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The first time Dante saw hints that Nero wasn't as human as he desperately wanted Nero to be, Dante felt a part of himself die internally. It had nothing to do with the perks of being a partial devil – the strength, heightened senses or any of that jazz – oh no. Those were the upsides of having demonic blood coursing through one's veins.
His despair had everything to do with being a predator in a human society and becoming more and more aware that the pretty mother he'd been chatting to for an hour smelled amazing, not in the ‘oh that’s a nice perfume’ way but rather how it made a part of him wonder how her still-beating heart would taste once tearing it out of her body. It had everything to do with that he could see the way someone's pulse would pick up in fear, triggering reflexes to hunt them down. That meat - animal, demon or human, most definitely was on the menu.
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The Fortuna incident, as Dante privately referred to it, had taken place approximately two months ago. The crimson hunter had spent five weeks of those pacing back and forth like a caged animal hah! until Morrison had taken pity on him and given him a couple hunts outside town to release some of the pent up energy. Even as he hacked through a slew of demons all Dante could focus on was the passing thought of “I have family” and even more poignant – “Vergil fucked someone else.” The second topic had him tearing a Blitz to shreds with his bare hands the first time it crossed his mind, continuing on to blaze an angry trail through the unfortunate stragglers until finally he collapsed onto his knees, howling in a mix of rage and despair, leaving nothing but charred remains near him which did nothing to sate the need for chaos and destruction.
Oh, Dante had always known that what Vergil and he had during their teens wouldn't last, that their different perspectives drove them apart just as it made them slot together like two pieces in a jigsaw-puzzle. They'd fight, fuck, scream at one another – or well, Dante screamed, Vergil quietly judged him, uttering only a scathing remark that cut deeper than anything Dante could have said before leaving - repeating the vicious cycle again and again. Until the Tower. Then there was only silence.
Nero was a poignant reminder that they hadn't been exclusive, not that Dante by any means had only slept with his brother during that time. But something in the younger son of Sparda had always led him to believe that Vergil didn’t want nor need anyone but him and it was a harsh crash into reality when he finally broke down there in the woods. This even though Nero’s heritage had lain bare for the world to see the second his devil showed its face. Hours passed until Dante collected himself enough to leave, the inhabitants of the woods quietly exhaling in relief as the infernal energy abated.
It would be another week where empty bottles started to litter the floor, tables and chairs of the shop before something occurred to the hunter which he had previously failed to take into consideration.
He had an actual living and breathing family member.
The thought was enough to rouse him from the alcohol-induced stupor he’d gotten himself into. How long had it been since the island where he even for a moment had something like this? 10 years? 15?
He couldn’t however make himself believe that he could make himself more present in Nero’s life. Unfortunately, Dante knew from personal experience that the closer someone put themselves in proximity to anyone of the Sparda bloodline the higher were the odds that they’d either be caught in the crossfire or that others would draw the logical conclusion that Nero was another part of the traitor Sparda’s blood and should be hunted down and made an example of.
Yet he was despite everything curious and damn that cat to hell and back, he was keeping it alive even if he’d have to fight that prince of Hell and his cronies again.
So it came that Dante, despite his anguish about the circumstances of his relative’s existence, accepted a mission not far from Fortuna, taking the semblance of an excuse of a mission to visit the island of Fortuna.
Once on the final stretch, having boarded the ferry that’d taken him the final stretch the crimson hunter leaned against the railing, brow furrowed while he absentmindedly chewed on his lower lip, staring down into the murky waters. This was a bad idea. A very bad idea. Then again there was the option of jumping overboard and swimming back to shore - simply forgetting all about this idiocy about checking up on Nero and conveniently misplacing all memories about this shithole.
The option seemed more and more appealing until it occurred to him that it was March and the water most likely was freezing . Not to mention that swimming in several layers of leather was difficult - and, what gave him serious pause was that wet leather smelled absolutely disgusting and that he’d have to walk around wet and cold and the squelching sounds as he moved around would drive him up the wall. But. Going back still appealed despite this. There still was time to go back—
A sharp clunk made him snap his head up, silver strands falling into his hair and it took him half a moment to realise that they’d arrived at the island of Fortuna. Shit .
C’mon. Big brave devil hunter. Play it cool. Stop behaving like you’re fifteen and about to have sex for the first time. You got this. Easy peasy.
A step forwards, then another, continuing until he felt terra firma under his boots, to the casual observer appearing as if he had no cares in the world, his poker face of cocky indifference slapped firmly in place.
