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Nero doesn't want to panic, but he's definitely panicking. Flipping through his spell book to figure out where he went wrong as two pairs of big blue eyes stare at him- just as surprised as he is.
He gets about two seconds of frantically searching and trying to censor his swears before the child in red- at least, he sure looks like a little kid- starts tearing up and begging to go home. Nero tries to comfort him and promise he's going to do that, but the one in blue immediately begins to insult him. calling him foolish for the mistake and a kidnapper, insisting that Nero send them home before their father makes him feel sorry for being alive and making his brother cry. Nero mutters he's already sorry for that and says louder he's working on it while trying to get the red child to calm again. What he gets is the twins screaming louder and the two somehow managing to break out of the protective barrier and shatter the connection. Also they knock over the candles and start a fire. Thank the savior they're in the basement and he'd already cleared out everything flammable.
It takes a full hour of chasing the two hellions around his cottage to calm them down. By the end of it, more than a few of his nicer pots, and a chair, are broken and most of his furnishings have been knocked over. Nero also has more than a few still sluggishly bleeding bites and claw marks, but he's had way worse. The worst damage is to his pride anyway. How the fuck did he fuck up this summoning so badly?? Doesn't matter, right now he's got twin baby demons in his house. They have to belong to somebody, so never mind the laughing stock he'll be if anybody hears about this. There's probably some demon lord coming to murder him for stealing these kids. No demon would care about /intentions/ after all.
Still, Nero manages to convince them he means no harm and wants to send them back. He leaves them to nom on some apples and the blue oni, Vergil, curiously peeks through his books. The red oni, Dante, tired himself out once he started treating the whole chase as a game and was tucked under a blanket next to his brother. Then meditates on the contracts he has with Trish and Lucia and desperately yanks on the connection until they answer him.
The two devils are easy enough to work with. Unlike most of the other summoners, Nero prefers fighting on the frontlines, sword in hand. He'd only needed their strength, speed, and some of their magic to keep up the fighting. An arrangement that worked well enough since the three left each other alone more often than not. But that does mean both are resistant to his call at first.
Once he finally gets through and explains the situation, Trish laughs at him because of course she does but both agree to bring him more ingredients for a new portal, swear to secrecy, and Lucia's even nice enough to offer grabbing baby demon essentials. Nero says only the stuff he can't get at the local market. The rest he'll take care of. They cut contact and Nero sighs He just needs this to be solved as soon as possible. He can worry about getting another demon later.
For now, he checks on the twins to make sure they're where he left them- they are- and heads into the kitchen to check his food stores. Stretching food for himself is nothing but needing to feed hungry demon children? With any luck, it will take the girls about two days to gather everything, but that means he needs to get some extra supplies for these two. Hm, there's a 24 hour thrift shop on the other side of town, if he goes really late, he might be able to avoid anybody he knows and keep the kids a secret for longer-
Nero turns and flinches at the kids standing right behind him. He ignores his racing heart and asks what they're doing. To which the answer is they want to know about a story in one of his books. Vergil points it out, and Nero chuckles.
"The story of Sparda and the Summoners? Alright;"
Thousands of years ago, the two worlds were one. Demons were strong in body, humans strong in mind. Demons coveted the strength of humanity because it made them stronger. Humans could not protect themselves from demons because of their weak bodies, and they began to die until the race nearly went extinct. Sparda woke up to justice and realized how precious humanity was. So he fought to save them by splitting the worlds. However, Sparda knew that the two races could never be fully at peace, so he taught the humans how to make bonds with demons to use their strength. These contracts allowed humans to find friendly demons and protect themselves from the hordes. His work done, Sparda returned to the demon world and the Order rose to train new summoners and follow in his lead.
At the end, Dante turns to him and says wow! so that's what humans say about dad. He's real fond of you guys too! Nearly causing Nero's heart to stop when the weight of the fact they're Sparda's sons hits.
He's so fucked.
_
V watches with distant concern as yet another demon falls. In the past two days, reports around the entire world came in from confused and terrified witches- or, summoners as they called themselves these days- about the sudden surge in demons. V's worried about it too, but he has far different reasons to be worried. He's been out of touch with the demon world so long, he's not certain what they want, but he is certain that some event happened to cause it. So far, all his investigations into various happenings have proved fruitless. For now, he's returned to HQ, the grandest building that's far too close to the hell gate for his liking, but he won't be here long. He plans to only report in and then try again, but was stopped by watching the witches fight off another demon far too strong for an escapee.
