Complicated homecoming...

[superstylishsquid]

It had been years since Alastor had last seen this town, bustling with humans and reeking of demons. It was almost comforting...if not for the fact that he knew his master was here. The master he'd abandoned without a word, who would be fully justified in striking him down for his insubordination. But it wasn't in Alastor's nature to run. He'd had his taste of freedom, now it was time to face the consequences. If he was lucky, maybe he could come out on top this time and be truly free.

But that would be once he entered Devil May Cry, something he would wait until daytime for. He didn't want to catch his master just returning from a demon hunt and ready to shoot anything that had fangs and claws. So in the darkness of the desert night, he stood atop a building across from the Devil Hunter's shop. His senses were attuned for any hint of magic approaching him, but he might not register an ordinary human right away.

Comments

[patricided]

It never boded well when there was a demon watching the shop. It was just by happenstance too that Lady had looked up. Noticed the glowing eyes on the roof of the building across the street. Great. What had Dante done now to draw the attention of another demon likely intent on challenging him and taking over his power. Heaving a heavy sigh Lady climbed the fire escape.

Might as well get this particulars out of the way. Dante would be out of town at least another few days for his latest client. A client that should afford a good payout if Dante didn't somehow manage to screw things up.

"There are better ways of getting Dante's attention than staring at his shop."

[superstylishsquid]

His tail jerked in surprise at the sudden voice and he turned a bit too quickly to entirely play off, but then he just shrugged. He recognized the new arrival, of course. He'd seen her in Dante's shop often enough while hanging on that wall. Might as well talk to her and kill some time.

"Maybe I'm not trying to get his attention. Seems kind of dumb to hope he'll notice me here when he's not even home."

[patricided]

She shifts her weight slightly, openly curious as her head tilts to one side. She didn't usually startle demons that easily, even Trish hadn't reacted that way the first time. Interesting and very strange.

"If you knew that, then the point of watching the shop would be?"

[superstylishsquid]

He was just going to pretend that he didn't notice her reaction to his reaction.

"Isn't it obvious? Waiting for him to get back. Easier than chasing him down who-knows-where."

[patricided]

The last couple days were complicated. Meeting Alastor had not exactly been a good experience. Not that very many of her run-ins with demons were, but this ...this was different. Normally, it just ended in sinking lead into the monster. Hell she’d done that to Dante within the first five minutes of knowing him. It would have been easier if she had, at least then he couldn’t have asked her any of those questions. Couldn’t have made her feel icky and covered in slime.

She’s even less proud of how she left. Just stalking off after paying for his dinner.

Simply put she needed normal. And normal for Lady involved kicking Dante’s ass at pool, which really didn’t sound very exciting. Heaving a sigh Lady pushes inside, sure Dante is back and settles on the couch.

For just a second and then she’s up pacing the floor. “So I met Alastor a couple days ago.”

Why yes she is the queen of deflecting and ignoring things.

[hellspawnedhero]

Dante, of course, is sitting back at his desk with a slice of pizza in one hand. It was a rough mission, and that meant he was going to be eating a lot more than normal. Not that he didn't already eat like a horse.

Lady's arrival doesn't surprise him, he assumes she's just here to pester him about his debt now that he's gotten paid. But no, she just sits on the couch for all of two seconds before she's back up and fidgeting. The real surprise, though, is what she says.

"Alastor? You mean the Devil Arm? Don't you know better than to go snooping in someone's weapons stash?"

[patricided]

"I don't have to snoop when they're standing on the roof of the building across the street." She pauses in her pacing then hands on her hips. Was he a devil arm? He looked an awful lot like a person when she saw him. Last she knew the devil arms couldn't take a humanoid shape again. Maybe she should start paying a little more attention to what he does with his toys.

[hellspawnedhero]

That gets his eyebrows to raise. One of his Devil Arms is out and about? He hadn't even noticed...then again, he hadn't known they could do that. Does this mean they could be getting up to trouble behind his back?

