Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Devil May Cry characters. Capcom does.

Chapter 3: The next step

"…Is it someone else?"

"….Yeah. It's someone else."

--

Nero's plan was to try and sneak out of the Devil May Cry, non-chanted, with the rug rolled up and hidden in his trench coat. Before going down the steps, his keen hearing picked up the last lines of Beryl's and Dante's conversation. He stiffed up the moment he heard Dante's response, feeling his heart drop into the pit of his stomach.

So Dante already had someone. In the end, Nero lost. He held the rolled up rug closer to himself and pressed hard against his chest. When Beryl left, Nero found that it was his cue to hurry and leave. A few seconds passed by before he made scruffy noises on the floor to pretend as though he was just finished with the bathroom. Dante stood at the end of the stairs, looking up to give a normal grin. Nero blinked back the tears threatening to fall and gave a scoff. He was going to pass by the older man like nothing was wrong but Dante didn't hesitate to ruffle Nero's soft tresses. In reflex, he smacked Dante's arm away in anger. It seemed to irritate Nero when he received the physical contact.

"Oooh, touchie," Dante joked. "What happened, kid? You did something kinky in my bathroom or something?" He burst into laughter while Nero froze at the comment that was too true. But the ex-Order relaxed and played cool, eyeing his Devil Bringer. Yup. Still off.

"Meh. I'm going home."

Dante was facing Nero's back so he was able to raise a questioning brow without the other seeing his puzzled expression. There was something itching in the back of his mind that wanted him to push his little theories to the test. "But…I finally got you all to myself!"

"Wha-" Before Nero could react, Dante grabbed him into a bear hug and flung both of them onto his couch. "What the hell is your problem, Dante??" His eyes widened as he found himself under the Devil Hunter with his arms pinned above his head and his legs loosely around Dante's waist. Without anything to hold the rug, it crept out of his trench coat and rolled open for the whole world to see it's giant void. Both the white haired men froze.

….Well Dante wasn't expecting that.

"…I can explain…."

"Better start, kid, cuz you owe me a new rabbit skin."

"Well if you can kindly get the fuck off, I would." Nero growled.

"Nope!" Nero could feel the slight increase of pressure on both his arms but the look on Dante's face wasn't saying that he was mad. Shit, the bastard was smirking like a wolf about to eat the little red riding hood named Nero. He tried to slip his legs away but then found his left being pinned hard with Dante's strong hip and his right flailing in different directions. He tried kneeling Dante in the ribs but then he laid himself more on top of Nero and so his leg wound up back around the man.

"Mmm, I never thought we would end up in his position," he said lustfully. "But come on, kid, don't tell me that you've finally given up to my charm."

The Devil Bringer glowed a bright blue and that indicated that Nero was not going to play around anymore. The demonic arm struggled to push off Dante's hand and succeeded, quickly escaping the son of Sparda's grasp. Their positions changed and Nero pinned down Dante with all his might.

"Screw you, old man. I haven't given up for shit and the only reason there's a damn hole in the rug is because I was wiping too hard on something I spilled on it! Now if you just let me go home like I wanted so I could get you a new one, we wouldn't be in this fucking position, now WOULD WE??"

Dante could have just let Nero go but the itching was telling him to push the younger man and he couldn't deny its request. "This fucking position sounds really good to me!"

"ARRRRRGGGGHHHH!!" Nero wanted to badly punch the living hell out of the half demon but instead….he pushed Dante off with his Devil Bringer (why didn't he do that before, hmmm?? ;) ), picked the damaged rug off the floor, and stormed out. Without a second word. Well, he did kick down the door and broke it into pieces (Dante was going to have to replace THAT again) but other than that, there was nothing else.

"Shit. I took it too far…He didn't even try to beat me up…"

--

Nero made a mad dash for the train that would lead him back Fortuna City in a few hours. When he got there, he realized that he was still holding the rolled up bath rug. He carelessly tossed it into the nearest trash can and went to a bench to rest before getting a ticket home. Mental note: Send Dante a new rug.

Dante…

Nero felt a tightness in his chest. It almost came close to the pain of when Angus stabbed him and he didn't have time to prepare for the hit (honestly, who would believe that Angus could cause any kind of damage?). With the Devil Bringer, the silver haired youth clutched at his chest, wishing that it would give some sort of comfort but it was to no avail. An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he threw his head back and spread his arms and legs, claiming the bench all to himself. A small sniffle that emitted from him made him realize that he was crying. At this point, didn't care who saw because he wasn't bawling when he was crying for Kyrie. The runny nose came on its own as his tears slipped silently from his blue eyes. The thing that made everything the most obvious was his Devil Bringer that radiated brightly.

"I guess it's true…you are a human glow stick after all," a female voice said jokingly, making Nero jump in surprise. A woman with short chocolate colored hair and mismatched eyes looked down at him with a grin.

"Who are you?" he asked irritatingly.

"Oh, sorry, we were never properly introduced," the mysterious woman said with a tiny giggle. She sat herself next to him, finding no point to ask Nero to move over because he reflexively moved his normal arm away. She leaned a giant bazooka on the armrest and looked over to him.

"Name's Lady. You're Nero, right?"

"…yeah. How do you-?"

But Lady cut in, "Dante."

"…oh."

"Why the long face, Nero?" she asked.

Nero made sure to wipe any tell tale tears away before speaking. "Long story."

"I got time." She crossed her long legs and sat like she wasn't going anywhere. He sighed heavily.

"I dunno what to say about that…guy."

"Dante?"

Nero twitched at the mention of the other man's name, feeling irritated. He ran the Devil Bringer through his hair, noticing how it was glowing dimly now. How many times a day has the Devil Hunter's name been mentioned? It really was pissing him off since he tried hard to run away from the one who held that name.

"…sorry," Lady suddenly apologized.

"For what?"

"I know how it feels…to hear a name you don't want to hear. I won't mention it anymore, okay?"

"…" Damn women and their keen intuitions.

"Look, D- I mean, 'Pizza freak,' is a smart guy (I swear if you tell him I said that, I will hunt you down), but sometimes, even the son of Sparda needs help once in a while. You know what I'm saying, Nero?" Lady explained as she smiled knowingly.

Nero took the woman's words into careful consideration. What she had said was accurate. He never did drop any hint to Dante about what he feels for the older man or even explain to him what he was doing in a bar or…

…or even thank him properly for helping him out. All he did was cause trouble and ruin his bathroom rug. Nero frowned deeply at the thought. He stood up, contemplating on the first step of what to do. He looked over to Lady who was still smiling at him as though she was reading his thoughts.

"I know this seems sudden, but by any chance, can you do me a favor?"

--

Note: I had a HUGE writer's block for this chapter, ugh! I know: it's short, it's boring, but I want to get to the smut just as much as you guys do so hold on to your pants! Next chapter will be up soon!

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