V's doing his best to hide, but he supposed he shouldn't be too surprised that captain Credo spotted him anyway- The man far too observant for his own good. V didn't care much for his straight laced constant suspicion, but he was a solid captain and V had no real complaints. Not since he was right to be suspicious anyway.
Still, the conversation proved to be very interesting. V had already noticed his current favorite witch, Nero, was not 'going to town' as he put it, on any of the demons. Credo informed him that Nero had a summoning go wrong two days ago and was out of commission until further notice. V didn't argue for more details, just politely informed the captain of what he knew- which was nothing- and then left as quickly as he could without seeming like that's what he was doing. After all, V's never known Nero to either lose a fight, or even consider the thought of a sick day. Whatever happened, it must have been something truly intense. Maybe just what he's looking for.
Nero's is a smart young man, cautious, one of the things V appreciates about him. He knows better than to trust fair weather friends in the order, not that any of them gave him the time a day. Such foolish witches, casting out one so strong simply because of his uncertain origins. It's much more irritating when V is forced to trek through the city in scorching daylight to get to Nero's tucked away cottage instead of somewhere easier to get to. Shadow carries him part of the way at least, and V doesn't think about his old stronger body.
It was a worthy trek at least. V can sense something is off the second Nero opens the door to greet him. He looks healthy aside from his haggard appearance. Like he hasn't slept well, but no great injuries or scent of sickness on him. And, normally, Nero would be pleased to invite him in. Being one of the few Nero held in a high regard- save his foster siblings. Today, he keeps his body between the door crack and babbles some spiel about being happy to see him, but it's not a great time. V merely keeps him distracted long enough for Shadow to slip inside and reveal what his dear friend is hiding.
V sharply inhales to see the twin sons of Sparda. Dante more than happy to play around with Shadow, Vergil reading some book on Nero's couch. Both boys clearly well fed and cared for. But it's still such a shock and V wonders, for the briefest moment, if Nero had discovered how to truly entrap a demon, but then Nero pales at the sound of Dante playing with his new friend and drags V inside. Begging him; 'just wait hold on I swear I can explain just listen!!'. V, too stunned to do anything about his newfound fear of this turn of events, does listen as Nero fretfully explains the situation and begs him not to rat him out to the others. V asks why he didn't immediately go to one of the higher ups and Nero grimaces. Coldly stating that there were plenty of people who'd want to either hurt the twins or use them to get to Sparda. He didn't want to risk everything like that, but he knew he still had to put them back somehow.
V promises to keep silent, but asks what Nero plans to do if the portal doesn't work. Portal are finicky things already, if Nero doesn't have the exact location of Sparda's home, he could accidentally put the twins somewhere much more dangerous than the human world. Nero says he knows, but doesn't know how else to even begin fixing this. V sighs and knows he has to help this poor boy somehow, and mentally he already has a plan. Out loud he says he may be able to do something about a stable portal. The look Nero gives him is so hopeful that V really does feel like a devil thinking about doing some dirty things to his mouth. The hug and profuse thanks Nero gives him, even more so.
It's only much later, after Nero and the twins are tucked into bed (well, Nero is on the couch. Having insisted V take his bed due to his chronic pains. Truly, the others have no idea what goodness they're missing out on.) that V begins his plan. He uses Nightmare's abilities to reach between the planes of reality and whisper directly to Sparda- careful to let no other sense his presence, as they would kill him on the spot.
Sparda sends away the rest of the demons, frantic to please their great lord by finding his children before his enemies can. Only then does Sparda allow V to show him everything he learned from Nero. Sparda heaves a great sigh of relief when he sees the boys, and laughs at Nero's misfortune. By the end, he's grown thoughtful. He then thanks V for bringing him this news.
which V responds he is only paying Sparda back for all he's done for him. The two gravely agree that this was no true accident, many of the more powerful demons with the means to do so, have warded their houses against summoning spells. The only way for anyone to summon the twins, was if someone had deliberately sabotaged the wards.
Sparda tasks V with staying with his children to keep them safe until he can root out the traitor. Says to expect his call in two weeks, and no more hunters for now. Until then, let the children learn about the human world, he thinks it will be good for them.
