Lady was annoyed with Dante. Not for the usual reasons though. He actually had actually paid all his debts and hadn't been doing anything particularly out of the ordinary. He still shot the occasional flirty comment at her, poked fun at first and griped at her even. Business as usual. No what was more irritating was that after their encounter on her birthday she had to admit to having...feelings.
Romance or anything of the sort was something she'd put aside the day her mother had died. Then she'd turned her eyes to hunting her father then to the demons out there in the world. She'd thought that the days of pondering such frivolous ideas were long behind of her. Apparently a certain white haired devil hunter had intentionally or not completely thrown a wrench into those plans. With his stupid charming smile and the fact that he felt like one of the few people in the world who could truly understand her. What she'd leveled as some level of physical attraction had gotten more emotional than she'd like. Especially since despite how much he joked about it, she's not sure how he would react to such an idea in reality.
So she's lounging in her apartment she'd quietly spent a portion of her hard earned money on recently. She'd moved into the same town as Dante, but not quite in the shady part of town Dante favored hanging around. Not exactly far off though. She wanted somewhere to call her own and somewhere to be in town without having to consistently crash at Dante's place when she showed up. Plus it was just the closest thing to a little bit of normalcy she could really get these days.
Ringing interrupted her thoughts and she set aside her meager dinner plate and reached for her phone that sat on the far end of the couch.
"Hello." she answered.
"Hey, babe. When were you planning on telling me you had a place in town?" Dante greeted.
Lady was genuinely caught off guard, "I-um-I...What are you talking about?" she sputtered.
He chuckled on the other line, "Oh I see. Johnny down at the Bullseye Bar must've been drunk off his ass and seeing stuff then." he joked.
"Must've been." she agreed.
"That's what I thought too so I decided to check it out. Strange because if it's not you then they've got strangely similar tastes. I swear I saw what looked just like your bike out there." he remarked.
Lady groaned, "Fine. I bought a place here not too long ago. What's it matter to you?" she questioned.
The sound of shifting could be heard on other end, "I woulda got ya like a housewarming gift or something." he answered.
There was a pause as Lady chose her next words, "I appreciate it, but I don't need you spending all your money. Heaven and Hell both know you need every cent you can hold onto." she teased.
"Haha very funny. I'll have you know I'm a responsible guy these days." he states.
"I'll believe it when I see it."
"That stings, babe. You know I'm better than I was before."
"Not exactly a high bar your setting given the mess you call an office. It took nearly two years before I showed up and the place wasn't covered in trash your 'magazines'" she said rolling here eyes.
His laugh echoed in her ear, "Hey I'm as human as the next guy, well mostly." he quipped.
They laughed together and talked, their usual banter kicking in.
"So when do I get to come check the place out?" Dante inquired.
Lady bit her lip in thought, "I mean. There's not really much to see. I have like the bare minimum necessities here along with some furniture and stuff I managed to settle for from some odd jobs. If you really wanna see you could probably come over now or tomorrow or something. It's been kinda slow lately so I've not got many jobs lined up for the time being. No funny business though." she warned.
"Hey now I know how to behave in the presence of a lady. Mom hammered those kinda manners and stuff into Vergil and I a lot gorwing up believe it or not." he retorted.
A mental image of a young Dante and Vergil stuffed into uncomfortable old time clothes as a blonde woman drilled them on etiquette entered her mind and she couldn't help but laugh.
"Hey what's so funny?" he shouted.
"Oh it's nothing." she said with a lingering smile.
"It's still plenty light out. I could head over now. You good with that?" he asked.
She eyed the clock that indicated it was still late afternoon and the sun had yet to start setting, "That's fine. I'm on the top floor third from the left." she said.
"Alright. Be there soon. See ya in a bit, babe." he said, hanging up the call.
Lady made sure the call was ended before sighing in frustration. Well that was great. So much for a Dante free zone. Not only does he know, but she invited him in. As if her mind wasn't already tormenting her, she'd gone and made a stupid decision like this.
