The night felt like it was never going to end. Nero didn't want to learn how to play pool, despite Dante's offer. The last thing he wanted was Dante's body flushed against his as he tried to teach him how to pull off a shot. Not only was he creeped out by that image, but it would no doubt provide Lady with endless ammo and amusement. It would've made more sense if she offered to teach him since it would look less weird, but he couldn't help but picture her with a delighted grin. 'You don't mind spooning with me?' she'd ask and he'd have to swallow a growl because her mocking tone was enough to make his blood boil. Even if she did offer he wouldn't want her touching him anyway.
So he decided to watch them play, or rather, watch Lady win all of Dante's money while she got free drinks courtesy of some random barfly enamored with her tits. Dante tried to get him to drink something, but Nero wasn't much into the idea. The older demon hunter got him a beer anyway, and Nero nursed it, not really liking it, but not wanting to throw it away in case Dante wanted to get him another one.
As he watched the duo play, he couldn't help but notice the way they were with one another. From the flirty dialogue, corny jokes, lingering touches, to the faux glares she gave him that held no real animosity. Was there something more to their relationship? Dante said she wasn't interested, though Nero could tell different from the shared tender looks and the warmth that could be felt from their chemistry. He once had that and he lost it when he lost Kyrie. Without her in his life, he didn't have a reason to fight, a reason to live, someone to protect, or someone to love him. Since her death, he'd gone through his life in a sort of pathetic limbo where he didn't want to keep waking up in the mornings, feeling sorry and hating himself for his mistakes. He didn't want to feel that haunting ache, the one that robbed him of his appetite, the ache that made him feel so guilty if he so much as cracked a smile. He didn't want any of that and yet he couldn't bring himself to care enough about himself to change anything.
"Hey, you ready to go?"
Nero blinked, surprised by Lady standing in front of him, waving a hand in his face to get his attention. He nodded and she took his warm beer, handing it off to Dante to finish. The older demon hunter gave him a nod goodbye as a sendoff.
"I'll help you with your things," she said, taking hold of the Red Queen's case. He was surprised at how she handled it, picking it up with little effort.
He picked up his duffel bag and his gun case and that was that. He didn't have the energy to really get into it with her, as it was he had a long day and his body just wanted some rest. She didn't say much to him on the way to her place and he wondered if she could sense his brooding or maybe she saw that he was tired as all fuck and wasn't in the mood. Thankfully, she didn't live too far off, so their trip was short.
It was a little past midnight when they reached her place. He was surprised she lived in a nice apartment complex, complete with elevators and a nice old security guy who sat at a desk by the door.
When they got inside her apartment, an unusually large black cat with bi-colored eyes greeted them. He felt his Devil Bringer pulse at the animal's presence.
Nero looked toward Lady to see what she thought of it, but the woman was busy cooing at the cat as she bent down to stroke its fur.
"How are you this evening?"
The cat purred, nuzzling into her palm as her fingers worked the spot between its ears.
Nero raised an eyebrow, dumping his bag on the floor.
"Your cat," he said, taking his glove off. The glow of his demon arm grew brighter as he looked at the cat. "Is a demon."
"Hey, you don't see me insulting your pet," she said, pointing at his Devil Bringer. The young man rolled his eyes and went to place his gun case where his sword case stood against the wall.
Lady picked up the cat and stood. "His name is Lucy."
"His name?" he asked, flexing his fingers in his right hand. Really, the pulsing was beginning to bother him as his Devil Bringer itched for a fight.
"It's short for Lucifer."
He looked at her and saw that she was completely serious. The cat chose to meow at Nero to break the silence.
"I don't care if the Pope christened it and said it was the second coming of Christ. It's still a demon," he said, not liking the way the cat's mismatched green and blue eyes bore onto him like it was unimpressed.
"Relax," Lady said, putting the cat down. It immediately went to investigate Nero's bag, sniffing it to see if it posed any real threat as it pawed at it.
"It's a low level demon, so don't you worry that pretty boy head of yours," she assured him. "I promise he won't try to steal your soul when you go to sleep."
She was right. It was a demon, but it didn't feel particularly strong or threatening. But Nero knew that when it came to demons, looks could be deceiving and he made a note to keep an eye on the cat in case it ever decided to morph into some Godzilla like creature. He figured that if that time ever came he'd be the one to save Busty McBraless over there since she'd be too busy cooing at it or whatever.
