#demonarm

bridgeton ,  accepting .

shouldn't have stuck her on the babysitting job,  there’s nothing about her that screams nanny .  the exact opposite,  actually & in the present moment,  she’s about as far removed from ms. doubtfire as anyone could be,  wrangling some goon’s neck with her garrote .  he’s gurgling,  chocking on his blood as she tightens the wire,  deepening the cut .  he’s shaking,  his hand scratching away is some futile,  desperate attempt to live,  until lady tugs hard & there’s a loud snap .  his body hits the floor face first & she’s left breathless,  stepping back & retracting her weapon into the mechanism around her wrist .  he had more survival instinct than the rest of his crew,  she’ll give him that,  just not enough to counter her bloodlust .  she doesn’t have to look at nero to know how he feels,  he’s all confusion & disgust & she could feel it in his words .

this is a side of her life she doesn’t plan on showing anyone,  ‘specially not the kid .  that fucking call ruined the plan,  what was meant to be one night of learning the ropes from a seasoned devil hunter turned sour fast .  must’ve been her good luck,  or her good charms,  some rival gang moving in on one of her employers’ warehouse & hey,  look who’s in town !  she urged nero to buzz off,  that this job was above him,  that this was shit he didn’t want to see & her vagueness only made him more willing to stick close .  can’t argue with a sparda & she knew he’d change his tune quick when she shot the first guy in the head & his corpse didn’t vanish off the concrete .  he’s gotta see her killing humans .

bridgeton ,  accepting .

she never really knows what to make of a sparda,  shared blood doesn’t bequeath similarity & they’re all bizarre on their own,  each one never in the same way twice,  unpredictable .  dante’s moods depend on time of day & whatever stage of his coping mechanism she found him in,  he was the only one she could even pretend to know .  their history helped too,  there was an understanding there built over a decade of devil hunting,  a mutual sin & how bloodshed kept their guilt at bay .  nero,  on the other hand ?  he was a total mystery,  completely new & strikingly familiar all at the same .  a kid,  a punk,  an attitude that made her reminisce of her young days as a mercenary,  the cold feel of guns in her hands,  merely a teenager who tasted vengeance because the world fucked her over & she wished his life could’ve been any different .  she didn’t grow up in a cult,  no,  it was arkham’s words that served her indoctrination,  the legend of sparda recounted so often in his madness,  the ruthless pursuit of that power,  their legacy & lineage .  it was the same for nero,  all he knew was the order & their belief until he saw the spardas for who they really are,  when found himself something else to apart of .

maybe if this family didn’t keep her on her toes,  lady wouldn’t be such a frequent guest at devil may cry .  her life is an open road,  after all,  stretching endlessly with no ties to her past beyond her weapon of choice .  she has her own family legacy to run away from,  she didn’t always want to get herself tangled in dante’s,  an unavoidable reality .  she doesn’t know how well she will get along with nero,  fortuna is so very far away & she’s in town mostly for nico,  her craftsmanship & her company .  the orphanage makes for a strange change of pace,  children running around her & gawking at her arsenal .  she does smile in return,  shaking her head if they try to touch anything .  she is dressed in danger head to toe .  all of fortuna’s architecture is sprawling,  tall & austere,  this building could find good use as this branch’s headquarters,  an improvement over nico’s van & she imagines the idea to bring a rise out of nero & his main squeeze .

tuck that one away,  might suggest it over a beer .

on the roof is where she finds him,  the door creaking open with a whine that feels like it’s just waking up .  lady follows it with a somewhat ironic,  “  knock,  knock .  ”  the city skyline was the perfect backdrop for what should be a business meeting .  as she sees him framed against the morning sun,  it begins to feel more like a chance to reconnect with nero after everything that went down & she isn’t sure if she’s prepared for that kind of emotional baggage .  demon killing is her preferred topic of conversation & she’ll cut to it right after they shake hands .  her tactic is tragically aborted,  when their eyes meet nero speaks & the weird poetry crosses some wires in her head .  she freezes for a moment,  blinking as her black-painted lips find words,  mouthing a noticeable,  “  wh━  ”  just like a sparda,  throwing a curve ball into any of her preconceived notion of how nero should act .  her head darts one or two degrees to the side,  maintaining eye contact,  confusion creasing wrinkles into her forehead,  eyebrows raised,