Nothing had really changed since his last sojourn to the island of Fortuna - and at the same time everything was different. Debris had been cleared from cobbled streets, trash cans replaced. Buildings previously broken were being rebuilt while a few others remained broken husks. Still there was a serenity to the area Dante couldn’t quite understand, the people of the island working diligently as if nothing had happened two months ago. Funny how people chose to forget and move on.
Shaking his head to himself Dante asked the nearest person where he could find Nero. That the woman scoffed before pointing him in the direction of the garage next to the orphanage Dante took as her just not liking him - people did that a lot, but he thanked her and made his way over. Orphanage? A small voice murmured in the back of his head. Was Nero..? Ah. Probably. He filed it away for something he’d muse - more aptly sulk, about Vergil adding another item on the long list of wrongs he’d done.
Even if Dante hadn't asked for directions to where to find Nero he'd have been able to pick it up easily; unless actively toning it down demonic presences rarely could hide from one another, and for one not trained to hide it Nero stood out like a beacon in the darkness. Dante mentally added it to his list of things he might have to teach Nero how to do.
The orphanage was easy enough to find, the amount of kids in the area loudly playing was quite the giveaway, and he saw an annexed garage with its doors open. Step quiet the hunter paused in the doorway to observe the younger man where he sat on a couple boxes, one leg propped up while he disassembled his sword. The ease with which he did it told Dante that this was a common enough occurrence. A screwdriver held between his lips while he fiddled with details on the breaker with a smaller one. The concentration on Nero’s face was a painful reminder of how Vergil used to do the same, the younger man reaching up to push back hair that fell into his face only for it to fall straight back down.
“How long are you plannin' on standing there, old man?” A slow blink had Dante coming out of his strange daydream, at once realising that Nero was aware of his presence.
A rise and fall of shoulders. “Didn't want to disturb you in the middle of things.” Tone light.
A disbelieving snort was Nero's answer to that. Grabbing a rag to clean his hands the partial devil rose, shrugging on his jacket as he did so. “This a social visit or is there something to destroy?”
Half-gloved palms facing upwards, showing there were no weapons in his hands. Which said bupkis seeing as he could draw weapons from the aether in a heartbeat and that Ebony and Ivory were holstered on his back underneath his trenchcoat. “Purely social. Then again, had to make sure you hadn’t wrecked the place in my absence.” Dante playfully swatted at the rag that came sailing towards him in response to that out of the air.
Anyone who knew Dante even the slightest knew that this was a bullshit excuse. If there was one thing Dante didn’t do it was to go back to someplace he’d been hunting where human lives had been lost. Experience had taught him the hard way that anytime he did it would result in grieving family members accusing him of the death of their loved ones. Anywhere demons went death, anger, grief and despair followed close behind - and Dante knew that he was only a reminder of what could never be returned.
Yet here he was, strolling along the main street of Fortuna, idly people-watching and noting that the few who paid attention to them either gave Nero a wave or a dismissive glare. The latter had Dante arch a brow yet Nero didn’t seem to be in a divulging mood so he mentally filed that away for the future.
A group of people passed by them, Dante idly tracking them with his eyes. However, something he spotted in the corner of his eye made him shift his attention to Nero. It was subtle enough that hadn’t he known exactly what he was looking at he wouldn’t have caught the minute shift. Oh shit.
A current seemed to have gone through the partial devil, something which had lain dormant twitching to alertness in how the younger man had gone from observing the group to observing them, predatorial hunger evident in his gaze, mouth opening just enough to barely reveal teeth sharper than a normal human’s. Dante recognised that look all too well, had seen it in the mirror one too many times and he saw the way Nero subconsciously took half a step towards the group, fingers twitching restlessly in a need to move and pounce.
Though Dante very much felt a similar need in his core albeit muted it destroyed a part of him to see it in Nero, and he unfortunately knew that he had maybe one or two seconds to de-escalate this.
With speed born from experience yet keeping the touch as seemingly casual as possible Dante stepped between the group and his nephew, clapping a hand on Nero's shoulder, fingers digging in to the point where he’d be able to keep the younger in place if needed. To keep him from doing something he’d seriously regret.
Luckily Nero seemed to snap out of it as quickly as it had appeared, eyes blinking and trying to refocus, staring up at Dante with confusion, then growing horror as his eyes flicked over to the group of girls disappearing behind the corner. “Wha-”
“Let’s get you something to eat.” Tone light Dante gave a reassuring squeeze on the younger’s shoulder before giving him a couple pats on it for good measure, steering him towards a nearby café. If the older hunter actually had to push Nero in the correct direction when Nero’s feet seemed to want to go the other direction neither said anything of it, the younger hunter uncommonly quiet while Dante headed up to the counter, with casual cheer ordering two BLT sandwiches and a large coffee to go with extra sugar.
