Mona hugs herself against the chill in the air. It stopped raining five minutes ago, just as Devil May Cry appeared in front of her. She can barely hear Nero walking behind her. She almost regrets yelling at him like she did, almost. Someone had to say it to him though, she just wishes someone before her would have. Mona opens the door to the shop, the familiar groan giving her some comfort. Trish sits in Dante's chair, reading one of his magazines with interest.
"Where's Dante?" Mona asks; she knows that he'll be excited for her.
"Said something about seeing a man about a dog," Trish says as she looks up. "You're wet."
"It was raining," Mona explains with a duh face.
Nero comes in behind Mona, and slams the door shut behind him. Mona refuses to look at him, or even in his general direction. Trish eyes the two suspiciously through her narrowed eyes before uncrossing her legs from on top of the desk, and then setting her feet on the floor.
"I'm going to go take a shower." Mona walks quickly up the stairs before Trish can corner her. "Will you send Dante up when he gets in please?"
Nero, who wasn't paying attention before, quickly snaps his head around to look at Mona. Trish smiles and says she will, of course. Before Nero can even blink or call up a retort, Trish is on him like gorilla glue. Trish watches to make sure Mona shuts the bathroom door before she turns on Nero.
"You sir, have done something to her. Explain yourself and I might be able to help you fix it." Trish taps her boot-covered foot impatiently.
"I didn't do any-"
Trish reaches her hand out and smacks him upside the head. "Bullshit."
"Apparently I was flirting with her-" Nero stops as Trish raises her hand again and then continues, "Alright! Fine! I was flirting with her friend. But only a little bit! I wanted to get close to her to try and get more information on Mona. I don't think Mona is always completely honest with us. I also was not apparently excited enough that she did well on her audition."
Trish narrows her eyes. "I should slap you again for being stupid. You never flirt with a girl's friend. Ever. That's an unwritten rule you insensitive swine. And you always act like Dante died when something exciting happens for someone! It helps with your genuine excitement. You owe her an apology."
"I owe her an apology?" Nero asks, disbelieving.
"Yes! You owe her a big apology!" Trish grumbles as she walks away from Nero, shaking her head at his foolishness. "Bigger dunce than Dante. And that's saying something."
/
Mona turns the water to nearly scalding before she turns from the bath and begins to take her hair down. She slowly and carefully untwists it from the bun on top of her head. She sighs when it's finally free from its tight binding, and falls down to her mid back. Maybe she'll put a hair mask on it tonight. Strangely, her head swims for a moment, forcing her to reach out and steady herself, using the counter as a balance. She must be hungry: she didn't get a chance to eat lunch or dinner yet.
Slowly, Mona begins to undresses herself in the steamy bathroom. Her muscles ache for some reason, she's not sure why. She supposes it could be from how hard she danced, but she's never been this sore before. Well, she has, but it was when she was first starting out. She grimaces when she looks down at her toes: she needs to cut her nails again or they'll be hell to pay later. Dancing always leads to ugly feet. Mona gets down to her underwear when the door flies open.
"Oh! Sor- what the hell is that?" Dante asks over Mona's scream.
Mona tries to cover herself, but Dante comes in and shuts the door.
"What the hell are you doing?! Dante! I'm in my underwear!" Mona screams as she backs away from him, trying to hide herself.
"Stop moving!" Dante shouts harshly at her.
Mona jerks at his tone, and stops her movements. Dante crosses the tiny room to her, and grabs her arms and moves them from their position across her body. Mona feels the heat rise to her cheeks as Dante looks at her. His face hardens into worry and confusion as he looks at her. Gently, his hand reaches out and traces her stomach.
"Dante, I," Mona whispers, afraid of where this is going.
"I'm not going to hurt you, or sleep with you. You'll know when I'm trying to do either," Dante explains as he looks back up into her face. "When did you start getting these?"
"What?" Mona asks as she looks down to where his hand is.
Fear takes root as she sees dark patterns start to rise on her stomach. They start at her left hip, where it disappears from her view around her back, and then appears once more on her right hip where it goes up, circles her belly button once, and then wraps around under her breasts, then continues around her back, and comes up her right shoulder, before it travels down to her wrist.
"What…Dante, what is this?" Mona asks him, terrified of the markings.
"I don't know babe. Turn around for me," Dante says gently.
