Chapter Text
Shit. This is a problem.
This mission has not been going as planned. It had been, up until exactly it hadn’t. What should have been your classic, easy-peasy, clear out some demons and be back to the van by dinnertime mission, had now gone very sideways very quickly. Nero had been tasked with clearing out the majority of the troublemakers, with V acting as support on the sides, covering any demons who managed to sneak by. What neither of them had noticed, however, was the massive nest of Empusa that were infesting an abandoned building in their immediate vicinity. The sounds of which, when deciding to unleash themselves upon the unknowing pair of devil hunters, had of course summoned stronger and deadlier demons to their area. The wave of them pouring out of the building and the new enemies joining the fray had caused the two to be separated quickly thereafter.
Nero knows he can handle himself, he’d worked alone plenty back in Fortuna. He knows V is no slouch either, but he had seen just too large a group of demons get swept towards V’s location for his comfort. Nero knows he needs to focus on his own demon horde first though; he can’t help V if he’s roadkill.
Nero directs his gaze back to the enemies around him. Time to take out the trash. Pushing Red Queen to the max, Nero clears the space around him, leaving nothing but blood and guts in his wake. Once certain that he’s ground every last enemy to a pulp, he quickly begins heading towards V’s last known location, or more accurately, where he had last heard that damn squawking bird. A bird who wasn’t squawking any more. Concern crosses his face at that thought, beginning to feel a little frantic in his search. As he rounds the corner of what has to be his destination, he’s greeted by a familiar scene of blood and guts and thankfully no demons, but troublingly, no V either. As he steps further into the disaster area, he also discovers a stalemated Griffon and Shadow, which meant V was somewhere else, vulnerable.
Dread kicks in right away. "V? V, where are you? Can you hear me?"
A cough responds from somewhere nearby. "Over… here."
Dashing over immediately to the location of the voice, he finds V tucked away from notice between a pile of rubble and a broken wall. Good to see V’s self-preservation instincts kicked in while he was waiting for his familiars to return from their stalemate. But there’s blood on him. A lot of blood. God, there is a lot of V’s blood.
Nero crouches down. "V, what the hell happened? Why is there so much blood? Why is there so much of your blood?" Nero tries his best not to panic, but he’s pretty sure he’s not doing a very good job of it at the moment.
V’s breathing is heavy and labored, moving as little as possible, keeping his head hung low as he responds. "It seems that there were precisely one too many enemies for me to handle with my usual finesse. I’ll be fine."
Nero scoffs. "Fine? This isn’t fine," gesturing to the mess V is currently sitting in, "this is a lot of blood to lose in one fight."
"You needn’t worry so much. I just need some rest once we get back to the van." V didn’t sound too sure of himself, but he didn’t seem as concerned with his well-being as he ought to be. Cynical little bastard, leaving me to do all the worrying.
"Even with Nico’s driving, you’ll bleed out before she can arrive to get you proper first aid."
"Well, what do you propose we do then? It’s not as though we have a multitude of other options available right now."
V was right and Nero knows it. They are out of options. Out of good options, sane options. And for better or worse, Nero was remembering one insane option that was available to them…
Nero grimaces. "Well, there is one thing... a choice... that you have."
"And that would be?"
"You could… drink my blood." He looks away from V, preparing himself for the type of response he’s certain he’s about to receive.
V picks his head up for the first time in their conversation, leaning against his cane for aid. "Pardon? Did I hear that correctly? Are you-"
"Crazy? Yeah no, I know, and I’m not," Nero looks back at V, slightly agitated, "I read it in some of those Order docs I obtained back with Nico. The research said something about demon blood having ‘extraordinary healing properties’."
"I suppose that checks out. You do exhibit accelerated healing properties during battles. One could therefore conclude that imbibing such blood for oneself would also bestow those properties onto the drinker." Despite sounding out his own reasoning, V still looks at Nero in disbelief, not entirely convinced. "How can you be certain this will even work?"
