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, very brutally and with lots of blood, 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 Blood, Lots of Gore, Language, Angst, Future Hot Man Sex, Hurting Nero, and Hurting Dante.
Summer break ends for me today so updates might be slower than usual. I'm also hoping to break my personal story length record with this, so expect more chapters to come.
Chapter Thirteen : Chocolate Dipped Cherries
Trish wiped her forehead with a small white cloth as she walked out of Dante's room, using the small square of fabric to wipe the blood off her hands. She peered over the balcony's railing, seeing Lady watching over the older devil hunter on the couch. Dante had been pacing since they arrived back at the office, bringing Nero purely because the elder had threatened to tear them to pieces as well if they did not.
Dante had held the younger male in his arms the entire way back in Lady's car, wiping the blood off Nero's lips and chin with his hand while waiting for the Devil May Cry office to come into view. It was only after they entered the wooden front doors that Dante could detrigger, though he was still hesitant to part with Nero. Trish had offered to take a look at the younger man, if nothing else than to ease the devil hunter attempts to bring him back. It was a little unsettling to the two women that Dante was not joking around or even trying to hide the tears in his eyes. The older man's behavior was almost frighteningly different than usual.
"I have good news and bad news." Trish said, walking down the staircase as the two hunters in the office looked up from staring holes in the floor. "The good news is that Nero is breathing. You must have been doing something right because he's still alive, Dante." She held up her hand, signaling that they should not celebrate yet. Dante's relieved smile dissipated before the blond would even allow it to cross his face. "The bad news is that I don't know when he will wake up. He was actually dead for a few minutes and his devil side is working nearly double time just to get him breathing again. For all we know...it could take weeks before he's back to normal. I suggest keeping a close eye on him."
"Unfortunately, Trish and I had accepted a few missions out of the city before all of this. We'll drop by to check on him as soon as we can. I won't even charge you for delaying our trip." Lady cut in, at least trying to lighten the grim mood of the office. She sighed when Dante did not even turn to look at her, standing up and strapping Kalina Ann back onto her shoulder. "We should get going. If we wait around any longer, that devil nest a few towns over will be out of control." The brunette glanced at Trish and walked towards the door, offering a smile that did not quite reach her eyes to Dante before exiting the office.
"I'll let you change him out of his soaked clothes. Behave yourself though." Trish smiled softly and patted the older slayer on the shoulder as she past him. "Try to let him get some sleep. His devil half is probably putting some strain on him and he's lost a lot of blood. Make sure to take care of yourself too, Dante. You'll catch a cold if you don't warm up soon." She took her hand off the older man's shoulder, following Lady out the door but not without glancing back at the somber figure of the devil hunter once.
Dante rubbed his eyes with the palms of his hands as soon as the two devil huntresses had left, the current situation was hard for him to understand under the rage and anguish of nearly losing the younger man from his life forever. He tried to push the distress from his mind. As long as Nero was alive, that was all that mattered. Destroying everyone and thing that had touched him in the demon world could wait until he was sure the other hunter was going to be alright. He pulled himself together before heading upstairs, nervous about seeing how injured Nero looked and losing his control again. Who knew what or who he would tear to pieces over the younger demon slayer.
The devil hunter held the handle to open his door tightly, taking a few breaths before twisting it and walking inside. Nero was lying on top of their bed, his hoodie and undershirt folded neatly on the nightstand but his soaked jeans and boots were still on his feet. A faint blue glow flashed occasionally under the thick bandages Trish had used to seal his wounds, proving the blond right when she said that Nero's demon side was working hard to heal his body. Dante moved to stand next to the younger man, deciding to stop to take off Nero's boots so the dirt on them would not get on their bed.
He set the light brown boots on the floor before moving to the closet, pulling out the warmest clothing he could find. Carefully, he undressed the ex-order member, not able to hold back the light kiss he placed on Nero's navel. Dante smiled when he saw the younger man's devil bringer glow brightly at his touch, the clawed fingers brushing against the black satin of the sheets. He could not help but chuckle when he unzipped the younger hunter's jeans, seeing that Nero had stolen a third pair of his boxers. This time it was his only pair of silk white boxers with a rose colored heart on the right hip, the elder had only worn them once before during Valentine's day.
