Later that night, around eleven o'clock, Nero pokes his head in the door of Devil May Cry once again, hoping to get a chance to talk to Dante. Nero knew it was rare to find Dante there at night; he was either out looking for trouble, or at some pizza place.
All the lights were off except for a couple of lamps in the sitting area. "Dante?" Nero spoke, his voice filling the office with an echo. "Are you here?" No answer.
He decided to make his way upstairs to Dante's room, his head still swimming with the awful things he'd said and the wounded look on Dante's face, the look he'd put there.
As he approached the upstairs hallway, he noticed that Dante's bedroom door was open, a small amount of light coming out. He walked towards the door, and there was Dante; scrubbing his head with a towel, fresh out of the shower, shirtless and wet. Nero caught himself staring for a moment, shook his head and made a small clearing-his-throat noise so Dante would notice his presence. He did.
"Oh hey, kid." Dante smiled warmly, throwing his towel on a chair. "What brings you back here?"
Nero said nothing, just gave him a lost puppy dog look that was unintentional. "What's wrong with you? Cat got your tongue?" Dante smiled again.
Nero focused as if coming out of a trance; "Oh right. Um, I guess I'm just surprised that you're still talking to me, that you're not angry."
"Do I ever get angry with you?"
"No I suppose not, not really. That's not the point though. I was a complete asshole today, and I don't know why you would still want to talk to an absolute asshole like me."
"Why wouldn't I want to talk you? I love talking to you. Just because you had a moment of anger doesn't mean I'm mad at you. It's ok." Dante stepped forward, Nero took a step back. "What are you afraid of?" Dante said, seductively.
"Oh Lord. Look I realize that this love potion shit, or whatever it is, is making you all ga-ga over me, but I was a prick and I clearly hurt your feelings. I didn't mean to."
"Is that supposed to be an apology?" Dante said, slightly curtly, which put Nero off balance.
"No? Uh, I don't know."
"You don't know, uh?" Dante stepped even closer, Nero didn't seem to notice, his eyes locked on Dante's.
"I guess it's not, no. That's not an apology. I'm sorry, Dante. I'm sorry I blew up at you and the girls. Let's just say that I'm sorry for the whole thing." Nero swallowed hard. "Is that an apology?" He voice cracked, and the word apology went up an octave on the end.
"Well, aren't you cute? It's ok, baby, I forgive you."
"Please don't call me baby, I don't like it when you call me baby."
"I don't mean it like you're a child."
"Yes, I'm aware that you're trying to seduce me and you mean 'baby' as in…well, a term of affection; even so, stop it."
"Why?" Dante was still edging his way over to him, he reached out his arm and shut the bedroom door behind Nero, who was now practically against the wall.
"Why? God, I don't know. It's fucking confusing. You're under this spell; you're acting like my own person fangirl. It hurts my brains when I think about you and other parts of me start throbbing as well. I don't know how to handle it, ok?"
"I know how to handle it." Dante said, raising an eyebrow.
And that did it. Nero felt an insane burst of laugher come up out of his stomach. He felt relieved that Dante was still trying to make him laugh after all this.
"Is that a smile? Are you laughing? Nero? Smiling AND laughing? Well, I didn't think you had it in you, kid."
"Yeah, yeah, ok. I guess I am being overly serious about this whole thing. I got so scared by it I suppose I didn't stop to see the humor in it."
"I don't want you to ever be scared of me, Nero." Dante said then, seriously.
"Yeah, I…I don't know what to say to that."
"Can I ask you a question?"
"As long as it's not 'are you wearing any underwear?' then yeah, go ahead."
Dante smiled again. A smile so handsome it was making Nero weak in the knees. "Do you like the attention?"
"What? Oh, come on! What the fuck kind of question is that?"
Dante was now only inches away from Nero, backing him against the closed door of the bedroom. "I think it's a legitimate one. Do you like someone giving you this kind of attention?"
Nero could smell the scent of Dante's body wash, or shampoo, or cologne, or whatever it was, filling his nose; the erotic scent of the older man like pheromones, arousing him.
"I…I don't know." Nero went to back up and found that he could go no further, hitting his head against the bedroom door.
"Do you know anything, kid?" Dante moved in closer, bowing his head, his nose against Nero's cheek.
"I...I…don't…" Nero struggled, feeling Dante's breath. "Yes."
"Yes? Yes what?"
"I like it alright?! Damn! Is that what you want to hear? You're breaking my balls here, fuck! You're a very sexy man! I couldn't find the humor in my situation because it disappointed me. I was disappointed that when you fell for me it wasn't real. Not like I want it to be. If you weren't on space crack and your feelings were real, if you really loved me, then maybe, MAYBE, I'd let you fuck me. But you're feelings are a spell; it's a dream that you'll wake up from. And what happens if you do wake up from it and can't look at me the same afterwards."
Dante stood back a little, slightly shocked but happy nonetheless. "So, what you're saying is you didn't want to take advantage of my situation. Because I gotta say, if this situation were reversed, I don't think I'd do the same. You'd probably wake up in the morning with a love curse hangover and a sore ass."
"Look, Dante." Nero said, choosing to ignore the older devil hunter's statement. "I admire you, you're my best friend, as strange and sad as that probably sounds; I never even thought we would be friends at all. I've been a brat and you've had every right to not want a 'kid' like me hanging around you. I just don't want you saying these things to me when they're not true, because you mean so much to me. Does that make sense?"
"It does, I completely understand. I feel ok now though, Nero. Everything I'm saying in this moment is true, I swear to you. I was acting like a complete tool earlier, but even so, I think some of that was rooted in truth, that's why I went for you, and not Lady; because you are the one that I wanted. I feel embarrassed for myself and for you, I know you wanted to crawl under a rock when I was acting that way, and I knew there was something wrong with me but I couldn't stop it."
"Yeah well, that's a fucking spell for you."
"And what about before the spell and after it? What about the times you come into the office and I catch myself staring at you, or the way you make me smile when you're all pouty and sulking. The point is; I'm not under the power of that potion anymore, I'm under the power of you."
Nero looked at him, taking in what was said, thinking of a response. He couldn't find one, at least not in words; he simply leaned forward and kissed Dante on the side of his mouth, just a peck very softly. "You're ok now?" He finally said. "No more spell making you batshit insane? You were starting to wear me down."
"All better, baby, scout's honor."
"Well," Nero said, straightening his collar. "If you're feeling any side effects, I think I have the cure to what ails you."
Yep, yep, smut in the next chapter so hang onto your butts for that! Coming in the next couple of days XD I have realized that all of my stories (except The Bet) have had Dante wet and shirtless. This was unintentional and I just noticed it the other day...oh well :P Please review, I love that stuff!
