Fuyuko: Had fun writing this…especially the drinks part, which was odd as I don't drink and generally do not get the concept of how it is a fun activity. I have no basis for making Lady a mixed drink gal, I just did it. And if you must know, the songs I listened to while writing this were Look to the Sky, Sandstorm, two Butterfly songs, Switch, and MIB.
Lady: Great. I think I don't need to be drunk around you, anymore than anyone else does.
Fuyuko: Yeah, it does kind of lead people to getting really pretty marker doodles on their faces. Hm. Wonder if anyone would do art of this fic. Or of Dante and Vergil as MIB. Hot twins in matching suits….you know you think that's hot.
Lady: If they weren't a pair of psychotic demon jerks, maybe. And it's doubtful anyone will do art of this, there's not much to imagine, just a bunch of random fan-service cliché scenes. Where's that stupid bot?
Disclaimer-bot: I resent being referred to that way, as my intelligence far exceeds your own. It is why I can declaratively disclaim that all rights to Dante, Lady, and Devil May Cry belong to Capcom, much to the disappointment of many a fanfiction writer and fanartist.
&
Devil in the Cradle Bonus 1 – First Date
&
"Are you positive it was good idea to leave her with Nevan and the rest?"
"Of course, babe. Relax, they'll take good care of the little squirt. 'Sides, you're way too tense to be in this joint."
He knew it wasn't all because of the small half-devil charge they'd both left behind somewhat unwillingly, but he let it slide, wanting her to loosen up and knowing mentioning the other reason would just make her that much more high-strung. This was going to be a good time. He'd promised her it would be worth it, gone through too much wheedling to let it go to waste. Thumping trance and house-beats poured out over their ears, swirling colored lights and the irregular flash of a strobe poorly illuminating their bodies as the pair strode into the popular underground club.
The bouncer knew Dante, had been helped out with a few toughs once or twice by the white-haired young man, and he let them slide in without the customary display of ID. If the dark-haired bombshell was with Dante, then she wouldn't be a problem – guy never started trouble, it just seemed to end up in his hands – the large man figured, giving a nod at the pair. Nodding back, the white-haired young man made his way over to the bar and lounge, weaving through the mill of people to one of the high tables instead of his usual spot at the counter. He waited until Lady had nimbly and gracefully gotten up onto one of the equally high chairs before seating himself with less climbing, being tall enough to sink sideways into the seat.
He grinned at her face; It was still clouded by some doubts about their outing, but for the moment at least, it was also relaxed, nicely contrasted eyes flicking slowly around and observing the bar area. It certainly wasn't what she'd thought of when he'd said they could eat at the club's bar. In Lady's mind, only in part because she knew the man across from her, bars didn't have classy soft vinyl-cushioned stools or intricately designed stainless steel overhead glass racks. They certainly didn't have tiny café style high tables with comfortable seating for dining for a few, glass tops covering the rock, trance, hip-hop, and other music records layered onto the original wood tabletops. It was a nice switch from what she envisioned, the young woman decided, smiling back at Dante.
A flirty college-age waitress came over to the table, passing them menus and standing open a needless drink list on the decorated surface, eyes shamelessly roving over the white-haired man's form. Noticing this errant behavior, the dark-haired lady across from him smiled stiffly with false politeness, cheerily thanking the girl for taking their drink orders of a dark lager and a fruity cocktail, for which a pair of white brows rose amusedly at her.
" 'Devil's Tail'? Babe, I don't have one of those, trust me."
She snorted, not too bothered by his characteristic leap onto the open target her drink choice had been. Lady could handle his cheesy wise-cracks these days. "Well, that's a relief. I think we wouldn't get past the first date if you did – I'm not into that sort of thing." Hell, she could even play along with the sarcastic teasing.
"Wonder if the waitress is…I bet she'd be good in bed, with that rack," the half-devil's inhuman blue eyes laughed at his human dinner date, prodding the other opening he'd observed when they'd first gotten waited on. "I mean, if nothing else, it would be fun just to watch them bounce while we…"
"Right, and I'm so sure you'd love it when Blonde Boob-job's fake ones busted during the rough roll in the sack bit. Especially when she whined about it." Not an excellent comeback on her part, but the female demon hunter felt it was justified and sufficient, considering her mind was still seething with her jealousy and at the fact that he'd deliberately tried to start something upon noticing it. He grinned winningly at her, sharper than human canines glinting devilishly in the crazed lighting sifting throughout the club. She was positive Blonde Boob-job would be thrilled to see that too, if she ever did get taken home by the more-than man she'd been flirting with.
