Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of the devil may cry characters in this fiction, if I did, Kyrie would have died in the first ten minutes of the game and Dante and Nero would be together...and Vergil would be shirtless in the third game...and Arkham would wear a frilly princess dress for my entertainment.

Rated Mature for Blood, Language, Future Hot Man Sex (possibly next chapter), A Sexually Frustrated Dante, and other things I am thinking of.

Well, it's a little late for the holidays now. Heheh, so I guess I'll just make this a general fiction. Anyway, Happy Holidays~! I hope everyone got what they wanted~! ^-^

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Chapter Two: Cowardly Demons

Nero was lying in his bed, nuzzled in the soft sheets of the mattress on the floor. Dante had still not cleaned up his 'guest bedroom' well enough to fit in a real bed, not that there was room inside the storage area. Nero did not mind too much. He had expected to be sleeping on the couch when he had shown up on the older hunter's door step but Dante had told him of the storage area where Lady or Trish would sleep over if it was too late. Nero ignored it when the elder started grumbling at how they probably just stayed at the office to complain about the room.

The quarter moon was just bright enough for the moonlight to shine behind a few stacked boxes onto Nero's silver hair. He did not take notice as he lost himself in his dreams of what was ahead, during the mission the next day. The young man ignored the occasional flash of thought with Dante grinning at him, teasing him, and, once or twice, kissing him. Nero groaned lightly as the latter dream passed in his slumber, tossing against the white sheets a few times before settling down into the dream Dante's embrace that he would deny in the morning.

Nero was so deep in his own world that he did not hear the door open and a soft, rather inhuman growl rumble through the doorway. The young hunter still did not stir when the figure at the door stepped in, quickly walking across the room and to the mattress on the floor. It knelt down, crawling along Nero's body and moving to lick along the bare skin of the younger man's neck. It growled lowly at the taste of pale skin but was interrupted in enjoying it by a soft groan.

Nero shifted in his sleep, wondering what the loud sound by his ear was. He slowly woke himself up enough to open his eyes only to see the gray ceiling. He lifted his head and looked around the empty room, seeing nothing out of place. Must have been something outside. Nero thought sleepily, about to lie his head back down on the soft pillow until he saw the door open a small crack. A surprisingly sudden sense of nervousness formed in his chest at the sight.

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Nero growled lowly in his throat at being forced to wake up the older hunter early in the morning for their mission again. What was worse was that he had woken up to a very obvious bruise mark on his neck that he knew others could see. The largest problem for him was hiding it from Dante so he would not teased about seeing some woman or something similar. Nero did not even know where it had come from and that unnerved him even more about what had happened the night before.

"Dante!" The younger hunter yelled when he reached the door of Dante's room, knocking on it a few times. "Dante, get your ass out of bed before I have t-" Nero stopped banging on the wood with his fist as the door opened suddenly, a fully clothed Dante stepping out into the hallway.

"I'm up, kid." The elder said before looking the younger man up and down. "Hmm? It cold in here or is there another reason why your hood is up?"

Nero shrugged, knowing that his least noticeable idea of hiding the bruise on his neck was not working on Dante. It seemed like nothing would get past the experienced devil hunter sometimes. Jackass…

"It's nothing. Let's get moving, old man."

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Nero slashed through one of the remaining demons roaming inside the large countryside church, a sickening color spraying out of the wound he had inflicted and onto his front. He grimaced at the look and smell of the liquid, hoping internally that it was just blood. The younger slayer could hear Dante laughing a few meters away from him, engrossed in the last of the demons. He could tell that the elder was laughing at him despite the feigned focus on completing the mission. Dante turned to him after the bodies of the Scarecrows faded into blackness, a smirk on his face telling Nero that he would have to punch the older man in a few seconds.

"Getting ready for the holidays, kid?"

Nero tried to brush the splattered greenish blood from the front of his red hoodie, ignoring Dante's untimely jest. He frowned deeply when the mess on him decided it wanted to stay, refusing to be removed though it was perfectly happy with being smeared.

Dante watched him for a moment before walking towards him, making Nero think he was going to talk to him but instead the elder past him and headed towards the large maple doors covered in stained glass. The younger man snorted at the cocky behavior of his partner before following, taking note that he should have been used to the other man's attitude by now.

They piled into the front of Dante's red car, ignoring the light layer of snow covering the seats as the older hunter brushed the icy flakes off the windshield. Nero rested his chin in the palm of his hand as he waited for the windshield to be clear enough to see through. He tore his eyes away from the glass to gaze at the large building of the church, noticing how lovely it looked with the sheets of snow glazed over the rooftop. Now that the mission was over, the younger man could think without distracting himself from killing the demons and other related things. Now was as good as anytime to talk to Dante about last night. Not that he would say anything about the bite mark on his neck, he would merely talk about what he saw or something like that. He did not know how exactly he was going to break into the subject though.

"Hey, Dante." Nero started, receiving a grunt in response as the elder focused on the vehicle as it were his own flesh and blood. "Have you ever thought that demons were watching you in your sleep?"

Dante lifted his head from wiping the snow off the hood of his convertible, rising an eyebrow. Now that was a random and odd question. What's the kid not telling me? He thought, feeling a slight sense of uneasiness form in the pit of his stomach.

"Why?"

Nero scratched at the side of his nose, a sign that Dante knew very well. The kid was either embarrassed or hiding something. He could not tell if the younger was blushing a shade of pink or if it was the weather.

"Nothing. I was just wondering." Nero lied as the older man finished removing the snow and settled in the driver's seat beside him. He could feel the still questioning stare of the elder boring into the side of his head.

"Come on, kid. I've known you long enough to know when you're bullshitting me." Dante said, fishing his keys from one of the pockets in his leather pants before turning one in the ignition. Nero sighed audibly as he turned onto the rural road next to the church.

"It's just that I woke up last night and my door was open. I heard some growling too. I was half asleep so I might have dreamed that part but it sounded too loud to be all in my head." He rubbed the back of his head, careful not to let his hood slip off. Dante hummed to himself, thinking for a moment before speaking.

"It could be. Sometimes you kill the wrong demon and its buddy wants revenge." He glared at the road, not liking the thought of a cowardly demon trying to hurt Nero in his sleep. Dante smiled at the idea in his head. Though he thought it was strange, this morning he did not smell any demons and he was sure that if they had the guts to invade Devil May Cry, he would know. "Tell you what, kid, I'll sleep in the same room with you tonight. That way, if whatever it is comes back, we can kill it before it gets to you."

"Really?" Nero couldn't help but laugh lightly at the idea of Dante sharing a bed with him, let alone the fact of it being barely a double.

"Really, Nero."

The younger hunter stopped laughing when he heard his name. So Dante meant it.

"Well, okay. I hope you can fit another mattress in there because I'm not sleeping pressed up against you, old man." Nero said, meaning to act as cocky as the elder but only succeeding in making himself blush.

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