♜{H E A D C A N O N = headcaNNon?
☢ » In his free time, in Fortuna, Nero is busy with fixing and remodelling a car. It's an old Alfa Romeo that he bought second-third-fourth fifth hand, dark green, black leather seats, and it was heading to rot and rust in a dumpster. He doesn't think Kyrie would really appreciate the car, and knows Fortuna is small enough to go everywhere by foot, but it's been a whim of his since he was fourteen. He still needs to give her a name.
☢ » Since his expertise is mostly focused on weapons, swords and guns, Nero found a little trouble fixing the car. He still finds it hard not to leave scratch marks on the steel and iron, though the one on the grid on the front was done on purpose, for effect.
☢ » The voice in Nero's head is still there ever since he lost the use of his arm, before the times when everything crashed and burned [some of those literally]. He has learned to ignore it, the vicious whispers for more power and more blood and more shadows are just adapted to the lyrics that he busies his head with.
☢ » And sometimes it takes over his head so forcefully that he's not sure who's talking, whose voice is ringing, who is wanting them so desperately. That leaves an acidic taste in the back of his throat.
☢ » Since the last cutscene in the game, up to this day, Nero only kissed Kyrie about half a dozen of times. Part of it is because he's extremely awkward and embarrassed around her. But the other reason is that he's afraid that he'll lose control and end up hurting her.
☢ » Nero would rather take a wound than a compliment about anything but his fighting skills. He thinks injuries are less complicated to deal with, - it's just blood, ripped skin, bruised clots and broken bones and he can handle that just fine. That, and the bridge of his nose can only take some scratching without tinting red.
☢ » His mood is extremely influenced by music, to the point that sometimes if he listens to a calm song he'll mellow out pronto. One of his most precious memories is him falling asleep with his head on Kyrie's lap while she sung to him when they were kids. She was also the one to lull him to sleep after the gory nightmares he had.
☢ » The same way it calms him down, the same way it makes him go. It's why he's always carrying those headphones around, why the guitars are hard, fast and grinding and the drums are so loud that he no longer can tell if it's the beat of the song or his pulse thrumming against his ears. It makes his breath hitch, his blood pump and his ankles rise, and a prickle on his skin that tugs the corner of his lips.
☢ » Demon or not, Nero always had trouble bottling things up, keeping his mouth shut and not going with the flow. It has gotten him in trouble a couple of times, but not that he couldn't take in stride. However, when he straddled Dante and pummelled his face to a pulp on their first encounter, that was all him, not the demon, and that only merely told him just how far he, alone, could go.
☢ » Nero is extremely undecided about wanting to know who exactly his parents are. He can't help but feel curious about it, his relationship with Sparda, but his gut just sends him alarm bells, howling sirens and it's constantly backtracking whenever he just leans a little forward when he's intrigued. He wants it but he needs it or maybe he doesn't but maybe he does. It's such a kind of mess, the worst kind, that you can't even put your foot on solid ground without at least cracking something.
☢ » Other than a threat to Kyrie, Dante's nonchalance, smugness and teasing are about the only things that automatically trigger a rage from Nero. That's one of the things that baffles him the most.
☢ » But one thing is for sure: he knows he can let it all out with this guy, and it's simultaneously what pulls him towards the older demon hunter [secretly wishing "comebackcomebackcomebackagainmotherfuckersoIcanletitalloutyouknowhowthisshitworks"] and what draws him away. To make things worse: He trusts Dante enough to pat him down if he ever strays away from his limits, for other people's sakes, but he HATES. BEING.LEASHED.
☢ » Before Nero was taken in by Credo and Kyrie, he had already developed most of the survival instincts that he has now. He's a terrible light-sleeper, even if he's able to fall asleep about everywhere. He can deal with cold and heat no problem. His stomach is as if it's made of iron, and he has a quick wrist: he spent those times stealing and eating scraps that he found in late night trash cans. He spent his childhood running away from the guards, that kept chasing the orphans and street rats to make respectable men and women out of them. Because of that he has a vicious authority-phobia that pulls at the back of his neck whenever he has to face someone with so much of an upturned nose. Credo was the only Knight he didn't snarl at as a first reaction, just because he crouched to meet him to eye level the first time they talked.