"I think I'll pass, now that you mention it. I only love a fast and furious woman, the kind that can keep up and satisfy during a wild romp under the covers," The grin was overgrown now, almost Cheshire cat-like in its near manic glee, "Especially this one with dark hair and odd sexy eyes."
"Anyone else saying that would have a broken mouth right now, you know that, you lunatic? I guess," She paused and pondered briefly the best way to get an equal innuendo back at him, "I guess it's good for you that I like classical Roman statues."
Dante opened his mouth, on the verge of asking her exactly what it was she liked about them – the perfect faces, the great poses, or the stunning nude bodies – when the previously discussed waitress returned, still pouring the charm out on him. Not exactly wanting to see Lady get homicidal over a little bit of flirting, the usually womanizing fellow turned out a heavily disinterested attitude to the obviously fake blonde's pathetic attempts. 'Anyways, she's really not my type, like I told Ms. Explosively Sexy over there,' He chuckled inwardly at his latest nickname for Lady, recalling with glee how explosive she had gotten when he'd shouted it at her across a horde of demons a few nights ago. The lowly Sargasso heads hadn't stood a chance when she'd decided to take out her consternation at his tease by bombarding a pack of them with Kalina Ann's targeting mini-missiles, and the devil hunter himself had gotten quite a blast out of dodging the bony shrapnel they'd spewed forth.
Having gotten their dinner orders in, and miffed at being shut-out by the handsome devil, their waitress departed, which let the two finally snicker at her expense. Lady had seen him shut the overly forward woman out with no small degree of joy, and laughingly admitted to herself that it had been silly to think he'd wanted the undesirable attention. Dante was a flirt and a perverted womanizer a lot of the time, but he was also not the type to actually go around picking up useless chicks just for their looks or possible willingness for one-night stands. That she had found out long ago, when she'd stalked him to the Love Planet once, angry as hell at having to chase him to that place for a lousy debt he hadn't been paying up, only to find him mostly ignoring the scantily clad women there in favor of whining to Enzo about a boring job the informant was trying to put him on.
'I'd almost think he hasn't dated at all, seeing him turn aside the throngs of women that come jumping at him,' It was an odd realization, but she couldn't help her curiosity, especially given their own new step into a more serious and decidedly not platonic relationship. He was only a couple of years older than her, and she knew for a fact he had never had any sort of traditional schooling, given that he was running around as a self-induced amnesiac mercenary during his early teenage years. Still, it didn't mean her half-devil date – she was not going to label him a boyfriend and they were definitely not lovers – hadn't dated before. He probably had, and they had probably been older women with experience, a thought that suddenly had Lady feeling nervous, though she was loath to admit it. She had never dated herself, having been enrolled in a more than strict all-girls private school, and then devoting the last bit of her teenage years to hunting down the man who'd killed her mother.
Maybe some level of concern was showing on her face, because her date cocked his head slightly and inquired as to the state of her mind in his own taunting fashion, weighting the question by inferring that she was one bullet short of a full clip. She playfully sniped back at him that if she was short by one, he was missing the entire clip, especially for going out with her if he thought she was crazy. Surely he'd had better dates, she gently prodded, not comfortable asking him to outright divulge the information. 'Honestly, this whole thing is still somewhat awkward,' she mused as he appeared to silently ponder how best to answer her subtle inquiry, 'And I really hope it doesn't go south. …I do want to stay friends with him, if…well, we'll see.'
"Actually, Lady, I did have a few dates back in L.A., some good and some God-awful. But, eh, Tony's dead, and so are all his past social stints." Might not have been the explicit answer she was looking for, but it did satisfy the unspoken uncertainty he had sensed off of his date, which was really all that he was comfortable settling now. 'Later, maybe, we can discuss old flames, but I really don't wanna know about other guys that've been hot with her.' He managed not to snarl at the thought, feeding ravenously on his own intense surge of jealousy, hoping she hadn't seen his jaw clench reflexively at the emotion.
Their dinners arrived, nothing overly fancy, since this wasn't exactly a rich man's playground, despite its nice design, but both of them still found the meals satisfying. Dante had already polished off his lager, but had declined a second mug, even if he didn't need to worry about drinking too much and ruining a good date with trashed behavior. Lady had requested some water to chase down her fruity cocktail, not feeling tipsy, but not wanting to hit a dance floor with only alcohol in her system. Waiting for her to finish her meal and new drink, the half-devil lounged bonelessly back in his tall chair, blue eyes scanning the dance floor and its writhing occupants. A somewhat popular trance tune was just reaching its culmination, the electronic music squeaking out of the speakers along with some breathy vocal track, obviously a personal addition by the DJ, not that it was poorly received.
