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"So do you think it was actually him that did it?" Dante asks as they sit side-by-side on his desk. It was starting to get dark outside, and Cadence was definitely looking forward to clocking off and finish the rest of the documentary he and his best friend had started the previous night.
"Dante, of course it was him that did it." Cade insists. "His.. his alibi had about 4 different holes in it and he had such an obvious motive." Cade insisted. "If they didn't re-arrest him and find him guilty I'll be so pissed off."
"More or less than the one that prompted you to throw your pillow at the screen?" Dante asks, vaguely amused.
"Oh don't get me started on that, if I were prosecuting she would never have walked free, not in a million years." Cade replies with a slight shake of his head.
"If you were prosecuting I don't think many people would walk free." Dante points out with a chuckle. Cade laughs back slightly as he suspects he's probably right. "Shall I perhaps get us a bottle of wine for tonight?" the Bishop asks. Cade pores over it for a second, and then shrugs.
"Yeah, why not?" he replies with a slight nod back to the other man. They quite often spent the evenings hanging out together but they hadn't had a drink together in a while. "Sounds perfect, love." Dante smiles at that, his eyes lingering on him for a second.
"Ah, uh, goodnight Bishop!" comes a fairly cheery call from the doorway as Papa Emeritus IV walks past, presumably on his way to his room. He notices Cade in there too and addresses him in a slightly more formal tone. "Oh. Advocatus."
"Papa." Dante says with a respectful nod.
"Copes." Cade addresses with a similar nod but a smirk on his face. Dante nudges him playfully with his elbow. "Papa." he corrects, still smirking.
"Ahhhh... yes." Copia replies, seemingly unsure what else to respond to that. "You have... everything in place for Friday's ritual, yes?" he asks them both.
"Oh we've organised the shit out of it." Cade replies, making Dante smile and shake his head slightly. "Managed to get all the pyrotechnics you wanted and everything." he says a little smugly. He doesn't know why he still cares about impressing him despite all they've been through, but he does. Somehow that feels like his way of winning sometimes.
"All the associated admin will be on your desk by tomorrow afternoon, Papa." Dante tells him. Copia frowns slightly.
"Ah... actually... Sister requested that she check it over first before it comes to me." he told him. "She requires it first thing tomorrow morning."
"What?" Dante asked. "It's... always been the afternoon two days prior to the Ritual, when did she request this change?"
"I uh... believe it was a week ago." the Papa replied. "I... may have been intending to mention it at the time but you know... there is a lot going on at the moment with Sunshine joining us, and uh... the Ritual..."
"Oh, brilliant!" Cade comments sarcastically. "So the onus is on us to fix this in what... 14 hours, just because you were too busy flirting with the new Ghoulette?!"
"That is... not even your job, Advocatus Angeli." the head of the Ministry points out. "This is not your responsibility."
"Oh of course it is." he snaps slightly. "You place far too great a workload on him, you know that?" The Papa looks to the taller man.
"Are you struggling with the paperwork, Bishop?" he asks with genuine concern and respect. The kind of respect Cade certainly never feels he shows to him.
"Well..." Dante begins, looking between the two of them. "You know my work is always on time, Papa, at least in the absence of circumstances like the present." he points out. He moves a hand to Cade's shoulder. "But I would never discredit how much the Advocatus helps me when I'm given a surplus." Cade feels oddly surprised at Dante admitting it. Not that he's not an incredibly loyal friend; he absolutely is. Cadence just knows his work at the Ministry is everything to him.
"Do we really have that much paperwork? Copia says with a little chuckle. "At Ghost?"
Cade and Dante glance at each other. It's a joke. They both know it's a joke. But it doesn't stop Cade feeling genuinely annoyed on his friend's behalf because he knows how much Dante deals with. "I don't think you recognise how much there is to do around here in general!" he points out.
"Cade..." Dante says quietly, apparently uncomfortable at him calling the Papa out. But fuck it, it's literally his job to question things like this, and admittedly he finds it incredibly difficult to switch off when he gets emotional.
