Lady unlocked the door to her apartment on the second floor of a small building, a few blocks away from Devil May Cry. Dante hadn't been there before, and hovered outside as Lady walked in.

She turned around, frowning slightly in confusion "What's with the hesitation?"

Dante shrugged "I'm waiting for your invitation."

Her frown deepened "You're not a vampire, Dante. You don't need an invitation."

He grinned at her "I just wanna know you trust me, babe." He said, walking forward and Lady placed an arm against the door frame. Looking into Dante's blue eyes; her mismatched ones narrowed.

"Who said I trust you?"

Dante faltered for a moment but then she moved with a sighed "Come in."

Following her inside, Dante watched as she grabbed some clothes from a laundry basket then looked over her shoulder at him with a glare.

"Turn around, and don't even think about looking."

He rolled his eyes, but obeyed, turning to look at the rest of the apartment. It was simple enough, and would have looked quite normal if it weren't for the amount of weapons scattered about… A big sofa chair sat in front of a coffee table but no TV could be seen, and a small kitchenette was located at the far end, next to a door he guessed lead into Lady's bedroom.

The dirty thoughts evaporated from Dante's head as he became distracted by the sound of a tap dripping into the sink. His drawn into the kitchen area, Dante noticed a small fern plant on the kitchen windowsill.

His eyebrows rose slightly, he hadn't known Lady liked plants. The idea of her taking care of another living thing was, well, new to him. It was hardly surprising considering the occasions where she had actually kicked him in the crotch…

Well, guess that sorts out a birthday present for her.

Dante suddenly frowned at the thought; come to think of it, he didn't actually know when Lady's birthday was…

The sound of a throat being cleared interrupted his thoughts and he turned around. Lady stood there, wearing a fresh white blouse and blue jeans. Looking at her face, Dante was surprised; both of her eyes appeared brown.

"What's up with the eyes?" He asked, making sure he was seeing straight. Lady looked a little confused at first before getting what he was talking about. She passed it off with a wave of her hand as she walked into the kitchenette, Dante following "Contact lens." She said, picking up the fern plant and taking it to the sink where she started to water it.

It didn't really answer Dante's question, so he asked a new one "Why are you wearing it?"

Then, Lady turned on him with a deadly serious expression "I don't want to be associated with that bastard anymore." She said coldly, putting the fern back down on the window sill a little harder than necessary.

Dante frowned, he knew just how much Lady hated Arkham, so tried to divert the conversation slightly "So, why brown? You could have had blue like mine."

Lady turned away from him "My mother had brown eyes." She said.

Dante uttered a small "Oh…" and fell silent.

For a long while, the only sound that could be heard was the continuous dripping of the tap, but eventually Dante felt he just had to say something "Look… I'm sorry; I guess I kinda didn't know what I was saying."

Lady shook her head, turning back to the white-blond hybrid "No, you didn't say anything wrong. Besides, you couldn't have known." She still sounded a little wistful and though he wanted to lighten the mood, Dante didn't really know how. Everything that came to mind seemed far too insensitive.

Damn, He thought to himself when did I start caring 'bout that?

Lady was also feeling a little uncomfortable because she realised Dante hadn't said anything stupid or perverted for a while. His seriousness made his beautiful face seem much more mature and so unlike him.

Because it makes him look far too much like his brother Lady thought.

All of a sudden, she felt she just had to do something to get that look off his face. She could tell he was struggling for words and thought it best to do something about it before he said the wrong thing.

"Dante…" He looked up at her, and the words just died in her throat. He looked like he expected scrutiny, but there was no defiant scowl, no joking smile…

He looked like a kid waiting to be punished, strangely innocent and even slightly scared. Lady was absolutely stunned; did her comments actually mean so much to him?

Lady gulped, she really hated to think she had caused that look on his face.

Dante was to her… A partner, a friend even. She knew he was a good person, despite his demon blood. She just couldn't stand seeing him looking needlessly hurt like that.

"If anyone should be sorry, it's me… I know you actually try to get along with me now, and I just never not make it easy… So I'm sorry, really."