V agrees, gives Sparda a warm farewell and retreats to the human world.
Nero really wants to know why the world hates him so much. He knows why the order hates him, it's kind of a given by this point in his life, but he's not sure what he did in a past life to make fate have it out for him. It's not even that he doesn't like kids- because he does And it's not that he hates demons- because he doesn't. But the combination of the two is a kind of stress he doesn't think he deserves. That's to say nothing of having to sneak the kids out when he can since he can't keep Dante couped up. Vergil would be happy to sit around in his meager library for the next two weeks, but Dante? Nero thinks that Dante might just be the reason Sparda chose to split the worlds after all.
Still, it was pretty funny when he asked where the rest of V's clothes were, and he had no answer.
At least V sticks around. He doesn't abandon Nero to the fate of having to care for demon kids alone- unlike two other demons he knows. Lucia and Trish drift in and out and it's not like he's going to force them to babysit, but Trish made it pretty clear she's got no head for children and Lucia, being the faster of the two, is constantly diving between the worlds for any supplies for them. V also doesn't abandon him like most humans he knows. Guilty as it makes him feel to say it since he was the one who moved here away from Credo and Kyrie, but he just couldn't take the looks from everyone else anymore.
Speaking of V being around, Nero's never really spent so much time around him before. Sure the two of them were on good terms, but the other man had always been a mystery. A very sexy mystery that Nero had /way/ too many thoughts about during his teen years that made him feel some type of way about his decision to transition. He'd made his peace with the gender part of it, but admitting he actually liked the man who spoke in riddles and dead quotes, who smiled like a knife between the clouds and was shockingly gentle with his own familiars? Nero hadn't told anyone. Not even his siblings. And now V's living in his house, sleeping in his bed, taking care of kids with him in a terribly (terrifically) domestic scene that makes Nero's heart do all sorts of weird fluttering motions.
He reads to the twins at night, makes sure they finish their breakfast in the morning, keeps Dante from annoying Vergil too much and helps Nero keep them on a schedule so their "play" (Nero had been freaked about both of them being covered in blood from beating the shit out of each other until V had quickly explained this was normal) doesn't disrupt Vergil desire to be alone sometimes or leave Dante bored. V watches over them while Nero goes back to work and works double shifts to cover both the time he'd been out and to make some extra cash for toys and other kid things. V helps sneak them out, when they return home to put them to bed, Vergil holds onto V's hand the whole way home, pretending he's not sleepy, and Nero carries Dante after he passes out at the park.
V catches him staring a lot, and no doubt he notices when Nero flushes and quickly looks away. So maybe it's not as much of a surprise as it should be one night, just a few days from when Nero is to send the twins home, V corners him in the kitchen, cleaning the dishes. His pretty green eyes all dark, his rich burr holding so much promise in it when V says Nero should come to bed. The couch is uncomfortable and leaving him tense. He can help with that.
Nero knows he shouldn't. But fuck it, he's done a lot of things he shouldn't before.
It feels completely natural to fall into their bed. It feels natural to let V touch him in places he barely understands himself. To arch and moan and succumb to every pleasure V teases from him. At least until Nero decides it's not enough, rolls them over and takes what he wants from V. Who gives everything eagerly and sings sweet praises that make Nero's ears burn and his body clench in new desires. In the afterglow, it feels natural to pull each other close and fall asleep, sated and comforted in the feel of another's skin. The next morning is embarrassment, not from what they've done, but from the twins barging into the room and demanding their attention. Innocently asking questions that Nero stutters over- V being completely unhelpful and hiding his snickers.
_
V was glad he waited until the night before Nero had a day off to seduce him, because that means they get to spend most of it together and continue to be domestic. Sparda had finally contacted him, and the time and place to send them home was set. Perhaps he'd been impatient to finally have Nero, but the knowledge that this was ending and he may not get another chance...
V never thought of himself has a family man, but he and Nero admit to each other they're going to miss these days.
Perhaps he should have noticed that things were off the second Nero was called into work anyway. V only sending him off with a kiss to see his face turn red and his silly smile. He should have kept the boys close instead of letting Vergil play outside, should have been more cautious. Because the demon attack comes seemingly from nowhere, and he barely has the chance to hide Dante and race outside to try and find Vergil before the demons are on him.
