Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not own any of the devil may cry characters in this fiction, if I did, Kyrie would have died in the first ten minutes of the game and Dante and Nero would be together...and Vergil would be shirtless in the third game...and Arkham would wear a frilly princess dress for my entertainment.
Rated Mature for Violence, Blood and Gore, Possible Incest, Language, Angst, Hot Man Sex in Later Chapters, and other things that I am still thinking up. Enjoy~!
It is suppose to snow for the first time in a few years here tonight. So of course, instead of sleeping, I stood up when I was not suppose to and wrote. Here's hoping I get to see snow when I wake up~!
Chapter Nine: Shuttering Breath
His aching body rocked lightly to the repetitive rhythm under him, making him grunt almost silently as the soft shaking moved his healing skin too roughly. Nero shifted against the black leather, feeling it directly on the skin not covered in the tightly bound cloth across his chest. The cool air nipped unpleasantly on his naked chest and bare feet, forcing a shiver from him as he finally opened his eyes. The stars in the dark violet sky were rushing blindingly fast above him and made his head feel a bit dizzy from watching the sudden movement, a slight ringing in his ears still present since he had regained control of his own body.
He looked down from the rabidly moving sky, finding that the rocking was the older hunter's car driving quickly down one of the rural roads they had taken to the labyrinth. The young hunter held back another grunt as he shifted himself up on his elbows, catching sight of his undershirt torn in long strips and wrapped carefully around the large wound in his chest. A few stray pieces were tightly bound around his broken ankle, his brown boots resting on the floor as he rested across the back seat. His coat and hoodie were tossed over the passenger's seat, most likely taken off so the other devil hunter could easily check to see if he was still bleeding.
Dante sat behind the driver's seat, his right foot pressed heavily on the gas pedal as he sped several miles over the speed limit. His face was tight with worry, gloved fingertips drumming along the steering wheel as he drove down the winding road. An obvious lump of guilt for the painful wound in Nero's chest was weighing heavily in his stomach, the elder man slowing the speed of the car when he suddenly caught sight of the younger slayer awake and trying to sit up in the backseat. Nero could not even remember passing out at that point, head pounding against his skull as he felt the car pull over to the side of the road and stop.
"You alright, kid?" Dante asked worriedly, freeing the steering wheel from his steely grip on it and turning around in his seat to face the injured man. Nero nodded, moving a hand to clutch his aching head as the movement made him have to lay down again. "Careful..." The older hunter muttered under his breath, his eyes lingering for a moment on the blackening cloth of the younger man's navy shirt as it darkened with blood.
"I know, old man. I'm fine." Nero said, not liking how worn his voice sounded and how his chest burned when he took too deep of a breath. "I'm just a little tired. That damn mission took a lot out of me."
"No shit, kid. I was worried that I wouldn't be taking you home alive." Dante sighed, running a hand through his mussed hair as he tried to calm the adrenaline rushing through his veins at the thought of losing his partner. He had managed to get most of the bleeding under control, but the wound was still making a few traces of blood trickle through the makeshift bandage and stain the leather of the backseat. He was glad that he had found the payphone near the client's house outside the forest containing the labyrinth, Trish having been a better source for stopping the human-like bleeding Rebellion had created than he was. Dante wished that he had taken up the ex-order member's sword instead during their battle, the demonic blade he owned having made Nero's demonic healing useless in closing the wound. He did not want to think of what would have happened if he had slipped up and accidentally cut the younger man's heart.
Nero watched the older man fight with his racing heart and stare out the windshield of the red convertible, gripping the steering wheel again until his knuckles turned white. The younger hunter sighed softly, taking a moderate breath before holding it and forcing himself to sit up. He grabbed the back of the passenger's seat to help lean over into the front of the car, not breathing out for fear of alerting the dazed man that he was deliberately disobeying him.
Dante was forced out of his thoughts as he felt a hand grab his chin and make him face Nero again, grunting in surprise when rough, copper tasting lips pressed against his softly. He hesitated, knowing that he should pull away to tell the younger hunter to lie back down so his chest could heal and not tear open again. But with the taste of Nero's lips on his again, even when tainted with blood and grit, he could not help but grab the back of the ex-order member's head and pull him deeper into the kiss. He leaned into the embrace more to force the younger man to strain his wound less by leaning a bit more into the back of the red car, the sweet taste of those lips on his again making his mind reel to images of fucking Nero through the leather seats. He gently licked along the seam of the ex-order member's lips, massaging the nape of Nero's neck in encouragement when he felt him part his lips and allow him access. Dante groaned deeply when a tentative tongue moved to meet his, looking beyond the sharp taste of blood and finding the addictive taste of his partner, the urge to mate spiking in the back of his mind.