"What do you mean by that?" Copia asks. "You really think I do not do a lot around here?"
"I mean..." he begins. "...that while you swan around the halls on your tricycle and pick out ten new outfits at a time, some of us have mountains of actual work to go through behind the scenes!" The Papa looks displeased, taken aback, but also just that little bit amused, much as he does most times Cade ends up confronting him. He knows he probably went a little far, but still, he hates that hint of amusement.
"That's enough now, Advocatus." his friend advises, placing a hand on his arm. He tends to be a good influence when it comes to cooling Cade off a little. At the very least, it breaks him out of it for long enough to stop him saying anything worse. Cade seethes silently, aware if he opens his mouth again he won't be able to control what comes out. He looks to Dante with a silent plea. The other nods. "We will make sure everything is in place as soon as it can be, Papa." he assures. Cade has to really bite his tongue at that. "We can probably get it to Sister by late morning tomorrow, just... try to explain to her that this was somewhat out of our control, please?"
Copia pauses, and then waves his hand, indicating he's happy to give them that leniency. "Excellent, yes." he agrees. "I know I can count on you, Bishop." He glances back at Cadence for a moment, then begins to walk to the door. "Perhaps you can teach your friend to be as uh... compliant." he adds with a playful little smirk, before disappearing. That soft hand around Cade's arm becomes Dante gripping him hard as he instinctively launches forward. Luckily, it also grounds him.
He waits until Copia is well out of earshot then lets out a growl of frustration. "Ohhhhhhh, he pisses me the fuck off Dante." he complains in a whinier tone than he really intends.
"I know. I know, mio amico." Dante assures in a soft shushing tone, hand squeezing at the arm he's holding. "I do really appreciate what you tried to do for me."
"I just... I don't know how you deal with him." Cade adds, turning to face the desk with an angry sigh. Dante shifts too and moves his hand to Cade's lower back. "Ever since they ignored my advice and made him Papa he's been holding it over my head every chance he gets." he sighs. Tears sting the corners of his eyes, so he closes them promptly.
"I... I know it's hard for you, I don't blame you for feeling that way." Dante replies reassuringly, rubbing at his back a little. When Cade manages to open his eyes, he's focusing hard on him. "The Clergy didn't ignore your advice though, I promise."
"You know what? Next chance I get I'm going for Cardinal." he claimed. He loved his job, it was the perfect fit for him and he knew it, but the fact he'd be forever subservient to Papa IV did grind him down at times. "Then when I get the chance, I'll use any weakness I can against him and I'll... I'll usurp him." He's mostly being facetious, but there is one thing that makes him genuinely want to do it. "Then I could lead the bloody Rituals."
Dante leans down and peers at him, likely checking how serious he is with his comments. He gives Cade a small, sympathetic smile, sliding his hand from his back to his shoulder as he lets the shorter man cool off. "Should I be worried one argument has led to such a sudden greed for power?" he teases, presumably in an attempt to lighten the mood. Cade looks to him.
"It's... not as sudden as you might think." he admits, chancing a small smile back as his friend's attempts succeed in placating him a little. "It's just that recently..." He sighs, turns back around to lean against the Bishop's desk again and folds his arms. "I don't know, why him, Dante? I don't see why he gets everything just because Sister wanted her precious boy in power."
"Hmm... you do genuinely envy him then." the other man assesses, looking over at him. Cade thinks on that for a moment. He supposes the other man is right. Of course he's jealous of Copia. But only because it seems so damn unfair. Dante gives Cade one final pat on the shoulder and then walks back around to sit at his desk, pulling out his pen and bringing a stack of the paperwork they now need to have done by morning closer. "At least you can brag that you're practising two deadly sins at once." he jokes.
