"What do you know?" I asked cautiously.
Dante opened his mouth to answer but ended up laughing at me again. He'd done that every time I saw him. It distressed me. "Would you sit down? You keep acting like we're not acquainted." I did as he asked, despite his laughing.
"I know we are, it's just that you... sort of, I don't know, make me uncomfortable." Fear ran through my veins as I said those words, thinking that he'd get the wrong impression. But he just laughed harder.
"I make you uncomfortable?" I thought that he wouldn't be able to get those words out because he was laughing that hard, apparently amused by my obvious uncertainty when I was around him.
"Yes. You are quite intimidating. And you've got that... air about you."
Dante tilted his head to the side, still laughing. "Air?"
"Well, yes. It's like you're ready to chop my head off at any moment if I do the wrong thing." I said nervously, knowing that he had every reason to do so.
"Babe, I'm not gonna hurt you. Besides, I could never hurt a true lady."
"What are you implying, that I'm a 'true lady?'"
"You're more of a lady then all the whores who live here." He defended but I didn't know exactly what he was defending.
"Oh, aren't you a gentleman?" I asked sarcastically.
"Of course I am. 'Cause otherwise I wouldn't be tellin' you this shit." Dante countered.
"Alright, I agree with that but will you tell me?" He rolled his eyes.
"If I wasn't going to then you wouldn't be in here." Said Dante, quite smugly. "Now, what do you need to know about them?"
"I told you; I'm not really sure." At that point, I was so afraid that Dante was just going to push me out the door and send me back on my way to the Underworld. But he had a few more surprises left to show me.
"Then you might not hear what you want to hear." Warned the Hunter.
"That's all right. Anything will be want I want to hear." Breathing a sigh of relief, I realized he was... perfect.
Dante started, thankfully, at the beginning only pausing to answer my occasional question. I knew this information he was telling me was important but sometimes I got lost, only listening to the sound of his voice rather than the words his voice was forming. Every few moments he would stop and just wait for me because I kept getting lost in thoughts. He constantly had me smiling, completely embarrassed, and asking him to continue. It was a few long, blissful hours before he'd finished.
"So, did you hear what you needed to know?"
"I can guarantee that's a yes. You only told me everything. Thank you." I knew I had done something wrong because that "thank you" was hollow. Like my heart had become.
"You're welcome."
"Well, I really... must be going." Dread hung heavily on those few words.
As I started to get up and leave Dante stopped me, just like the first time. "You don't wanna go back, do you?"
"Am I that transparent?" I asked, turning around to face him again.
"Hate to say it but, yeah, you are." I saw him smile, again, for my sake. He was being so sweet it almost killed me. "Why not?"
"I hate it there. It's so dark and distressing. All anyone wants to do is destroy. I'm sick of all the carnage." Wondering why he'd care made me lose all worries about what I was telling him. I was just planting clues for him to find, leading to the fact that I was from a place no one loved.
"You should just be happy you've got a home. And family..." For the first time that day, it really hit me (harder than a shotgun blast to the head) as to how unlike himself Dante had become in the past twenty-four hours but I soon put those thoughts to the back of my mind as I saw a strange, nostalgic look in his blue eyes. And I knew why.
"I'd take your situation at any moment."
He struggled to figure that one out. "Why?"
"At least your family loved you, though they are gone. Mine..." I scoffed. "They're not even capable of love."
"Harsh."
"Very."
"What about friends? Surely you've got some of them." Even though I felt the strangest attraction to this man, his pressing was kind of unnerving.
"I've got one. And only because we think alike." My short reference to our hatred of the Underworld. He raised an eyebrow, approving that, and also making me wonder about him. "What about you?"
Dante shook his head. "It's easier, with this job, to just leave people out of everything unless they've got a demon on their ass. No one ever could understand why I'd go out in the middle of the night with two pistols and a big-ass sword. Got a bunch of strange looks doing that."
I laughed. "Well, I admit, I'd have to give you one, as well."
"Oh, thanks."
"It's not every day you see that."
"To them... it is."
"I think you should keep it that way."
Dante grinned. "I'm plannin' on doin' that."
"I hope so." I whispered as I turned back to face the door. "I really do." I started to reach for the doorknob.
"Oh, come on." He said playfully, as he stood up. "Leaving... so soon?"
