A/N: I'm officially fed up with FFN and its formating. Even if I format in Word, it usually deletes random bits when I upload the doc. -flips site the bird- alright, moving on. Here's the second chapter. The third chapter is giving me a bit of trouble, so it may be the first delayed update. Everyone seems to have enjoyed my latest oneshot, and I have a strong inkling that it's going to turn into a collection of fluff. For practice of course, heh heh.

Disclaimer: Devil May Cry and its characters belong to Capcom. I only own copies of the games. And holy crap I forgot how much fun it is to flip around in the DMC2, lol!

Warnings: Language, mild violence (because I SUCK at writing action scenes), and what will be the start of attempting to make Dante suffer (it's going to be hard since he's so uflappable) and a Lone Ranger reference (what?)

Dedciations: This story is for everyone, but I'd like to give a personal shout out to SirenaLoreley cause I love getting reviews and you always leave one! Keep 'em comin!

Everyone please read and enjoy!

Chapter 2: Rejection

The day started clear and bright, and just like the irritating sun, Nero had been chipper than ever. It was, to say the least, oddly disturbing to see the younger man so damn cheerful. Dante knew the kid was hard up to get out of the office and get back to work, but he hadn't thought he'd be this happy.

Woe to Nero when the younger found that Dante had been doing all of the backup jobs and they had to sit and wait for a call if they were going to go anywhere. In hindsight, Dante felt a bit bad about doing all of those missions, especially because they'd been piss poor pay for minimal effort. Most of them weren't even in the city so he'd had to travel. But what was done was done. And hey, at least the elder slayer got the chance to see Nero exercise and stare intently at the phone like an eager child. It gave him plenty of fodder to tease the kid mercilessly.

Dante found, though, that his heart just wasn't in the efforts of making Nero pissed off. As expected, he hadn't gotten much sleep the night before, too caught up in his own thoughts and feelings. Everything was so twisted, and he wasn't even sure if these feelings were real. They sure as hell weren't reciprocated. Nero seemed to like him well enough, they were roommates after all, and business partners, so there had to be some level of tolerance between them. But what Dante had a sinking suspicion about was that his newfound feelings wanted more than just a strained friendship between them. He didn't know when those feelings started or when he began to notice them. All he knew was they had his attention now and they were driving the elder hunter absolutely bonkers.

He was glad when the phone rang later that morning and they got a job. Going out and killing demons was a great way to take his mind off of this crap.

They gathered their weapons and coats and headed out to the car, Nero for once not complaining about not being allowed to drive. The teen hopped over the passenger door and landed in his seat with a grin. Dante shook his head as he actually took the time to open his door properly. He was digging the kid's enthusiasm and all, but watching him fidget impatiently was even better. As such, the more experienced devil hunter took his sweet time getting a comfortable seat, fiddling with the keys and stalling as much as possible until Nero reached over to take the keys from him and start the car himself.

"Hey, passengers stay on their side, punk."

"Whatever, you were taking too long." Nero huffed and sat back, arms crossed. In spite of his mulish response, the kid still had that grin on his face, blue eyes bright and eager for the fight ahead. "Let's hit it, Tonto!"

Dante paused in the act of putting his convertible into drive and raised an eyebrow at Nero, who started back at him with the same carefully blank expression.

"Wow, kid. I didn't know your cabin fever was that bad."

"Shut the hell up and drive old man!"

Shaking his head, Dante finally stomped the gas and tore down the street. He had to get Nero to the mission site fast. If the kid had been watching old tv just to pass the time, then he definitely needed some fresh air.

Dante smirked after a moment and added, "But for the record, you're Tonto."

-o-o-o-

They were greeted by a swarm of Scarecrows once they reached an abandoned district of the city. Apparently the businesses that had owned the area full of warehouses had gone bankrupt at some point and the new owner of the abandoned property had been chased out by the little bastards that kept appearing.

The low-level demons were milling about, a few breaking the intact windows on the buildings, knocking over stacks of crates and generally making a mess. If Dante didn't know any better, he'd say they were bored.

"Hey kid, you sure you feel up to this?" he asked tauntingly, only to see that Nero wasn't in the car anymore. The instant they'd stopped, the kid leapt out of his seat, retrieved Red Queen and went running straight into the fray, firing Blue Rose and knocking down a few of the Scarecrows.