"Well, if it works, then you get to live. If it doesn’t, then we’re no worse than where we started and we hope for the best waiting it out for Nico. Besides, Dante said he’s done it before."
V raises an eyebrow at that last part. "Dante. Dante told you this? This is who you’ll have corroborate this information?" V says incredulously.
Nero grows weary with V’s incessant doubting and stalling. "Don’t look at me like that, I know! But he said he’s done it before in similarly dire situations, and this situation seems pretty dire to me."
"Maybe I should take my chances waiting for the van…"
Nero rolls his eyes. "Oh, don’t act like this isn’t weird for me too. Because it is. Incredibly so. But I’m willing to do it to keep your skinny ass alive. C’mon, don’t make this any more awkward than it needs to be." Nero has reached his threshold of patience with V, not typically a high bar to begin with, but less so given V’s critical condition. "It’s like you said. We’re out of time and you’re out of options, so this is all we got. Could you please just… cooperate for once?" Nero stands over V impatiently.
V tilts his head and smirks, "All right, I’ll bite."
Nero rolls his eyes yet again. "Har har, you know, you’re pretty hilarious for someone who’s got one foot in the grave." The nerve of him to behave like this when he knows how bad of a spot he’s in.
Nero kneels down, now level with V. He brings his wrist up to his mouth and takes a sharp bite, crimson blood rushing to the surface. He leans in closer to V to allow him access to the freshly marred appendage.
"Listen, you probably only need a little bit, just enough to sustain you until Nico gets here with the van. So don’t push yourself, okay?" Nero looks at V, face full of concern and perhaps a bit of fear. It’s not as if he’s ever done this before. He’s not even sure how exactly he’s supposed to go about doing this. Hell, he’s starting to have his own doubts about whether or not this will work, anxiety getting the better of him in the moment. But he also doesn’t want to think about the possibility of returning from this mission without V.
Reaching out gingerly for Nero’s wrist, V hesitates briefly before pulling it to his lips. Nero’s blood is warm, and V drinks it up like a man who’s finally found an oasis in a desert. Nero looks away. Something about this feels weirdly stifling to him, as he begins to feel his face flush, his body suddenly warm. The way V’s lips are on his wrist, the way he can feel V’s tongue lapping at his blood does funny things to his head, thinking of other places he’d rather those lips and tongue be, and he doesn't want to dwell on that thought. Now’s not the time or the place for having his mind swimming around in the gutter. After what seems like endless minutes to Nero, V removes himself from his wrist. He looks back at V, but when the sight of V’s blood-stained lips makes his thoughts go filthy again, he internally curses up a storm at himself.
"Well? Do you… do you feel any better?" Nero searches over V’s face with extreme worry, forehead heavily creased with unease, expecting V to still keel over at any given moment.
"I do, in fact, feel much better already Nero. Against all odds." V slowly and carefully stands up from the rubble, supported by his cane, beginning to brush himself off. Nero takes a breath in relief for what feels like the first time since the two had been separated.
"Great! Great, great, good. Okay, let’s go find a payphone, call Nico and get the hell out of here." Nero is more than ready to leave this place, and the weird feelings it stirred up, far, far behind him.
-
When the group reaches the van, they are greeted with an equal amount of first aid and verbal thrashing. "Why the hell are you two so god damn drenched in demon blood? What, didya go skinny dippin’ in some demon guts? You’re really gonna stink up the whole damn van." Regardless of Nico’s comments, both Nero and V are glad to be back in the safety and moderate comfort of the van, heading back to their base to get cleaned up, get some food back in their systems, and regain whatever sense of humanity one can these days.
While Nero occupies himself by continuing his bickering with Nico at the front, V sits in the back and considers the recent events. Against all odds, Nero’s last-ditch effort had actually worked, truly bizarre as it was. And while he was feeling significantly less dead than he had been after laying in a pool of his own blood, he was feeling very good. Strangely good. Too good. Warm, but powerful, like he could take on 100 demons without barely lifting a finger. Despite the slightly gauzy feeling that was draped over everything. V tries rationalizing the thought as typical for how one may feel after coming back from the brink of death. This explanation doesn’t fully satisfy him though. Could it be more particular, could something pertaining to the inherent characteristics of Nero’s blood be at play here? Maybe this feeling he was experiencing could explain why Nero always appears to have such a seemingly endless abundance of energy and sass.
