Scene #7339: Dante, It's Your Birthday Today

Owner	Pose
Vergil	Dante's 'flat' as it turns out, is in an old apartment building only accessible via the fire escape. In the alleyway that provides access, there is a dumpster overloaded with packed garbage bags. The smell is awful. Dante's flat is easily found, as it is the one with many scratches and gouges on it and around it. The door is ajar, allowing loud rock music to blast out. Upon entering, you see a single-room apartment, with a kitchenette, living area, and a bed off to the side. The only door leads into a bathroom, that Vergil is currently aggressively mopping. Tony himself, air-guitaring while standing on a battered couch. Sitting on said couch is Nell Goldstein, an elderly-looking woman smoking up a storm. "Hey! You made it!" Tony shouts in greeting.
Gawain	Gawain is here. Gawain is kinda late. Not on purpose, though. It's a birthday! Sadly, he doesn't know Tony well enough to know what he'd want for a present, and it's too short notice to grab anything. So he'll bring food and movies. Literally leaping up the fire escape instead of climbing because his arms are full, Gawain enters the room. He's got a pizza with the works, several varieties of wings, several varieties of Doritos, and several 2-liters of Mountain Dew in bags. If everyone else can't finish it, he will, because he's a Servant and can therefore eat way too much. "Happy birthday, Tony! It was too short notice to get a present, so I spent whatever money I would on as making this as much fun as possible." He starts laying things out on the closest table/kitchenette. "We've got an everything pizza, hot wings, garlic wings, BBQ wings, we've got Nacho Cheese Doritos, Cool Ranch, and Spicy, we've got the Mountain Dew, and I brought a movie." He pulls out the box - Killer Klowns From Outer Space 2, a movie that never existed in most worlds due to development hell. "I found this in the bargain bin!"
Cantio	It takes nearly twenty minutes for Cantio to find her way up, not because of bad directions, but because she spends so long trying to find a more conventional entrance. When circling the block for the fifth time fails to get her any closer to finding the entrance, she takes a look at the invitation again before looking for a more non-standard approach that won't draw too many eyes her way. Hopefully, nobody pays attention to the girl in the lavendar coat and bright anime hair scurrying up the fire escape some time after Gawain's already leapt up there himself. "Happy birthday!" She chimes in suddenly upon arrival, pulling the string on a little stringy paper launcher that doesn't quite explode upwards so much as it just sort of pops about as loud as a polite clap before leaving a dozen or so strands of wadded paper on the floor. Seeing Vergil mopping up seconds later, though, has her sheepishly ducking back over to scoop up the paper strands. "I didn't have quite as much time to refine the appearance, but you struck me as someone that liked music, so..." She reaches forward, yanks from a small cloud of musical notes, and out comes a child-sized cube! "... Oh! Um. Where should I put this?"
Vergil	Tony walks over and rubs his hands together in delight at the sight of the spread Gawain has brought. "Hell yeah! We could only afford a couple of pies after Verge bought all those cleaning supplies." He claps Gawain on the shoulder and takes the DVD. "Pffff. You know, I've fought a lot of weird things, but never a killer clown. Maybe someday huh?" Cantio's instinct to clean up after herself proves correct, as Vergil shoots a venomous glare at her from across the room the moment it goes off. "I've spent my entire day cleaning this sty of a dwelling. Don't undo my work. Or else." As the girl produces her gift, Tony pokes it. "What is it?" "Hurry up and let's get this show on the road!" Nell shouts from the couch, slamming the palm rest with the flat of her hand. "Y'all gifts ain't got shit on what I have anyway." Tony rolls his eyes and says, "Fine you old bat. Here, we'll start with knightboy's." Into an old and dented DVD player goes the movie. It's awful. It's hilarious. "Chainsaws don't do that to skin," Tony says with the air of an expert as the apartment fills with rusty revving. "And I refuse to believe a man this fat could move with such stealth," Vergil adds. He's not taken a seat, choosing to lean against the wall instead. "Would y'all shut your mouth, this is quality Americana you're consumin' right now!"
Gawain	Vergil gets a wave as Gawain spots him, even though Vergil is kinda an awful person and Gawain doesn't like him much. This is friendly! It's a birthday! Gotta be nice. As the movie goes in, Gawain takes a slice of pizza and a plate, and begins eating. Despite his nature as seemingly innocent, he doesn't avert his eyes from the horror or gore a single time. It doesn't faze him - he's seen worse. "Bones don't work that way! Agh!" Gawain says, and then realizes that Cantio is a small maiden and therefore might be Scared Of Horror Movies, as it usually goes, so checks over to her to see if she's doing alright, passing her pizza as a distraction if it turns out to be a problem.