She returned to her meal, finishing it quicker than she had been before. She was washing the plate when she got a knock on her door. That was fast even for him. She dried her hands and glanced through the peephole to see it was in fact Dante. She opened the door and immediately noticed his eyes scanning her and the split second of surprise that crossed his face.
It then came to her that she'd been relaxing at home in a rather loose t-shirt and shorts. She tried to hide her embarrassment as she stepped aside to let him in.
"Come on in." she said, not meeting his gaze.
He stepped in and gave the place a look over, "Nice place you got here. Looks nice and homey." he commented.
She shut the door and latched it back, "It's not much, but I couldn't stand living in my old house anymore. I left anything back home to my family and it feels wrong to come asking for it back after the disappearing act I pulled." she explained.
"Don't sweat it. Sometimes in life it's nice just to know you have something to call your own." he said.
"True enough I suppose. It's just nice to have somewhere to crash. Plus this city seems to be a great place to nab some jobs. I see why you settled down here." she responded.
"It's perfect for a guy like me. Keeps the work coming and people aren't likely to ask questions unless they're as crazy as I am or need help dealing with demons." he admitted.
Lady tried to discretely slip a jacket over her pajamas, but she's sure he already noticed. He's acting normal though so maybe she's just overthinking it.
"I've got water if you want some, but I don't really have anything to your usual tastes here unfortunately." she offered.
"Nah I'm good. I just wanted to stop by and check the place out. Plus I wanted to show ya something." he announced.
Lady shook her head, "Dante this better not be a dirty joke or something I swear-" she started.
Dante dug in his coat pocket, "Not today, babe. Sorry to disappoint." he chuckled.
A black box was pulled from his pocket along with something wrapped in cloth.
"These were a couple things my last client gave me to account for costs he apparently couldn't cover. I haven't much use for 'em, but I thought maybe you'd like 'em." he explained.
The black box contained a really fancy and very old looking necklace with a black gem in the center.
"This thing isn't cursed or something right?" was her first thought.
"Nope. I checked it over good before I brought it over. Trust me when I say I'm too familiar with cursed objects." he groaned.
"It's certainly beautiful, but why exactly are you bringing it to me?" she asked genuinely.
"Well I haven't much use for it. Thought I'd offer it to ya as a house warming gift or a late birthday gift of sorts." he explained.
He reached for the other object and began to unwrap it, "Oh yeah, if that doesn't suit your fancy, I also brought this. Might be more to your liking." he added.
It was revealed to be a very nice, very expensive looking knife. A little on the decorative side as it had some ornamental designs along the handle, but overall looked very well made.
"So fancy jewelry and knives made you think of me?" she asked sarcastically.
"Well pretty and dangerous are the first two things that I think of when I think about you." he answered smoothly.
She had to fight the blush from creeping on her face. Normally he was flirty in a dorky not serious kind of way, but it seemed different this time and it caught her off guard. Or maybe it was just her projecting her own feelings onto the situation.
"They're both very nice. I certainly wouldn't mind taking either off your hands, but-" she started.
"Nope. Not buts. Take 'em. A couple trinkets like this ain't gonna break the bank for me." he cut her off.
"I can't accept these." she insisted.
"Why not?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.
She wouldn't meet his gaze, "I just can't." she repeated.
Her hands grabbed the two items attempting to make him take them. Only for her to trip over herself in the process. Her momentum carried her forward towards the silver haired devil who caught her gently.
Lady made eye contact with him finally and was surprised by the intensity in his gaze. His eyes seemed to be searching her for something, but what she didn't know.
She tried to ignore the way she was so close to him and the feeling of his hands on her wrists keeping her steady, "Why are you so insistent about this?" asked.
"I'm trying to be nice to a friend. Why are you being so opposed to it? The Lady I knew these past couple years wouldn't pass up on something like this. You were just fine taking stuff from me before. What changed?" he pushed.
Lady looked away, "That was business. This feels too...personal, Dante." she told him.