"...I suppose that would be a good thing here, wouldn't it?" Cade muses half-jokingly, picking up a stack too just so he can work out how feasible it actually is for them to have this by mid-morning. "Do you have some kind of stamp card system? Because if I give up on this stupid paperwork and go to bed, I want Sloth ticked off." Of course, Dante would never go for that, and Cade would never abandon him. So it's likely they're going to be at this for at least another hour or two.
"Well, it's not quite that direct of an inversion." Dante replies, sounding amused. "But you know we don't frown upon that sort of thing."
"Oh, I spose that makes more sense." Cade replies, beginning to calm more fully. "Either way I'm sure Copes will induce me to most of them. Wrath, mostly. Pride... maybe."
"You already have plenty of that on your own, the Papa just manages to hurt it a little." Dante teases as he begins to write. "Gluttony?" he asks thoughtfully.
"I eat my feelings." Cade reminds him, scratching the back of his neck as Dante nods in recollection. "Papa owes me like fifteen tubs of coffee gelato at this point." Dante smiles slightly but continues working. Cade picks up his quill too. Might as well get as much of it finished as they can tonight so they can both get out of here. Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Dante glancing at him, though. "What?" he asks.
"I'm sorry, but I have to know." he asks. "...Lust?"
"Oh." Cade says through a chuckles, giving his friend a grin. He thinks about it for a moment. "Maybe a bit." he admits, brushing the feathered end of his quill across his lips as he looks over at the open doorway with a little smirk. "Sometimes I think if I rode him hard enough I could turn the stupid look on his face into an even stupider one." He glances back at Dante, knowing he might not actually laugh and wanting to catch the look of amusement on his face. To his surprise however, the Bishop's initial expression is one of discomfort. He swallows then does attempt a smile, but it's a rather stern one.
"You know, you shouldn't speak of the Papa that way." he warns Cade gently, pausing for a moment before looking back down to his work.
"Hey, you know I love him really." Cade protests. It was a statement of mixed truth. Deep down, he didn't hate Copia as a person. But there was a hell of a lot of tension professionally, as was to be expected really. "But it's my job to talk shit about him."
"...A distorted role of your view, at best." Dante comments, still sounding unexpectedly disgruntled.
"Aww, why you all grumpy with me now love?" Cade teases his best friend. "Are you jealous?" Dante's eyes flick towards him, then back to his work, not saying anything, just huffing as if the idea was ridiculous. "Oh my Go- Satan... you are." he assesses. He puts the page on his lap to one side and shuffles around the desk so his legs dangle over the desk beside Dante rather than opposite. "You know you're the one who asked." he reminds him. He's not sure if he's absolving himself of guilt or genuinely a little perplexed by it.
"I... I know. I know I did." Dante agrees matter-of-factly. "Look, don't worry about it. Forget I said anything."
"Aww, don't be like that Dantino..." Cade replies with a pout. He brings the quill to his lips again thoughtfully. "It has been a while I s'pose. Just thought we were getting along too well to need it." Being closer than he and Copia, but still working against each other to some degree, Cade and his best friend had a very different kind of tension, and usually, it was when that built up too far that they would give in and mess around a little. "Want to touch grucifixes?" he asks with a wink. It's not the first time he's used that line. His tattoo of the symbol is on his hipbone, Dante's are on his wrists. As come-ons go, it's a mix of subtle and horribly unsubtle all at once and it tends to be an easy way to draw a smile from his friend... but there is the odd occasion he takes him at his word, and that's always fun too.
"Very funny." the Bishop replies, rolling his eyes slightly and heading back to his work.
"Who says I'm joking?" Cade asks, shifting a little closer and swinging his leg over Dante's head carefully so his thighs are spread either side of the page he's writing on. He works his way down every button of his robe, revealing the loose red shirt and tight black trousers he favours. The Bishop raises a brow at him, looking like he's turning the proposition over in his mind.
"You know... if you're that desperate, you could always go and find Copia... follow through on your little... curiosities..." he points out. But as he finishes up what he's writing, his other hand shifts to sit firmly on Cade's thigh, not really giving the option to leave without disturbing his work. Cade smirks down at him. That hand is in very clear contradiction to his words, and he loves what it's saying.