Cantio	After being terrified sufficiently by Vergil, Cantio gets a chance to show off her latest... Masterpiece? After Tony gives it a poke and it enlarges to roughly the size of a jukebox. It bears the hallmarks of something that was put together without much time to sand down the rough edges: Sharp corners, seams where different chunks of whatever-it's-made-ofium were put together, and the weirdly oversized ovals that vaguely resemble eyes and the lever that vaguely resembles an arm are still missing paint. "It's a prototype music player! I heard about this strange man with..." She gestures in front of her forehead. "... Bulbous hair that was extremely popular in some worlds, so I tried to put my own spin on the jute-box." She gives the 'head' a smack, and it pops open like a boxy snake unhinging its jaw! "It can take discs, drives, sheet music, and even coins to play something at random. It should be sturdy enough to hit to change tracks, too." Nell's outburst, of course, has Cantio rethinking her strategy. "Should I have waited until later for...? O-oh well. Um. Yes, let's get started!" She's certainly high strung then, but once the movie begins... She actually seems much more relaxed. Gawain certainly doesn't need to worry about her, at the very least, although the offered pizza is taken and munched down wiit gusto. She's even excited at the particularly unbelievable bits. "As long as his stealth rating is high enough, though, he could be the size of a barge and still...! Mm. No, no, that doesn't make sense. Just reshaping the entire body to that size would... Would it? I might have to try some of these techniques one day." Naturally, her gaze turns to Tony and Vergil. "Have your bones ever done anything like that? If so, what did it feel like?"
Vergil	Watching the jukebox unfold, Tony's eyes widen. "Oh wow, this is great! Way better than my radio." He gestures at the boombox on the kitchen counter which is currently blaring the rock music. "Might be a bit of a squeeze to fit it in here but I'll make do." As the movie concludes, Dante looks to Cantio. "Oh yeah I've had some bad breaks in my days, but it doesn't really splinter like that. I think they used some cheap wood for the bone prop or something." "Hmph. If you cannot strike bone hard enough to make it crack, you're lacking," Vergil comments from the wall. "Yeah yeah, shut up broody boy. Put on the next movie Tony." Vergil only scowls, and goes to crack a window to clear the building cigarette smoke. "All right. Since we're on cheesy horror movies. This one is one of my favourites. Biohazard!" In goes the DVD. It depicts a rather cheap and goofily acted scenario where a crack team of soldiers go into a scary mansion and fight zombies and mutants. "Why didn't she have that on her is what I want to know," Tony asks as a character described as the 'master of unlocking' is issued a lockpick by another character. "Eh. Looks like crap really. My masterpiece would do it better," Nell quips as a character brags that their revolver is powerful 'especially against living things.' And at the end, where it is revealed that the commander of this unit is in on the plot, Vergil says, "He has the right idea. And a fine hairstyle besides." He slicks his own hair back as he says it.
Cantio	"Oh! There's a button on the side that compresses it if you need to move it easily. Just don't.. Er. do that when it still has something attached. Or inside." Cantio chimes in once again, failing to mention that fact that it'll also sound like it's shrieking briefly each time it has to shrink. "Wood bones... That explains it. A good blade and a proper cut might not even have to worry about... Erm. Cracking." Somehow, talking about it has her looking more squeamish than the effects on screen, although the jabs between Vergil and Tony has her chuckling moments later. "So competitive... You must really care for each other." Of course she had to go there. The zombie flick, meanwhile, has Cantio laughing at how cheesy it all ends up being. "They must have had fun filming all of this. The stilted dialogue, the strange camera angles... I wonder. Do you think there's a market for Elites making their own awful movies?" She directs that question at nobody in particularly while pouring some soda for everyone, making sure each one is precisely filled four-fifths of the way. "That much hair product could be a safety risk, especially if they're still using candles. The revolver, though..." There's a brief noise that could be interpreted as a mild swoon, although Nell's quip has her peering that-a-way excitedly. "Do you have something like that, too? Does it need upgrades? Maybe some fine-tuning?"
Vergil	Both Tony and Vergil scoff when Cantio comments that the two must care for each other. "We are bound by blood and little else." "He's always been a pain in my ass." The quiet mirth in each of their words betray their true feelings however. There is some fondness there. "Hmm... hey Verge!" "I refuse to be in a movie with you Dante." The demon hunter harrumphs and winks at Cantio. "if you ever find someone filming one, gimmie a call. I do all my own stunts you know." Nell meanwhile scoffs at the anime girl. "Darlin', I ain't in the business. My masterpieces just find their homes in the hands of the people who are. And if I needed any upgradin' I'd do it my own damn self thank you." She coughs a little, even as she lights another smoke. "Whew! Better every time I see it," Tony says happily as credits roll on Biohazard. "Enough of this schlock," Vergil says as he gnaws on a wing. "This one next." He tosses Tony 'The Way of the Burning Fist' "Okay birthday boy," Tony mutters and puts it in. It's a very schlocky, badly dubbed kung-fu movie with many weapons flailed in a way that looks cool but ineffective and plenty of wire fu. "An interesting employment of nunchucks," Vergil comments, having actually squeezed into the packed couch for this one. "Pfff, I could do better," Tony says with a smirk. "If we find some, you could prove that to me." "Maybe I will!"