"Come on. Let's show you around the place."
He followed her as she showed him the living room, the kitchen and dining area (which wasn't very spacious but it was spotless) the bathroom they had to share, though she told him she had half a bathroom in her room, so they'd be sharing the shower, and the small laundry room that was basically a closet. The apartment also had a balcony with a sliding glass door that looked out towards the neighborhood. They made their way past the living room where he noticed a small area that Lucy declared to be his turf, which was complete with a cat bed and a play area full of pet toys. There was a pool table and against the wall were two large black shelves full of books.
She showed him the direction to her room which was right down a hall.
"Just knock if you ever need me for anything," she said and he nodded and followed her half way down the hall to another door.
"And this is the weapon room," she said, unlocking it.
When she hit the lights, Nero couldn't stop his mouth from dropping.
Holy shit.
There were guns everywhere, from machine guns to pistols, to sniper rifles and shotguns. She had all different kinds of knives, a variety of grenades, crates and opened boxes of all kinds of ammo and was that a freaking blow-torch? The woman was packing so much heat it was a miracle the place hadn't burst into flames. She had enough firearms to fit a small army.
"Since you're going to be staying here for awhile, this is going to be your room." She went towards a silver case and popped it open. Reaching into her blouse, she produced a small pistol that even Nero couldn't believe she had any room to carry anything from how tight the blouse looked on her.
"Once I get everything out and your new bed in, you'll be able to sleep more comfortably and have some privacy." She unloaded the clip and placed the gun in the case.
"How are you able to get away with all of this?" Nero asked walking over to a display of ninja stars. His fingers ghosted over the shiny metal, his reflection warped as he leaned to look at their intricate design.
"I'm friends with the landlord," she said, closing the metal case with a loud snap. "I've known her since high school so she's willing to look the other way."
Nero looked around the room some more, it was spacious despite having an arsenal big enough to go to war. His gaze landed on a large missile launcher and pointed at it with his Devil Bringer.
"There's no way she's looking the other way for that," he said, going up to the weapon to get a closer look. It was a dark rich green color, perfect for camouflage and it looked pretty badass with that huge hunting knife sticking out at the top of it.
"That one I can get away with, if I leave and enter through the back exit when people are around during the day. Don't want the neighbors freaking out when they see it." She paused for a moment. "Speaking of which, you'll probably have to use that entrance if you're going to be toting your sword around."
Lady could have been speaking to him in Japanese for all he cared. His attention was solely on this missile launcher. He was careful not to touch any of the switches or buttons, but seeing how organized she was with everything in there, he doubted she would leave the thing with its safety off.
"It has an incredible firing rate," she said, appearing next to him. "Shoots about every three seconds. It also has a laser targeting system and infrared technology.
"Not surprised you know your stuff."
"Of course I do. I built it."
He looked up from the launcher and raised an eyebrow at her. "You're kidding me. A little squishy thing like you made something like this?"
She didn't say anything as she went around the launcher to stand opposite of him.
"See that switch?" she asked and flicked it. Along the length of the large knife four sharp hooks emerged. "Brings out the grappling hook. You press the switch to launch it and this button retracts the steel cable, which under stress can pull up to about 400 pounds."
"Come here," she said, motioning him to the butt of the launcher where she made him grip the handle.
He noticed the engraved name—Kalina Ann— and wondered if it was Lady's real name or something else. He wasn't that curious to ask and decided to just follow her directions as she told him to pick it up. Nero tested the heft without really lifting it all the way from its display case. It was heavy, but not so heavy that he couldn't deal with it. Though he did see why she could lift the Red Queen's case with little effort. You needed to have some serious upper body strength to pick up and control a rocket launcher this heavy. The recoil alone would send a normal woman Lady's size flying, so he had to give it to her having such a kickass weapon.
"Pull the trigger."
He raised an eyebrow and his trigger finger hesitated before he pushed against it and all he heard was the weird hollow suction sound of air.
"Hm…I could've sworn I loaded it."
He almost dropped the launcher at her comment and he just looked at her, the horror clear on his face because if there were a rocket in this thing and considering they were surrounded by enough artillery to take out a small country—was she laughing?
