☠ 01 : Something to Take the Edge Off

[_devil_inside]

Who: _devil_inside and somarium
Where: Random bar in the Residential District
Style: Prose preferred
Status: Open like a whore's boudoir.

Comments

[_devil_inside]

"I thought so."

This more than the other was preferred as his choice of music style; Dante held very dear the hard rock bands of the eighties. Anything with a hard drum set was divine in his ears. Made for an awesome sparring or workout backdrop, too. And danced in his head while he was working, drowning out the screams of the dying and the shrieks of his own otherworldly blood.

But how long had it been since he'd enjoyed a dance with a relative stranger? Decades, probably. He didn't really cavort with humanity anymore; there was only so much heartache a man could stomach over the years. The last of his caliber, the last of his cadre; hell, he was basically the last left alive in his line of work. Oh, there were new hotshots coming up all the time, but few made it past their first hunt. Demons weren't known as the forgiving types, after all.

But here, Dante had no expectations; he wasn't looking for anything, be it sinister or not. Just a bit of company, and a dance from a pretty lady. He was a firm believer in "letting the chips fall where they would"; if one had no expectations, then disappointments were few. Besides, this Elena was cute when she blushed.

"I think I could handle it, doll," he chuckled, sweeping them in a swift step across the floor and settling back into that slow nonchalant shuffle. "I'm tougher than I look."

[lastyears_model]

The lady's own music choice was typically something more soft, but that could have been because most of the time she subjected herself to music, she was either trying to sleep or trying to bring herself up from a mood from having to deal with something unpleasant. "Hard" selections weren't really her thing, although there would never really be a complaint from her for any musical choice. She was an adaptive girl, after all.

In Somarium, she longed for her old music player. Sleep barely came and when it did, she startled awake from nightmares. It would have been nice to have the soft tunes as a sleep aid, but there wasn't all that much she could do, so it goes, as they say. For the moment though, she found comfort in the arms of a stranger in the form of a dance she'd never gotten to be a part of in so many years passed. It was an interesting feeling to relax with someone that she didn't even know.

"You? Tough?" She couldn't help the playful smirk that tugged her lips. The joke was more than obvious. "Certainly don't look it at all."

[_devil_inside]

The old man behind the bar surreptitiously shuffled out from behind the counter and reset the same song on the ancient jukebox, the guitar starting up again. Dante never paused in his movements, not quite ready to relinquish the gentle comfort of another's company just yet.

He grinned back to her remark, shrugging the shoulder upon which her hand rested. "Appearances can be deceiving, though, Miss Elena," he playfully warned, directing her into a slow turn before once again threading his arm around her waist. "Can't always trust what your senses tell ya."

[lastyears_model]

"Maybe so," she nodded. Elena had to agree, certain things definitely hadn't turned out to be what she thought they were based on her senses before, but still. She smiled to him somewhat playfully herself. "But you can't just ignore them, either. Better to trust your senses than go off of nothing at all."

The blond did have to wonder what part of her senses she was trusting in the moment here and now, though. She didn't know the light colored hair man and yet here she was in his arms, she hadn't even really given it all that much of a second thought when he asked her to join him there in the first place. He didn't seem like someone to be worried about, though most men were something to beware of, especially those met within a bar. She shrugged to herself, though.

So far, so good - apart from the sword, he seemed relatively normal. And besides, he was actually good for conversation, something that she seemed to be lacking when it came to other men in her life, as it were.

"So, Dante," she began, keeping her footing up with his as the song went through it's second play, "if I'm being deceived by your appearances, keep up with the delusions for me, mm? It's nice to be able to enjoy myself with someone for a change rather than constantly be in arguments."

[_devil_inside]

True mirth escaped; Dante laughed softly. "Not a problem at all, Miss Elena. I do aim to please, after all." And there might have been an extra little glint in blue eyes at the latter statement, just a little more teasing lilt to his easy, charming smile. No stranger to women, no, not at all, but not a ravening lecher, either.

Dante respected the female race for what it was; chock-full of lovely, intelligent ladies who more or less kept the world running. His own mother had been known to hunt her share of demons, after all. And her son had nothing but respect for the fairer sex of the species. A shame the rest of the population couldn't say the same.

"I gotta say, though," he remarked after a bit, "I wasn't expectin' such pleasant company tonight." A flicked gaze to the bottle still sitting on the bar. "Just me, a bottle and bad memories." He smiled and tipped his head down a bit, touching his forehead to hers for a brief moment. "Nice to be pleasantly surprised, for a change."

