North || Nathan Drake

20

The sun shone bronze on Dante's curls as the small boat bounced over the waves. Nate at the helm, eyes squinting through the filipino sunshine towards the shadow of the coast. Dante in a relaxed sprawl on the plush leather seats as he admired his new boyfriend's shoulders flexing as the boat was expertly steered round a bend towards a rocky area in the cliffs. The motor slowed and the boat came to a gradual stop as it bobbed on the swell of the waves. Dante adjusted his sunglasses and glanced around at the deep blue water and rocky cave in between the cliffs where they had stopped. 

"Is this it?" He asked. Other than a few caves in the rocks there was nothing. Years of experience told Dante that the caves were the key yet he didn't feel much anticipation as usual. Not the same thrill he felt when hurting for treasure the he felt before. All the years his father hunted for this and all Dante felt at being so close to the gold was exhaustion. exhaustion and a need to get this finally over and done with.

"Should be", Nate grinned at him, almost bouncing. He gestured to his phone, which was showing the dot of the coordinates as just ahead of them. He was feeling the thrill. It brought a smile to Dante's lips as he recalled the thrill of his first discovery. The exhilaration and excitement making it hard to keep still. The brown haired boy held out a hand and smiled at him. 

Dante sighed but took it and let Nate pull him to his feet. He leant into the other and felt him pretend to stumble under his weight, smiling as the other laughed. "Are you okay?" The laugh had dulled and Nate was looking at him with a caring gaze that made Dante flush. 

"I am fine", he assured, smile charming and sure. Nate hummed. 

"Don't flash me that smile", he teased. 

Dante smiled wider. "What smile?" 

"Your 'mr flirtatious charm' smile". Nate mimicked the expression and flashed him a confidant smile verging on the edge of flirty. Dante laughed. The smile dropped into something more natural, teasing. "Don't deny it". 

Dante couldn't. He knew what he was like. The walls he kept up. He was surprised that Nate had seen through it. "You got me", he held his hands up. "Guilty as charged. Do what you will officer". 

Nate smirked. "I'll hold you to that. But first". He let go and stepped back towards the edge of the boat. "How about a swim?" Then he turned and did a perfect swan dive into the sea. Dante waited for him to surface before making a show of politely clapping in mock applause. Nate pushed his wet hair out of his face, the long sleeved cotton shirt sticking to his skin and cargos. floating in the water. The pale material was almost see through and Dante did not mind the view. 

"Show off!" Dante called. Nate just smirked in satisfaction and waved at him. Dante sighed and pulled the shades from his face. He tucked them in his pocket and with far less grace than Nate, he dove into the water. It was blissfully cool after the heat and there was a peace in the weightlessness. He surfaced and pushed his dripping hair out of his eyes. 

"Hey". Nate's tone was fond as he pulled Dante closer in the water. Arms around his waist as they floated.

"Hi", Dante matched it. Smiling into the soft kiss that Nate gave him. "Shall we get the treasure or what?" 

Nate just chuckled and let him go, swimming away before rolling over in the waves and diving down under the surface. Dante watched his form get closer to the cave wall before disappearing. With a huge breath, he flipped himself underwater and swam after him. Luckily there was enough light in the cave for him to see the tunnel in the rocks that Nate had disappeared through. It was wide enough on both sides for him to swim through easily and for a moment the water became dark from lack of sunlight. For a second Dante worried that the tunnel stretched on further than he had thought and that he would run out of air. But then the tunnel opened up into shallower waters and light, weaker here than on the other side, lit up the waters. 

He pushed himself up and surfaced with a gasp. Hands were immediately pulling him up and onto his feet as he tried to catch his breath. He had not been free diving in a while and he was obviously out of shape. Nate helped him up until the two of them were standing knee deep in the shallows. Feet standing on rocks as Dante wiped the water from his face and took in the sight before him. 

"Oh my", he breathed. The cave they were in was huge, larger than two football pitches. stalagmites hung from the cave ceiling around them and water covered about half of the cave space. The other hall was golden sand illuminated from gaps in the ceiling where sunlight shone through. But the thing that really made Dante's breath catch was the two ancient vessels lying just on the shoreline, perfectly under the sun. The two ships they had been searching for, that his father had been searching for was right there. 

"Oh my god", he muttered again. "Ojalá mi padre hubiera podido ver esto". The thought made him want to cry again but he battled the emotions away. 

"Hey". He turned to Nate. The other man was wearing an expression that held wonder, adoration, love, joy, and grief all in one hear stopping look. "I wish Sam could have seen this. He would have loved it". 

That caused the emotions to over flow and Dante made a choked noise, not quite a sob but still grief filled. Nate didn't need to say anything, his eyes understood. He just stood there calmly, hands on the Spanish boy's elbows as he fought to compose himself. It took a few seconds before Dante lifted his head. Nate calmly wiping away the few tears that had managed to escape before he took the other man's hand and squeezed it. 

"First one to the ship gets first choice in treasure?" He asked with a soft smile. 

Dante composed himself and smiled back. "You're on". 

Nate grinned. "Okay. Three. Two. On- hey!" He hadn't finished counting before Dante threw himself off the rock they were standing on and dove into the water. He surfaced and began paddling as he heard Nate splash behind him. 

The sand was warm as he dragged himself up onto land and he was smiling, feeling young and childish as he turned to watch Nate pull himself up. He held out a hand and the American took it, letting Dante haul him to his feet. "You cheated", he complained. 

Dante just grinned. "Have you met me?" 

"Touche", Nate laughed. 

They looked up at the ships on either side of them. For wooden boats hundreds of years old, they were in remarkably good shape. Dante could think of a few archaeologists who would be dancing at the sight. "So. Left or right?" He asked.

Nate had one hand around the ring hanging from his neck as he gazed around. His feet having carried him further up the beach than Dante and the sun was hanging on his dripping hair and open eyes. "We did it", he sighed, as if a weight had removed itself from his shoulders. "We actually did it Sam". His words were soft but Dante still heard them. 

"Arriba, abajo, al centro y pa' dentro", he intoned, the familiar saying bringing warmth to his chest as he made the gesture that accompanied the words. A touch to the forehead, a touch to his stomach, then he pressed a two fingers to the centre of his chest before laying his hand flat over the same spot as the final words left his lips. Dante believed in those words and that motion more than he believed in the sign of the cross.

"Up, down, to the centre and inside", Nate translated. "I remember". Dante smiled at him. A soft expression. One that was vulnerable and one that he had shown to Nate more in the last week than he had to anyone in years. 

"We'll make a treasure hunter of you yet". 

Nate just chuckled. "So, left?" He gestured to the left ship. 

"Left it is". 

unedited 

I have missed Dante. I love Dante finding more religion in the culture and society he became a part of rather than the religion he was raised by. 

Religion is belief and he believes more in the code of treasure hunting than he does in a god. It makes up a lot of his character if you haven't picked up on that yet.