Dante was standing on top of the stairs, leaning on the railing. He was waiting for Nero to get out of the shower. He couldn't get the younger hunter out of his mind recently, and the feeling was only getting more and more intense as time went on.

Nero took a hot shower, he really needed one after the day he's been through. It wasn't necessarily the job that was to blame, it was the fact that Dante had an effect on him he couldn't explain. He wanted to be around Dante, to spend time with him, learn from him and have the older hunter's full attention. But when he got said attention, he would get flustered and shy, heart pounding as soon as he was somewhat close to Dante, was spoken to or felt eyes on him. He couldn't explain why this was happening or why he was behaving the way he was, but it was exhausting and stressful. He knew what having a crush and being in love was like, but this feeling was different, it was a weird new mixture he's never experienced before. He tried to suppress those feelings as much as he could, knowing there was 0 chance a relationship between the two would ever work. They were related after all.

When Nero was done in the shower and dried himself, he put on the oversized T-shirt he usually wore to sleep and a fresh pair of black boxer briefs. He brushed his teeth, made sure his not-yet-dried hair was looking good and headed out of the bathroom, shutting the door behind him.

Nero walked across the dimly lit office to the couch, grabbing the sheets and pillow folded on top of his bag and setting them on the couch. He prepared his sleeping space neatly and turned around to go shut off the neon sign above the bar that seemed to be the only remaining light source in the room.

Dante watched Nero in silence, observing his movements, admiring the younger man's slim but perfectly built figure. The oversized shirt wasn't giving him a lot to observe on top, but what he did see below the shirt was pleasant. The boxer briefs hugging his form perfectly and then, there were his ungodly long legs. The way Nero walked only complimented his figure. He really had an eye for the kid. 'Damn, he ain't bad at all,' he thought.

Dante realised that he's been staring at Nero's body as soon as the young man in question stopped in surprise. He noticed Dante on the railing, his eyes definitely not fixated on his face but on his lower body. He froze for a moment, still processing that Dante was definitely checking him out.

"Oh," Nero started, cheeks suddenly red. "I thought you were asleep already."

Dante made a mental note to keep his focus on Nero's eyes and straightened up from his leaning position. "Yeah, I was just going." He wasn't sure what else to say, he really had no reason for being there other than wanting to see Nero, hoping to see the sight he saw that same morning. "If anyone calls before I'm up, take the call and write down the info. I'll get to it. Unless it's an emergency, then come wake me up."

"Alright." Nero nodded.

He turned a bit and made a step towards the bedroom. "Good night, Nero."

"Good night," Nero responded mostly to himself as Dante was already behind his bedroom doors by now.

Nero exhaled the breath he didn't realise he was holding. He turned off the neon sign and flopped down on the couch, covering even his head. He got the strange feelings inside again, unsure of what just happened.

'Was Dante really checking me out? Or am I going batshit insane…'

Dante sat down on the edge of the bed, his face in his hands. 'What the hell kind of curse am I under?' He slid his hands down his face and ran them through his smooth silver hair as he lay backward on the bed.

'This is getting out of hand. He's my nephew, for god's sake. Snap the fuck out of it,' he cursed himself.

As he was saying that, he remembered. Every so often throughout his life, his inner devil would get really aggressive and overpowering, and that part of him would prevail over his human self. All his thoughts, decisions and actions would be influenced by his demonic side. It was the part of him that drove him all kinds of wild. It hasn't happened to him in a very long time, and he has forgotten just how strong the feelings would hit. It felt like 'demon puberty' all over again, but twice as intense and… not quite the same. Something was still different.

'I'm fucking pathetic…'

He took a deep breath. The only thing on his mind was Nero's body, his movements, his flustered face, his hair, eyes, voice, scent. He couldn't get it to stop. His heart was racing, he was sweating, he couldn't stay still.

'This isn't a winnable situation, just let it pass,' he addressed his inner devil. He was sure the part of him that wasn't human was just going through something it had to go through and it would be over eventually.

He moved to get undressed and once he was down to his underwear, he properly laid down on the bed. He took a deep breath and ran both his hands across his face again. He tried his best to focus on something else, anything else, but to no avail. It was still Nero, no matter what he thought about.

'This kid. This fucking kid.'

Eventually, the thoughts calmed down and he managed to fall asleep. His dreams, however, were not pleasant.