"Copia... is a beautiful man." Cade admits casually as he watches Dante write. The motion of the pen is fluid, meticulous, oddly enchanting. It's at mundane times like this he's reminded of how infatuated he used to be with the Bishop some years ago. Things like that never really go away. Moments like this remind him he'll always be a little bit in love with his friend. Platonically in love, almost. Except he technically also still finds him attractive. It's complicated. Cade's tone of voice manages to flow right into the smoothness of the ink on the paper though. "But he could never get me off like you can and you know it." he practically purrs. Dante pauses for a moment, finishes the sentence he's writing, then puts his quill down. He then glances up, and the way his eyes, or at least the one that's not hidden by his hair, are fixed so entirely on him all of a sudden tells Cade it's on. A smirk lifts one corner of Dante's lips.
Cadence smirks back. He takes Dante's face in his hands, leans right down and kisses him on the lips, both applying soft, passionate pressure for a moment before Cade draws back again, focusing hard on the other's face below him. Suddenly both of their expressions have quickly dropped from teasing to lustful.
"You're so distracting, mio caro..." Dante chides as his hand slides up and down Cade's thigh, tutting slightly.
"I don't mean to be..." Cade downright lies, releasing the other's face with a pout and teasing one hand around the collar of the his cassock as his anticipation begins to grow. "It's not my fault I need you."
That seems to stir further excitement for Dante, though he keeps his reaction understated, his other hand teasing it's way up Cade's other thigh until they're mirrored, thumbs pressing lightly inside of his hipbones before sliding up to his waist, rendering Cade weak at the knees and beginning to blush a little. "What is it you need, then, darling?" he asks Cade softly, fingertips tapping at his back.
"I'd have thought that was obvious." Cade replies, unsure why he's asking. They both know what's going on, and Dante knows what he likes. He's not picky with what he does to him, he never has been, as long as he makes him feel good.
"Well..." Dante remarks, a teasing glint in his eye. "You said you wanted to be in charge. So why not tell me what you want, Cardinal?"
Some little part of that excites Cade, makes his heart beat that little bit faster. Dante always manages to turn him on with the subtlest of words and actions, so it's no wonder he's usually putty in his hands. But that's not to say he can't take charge if he chooses to. He looks down at Dante for a moment. Then he tilts his chin up slightly, to which the other raises a brow in amusement. Oh, he thinks it's that funny? Well Cade will show him. Because he knows him. He uses his calmest voice. "I'm in dire need of release, Bishop." he coos.
"Then I am at your service, sir." Dante replies, though there's still a hint of teasing to it. "But don't you think I'd better finish this very important paperwork first?"
"Hmm..." Cade replies, wondering if Dante even realises what an advantage his teasing has given him. "I do admire what an incredibly thorough worker you are, Bishop." he praises, running his hand through Dante's hair to push it back. Dante lets out a soft, aroused sigh. Once the other's face is fully exposed, Cade puts his hands either side of it and leans down to capture him in another slow kiss which Dante quickly reciprocates, hands squeezing tighter at his waist. Cade runs his tongue along the Bishop's bottom lip as he pulls away, hands still firmly on his face for a moment before he begins to kiss his way across it, onto Dante's cheek, his jaw, along to his ear. "All those employee of the month awards don't get given out for no reason, do they love?" he asks, before peeling back his collar a little to kiss his way down his neck. "You're so..." he compliments between the kisses. "Good at... what you... do..."
"Cade..." Dante breathes in response, tilting his head to the side a little to let his friend keep kissing him there. "I hope this flattery is sincere..." Cadence chuckles slightly and takes a gentle bite of the other's neck, to which Dante groans.
"Come on Dante." he replies more affectionately, bringing his face back up to look into the other's green eyes with all the more sincerity in his tone. "Cardinal or not, you know I wouldn't lie about that." Right now they're straddling the edge between fantasy and reality as they interact. But he really does mean every word and he's sure Dante can see it. It's just that admittedly Cade is also fully aware what praise does to Dante and he's definitely going to use it to his advantage.