☢ » Those times, Nero didn't have a name. One day, a five-year old Kyrie was coming back from church and Nero passed by her when he was running away from a Knight. He stopped for some reason and tied her shoelace. Nero recalls that scene vividly, but doubts Kyrie realizes it was him back then. She gave him the name because his clothes were too dirty, and the vivid contrast with his white hair made her think they were black. He only ever learned that Nero was Latin for Powerful when Credo told him. None of those endearing moments, either. He was scolding him and telling him that his attitude would never "let him live up to his own name".
☢ » Nero still avoids using his right hand on his day-by-day things. Especially when Kyrie is around, he curls his fingers and moves his arm behind his body, away from her, without even noticing it. It's when she stubbornly reaches for the demonic hand that he notices it. That's when he feels embarrassed at his subconscious lack of trust [in himself and her] and at the fluttering feelings in his stomach, but mostly the fact that the blue seems to shimmer slightly whenever she touches him - it's too obvious, and he always prays she won't notice it, even if he knows she's as sharp and observant as her brother.
☢ » Nero cannot do anything in the kitchen because Kyrie takes over and he feels powerless. She starts cooking and cleaning the dishes so fast [he doesn't realize he's the same way when he nears his weapon workshop] that he just stands there and watches like a lost puppy. If he ever asks her if she wants any help, she'll just usher him out and tell him to go do his things.
☢ » Nero loves pancakes in the morning.
☢ » While Dante likes pizza, Nero is actually a fan of lasagna. He knows how to cook a badass one, too. Even if it's the only thing he can cook and feeds himself on when Kyrie isn't around.
☢ » Nero's first memory of the Order is of the drawings on the marble floor of a wide, cold room with the kaleidoscopic light seeping through the panels and hitting his eyes. A guard shoves him in the Order's headquarters and he meets His Holiness for the first time, when the [not so old] eyes of the already-Highest Power of the Order carefully took in his complexion, his blue eyes, his white hair. Needless to say, he had always felt a thing about that old man that he just. didn't. LIKE.
☢ » The training with Credo was harsh, tiresome, awful, to the point that the kid often arrived to his room to tend to fresh cuts and bruises. Nero had to recognize he was possibly the most skilful Knight in the Order. Still, Nero was eager and combative [or just plain fucking god-damn stubborn] enough to progress further, just fuelled by the will to subdue his coach and superior and break his rigid stance. But the one thing that felt like a true victory to him for the first time was... when the future General finally cracked a smile at one of his jokes.
☢ » Nero loves the smell of gasoline. However, he came to realize that the scent of leather is soothing to him. When he did, and when he catches himself relaxing, he quickly bristles and shakes his head, which is yelling at him "THIS IS NOT THE TIME". ...especially because that means Dante is in his proximity.
☢ » But all in all. Nero is actually glad he met Dante.
....he had always wanted to impale someone with their own sword, after all.
☢ » Nero's biggest insecurity is that he wasn't made to play house. He craves the tranquility Kyrie brings him, knows she might be the one to soothe him with but a few chosen words or a calm sigh, but he never dreamed of white picket fences and a lab running across a lawn. He always dreamed of a streak of gunpowder along the floor, him holding a lit match, dropping it and watching as it fizzed alight a trail of smoke, up and up and up, farther away to the big finale but still close enough for him to feel the heat of the explosion hitting his cheeks.
...he figures she's tougher than he would ever be, to deal with such a jacked up head.
☢ » The curtains do not match the drapes, by the way. His eyebrows are a lot darker than his hair, a gray almost turning towards black, and that goes the same for the rest. Hope that soothes your curiosity, Genkaku. 8|
☢ » Nero actually tried to take his chances at playing the guitar when he was younger. He wasn't bad at it at all, actually. He learned to play through Nirvana, then Pearl Jam, and then moved to the most complicated songs. By the end of it, he knew how to play a badass "Misirlou" with awesome speed. That went out the window when his arm became demonic. One touch and the strings break like hairs. He was really thankful when he suddenly could air guitar and play anyway. He can't live without a decent dose of rock, after all.
☢ » Yamato's Awakening cutscene. After he Triggers for the first time and comes back to his senses, he laughs rather manically. Think about that.
[updated: 10/08/10]