"Personal huh...Weird that it's an issue. Thought we were getting along fine. Guess I was wrong." he said, removing his hands from her and letting her stand on his own.
Lady saw the storm in his eyes and he moved to leave, "Wait...Dante..." she said, catching his arm.
He stopped in his tracks, but didn't turn to look at her. She gulped, swallowing her pride and gathering her thoughts.
"You're not wrong, Dante. You know I trust you and I value our friendship. That's not the problem." she began.
He said nothing but she assumed he was listening as he hadn't left.
"I just haven't really had a true confidant since my mom died. Someone I could trust that would get me. Not besides you. Having someone like you around is both a great comfort, but it also scares me. I'm afraid to lose you or to grow too attached." she admitted.
Dante turned around to face her, "You think I don't understand that? Trust me. I know that feeling better than anyone. Especially after...it was harder than ever. Regardless, you came crashing into my life and made it hell in some ways, but I was always glad to have someone around who understood." he admitted in turn.
He approached her, "I've always feared for you. You're the toughest, most badass chick I've met. Yet at the end of the day your still human. Compared to a demon you can be so fragile I've dreaded the day you walk out and never come back. I never expected to make the kind of connection with someone ever again." he confessed.
Lady felt drawn in by his gaze, it was so serious, like this had been brewing beneath the surface for a while. Maybe it had. Maybe they'd been fighting the same demons all along.
"D-Dante...I..."she stuttered.
"Yeah?" he asked, eyes scanning her face.
She steeled herself, her hands reaching up to grasp him and pull him closer. The surprise on his face was almost hilarious as she pulled him in for a kiss. She hoped she did this right. She didn't exactly have a lot of experience outside a couple classmates here or their back in school. It wasn't the same back then. It was fleeting and curious. Nothing serious, not like this. All she hoped was that it got her point across where her words failed her.
It was clumsy at first as it seemingly took him a moment for the shock to wear off, then he seemed to try and gauge her a little bit and kiss back, but too forcefully or anything. It was short, but the broke apart and both seemed to be watching the other intently, trying to gauge their respective reactions.
Lady felt shame at first, thinking maybe she'd made a mistake at first. Then Dante chuckled a bit.
"Wow. You know I honestly wasn't expecting that from you after all the times you've deflected my advances. I thought for sure you weren't interested." he admitted.
Lady frowned, "All that and you laugh?" she asked incredulously.
He quickly put his hands up in defense, "Hang on now. I'm not mocking you or anything. On the bright side, I'm very happy with this outcome. Assuming I'm not jumping the gun." he defended.
"I'm in...I...I'm...attracted to you..." she confessed with a sigh, "Unfortunately." she added.
Dante frowned, "Hey I could've done without that jab at the end."
"So I assume the feeling is mutual?" she asked with an intense stare.
Dante nodded, "Yeah there's no doubt about it. I've fallen hopefully for you, my Darling Lady." he teased.
"Can't you be serious for once?" she asked.
He took her hand, "I care a lot about you, Lady. More than I ever expected honestly. I'm willing to give this thing of ours a try if you are." he proposed, not breaking eye contact.
The unexpected gesture made her face burn, "T-That's better. I think I'd like that." she accepted.
The two ended up cuddling awkwardly on the couch that night.
"So how about you give me the tour of your room to celebrate this tremendous occasion?" Dante mused.
"I'm tempted to kick you out for that." Lady replied.
"Oh come on. I was just kidding, babe."
"Though maybe another time." she muttered under breath.
"Heard that babe. I knew you were thinking about me!" he snickered.
So this is a sequel to the last DMC story I wrote. Hopefully it works alright as sometimes when I write things in one continuity too far apart from each other I make mistakes. I randomly got the desire to play around with DMC again and do another Dante/Lady story. I feel like the last one was better though honestly. This didn't come out perfect as I couldn't decide how to proceed in a couple places and it make come across kind of janky. Feel free to critique the story so that I may make adjustments as needed. I could really use more feedback as much as I appreciate the comments where people tell me they like the story.
~Trevyler