It’s alright if you can’t write ex-nugget reader so I’ll request something else ど⚈₃⚈う♡
may I please request reader playing with the hands on Dante’s clock and accidentally messing up their clock (head) and their sense of time
oopsie ๑⁰̷̴͈⌔⁰̷̴͈๑
You sit on Dante's lap, face to face (face to clock?), with your hands on their head. You have been so curious about their whole… thing with their head and only now do you have the modicum of peace to try. The fire on Dante's head seem much brighter than usual, perhaps due to the embarrassing pose you two are holding. Luckily, you are in their office so there is no one else to comment on your positions, or else your poor partner might actually catch on fire.
Your touches are hesitant at first, only emboldened by your dear partner's reassurances. You poke at the hands while looking at them from different angles. They tremble a little but do not seem to be too affected by your actions. Dante, as far as you know, does not mind this either. When asked how it feels, they answer with a quaint "It is kind of weird but not in a bad way."
You nod, glad to know that poking is fine. A little bit more confidently, you nudge at the minute hand. It does not budge. You look back at Dante. They nod, giving you their go-ahead. You nudge it again, now weirdly invested. The stubborn thing does not move. That petty and childish feeling of competitiveness rises in your heart again, tempting you to bat at the minute hand. Faust must have said something about your actions since you hear Dante address her. You do not bother to move from your compromising position as your partner has made no move to stop you at all. Soon, she leaves with the door closing with a quiet 'click' behind her.
"Is anything the matter?" You ask. Dante often have their consultations with the others sinners but there should be no one around during this time. They had cleared up the schedule for your passing whim, making you swoon at the time. They shook their head, "She said something about not messing around too much with my head," you freeze mid-action, "but I think this should be fine! It is not like you are messing with the self-destruction button behind my head." Your brain loads for a moment, trying to process the information.
Meanwhile, your hands refuse to stay put but instead continue to push and tug at the clock hands on their face until- The minute hand moves.
Suddenly, an awful ringing sound rips through your eardrums. The two clock hands spin so fast they are nothing but a blur on Dante's face. Any computation you have been doing is violently put into a pause. Your hands clutch at your ears but the sound does not stop, seemingly coming directly from inside you. You feel like your head might just burst open if the sound continues on any longer. The sound soon fades out, thankfully, and with it the headache. Then, soon after, the fire on your partner's head dims before igniting brighter than ever, even brighter and hotter than the first time they had a meltdown back when you first encountered Bamboo-hatted Kim. You jerk backwards at the heat and almost fall over, only saved by the wooden desk behind you. Dante's fire did not burn you but the heat is awfully real against your skin.
Their clock hands spin wildly for another moment that drags on for an eternity when it all stops. Dante, after all that, limply falls forward, their head resting against your shoulder. The heat has dissipated. The minute hand has yet to return to its original position, and instead is stuck where number nine on a normal clock would be. You warily poke at their limp body a few times before they sit up again just as abruptly as this whole incident started. They gasp a few times as they tug your body towards them. Your partner clutches at you like a lifeline, mumbling something akin to a prayer.
Slowly, they can sit back up again, their breathing (?) slows back to their usual. "How long has it been?," Dante asks. You look between the ordinary clock on the wall and their head a few times, then you finally reply to them, "Not that long, really. Less than half an hour." Your partner nods, mildly contemplative. They hum quietly while their fingers, still on your back, fiddle with your uniform. As if sensed your oncoming question, Dante starts, "Something is off. My sense of time is all weird.." You freeze for the gazillionth time today. Guilt creeps up behind you. What started as a simple curiosity has thrown your partner into a strange state without any answer to whether this can be undone. You apologize profusely while Dante simply forgives you with impressive calmness. Your apologies are interrupted by the sounds at the door.
Someone knocks on the door a few times with such force you are halfway sure they would simply break their way into the office if they could. Dante tells them to enter while you shuffle off their lap, stumbling a little in the process. The door opens behind you with a sense of urgency radiating off of the person. You turn back and, of course, who else can this be but Faust.
Her already pale complexion somehow manages to turn even more pale, turning almost faint. You smooth out nonexistent wrinkles on your clothes while looking like you would prefer if the floor just opens up and swallow you whole. Dante coughs, or at least makes a sound akin to the action, into their fist. The genius for once looks so lost at the situation, Dante notes to themself, not even the time on the Warp Train managed to make her like this.
She walks to their table, her eyes fixed on the minute hand. "Faust has warned you of this." You two at least have the conscience to look (somewhat) sorry for the situation, making her sigh. The genius sits down on one of the spare chairs, a hand on her forehead and starts interrogating you. What did you do for the clock hand to move? How did it feel like before it all happen? Time pass by in a blur with the only thing of note being your partner sometimes talk too fast and then too slow and their hand gestures are the same. It must be the problem they mentioned earlier.
The issue drags on into the following day. Dante looks horribly sluggish despite their attempt at seeming a-okay. They are forced to have a proper watch on hand at all time for better battlefield management. The manager could do without the device before but with the consequences of your actions… The sinners are quick to tease Dante, with not many noticing the change on their head and even fewer with the desire to say anything about it. Vergilius only sighs and settles down in his seat. You pray that after this all tides over, he will not immediately go for your head.
"Aye, did ya and the loser 'ave a baby last night or sum'?," Heathcliff leans over the back of your seat, "Why's there a mini Dante?" You shove your face in between your hands, weakly responding to the man, "I was messing around and now Dante lost their sense of time…" Everyone pause, other than Vergilius who has been debriefed on the matter after Faust has come to an appropriate course of action. A strange silence hangs in the air for a moment before Rodya and Heathcliff almost fall over themselves laughing and you can hear Ryoshu's amused 'heh', at least the others are nice enough to look concerned or a little baffled by this entire mess. Your face heats up even more while Dante seem to have given up entirely on defending themself at this point.
The bus continues to move forward, even with the shocking event, once Faust confirms Dante can still revive and function just as usual. Your partner's head fixes itself eventually after several days. The white haired genius, however, does not let the two of you have any semblance of privacy for a while, lest something even worse might happen behind closed doors. Safe to say, you steer clear of messing about with Dante's head from then on.
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a/n: i finished this a while but i forgot to clean it up a little and post it so here it is!! i wanted to let dante say shuckaroonies but i couldn't find a proper spot to stuff it in,, very sad ik