When V wakes, still exhausted from the fighting and unable to summon Griffon and the others, he's face to face with a mage named Arius.
He'd met the man a few times, disliked his power hungry arrogance (but had to admit, the man had flair), but he'd not thought the man capable of such an insane plan. Arius intended to use the twins to force open the gate (their blood, not make Sparda do it. Shockingly sensible, V had to admit) and blah blah claim power. V didn't care about that part. He only cared about poor Vergil, trying not to appear terrified by insulting Arius and baring his baby fangs.
It obviously didn't work very well, and unfortunately there was no time at all to try anything else. Arius didn't need both twins, just one. V could only watch helplessly as he cut Vergil's hand and the portal tore itself open. Not because Arius gained anything he wanted. No, the space between the worlds held something much worse. As the hand of Mundus crushed Arius, his magic failed. Allowing V and Vergil to move again. V still was weak, so he grabbed Vergil and ran.
_
Nero's day went from cloud 9 to a shithole when he was arrested for treason.
If it wasn't bad enough that he was thrown in jail for kidnapping, sowing disorder, breaking the taboo of child demons, and whatever else came with summoning the twins. Sanctus came and monologued at him for twenty minutes straight. By the end of his tirade about himself, Arius, and Arkham gaining power over the demon world by taking the three demon god's power for themselves, Nero could see smoke coming from where his cottage was supposed to be.
Luckily for him, and very unluckily for Sanctus, the bars of his prison only prevented magic from being used. They did not prevent Nero from shit talking the insane pope until he leaned too close to the bars and Nero reached through, cuffs and all, to break his old neck and steal the key off his body. Getting out of the prison is also stupid easy. Most of the guards only have training to use basic sword techniques and magic. They don't really know how to defend themselves against two fists and a fuck ton of rage from someone well versed in using both two take out much bigger and stronger foes than them. Once he's high enough, Nero channels Lucia speed into manifesting wings and takes flight.
He can't do this for long, the wings tire him out too fast, but it's enough to get him most of the way there, and Nero hits the ground running. He's barely made it back to his destroyed cottage, taken out the remaining demons, when he sees that the twins and V are just gone. Nero clings to the hope those sweet kids and V are still alive and uses what magic he has left to track where they went. Pulling at his connection to the girls and having them run to meet him. This time, they didn't ignore his desperate call and that's a blessing he'll always be grateful for. It's easier to keep up Lucia's speed when she's running next to him.
The trio track the brothers, catching up with Dante just as he's about to enter some ruins, terrified, but determined. Seeing them, he drops any pretense of being brave and runs sobbing straight for them.
Nero scoops him up and comforts the poor kid as best he can, though hearing about how V nearly sacrificed himself to save both of them makes his heart ache. Nero tries to convince Dante to go with the girls while he finds Vergil, but Dante refuses to abandon his brother again and kicks his way out of Nero's arms. Ducking inside the ruins before even Lucia can catch him. The three split up to search, Nero telling the both of them to stay safe and not to fight anything if they can help it.
Even so, it's still Nero who finds the twins. They've found each other, somehow, and are being menaced by these wretched barking, human body horror demons. Nero goes to rescue them, but they're tougher enemies than they look. He goes to distract them, only for the twins to bite out the strange demon's throats while their attention was on Nero. For a moment, Nero swears they look older, but puts it out of his mind so he can grab them and run for it before more show up.
Nero doesn't get far before the ruins start to collapse, demons still hot on their trail. He's exhausted from his earlier stunts, in pain from the wounds he got. Just as he thinks he's in the clear, demons pounce on him just as the pillars and walls cave in. Without thinking, he throws both of the boys away from himself with a protective barrier, and lets the demons get crushed with him. He comes two the twins desperately trying to pull him out. In his dazed state, he's pretty sure they look like teenagers now- covered in scales of their respective colors, but still the boys he knew. Nero doesn't dwell on it, just tugs at the connection to Trish and Lucia who appear instantly.
The girls also start trying to rescue him, and Nero decides he's grateful he got to meet them after all. But he can't let them waste time.
"Both of you," he coughs out blood and knows he won't be able to run like this. But he puts every ounce of energy he has left into this order; "Take them and go. Send them home- Forget me."
The boys don't want to. He can hear them screaming the entire way, but the girls listen and Nero's world goes dark.
