You Know Me Through The Years

Rainstorm

The rain was coming down hard when Dante's eyes opened. It must have been seven in the morning, but the sky was dark, and thunder was booming outside. He had Roe wrapped up in his arms as usual. Her warm body pressed up against his felt so good in the mornings, but it was even better on the rainy days.

He felt lazy on this saturday morning. All he really wanted to do was sleep all day. However, he had two mischievous little girls to entertain for the rest of the day. At some point, he figured he was going to have to take care of a few things around the house. Roe had a to-do list for him, which was slowly growing in length as more things kept breaking. He was not a jack of all trades, but he was close enough.

For now, he was going to enjoy the moment. That was until there was banging on the front door of the house. He groaned as he felt his wife stir.

"Who is banging on the door?" Roe mumbled out as Dante carefully slid out of bed to put some clothes on.

"Don't know." He was pulling a black t-shirt over his head as he moved to the bedroom door. "Probably one of the neighbors." He really hoped it was not the lady that just moved in across the street.

Clad in cotton pajama bottoms and a t-shirt, he left his room and walked down the stairs to the front door. Running a hand through his hair, he sighed as the knocking got louder. He was expecting the uptight woman who constantly complained about them to the police, but when he opened the door, he was shocked to see his nephew standing there.

"Nero? What are you doing here?" The younger man did not answer. He only had a down trodden look on his face. Almost like he had seen someone kick a puppy.

"I uh... I need... " Dante nodded and stepped aside to let Nero in. He was unarmed and soaking wet. Almost like he had walked all the way from Devil May Cry in the rain.

"You want a towel or something?" Dante was slightly concerned at how quiet Nero was. He had a few ideas about what had brought the kid all the way here, but he was not going to assume just yet.

"Yeah, sure." Nero replied as he stood in the foyer. The last time Dante had seen the kicked puppy look from Nero was when he begged to keep Yamato. It always had to do with Kyrie.

Dante returned with a towel after a couple of minutes and threw it at the young man. He watched his nephew try to dry himself off and shake out whatever invisible chills he had. Nero had been staying at Devil May Cry for a couple days in between jobs, so it made sense that he came over. Matter of fact, Dante figured something was up when the kid had said he was going to be in the area.

A couple months ago, there had been some problems with Kyrie. Dante did not know the particulars, but Roe was worried about the young woman. It also did not help that Vergil was acting like a stray cat that only came out of his apartment for food and wine. Something was up.

"Ya want some coffee or something?" Dante motioned to the kitchen where they could sit an talk. No one was up besides him, and it was also Saturday. The girls were likely to sleep until at least nine.

"Not really." That melancholic tone Nero had was about to drive Dante crazy.

Nero sat on a stool at the island as Dante made himself a cup of black coffee. He liked it bitter and strong. There was a time when he poured whiskey in his coffee too, but those days were long gone. He needed the bitter taste to wake him up. Not to mention, the caffeine addiction he had developed over the years had really taken its toll on him when he was in the Underworld.

"So, you going to tell me what's going on or do I have to guess?" Dante turned to face his nephew and leaned against the counter to his back. The coffee mug in his hand said 'world's best at causing trouble' in big red letters. Mara had gotten him that for his birthday one year.