Nero pulled back after trying to shift so he could make the kiss deeper, grunting loudly when he twisted his chest in a new angle and disturbed the mending skin. He wanted to kiss the elder again, to ignore the slight interruption and gain more of the odd thrill the experienced man was giving him. But Dante had already straightened himself in the front seat, smiling softly with only a touch of worry now as he glanced back at Nero through the rear view mirror.
"Get some sleep, kid. We have about a half hour before we get back to the office. We have time for this after we dress that wound." Dante turned back to the road, taking the parking brake off before pulling onto the rural road again. Nero hesitated a moment before finally giving in and laying back down across the backseat, his eyes catching the older man licking his lips to taste where his had been again before he closed them. Dante's own somewhat spicy taste mixed with blood filled his own mouth, lulling him to sleep again with the ghost of a small smile on his lips. He felt the car slow for a moment before a warm coat was thrown over him, smelling heavily of the older man and making Nero smile wider before he felt the car move forward again and sleep tug him into its warm embrace.
The dull roar of the convertible's engine and the soothing rocking of the rough and smooth roads cut off with the simple twist of a key, the sound of a soft sigh leaving the older hunter's lungs filling the silence in the cold air. Nero slowly forced his eyes to open, hearing Dante shift in his seat before opening the driver's side door and exiting the car. Azure met sky blue as he sat up slowly and met the elder's eyes, smiling slightly as Dante opened the door near his feet and reached down between the rows of seats to grab the discarded brown boots. The younger man shifted slowly until his legs were hanging out of the open car door, hissing softly as his broken right ankle touched the snow dusted street.
"Careful, kid."
"I got it, old man. It's already healing." Nero felt his cheeks heat up as he tried to pull his coat on, the other man taking his left boot and putting it on for him. "I can do that, idiot. My ankle's broken, not my wrists..." He scratched at his nose nervously, never being able to knock the habit and Dante brought it out of him more than anyone else. The young man moved to stand, using the car to straighten himself and lightly putting weight on his injured ankle. He resisted biting his lip as a shot of pain ran up his right leg, refusing to take even the slightest weight he put on it.
"It's just a few feet to the office." Dante said, taking one of Nero's arms and ignoring the protest as he placed it around his shoulders. "Trish said that she would leave some real medical supplies here before she left so we'll be able to fix you up better." He wrapped an arm around the younger devil hunter's waist, running his fingers against the denim coat and bare skin before taking a great deal of the ex-order member's weight and slowly moving them forward toward the heavy wooden doors at the top of the few steps. "Bare with me for a bit longer. I doubt you can walk with your ankle like that so don't even try."
"I told you I could handle it, old man." Nero growled lowly, pushing away from Dante and taking a few steps away from him. He only managed to take three steps before his right leg collapsed under him, forcing him to land roughly on the injured ankle as he dropped to one knee. The sharp shot of pain raced up to his brain, prickling every nerve on the way up like tiny knifes. "Fuck!"
"And I told you, kid." Dante sighed as he grabbed the younger man before he could crush his broken ankle with his entire dead weight. "Kick my ass for this later if you want but I'm not letting you get hurt anymore than you are because of your damn stubbornness."
"Whatever, bastard." Nero muttered as he let the elder hunter drag him up the steps, not letting his right foot touch the frost covered ground but Dante was taking enough of his weight again that it was alright. The heavy doors were kicked open by the other man, hitting the walls slightly with a quiet bang. Dante pulled him inside and set him aside on the couch carefully, moving back to the heavy wooden doors. Nero watched as Dante closed the doors before the older man glanced over at the desk, smiling at the small first aid kit sitting on top of it.
Dante walked across the room, stopping at his desk and popping open the red lid before rummaging through the first aid supplies. He was glad to see that it was full, most likely Trish had went out and bought a brand new one after Dante had described the extent of the younger hunter's wounds. Even a splint for Nero's ankle was resting beside the small red and white first aid kit, making Dante write a mental note to himself to thank the blond haired woman the next time he saw her.
