[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.

Comments

[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."