V is brought out of his thoughts when the group arrives at their destination, their temporary base of operations. As they exit the van, Nico lingers outside with a cigarette, while Nero addresses him, concern still clearly etched across his face.
"Hey uh, are you sure you’re okay? I mean, I’m glad that our plan worked, but you really had me worried back there."
V places a hand on Nero’s shoulder. "I assure you, I am well on the road to recovery, and it’s all thanks to your unbelievable plan, Nero."
Nero visibility relaxes and lets out a short laugh. "Well, let’s not ever have to do that again, okay?"
V gives a brief smile in return. "Agreed, being so close to death isn’t exactly an ideal way to spend the day. Now if you don’t mind, while I no longer feel like death, I do still look and smell of it. I’m going to go claim the shower first, if that’s all well and good with you."
"Oh yeah, yeah, of course! Please, please do." Nero still appears nervous, but is thankfully treating V a little less like he’s made out of glass. A little. V is relieved about that at least, as something about Nero’s constant watching over him makes him feel slightly overwhelmed, to say the least. Nero certainly did not realize it, but V had him caught out of the corner of his eye frequently checking on V from the rear-view mirror. Not as if this was the first time he’d caught Nero staring, the boy was particularly bad at keeping his feelings a little too close to the surface when it came to interactions between the two of them. While V appreciates Nero’s concern, it also made him feel a little too warm all the same. Definitely a cold shower, V thinks.
As V runs water for the shower and undresses, or rather, peels off his blood soaked clothes, Griffon decides that it’s too quiet.
"Well, princess, good thing your knight in shining armor was around to save you, huh? Thought we were all goners back there."
V sighs, stepping into the cool spray of water and beginning to work the dried blood out of his hair. "While I do not appreciate your constant barrage of pet names, I must agree. If not for Nero, or Nero’s blood, to be more precise, I’m not entirely sure how long we would have held out on our own."
"Just do me a favor, though? Next time, let’s keep the blood on the inside, where it belongs. Wouldn’t wanna have to suck him dry now, would we? Or maybe you do? Hahahaha."
V scowls. "Be quiet you, haven’t we dealt with enough for one day?"
"Whatever you say, sweetheart. You may try to lie to me about what happened today, but you can’t lie to yourself."
He knows Griffin is right, begrudgingly so. There was some base carnal pleasure that he had experienced when partaking Nero's blood. His blood had been so warm, the taste of it on his tongue not only healing his wounds and bringing back his strength, but he hadn’t wanted to stop drinking. He wanted more, he craved more. Something called to him when Nero’s blood entered his system.
Continuing along this line of thought, he’s also aware this is also not the first time that Griffon has teased him on the topic of V’s affections for Nero. After the large amount of time he has spent with him, V more and more frequently finds his idle thoughts straying to the young devil hunter. Straying, wandering, but never lingering, never overstaying their welcome. There were more important tasks at hand that he needed to focus on, and so those deviant thoughts were relegated to fleeting moments, tucked away in the corners of V’s mind. But as he stood under the spray of the shower, hoping for a well-needed distraction, he could not help but have them dragged from their corners, strewn about for all to see. There had been a profound intimacy in the act that had passed between them, had there not? To have pressed his lips against Nero’s bare flesh, to drink of his blood, blood so willingly given, it was the most private and raw act the two men had ever shared in all their time together.
And now V couldn’t get his mind off of it. He had hoped the cold water would calm him down, but as he wraps his arms around himself, he still feels too warm and too acutely aware of every inch of his skin. Was it possible the pain and fatigue of the day had caught up with him? Had Nero’s blood worked its way out of his system, only to leave him weakened once again? No, V assures himself that it was just his usual fatalistic nature getting the better of him. He attempts to refocus his thoughts on getting clean, washing himself of the day’s events, both literally and figuratively, and not on how he remembers how he could practically feel Nero’s quickened pulse through his radial artery earlier.