Mona turns around, a hand clamped over her mouth in shock. The markings were almost black, and looked lightly scaly like snakeskin. She's never noticed them before now. She feels Dante's warm hands on her back, pushing firmly against her skin, pulling this way and that, trying to figure the marks out. Mona feels her stomach twist in sickness. It's almost too much for her to bare. Dante's fingers are too cold on her flesh, too rough, and they hurt her.
Dante watches in shock as Mona spins on him and slams her closed fist against the mirror. It shatters, pieces falling to the floor and in the skink. Swift as wind, Mona raises her hands and shoves Dante. He grunts as Mona sends him flying through the air and crashing through the door and into the hall. He can hear Nero and Trish downstairs, calling out to him. Slowly, he raises himself up and looks at the girl who just knocked him on his ass. Mona's hand is dripping blood onto the floor. Her body is crouched over in almost a non-human way and her hair falls around her. Dante narrows his eyes as Mona's raspy and heavy breathing. Carefully, he walks back into the bathroom, keeping his hand on his gun.
"Mona? Mona, can you hear me? Mona. Mona, tell me what's wrong."
As soon as Dante's foot crosses the threshold of the bathroom, Mona's head snaps up violently to look at Dante. He swallows and straightens when he sees her eyes flash from their normal honey color to a pitch black.
"Don't you fucking touch me, you filthy half-breed!" Mona screams at him in a voice that doesn't belong to her. "I know you, Dante. You are not worthy enough to touch me! How dare you even assume that your hands are fit to hold me. I'm going to enjoy watching you burn." Mona smiles sadistically as she watches him like a predator.
For once in his life, Dante feels like prey. He doesn't like it, and the feeling pisses him off. When Mona turns to look at herself in the broken mirror, Dante seizes his opportunity. Fast as lightening, he throws himself across the room and wraps his arms tightly around Mona's, pinning them to her side. The scream that comes out Mona is unholy. Dante resists the urge to cover his ears as he struggles to keep her in his grasp. As quickly as it started, it stops. Mona draws her head back from Dante's shoulder and looks up at him with her big normal honey eyes. She smiles sweetly at him and strains up to his face.
"Sweet Dante, always saving me," she sighs as her body relaxes.
Dante feels her wriggling one of her arms, and he moves his so she can pull hers out of his embrace. Her hand goes instantly to the side of his face where she strokes it. Her hand feels like fire against his cheek. His eyes soften when she looks at him, smiling. Her body pushes and rubs against his in a very pleasing manner.
"Don't hero's normally get a reward?" Mona drawls huskily in her throat.
Before Dante can answer, Mona places her lips on his, kissing him in a teasing way. Mona's hand moves down his bare chest, her nails lightly scratching his chest, making him shudder in front of her. Mona grinds her hips against Dante's, making him growl low in his throat. The sound makes her shudder in pleasure: she wants to hear it again. Mona lets her teeth bite gently then roughly at Dante's lips before she kisses him again, her tongue sliding into his mouth. Nero watches behind them with a clenched jaw and clenched fists. Mona opens her eyes, as if sensing him, and finds him, pinning him in her gaze. Her lips smile as she continues to kiss Dante with vigor. She loves how Nero watches with anger in his eyes.
Dante grips Mona's wrist harshly in his hand, coming close to breaking it. "I really wish you would stop trying to kill me," Dante says smiling as he jerks Mona's hand off and away from his gun.
Mona's face goes from smiling to rage in a matter of seconds. She screams again, making Nero cover his ears and grimace in pain. Dante quickly wraps his arms back around her once more, trying to stop her from hurting herself or them.
"Nero! Get me something to tie her hands with!" Dante screams the order at Nero. "Nero! Now, kid!"
Nero nods and scrambles up and starts to run downstairs when Mona stops all movement. Nero pauses briefly, watching to see what will happen. Dante doesn't relax his hold, worrying that it's another one of her tricks. Slowly, Mona begins to stir in his arms.
"Dante?" Mona asks quietly, confused, and sleepy. Her head drops back limply when she tries to look up at him. "What…" Her eyes slide slowly around the room as she tries to figure out what happened. Her eyes find Dante's once more before she goes limp in his arms.
"I think we're-" Dante stops suddenly.
Nero watches in horror as blood trickles out of her mouth and she begins to seize violently in Dante's arms.