Nero awoke to a familiar voice the next morning, what made him grab his sword, which he had laid down next to the couch just in case, before he sat up quickly, staring at that blond woman who was standing in the middle of the shop. "Dante, I brought buns!" She called, turning around immediately as she caught a glimpse of Nero's movement. "Is that the way you treat a lady?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. The boy blinked a few times, still not fully awake. "Gloria...?!" he gasped, fastening his grip around his sword. "You may know me by that name, yes. But I'd prefer Trish though." She answered with a smile. "And now pot that sowd away, would you? I'm not in the mood for a stupid fight. She sun is shining, the birds are singing and the world is just as peaceful as it could be." Trish grinned, willing to step inside Dante's flat, but the man was quicker. Before she could even open the door he showed up, yawning. "I see you like each other?" He murmured, gazing at Nero's sword. "Seems that way." Trish answered, placing a short kiss onto Dante's cheek, what made the boy narrowing his eyes unwillingly. He shook his head, blushing deeply.
"Why the scowling, Nero?" The elder couldn't have missed that gaze. He smirked, even kissing her back just to see the boy's reaction. Nero blushed even more, pretending not to care about it. "You could have told me that she means more to you than just a friend." He complained sulking, pulling the blanket over his head again. Dante laughed. "Jealous, kid?" He chuckled, while Trish looked at the heap of sheets, where Nero hid underneath with a grin. Dante exchanged a look with her, before he sneaked to the couch, tearing off the comforter all of a sudden. Nero shrieked, while he sat up again, his devilbringer coming to hit whatever was in his way, but the elder was fast enough to catch it before the boy could harm him. "There, there.." he laughed. "I only hope that you don't really think that I'd get laid with a chick that looks like my mother. I'm bad Nero, but that's even too much for me as well." The younger stared at him as if he spoke another language, he didn't get anything at all. "Nd I hope you don't really think that I'd care about that?" He replied, noticeable confused. "You can get laid with whoever you want, that's none of my business..."
Dante nodded. "Everything's fine then, I just needed to point that out, so you know." He said, releasing the boy's hand as he turned around again, snatching the bag of buns out of Trish's hand. "We still have to talk, Trish." He mumbled while he headed into the kitchen. "If it is about yesterday I won't listen honey." Trish stood in the doorway, the sweetest smile on her face that she was capable of. "You got it exactly!" Dante growled, as he prepared their coffee. "Told you, I won't listen." The woman whistled happily. "But you can't always do that to me! I really deserve something better!" Dante complained, without even turning around. "See? I can. And you always say that. No matter what you still complain, so I just don't give a damn anymore." Trish made a few steps, until she was standing right behind the hunter, wrapping her arms around his waist. "You know me, Dante..." she purred, the smile remaining on her lips. "Hey don't look at me like that Trish, that's NOT fair!" He sighed reply, placing 3 cups onto a tablet. "Didn't you just say that I was unfair? So you got it!" The woman laughed again, stepping back again, before Dante could catch her. "You'll like your next job anyway, if what Lady had said is true." Trish called, already in the reception again.
"I'm thrilled..." Dante murmured ironically, entering the room again with the tablet in his hands. Trish's buns and their coffee on it, as well as peanut butter and other stuff people like for breakfast. Nero sat down next to them, carefully observing them, hoping that they wouldn't notice it. But as nobody complained he felt secure. Now and then he looked through one of the windows, but hardly anybody passed by at all. "Nero?!" The boy jerked when Dante poked him. He didn't pay attention to their conversation, so he was rather surprised to hear his name now. "Huh?" He asked, blinking a few times. "I asked if you will ever start eating, or is it enough for you to just stare at your food?" The boy blushed deeply, cursing both of them to hell. "I was..." he started, but the elder just gave him a wink. "You were brooding again, exactly. You should skip that for later on, otherwise you'll starve one day." He teased, giving Nero a lovingly smile. "Yeah Yeah Daddy..." the younger sighed, before he finally started eating. "You're really strange Nero, what's up with you? You're maybe ill because of the nasty weather yesterday?" Dante wanted to know a little worried.
