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“Dante!” The young blonde girl called out, holding the front of her frilly dress as she strode up the steps. The soft clacking of her heels against the hardwood could be heard all the way in the bedroom that the legendary hunter was currently holed up in.
However, while ‘legendary’ might be part of his title, he wasn’t exactly feeling like that at the moment. He was curled in bed, desperately hoping she would turn and leave if he didn’t answer her.
He knew why she was there, he had told her they’d go out for ice cream today. But he just couldn’t do that today. Thanks to his stupid demon physiology he was stuck in bed, feeling like shit and hoping he wouldn’t have to explain to Patty that he can’t go out because he might turn into a damn demon midway through a sundae.
Dante had plenty of good reasons to despise his demonic blood, but one of the big ones was the feeling that sometimes he just needed to release his devil trigger. Like his demon half was just trying to dig through his skin and cause more problems for him. It only happened about twice a month, but that was still more than he’d like.
“Hey, I know you’re in there!” The young girl called from the other side of his door, impatience and frustration evident in her tone. “Morrison told me you don’t have any jobs today and you promised we’d go out today, I was even planning on trying a new flavour of ice cream today.”
She brushed one of her long, golden curls over her shoulder and crossed her arms. While the hunter didn’t exactly have a reputation for following through on things (just ask Lady, she’ll gladly tell you how many times he assured her he’d pay back his debts) he liked going out for food just as much as she did. He wasn’t one to purposefully miss the chance at having a strawberry sundae.
“I swear, if you don’t get out here then I will get Lady over here!” Still, no response came from the other side.
Patty stood there for a while longer before scoffing and turning away.
“Fine, if you’re gonna be like that then I guess I’ll go give a certain devil hunter a call.”
Goddammit, he really didn’t feel like dealing with Lady right now. She’d probably kick his door down too, and he didn’t exactly have the money to get that fixed. So, begrudgingly, he got up. Trudging over to the door he cracked it open and stared at the young girl.
“So you are alive.” She smiled, “Now we can go out!”
He definitely didn’t enjoy ruining her excitement like this, but fuck– he could not deal with this today.
“Look, Pattycakes, I hate to do this but I can’t go with you today.” He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand. “Maybe next week or something.”
Her bright smile shifted quickly to a glare.
“What do you mean you can’t go? You’re just laying in bed, it isn’t like you have plans.” She put both hands on her hips.
Dante stood there for a moment, considering what to say. He knew no answer would leave her happy about this. She held his gaze strongly, big blue eyes drilling into his. She could tell he looked tired, and a little pale.
Since when was he one to look exhausted? He always seemed like just an eccentric and laid-back guy, and as far as she knew, he never felt under the weather or anything. He wasn’t human so that shouldn’t happen, right?
“I promise you that we can go some other day, but right now I can’t.” He finally replied, sounding pretty tense.
“You already promised we’d go today, just tell me why you won’t come.” The white-haired hunter could hear her getting more upset as the conversation went on.
“I— don’t know what to tell you.” His shoulders slumped and he let out a defeated exhale.
“Oh come on. If you don’t want to then just say that.”
“It’s not that I don’t want to, I already told you-”
“That you can’t come for some mysterious reason?” She cut in. “A reason you can’t actually tell me or whatever.” She rolled her eyes. He stiffened a bit, his grip on the door handle tightening.
She turned and let out a huff before marching off to the staircase.
“Maybe I really should get Lady to come here and kick your ass for going back on your promise.” She murmured, quiet but loud enough for him to hear.
With a loud splintering sound the door handle cracked free from the wood, catching Patty off guard. Swinging her head around she froze upon seeing Dante holding the now very broken door handle while his hand was covered in black scales.
“I told you I just can’t go out right now.” He said, voice tight as he tried to make the claws go away, to no avail.
The door swung shut with another loud crack, the wood so messed up that it wouldn’t actually close properly. Patty stood in shock as her thoughts spun. Demon related stuff. That's why he couldn’t go with her.
She mentally smacked herself for not realizing that his refusal to go out was for a good reason. Blinded by her anger at him going back on his word she didn’t stop to think about it clearly until now.
But to be fair, she never expected it to be a demon related issue. To her, Dante always seemed to have fairly good control over his abilities.