He definitely preferred rock, but as long as it had a beat that could set his blood to thrumming and maybe his feet to moving, the half-devil really didn't mind other music. Idly he wondered what type of music Lady liked, not seeing that she had any particular reaction to the current track. Dante waited until she'd finished her last bite of grilled chicken sandwich then nodded toward the DJ's turntable as he asked her what she thought of the song, wanting to return the subtle and un-intrusive questioning style she had allowed him earlier. 'It'll be nice to really get to know her as her and not just hunter her, now that we're dating,' he shooed away the pessimistic worry that this would turn into a one-hit-wonder event, '…And it'd be great if it lessened how many damn stupid small talk conversations we have.' He didn't mind that they teased each other, or that they often spoke in less than appropriate analogies, but he didn't want all their conversations to be that way, either.
"It's alright. A bit too shrill, and I can't stand that stupid moaning track he has laid over it, but it's alright for a beat. I'll take alternative or rock any day over trance, though."
"Hm. I knew you were my kind of woman, hot legs. You ready to hit the wood with those?" Their tab had been delivered now, and he swiped it up in a slightly slowed version of his usual high-speed blur, slipping a stack of bills into the tray beneath the receipt. She glared at him, recalling quite well that they'd agreed to do this Dutch, but letting it slide for the moment.
She could always have Nevan put her share back into his bank account later, though she doubted the succubus would comply without coercion. She'd been ecstatic upon discovering Dante wanted to take Lady on this date, and had willingly volunteered to baby-sit. Laughing huskily at the grateful but embarrassed couple, she'd even offered to be available the whole night, if they wanted the time. Lady had been flabbergasted, uncharacteristically wanting to sink through the floor, and even Dante had seemed thrown by embarrassment, but he's managed to make it known that was unnecessary, despite the deep pink stain on his high cheekbones and ears.
"Why not, I can't possibly be as bad a dancer as you are," the dark-haired woman smirked challenging at the white-haired man as they departed from the lounge and bar, bee-lining through the crowd as they approached the dance floor, feeling as well as hearing the pound of the music now. It was partly to work up her own confidence, since she really had never done this before, and the one public school dance she'd been invited to by a neighborhood friend in middle school was no comparison to this crushing eddy of twisting human bodies.
"Ha. I can bust a move with the best of them, hot legs. I'm a sexy beast, remember?" He shook his white-haired head at her in mock reproach, applying a nickname to her again as his eyes took in the sway her hips had picked up, more than happy to be following her dark-haired head onto the dance floor now. It was no secret that he admired a hot body, especially a female one, but the fact that it was her made it that much bigger of a deal to him, and he secretly wished that someone would put on a song where grinding on you partner was the norm.
Finding themselves unable to realistically move farther out onto the wood dance floor without elbowing a path, the slightly swaying and tapping duet made themselves comfortable in the space they'd gotten stuck in, movements increasing with the press of the crowd. Dante did indeed know how to bust a move, going from foot tapping and head jamming to pumping his shoulders slightly, bouncing on his feet like a boxer, feeling the fast-paced song sound through his body. Lady's hips still moved, the sway more of a rocking now, legs and feet moving out a bit and back in with simple steps, torso wiggling a tiny amount with the movement stirring up from her hips. The song's simple uplifting tune, punctuated with a synthesized set of vocals in a woman's airy soprano, set the crowd around them to gyrating fluidly. The two devil hunters found themselves swept up in the motion, not minding as the crowd's motion pushed them a little closer together.
As the DJ faded seamlessly into the next track, the thumping beat of its intro bars saw a number of obvious dance partners get even closer, sweat-dampened bodies sliding against each other as the rhythm increased. At the dramatic halt preceding the next wave of the song, Lady found that Dante had followed suit with a number of other men on the dance floor, sidling up behind her, letting his hands slip around her waist gently. The pace was increasing again, and even as she began to move with the now frenetic beat, head bouncing around and body all out writhing, her nerves bubbled up at the touch. It wasn't unpleasant or even intentionally crass, but all the same, she wasn't sure she was ready for the contact. His own body was mere millimeters away from hers, the fronts of his thighs to the backs of hers, forcing the two of them to step in the same rhythm. It was an awkward way to dance for Lady, trying as she was to keep their hips from grinding together. 'I'm definitely not ready for him to be getting cozy with that idea.'
"Relax, babe. I'm not trying to eat you up. I'm trying to keep the other dudes from eating your sexy self up." Dante had sensed his partner tense at his unannounced increase in their bodily contact, and while he understood somewhat why she had tensed up, he wasn't about to ease off. He hadn't been kidding about the other guys on the dance floor eyeballing Lady, and he wasn't going to let them touch her, period. 'It's like they say, the devil is a possessor. And I never did like to share.'