The boy glanced at him, one eyebrow raised. "Me? Ill? I didn't change at all, so I don't know what you mean..." he answered, sipping on his coffee. "If you say so..." Dante reached out a hand to grab the newspaper. He should at least know what's going on outside. Trish leaned over to him, as she could be sure that Dante wouldn't notice it at all, smiling at Nero. "He wouldn't notice a diamond unless it would hurt him somehow." She whispered, giving the younger a wink. The boy's eyes widened again as he gazed back to that woman. What did she mean by that? He could imagine it, but why the hell would she say something like that NOW? What did she think of him anyway?! But he was far too shocked to say at least anything. After non of them broke their silence for about ten further minutes, Dante put the newspaper away, exchanging a look with each, Nero and Trish. "What's up?" He wanted to know, seeming a little irritated.
Trish chuckled. "Never mind, Dante. You'd never notice it anyway, and Nero won't admit it." The younger raised an eyebrow again. "I wouldn't admit... what?!" he asked, having Dante look even more confused. "Yeah what?" The woman just shook her head. "As I told you, forget about that, you're both too stubborn anyway, and I don't like my days being full of your nagging." Dante groaned in disappointment, rolling his eyes as he glanced at Trish. "I love you too, sweetheart." She just replied, taking the newspapers that he abandoned recently. "See Nero? I told you, she gives me the creeps!" Dante yawned again, leaning back against the backrest of his couch, his arms crossed behind his head. "You only get what you deserve, Dante." Trish mumbled from behind the papers, making Nero grin slightly. "Have a problem with dominant women?" Nero asked, giving the elder the sweetest smile that he could force upon his face right now. "I swear I'll make you pay for that, kid." Dante growled, but couldn't hide a weak smile. He should have kept his mouth shut, really! He would not let the boy play with him like Trish and Lady always do. He wouldn't stand a third person killing his nerves one by one. Speaking of the devil, the door to the shop opened again.
Nero couldn't help it but to laugh as he caught a glimpse of Dante's truly desperate face when Lady entered the room. "Oh, you haven't finished breakfast yet, have you?" She asked, following Nero's motioning for her to sit down next to them. "Off course not, you know that Dante can devour the whole world if he only gets the time to do so." Trish said with a happy voice, offering her friend the basket that contained the buns. "Thank you." Lady took one, glancing at Dante with a soft smile. "Such a bad mood today, Dante?" Nero put a hand over his own mouth, in order to stay silent. 'Payback time!' He thought, hearing Dante sigh deeply. "C'mon Lady, Trish picked on me enough for the next two weeks..." he mumbled, emptying his coffee. "Yeah, but SHE doesn't have the info I have." Lady purred, drawing a piece of paper out of her pocket, to move it towards Dante's face, only to pull it back again, when he tried to grab it. "There, there... You do have time, don't you?" She teased, putting it back to where she got it from. "Your mission starts on friday anyway, so you could as well let me finish breakfast first." Lady, as well as Trish chuckled. "Girls..." Dante rolled his eyes. "Never get one if you can avoid it, they're like a couple of crazy chickens when they show up in groups..." he explained, turning towards Nero, who just blushed slightly again. "You only pick the wrong one's I bet..." he said, giving the ladies a cute smile. "You guys just don't know what you're missing." Lady snorted, then made big eyes when Trish whispered something into her ear. "Aha..." she simply muttered, shaking her head. "That explains a lot." She nodded, giving a damn about the questioning looks of the boys. "Remember what I told you, guys?" Trish reminded them, making them both sigh heavily.
They kept silent for a few minutes, then Dante stood up, walking over to his billiard table. "Okay... Let's jsut make a bet...," he suggested, "I f I beat up Lady this time, you'll tell us your sweet little secret, Trish?" The girls just laughed again. "Sure." Trush agreed, hiding a mischievous grin. He would never give up, no? He'd lose anyway, like he always died. Lady got up, grinning widely. "You could have a game more easily, Dante, and without extorting useless promises we wouldn't have to keep anyway." Dante scowled. "You're telling me that I'll lose anyway?" Lady smiled. "Exactly my friend." Nero glared at both of them, then turned around to face Trish. "Are they always like that?" He asked, earning a curt nod. "Hell..." The boy sighed. He wondered who was harder to stand, Dante or the girl.