"I was kidding," she said, smirking. "Relax, the safety's on. It's that button right—"
He jerked back, frowning at her. He wasn't in a joking mood and she rolled her eyes at him, placing a hand on her hip.
"Kid, if I wanted to blow you to pieces, I'd done so the minute I saw you."
He opened his mouth to retort but the insult died when she took the heavy launcher out of his arms and placed it back in its case.
"If you're good and can prove that you're capable of handling it, I'll let you take her out on a mission."
"If I'm good?" he snorted, "What am I? A dog?"
"I don't know. Are you going to bark and do tricks for me?"
The smoldering glare he gave her should've been enough of an answer as his jaw locked tight and his throat twitched with a growl.
But all that did was amuse her even more as she smirked.
"Down, boy."
He was going to throttle her as soon as the opportunity came. Lady didn't seem bothered by his dislike of her because she walked right past him. He gave one last look of longing to the rocket launcher, promising himself that he was going to use it with or without Lady's permission and followed the woman outside.
She locked the door behind him and walked out towards the living room.
"Now for some rules," she said, turning around to face him.
He didn't fight the urge to roll his eyes.
"Bare with me kid; they aren't unreasonable rules so save the attitude to flirt with Dante."
"Excuse me, you—"
"First!" She cut him off, her voice doubling in volume. "Clean up after yourself. I'm not your maid and I'm definitely not your mom, so be mindful of the space you occupy and how you treat it," she finished.
He stared at her, his mouth a permanent scowl. It was her place, so it made sense he had to follow her rules.
"Second, be polite to my neighbors even if they end up getting on your nerves. Remember, you won't be here for that long—"
"Thank god for –"
"But I'm the one who has to deal with any fallout once you're gone," she said, interjecting herself back in. "Also, I don't think this should be a problem, but then again, I don't know you. No girls allowed. If you're going to mess around with someone, do it at her place or rent a room somewhere."
He felt blindsided. There will never be anyone else…ever. The assumption that he would think about being intimate with anyone other than Kyrie made his heart lurch, and he looked at her, his eyes dark and he had to hold himself back from just screaming at her. But then he realized, as she raised an eyebrow at him and he looked away, ears burning with humiliation that maybe Dante kept his mouth shut for once. Maybe Dante didn't tell her anything outside the fact that her services were needed. He'd yell at her for nothing other than to have someone to yell at, someone to take it out on and though he wanted to because she wasn't exactly endearing herself to him and made it a point to act like an insufferable bitch, she didn't deserve to suffer the brunt of his anguish and pain.
"That's not going to be an issue," he said quietly, hoping that she wouldn't draw any more attention on the subject.
Luckily for him, she didn't seem to care as she produced a set of house keys, jiggling them in front of him. He looked and saw that she was holding them by the key-chain, which appeared to be a smiling panda bear.
"Cute," he said, dryly and offered his hand where the keys dropped.
"You also have a curfew," she informed him. "I want you here by two in the morning if you can help it. If you're going to break curfew a simple call to let me know you're going to be late will suffice, here." She dipped into her pocket and produced a cell phone. "I'm not using this one at the moment, so you can use it. Dante's number is in there as well as mine."
He took it, looking at the sleek design and screen as it lit up from a mere touch. It looked expensive and he was surprised she was letting him use it.
"And finally, you'll get a weekly stipend so that you're not broke the entire time you're here. Don't worry about groceries and rent, I don't expect you to pitch in for that. The money you get is money you get to spend on whatever you want. You can spend it all on hookers and blow for all I care, but know that once you run out for the week, that's it. You'll have to wait until the next week for your payday. Any Questions?"
"Rules? Curfew? An allowance?" he said, walking around the living room, making it a point to look around the place. He eventually plotted himself down on the couch, which was softer than he anticipated; nevertheless, it didn't stop him from putting his feet up on the coffee table, crossing them as he got comfortable, head tossed back as he closed his eyes.
"You say you aren't my mom, but I'd be damned if you weren't. Part fits you like a glove, Lady."
He knew he was being rude and you know what? She could deal. He had one hell of a day and things did not go as planned in terms of Dante's original offer. He didn't want this woman involved, but she was and he was going to make it as unpleasant for her as he was sure she was going to make it unpleasant for him.
"Kid, if I were your mom, you wouldn't have an ass right now from the beating I'd give you."
He almost found that amusing and opened one eye.
