Devil May Cry © Capcom
That Which We Call a Rose
Jason M. Lee
"Have you ever thought about your names?"
Lady blinked, pausing on buttoning the shirt. "Buah?"
Dante scratched the back of his head, before sighing and resting his chin on top of her head, arms wrapping around her with hands clasping over the slight baby bump. He hadn't been sure how to approach this topic, mulling over it the previous night while peacefully listening to her soft breathing as she slept. He knew that his usual over-the-top style wouldn't work, and subtlety had never been his forte. Bad enough with that certain holiday looming over his head, even if it prominently featured his favorite color. The half-devil could only take solace that she disliked that holiday as well, and was of the practical sort, preferring function over form most of the time.
(Seeing her wearing one of his shirts had made him giddy, and his devil was internally strutting about like a proud rooster. Such a small thing, yet it spoke so much about them.)
"My names, huh..." Lady leaned into Dante's chest, clasping her hands over his as she thoughtfully tilted her head as much as she could. "Not since... I mean, it was quite the hassle of changing all the necessary paperwork after the tower, but... No, I haven't thought about it much."
He could sense the raised eyebrow from her, asking the unspoken question.
It sounded like a really easy decision, but she deserved a say in it since she was now living with him and Nero. Most of her stuff had already been moved over from her apartment, primarily her hunting equipment as well her book collection and notes, so that left selling most of the furniture she didn't want or need. (Morrison had been doing wonders on getting them the best prices, even discounting his fee.) And yet, even with her and their baby along the way, some part of Dante still felt that it wasn't quite... complete. Maybe it was the leftover teenage punk side of him that detested parts of bureaucracy, but knew that it was necessary. The "responsible" adult part was basically happy that his mate was permanently staying with him and Nero, glad that her morning sickness had tapered off.
"You're purring again, Dante."
Whoops. "Blame the devil in me," he quipped automatically, but nonetheless nuzzled into her hair.
He couldn't help the smile when she giggled in amusement. "Really, are you planning something, Dante?"
"Maaaybe."
Lady snorted before pecking him under his chin and moving out of his hold. "Well, it's going have to wait. I have a client who wants a consultation done at their house. Try not to eat all of the Chinese strawberries again, hm. You know how hard it is to get them into the country, especially fresh ones."
"Hey, not my fault they got that name and I thought they were like regular strawberries." He waggled his eyebrows suggestively. "And I might have something 'harder' for you to get into."
This time, Lady snickered, slapping his shoulder but smiling softly as he took her hand. "Save some for me, if you do get into them."
"Yeah, yeah." Dante lightly kissed her knuckles, paying extra attention to the faint scars. Devil instincts wanted to keep her and their unborn nestling in their nest, but he clamped it down, knowing that she'd go stir crazy and would probably shoot him again if he tried that. Really, every time he attempted to step out of his father's shadow, he would always find some ridiculous parallel - several of Eva's journal entries had griped about Sparda following her like an oversized eager puppy after she had shot him out of reflex at their first meeting. "Anyways, watch your six."
She rubbed a thumb over his fingers, squeezing his hand tightly and then headed downstairs, warning Nero on keeping an eye on the stove when boiling milk.
Truly, what did he do to deserve such a woman by his side.
3-1-2-4-5
Sighing through her nose, Lady hitched her backpack a bit as she walked down the bustling sidewalk, weaving about. She wasn't completely too grumpy about not being able to go on the more active missions, understandably doctor's orders and Dante taking them instead. She did wish that the people who called in for consultations would at least do some better research. Some of the things this one couple had heard and told her made the huntress want to track down whomever was responsible for spreading such bullshit that could easily cost a limb, if not lives, and read them the riot act. Between her and Dante's book collections and case files, even Nero had the sense to ask them first before reading anything. Well, nothing else she could do about it but pass on the information to the appropriate people, thus her trip to the courthouse.
