Disclaimer: I don't own DMC (yet)
Trish uses OPI nail polish, props to them for hilarious names
I will never stop writing platonic Dante and Lady you can't stop me
"So, wanna make this game a little more interesting?"
Lady looked up from where she leaned over the pool table, lining up her shot. Dante had that stupid smirk going strong. The huntress smiled as she focused on her shot again. She then leaned back, cue resting against a shoulder, and watched with satisfaction as her intended target ricocheted into a pocket.
"What did you have in mind this time?" Lady wondered aloud, moving around the table to find a good position. Dante watched her, cool as ever with his pool cue held loosely between his crossed arms.
Betting made the game a bit more interesting, even when the odds were, well, astronomically stacked against him.
"If I win," he began, sauntering over to lean above Lady, hoping to throw her next shot off. "You cut me some slack on my next few payments."
"Like I've done for the past few ones?" Lady bit sarcastically. "Deal." She made sure to bring her cue back far enough to ram him in the gut, while flawlessly sending the cue ball to clack against its brothers. None of Lady's chosen pattern sank, but they were now obstructing what would have been a perfect shot of Dante.
It was worth a try, Dante thought, backing away from Lady and circling the table to take his own turn. After years spent together, Lady was quite immune to his antics.
"So," the white haired gunslinger questioned, "When you inevitably win?"
Lady hummed and looked around the shop, conjuring up a good prize to glean from Dante's poor billiards skills. There wasn't anything in particular she really needed, and although she could always wave his debt over his head, she didn't really feel like taunting him. (They were actually best friends, after all.)
Then she spotted Trish's makeup kit, spilling its contents on the coffee table haphazardly. Trish might be out of town, but she wouldn't mind if her fellow huntress borrowed it, right?
"You give me a manicure."
"...what?" Dante's look of genuine confusion made Lady roll her eyes.
"Y'know, a manicure." Lady raised a hand and splayed out her fingers for emphasis. "The thing with nail polish?"
"Oh!" Dante relaxed, understanding her request. "Sure, you're on," he replied, returning his concentration to the game at hand.
"You accept the terms then?" Lady pushed, a little surprised by his dismissal.
"Of course!" Dante rolled his shoulders and began setting up his next shot. "I don't back down from a challenge, babe."
"So, you do know how this all works, right?" Lady inquired, watching as Dante rummaged through Trish's bag. After another unsurprising defeat at Lady's hands, they had relocated to Dante's desk to get started on her compensation.
Dante scoffed, pulling out the tray of nail polish. He set the rest aside, and began lining the surface of the desk with paper towels grabbed for the occasion.
"Okay then tough guy, if you're sure," Lady teased, while prying off her leather gloves. She then laid her left hand out on the paper, spreading her fingers wide, while opting to rest her chin on her right hand. She relaxed into the chair Dante had dragged over for the occasion as she watched him fiddle with tiny bottles.
"You got a color in mind?"
"Surprise me."
"Okay, uh.." Dante picked up the bottles one by one, squinting at the small print, eyes flickering to Lady's hands. "Black Cherry Chutney, Pink Flamingo, Melon of Troy...who names these?"
"Get on with it Dante."
An hour later saw Lady occupying Dante's standard position, legs resting on top of his desk sans the combat boots she normally wore, with Dante carefully applying a coat of red to match her toes to her drying fingernails.
"You know, you're surprisingly good at this," Lady complimented, during a lull in their conversation. He paused for a moment, looking up at her, before glancing over at the picture frame that was always within arms reach.
"I've done it before," he began in a quiet tone, gently grasping Lady's heel to adjust his canvas. "My mom, she loved to having her nails done. I used to catch my dad doing them for her all the time."
"Your father?" Lady sputtered, shocked. "He, what?"
"Yeah," Dante continued, dipping the brush back in for more polish. "Talented devil, my dad. Sealing dimensions, painting toenails…"
"Oh stop!" Lady laughed, lightly kicking the side of his head with her untouched foot. Dante laughed, in surprisingly good spirits, considering he was bringing up old memories. "Did he really though?"
"Yep. We were on the run a lot, sometimes it wasn't safe to spend much time in the city so my dad took it upon himself to give mom the whole spa treatment when he could."
"And you?" Lady asked, blowing on her fingertips. "How did you get so good at it?"
"Funny story, actually," Dante chuckled. He set down Lady's ankle and picked up her other. "I must have been about five or something, and it was Mother's Day, right?"
"Oh boy."
"Well I decided that since she liked it so much, Vergil and I should totally give my mom a what is it, pedicure? Yeah, a pedicure for Mother's Day. Verge wanted to give her some of our allowance money for a salon trip but I said no, we had to do it ourselves because then it was special, y'know?"
"And how did that go?"
"Well, I only had experience with finger paints at that point, and Vergil wouldn't let me practice on him, so…about what you'd expect of a five year old." Dante waved the little brush in his hand around while making a face of intense concentration, impersonating his younger self. Lady laughed so hard she snorted, making Dante laugh in turn.
"You didn't!"
"I did."
"What did your mother do?"
Dante once again glanced at the back of the picture frame, having already memorized the photo held within. He smiled, but it was a more subtle one than Lady was used to.
"She let me. Vergil refused to take part, but she let me paint her nails, and her toes, and the rest of her feet for that matter." Dante chuckled at his remembered mess. "Then she thanked me, and asked me if I wanted to be taught how to do it." He paused, and took a moment to reach for the photo of his mother, his face still smiling from the bittersweet nostalgia. "She showed me how to really use nail polish. Let me practice on my own fingers and toes. She still wore my awful paint job for a week though," Dante snickered. "I showed dad how I did when he got home, and he must have been pretty confused but he told me my nails looked nice purple."
"Oh my god," Lady cried, beside herself with laughter. Dante chuckled, placing the picture frame down. He didn't often talk about his family, but it was nice to share something, especially something happy. He if had to remember, he wanted it to be the good times.
"Well practice makes perfect, I guess." Dante said, placing the nail polish back in Trish's case for safekeeping.
"You can practice on me anytime big guy," Lady remarked, stretching out in Dante's office chair. Maybe she'd be the one taking a nap in it today.
"That a promise?" Dante teased, bunching up the paper towels and chucking them vaguely towards the trash can.
"I suppose it is," Lady hummed, closing her eyes. The chair really was deceptively comfy...
"Wait, uh, you weren't planning on telling Trish about this, right?"
"Throw in a free foot massage and I'll consider it."
"Fine. Next time you're getting Strawberry Margarita. Or Hot Hot Pink."
"Don't push it, Devil Boy."