. And best friends don't let best friends eat ice cream for three days!" The pancakes were lacking sugary syrup, instead topped with strawberries and blueberries and a slight bit of powdered sugar. There was sliced banana on the side, and the pancakes themselves had bits of whatever fruit Nate could find inside. Tapping the top of the orange juice glass with his spoon, Nathaniel gestured in a way that clearly said, "keep eating," although he was certain Dante didn't need any prompting. The kid had practically inhaled the egg-on-toast.
Nate went back to his cooking station, putting the sliced potatoes in with the omelet he was cooking. It was ready in minutes, and practiced hands moved the omelet onto a clean plate and set that in front of Dante as well. It was simple, as omelets went, with sliced potato, onion, peppers, and cheese, with a bit of sausage Nate had found at the back of the fridge. "Feel any better?" He asked, flipping the pancakes on the other burner. The color in Dante's cheeks had come back, and the food seemed to be giving him more life. It was wonderful change from the Dante of thirty minutes ago, the one who had ice cream in his hair and wouldn't speak except for grunts and unhappy sniffles.
Realizing the stack of pancakes was almost as tall as Arlie, Nathaniel flipped the last one onto the pile and turned the burner off. He wiped his hands on a towel and leaned on the kitchen island and watched Dante, chin propped up on his hand.
"So," he said conversationally, "I'm imposing a general ban on ice cream for a while. And sweets. And we're going to go for a jog later this week. You may not want to get back in the game, but we can at least burn off those three days while you heal that heart of yours." As Nate said heart, he prodded Dante's chest jokingly. "How are you feeling now?" He added, not meaning the physical stuff. Dante had been really, really hurt by the break-up, and it was obviously a deep cut. Nate wasn't leaving the house until he knew Dante wouldn't be relapsing into a self-inflicted vegetative state.
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Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on Jul 16, 2013 18:48:50 GMT -5
Dante resisted the urge to cringe at the mere mention of the word ‘ice cream’. He wondered how long that aversion would last, but his thoughts were cut short as soon as he saw the plate of pancakes Nate was sliding towards him. Eyes widening like he’d seen the secrets of the universe set before him, Dante needed no further prompting in order to keep eating. Taking up the nearest fork, Dante let his stomach take over control of his body and proceeded to wolf down the food set before him.
Every bite was delicious. Nate was doing a killer job of reminding him of just how little he’d eaten in three days. The blonde also could feel his energy returning as he appeased the angry kraken in his stomach, apparently upset at all the sugar he’d consumed over the past few days. Dante felt more awake, more alert as the pancakes quickly disappeared. He didn’t feel like he could go back to jumping over rooftops again just yet, but he at least was looking a bit peppier than he had even only a few minutes ago. Felicia was right. Nate really was a miracle worker, or at least he was in Dante’s eyes.
Feeling the remaining sharp edges of his dismal mood quickly ebbing away, the Sicilian paused only to answer Nate’s inquiries. Glancing over the omelet hungrily, he resisted the urge to simply slam his face into the plate and gave Nate a smile. It wasn’t half-hearted or weighted down with sadness. It was his usual smile, warm and lazy,
“A lot better. Maybe not climbing fire escapes and hopping along rooftops better, but I definitely feel more like myself again.”
Slowing down a bit in his feasting, Dante actually bothered to cut the omelet into pieces first, glancing up at Nate again before taking a bite,
“Thanks for kicking me in the ass and getting me out of bed, Nate. I really appreciate it, and I most definitely needed it.”
Plus Dante couldn’t think of anybody better to get him back on his feet. Felicia was lazy, Guiliana likely would have eventually set him on fire, and Tori…well, Tori was Tori. Nate was just the right amount of sternness mixed with kindness to know how to get Dante up and running again. At the mention of ice cream, Dante again cringed, but just barely. He nodded along to what Nate was saying as the omelet in front of him slowly but surely disappeared. The blonde was sure he could go without sweets for as long as need be, or at least until he’d generally forgotten the fiasco that had occurred before Shibusen. Hell, the mere thought of anything overly sugary made him mildly antsy. Dante again let the prod to the heart jostle him around like a ragdoll, but for comedy’s sake. The blonde set his fork down, actively thinking for a moment before answering,
“More like myself. In all honesty, just being back inside my own head is making me feel better after being so out of it. I lost who I was for a bit when that thing screamed, and I decided the best way to cope with that combined with losing Natsuki was to mope and lose myself further.”
