Author's note: Yeah, I got my groove back! For now, at least...

36. Vanilla

In a shabby neighborhood there is not much to be happy about. And yet the sounds of a radio came from one of the apartments, old hits breathing life into the grayness. The resident of that apartment, a young brunette, decided to turn her small kitchen into a dance floor, twisting and turning and singing slightly off-key to the songs of love and times gone by.

Just as another song began, a shrill ring of the doorbell interrupted it.

With light jumps to the tune of the song, Rose found herself in front of the door, looked through the spy hole, smiling at the sight, and opened the doors wide.

"Hey babe, got your message. Now get out of those clothes so I can get me some of those delicious things you promised." The white-haired devil hunter was already taking his red coat off, a smirk plastered on his face.

"Whoa there, cowboy!" She let him in, pushing away his arm that tried to snake around her waist. "I think you misunderstood what exactly will be eaten here."

He tried to hug her, his face getting close to her neck, in hope some ear nibbling will mellow her out. That plan failed abruptly, with a quick slap on his cheek Rose got him to stand still, just long enough for her to grab his shirt and haul him in the kitchen. Quite a hilarious sight that was, the mighty Dante that stood up to the forces of Hell was now being dragged like a puppet by a frail girl barely reaching his chin. Though there was a surprised look on his face, corners of his lips would occasionally go up, in the moments when it became harder to hold back the laugh.

Seated at the small table, he waited for her to pull something out of the refrigerator, sound of glass clinking reaching his ears.

"You always eat that same boring strawberry sundae, so I thought about offering you some other flavors as well." She explained before setting a tall glass with chocolate ice cream and pieces of orange in it.

"Babe, the only flavors I need are strawberries, vanilla ice and you." He gave her a smirk and pushed the glass away from himself.

She pushed it back. "At least try it, you square."

His gasp was quite audible. "What did you just call me? And here I thought I was the opposite!"

"What, a circle? With your diet you will come close to looking like one." Her little jab at him she finished by blowing a kiss. His mocking attitude was definitely rubbing off on her.

"You mock my diet, yet you feed me this?" The glass was pushed away again. "I spend enough energy that I could be eating nothing but fat and sugar and still not ruin this perfection, and you know it, babe."

"Fine, you are a Greek god walking among mortals! At least ditch that boredom called vanilla already." And the glass was pushed back to him.

"I like vanilla." The glass was pushed away.

"Vanilla is so boring, it's a synonym for boring stuff." The glass was pushed back.

"That's where the strawberries come in." Pushed away.

"There is other fruit, you know?" Pushed back.

"But none is as good as strawberries." A bit irritated by their little game, he pushed the glass with a bit too much force, making it slide all the way to Rose and turn over her cleavage. She screamed and grabbed a cloth to wipe the cold ice cream melting over her skin.

"You know, I just might try that ice cream now…" He winked at her and whistled.

"Forget it, you had your chance." She shot him an evil look, wiping the ice from her chest. "What's with that obsession over strawberry sundae anyway?"

Dante fell silent for a few moments, but finally answered her questioning looks with a smile and a short story. "It's cause of my mom… me and Verge, we were always teased about everything, our hair, our poverty, that we had no dad… world felt really cold sometimes." He stopped, trying to swallow the lump that formed in his throat. Thinking of past always put him down, into the darkness. "But our mom, she would give us strawberry sundaes when we were sad. Vanilla ice with strawberries was cheap enough for our budget, but she always said that she got it cause the ice cream was the coldness of the world and the strawberries were her kisses, alone they are too much, but together they make perfect balance. No dessert ever felt as good after that."

She listened to his story in silence, then got up and pulled something else out of the fridge. "Had something as backup plan… you deserve it." It was a glass bowl full of strawberries covered in vanilla ice, celebration for both eyes and tongue.

Setting it in front of him, she watched as he happily stuck his spoon into it. But it didn't go into his mouth. Instead he offered it to her, and smiling mischievously she took it into her mouth.

Next spoon went into his mouth, then hers again, until… "Dante! My mouth ain't between my boobs!"

"Oops, sorry babe, but you're so hot my hands are shaking. Here let me lick that clean for you…"

"Dante!"

Well, strawberries are well known aphrodisiac…