"Well shit. What was he up to?"

[superstylishsquid]

The discussion with Dante had gone better than Alastor had dared hope, but it had still been emotionally draining. There was a lot he needed to think about now, knowing that he had a future and a chance to live as he wanted, but he was really too tired for that right now. He needed a distraction. Ice cream was a good distraction, so he'd found his way to Freddy's parlor and plopped himself down in the most isolated, out of the way booth he could find. Their hot fudge sundaes would, hopefully, help relax him so that he would be feeling less tense and wired up.

Of course, the cute waitress in the skimpy uniform didn't hurt matters, either. He couldn't hep stealing a glance every time she left his table, turning her back to him in that tiny little skirt. It was a nice view, even if he wasn't planning on making a comment.

[patricided]

This hadn't been exactly how Lady saw the day turning out. Though she did owe Alastor a thank you of sorts. His arrival let her screw her head on straight so she didn't ask questions she wasn't sure she was ready to have answers to. Still she was a touch too raw in her own way. And going home guaranteed she'd be turning things over again in her head and she just wanted a break from that.

Naturally, a trip to Freddy's was in order. Only problem when she stepped inside was that her usual booth for brooding was occupied by the very reason she needed ice cream in the first place. And he was currently ogling Cindy if her eyes weren't playing tricks on her. She gave the cheery red head a wave and then made her way over to the counter to order a dish of vanilla drowned in whipped cream and cherries.

"Isn't checking out a girl's rear against one of the rules, father?" She doesn't ask to sit down she just does, crossing her legs and trying not to feel awkward to not be able to see everything around her.

[superstylishsquid]

"Only if you pay attention to organized religion. I don't care about a bunch of overly exaggerated tabloids that sensationalize everything. It's letting lust control your life or override common decency that's against the rules."

He takes a bite of his sundae and looks at Lady, eyes flicking down to her ice cream and then back to her face as he raises an eyebrow.

"What about you? I thought you didn't eat with demons."

[patricided]

"Most of the devout would disagree with you. Of course they're the same people that so enjoy perpetuating bigotry and several other rather unsavory aspects that they claim are supported by their particular holy book."

And yes she's aware of the irony of what she just said. Her eyes following his to the dish of ice cream in front of her. A lone cherry already sliding down the mountain of whipped cream.

"I just felt like ice cream would be nice right about now." And she's debating breaking her rule in favor of drowning her conflicted emotions in ice cream. Not that she needs the sugar.

[superstylishsquid]

Life was never dull for a Devil Hunter, that was for sure. Word had come in at Devil May Cry about a demon that was preying on children at the local park, and Alastor had agreed to take the job before the client could even give an offer. He didn't even give Dante time to argue, either over the job itself or which one of them would take it, before he was calling his sword to his hand and walking out the door.

The park was peaceful when he got there, aside from the screams of excited children running around the playground. He'd meant to just watch from one of the benches, but ended up changing his mind when one of the kids skinned a knee. Some fussing and bandaging later, he had half a dozen kids calling him 'mister' and begging him to play with them. Before he knew it, he'd ended up dragged into a game of 'topple Godzilla'...as the giant monster, of course. He just hoped that nobody saw how quick they'd gotten his ankles and knocked him over...

[patricided]

It isn't unusual for Lady to hear about a job before it ever makes its way to Dante's ear or even to Devil May Cry for that matter. It is unusual, at least for her, to see one of the shops inhabitants bandaging and playing with children as she approaches the playground for said job. Not that it's altogether a terrible sight watching the kids knock Alastor over. Actually it's sort of cute as the kids scramble over him to keep him on the ground. Her eyes catching how easy of a time they were having and she can't help the way she smiles as she finds a seat to just watch. The level of adorable shouldn't hit her quite like it does as she props her head up with her hand on her knee as she continues to watch him interact with the children. No point in interrupting just yet.

