Lady wiped sweat off her brow and looked around the apartment.

It had taken the entire day, but the place was actually beginning to resemble a dwelling again. Dante was, of course, bored stiff.

Literally.

His back hurt from all of the menial labour and he was glad they had almost finished. Strangely enough, fighting demons never hurt him that much. He put it down to being used to that kind of work out. This whole housework thing was new to him.

A small sigh of boredom escaped his lips and Lady looked over to him.

"You can take a break if you like." She said, sweeping up wood chips, the remains of her coffee table. Dante shot her a thankful look and stretched, trying to ease the stiffness of his back "Yeah, maybe I will."

He took a few steps away from her and was flung back, knocking into her and sending them both to the floor.

Damn. Guess I forgot about that.

Dante rubbed his head to ease the pain where it had collided with the ground "Hey, sorry 'bout that, babe, kinda forgot"

Lady cleared her throat and Dante noticed the vein pulsing in her temple "If you don't remove your hand, I'll remove it for you, along with the hand from the wrist." She said from between clenched teeth.

Dante looked down to see his hand had somehow ended up inside her shirt during the fall. He yanked it out before she could do anything damaging to him. He just wasn't in the mood for pain, however moderate, at that moment. He gave her a sheepish 'hey, it was an accident' look and stood up, courteously putting out a hand to help her to her feet.

She ignored the hand, pulling herself up.

Dante rolled his eyes "Sheesh, and to think that this morning you were all over me."

It was Lady's turn to roll her eyes "If you call a friendly kiss on the cheek 'all over' you, then maybe I shouldn't try to be friendly at all."

Dante looked dismayed for a second before resuming his usual attitude and turning away, muttering "Women."

Lady felt a little bad for a second, she hadn't any reason to be mad at him; it was just that she was tired from putting the apartment back together. He had helped her after all, even saved her fern plant. As Lady opened her mouth to apologize, she noticed something on the floor by Dante's foot.

Her eyes widened and she gulped.

The laundry basket must have been tipped over during their fall, as the contents were scattered all over the floor.

But Lady just had to curse her bad luck at the particular item of clothing that was sitting right by Dante's feet.

Panties.

Black, lacy, see-through panties, to be precise.

Oh… Damn it… She thought to herself.

Determined not to let him see them, she attempted to distract him "Dante!"

He turned around, looking tired "What now?"

She gulped again; she had no idea what to say

"Um... The, err, ceiling!"

He looked up, confused "The ceiling is fine, what are talking about?"

Lady swore inwardly "But, no it's not, you see the… stuff… In THAT corner!" She gestured wildly to the far corner of the ceiling, all the while her eyes flickering back to the traitorous, showy underwear on the floor.

And Dante, being Dante, decided to look where she was looking, rather than at the place she was pointing to.

Fuck.

He grinned maniacally "Now what do we have here?" He said, stooping to pick them up.

Lady froze in horror and her mouth practically dropped to the floor as he leaned in to inspect her undergarments.

"Well, I wonder why you weren't wearing these when we woke up today. I tell ya, babe; that would have made the experience even more enjoyable."

Lady went crimson "Drop them." She whispered, tone full of rage.

Dante looked at her, face as innocent as he could make it "Why? I'm not doing anything wrong."

And yet again, something snapped.

"DROP THEM!" She yelled at him, her embarrassment fuelling her anger to breaking point.

Dante shrugged and chucked them at her.

They landed on her head.

"Jackpot!" Dante cried, wishing someone was there to give him a high five.

Beneath the panties, Lady fumed.

I'mgoingtokillhimI'mgoingtokillhimI'mgoingtokillhim

The anger was so strong that she felt as if everything was disappearing until only it remained…

That is until she felt strong hands wrap around her waist and pull her against a warm, muscular body.

The underwear were removed from her face and dangled teasingly in front of her by Dante, who leaned in and whispered into her ear "You know babe, the next time I take these off you, I hope you'll actually be wearing them."

Even though his seductive whispers sent shivers up her spine, Lady tried to ignore it "Keep dreaming, demon." She whispered back.

He chuckled lightly, and slowly began to caress her stomach, causing a moan to rise from low in her throat. Lady tried to recover herself, but the sensation of his breath on her neck and his hands steadily dipping lower made her want to give in to temptation right there and then…

"Lady?"

Her eyes snapped open at the sound of Dante's concerned voice.

She looked around wildly, Dante was at a safe distance (well, as safe as the curse would allow) and there were no offending panties being held tauntingly in front of her.

"Hey, you're dead on your feet, babe. You should take a break." Dante looked a little worried.

Lady nodded, still wide-eyed and slightly confused.

She'd had nightmares before, oh yes. But that dream had certainly taken the cake in terms of freakiness.

The classic 'It was all a dream cliché!' I'm just loading on the clichés now.