Lady and Dante had their game, leaving the man with a frustrated expression on his face. "I told you Dante, just give it up, you'll never beat me." Lady giggled, sitting down at the table again. "No risk, no fun..." The elder followed, resting his chin in one hand. "So what about the job now?" Lady hemmed, bringing up the paper again. "Next Friday. You'll have to leave early, so make sure to drag your ass out of bed early enough. You'll have to take the care anyway, it's quite far from here. A friend of a friend called me, asking me if I knew somebody who could take care of that, and I ensured him that you'd be exactly who he was looking for. It's said that people tend to disappear for no reason around a small town a bit from here." The woman explained, having both, Dante as well as Nero listening carefully. "Some kids have recently seen some weird creatures in the woods, and nobody wanted to believe them, you know how adults are. Anyway. When they found a few people wounded, telling similar stories they couldn't ignore it anymore. The chapel of that town holds an ancient artifact. Legends say that it is capable of killing demons by its only touch. It seems that they're after that artifact or something. It may need to be destroyed anyway, I'm not quite sure about that, but someone has to get rid of all the demons or at least needs to find out where they are coming from. Everybody who tried disappeared without even leaving a corpse. The mayor is willing to pay a nice amount if we could help out here." She ended wit a smile.
"You mean if I can help out here, right?" Dante returned the smile. "Well I'm busy with something else, as well as Trish is, but you complained that your last job was all boring, so that might be a little challenge to you, master hunter." Lady chuckled. "Sounds good after all." Dante agreed, paying a short glance at Nero. "What about you kid, you're in? You'll get half of the payment off course." The boy nodded. "Already told you that I was in." He pointed at his sword, red rose. "Fine. So it's settled then." Dante confirmed, taking another cup of coffee. "All right. I'll call the mayor later, telling him that you'll be around soon. Here's a map of that city as well as the surrounding woods, you might need it." Lady handed over the named paper, leaning back in her chair afterwards. "I hope this time I won't hear any complaints after you come back." The elder smirked. "If it's really the challenge that you promise you probably won't."
"I'd appreciate that." Lady said simply, tilting her head to the side. "I hope this time you don't forget that you still owe me some money..." she added, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "Naaah..." Dante sighed. "You can have it now anyway." Lady raised an eyebrow. "Business running that well nowadays?" The elder shrugged. "Somehow." He got some dollars out of his pocket, handing them over to the woman. "Wow, I'm truly impressed." Lady said, grabbing the money immediately. "I thought that you'd never pay it back!" Dante pretended to sulk. "Awww come on, I never disappointed you there, did I?" Lady curled her lips. "To be honest... no." Trish stretched out, taking Dante's cup of coffee, as she noticed that the can was empty, sipping on it as if nothing was wrong. Nero grinned, grabbing his own, just in case. Dante just pretended that he didn't see anything. "So it seems like we gonna have a lot of fun over the weekend." He said, placing his feet on the table.
"You really don't have manners, do you?" Trish grimaced. "You know me..." was the curtly answer that she got. "All right, I understand..." she gave the elder a wink, before she stood up, followed by Lady. "See ya on Sunday - hopefully." They said, before they left the Devil May Cry without even saying goodbye. "On Sunday?" Dante turned his head towards the calendar, watching it with raised eyebrows. "Are they going on a holiday or something? It's only Wednesday." Nero shrugged. "Weren't you the one who would be glad to have a few days off from them?" The hunter nodded. "Yeah, you should know why already." The boy sighed lightly. "I do indeed... but... well... Trish... She was Gloria then?" Dante looked up again, grinning widely. "Hah hah, yeah. Nice costume, huh?" Nero blinked. "What the hell did she do in the order anyway?" The elder gained his cup back, which was still halfway filled. "What do you think she did there? Uncovering a few secrets, promising to extradite me to have enough time for doing so." The boy glared at his devilbringer for a moment, then back to Dante. "You could have told me earlier, you know?" The other male shook his head. "How was I supposed to? You were the one trying to kill me all the time without even asking. But never mind, everything' s okay now, isn't it?" The younger nodded. "Yeah, the city's all right again, and the cathedral is now used to praise god himself, no more Sparda..."
Dante grinned. "Fortunately. I didn't like my father being worshipped like a god. I bet it made him turn over in his grave already." Nero sighed. "Must be tough having a father like him, huh?" The elder shook his head. "Not at all. I don't care for that at all. I'm not him, I live my own life, and so make my own decisions, that has nothing to do with my old man." He ran a hand through his silvery hair, his eyes narrowing a bit. "What about you, kid?" Nero bit his lower lip. "Me? I don't know my parents at all. I've been in that order since I can think of." The hunter smirked. "Lucky you that their insanity didn't affect you, otherwise you wouldn't be here today." The younger nodded. "I guess so..."