[superstylishsquid]

At first, he tries rolling over to knock the kids on top of him off balance. It results in a few playful shrieks, but in the end just gets him a preschooler sitting on his stomach. When the rest of the children pile on top of his arms and shoulders, he can't quite help a slight chuckle.

"Alright, you got me, little monster hunters."

It's only after his new playmates let him up and he dusts himself off that he turns around and finds Lady sitting in the bench he'd been watching from. Well...this is awkward. And his cheeks are flushing slightly violet now.

"Uh...how long have you been there?"

[patricided]

She can't help but laugh a little at his struggles to escape the children. Considering how unsuccessful his attempt was she was leaning toward the belief that it wasn't nearly as important to him as making the children happy. Especially, when she paired that with his restraint and the ease with which he let them bring him down. The only difference was she was just far enough away to recognize that he made some sort of sound of amusement but could not hear what he said.

And the look on his face makes it really hard for her to wipe her slight smile away and be all business with him. She blushes a little herself being caught watching at all.

Lady shrugs and sits up, no longer leaning on her hand, "Long enough to watch you take care of a skinned knee."

Drunk Text (continuation)

[patricided]

(ooc: continued from here)

[She hums softly pleased, that felt nice.]

So?

[superstylishsquid]

So, I don't want you to be uncomfortable later.

[patricided]

Let me worry about that. [She pats his cheek lightly and rests her head on his shoulder.]

[patricided]

[She's in that lovely place between waking and dreaming. It's warm and comfy, and she's loathe to give those two feeling up. She's actually entirely disinterested in waking up. With a happy murmur she's curls closer to her pillow, arm squeezing a little as she throws a leg over it. Entirely unaware that she's snuggling Alastor and all too happy to continue.]

[superstylishsquid]

*Alastor's still half asleep, dozing without nightmares for once. It's actually comfortable, lying there with a warm weight on top of him. But ultimately, he is only half asleep, and her movement brings him the rest of the way back to the waking world...to find that he is thoroughly pinned and being cuddled. It's morning already, meaning he dozed through the night...and she'll probably be waking up soon, more than likely with a massive hangover. Carefully, trying not to wake her up, he shifted her towards laying on the actual pillow.*

[patricided]

[Of course the only natural reaction to being shifted is to hold on tighter. Mumbling something incoherent as she does. If they keep trying to move her, she's going to latch on like an octopus and won't that be awkward when finally can't keep dozing even remotely.]

Stop it.

[patricided]

By the time Lady finally, stops by the Devil May Cry nearly two weeks have passed by. It is mid-March now and she’s not entirely sure what she’s going to say to either of them beyond the usual. She had a job to do which was part of why she didn’t come in before now. She had responsibilities that kept her from doing what she wanted, and paying jobs kept her in her apartment and her equipment from rusting.

Though it didn’t stop her from coming in with a new job for either boy or both if they felt like sharing and a few new scuffmarks on her boots. Just barely visible under the buffing and shoe polish she used to keep the supple and in good condition. When she comes in it’s all business from her posture to the teasing smile as does her usual once over. Surprised as always not to see the piles of garbage that once littered the floors and flats surfaces.

“I hope you’re paying Patty for all the hard work she does on this place.”

[hellspawnedhero]

Dante, as usual, was leaning back in his chair with a magazine in his hands. A box of pizza sits on his desk, and he barely bothers to look over at the door when Lady comes in.

"Hey, not like I ask her to do it. She can knock off whenever she feels like it."

[superstylishschism]

Alastor, meanwhile, paused the movie he was watching from the couch. He was in human form, as usual when he was in the office during business hours, and holding a box of Poptarts in one hand.

"What, my work's chopped liver?"

He sat up with a huff, although her posture isn't lost on him. Nearly two weeks after his invitation, and this still wasn't a social visit.

"What's the job? Before Pizzaface over there finds a way to stall."