Dante slips his hand up into Cade's hair this time, finding the band of the Advocatus's ponytail and sliding it slowly upwards to let his hair down. As black waves cascade down around them like a curtain, Dante kisses him again with a great deal more desperation, and Cade kisses back enthusiastically, probing his tongue into the other's mouth. As their tongues tangle against each others', Cade feels the excitement picking up in his chest and stomach, his breathing deepening and his heart beating faster. "You know what you're also... really... really good at, love?" he asks breathily as they pull away from each other. "Sucking my dick."
Dante lets out a low chuckle. "H-how good?" he pants back, looking just as turned on as Cade feels.
"So good I need you to do it to me right here, right fucking..." He's interrupted by his own gentle groan as Dante slides his hands down to cup his ass. "...now."
"With pleasure, sir..." Dante assures, leaning forward and biting at one of Cade's thighs through his tight trousers, leaving him leaning his head back and moaning aloud. Dante likes the response, edging his mouth up Cade's thigh until he's at his crotch. The Advocatus is already feeling very hot and bothered as the Bishop begins to tease his mouth against the bulge in his pants, his hand finding the large pentacle at the top of Cade's zip and pulling it all the way down until he can feel the Bishop's breath hot on his cock through the thin layer of his gold silk boxers.
"Fuck, Dante..." he groans as he runs a hand along the other's shoulder, trying to keep up the encouragement. "Fuck... g-good boy..." He lets out a nervous laugh when he hears himself. He's not used to saying that. Then again he's not really used to being told it either, as he's most certainly not a good boy in such situations. Dante seems to take it more seriously than he is though, glancing up at him lustfully and kissing at his dick through the thin layer of fabric. "Mmmm..." he moans out.
Dante continues to tease a little, pulling his underwear down and kissing along the top, then running his tongue right under the fabric until Cade is practically squirming with need, a damp spot forming on his boxers. Dante slides his hand in that direction, teasing along the base of his balls. They may not have as much feeling as if they were home-grown, but they're still very sensitive, it still feels nice.
It's been a few months since he got back to the Ministry and everything's healing rather nicely now. He seems to recall Dante was the first person he let see everything after his bottom surgery. Certainly the first allowed to handle it. His dick may not be as large as if he had phallo, but he likes that it gets hard naturally and it's incredibly sensitive. He didn't get a vaginectomy; he likes being a boy with an extra hole. He feels complete in that respect now, and it's wonderful. He tends to like it pleasured much the same as cis guys do now, with the added bonus that most people can get the whole thing in their mouth.
As Dante finally pulls his underwear all the way down, he watches him lick all the way up from his balls to the end of his cock, eyes trained on him all the while. Cade lets out a soft moan, so Dante repeats the action. He looks up at Cade and runs his bottom lip along the underside with a little more pressure. Cade moans higher, hand running along the back of the Bishop's neck.
The gentle touch encourages him further, running his tongue around the head of his cock, eliciting more groans and whimpers from him. "More... m-more, please, you're so making me feel so good..." Cade urges. As Dante sinks his mouth deeper onto him, he continues the swirling motion. "A-ah..." he moans out. "Fuck... yes... you're so fucking... good at this..."
Dante probably registers that Cade's being deliberately more vocal with his praise than usual, but he doesn't seem to care; it still spurs him on, sucking a little and taking the whole of the other's dick inside his mouth. Cade begins to moan and shudder with every suck. Oral has always been the quickest way to make him cum and so he feels the pleasure building more and more and more as the minutes tick by. His words tangle into the other man's hair again.
"Fuck... Dante..." he moans as the pleasure begins to build right up. "You... suck my dick... so... good... you make me feel... so... good..." His words encourage Dante to speed up, he starts thrusting his mouth onto him at a relentless pace now, hands gripping his thighs tight to keep him spread wide open. Cade throws his head right back as he moans out with every ministration of the Bishop's mouth, holding him close with a hand on the back of his head. It doesn't take him long until he can't take any more.