That was enough to get the swarm's attention and they immediately cackled as if they were just as excited to see some action as the younger hunter. The demons leapt into action as well, meeting Nero halfway and though he was outnumbered, he didn't seem to have any trouble mowing them all down as if he'd never been sick.

Dante finally grabbed Rebellion and ran over to join in. Though he'd grabbed his sword, he stuck to his guns, rapidly killing the horde that was fast thinning out. Once there were barely a dozen left, Dante figured he'd be nice and let the kid mop the rest up, until the ground began to shake and the concrete lot began to crack apart.

"Looks like the big boy is ready to come out and play!" the elder hunter called out as he rolled out of the way of the much larger demon pulling itself out of the hole it had made. He watched it climb out and stand to its full height, which was rather impressive if Dante did say so himself. It was nearly the size of a three story building, its body that of a large bug, like an ant, though it had a face that was disturbingly human looking. It opened its mouth, a set of pincers ripping past the leathery lips and clacking together as it roared.

One look and Dante felt something rise in the back of his mind. With a feral grin, he looked to where Nero was quickly slicing through the remaining Scarecrows that were trying to retreat from the larger demon. "Yo kid, check this out!" he shouted, pausing only long enough to make sure Nero was watching, though the teen looked a bit irate to be doing so.

Certain he had the kid's attention, Dante turned back to the bug demon and lifted Ebony and Ivory, firing as he ran forward, easily dodging the needle-like legs stomping at him. He jumped all over the demon, shooting and taunting it, his red coat flaring out behind him as he effortlessly moved out of the way of any counter-attacks. He pulled out Rebellion to cut down a few of the demon's legs, which resulted in it only standing up straighter like a human on the legs that remained. Dante knew what he was doing, delaying killing the demon and making Nero watch while he did.

He was showing off. He wanted to impress the younger part-devil.

Landing in front of the crippled demon that was now on its belly and roaring in fury, Dante sent Nero a wink before he adjusted his grip on Rebellion's handle and, in one smooth motion, the thick blade sliced the demon's body in half. A second swing quickly followed, promptly severing the creature's head in a spray of green blood.

Dante felt rather victorious and placed Rebellion in its place on his back before turning to the still observing teen with a bow. "So what do you think? Am I awesome or what?" Nero didn't answer, seemingly too awed to, or so the elder thought. He knelt down to retrieve the severed head of the ant-man while its body melted into goo. Dante walked straight up to Nero and dropped the head at the younger's feet, propping a boot on it, presenting the kid with his trophy.

Nero took one look before growling and wrinkling his nose at the leaking head. He backed away from the slowly growing puddle of putrid green blood inching towards his feet and covered his nose and mouth with his human hand. "That's disgusting, old man. Let's just go already." He huffed and turned to walk back to the car.

Left behind, the older hunter kept his nonchalant expression, but inside his heart dropped. At some point in the middle of the fight, he'd realized that his demon side had taken an opportunity to impress Nero with its skill and strength. He'd gladly gone along with the thought, thinking it would be fun, but now he saw what it really was all about.

His inner demon had recognized Dante's developing feelings for the kid and in response was trying to win Nero over as a mate.

Sighing heavily, he kicked the head away with a more force than was probably necessary. Nero's rejection of the gift had made his demon side angry. It kept growling what an ungrateful bitch the kid was, while Dante himself was just…stupidly hurt.

"You not hear me, old man? Turn up your hearing aid and let's go." The younger hunter called from where he was already sitting in the red convertible. "I want to get this demon blood off me pronto."

Dante tucked his hands into his pockets and slowly walked to the car, climbing in and starting it without any post-demon fighting banter. He just stared forward as they drove back to the office, trying not to think about how much shit he was in now that his demon had picked up on his feelings for Nero. That little show and present of a dead demon's head was just the beginning. And since it hadn't worked, he knew his demon side was going to get more aggressive in its pursuit to fulfill its host's silent wish.

"Hey, you feeling alright, old man?" Nero's voice broke his thoughts and Dante glanced over at the younger who was looking at him with more irritation than concern; an abrupt change considering how excited and upbeat the younger hunter had been before.

"Yeah, I'm fine kid." He brought up his usual grin. "I mean, you did see what I just did, right?"

The attempt at taunting had worked and immediately Nero starting cussing him out for being a show-off, completely covering the fact that inside, Dante was a little heartbroken.