That was the last thing I had ever expected from a man like him; the playful attitude caught me more off-guard than anything else, even the sudden show of compassion. I nearly stopped breathing entirely. "Yes. Why?"
Dante shrugged and gave me another sly smile. "No calls, no demons, no hunts. I'm bored."
I wanted, so badly, just to know what he wanted. "And what do you suggest?"
"Why do you women always do that?" Asked the Hunter as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Do what?"
"Make men decide everything." My face could only stay straight for so long. That comment made me laugh out madly.
"And what are you deciding?" I asked between laughs.
"I have no idea. But I know there's an argument there."
"Listen, that argument will have to be postponed. I've got to go." I was so angry at myself for saying that, that I just rushed out the door until I heard him talk again.
"Boy, you really are something." He said, sounding almost disgusted.
"What are you talking about?" I was almost angry.
"You're goin' and you really would rather die than do that, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, I already told you that." Dante was scaring me, quite literally, with his extremely perceptive nature.
"But this time it's different. It's not just that you don't like your 'home,' it's something else entirely. But what could it be...?" He added the last part as if it were a question directed to himself.
He was so right that it hurt me. "Yeah." Was my quick, stupid reply.
The sweetest thing he was probably capable of came so quickly that I was caught unprepared. "You don't get out much, do you?"
"No. Never had the opportunity." I was even more frightened by this new behavior that he was showing, not knowing anything that could have sparked it.
"Good. Come on." From that moment on I realized that he could change attitudes so quickly, and without notice, that I had no reason to assume that any one behavior belonged to him. And that once he was sure of a person and comfortable, he had the potential to be the sweetest guy in the world. That part took me a long while to believe, though.
He grabbed his car keys and walked out through the door, over to the vehicle. I still stood there, stunned. "Zoe." He called. "Come on."
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked as he motioned for me to get in. But my question didn't come from a lack of surety, because I trusted him, it came from confusion. Closing the door, I walked slowly over to him.
"All I'm gonna do, honey, is show you how to live." I climbed in after him, realizing that this was a night and a favor I would never forget, and he started the engine. Dante drove off into the center of town, the heart of town, completely ignoring his business that entire night.
Dante opened his mouth to answer but ended up laughing at me again. He'd done that every time I saw him. It distressed me. "Would you sit down? You keep acting like we're not acquainted." I did as he asked, despite his laughing.
"I know we are, it's just that you... sort of, I don't know, make me uncomfortable." Fear ran through my veins as I said those words, thinking that he'd get the wrong impression. But he just laughed harder.
"I make you uncomfortable?" I thought that he wouldn't be able to get those words out because he was laughing that hard, apparently amused by my obvious uncertainty when I was around him.
"Yes. You are quite intimidating. And you've got that... air about you."
Dante tilted his head to the side, still laughing. "Air?"
"Well, yes. It's like you're ready to chop my head off at any moment if I do the wrong thing." I said nervously, knowing that he had every reason to do so.
"Babe, I'm not gonna hurt you. Besides, I could never hurt a true lady."
"What are you implying, that I'm a 'true lady?'"
"You're more of a lady then all the whores who live here." He defended but I didn't know exactly what he was defending.
"Oh, aren't you a gentleman?" I asked sarcastically.
"Of course I am. 'Cause otherwise I wouldn't be tellin' you this shit." Dante countered.
"Alright, I agree with that but will you tell me?" He rolled his eyes.
"If I wasn't going to then you wouldn't be in here." Said Dante, quite smugly. "Now, what do you need to know about them?"
"I told you; I'm not really sure." At that point, I was so afraid that Dante was just going to push me out the door and send me back on my way to the Underworld. But he had a few more surprises left to show me.
"Then you might not hear what you want to hear." Warned the Hunter.
"That's all right. Anything will be want I want to hear." Breathing a sigh of relief, I realized he was... perfect.
Dante started, thankfully, at the beginning only pausing to answer my occasional question. I knew this information he was telling me was important but sometimes I got lost, only listening to the sound of his voice rather than the words his voice was forming. Every few moments he would stop and just wait for me because I kept getting lost in thoughts. He constantly had me smiling, completely embarrassed, and asking him to continue. It was a few long, blissful hours before he'd finished.
"So, did you hear what you needed to know?"