He grabbed the red box and the splint, bring them over to the small coffee table where Nero was resting his broken leg. Silently, he pulled out the mess of long white gauze and a small bottle of disinfectant, thinking that it would be best to clean out the dirt and grime that could have littered the deep cut through Nero's chest. Dante hesitated when he had lied out everything in an easy to reach distance from where he sat across from Nero, knowing that he should clean and wrap the most live threatening wound first. He reached out cautiously, resting his hands on the knot he had tied to keep the shreds of the ex-order member's undershirt tightly in place to stop the bleeding. Perhaps it was not a good idea to undo the knot. What if the healing flesh shifted too much and started to bleed rapidly again? What if he could not stop it in time? From how much blood Nero lost before, the older man was not sure he could last another gush of blood leaking from the demonic sword's cut.
Dante let out a surprised grunt as hands slapped his away from the mess of knots, the younger man taking things into his own hands as he loosened it before letting the shreds of his undershirt fall to the leather of the couch with a shallow sigh. The older hunter winced almost violently when he saw the ugly slash across the other man's chest, deep and tainted with both fresh and drying blood from the front of his sternum all the way around to the back of his spine. He felt his stomach twist at the thought that he had been the one to give Nero the nearly fatal gash, the small pricks of grit standing out, black against the crimson dripping down the pale skin. His guilt and concern must have shown on his face as he merely stared at the wound for several moments before a hand moved under his chin and forced him to meet the younger man's azure eyes.
"Come on, old man. Snap out of it. Keep this up and I'll have to find a nursing home for you." Nero jested lightly but his face did not reflect the teasing tone of his voice. He leaned forward carefully, pecking the elder on the lips before drawing back with a small frown on his own lips. "I know what you're thinking and it's not true. It wasn't your damn fault, it was that stupid ass demon's. Now stop staring before I get up and break your ankle too."
Dante chuckled halfheartedly at the threat before he turned his attention back to the deep cut on the ex-order member's chest, pushing the thought that it had been from his own sword out of his mind yet again. He grabbed the disinfectant and a small cut of gauze, carefully spraying the stinging liquid on the soft material and wiping around the dirty cut. Nero had to grab his wrist twice to force him to actually put the cloth over the wound instead of the skin around it, hissing at the stinging disinfectant before sighing contently and letting the older demon slayer wipe away the dirt and bacteria in the deep gash.
"Feeling any better yet, kid?" Dante finally asked once the bandages were tightly bound in place, lightly putting his hand over the white bandages that were slowly tinting a light pink from the slowly seeping blood.
Nero nodded, moving his right leg carefully and resting it on the floor now that the splint was tied firmly in place. The younger hunter's eyes drooped slightly, the loss of blood making the ringing in his ears stay longer than he had hoped. He yawned, hiding it behind the talons of his devil bringer but the smile on Dante's face told him that he had noticed.
"Let's head to bed. I don't know about you, but I'm beat. Parasites are nasty little fuckers. I'll have to look in more on our missions before we head out. I'm not going through that again." Dante stood up from sitting on the small round coffee table, shutting the first aid kit and moving to help Nero up off the couch with less protest than he expected.
"You better, jackass." Nero muttered as he sighed and gave into needing Dante to help him up the stairs. Dante brought him into his own messy room instead of the storage area he had been sleeping in, letting go of him once he was on the bed before moving out of the bedroom. He returned with some of Nero's extra cloths, a new undershirt and a pair of old boxers he used to sleep in.
"Thought you should sleep in here for the night." Dante said, stripping himself down to just his boxers after tossing Nero the extra clothes. "It'll be better just in case your chest starts bleeding again. I can keep a better eye on it."
"Yeah, right." Nero huffed, smirking as he changed into the fresh clothes quickly so the older hunter did not have the chance to peek at him naked. "If I wasn't injured this badly, I would have to say that you just wanted to see me naked." He pulled the clean navy undershirt over his head before carefully shifting so he was under the red and black sheets.
"You have no idea, Nero." Dante muttered under his breath before flipping off the light switch and crawling under the sheets as well, ignoring the pestering desire to press himself up to the lithe back facing him.