[closed-ish] if the clouds don't clear

[darkinferno]

WHO: Dante + MANY PEOPLE
WHERE: All over the city + dreamscapes
WHEN: Between 10/3 and 10/13
WHAT: Nightmares and fog encounters!
WARNINGS: Mentions of character death, an NPC on a noose, murder. LOOK FAMILY FEUD WAS A THING, OKAY.

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[darkinferno]

Dante moves in alongside Togusa, his stolen Keyblade held in guard. He extends it as Togusa kneels down, placing the tip of the blade's prongs just over the boy's chest... and Togusa yanks the hood back.

And there's nothing.

The moment the hood starts to move, the figure (as well as the Keyblade Dante's holding) dissolves, nothing more than little wisps carried away on the slightest of breezes. Anything could have been beneath that hood, be it human, monster, or machine--they'll never know now. But that's all right by Dante, who releases a long sigh and seems to finally relax.

Damn.

He shakes his head, then turns his attention to the other man. "Thanks, Togusa. I don't know what would've happened if you hadn't shown up when you did."

[standalonehuman]

Togusa pulls back, startled, but as soon as he sees what is happening, he realizes he shouldn't have expected anything different at all. He heaves a sigh at the same time as Dante, just a breath out while he shoves his gun back in the holster.

"Me?" Togusa shakes his head, looks up at Dante in some disbelief. "You could've taken him." Blunt. "You've gotten even better since August." He dusts his hands off and stands up. "Or maybe that's what you always looked like when you haven't been through three weeks of crap first."

"Any guesses on who it was?" Sorry, his thoughts are still on the information they didn't get.

[darkinferno]

Dante shakes his head. "No idea. All I know is that I've seen him before. Last month, when Cleo..." lost it for a moment? Chased the rabbit? "When she broke my arm. I remembered that guy doing the same thing to my other self. I apparently fought him before--or the other me did, at least."

He pauses, his eyes drifting to one side. "And... you're wrong. The other me, he couldn't beat him. Not by himself."

I have to release the power in my heart--the dark power I've been holding back.

It's maybe a good thing that he's been wearing the blindfold this whole time. It keeps his eyes from Togusa's view.

[standalonehuman]

Togusa's response is immediate, almost before Dante is done speaking. "I wasn't talking about the other guy. I meant you. You could take him."

"That other guy seems interesting and all, but he's not the one I care about." Again, being exceptionally blunt, because that seems to be the only way to get a message through Dante's thick skull. "Use his abilities and the things you learn from him to live your own damn life. That's what we're all out here trying to do, isn't it?"

"So don't accept his limitations, either."

[darkinferno]

Whoa, what? Even with his eyes hidden, Togusa can probably read the lines of Dante's posture to see that he's a bit taken aback by the intensity of his response.

"No, that's not what I--" Dante shakes his head again. "I've gotten better since August, sure, but the other guy had years of experience behind him where every day was like that fight at the end of August. He was a lot better at fighting than I was. That's not me being hard on myself, Togusa, that's just a fact."

He meets Togusa's gaze now though, staring directly at him. "I'm not going to make the same mistakes he did, though. I've got people around me that'll help keep that from happening."

[standalonehuman]

Togusa knows where his own faith lies, but he nods resolutely at Dante's last words. "I can accept that much." Because he knows that he is one of the people Dante is talking about.

He finally looks away after a long moment, looks up the road, and tilts his head towards back where he is parked. "I can give you a ride, get you out of here quicker, minimize any kind of risk." Another thing that Togusa is having to keep an eye on this month.

[darkinferno]

Togusa is definitely one of the people that Dante's talking about. The few people he's confided in... he trusts them, wholeheartedly, no reservations.

But when Togusa makes the offer to give him a lift, he hesitates. "Thanks for offering, but... I don't know. I think maybe I should be out here to help everyone else. In case they run into something they can't handle alone."

Which admittedly is something a bit hypocritical, considering how he just needed Togusa's help to take care of his own demons, but... he can't just sit inside doing nothing.

(Please send him home, Togusa.)

[standalonehuman]

Togusa gives Dante a much more serious look. "Dante." With the tone of really? "If this month is anything like the others, we've got weeks ahead of us on this thing. We're in it for the long haul, so pace yourself and don't burn out fast. And it's trying to fight when you're tired that's going to get you hurt."

He again gestures back the direction he came. "It'll keep. I'm not the only one on patrol tonight, anyway." Let somebody else handle it, Dante.

[darkinferno]

He's right, honestly. And Dante knows he's right too, which is the more frustrating part...

(He frowns to himself; when had he started caring so much about looking out for people? What happened to the whole "not my problem" thing he'd always been so big on..?)

Hell, maybe that mindset should serve him well here. He can't make everything his problem, after all. Dante sighs, relenting. "You're right," he says, reaching up to untie the blindfold from his eyes. "Sure. A ride back would be pretty nice."