Summary: During a Halloween party at the Devil May Cry headquarters, funny madness ensues. This is what happens when devils revil under a full moon. Notes: If you would like a fic or dabble, feel free to let me know on my Tumblr. The link is in my bio.

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

The girls had simply insisted on having a Halloween party for once, a sentiment that had largely been rebuffed with a smile and a laugh by Dante. Or at least that was until Nero had turned up with Kyrie stating that she thought it would be a fun and festive opportunity to try and socialize Vergil. During his extended stay in the underworld, the elder twin had developed the temperament of a feral cat, albeit a very well kept one with impossibly high standards of place and person. Kyrie, being the kind-hearted girl that she was, wanted to see the twins rekindle their relationship, but was nowhere near dim enough to get between the twins and their family trauma. That being said, Nero simply couldn't bring himself to turn down a request from Kyrie on the rare occasion she even asked him for something. She gave him so much and asked for so little in return. That and Nico would never let him live it down.

In an attempt to not get slapped unconscious by his Nephew again, Dante begrudgingly agreed to the party when Kyrie asked him. If there was one thing the brothers agreed on, it was their mutual dislike of parties. Vergil enjoyed his solitude and serenity, and Dante... well he just couldn't be bothered with it. Nero was largely indifferent to them. But there was one person who would literally prefer to pass on into the afterlife and face the hoards of demonic entities that he had slain during his lifetime than drink spiked punch and listen to cliche spooky music.

And yet somehow V had ended up at this godforsaken party anyway…

The festivities had gone reasonably well, all things considered. Nero had spent most of the evening playfully tormenting Kyrie and their three adopted children (who were dressed in adorable animal costumes), while Dante had taken the opportunity to find creative new ways of annoying Vergil in what he wrongfully assumed was a safe environment. (He figured wrong. Vergil was absolutely going to stab him to death in his sleep tonight. Make no mistake.)

And then there were the girls. Lady and Trish had been the life of the party, singing along horribly to the music, making a mess with the pizza napkins, and Nico consumed a concerning amount of the dry ice spiked fruit punch. They were all pretty sure she should be dead, but no one was going to say anything to her. They didn't need a repeat of the nailgun incident.

In an environment filled with screaming children, horrendous singing, and booming metal, V had retired to one of the sofas in the far corner of the room to entertain his favorite past time. In keeping with the spirit of Hallows Eve, he had opted for a classic by Edgar Allen Poe. When he reached the midway point of the poem, he suddenly felt eyes on him from behind the couch. It was little Carlo, one of Nero and Kyries' children. The fluffy-haired child was hanging over the back of the couch, staring at the words in what V could only assume was confusion. "Why is the man in the poem so scared of the bird?"

V smirked and pondered how to explain what was going on to a young child, settling on the bluntest answer he could fathom at the moment. "He laments the loss of his love and believes the bird is an evil being sent to torment him for his wrongdoings, Carlo."
The child nodded, clearly still not understanding, but appreciative of the explanation nonetheless. "And why does the bird keep saying "Nevermore" so much? Is it making fun of him?"

V nodded, amused by the interest the young boy was showing in the poem. Carlo climbed over the back of the couch and plopped down next to him, practically climbing on him as if having a better view of the text would help him understand it. Nico walked past them carrying a drink, laughing about something that Kyrie had just said to Trish that she could not quite make out. "I just want to know how the hell you can read in a pitch-black room under a blacklight, V. What the hell?"

"Language, Nico!" Nero shook his head and joined them, seemingly finally tired of messing with Kyrie and in absolutely no mood to trying to conversate with Vergil. It wouldn't have mattered if he had been anyway. Vergil had very mysteriously gone missing during the party about a half-hour ago. Perhaps he had retired to his room when his social battery had completely drained (as if it had been charged in the first place.)
Nico shrugged and snickered. "Oh please, as much as you carry on? They know all those words by now!"

Nero blanched, hoping that Kyrie had not heard her say that. He then turned to Carlo who was still entranced by the dramatic reading of the story that V now had him extremely invested in. "We have to get going. It's past midnight and it's a pretty long trip home."

Carlo groaned. "But he was just getting to the good part! Come on, it's almost done. Well, I think."

Nero glanced and V who gave him a subtly but reassuring nod. He sighed and relented, allowing V to finish. None of them had paid any mind to the fact that everyone still left at the office had gathered around the area listening to V read the poem. It was so off-brand for him to read anything that wasn't William Blake, but he was nothing if not well-read and an excellent speaker.

V continued, unfazed by the audience. "And the Raven, never flitting, still is sitting, still is sitting, On the pallid bust of Pallas just above my chamber door;
And his eyes have all the seeming of a demon's that is dreaming,
And the lamp-light o'er him streaming throws his shadow on the floor;
And my soul from out that shadow that lies floating on the floor
Shall be lifted-"
"Nevermore."
Everyone in the room, V included, practically jumped out of their skin at the sound of Vergil's voice. It had seemingly come from nowhere. Just as they were going to respond, Nero turned around and walked directly into the twin in question. He jumped back and cursed, clearly startled, and nearly knocked Kyrie to the floor in the process. Everyone stared at him as he stood back up and brushed himself off. "What the fuck, Vergil?!"
A few scattered snickers passed through the room, much to Nero's dissatisfaction. But then something happened that made everyone in the room do a massive doubletake.

V laughed.

Not a snicker. Not a throwaway chuckle. An actual laugh.

V leaned over his legs, cradling the open book to his chest as he burst into an almost tearful laughing fit. It was the most unexpectedly enjoyable thing most of them had ever heard. Several different emotions played across the faces of the occupants of the room. Dante looked startled, Lady and Trish glanced in surprise back and forth between V and each other, the children stared with their mouths agape, and Kyrie just smiled, unsure of how else to react to something so new to her.

Nero looked as though he was considering being upset about this, but the look of irritation on his face rapidly faded and was replaced with a barely contained smile. Even Vergil who never smiled looked pleased with himself for once, although he would never admit as much.

"If I knew all I had to do was make myself look like a tool in front of everyone to make ya laugh, I would have done that forever ago! Holy shit, you can actually laugh..."

Kyrie ushered the children towards the door, more than ready to call it a night and head home. As she went, she waved goodbye to everyone and shot Nero a grumpy look for his choice of language in front of the kids. Nero laughed nervously and followed closely behind them. As to door behind them closed, Dante shot Vergil a glance and nodded in V's direction. He had finally stopped laughing at the preposterous situation. "Who would've guessed V had a sense of humor hidden under all that sullen misery and depressing poetry?"

Vergil shrugged, not really sure how to answer that question. He was as surprised as everyone else. He headed towards his room and then stopped, stretching. At the foot of the stairs, he casually glanced back at Dante. "... Sleep with one eye open, little brother." And with that, he disappeared up the stairs. Dante paled. Vergil hadn't let those pranks earlier slide because the kids were here after all.

"Shit."

Notes: Happy Halloween everyone!