Gawain	Biohazard has Gawain cringing again at the horror, but not averting his eyes. He's too busy eating SPICY WINGS to talk during it, though, and he cries at one point. Probably wing-related. During Way of the Burning Fist, though, he's super excited. "Woah! He just leaped off the water! Vergil has good taste in movies!" Several nods, and a thumbs-up to Vergil. "So, do you usually invite friends over for your birthday, Tony? Is it always this fun?" He has no idea he might be stepping on a landmine.
Cantio	Vergil's and tony's reacitons to Cantio's assessment has the anime girl snickering under her hand. "Of course... ah. It's almost like my relationship with my sister minus the..." On second thought, perhaps it's better not to tease them too much. Instead, she focuses on the topic of movies again! "Definitely. There's definitely people that are better with a camera than myself, but leave the audio to me." A beat, and then she adds "If it happens." She distinctly avoids looking at Vergil as she says that, although it's probably obvious from the grin cracking across her face that she is already plotting something. Now it's time for the kung-fu movie. This doesn't seem to quite get her excitement levels up like Biohazard did, but the possibility of seeing REAL NUNCHUCK ACTION gets her giggling all over again. "I'd like to see that... These actors must have wires or something to help them out, but who knows? There might be a few techniques you could integrate and legitimately use with enough practice." With that encouragement done, Gawain's question piques Cantio's curiosity as well. "I'm surprised there weren't more. Although... I've heard there's things called 'homeowners associations' that can get really annoying about things like parties, so this was probably intentional."
Vergil	Tony's smile slips a little as Gawain asks if Tony usually has a big party on his birthday. "Don't usually have a lot of cause to celebrate," is all he says. Vergil scowls a little and glares daggers at Gawain before Tony adds, "But hey, Vergil is here, and I've actually run into people who can keep up with me on the job. So I guess that's changing." As the film ends, Nell claps her hands. "Well, I gotta rest these old bones. Beauty this great needs its beauty sleep! But here ya go kiddo." She retrieves a gift from under the cushion she's leaning on and places it before Tony. With eager hands, he unwraps it, revealing a lidded box. Opening it reveals two large, masterwork handguns, twins of each other. One is grey, but so polished it gleams silver, while the other is black. Each had wooden handled inlaid with the image of a Victorian-era woman, the white gun bearing a fair-haired one while the black one bears a black-haired one. With wide eyes and careful hands, Dante extracts them both, black in his left hand and white in his right. "The best guns I ever made in all my years. I call 'em Ebony and Ivory. All for you kiddo, happy birthday." Nell fondly punches Tony in the shoulder as he examines the weapons. Their names are engraved on the side in flowing script, with something else written under them. "For Tony Redgrave. By .45 Art... Warks?" It might sound like he mangled 'Works' but closer inspection would show the guns do indeed say 'Art Warks.' "Why you fussin' on the details?!" Nell exclaims. Vergil just rolls his eyes and looks out the window.
Cantio	Awkward. Keeping a neutral expression to hide her own relief at not drawing anyone's ire, Cantio gets a chance to stretch her arms and legs out while Nell brings out her own present. She can't help but gawk at the custom-made pistols, peering and tilting rapidly as Tony takes each one in hand. "What an impressive design... So that's what you were talking about earlier! I'd love to see these in action sometime." Thankfully, her tone is more excited gear nut rather than breathy thot. "I can't imagine how long it must have taken to make these... Er. N-not that I'm calling you old or anything! But it's not as though age is a bad thing. It just means you're-uh. Someone's experienced!" She should probably be shutting up rigt around now. At least there's still drinks she can pour for everyone. Maybe the sugary bribes will get the attention away.
Gawain	As Gawain realizes he said a faux pas, he frowns slightly, makes an apologetic gesture, and then quickly makes sure not to dwell on it. "It was nice to meet you!" He says to Nell, before moving over to look at the guns. "I know little about guns, but these are quite beautiful. Isn't 'wark' a sound a bird makes, thou- not that that's a problem! I'm just saying!" And then he shoves another piece of pizza in his mouth, before preparing to Leave if it's time.
Vergil	"Damn right I'm experienced. Don't you forget it girlie," Nell says as she gets up and stretches, causing audible pops and creaks. She also throws a filthy glare at Gawain, presuming his innocent question is him being sarcastic. "They're great Nell. Really," Tony says as he twirls the handguns on his fingers. "Hopefully now I can start saving money on getting my normal ones replaced." Vergil just sniffs again and says, "Thank you for attending our birthday everyone. Now, I'd ask you to evacuate my temporary bedding and be on your ways." It's a little brusque yes. But still kind of restrained, and he has every right to be annoyed. After all, he and Tony are twins. It's his birthday too.