When Nero wakes up, he's in awful pain. But surprisingly not under anymore rubble. He's not thankful for that though because, through his muddle thoughts, realizes his arm is completely mangled, he's not healed at all, and he's suspended over a deep chasm where the face of a stone god watches him coldly. Nero's in too much pain to be afraid, but he does recognize Mundus, the prince of darkness, and grimly thinks that well, at least this can't get any worse.
Mundus attempts to question Nero about the whereabouts of the twins, clearly bored like a sociopathic child watching and insect die. Nero gathers what strength he has left, and curls his good hand into a single middle finger, and spits with blood, "Go fuck yourself."
Mundus tilts his head, and Nero doesn't even pretend he knows what's going on in that big ass head of his. With a wave of the demon's hand, the shadows part and reveal V. Alive, conscious, but his body is being warped. Demonic eyes that look like Griffon's, Shadows, and Nightmare's in turn. Crawling their way over his skin, tearing through and leaving blood trails before disappearing again. Nero snarls, tries to call out to him, and gets a weak response.
"I see you care for him, don't you? How pitiable, for the both of you." Mundus' cruel voice washes over him, and he proceeds to tell Nero a story. One Nero is partially familiar with;
Long ago, there was a gardener in the demon realm. A being by the name of Urizen. For a price, he would take the blood of humans and feed them to one of his great trees. This tree would produce a terrible fruit that would grant power to the demon that consumed it. Sparda, having grown fond of his pet humans, wanted to end the fighting between the demon kings and the creation of the fruits to save their wretched little lives. So his destroyed Urizen's orchard and tore the gardener into pieces before sealing away the two kings.
Mundus gestures again to V. Look at Urizen now, can you not pity the state of him? Reduced to barely more than a human and each of his pieces believe themselves to be alive.
Nero... can't say anything at all. He just looks at V, as if V could tell him what was really going on- what the truth was. V looked away in shame.
But he hisses, gaining Mundus' attention, "Whatever I once was, matters not. I am grateful Sparda gave me a chance at a real life." Then groans as his familiar's eyes- no, his eyes, tear open a final time and they roll around in fear and pain as the barriers between their minds crumble. But somehow, V clings to his human form a while longer.
Nero can't do anything but watch helplessly. Soon, he isn't even allowed to watch as V disappears again. Mundus nearly crooning to Nero that he is willing to let V remain, should Nero tell him where the twins are. Nero sobs, and screams FUCK YOU as tears pour down his face, tearing into his various wounds and making a new wave of tears flow.
"Very well. I suppose then, you won't need this?" One barking demon throws itself into the air, it's teeth clamp down on Nero's mangled arm. He screams with fresh pain, the ligaments and joints fail to hold together, and the demon falls again- taking Nero's arm and consciousness with it.
_
V wishes he could take a few minutes, just to breathe and process their horrible fates. Maybe cry- he wishes he had the ability at least, when Nero screams. He can't see what's happening, and that makes his echoing cries all the worse. But he still can't do anything, just lay there and try to hold onto his rapidly slipping self. His other pieces, his dearest companions, they want to stay as they are. V can't normally understand Shadow or Nightmare, but he keenly feels their thoughts now. They loved living as much as V did. They agree on just one thing; It was better to die as themselves. Just as they're gearing up for one last noble act, they hear;
"Jeeze old man, how many times am I going to have to kick your ass?" They laugh in relief to hear the voice of Sparda.
Of course, he's hardly felt the glow of relief when the Yamato pierces through the thick cloud of blackness and lands in the middle of his chest. Rather than kill him, the sword shatters their connection and the four split back into themselves. V stares in shock as the clouds part as Yamato draws away and reveals, not the face of Sparda as he thought, but a young man with white hair and blue eyes, dressed in a rich blue coat.
"Vergil?"
"You were expecting someone else?" Vergil smirks and picks V up, holding him close and leaping back to more solid ground where his twin, dressed in a red coat, completely shirtless, and surrounded by dead demons, cradles Nero's broken body in one arm, the other holding a greatsword. Dante gives him a smile, but his eyes are filled with worry.
V has Vergil bring him to Nero, and his familiars crawl closer to give him an extra boost to repair some of the extensive damage done to him. The boys ask if he'll be okay, and V assures them that Nero will live, but he needs more medical attention than V can provide as soon as possible. They nod, and hop off to help their father beat Mundus back into his seal.