"Fuck... a-ah... oh my fucking... Dante, fuck, I'm gonna fucking cum..." he moans out, gripping the taller man's hair and thrusting against the heat of his mouth as orgasmic bliss floods throughout him, rendering him dizzy and still letting out shuddering groans through the last of it.
Dante pulls his underwear as far down as he can and gives one last long lick, all the way from his dripping slit all the way up his balls and to the head of his twitching cock. Cade doesn't even mind the overstimulation, he relishes it all. He then replaces his underwear for him, looking up at him expectantly.
"Good... little... Bishop..." Cade praises as he works his fingers slowly through the other's hair. He gives him a hazy smile and leans over to plant a kiss to his forehead, lingering there for a moment as the other smiles back at him. "Not sure I can... hack it bossing you around." he jokes through panted breaths. "Guess I shouldn't... go for Cardinal after all." They smile fondly at each other.
"Cade." Dante tells him as he glances up at him. "You know... I think you'd make a wonderful Cardinal." He finds Cade's hand resting on his knee, and interlinks his fingers with the other's, his other hand reaching to his face to cup his cheek. "But I do fear it would be at the cost of losing the best Advocatus Angeli Ghost will ever have."
"Dante..." Cade says affectionately. "Thank you... that... means so much to me." Maybe he's not entirely unaffected by praise himself. Because right now he feels like he could cry. Dante's always been kind, but recently he's been sweeter to him than ever. He must have really missed him while he was away. "You know you'd make a better Cardinal." he realises, then grins. "If nothing else you can handle me better than everyone else."
"Only because I adore you." Dante says through a soft laugh, the smile still lingering on his lips as he pauses. "I love you, Cade."
"E ti voglio bene, Dante." Cade replies with a smile back. Dante usually makes jokes when he says it. Reminds him of the time he told him "ti amo" instead. He wasn't actually wrong though, he was very much in love with him at the time. They both know that now. But this time he just keeps looking at him, straight-faced. A little sad even. "Everything OK?" he asks.
Dante swallows and nods. "Yes." he says quietly, then hesitates, retrieving his pen from the desk. "You know... I think one good hour on this should reduce it down enough to be completed tomorrow morning." he says, tapping at the work still sitting mostly underneath Cade. Thankfully his trousers are thicker than his underwear or it would have been ruined by now. "What if we... save the documentary for tomorrow... see if we can... make our own entertainment?" Cade picks up on his implication and raises a brow.
"Oh... hmm..." he manages to muse as his breaths start to slow fully back to normal. He's definitely not opposed, but he can't resist toying with the Bishop a little. "You already gave me mine. What makes you think you're going to tempt me, love?" he asks. Dante looks up at him for a moment. Then he beckons him closer with a couple of fingers.
Unable to resist giving into the curiosity, Cade slides off the edge of the desk and onto his best friend's thigh, leaning his ear closer to his lips to hear what he has to say. Dante brings the hand holding the pen up across his chest so the feather on the quill tickles the bare skin above Cade's open neckline softly. His other hand comes up around the other's hip and onto his lower stomach, pulling him closer, right into his lap.
Any resolve he had instantly crumbles as Cade feels the other's dick against his ass, absolutely rock solid through the layers of fabric of his robes. He lets out a shaky gasp as Dante pushes his hips up into him and kisses the satogram tattoo on the back of his neck.
"You know the choice is all yours, darling." the Bishop breathes against the Advocatus's skin. He lowers his voice to a whisper. "Prendere... o lasciare..." Cade sinks right into the touch, letting out a long, slow, shaky breath. He turns back with a nonchalant glance and a little smirk, not really letting on how he feels about that.
But he picks up his pen and one of the sheets, he can't help but notice that he's writing more quickly than usual.
Very, very quickly indeed.