"I can guarantee that's a yes. You only told me everything. Thank you." I knew I had done something wrong because that "thank you" was hollow. Like my heart had become.
"You're welcome."
"Well, I really... must be going." Dread hung heavily on those few words.
As I started to get up and leave Dante stopped me, just like the first time. "You don't wanna go back, do you?"
"Am I that transparent?" I asked, turning around to face him again.
"Hate to say it but, yeah, you are." I saw him smile, again, for my sake. He was being so sweet it almost killed me. "Why not?"
"I hate it there. It's so dark and distressing. All anyone wants to do is destroy. I'm sick of all the carnage." Wondering why he'd care made me lose all worries about what I was telling him. I was just planting clues for him to find, leading to the fact that I was from a place no one loved.
"You should just be happy you've got a home. And family..." For the first time that day, it really hit me (harder than a shotgun blast to the head) as to how unlike himself Dante had become in the past twenty-four hours but I soon put those thoughts to the back of my mind as I saw a strange, nostalgic look in his blue eyes. And I knew why.
"I'd take your situation at any moment."
He struggled to figure that one out. "Why?"
"At least your family loved you, though they are gone. Mine..." I scoffed. "They're not even capable of love."
"Harsh."
"Very."
"What about friends? Surely you've got some of them." Even though I felt the strangest attraction to this man, his pressing was kind of unnerving.
"I've got one. And only because we think alike." My short reference to our hatred of the Underworld. He raised an eyebrow, approving that, and also making me wonder about him. "What about you?"
Dante shook his head. "It's easier, with this job, to just leave people out of everything unless they've got a demon on their ass. No one ever could understand why I'd go out in the middle of the night with two pistols and a big-ass sword. Got a bunch of strange looks doing that."
I laughed. "Well, I admit, I'd have to give you one, as well."
"Oh, thanks."
"It's not every day you see that."
"To them... it is."
"I think you should keep it that way."
Dante grinned. "I'm plannin' on doin' that."
"I hope so." I whispered as I turned back to face the door. "I really do." I started to reach for the doorknob.
"Oh, come on." He said playfully, as he stood up. "Leaving... so soon?"
That was the last thing I had ever expected from a man like him; the playful attitude caught me more off-guard than anything else, even the sudden show of compassion. I nearly stopped breathing entirely. "Yes. Why?"
Dante shrugged and gave me another sly smile. "No calls, no demons, no hunts. I'm bored."
I wanted, so badly, just to know what he wanted. "And what do you suggest?"
"Why do you women always do that?" Asked the Hunter as he crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Do what?"
"Make men decide everything." My face could only stay straight for so long. That comment made me laugh out madly.
"And what are you deciding?" I asked between laughs.
"I have no idea. But I know there's an argument there."
"Listen, that argument will have to be postponed. I've got to go." I was so angry at myself for saying that, that I just rushed out the door until I heard him talk again.
"Boy, you really are something." He said, sounding almost disgusted.
"What are you talking about?" I was almost angry.
"You're goin' and you really would rather die than do that, wouldn't you?"
"Yeah, I already told you that." Dante was scaring me, quite literally, with his extremely perceptive nature.
"But this time it's different. It's not just that you don't like your 'home,' it's something else entirely. But what could it be...?" He added the last part as if it were a question directed to himself.
He was so right that it hurt me. "Yeah." Was my quick, stupid reply.
The sweetest thing he was probably capable of came so quickly that I was caught unprepared. "You don't get out much, do you?"
"No. Never had the opportunity." I was even more frightened by this new behavior that he was showing, not knowing anything that could have sparked it.
"Good. Come on." From that moment on I realized that he could change attitudes so quickly, and without notice, that I had no reason to assume that any one behavior belonged to him. And that once he was sure of a person and comfortable, he had the potential to be the sweetest guy in the world. That part took me a long while to believe, though.
He grabbed his car keys and walked out through the door, over to the vehicle. I still stood there, stunned. "Zoe." He called. "Come on."
"What the hell are you doing?" I asked as he motioned for me to get in. But my question didn't come from a lack of surety, because I trusted him, it came from confusion. Closing the door, I walked slowly over to him.
"All I'm gonna do, honey, is show you how to live." I climbed in after him, realizing that this was a night and a favor I would never forget, and he started the engine. Dante drove off into the center of town, the heart of town, completely ignoring his business that entire night.