"Ugh..." Dante woke up to a familiar sound he really hated, 'Jackhammer... why the hell is there a construction when the roads are perfectly normal?'
He groaned and tried to sleep again, he and Dexter were out late last night, drinking their asses off for old times sake. 'Speaking of that fucker...'
The raven-haired finally opened his eyes after hearing the glass entrance opening, he knew it was Steve. That guy never gets a hangover if he's busy, Dante could do that too, but where's the fun in that?
"Dante, I'm going somewhere and I won't be back until tomorrow evening..." Dexter shouted, "So you have to get out of here, you may be handsome but you'll drive out my precious costumers!"
Dante got up from a spare bed that was placed on the floor and cleaned up before going to Dex, who laughed at his puffy face. "Yeah, yeah. Laugh all you want, this only lasts an hour, your face's swollen all the time."
Dexter didn't get offended and cleaned the shop with the raven-haired helping him.
"You know what, how 'bout you become an employee of mine, you don't have money right?" Dexter said, grinning at Dante who just snickered.
"You wish, what... you want to use your friend to attract costumers? How manipulative of you..." Dante fired back as they laughed.
XXXXXXXXXX
They finished cleaning up and a female employee arrived. Dante took that as a queue to wash his face on a sink in the restroom and wore the clothes Dexter gave him last night. It was just a plain white shirt, black jeans, and white shoes.
"Hey Dex, where'd you find these clothes? These are too small for a body like yours!" Dante shouted while looking at the mirror and fixing his hair. "Did you change your fiance for a boyfriend, is that it?"
The blonde, who heard this had tick marks on his forehead, "Ha-ha! That's my brother's, you sonofabitch! Remember Lex?"
"Oh yeah, I do... we're the same size now? What'd you make him eat to grow that fast?" The raven-haired got out of the restroom after erasing his former clothes from existence.
As he got out, the female employee widened her eyes and blushed as she saw him. However, Dante didn't mind, he already had Ciri. "Hi, I'd like a Burrito Angeleno, and an Americano, 12 oz..."
"U-Uh... I mean... that will be $13.75, cash or credit?" The employee stuttered, her mind going blank for a second. 'Damn, his eyes are so beautiful!'
"Cash," fourteen dollars appeared on Dante's pocket as he took it out, "Here, keep the change."
"Thank you, kindly wait for 5 minutes and your order will be ready. Have a nice morning!" The employee smiled awkwardly, but Dante didn't mind it and smiled back. She was beautiful, maybe she could run for modeling, but that was it. 'Damn, Dex has so many beautiful employees but he still chose his fiance... is he really that in love with her?'
Dante shook his head, ridding himself of his thoughts as he got reminded of himself. Yes, Ciri was beautiful but what made him stick with her was that he genuinely loved her and wouldn't change her for anything.
"So my guy, I'm going to Los Angeles," Dexter munched his snacks, "How 'bout you?"
"Ah, thank you..." The raven-haired said as a tray was placed on his table, and Dexter was at the opposite, eating bars of chocolate with three of them done. He shook his head, no longer minding that anymore. "I think I'll go find a cousin of mine. Last time I heard, he heard he had a hotel near Echo Park."
The blonde didn't reply as he was busy munching his snacks, feeling the euphoric experience. This made Dante pound his chest as he coughed his food at the sight of his friend having a foodgasm.
XXXXXXXXXX
"I've got to go dude! the flight's an hour from now, my wife's gonna kill me," Dexter shouted as quickly fist-bumped with the raven-haired, and went to his car that was parked just in front of the store, and rode off.
"That guy..." Dante sighed, "Why's he so under his wi-" He stopped his mutters as he got reminded of Ciri abusing him. 'Oh right...'
He didn't stay in one spot for long as it was really loud because of the jackhammer being used on the road, so he walked towards an electronics store and bought a phone, it was the latest iPhone 8 plus. 'It's really light...' he thought, but then continued downloading apps. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, uber, and many else.
After that, he booked an uber, setting the Echo park as the destination. He was a new yorker so he didn't know Los Angeles like the back of his hand. It didn't take long as a black Toyota Camry Hybrid pulled up on the side of the road.
"Dante Bastion?" The driver rolled down his windows and asked, earning him a nod in return. "Sorry I'm late, I was a mile away when I received the booking."
The raven-haired opened the front passenger door and shook his head, "It's quite alright, that's really far." he replied and took a quick look at the driver. 'An old man... in his 50's?'
Five minutes in and there was just silence in the car, both of them didn't find it awkward as they felt comfortable in their seat. However, Dante couldn't help but want to start a conversation, "Umm... your car's really smooth and silent."