[lastyears_model]

"You seem to be doing well enough on that front for the time being, I'm enjoying myself, at least." She couldn't help but smile in gratitude, even if it had been a facade which she was certain it wasn't, it would have been best for the silver haired man to just continue pretending with her anyway. Being deceived by a charming man for a night of dancing in a run down bar wasn't going to kill her, as it were. Despite it being strange, pressed against and dancing with someone she barely knew, a good time was being had and for the reporter, that's all she cared about in the moment.

Her eyes followed his gaze for the brief glance he shot toward his bottle. Elena could more than agree with him on the fact that she, too, hadn't expected to meet and greet with anyone in here this evening. She had just wanted a shelter from the shivers she was getting outside for a few minutes, a drink so they wouldn't gripe at her for being in there without being a customer and then she was planning to head off on her merry way back home. It was funny how things turned out, never what they were planned to be with this one but always ending with a good time despite it all. Running around with Nate and Sully had showed her that, actually. Although she'd never admit to either one of them anything that would glorify what they did for a living.

And in that brief moment of his closeness to herself, Elena's cheeks flushed to a deep crimson that even she didn't think was possible to color her otherwise fair skin. She had even let a tiny gasp escape her lips from being overwhelmed at his touch, she hadn't been expecting it, after all. Tensed in his arms for that slight moment, she calmed and relaxed once more, although had squeezed his shoulder rather tightly in her startling. Unfortunately, there simply wasn't any way for her to hide the fact that she'd just been taken by complete surprise.

"D, Definitely sharing the sentiment," was that a stutter? She inwardly groaned but didn't allow herself to visibly show any annoyance with it.

[_devil_inside]

Yeah, Dante totally lived for that. Secure in the knowledge he'd just about blown her mind, the devil hunter carefully kept his smirk hidden, letting the stroke to his rather large ego just inflate that oftentimes downtrodden thing to somewhere resembling pride. He was good, he knew that and yes, he'd used his skill with the ladies to his advantage when it was necessary, he'd never deny that. But despite all of his experience, and contrary to rumor, the man was hardly a lecher.

Thus why he followed up on Elena's flusteredness with merely a chuckle before spinning her at the end of the song, bringing her back against him as the last strains of the guitar faded. They stilled and he smiled down at her, but was unable to help dipping his head to gently kiss her cheek, giving her hand a squeeze before stepping away.

"Mighty fine dance, Miss Elena," he drawled, ushering her back to the bar and their spots at it. Dante retrieved his blade then polished off the last of his whiskey before extending to her a hand. "Well, it's 'bout time for me to get goin', babe." Bright blue twinkled and his smile was sincere. "Thanks for the dance. And the company."

[lastyears_model]

The man was clearly trying to put her to her death via flustering her. Cheeks red, she couldn't hide the smile that tugged her pink lips at his kiss, small though it may be, it was there. Somewhat embarrassed, the blond followed the man to the bar to if anything grab her drink in order to swallow down the cold liquid that remained in her glass, a sort of attempt to lessen the color of her cheeks with it's coolness.

"You're certainly smooth on your feet, Dante," the woman most definitely insinuated of his smoothness in more than one way. Glancing to the hand that had been brought her way, she smiled and took it for a gentle shake. It had certainly been quite the evening, much more eventful than she had originally assumed that it would be. The word 'babe' would always throw her off, if anything because she didn't see herself as one. "I should be thanking you, actually."

With a soft nod, she glanced to the floor at the gaze he had on her. It wasn't often that she felt shy, so perhaps it was time to brush that aside and like him, offer a bit of a 'gift' in thanks for the good time. Lifting her chin, the blond moved in to press her lips to his cheek for a kiss of her own. "Anytime you need someone to help you dance your troubles away, then." She chuckled.

"Goodnight, Dante."

[_devil_inside]

No matter how old he became, even tottering along in with a walker, Dante would never be too old to turn down a lady's affection. And he could tell Elena was nervous and far too shy to be that good-looking, so, sensing her intent, lowered his head and met her halfway, offering his cheek like a good lad. And he managed without his normal teasing reciprocation, which was monumental in its rarity.

Pulling back with an easy smile, he nodded and straightened the collar of his aged coat. "I'll keep that in mind, Miss Elena." Blue eyes twinkled a final time. "And might just take ya up on it."

Dante gave the old man behind the counter a jaunty salute, instructing old Pops to "take care of the lady" before turning and strolling for the door with an easy grace born of self-assurance and comfortableness. It closed behind him and a few minutes later, the roar of a motorcycle engine shattered the night, then faded into silence.