"You really do have a fetish for my boxers. I thought you were just joking around but this proves it, huh." Dante got up and made his way to the dresser by the single window, rummaging in the drawers to find his second favorite pair of boxers for the younger slayer.
A rumble of thunder echoed in the distance, making the elder glance up at the window. The rain had quieted down, pouring down at the rate of a normal storm as the lightning and thunder faded into only a few flashes every few minutes. The blistering wind had turned into a cool wind reminding Dante of how cold it had been while they were out there. He wondered if it would snow by morning and if Nero would be awake to see it. The younger man loved the snow when demons were not the cause of it, he had told Dante that several times during their time together.
The devil hunter finally found the clean pair of black boxers, heading back to sit next to the injured man. He set the clothes aside, grabbing the waist band of the white boxers and denim jeans about to pull them off the younger hunter when he felt a hand on his. Dante glanced up, frowning in confusion when he noticed that Nero was still asleep. He looked down at the glowing devil bringer, tilting his head to the side as he watched the limb hold his hand tightly as if it had a mind of its own. The devil hunter smirked and held it back, thinking that he might be crazy for wondering if it really was his brother in the other male's arm.
"I'm leaving him in your hands, Verge. Don't make me regret it." Dante muttered under his breath. A squeeze back made him chuckle, knowing that Vergil was probably trying to tell him the exact same. "You can trust me. When he's back on his feet, I'm not letting anything touch him without getting its ass kicked." The demonic hand let go of him after hearing that, moving back to rest beside the sleeping male.
Dante quickly took off the remaining soaking clothes, putting the red trimmed black boxers onto the younger man. He sat him up carefully and pulled the white hoodie over the sleeping hunters head, eying the tightly wrapped upper left arm and slowly pulling it through the long sleeve. He made a mental note to call Trish later and ask how close the fracture was to healing, a bit worried about how often Nero would use it despite the broken bone. Dante smirked as he realized that it was the very same hoodie he had first taken Nero in, recalling that he had pulled it out of the closet for Nero to wear several times now.
"He does look good in it." He said, rubbing the soft cloth of the hood before getting distracted by the pale skin of the younger man's face. He let Nero lie back down on the black satin, cupping the side of his face after and smiling. The blood had been cleaned off the ex-order member's lips and chin when his wounds were tended to. Dante watched the faint rise and fall of Nero's chest, never happier to see someone breathing in his entire life. He leaned his forehead against the other hunter's, wishing that those azure eyes would open and glare halfheartedly at him like always. "I really thought that I lost you, Nero. I've watched a lot of people die in front of me but...I just couldn't handle it if you did too. I love you too much to have you die before I do."
Dante pressed his lips against Nero's softer ones, glad that they were starting to get their color back. He ignored the coppery taste that lingered on the man's lips, pushing past it to the familiar taste of bitter dark chocolate dipped cherries. He could never figure out why Nero always tasted like cherries but he loved it nonetheless, relating the fruit to the younger slayer whenever he saw them.
The older hunter pulled away after a moment, getting up to change out of his torn and dripping clothes. He sighed as he tossed his pants to a corner of the closet, wondering why his new more powerful trigger always had to rip his clothes until they were practically unwearable. Dante pulled out another pair of his collection of silk boxers from the dresser, stopping to stare out the window when he noticed a few flurries of snow dance beyond the glass. He smiled and pulled on the plain scarlet boxers, walking back to the bed and moving Nero under the sheets before crawling in next to him.
"Wake up for me as soon as you can, Nero. I miss you kicking my ass whenever I kiss you." Dante nuzzled the silver mane of the ex-order member's hair, kissing his forehead lightly as he wrapped his arms around him. "I'm already practicing calling you by your name instead of 'kid'. It might take a while before I can do everything else I promised. Pizza is going to be the hardest one for me. I wouldn't be surprised if I go into withdrawal in under a day without it." He felt the other man's human arm wrap around his waist, pulling them closer together. The elder buried his face into Nero's hair, feeling tears prick at the back of his eyes at the thought he might have lost all of this. He suppressed the sob that formed in his throat. "Maybe I should have dried off my hair. The damn water keeps getting in my eyes and running down my face..." Dante held onto the injured young man tighter, not wanting to let go of him even if Mundus tried to take over the human world again or demons overran the streets of the sleazy city.