"Hmm? Yeah, this was a gift from a friend of mine," The old man smiled while they stopped at a red light, "I will give this to my son after he graduates college."
Dante raised his eyebrows as the driver was really proud of what he said, "Then what're you gonna use for yourself, you won't be able to continue in working for uber that way..."
"I'll find a way, besides," The light turned green and all cars started moving, "He really wanted a car as a reward for passing, I can't turn that down."
'How admirable...' Dante thought as he sensed that the man's soul was very pure, "How much?" He asked as they arrived at the destination.
The old man looked at his phone that was clipped in front of them, "Ah, that will be $18.50, $18 will do."
"Okay, here..." Dante opened the door and handed the old man as much cash that could possibly fit in his left hand, earning him a gasp from the driver. "Come on, take it."
"N-No how could I ever-" The old man didn't get the chance to finish what he wanted to say as Dante placed the money on the driver's lap.
"Take that as a gift, no biggy!" The raven-haired grinned then got out of the car and immediately walked, only to stop as he heard a yell.
"Thank you, boy! May the Lord bless your soul!" The old man opened his door and shouted, enough to make the raven-haired hear. He smiled as he got a nod in return, then drove off.
'I'm not a saint, but it's also not bad to help...' Dante smiled as went to a couple that was kissing, "Excuse me, do you know where the nearest hotel in the area is?"
"U-huh? T-There!"
XXXXXXXXXX
"The Lexmar Hotel... best way to make people find you.' Dante shook his head as he entered the hotel and rented the second most expensive room for a month for four grand.
He went to the third floor. He didn't go inside his room but passed by it and kicked the next door. "Lexmar, your most handsome cousin is here you sonofabitch!"
"Ahh!" Girls were screaming as they heard the loud bang, but the one who screamed the loudest was a fat long-raven-haired guy. "D-D-Demon!"
A naked Lexmar was shaking as he saw the face of Dante, "How are you alive!? You're supposed to be dead! We were all there!" he shouted as his tears were falling from his eyes. The girls that were also naked grabbed some towels and left the area, thinking it was an assassination.
"Umm..." Dante was taken aback at the sudden event, "I wanted to surprise you, I didn't expect you to cry like a baby..."
"Who's a crybaby? You're the crybaby!" Lexmar shouted, "Plus, you're a ghost anyway! A demon! How dare you take form of my cousin Satan!"
"Ah? You think a mere demon could copy a face as handsome as mine?" Dante laughed, "Dude, I'm pretty much alive. I'll explain it all to you over a meal, how about that?"
"Oh? Okay, I guess you're really alive," Lexmar didn't take too much time to calm down and accept it, "only Dante treats me to meals anyway."
Dante could only sweatdrop but just shook his head, "Then get ready, don't keep spreading your legs, your dick's not that big."
XXXXXXXXXX
"So that's what happened... who could have done it?" The two cousins were eating inside a fancy restaurant of Lexmar's choice. "I mean, it's been months but no one's taking up the mantle of leadership."
"Really? The mastermind must have planned this through," Dante hummed, "Tell me, how 'bout you be the head of our family? Sounds nice huh?"
Lexmar choked his food and was coughing a lot, drinking his wine and refilling it again and again, "That ain't funny!" He panted only to get a shake in reply.
"I'm not, everybody thinks I'm dead, and I'm going to keep it that way. Furthermore, you already know that I don't like being tied to a family of criminals since we were kids." Dante calmly explained, playing with his cup. "And I prefer you being the leader than anybody else."
Sighing at the situation, Lexmar just stared at his food, then at Dante, "It's gonna be a lot harder than how you did it, you were the rightful heir, I'm not." he slowly said, "But fine, I'll do that and maybe one day, change how our family works."
"Oh and speaking about kids, you're a lot younger than normal," Lexmar continued eating while taking notice of Dante's appearance, "others may not notice but I've been around you for decades, you look like you just graduated high school. Are you into skincare products?"
"No," Dante smiled and cupped his chin in thought, "maybe I'm just this handsome? Although I'm sorry it didn't pass down to you."
Both of them laughed as they continued to eat.
XXXXXXXXXX
It took them a few hours of conversation before Dante checked out $800 worth of food. Although he didn't really react to that, be it his previous life or now, that was still a small amount for him.
He finally entered his room, not before seeing his cousin bringing women in his room. Dante shook his head, 'What a horny asshole.'
"Now... to fix this piece of shit." He took out the teleportation rune in annoyance, "let's see if you fail this time!"