Sparda was kind enough, generous enough, to bring Nero back to his house- along with Trish, Lucia, and V. The demons worried (though Trish and Vergil tried to pretend they weren't) for their favorite human and unwilling to leave Nero's side until he awoke many days later. V was the one be there when he did, though it was less out of luck and more out of guilt and a desire to see Nero's eyes open the second his recovery was real. And it was so sweet to see the way he smiled when his beautiful blue eyes realized who was sitting next to him. And all the more heartbreaking when the reality of the truth settled in and that smile was wiped away with hurt and grief. For both that V had lied to all this time, and the loss of his arm. V felt terrible, even as Nero forgave him, was so understanding about why he hadn't wanted anyone to know about being Urizen.
"I wouldn't wanna tell anybody I was Urizen either. Fuck that guy." He'd said, still trying to hold onto his smile. A smile that got a bit more genuine when V leaned close and kissed his temple, promising in a low voice that his feelings were true, at least.
Their moment would be ruined by the twins crashing in, overjoyed to see Nero awake- though he didn't recognize them at first and scrambled under the weight of Dante's hug. Vergil had to peel his brother off long enough for them to explain that demons didn't really grow up until they really needed to. Most demons didn't get childhoods for that reason alone- they either died or they grew up fast. Nero looked sheepish, but also touched that the twins forced themselves to grow up quickly just so they could come back for him.
The two demonesses were also pleased to see him awake, Lucia also giving Nero a hug and a little sniffle. Much to his embarrassment. And, for all V knew Nero was definitely going to have a lot to say about it later, V thought he took it pretty well when Sparda clapped him on the shoulder and praised him for his care for the twins and noble nature. Claiming that humans just like Nero were the entire reason he liked the race in the first place. Though he could have just been dazed.
Before they could leave however, the twins decided that they wanted to play with fire.
Both of them insisting that they wanted to give Nero a gift. Which turned out to be an arm of all thing. The fingers and palm and deep veins glowed blue with Vergil's power, while the red scales that coated it spoke of Dante's strength and durability. A lovely gift for sure, one that would suit Nero well in combat. It would have been fine had the two not smirked and told Nero it was so that he would think of them often- with Dante even having the gall to blow Nero a kiss and wink. That would not do at all.
V's pretty sure he failed at looking as calm and unbothered as he meant to, with the way everyone is grinning as he gently but firmly uses his cane and free hand to move them both a safer distance from a beat-red Nero. With Griffon cackling in the back of his mind, V very possessively puts an arm around Nero's shoulders, thanks the twins for all their helps, and says it's time for them to return to the human world. The demon realm is no place for the two of them really.
Nero at first says shit, they'll need to explain everything to everyone, and Sparda smoothly cuts in to let him know they've already tracked down Arkham and made dead certain that the Order knew he was very displeased over how they treated Nero after he was so good to agree to care for his sons.
Nero has nothing but stammered thanks to say to that, and Sparda waves him off with a warm smile.
V, though he wishes to whisk Nero away immediately and reaffirm what they were building, does take a moment to bow to Sparda, and thank Vergil as well for making sure he did not become Urizen again.
Their farewells are warm, and then Nero and V are once more in the mortal realm. Walking the streets of Fortuna in the dead of night to Nero's cottage. However, though the cottage has been restored, it certainly looks and feels different. Traces of the twin's demonic energy and their... Personal touches litter it's structure and grounds. Even on the various pieces of furniture on the inside. V almost wants to laugh, annoyed as he is, Nero doesn't hold back and does take some pleasure in it. And it's good to hear him laugh.
Nero turns to him, smile suddenly nervous as he asks V if he really wants to stay in a place like Fortuna. After all these years of wandering and freedom, won't it feel oppressive? V promises him that staying where Nero is would bring him nothing but joy. If only to see the way Nero flushes again and a goofy smile spread on his face.
"Great! I mean, great good yeah- But what I meant was, do you want a traveling partner?" They share a smile, excited, delighted, and in full agreement. A plan was set; Rest for the next few days, tell Nero's foster siblings the good news, then pick a place and start walking.
That is, of course after V reacquaints his hands and lips to Nero's body. His ears to the musical sighs and moans Nero gives. And most of all, to the sound of his heart as they lay together full through the night.