"You'd raise a hand to your own child?" He opened the other one and brought his head back down, turning his body to look at her and before he could see her move, he felt something soft whack him in the face, hard.
"Oops, does Nero want mommy to kiss it better?" she mocked and he snatched the pillow from her.
Lady stormed off though he wasn't sure where exactly she was going until he heard the familiar clicking sound of a door being unlocked. His mind immediately went to the weapon room and Nero sat up, tossing the pillow aside and going for his Blue Rose, which was in its own case by the Red Queen's. He didn't trust her, not by a long shot and he wasn't going start to either. He didn't think he needed to use it on her, but if she did come out—guns a blazing—at least, he'd be ready. She wasn't someone you could let your guard down with. She might've been human, but she was also a hunter and Nero wasn't going to take a chance on it. He left the gun holstered at his hip and stood there waiting.
When Lady came back, she held a pile of pillows with some folded blankets. The woman merely looked at him, an eyebrow raised as her eyes fell on his gun.
"Really? I don't play these games, grow up." She said, tossing the extra pillows and blankets on the couch.
"Look, I know this isn't the ideal set up," she said, eying him as she rounded the couch to stand in front of him, arms crossed over her chest. She looked annoyed and tired. "But I'm doing the best I can with the short notice that I got. If you don't like it, fine. Leave," she said raising her hands up in defense.
"Go to Devil May Cry, go and sleep on the kitchen floor at Dante's shop. I'm sure the roaches would love you as a new bunkmate."
He wanted to tell her off. But he found himself stalling, not because he couldn't figure out what to say, but because the image of him sleeping at Devil May Cry crept up and it made him think of stale smells mixed in with sour tones of rotted food, rancid cheese and beer. The shop wasn't really homey or welcoming with walls devoid of any color or life. He could picture seeing himself on the grimy kitchen floor, curled into himself, trying his best to keep himself away from the filth yet surrounded by it like a dark tunnel. Cold, miserable, and with only an itchy blanket to shield himself from crawling bugs and dust mites, he'd try to close his eyes, try to dream of something other than Kyrie's smile, her laugh, the coldness of her body and the feel of her warm blood on his hands. He realized what a depressing image that was, a man down on his luck, a man nobody wanted because even he didn't want himself. A man plagued by loneliness, who didn't know what to do next, who had no real aspirations in life other than to be miserable and possibly die because he didn't have much left but a broken heart. Nero felt sick at the thought of it and swallowed a lump in his throat, hoping to swallow the brain searing imagines along with it.
"Hey, you okay there?"
Nero looked at her and blinked. His eyes stung and he blamed it on the fact that he spaced out on her. He cleared his throat, sniffing and bringing his mind back to reality.
"I'm not trying to set out to be the bad guy here," she said, her tone softer than before. "What I'm doing is in your best interest. Dante set me out to do a job and part of that job is to protect you from—"
"Save it." He raised his hand before she continued with her speech. "I can take care of myself, so please don't treat me like I'm fifteen."
Lady signed.
"Tomorrow we'll start in the afternoon," she said, "I figure that after today you're probably jet lagged, so you'll probably be tired if I got you up in the morning." She rounded the couch, standing behind it and snapped her fingers at the cat, which currently pawed at the leg of the single sofa. The cat, seeing how displeased its master was, stopped and went towards its play area.
"We'll do basic fitness to build up your stamina, work on muscle gain and—."
"You don't have to baby me. I can handle whatever you can to dish out."
Lady looked at him and he was expecting her to say something snarky. But all she did was turn around and walk down the hall again. He went and collapsed on the couch, flopping onto it like a bed and not feeling sorry about since he was tired. He heard her footsteps as she came back and before he could look up to see her, his face met the soft face of a stuffed animal.
Lady let go of the animal and it landed on his head. Nero grabbed it, not amused. It was a panda bear with a top hat and monocle.
"His name is Paul," she said, placing the extra blanket she had gotten him on the armrest of the couch. "He'll be my understudy for when you want to bitch and complain."
He looked at the bear and then looked at her with a smirk.
"What no bedtime story?"
She turned around, raising a hand to bid him farewell. "Nighty night, kid."
