Chapter Text
"I'm not letting you fight that demon," he spoke out from behind your seat, his voice stern with a tint of annoyance dancing behind it. He was stubborn and you were already expecting that answer from him as soon as you reminded him of the mission. Yet, you still couldn't help but roll your eyes at his response, exhaling loudly through your nostrils as you clenched your jaw under the frustration that slowly started building up in your body.
You knew he was trying to keep you safe and away from all the danger, since you were his so called 'client' and turned up to him with a deal: he helps you eradicate a few demons infesting the town and you award him with a good amount of money for gas and food. But still, you've been friends for a long time now and he should've already known by now that you could handle yourself with no problems. Fighting demons was part of your job, you fought enough of them in your lifetime, most of which were a piece of cake with all the combat experience you had sitting under your belt. Nero, unfortunately, didn't see that in you, keeping his guard up for most of the time.
Maybe if you showed him what you had in store, he'd change his mind...
You chewed on your bottom lip for a moment, staring blankly ahead of you in a frozen state. Not until something snapped inside of you and you remembered that you were told by Nico to fill up the tank. You hopped out of the van and into breezy morning air, the sudden contrast in temperatures making you shiver. It was around 5 AM- the surroundings were as peaceful as ever. There were only a few trucks parked nearby, the drivers probably sleeping as their windows were drawn shut with the blinds.
"You still think I wouldn't handle myself on the battle field," you shot back and moved around Nero towards the gas dispenser that Nico parked at before she disappeared behind the gas station building to take a leak.
Nero's blue eyes only followed you in silence as he was sat in the door frame of the van, leaning back against the side of the couch.
"Should've made a deal with Dante instead," you couldn't help but tease at him with a deep sigh as you raised your eyebrows. "He would've let me fight them all since he knows what I'm capable of," you continued uninterrupted and grabbed the gas pump, opening the lid on the side of the van.
You knew mentioning Dante and choosing to work with him instead would do the trick. Nero was still holding a grudge against him after all that happened to him just a year ago. Even though the old man had nothing to do with literal demonic apocalypse that took over the city, he was holding back a lot of information from his nephew and Nero knew if he didn't bring it all up in an argument, he would've never even told him the truth... Plus, being called dead weight would've crushed anyone's confidence.
"Oh really?" you heard him murmur back, acting all surprised, sarcasm evident in his voice. You noticed with the corner of your eye as he reached inside the van to pull out a box of hamburgers that he bought during your previous stop.
"Still don't believe me?" you glanced back at him for a brief moment and he let out a breathy laugh, shaking his head as he unwrapped the meal and took a big bite out of it.
"I made a deal with you not because I wanted you to protect me, but I wanted your help. Sure, Dante would've been my first choice, but I also know you don't get enough credit for your work. And you need that money more desperately now," the same smirk crawled onto your lips as you watched the expression on his face change from an amused look to an annoyed frown as he stopped chewing on his food for a moment.
"So you used my broke ass for your own advantage, huh," he murmured with a mouthful, sounding too displeased now for your own liking. At least you got him where you wanted...
"I told you already, I know how good you are at doing your job," you admitted after you finished pumping the gas into the van, closing the lid and putting the nozzle back into the dispenser.
"Awww, was that a compliment?" he returned back to his sarcastic tone and you rolled your eyes at him once again.
"Tell you what, if I beat your ass in a fistfight, you'll let me do my job," you finally suggested him, crossing your arms over your chest as you looked back at him. "No weapons though, because I know how much you like to use your toys," you pointed out, your eyes dropping at his devil breaker that was still attached to his arm.
"You trying to throw me a challenge now or what?" he shot back with a question and returned to his meal, clearly hungry for some fast-food.
"Of course you wouldn't refuse it now would you," you raised your eyebrows at him and shifted your hips from one leg to the other, watching him stuff his face with food.
Nero only cocked his head and didn't say a word until he gulped down a big bite he took with cola.
"You bet," he answered shortly after a longer moment of silence and you felt his blue eyes land on you once again as you shifted from your place, walking past him. You knew he was watching you move, his gaze trailing you intently as you walked towards the passenger's seat. He did it every time he had a chance to. Never missing an opportunity to check you out from the side. You started noticing that habit of his only recently when you caught him staring one time. He played it off as nothing once you dropped a short question of "what?" back at him, but you couldn't help but notice the slight change of color on his cheeks. From then on he did it constantly and you knew. All this time you knew what he was doing but you were keeping your tongue tight behind your teeth, silently enjoying all the attention he was giving you. Even though he stayed the same cocky idiot when he was talking to you directly, you knew there was something else hiding behind that persona he liked to put on all the time.
You only opened the door, trying to ignore his piercing gaze lying on you all this time and grabbed the cash from the glove box, mentally hoping you got enough to pay for gas.
"And if you beat my ass?" you looked back at him as you closed the door behind you with a loud thud, straightening your back.
The same mischievous smirk he liked to use against you during your arguments soon ghosted over his lips and you didn't even let him speak as a stern "no" rolled off your tongue with a clear warning.
"What? A deal's a deal," he raised his arms into the air with a knowing look on his face.
"And what's that supposed to mean then?" you played dumb for a moment, hoping for a straight answer from him, because you knew he wouldn't pass up the opportunity to tease you further.
"I beat your ass and I get a good make out session from you," he spoke out cockily with the same smirk plastered on his face.
Dante's dirty humor sure rubbed off on him a lot after so many years of working together. It was nothing new, yes, that boy liked to throw jokes left and right just to keep himself entertained. But the bluntness of some of them did surprise you sometimes. Just like it did now as your face expression changed to a disappointed frown.
"I'm joking, you pay me 100 bucks extra then. Even though the first option sounds real tempting," he dragged out the last two words, his voice dropping an octave as his piercing blue eyes stared back at you with hidden hunger behind them. That was new, really new. He never straight up flirted with you like he did now, always staying in the safe zone of playful banter with only a few occasional dirty jokes that slipped past his lips.
At this point you didn't even know how to react to his sudden shift and whether to take it as another playful banter or something more. Something that he was hiding from you all this time. He liked to fool around with your head so much you barely could tell when he was genuine.
"You fuckin' idiot," you only murmured under your nose and moved towards the shop to pay for gas, hearing him crack up from behind you.