"So you're still skilled enough to fight demons?" Dante asked with a grin. "Sure, want a sample?" Nero smiled sweetly. "No thanks, the next one that wrecks my shop will die, I swear." The younger pouted. "You're not telling me that it was my fault Fortuna got all ruined?" The hunter laughed. "Not at all.well I hope we'll have some fun out there, sounded good, no?" Nero nodded. "Better than sitting around at home and get bored to hell." Dante placed his legs onto the couch again, relaxing noticeable. "I wonder what the girls are about anyway." The boy rolled his eyes. "Go and as them if you miss them so much." Frowning, Dante shook his head. "Not at all."
They pent their rest of the day forgetting about teasing for once, talking about old times ant things they didn't know until today of what had happened in Fortuna. It was quite relaxing, an Nero somehow felt at home here. He didn't have to hide for what he was anymore, and who if not Dante knew how he felt about that? After all he was luckier, he only looked like an albino with his hair and eyes, but he himself still had that arm. Not that he would complain about it anymore, he had learned to accept it, even using it for his purposes, but it was still better to hide it, where people didn't know him. Especially in areas where demons used to approach. It wouldn't be fun to be mistaken as one of them accidentally. "Brooding again, kid?" Dante smiled warmly. "Me? No..." Nero opened his eyes again, when he noticed that he had closed them long ago. "You looked that way." The elder stated, taking his cue to hit a few balls. He could at least try to practice in order to beat Lady one day. "Naaah... It's just something that keeps me busy."
"Tell me about it?" Dante asked, aiming for the white ball. "Nothing special, really..." The boy answered blushing. "Well, that brooding makes you look really cute, so you may as well go on." Dante mumbled teasingly, giving the younger a light smile. "You're frustrating Dante, you should spend less time with those girls, I tell you..." Nero sighed, crossing his arms on his knees. "I hear that often enough." The elder chuckled, sitting down next to the boy again, as he kicked the black '8' into a hole much too early. "I tend to overhear it anyway as they don't leave me another choice as to bear them." Nero turned towards the elder, smirking slightly. "Its only because you don't speak out what you think, if they knew they'd respect it I bet." The hunter raised an eyebrow. "And it's YOU telling me that? I could have told them long ago, but I just don't want to." Nero shook his head. "Yeah because you're far too lazy. You just let things happen the way they do, without caring, right?"
"What's wrong with it?" Dante asked, crossing his legs. "Wrong? There's nothing wrong with it, but you're truly carefree. You don't seem to be afraid of anything anyway, I just don't get it, that's all." The younger gazed though one of the windows, watching the sun set with a beautiful golden light. "You know, I've been similar to the way you are now, but you'll learn it soon enough. Those of our kind don't need to fear much, but there are still things that I'm afraid of, but I bet nobody knows them, not even Trish or Lady, although Lady knows quite much of me." The elder sighed deeply. Nero blinked thoughtfully. "You're serious? I mean... you always seemed so sure of yourself and well... you didn't even hesitate, no matter what." Dante leaned back, closing his eyes for a moment. "There was a time, that taught me acting the way I do today. First it was only myself, not caring for anything, because life had truly lost its worth to me, even if I had never admitted that, and then? Well... I just started to accept my new reality, and it got better, but I already knew that I didn't have much I actually had to fear. And for pain? I guess you get used to it with the time."
Nero listened quietly, surprised that the elder told him anyway. There were a lot of questions popping up in his mind, but he didn't dare to ask them right now. Maybe later, as he just arrived here. Later? He could feel himself blushing again. What did he think how long he could stay after all? At least he hoped that their time wouldn't end up too soon. Dante smiled gently, nuzzling the boy's hair when he stood up again. "Stop brooding, kid." He said, meaning to tease him again, but Nero just returned the smile. "Don't worry, I guess I have to thank you." The hunter laughed. "Oh no, not again, still remember my words?" The younger just laughed as well, nodding. "Oh yeah, every single of it, as if it was yesterday." Dante raised an eyebrow, looking at Nero for a while, then just shrugged. "Then you should know my answer already." He stated, only looking back curtly before he turned around to leave. "Don't stay up too late, we'll have to prepare everything tomorrow, and get going early on Friday..." The boy nodded. "Sure thing." He mumbled, when the door was already closed.