Nero snorted at her retrieving form and went to make his bed on the couch. The cushions were soft and he was half tempted to just pass out right then and there without blankets or pillows. But he changed his mind when the cat showed up to watch him, sitting on the coffee table, eyes wide and curious. He wasn't going to pass out with that thing waiting to probably claw his eyes out, not that Nero wouldn't toss it out the balcony if it ever tried. It wasn't a real cat so really, he would be doing Lady a favor.
After dressing for bed in only a t-shirt and boxers, Nero slipped in under the covers, he almost groaned, not realizing how sore his muscles were as they wound themselves so tight they almost sang. He took a relaxing breath in and exhaled slowly, closing his eyes as his body grew more accustomed to the soft padding surrounding it. He opened his eyes to see the cat on the coffee table, the panda bear right next to it and the cat meowed, pawing at the stuffed animal as if talking to it.
"No. Go talk with your boyfriend somewhere else," Nero snapped.
The cat stopped its pawing to look at Nero. It blinked, stared…then pawed at the panda while staring at Nero. It meowed.
Nero narrowed his gaze on it, trying to scare the thing off, but the cat was fully content on meowing at him, pawing at the panda bear.
"I am going to kill you someday." Nero didn't know if it understood language, but it was going to understand his Devil Bringer if the damn thing didn't stop meowing.
He decided to ignore it and turn over. But when he did that the cat began to meow even louder and he bit his bottom lip, summoning the patience he didn't have. Nero flipped over, snatched the panda bear and flipped over again, burying himself under the covers with it.
Silence.
It seemed that without a playmate or Nero to harass, the cat had no reason to continue its whining. The demon hunter exhaled a relieved breath, closed his eyes and fell fast asleep.
Lady wrinkled her nose in her sleep and turned over. It wasn't until she heard a 'meow' that she opened her eyes to see Lucy currently perched on the nightstand.
"Lucy, you know better," she said, rubbing the sleep from her eyes and sitting up. The cat pawed at her and the woman took him into her arms.
"Bet you're hungry since you won't stop pawing at me." She looked at the time on her cell phone and was surprised at herself for sleeping in so late. It was barely nine, but Lady was used to getting up with the sun.
She rolled her neck, feeling something pop and she sighed, letting Lucy go and sinking right back into bed. Last night had proved exhausting. Dante warned her about Nero having a mouth, but she didn't think the guy would be that difficult to deal with. Any little thing she did or said only set him off and she wondered if he was like that with everyone else. Lady understood that he was going through a tough time. At some point in her life, she lost everything too, so she could sympathize with him. He lost the love of his life and he was taking it out on himself and anyone else brave enough to get near him. She was fine with dealing with the attitude because lashing out was normal, it meant he was capable of feeling something rather than feeling nothing and letting his life waste away. Nero had a fighting chance, and she believed he could get better. But hoping and praying was not going to do Nero any good, especially if he didn't believe in himself.
What was she getting herself into?
Lucy pawed at her again, his meowing growing more urgent. Lady sat up again and raised an eyebrow. Even if he was hungry, Lucy never acted as though Lady needed to do something about it. It had powers strong enough to telepathically open windows and doors when it wanted to. As a demon, it usually went out and caught its own prey when it felt the need to feed. Sometimes, it would humor her and drink the milk she would put out on a saucer as though it were a cat. But it didn't need it, just like it didn't need to be pawing at her for whatever reason.
"Alright, I'll get you something," she said, getting up and taking the cat.
She was mindful not to wake Nero up when she made it to the living room. Seeing the lumpy form on her couch, she tipped toed towards the kitchen when Lucy wiggled in her arms to be set free. Lady put the cat down and it immediately ran over to the couch where Nero was sleeping and jumped on the lumps.
"Lucy, get back here, now," she hissed at it as quietly as she could but the cat meowed loudly, calling her.
Lady looked at the couch, head tilting slightly in confusion. Either the kid was a deep sleeper or…
"…he isn't really there," she finished her thought out loud.
Lucy meowed.
Lady decided to double check to make sure she wasn't having a nightmare and searched all over the apartment for him. From the balcony to the locked weapon room, she looked and turned up with nothing. Even his things were gone and as Lady sat on the couch defeated and feeling a bit jilted, she took a deep breath and dialed Dante's number.
"Devil May Cry."
"The kid's gone."
All she got in reply was dead silence until...
"Wait—What?"
Lady sighed.
"I'll be there in ten to explain." And she hung up.