Dante clearly had not expected that from her, Lady had always seemed too full of pride to apologise… But maybe he had read her wrong.

"Uh… It's okay; sometimes I'm not the easiest person to get along with either." He said earnestly, shrugging. He turned his head towards the window, but was really watching her out of the corner of his eye. It seemed she was doing exactly the same.

Both stood like that as another excruciating silence took hold of them.

Lady eventually looked up again "I… Guess we both need to work on stuff…"

Dante nodded, he just didn't have anything to say. Usually when emotions came into light, he'd hide behind his cocky exterior and ignore them if they hurt.

Why couldn't he bring himself to do that with Lady?

"Why do you make me feel like I have to be honest with you all the time, Lady?" He said murmured, not really meaning to say it out loud. She looked at him, her eyes agonisingly innocent

"What do you mean, Dante?" She asked cautiously.

He couldn't even think of how to explain it. All these stupid feelings… For somebody like Dante, it was just plain draining. He shook his head and moved closer to her then looked her square in the eye "I don't know, okay? I don't even get it myself."

Lady could tell how conflicted he was feeling, and without even thinking of the repercussions, leaned forward and hugged him. He was stiff for a second before he relaxed, but he didn't return her embrace, unsure if reciprocating would make her angry or not.

Lady drew back after a while and looked away, embarrassed.

"… I don't know why I did that." She made to turn away but Dante caught her by the shoulders, turning her to face him properly.

Her eyes were wide and Dante realised he didn't know why he'd stopped her. He had nothing to say. It's just that he didn't want her to freeze up again. Her eyes were so damn beautiful; full of innocence, a little fear and… Something else.

It was all too much for him.

"Lady…" He said quietly, leaning down, his face nearing hers…

They were interrupted by the blaring ring of the kitchen phone.

Dante drew back and glared briefly at the phone before turning back to her.

"Leave it…" He whispered, his hands travelling from her shoulders down her arms.

But Lady was already pushing him back; she was scared as hell by what she'd almost let herself do. That phone was her excuse to get away and she was damn well going to use it.

Though he moved, Dante still protested her leaving him "Lady! Come on, just leave it!"

She didn't answer him, and grabbed the phone off its hook "Hello?"

Static crackled for a bit before a voice came through "Miss Lady, how are you this wonderful morning?"

She froze, the voice was charming enough, but she never trusted anyone for their voice "Who is this?" A soft chuckle could be heard

"Oh, don't worry about that. I was just wondering if things between you and Mr. Dante are improving or not."

Lady knew then who was on the other end of the phone "You… You're the man who did this to us. The client." She said and in a split second, Dante had yanked the phone out of her hand; she didn't even notice it was gone until she looked down to see her hand empty (which cued a major "what the fuck?" moment for the poor demon huntress.)

"You!' Dante snarled into the receiver "What the fuck do you want?" Lady shrunk back at Dante's violent tone.

"Tsk, tsk, Mr. Dante. Such language to use with a woman in the room." The mysterious man said.

"If you had observed us a little closer, you freaking pervert, you'd know Lady swears one hundred times worse than I do. Why are calling us here?' Dante muttered angrily "How'd you know we were here?" He couldn't help thinking if that bastard hadn't called; he might be mouth to mouth with Lady at that moment.

Maybe even more…

"Something has… Come up. I wish to test your fighting abilities in your current, shall we say, situation. This is your little head's up. Goodbye… I hope it is not for good."

The man disconnected, and Dante turned to Lady calmly.

"What's going on?" She asked, seeing the look on his face and knowingly reaching for the combat knife strapped at her thigh.

"It's a good thing you took that call." Dante answered her, drawing out Ebony and shooting the lesser demon that was looming up behind her.

Lady spun around, surveying the mass of demons invading her home.

"Fuck.' She muttered "Party time, right Dante?"

He sighed, training the black gun on a demon "Right… Party time."

I can't update as much now, the law says I have to go to school.

You can count the cliché's in this chapter if ya like, the main one being the whole; 'The phone rang and interrupted the hot couple action' thing.