A new song had been laid over the first one, the clash of the two beats somehow more enticing than the original had been by itself, and the devil hunter found himself moving fluidly with the heavy mix of guitar and drums, a now obvious rock tune pushing out over the already loud volume of the techno song. He'd gotten pretty wild with rock music before, and he found it was a pace that still came easily to him, upper body thrashing frenziedly to the raging tones. His hands tightened on Lady's hips, feeling her pick up on the new song and marveling at how well she flowed into dancing to it, rhythmic full-body gyrations just as emotive as his wilder thrashing but much smoother, carrying a hint of sexuality. He wondered if she knew what it looked like, wondered if she knew how plain dead sexy it was, wondered if she even knew that was why a ton of the men around them were staring at her hungrily.
He chewed on the anger that thought built up in him, latching onto Lady's more relaxed emotions as a distraction. The half-devil delighted in the feel of her surge of happiness at the bouncy dance beat they were now jumping to, literally forced to take tiny hops off the floor with the bass's over-powered thumps, glad that she was finally enjoying their night out. It took some of the edge off of his nerves to know that she was having a good time, because he'd wanted this to be a treat for her, besides just a date and maybe, on some level, an escape for them from baby duties. He wouldn't trade their current lives for the world, but he also knew that staying holed up in the office and only going out for work and chores was going to drive them both insane. More importantly, he'd decided to bring her here because it was a popular club with people their age, and he sometimes felt his more serious demon hunting partner needed to get out and live a normal young person's life around her peers occasionally. He wasn't even fully human, didn't belong with other people at all, and he got out to the social scenes like this more often than she did, which was a crying shame in his mind.
The current song slowed, its bouncy beat breaking like bubbles into a more hip-hop tune, and the two hunters both heard themselves half-groan. Lady chuckled at this, realizing that they had more in common music taste than just a liking for rock, although this particular song wasn't too bad. They stayed on the dance floor, getting bumped a bit by some of the other dancers, who were bouncing around with their hips and lower torsos. Lady glanced black at Dante's face, seeing him smile at her, but watching his eyes slide away to track some other movement to their right. Her own head and eyes spun to follow his line of sight, seeing a pack of young women whirling their hips in wide swooping circles and even shaking their breasts, giggling insanely at the amount of testosterone being directed toward their deliberately sultry act. Huh. Like she couldn't play at that game, too?
"You know, Dante, you shouldn't watch other girls shake their asses. You might miss mine doing it." She had no idea her voice could be so husky and raw, but then, she'd never tried to be seductive before. She honestly had no idea why she was trying it now, dreading the fool she was going to make of herself, but not able to back down now that she had his attention pulling back to her. 'Well, you'll just have to bite the bullet now, and shock the hell out of him. You're good at blowing his mind.'
Literally, too, she recalled with a tight smile, pulling her body away from his slightly, his arms extended between them. She could feel his eyes on her, watching her bounce her hips back and forth, feeling strangely pleased at the knowledge, and increased her movement, stepping to the side with her legs alternately and sashaying her hips widely almost into an arc. Knowing he was fully focused on the movement of her butt now, she dipped down towards the floor with her hips angling back and legs spread slightly, before shooting back up and checking her embarrassment at the act. Some part of her mind nagged that she had just made herself look like an idiot. Who was she kidding, think she had the hips or skills for something like that? Booty-dancing was obviously not a forte of hers, and she went to slow and small swings of her hips, hoping to downplay her folly when she was wrapped up in a pair of inhumanly powerful arms, a hot but not sweaty body pressed against her passionately. His thighs pressed up against hers again, but this time he didn't hold back the rest of his lower body, lean hips pushing onto her round buttocks.
Lady's dark-haired head jerked back at the touch, feeling him press on her, and realized his own head was leaned down to hers, catching his eyes and seeing a hot shimmer in them. Dante grinned sexily at her and deliberately ground his pelvis into her backside, setting them to gyrating and grinding together, now pressed fully back to chest as a new techno beat began pouring out. The couple of devil hunters made an enticing and erotic scene as they moved in unison, fit young bodies tearing up the small space of dance floor they had secured for themselves. The two were largely oblivious to it, however, smirking only a little at knowing they were the big scoop at the club tonight, and continuing their eye-catching performance for the next couple of hours. It was a good evening out, they both thought upon finally returning to Devil May Cry, even if they both crashed into their beds in a daze.
&
Fuyuko: Yeah, that was a blast. Wish first dates were like that in real life, or well, no, not really. It's only hot because its got you two.
Lady: I'm so glad you're that into us. It's really not disturbing at all.
Fuyuko: Oh I know. But I also know you two love the love the other fans and I give you, sick as it is sometimes. As always, review and let me know what you think.
&