The smile dropped the second Dante turned around with the items in hand, wordlessly shoving the paper bag with sandwiches to Nero. If said hunter merely glanced down before diving into one of the sandwiches as if he had never seen food it was just happenstance, the older hunter gently leading them towards what looked like a more quiet section of the city with a lot of greenery and far from people. By the time that Dante had taken his first sip of coffee Nero had devoured both sandwiches, licking his thumb clean from a stray spot of mayo.
“Better?”
A wordless nod. Dante hummed, taking a thoughtful sip of his coffee, gaze focusing far from the present. “Good. You don’t want to skip your meals from now on. Include plenty of meat or fatty foods. Nothing wrong with eating vegetables, but going fully vegetarian is gonna end ugly.” Though his tone wasn’t lecturing there was a distinctly bitter edge to his words.
It seemed the shock was dissipating as blue eyes snapped to sharply look at the older, anger evident in them. “Why the hell are you telling me this now? Shouldn’t you have mentioned this last time?”
A soft snort. “Sure. I could have told you ‘by the way, there’s a slim chance that your devil side will manifest itself enough that you will want to eat people.’” A pointed look before downing the last of the cup of coffee before sighing deeply, scratching at a stubbled jaw. “You seemed too human for it to happen.”
“So now you’re saying I’m weak?” Words snarled, the younger man growing angrier by the second.
“What? No . Jesus Christ, kid. I thought you got the perks of having demonic blood without the nasty side effects.”
There was a sharp tap-tap-tap from where Nero tapped the nails of his Bringer against the low stone wall they were leaning their backs against, little pebbles flying loose while he did so. “It’s not like this has happened to you, is it? You-”
Dante started laughing, a low sound holding no real mirth, the sound enough to stop the partial devil in mid-sentence. “As much as I appreciate the faith you have in my control, I do know what human flesh tastes like. I’ve messed up - a lot.” Keeping it as vague as possible but the bitter edge to his voice gave away the truth. Not that Dante was ever planning on spilling his guts about how living on the streets in his early teens made food a luxury and how the burning hunger gnawed on him from the inside out, demanding to be sated any way possible to the point where the beast lurking behind mercurial eyes ensured that they would stay alive.
Silence so heavy you could cut it with a knife spread between them, grey-blue eyes watching light blue with a strange empathy as surprise and shock warred with one another. Finally the elder showed mercy and let out a soft scoff, tone still gentle. “Close your mouth, kid. You’ll let in flies.”
Mouth snapping shut so hard it made teeth clack, Nero tried to formulate words, face blushing scarlet at having been caught like this.
“I- how-” Sentences started yet the younger man was unable to formulate it properly, finally falling silent and shaking his head.
“Are you really asking me ‘how’ about this?’” Dante commented lightly.
“ Shut up .”
Another laugh, and much as he tried to resist it, tension was bleeding out of Nero’s shoulders. Good.
“So, what now?”
A noncommittal shrug. “Depends entirely on you. If you’re careful you can go on the way you have until now.”
“Why do I sense a ´but´?”
“‘Cause you’re not a complete dumbass.”
“Thanks, I guess?” The younger shaking his head to himself.
The scritch-scritch-scritch sound of Dante rubbing at the stubble on his neck as he considered the situation. “You should probably take some time away from this place, learn to control and get used to this. Your body will give little signals when you’ve gone too long without eating. Sadly you’re always gonna be hungry from now on, but it’s manageable.”
Nero was quiet for a moment. “You- Are you planning on tagging along while I do?” Dante pretended that he didn’t hear the note of hope in Nero’s voice.
“Ya really want me around, kiddo? It’s not gonna be pretty.” It wasn’t that he was dismissing it, more a practical tone. Shrugging his shoulders to indicate he didn’t mind either way.
Nero was quiet, bangs falling down to cover his face. Shit . Dante was struck by how much he reminded him of himself at that age. Shit, the kid was what? 17? 18? He was far too young to be going through this either way. Still there were some even darker things to mention.
“What you need to understand though… when you end up eating human or demon meat your body won’t allow you to eat normal food for a while. It’ll make you violently sick to try and go back. And yeah, it’s a case of ‘when’ and not if. I need ya to understand that.”
Nero was growing paler by the second. Ah, hell. He’d gone in too hard too fast. Still he nodded, rubbing at his nose. “I get ya. All right. When do we start?”