Dante had to take a few moments to understand, his eyes shifting from the purple-haired beauty to the yellow drink in his hand. He brought the glass to his mouth, sipping some of the refreshing liquid. The slightly sour taste caused his tongue to tingle, erasing the residual aftertaste of the spicy noodles he had eaten a while ago.
"So... it was just an act..." A sigh escaped his lips.
"Disappointed?" Rose asked.
"Relieved, actually." He replied, smiling for the first time since he arrived. "That was one uncomfortable situation you put me in back then."
"Don’t say that." Rose leaned his way, pouting as she gave him a light shove. "I’m still sad that you ran away."
"What did you expect? You beat three men right in front of me."
"Can’t argue with that."
The two chuckled as they recalled what happened that night. The conversation veered toward Black Skull and the beef she had with them. Turns out it was a little personal, and because of that, she seemed a little reluctant to go into details. The most she said was that the bastards were up to no good, which didn’t give him that many hints.
At some point, Dante considered asking about her Silk Suit but dropped the idea. With how brief their interactions have been, bringing up something he normally wouldn’t know would undoubtedly come across as both creepy and suspicious. Though he didn’t care that much about the way she perceived him, explaining how he found out would have been a pain.
Eventually, the Alcohol started to kick in and Rose seemed to relapse, growing more flirty by the second.
"Say, Dante~" She inched closer to him, her cheeks a little flushed. "You don’t like older women, do you?"
"I wouldn’t say that," He responded.
"Hmm~, really now?" She took a sip from her drink. "Then, why do you always look angry when you see me?"
"You didn’t give the best first impression, remember?"
"I thought a young man like you would be thrilled to have an attractive older woman flirt with you. Or... what? Don’t tell me I’m not good enough for you."
"I’m not the kind who falls for a woman’s appearance, that’s all."
Each question she threw his way added to the stress he was feeling, making Dante wish he hadn’t agreed to do this. Violet Rose had a particular skill set Victor needed, which is why he had invited her to join the heist. Money alone wasn’t enough to convince her, however, which is why the fixer had to offer a sacrifice so she would agree to work with him.
Initially, Rose’s condition for joining was for the fixer to help her locate a certain red-haired youth, but the bar was moved when she found out that he knew his identity and didn’t relay the information to her.
To avoid the fallout, Victor had convinced Dante to placate her by agreeing to a date. It was for that reason why he was now stuck trying to keep the purple-haired beauty happy, but with how things were progressing, Dante didn’t know if he could keep it up.
"Not into appearances, huh..." Rose muttered. "That’s going to be a problem." Resting a hand on her cheek, she propped her full bosom with her other arm and sighed. "And here I was hoping these would be enough to catch you."
Thomas, having blended into the background this entire time, suddenly broke into a coughing fit. Dante, on the other hand, was entirely unfazed. He simply finished what was left of his drink then pushed the glass toward the old bartender, asking for a refill.
"No effect, huh?" Rose sighed wistfully. "To think you were impervious to my greatest charm."
"What do you take me for?" Dante snorted. "I just told you that appearance alone wouldn’t be enough to sway me."
"I see." Pausing for a moment, she smiled mischievously then asked. "Would you like to touch them, then?"
Thomas broke into another coughing fit, while Dante froze entirely. He was holding a glass up, trying to taste his new drink. If he had done so a moment or two earlier, he probably would’ve spit it out by reflex.
"Fufufu~, guess you aren’t entirely immune." Leaning close, she held a hand to her mouth and whispered. "Just so you know, mine are natural."
"... I really don’t know how to deal with you."
Dante shook his head, a little exasperated. As he sipped from his drink, Rose chuckled and went back to hers. Glancing at her from the corner of his eye, he saw that she was in a pretty good mood.
When he thought about it, he started to feel that his true role in the heist wasn’t to provide backup but to keep the main player happy so she would do her part. That only added to the frustration he felt toward being reduced to a passive role.
’Victor, you bastard...’ He took another sip. ’I’m definitely gonna make you pay...’
Maybe it was the alcohol building up, or it might be the exhaustion. Either way, Dante wasn’t really thinking straight when he opened his mouth.
"You asked whether I like older women or not, but what about you?" He fixed her with a stern look. "You have a thing for younger guys?"
"Only the cute ones." She replied, her smile not faltering. "And you just happened to be my type."
"Wild, angry, and dangerous. But most importantly," reaching out with her hand, she poked his cheek. "Fun to tease."
"Is that what I look like to you?"
Dante didn’t know if he could be called wild, but he was certainly angry and dangerous. The last part depended on how much she enjoyed bothering him, and from the looks of it, she was currently having a blast.
"My eyes are never wrong," Rose said, gently steering the contents of her glass.
"I would prefer that you don’t toy with me," Dante said. "I might be a patient person, but even I have my limits."