Whatever, now wasn't the time for that.
The young blonde stepped toward the now battered door, knocking gently to announce her presence before pushing it open. It took a little more force than usual since the wood was so fucked up, but it still worked nonetheless.
“Dante?” Her voice was softer this time, not wanting to provoke another little outburst.
It's not that she didn't trust him, she knew damn well he'd never hurt her. But even with how well she knew Dante, a slight part of her was still weary of the power of something that every instinct in her screamed was a danger.
The white haired hunter sat curled on the far side of his bed, away from the door. Patty stood there awkwardly for a long moment, hands fiddling with the frills on her dress.
“I'm sorry for getting so mad at you, we can go another day.” She finally said, the slight unease in her voice clear as day to his inhuman ears. After all, predatory animals often could sense the fear in their prey.
God how he hated those instincts. All of the violent, inhuman aspects of himself did nothing but ruin the good things in his life.
“I'm sorry too.” He replied, his voice muffled by his face being tucked into his arms, knees pulled up to his chest. His arms were still fully scaled.
The girl stepped forward cautiously, not failing to notice the way his shoulders tensed at the sound of her footsteps.
“It’d probably be best for you to go now.” Spoke his defeated voice once again.
“Well to me it doesn't seem like you want to be alone right now, no matter how many times you say that.” She stopped once she was right beside the bed, with her legs over the side of the mattress she sat down.
“You're fuckin’ terrified right now though, I don't want you to have to feel like that.” His claw dug a little deeper into his arm.
“I'm not scared.” She puffed her chest out in a display of confidence.
“Patty.” Dante peeked one eye out from being buried in his arms.
No matter how much he wanted to deny it, she was dead right about him not wanting to be alone. He always dealt with these little episodes alone, despite his chest aching with the need to be close to his kin.
He'd be without his family since he was eight for fuck sakes, but there was still that longing to hold and be close to someone he considered family.
But why– why did it have to be Patty? A girl he's known for maybe a year or two at most, she wasn't his daughter, or his niece. Nothing like that, and yet something deep inside him recognized her as nothing less than his kin.
“Dante,” She started, staring into his icy blue eyes. His pupils were slit like right now, little flecks of red visible if she looked hard enough. “I want to help, so don’t argue and just let me.”
She always was stubborn, even to a fault. His claws dug harder, ripping up a little skin and causing crimson droplets to rise to the surface.
“I just don’t want you to get hurt.” He finally muttered, barely audible. “I can’t stand the thought that I could accidentally injure you.”
“I know you. You’re loud, annoying, and say the worst jokes I’ve ever heard. But one thing I know for certain is that you could never hurt me.” Her hands gripped the blanket below her tightly, speaking with conviction.
Something about the way she said that made him pause. Maybe it was the fact he’d been desperately trying not to fully trigger for the last day or so, but with a burst of red he finally let himself turn.
Patty had frozen the second he did, unsure if that was bad or not. Her brain set off every alarm in her to run, hide, anything to get away from what it perceived as dangerous. But she didn’t, she sat there still as a damn rock.
Two large, scaly arms wrapped around her and pulled her in close. A long black tail curled around her as the demonic form before her enveloped her in a hug. She didn’t know what to do at first, the feeling of claws against her arms set off more panic, but they weren’t digging into her skin or anything. They held her closely yes, but with as much gentleness as you would a newborn kitten.
She shifted a little, laying her back against his chest as he rested his chin on her golden curls. She wanted to speak, ask him something, but she had a feeling this was what he needed right now. A peaceful moment holding someone that felt like family to him.
As she thought about the situation she noticed something else, a quiet rumbling sound behind her head. It sounded like— purring?
The two of them stayed there for a while, long enough for her to fall asleep to the sound of comforting purrs from Dante, who had also seemingly fallen asleep.
It was funny, he’d spent so long trying to push down anything relating to his demonic side, seeing it as nothing but a violent and cursed half of himself. And yet now here he laid, curled up and holding the young girl he thought he’d hurt with this form. The both of them in the middle of a comfortable slumber. The only sound being the gentle rumbling of demonic purrs.
No matter what happened, he wanted to hold her forever. He wanted to keep her safe, keep his kin safe.