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, very brutally and with lots of blood, 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, Hurting Nero (again), and more that I am still thinking of.
Chapter Two: Mental Bullet Wounds
"Ah! Be careful, old man." Nero warned as Dante finally got one of the bullets out of the flesh of his left shoulder. The elder man laughed quietly at the man sitting on the floor with his back to him. He shifted slightly on the couch so he could get a better angle for extracting the second bullet, watching the first wound slowly start to heal. Nero flinched as Dante pressed the small knife into the second injury. The older man had to grab his shoulder lightly before he accidentally cut him.
"It would be easier to be careful if you didn't move so much, kid. This is the last one so bare with it. We're almost done." Dante said, managing to get the small blade behind the bullet.
"Ouch! Well, sorry. It's not like I do this everyday. I fight demons and most of them don't have gu-ns!" Nero yelped as Dante yanked out the final bullet, turning to glare at the older slayer who only grinned and waved the bloody bullet in his hand.
"You should learn to take bullets out. It's useful when someone shoots a little too close to your heart." The red clad man tossed the bullet next to the other one resting on the coffee table. "So, tell me. How did a citizen manage to pull a gun on you, kid? It doesn't seem like you to just let your guard down." Nero shrugged, suppressing a wince as the second wound had not healed yet.
"They were just citizens, not trained soldiers like the Holy Knights. I never thought they would try to kill me." He said, running a hand through his still wet silver hair. Dante tilted his head to the side, staring at the naked back of the younger man as he spoke.
"How about that girl you saved? Didn't she try to talk them out of the whole exile thing?"
Nero opened his mouth to respond but could not as his throat tightened. He closed it and chose to shrug off the question, hoping that it was just rainwater from his soaked hair dripping down his cheeks. He kept his face turned away from the elder as he reached for his navy shirt, pulling it on before sitting next to the older slayer.
Dante frowned at how the younger hunter ignored his question, wondering if the redheaded girl had been one of the reasons he was exiled. He dropped the subject, not wanting to make the other man angry at him and drive him away. Dante placed the bloody knife on the table and checked the clock mounted on the wall, seeing that it was almost four in the morning.
"Looks like pizza will have to wait. It's too early for Pizza one to be open." Dante yawned midway through the sentence, his eyes feeling a bit heavy. He stood up and looked over at the younger devil hunter. "Better get some sleep. I'll order out later."
"Do you ever eat anything other than pizza?" Nero asked, glancing around the office and finding the answer to his own question. He grimaced and was beginning to think that he was going to have a hard time living here with the older man's lifestyle.
"Nope. It's easy to get and I love to eat it. You expect me to cook something when I only have time for missions and sleep?" Dante laughed, walking towards the stairs. "You can sleep on the couch. I would offer you the guest room but it's being used for storage right now."
"Don't you have a heater or something? It's freezing down here, old man." Nero shook his head, trying to rid his hair of the water dripping down his face and neck. Dante tapped his chin lightly as he stopped halfway up the stairs.
"Now that I think about it, I think there is one somewhere in the extra room. You can use whatever you want in there. Most of it is junk." Dante yawned again, covering his mouth with a hand. "There should be blankets in there too. Get settled in and I'll see if I have anything for you to sleep in." The elder disappeared up the steps, leaving Nero alone in the office.
The young man pulled off his shirt again, staring at the navy cloth that had turned black from the heavy rain. He felt his cheeks burn lightly at how kind Dante was being to him. He wanted to thank him but he just could not bring himself to do it, besides, it felt as if the mere words would not be enough now.
Nero took a breath, trying to cool his cheeks before standing and making his way up the stairs. He glanced around the hallway, his devil bringer resting on the railing of the small brown balcony above the office area as he waited for Dante. There were only three doors, one of which was open to display a bathroom. Nero thought about taking a hot shower to rinse away the cold water he was still drenched in, but the looming drowsiness from prior restless nights steered him away from the thought. Instead, he grabbed a towel from the rack inside the small room, drying his dripping hair quickly. Nero put the towel down when he heard one of the doors open, Dante walking out with an armful of clothes.
"Here, kid." The older hunter held out the clothes, letting Nero take them and set them onto the counter with a nod. Dante let his smile slip slightly before reaching out and ruffling the younger man's already tangled hair. "Don't let it get you down. It's not like the whole world hates you. I know I don't."
Nero felt the burning sensation in his cheeks again. He shifted his feet slightly and staring at the sink as he struggled to find something to say to the older man. Dante only smiled at him, his hand moving from his hair to pat his shoulder lightly.
"Night, kid. Try to get some sleep. I know you need it." The elder turned away from him, his hand lingering longer on the young hunter's shoulder than it should have when he left to head back to his room.
