Unravel. 2023 (Nero x male OC)

2.

It's already dark as Nico drives the van into the garage of Kyrie's and Nero's orphanage. Kyrie must have heard them as she is already opening the door to the garage.
She greets the group with a warm smile.
"Back so soon", She asks jokingly as she hugs Nero. "Yes. I hope you don't mind, but we brought a guest", Nero says as Trish and Lady carry the man outside of the van. "Oh my", Kyrie says as she sees the man. "He's hurt. Can you do something?" Kyrie nods at Nero's question. "Lay him down. I'll get something to disinfect the wound."
While Nero helps Lady and Trish lay the stranger down on the messy garage couch Kyrie gathers a few medical supplies.

Now that she can inspect the wound further she smiles gently. "He's going to be alright. It's just a scratch." All of them let out a sigh of relief.
"He needs to rest. I'll bandage the wound and after that we should leave him. He must have been through a lot if you found him in Red Grave."
Nero crosses his arms in front of his chest as he watches Kyrie. How gently she cleans the blood off his face. He always knew he was a lucky guy.

Later that evening they all gather for a small but warm meal in the kitchen. They laugh and talk about old times, how Dante used to be in his younger ages, how the original "Devil May Cry" group met.

After helping Kyrie clean the dishes they all go to bed, knowing that they'll have to return to Red Grave for more answers. To be honest, they only gathered questions today.

Nero's sleep is peaceful, it was always peaceful these last few weeks, snoring a bit from his stuffy nose. Suddenly a loud noise wakes him. He's wide awake while Kyrie turns around next to him. Not wanting to wake her he sets out to find the source of the sound. He steps out into the hall and listens for more noise. There, another clashing sound. It's coming from the garage. The garage where they left the stranger in.

Without his weapons Nero will only be able to protect himself with his demonic powers. It's a risk he'll have to take.
He kicks open the door, clearly shocking the figure in the dark. It falls to the ground and crawls away, further into the darkness. "Show yourself", Nero yells as he turns on the lights.
He hears a groan and suddenly sees a pair of hands poking out behind the couch. "I surrender", A deep voice says, deeper than some Nero has heard before. The figure reveals itself and steps out from behind the couch. "You're awake", Nero says, almost happy that he didn't find another corpse.
"Where am I", The man growls, his black hair messily hanging in his face. "I'm Nero. You're safe. We're a few hours away from Red Grave City, where we found you."
The man takes a look around the garage and turns back to Nero. "Jason."
"What?"
"My name's Jason." The tension in his body disappears. "How did you end up in Red Grave", Nero asks as he comes closer to Jason.
"I was looking for someone", Jason says as he falls onto the couch. "Looking for who?"
"His name is None." Nero furrows his brows in confusion. "None?"
"None of your business." Nero rolls his eyes.
"Fine. Sorry for asking. It's just me and my crew were sent out there to take care of a new demon problem. We were hoping you'd have some answers."

Nero grabs a chair and sits across from Jason. "Demon problem? So that son of a bitch did it."
Nero cocks his head to the side. "Fine. Since you've been honest with me I'll tell you."
Jason takes a deep breath. "I'm actually surprised you haven't heard already. An angel went totally bonkers and went on a rampage. He swore revenge on the world. Never said how."
"Angels", Nero asks in disbelief.

He'd only ever hear stories but he has never seen one. He was sure they didn't exist until now.

"Yeah. He used to be quite a charmer." Nero still isn't sure what to make of this story. "Unfortunately for me, he left me alive. Made me a Fallen Angel."
"Fallen Angel", Nero asks. "Yeah. An angel with no wings. That fucker took them as a "sign of mercy"", Jason quotes.
Nero proceeds to rub his eyes. "Do you have any idea what time it is", He asks. "Yeah, so? You kidnapped me."
"Fair enough. Get some rest", Nero starts as he gets up from the couch. "We'll talk later when the others are awake. I'm not the only person interested in your story."

Jason rolls his eyes and sinks deeper into the soft cushion of the couch. He's clearly tired as well but the confusion of his whereabouts made him wide awake.

Nero wants to leave the garage but stops just as he grabs the doorknob.
"Are you cold", He proceeds to ask. "What?"
"Are you cold? Do you need a blanket?" Jason doesn't answer which annoys Nero. He quickly walks into the living room and grabs one of the many blankets lying there.
Not to further disturb the stranger in his garage he places it on the ground next to the door.
Then Nero leaves and goes back to sleep, his mind still filled with many questions.

2nd September, 10 AM

Trish, Lady, Nico and Nero have gathered in the garage to listen to Jason's story.
He talks about an angel named Lapis and how he suddenly turned into a monster and destroyed his town. The only reason Jason survived is because he and Lapis used to be friends. He's been looking for him ever since. His journey lead him to Red Grave City where he was attacked by demons, something he believes to be Lapis' doing. "And then you found me", He ends his story.
"So you're saying an angel is causing all of this trouble", Trish asks while crossing her arms in front of her chest, clearly skeptical about Jason's story. Jason lets out a deep sigh.
"Lapis kept talking about some potion of knowledge. Aside from being the healer in our town he always tried to find ways to broaden his horizons. He needed to know everything about the world around him, even the underworld. It ultimately became his doom."

Nero and Jason meet eyes. He can see that Jason is clearly troubled but there is nothing he can do.
"Did you find anything during your investigation", Lady asks and Jason nods. "That asshole managed to open the portal to the underworld. He must have heard of Red Grave and gone there, where he opened the portal again."
All of their eyes widen. "How", Trish asks.
"Don't know. Guess the first portal left an opening for him to use." Nero curses under his breath.
Were Dante's and Vergil's efforts really for nothing.
"Was this some kind of plan? Did Lapis mention anything to you", Nero asks but to no avail.
"He never talked about any of his research. Not even his housekeeper knew what he was up to."

Everyone becomes silent, only Trish decides to say something. "The only thing we can do now is find out what Lapis is up to." She then removes herself from the conversation and leaves the garage. Lady quickly follows after her, knowing that Trish is not happy at all.
"I'm going to check up on Kyrie and the kids", Nico suggests and also leaves the garage, only leaving Nero and Jason by themselves.
An awkward silence fills the room as both avoid eye contact.

All of this is a lot to take in. Red Grave was just attacked and someone just comes in and rips it all apart again.

"I'm sorry", Jason suddenly mumbles, catching Nero's attention. "Why are you apologizing?"
"If I knew what was going on I could have stopped him. I could have-"
"Hey", Nero sits down next to Jason.
"The most important thing I learned is that not everything is your fault. You didn't know what Lapis was up to because he never told you. You couldn't have stopped him. You have to focus on what comes next." Jason finally looks up at Nero.
Nero's eyes widen at Jason's face. Now that he's awake his odd charisma makes him even more handsome. That bright ocean blue eye has seen enough.
The other eye is tucked away under a white bandage that Kyrie tied around his head.

"I guess you're right", Jason says and quickly looks away. "You hungry", Nero asks to loosen the tension. "Kyrie prepared some food for us." Nero gets up from the couch and looks down at Jason. Looking for any sign of relief. Suddenly Jason gets up from the couch as well and follows after Nero into the kitchen.

There they find the others and Kyrie.
"Oh, you're awake", She notices with a bright grin.
"How rude, my name is-"
"Kyrie, I know", Jason interrupts. He could never stand bubbly and overly kind personalities. They're too much.

Kyrie is a bit confused by his reaction but decides to ignore it. "Breakfast is ready! Everyone sit down."