Once V finishes his with shower, he is more than ready to get some well-deserved rest, weary in both mind and body. He passes Nero on the way to his room and informs him that the shower is free.
Nero smiles in response. "Thanks, I forgot what it feels like to not look like I walked out of some gore flick."
V gives a short laugh in response. "Do take care then Nero, and rest well."
Nero averts his gaze, blushing slightly from V’s response, "Y-yeah, you too, V. You need it most of all."
"Goodnight, Nero."
-
V wakes and is unfamiliar with the location he’s now found himself in. "Where is… what’s going on?"
As he sits up from his place in bed, he attempts to take in his surroundings. While the room seems similar enough to the shambly one he fell asleep in, the room is tidier, everything appears more well kept, with candles tastefully decorating the room and a sweet smell wafting in the air.
"How did I-"
Suddenly at the doorway, Nero appears. "Oh, V, thank goodness you’re awake."
"Nero?" V tries to shake the lingering cloud of sleep from his head. "What are you doing here? What’s going on?" As V struggles to make sense of the circumstances, he suddenly feels rather exposed in Nero’s presence; while he has a light tank and shorts on, Nero is in nothing but his boxers. Not quite their usual attire.
Usually shying away from such a thing, Nero sits uncharacteristically close to V, taking a seat on the bed next to him, clearly unbothered by the lack of clothing. "You’ve been sleeping for so long, I was really starting to worry that your recovery wasn’t going as well as we’d hoped... I’m so relieved to see that you’re alright though." Nero places a hand over V’s and looks at him with a soft expression he’s never seen on his face before. V’s heart rate quickens at the touch. Is he reading the situation correctly?
"While I’m flattered that you’re so deeply concerned for me, there’s really no need for all this coddling. And this still offers no explanation of what’s going on here." V looks from where their hands are joined, too warm way too warm, to Nero’s face once more.
Nero stands up from the bed slowly and takes a step away. "I… I realized something today. No matter how many demons we destroy, the possibility that we’re always one wrong step away from disaster is very real. When I turned that corner and there you were, and there was so much blood… I faced that possibility. I thought you’d gone past where I could reach you."
V feels utterly overwhelmed by Nero’s words. Why was such a kindness being shown towards him? It was too much. This conversation didn’t make any sense.
"But I am here and you saved me, I’ve haven’t gone anywhere. So let us not dwell on such thoughts any longer."
Nero spins around and makes his way back to V, earnestly grabbing both of V’s hands in his. "But that’s exactly my point, V. You survived, we survived and I’m not going to take this opportunity for granted." Nero is so close to V, too close, too much in his space, close enough that Nero could probably feel the heat radiating off of his. He desperately hopes that he can’t.
V looks at Nero, still incredibly confused and addresses him again. "I still don’t understand."
Nero looks deep into V’s eyes, and runs a hand down the side of V’s face, cupping his cheek forcing his attention to focus on Nero and only Nero. "V, I’m not letting another minute go by without you knowing how I feel about you."
Without warning, Nero leans in and presses his lips against V’s. At that, the floodgates of emotion that V had been holding back burst open. V allows himself to fall into the kiss, relaxing his tense body, and enjoying the feel of Nero’s warm lips against his. He brings his hand up to the back of Nero’s neck, encouraging him to get closer, to keep kissing, to keep making him feel.
"Nero," V says breathlessly, "I had no idea this is how you really felt." That you felt the same affection for me as I do for you.
Nero presses his forehead to V’s. "It nearly broke me, when I thought you wouldn’t survive. But now that we’re here, I’m going to make sure you always know how I feel about you. Starting right now." Oozing with confidence, Nero smirks as he slides into V’s lap and gently eases him back and down into the sheets.
V lets out a shaky breath. This is happening, oh god… this is happening.