Nero closed the bathroom door after he heard Dante enter his room. He had never felt nervous around the other hunter before. He owed him a lot, not only for help during the Savior incident but for taking him in when he had no where else to go. When Nero thought back to when he first met the red clad man, he remembered thinking he was nothing but a demon, no emotions or kindness whatsoever. Now, he felt almost guilty for feeling that way.
The young demon slayer picked up the deep red long sleeved shirt that was sitting on the top of the pile of clothes, rubbing the soft material between his fingers and smiling. He put the shirt back down and pulled out a pair of what looked to be clean boxers. Nero blushed lightly, embarrassed but happy that he would not have to sleep in his wet ones. He set it aside with the shirt before unbuckling his belt and sliding off his jeans with his boxers. He pulled on the dry underwear, running a finger subconsciously over the blue embroidery on the black silk. Grabbing the red shirt, he quickly put it on as well. He sighed afterwards, remembering and enjoying how it felt to wear clean, dry clothes again.
'It's not like the whole world hates you.' The elder's words echoed in his mind suddenly, making him glance down at the soft blue glow of his devil bringer. It certainly feels like it with this thing scaring everyone that even tries to get close to me. Nero yanked the long sleeve of the shirt over the demonic arm, covering his hand so he could not see any of it. The faint glow under the red fabric still gave it away.
Nero shook his head, ridding it of the plaguing thoughts and moving to open the door closest to the bathroom. Luckily, it was the spare room, though Nero would say calling it a 'room' was a stretch. There were boxes stacked everywhere, hole ridden blankets, piles of aging books, and the rusted heater Dante had mentioned. The young hunter walked in and closed the door behind him, noticing a small area clear of the assorted junk by the single window. Nero grabbed a thick blanket that was draped lazily over an old guitar and another one sitting on an old box, rolling the second into a makeshift pillow.
The moonlight shone through the window, casting a calming glow over the crowded room. Nero put the rolled blanket in the corner where the wall and a large box met, reaching out to the heater and turning it on the lowest setting before lying down. He pulled the thick blanket over him, the warm fabric only smelling faintly of dust. Nero had to admit that sleeping in Dante's storage room was actually more comfortable than some of the motels he had been staying in for the past few days. He curled up in the small space under the window as the heater slowly warmed the room, his eyes drooping before closing completely. He nuzzled the blanket under his head softly. He was glad that the glares in his dreams had softened and that a red clad man was there beside him, glaring back at the angry citizens of Fortuna.
Dante had disappeared off to the Bullseye bar later the next day, thinking about everything Nero had told him. He sat on one of the dark navy bar stools, sipping a glass of vodka slowly. The dank musk of the bar and the low hum of its patrons filled the surrounding air. It was more crowed than usual and it made the elder wonder if Love Planet was holding a special event with the attached bar.
Dante was glad that Nero's bullet wounds were not deep enough to cause real damage to the younger slayer, most of the marks left were healed by that morning but it still had not quelled his anger for the bastards in Fortuna. In an attempt to stop himself from storming to the island and unleashing hell again, he offered the younger man a drink at the bar to celebrate meeting up again. Nero had refused, saying that he wanted to get settled in the office before he went out in the city. Dante had joked that he was scared of the sleazy city but that only resulted in a firm punch in the gut.
At least it got his mind off Fortuna. Damn city has probably made the kid phobic of public places now. Dante thought, taking another sip of the strong alcohol and frowning. I hope he's alright. He'll never let me know if it's tearing him apart but at least he's safe with me.
A few men talking loudly and shouting by the entrance of Love Planet distracted him from his thoughts. The silver haired man glanced over to see a group of men surrounding one of the bulletin boards in the small hallway, each staring at the papers littering and falling off its surface. Dante huffed in disgust and turned back to his drink, not interested in the bounties on the heads of anyone who was on the bad side of someone with power and money. He felt a few eyes on him moments later, the bounty hunters lowering their voices before speaking with their companions after noticing him.
Great. Who did I piss off now? Dante thought bitterly, not wanting to deal with some idiot after his head when Nero was still recovering from being kicked out of his home. He placed a few bills on the bar and nodded slightly at the bar tender before standing from the bar stool, deciding to see what the commotion was about. The devil hunter made his way to the bulletin board, pushing through the group of armed men as a few left with some poor bastards' wanted posters in their hands. Dante ignored the few drunken glares he received as he walked up to the mess of papers tacked to the board. He glanced over them, most of the people looking harmless and the prices lower than what Dante got paid after Lady took out 'her cut'.
Hmm, maybe I'm not up here. The experienced devil slayer thought, about to go back to the bar and order another drink until one of the posters caught his eye. Shit, it can't be…