A/N: Just one more chapter and then I'm all done for the week! Woot woot! Then I have to get started on homework and notes and reading and studying… boo… But the more I get done at the start of the week, the less I have to do come the weekend… Also I've gotta type this quickly, I've got class in 45 minutes… Engineering economy… real thrilling. Actually it's not too bad, I've never taken an econ class before.
Disclaimer: I barely own the laptop I'm typing on.
So Do You Nero
Several days later Dante was sure that he was going to go stir-crazy, it wasn't like their business was super profitable, or super busy all the time and right now was the time of the year that had a tendency to be a bit slower but usually he had Nero to keep him company. Trish and Lady had come by only to leave pretty quickly when they found out how irritable and grouchy their business partner was. The half devil just was awfully worried about his partner and lover, was the partial devil doing okay? Did he need help? Was he overwhelmed or just busy and that's why it had been a few days since he'd heard from him. He was pacing when the doors opened, he didn't even look up and just said
"We're closed." He didn't want to deal with people who had no idea what they were getting themselves into right now.
"Fine. I'll leave." Came a just as irritated reply. Dante's head snapped up to see the partial devil standing in the doorway, looking tired and beaten. The half devil ignored the amount of soot and grime that covered his partner and promptly swept him into a tight hug. Nero grunted
"Can't breathe Dante…" he mumbled into the half devil's shoulder, though didn't try to get out of the embrace. He heard Dante take a deep breath, and most of the tension that had been in his partner's frame dissipated with that exhale. The red hunter pulled back and looked into the partial devil's eyes and then looked him up and down.
"What happened? I thought you said you would call me if things got a little too difficult?" Nero sighed.
"Kinda hard to get cell service in hell." He grumbled, Dante's eyes widened
"What?! You were in hell?!" Nero nodded tiredly, he was barely managing to remain on his feet. He looked at the clock on the wall, four am… no wonder the buses hadn't been running… He'd had to hitchhike back once he got to town. He'd been out of money for a taxi then anyway… Dante looked him up and down again and then sighed
"Come on, I'll clean you up, but you have to stay awake well enough to answer my questions. I'll try to use small words." The teasing remark and the smirk was enough to make Nero smile and lob a weak jab at his partner, who just laughed at the half assed attempt. He looped an arm under his lover's shoulder and helped him up the stairs to the shower. He had debated just carrying the younger but knew that Nero wouldn't like the insinuation that he wasn't strong enough to do it himself and the blue hunter had clearly done one hell of a job.
"So what happened? I thought you said it was just a crazy, wannabe god again." Dante said
"He pulled some powerful devil from the demonic realm, don't remember the name." Nero said as he tried to help Dante pull the red leather from his body. "Kicked the sucker's ass but the devil was actively trying to exit the hellgate then… in its own body…" Dante nodded, he'd been in a similar situation before, not common for sure but it did happen that when you tried to pull out a devil's power for you own use you got the monster's attention while you were at it.
"So you entered the hellgate to close it from the inside and defeat the devil while you were at it. What did it look like?" He adjusted the water to a good temperature and stripped off his own clothes, helping the partial devil to his feet again and over the lip of the tub and into the warm spray. He could feel every tense muscle in Nero's body relax then as the heat started to work out some of the knots. "Sit." He commanded his partner, who complied without a complaint. The half devil grabbed the shampoo as the other man answered
"At first it just looked like a blob of things we've killed in the past, powerful things." Dante made a face
"I hate those things, they just collect power of other, defeated monsters… it's pathetic."
"Then it was fast, like a man shaped thing of lava…" Dante noticed the amount of ash that he was currently washing out of his lover's hair and realized that that was where it had come from.
"And the contact?" he asked
"She's sending the check. Called back after I got out of the hellgate. Ended up far away from where I started though…" Dante chuckled and gently rinsed the soap off of Nero's head.
"That'll happen."
"She's like Trish." The half devil raised a brow though Nero couldn't see it, he wasn't sure if Nero had opened his eyes since getting in the shower "A created devil, took a lot of explaining to get her to understand that that was okay."
"She gonna join our ragtag group too?" Nero shook his head, standing as Dante prompted him to scrub the grime of hell off his frame
"She's got a place to stay, a place that accepts her." Nero's eyes flashed open as Dante planted a gentle kiss on his lips.
"So do you Nero."
A/N: D'aww! Props to people who figure out where Nero was :3 It's a little bit of blending of storylines, also I didn't feel like typing all the way through that mission too… But I thought this was cute :3 Dante taking care of poor sleepy Nero.
Till next time,
-Winged Element
