Chapter Text
Dante was on his seventh bottle of strawberry milk when his co-worker for the past month walked in. 'Something's wrong with me,' Nero said.
Dante didn't stop drinking, 'Are you worried about your arm? It's fine right?'
'It is,' Nero agreed, 'I've gotten u-' He growled. 'I'm not talking about my arm! I'm hungry! And don't talk with your mouth full!'
Dante swallowed. He pointed to the kitchen, he was actually pointing at the wall but he knew that Nero knew where he really was pointing at. 'There's some leftover pizza in the fridge.'
'I don't want pizza!' Nero snarled. Oh, wow. He really was angry.
'Pancakes?' Dante drank the rest of the bottle.
Nero looked hopeful. 'There's pancakes?'
'Oh yeah. I made some for you.' Dante opened another bottle and gulped down a third of the strawberry milk in a breath.
'You made me pancakes?' There was disbelief in Nero's voice and a sliver of. Happiness? Oh that didn't sound right. Must've been him hearing things.
'Thought you’d be hungry when you'd come over,' Dante drank the rest of the milk, put aside the empty bottle and reached for another one. He weighed the bottle for a few seconds before tossing it at Nero.
Nero caught it perfectly. He looked at the bottle in curiosity, 'What the fuck is this?'
'Nice catch!' Dante cheered as he reached for another bottle. 'It's strawberry milk.'
Nero opened it and sniffed it. He didn't take offense to the smell so he took a small sip. His eyes lit up in surprise. 'It's good,' he murmured in awe.
Dante grinned, 'It's good right? Love that stuff.'
'I know,' Nero said softly. He then raised his voice, 'the bottles next to you gave that away!'
'It did,' Dante agreed, 'you should eat the pancakes. You're not you when you're hungry.'
Nero looked at him unimpressed, 'Did you just quote a commercial at me.'
'I did. It's a good line.' There was an opened bottle in Dante's hand. That he hadn't drank from yet. Weird.
'The pancakes won't work,' Nero said quietly, 'and the pizza won't either. Dante.' He sighed. A deep, bone-weary sigh. Dante looked at him. Really looked at him. Nero was paler than usual, had a sickly tint to him. He had bags under his eyes and his hair was a mess. His shoulders were shaking. But even with all that. He still looked… Pretty nice.
Dante put down the bottle and got out of his seat. Nero jumped. Dante walked to him with a raised his hand. Nero stared at it then nodded, Dante put his hand Nero's shoulder and squeezed. Nero. Relaxed. Dante led him to the couch but Nero didn’t sit down.
'Nero,' Dante said softly, 'sit down'. Nero looked at him in confusion so Dante pushed him down. He bent his knees without protest, slumping when he was on the chair. 'Tell me what happened.'
Nero opened and closed his mouth several times before he licked his lips and swallowed. The swallow looked painful. Like he was swallowing a tiny ball. 'I'm hungry. All the time. Even when I eat. Even when I feel full, I don't feel full. I feel full and hungry at the same time!' He took a sip of the strawberry milk. 'I was like this then too. But I. But it. It wasn't as bad? It feels worse now. I don't know why.'
Dante rubbed his chin in thought, 'You said that you've had this hunger before huh? Maybe your new trigger made you feel it more strongly?'
'Could be,' Nero said quietly, 'what does this mean?'
Dante sat next to him, 'It means that your demon side is hungry. Maybe even starving.'
'I know that!' Nero snapped. 'How do I fix it?!'
Dante sighed, he didn't want to tell Nero but not telling Nero could make it worse. Oh, how his mind had changed. 'You eat,' he answered simply.
Nero jumped to his feet with a snarl, 'Eat what, you dumb fuck?!'
'Whatever it is that make you full,' Dante said firmly.
Nero shoulders sagged, 'And what? Eat humans?'
Dante raised an eyebrow, 'Is that what Fortuna told you?'
Nero scowled and looked away. 'Yes.'
'It's right but also wrong,' Dante curled a hand around Nero's elbow to tug him down. Nero sat back down without a word. 'Some demons eat humans but some demons eat other demons.'
'That makes sense. Why didn't I think about that?' Nero muttered.
Dante squeezed his elbow, 'Thinking that demons only ate humans isn't a bad assumption. The demons we've faced prove it true enough. The thing we have to figure out now is whether you eat human or demon. And after that we have figure that out, we have to figure out which part you eat.'
Nero stared down at the bottle of strawberry milk between his hands, 'What the fuck do you mean by "which part."'
'Some demons can only eat a specific part of their-' Dante thought of the proper word, 'prey.' Nero frowned in confusion. 'Like bears who only eat salmon eggs but not the whole salmon,' Dante clarified. He hoped the kid got the analogy.
'I don't want to know,' Nero said quietly, 'I don't want to fucking know if I can eat human or demon. I don't want to fucking know which fucking part I can fucking eat.'
Dante put down his bottle by his feet to put both of his hands on Nero’s shoulder, 'Listen to me. I get it. The not wanting to know thing? I've been there. It sucks.' Dante sighed, he didn't want to say it, he really didn’t but it needed to be said, 'But you have to know, Nero. You have to. You've hold off this long and that's great but eventually.‘
'I'll lose control,' Nero said softly.
'Yeah.' Dante smirked, 'Want to kick your ass for fun, Nero. Not for real.'
Nero snorted, 'Dream on, old man. Like I'd lose to you.'
'You did.' Dante said cheerfully.
'Yeah, once! And that didn't count!' Nero growled.
Dante's smirk widened, 'Looks like somebody's a sore loser!' He laughed when Nero sputtered. Dante quieted, he squeezed Nero's shoulders again, 'I know this sucks but you'll get through it.'
'Will I?' Nero muttered.
'You will,' Dante assured him, 'I'll get you through it.'
Nero looked at him unimpressed, 'Oh shut the fuck up.'
Dante laughed, reached for his bottle of strawberry milk and clinked it against Nero’s bottle. 'Bottoms up,' He said cheerfully.
'Bottoms up,' Nero echoed. And together, they chugged down strawberry milk.
Dante set the bottle back down by his feet, 'I think these are the last ones.'
'Of course you'd only give me one, you stingy fucker,' Nero muttered darkly.
'No.' Dante said firmly, 'I mean those are the last ones and I don't have any more.' Dante stood up, 'don't go. I'll go check.' He went to check the fridge by the desk but there were no strawberry milk there, he went to check the kitchen fridge. Aha! There were some strawberry milk left! When Dante returned to the office, to his surprise, Nero was still at the couch. 'You're still here.'
Nero shrugged, 'You told me not to go so I didn't.' He scowled, 'Are you just gonna stand there the whole time? Gimme some damn strawberry milk.'
Dante laughed. He set the bottles on the floor, handed Nero one and together, they spent the rest of the night drinking strawberry milk.