Nero, ever concerned for V’s well being, takes notice of V’s heightened nerves and gently brushes V’s hair from his face. "V… I got you. Let me take care of you. Please."
V reaches up to touch Nero’s cheek. He looks into Nero’s eyes; so blue, so earnest, so full of tenderness.
"I trust you Nero."
With that permission, Nero dips down for another kiss, a little more forceful than before. V is ready this time and eagerly accepts it. He places his hand carefully around the back of Nero’s neck, rubbing at the short hair there and reveling in the touches shared between them. Nero, ignited by V’s returned affections, opens his mouth and brushes his tongue against V’s plush lips. V feels as if his whole body is on fire, and willingly lets Nero explore the inside of his mouth. V moans openly into Nero’s mouth, to which Nero responds by grinding his hips down against V. V’s body responds automatically, lifting his hips to match Nero, desperate to feel that friction once more.
"N-nero," V gasps, "I…"
"V I need you so bad."
V’s stomach rises into his chest. He’s never seen Nero be so straight-forward before, always covering up his true feelings with a smirk and a joke, but he certainly was enjoying this new unrestrained side of him now.
"Nero, please." V practically breathes the words into Nero’s lungs, no sooner letting the words leave his mouth than Nero’s hand is at the hem of V’s shirt pulling it off of his body. Nero stares and V’s face becomes flush.
"What are you… what is it?"
Nero lightly presses his fingertips to V’s chest and traces over a trail of the tattoos that adorn V’s torso.
"You’re… you’re just gorgeous."
V takes a sharp breath in and feels yet another wave of emotions break that he didn’t think was possible.
"Nero…"
Nero buries his face in V’s neck, breathing him in, tasting the skin there. He pins down one of V’s arms with one arm, while the other slowly begins making its way down the expanse of V’s torso, his stomach.
"I’m going to take very good care of you."
Nero’s hand dips below V’s waistband and begins to stroke him softly. V gasps, surprised by the sounds that Nero is pulling out of him. Nero’s hand is warm, bringing V to fullness with such ease that it’s almost embarrassing. His hips thrust up into the touch, yearning for more, already feeling drunk on how focused Nero has been on every inch of his body. Nero licks a searing heat onto V’s neck before nipping at the sensitive skin there. V turns his face away in an attempt to bury it into the mattress, equal parts surprised and elated with how boldly Nero is behaving and the road this is leading them down.
V runs his free hand down Nero’s muscular chest. All those thoughts that used to linger, thoughts that needed to be pushed away, were now allowed to be brought to the surface and set free. V wasn’t going to let this opportunity slip past him, he was going to fully indulge himself now. He brings his hand down further, brushing his knuckles against the outside of Nero’s boxers, rubbing them gently up and down Nero’s erection. Nero takes a sharp breath in.
"Nero, I want more. Please." V knows how laced with need his voice must sound to Nero.
Nero gladly obliges, pulling off his boxers first, then V’s. V rakes his eyes over Nero’s body. He couldn’t deny that he had ever considered what sort of equipment Nero was packing, but the sight before him was certainly exceeding his expectations. Nero takes both himself and V in hand, stroking them together in unison. V’s body arches up into the touch, responding so naturally to Nero’s ministrations, further searching for any means of pleasure it could receive. He moans as sparks of pleasure ignite across every part of his body, as if they were meant to be like this.
"I don’t think- Nero, I’m-" V barely manages to form a coherent sentence, distracted by the need building up inside of him.
Nero leans closer, whispering into V’s ear. "That’s right, I got you. Come for me, V. Let me do this for you." Nero quickens his pace, stroking them faster and firmer.
Vocalizing his pleasure, louder now, V grasps at Nero’s body for purchase.
"Nero… Nero!"
V wakes up with a start completely drenched in sweat, dick strained against his boxers, damp with precum. His brain quickly catches up with the situation he’s now awoken to and...
"Oh… oh no."
Maybe there were some side effects from today after all.
V absolutely needs to have a talk with Nero.