Saying he’d lost it was a bit of an understatement in Dante’s mind. For a good couple of minutes, he’d been an entirely different person, and remnants of that still sat like vultures and weighed heavily upon his shoulders. Sharp edges of loathing crept up on him with that train of thought, but he cut them off before they reached him fully. No, he wouldn’t be doing that again. Nate had busted his ass to get him back on his feet, the blonde wasn’t about to face plant back into despair again. Dante looked up at Nate and gave him a grin,
“But I definitely feel like I’m past that now!”
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Post by Nathaniel Zsoldos on Dec 27, 2013 16:29:35 GMT -5
Nate poured himself a glass of orange juice and pulled out a chair, sitting next to Dante. He could see Dante making an effort to be perfectly fine, but it sent a small pang through his being.
"You don't have to be at a hundred percent," he said, slowly, "but you do look better." He took a sip of the juice. "You're allowed to be bummed out for a bit. Nobody's gonna be mad at you for that. Just as long as you don't disappear on us again." Nate raised his eyebrow and downed the rest of the glass of juice before standing back up and beginning to put dishes in the sink.
There was plenty of food for seconds, but he was going to let Dante serve himself the next round. His smile was enough reassurance Nate needed of his recovery. Now that the worst was over, Nate allowed himself to relax. He hadn't wanted to dwell on it until just now, but the kid had scared him - Dante's depressive episode was so out of the typical for Dante. At least, the Dante Nate had just gotten to know. He was infinitely relieved that the Sicilian had responded so well to food. Nate wasn't sure what he would have done if the cold shower and pancakes hadn't snapped his friend out of it.
Nate turned on the warm water and filled the sink with dish soap, and the clean smell mingled with the recent food made the kuchen feel homey, cozy. Grabbing a sponge from the sideboard, Nate began scrubbing the frying pans, but didn't ignore Dante.
"Is there anything else you need?" He asked, turning back toward Dante, his hands pausing their work for a moment. "I was thinking after this we should go on a walk. You know, get you some fresh air."
Honestly, Nate hadn't thought this far. He had really been focused on getting Dante closer to his old self, but his plan sort of stalled around that step.
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Dante Giovanni
Weapon
Demon Rapier
Among thorns grow roses.
Posts: 122
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Post by Dante Giovanni on Feb 2, 2014 0:31:28 GMT -5
“I feel better.”
True in its own way, but also something that Dante needed to say out loud. That made it feel real, at least to him. To be fair he couldn’t ignore how he still felt like there was a weight pulling down on his heart, though it had lessened significantly since Nate had gotten him out of bed and made him eat. He still missed her. All that crying and moping around for days, and still he couldn’t get the memory of what it was like to hold her hand out of his head. Dante grimaced but only for a moment, letting the expression relax into a look that appeared more tired than anything else. He doubted the feeling would leave him quickly, but he at least felt like he was healing. Subtly trying to sneak a couple of pancakes onto his now empty plate, the blonde filled Nate in on what he was thinking between bites. He felt like if he didn’t keep talking he would worry him, and Dante already felt like he’d worried his poor punk friend enough, “Yeah, one hundred percent isn’t really how I’m feeling right now. I’m maybe at like…seventy-five. No wait,” he popped another bite of pancake into his mouth, chewed, swallowed, and then grinned, “make that eighty!”
Food worked miracles, but he wasn’t going to lie to his best friend. He doubted he would be feeling like he was firing on all cylinders for a bit. The only reason he felt to jittery now was likely due to the fact that he’d lain around in bed for three days. He was itching to move, even if he didn’t feel like scaling buildings just yet. But the urge to move was coupled with residual fatigue from feeling down. His limbs felt heavy, though that was starting to leave him now that he had food to give him energy. A leisurely smile hung on his lips as he finished the pancakes on his plate, leaning against the kitchen island and watching as Nate started on cleaning up some of the dishes. He felt so calm now that it seemed strange, that he’d been so upset just recently.
Shaking his head at Nate’s inquiry, he did straighten and cross his arms at the proposition of a walk. That did sound like a good idea, particularly since he could use the exercise after three days of ice cream. Uncrossing his arms, Dante let his hands rest on his hips and nodded, “I think a walk would do me good. I’m in no condition to go jumping along rooftops yet, but I could definitely use some fresh air. Three days of darkness has made me miss the feeling of the sun on my skin.”
At the last, Dante smiled. With his shoulders down and his head up, he looked entirely relaxed. There was a light in his eyes again.
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