Kyrie had never thought that smells she would have found odious to her a few years back could mean so much to her now. Devil May Cry seemed at first to be just a rough, smelly old building but now she couldn't imagine living anywhere else.
Oil, leather, gunpowder, and a slight whiff of alcohol leaked out as she opened the doors to the office walking in. She let out a sigh allowing the outside world to melt away.
Dante stood up at the pool table aiming a shot. As usual he was topless with his amulet dangling down over the table. He glanced up and smiled at her.
"Hey you." He said popping the pool stick missing his mark slightly. "Damn it."
"Hello Dante." Kyrie replied walking over to his desk placing the small paper bag she had received as payment for the job she had taken.
Dante frowned slightly tossing the stick onto the table leaning against it. "I know you said to let you know when we get a call but you were sleeping. I didn't want to bother you." She said placing Red Rose down next to it.
"Come over here." He said grabbing the other pool stick off the wall. He handed it to her. "Lets play a round."
"You just like playing against me because you can win." She said with a half smirk thrown in his direction.
"Well, yeah, I won't lie about it but you gotta practice if you want to get better. Practice makes half way decent." He replied gathering up the pool balls.
"I always thought it was practice makes perfect." She said. Dante shook his head.
"Nothing's perfect. There's always room for improvement, that's what keeps people striving for it." He replied. "Wanna break?"
"No. I can't break. I'm terrible at it." She said in a slight knowing way as if he had forgotten.
"Okay, I promise this time I won't make fun of you." He said with a laugh. Kyrie opened her mouth to interject, that was what he had said last time. "In fact I'll even help you set up the shot."
He wagged a finger at her in a 'come here' gesture. Kyrie walked over to him standing in front of him. He positioned the pool stick in her hand placing his over hers.
"Now, you have the aim down you just don't have the power behind it. Especially when you go to break you really need to just pop it with some force. Don't be afraid to do it." He said leaning against her back slightly as she pressed down against the pool table.
Kyrie nodded her head in understanding. She felt Dante bring her arm back slightly before bringing it forward fast. The cue ball smacked into the others sending them scattering across the table.
"See, nothin' to it." He stated straightening himself back up. Kyrie smiled at him happily.
"Yeah, that wasn't so bad. Thank you." She said. Dante sunk in a few of the balls before missing. Kyrie aim at a striped ball just barely getting it across the table. She let out an exasperated sigh.
"Now, now...none of that." Dante said in a mock scold. He walked over to her placing the balls back where they were. He stood behind her lining up her shot holding her hands again.
Kyrie felt as if she could melt into the warmth he emitted. It was nice to have someone care about her again. A person who wanted to spend time with her and teach her new things.
She couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face as she leaned down against the table again.
"Alright now just pop it." He said letting go of the pool stick. Kyrie put some strength into her shot sending her battle flying across the table in the pocket.
"That's better." She stated pleased with herself. Dante gave a nod smiling at her. It was nice to see her happy. He would never say to her how much he enjoyed having her around, he didn't want to come off as some creepy old guy, but the fact remained that she made him happy just by wanting to spend time with him.
Lady and Trish would come around to check on him but their visits were short. There was a time that Trish had stayed with him as she had attempted to understand the human world. Ultimately she had decided to venture out on her own and figure it out from there.
Dante never faulted her for it but he did miss her. Having Trish around had made his long days and sleepless nights more tolerable but in the end it had worked to her benefit. She enjoyed being independent and he was happy for her.
Kyrie was vastly different from the demoness. For one she was young, her inexperience with life in General was clear. She was very intelligent and learned quickly but she was in fact still learning how the work worked.
Growing up in Fortuna had left her sheltered from the rest of civilization. Fanatical cult teachings left little room for learning anything about the much larger world but she fit in better than he did. For that he was grateful.
Kyrie knew how to naturally put people at ease. She was kind and friendly, he supposed that island had done her some good. For all the bad the church taught Kyrie informed him she still believed in the good.
Through out his own life and through personal experiences Dante rarely saw the good, not that he didn't enjoy it thoroughly when he saw these small glimmers, but at times it wasn't enough to alleviate the nightmares or the pain that ached in his heart.
"And once again I sunk in the eight ball." Kyrie stated turning around to face Dante. He stood leaning on the pool stick seemingly lost in thought. Kyrie let out a soft giggle alerting him.
His eyes refocused on her as he drifted back to reality.
"Game over already?" He asked her words slowly sinking into his head.
"Yeah, well next time." She said.
"And what better time then now." He said walking around the table to set the cue balls back up. Kyrie gave a nod happily.
She enjoyed days like this with Dante. The hours would fly by in the security of the building she was more apt to call home as the weeks passed by.