She was surprised to see both part-devils at one of the courthouse's more secured parking entrances that was used for secretly bringing in items and people from prying eyes. While Nero was fidgeting next to his uncle, Lady could tell that he was ready to go bouncing off the walls. She remembered that the young quarter-devil had never been to the courthouse before, much less through one of the more clandestine entrances. "What are you two doing here?"
A shrug as Dante flashed his badge at the guard manning the station, who gave a friendly wave while buzzing them in. "Have some shit here to do as well. What about you?"
"Clients' 'friends' were shopping out crappy info, so I wanted pass a heads-up along just in case someone decides to be idiots in the future if they're found using said 'instructions'."
As they went through the various security checkpoints of X-ray machines alongside metal and crystal detectors, both of them explained to a highly curious Nero on their surroundings. From half of the equipment used by the file clerks and other personnel, to the fixtures that were more than just decorations and helped act as anchor points for wards, to a bit of a who's who on the name plaques and the directories hung on the walls, and the different departments that primarily dealt with mundane civilian life and the occasional supernatural. Obviously, Dante and Lady would be sharing anecdotes of those they'd pass by, often causing Nero to force himself to contain his giggles at the sillier stories, what with the solemnity of the building.
Her task done on filing her report and shoving a copy into her backpack, Lady raised an eyebrow upon catching Dante tapping a finger against the crook of his elbow out in the hall. While Nero was openly displaying his nervousness due to being young, she knew that her partner rarely showed such displays of anxiety, unless one knew where to look for.
"Spit it out, Dante."
She didn't miss that particular look he gave her when she readjusted her backpack. "Do you remember me asking you about your names this morning?"
"And why would that involve you two being he-" Running through their conversation this morning again, heterochromatic eyes widened as Lady slightly covered her mouth in surprise. "Oh."
If the barely hidden sheepish smile was anything, him intertwining their fingers definitely sealed it. "Us devils are possessive, but when it comes to certain things, we're willing to share. It's just that... Only if you're okay with accepting it."
"But I thought it was your father's?"
"It's actually Grandma's," Nero piped up, also looking a bit hopeful. "She thought that Grandpa had ran around long enough without a real one that when they finally got together, she 'badgered him into taking it because he kept messing up his old identities', to quote her."
Of course a two-thousand-year-old-plus devil would have many human pseudonyms on trying to keep a low profile as word of mouth spread things, and would have some trouble keeping track once written records started becoming prevalent.
As she had told Dante, Lady hadn't really thought about her names since Temen-ni-gru. Her original name, given by that man, lost any real meaning to her after he had sacrificed her mother for power. Her mother had taken that man's name when they had married, and so she had discarded that as well, not wanting his taint to follow her. Having to deal with all the necessary paperwork at her old hometown had been an hassle, but she had felt that it was worth it in the end - Dante had even helped her on filling out the forms at the hotel.
That Dante was offering his family name...
"Don't we need a witness?" Stalling, sure, but she needed a bit of time to reorient herself. "Nero's too young to count as a valid one."
"Which is why your husband-to-be asked me to come along," Sláine's soft voice barely echoed through the hall as he walked up to them, a small smile on his face. "Please don't make me lock you two up in a closet so that you can 'sort things out' better."
"Gah, Doc! I think I'm too young to be hearing about this stuff this early!" Nero whined, making a face. "Bad enough these two sometimes go all kissy-kissy!"
As doctor and nephew bantered back and forth on how early was too early regarding sex education, Dante kept looking at her, still holding her hand.
He had given her a new name after she had thrown her old one away.
She had helped give him a name for his shop, even if she didn't mean to.
He gave her the shop's keys not long after Nero's arrival, and still accepted her in after learning they were unexpectedly expecting.
And now his family name... She kept circling back to that.
"'Lady Alighieri' has a nice ring to it," she spoke softly, not even bothering to fight the blush.
Lady didn't need to look to see the relief and happiness on his face.
She hadn't even realized that she was crying until Dante gently wiped away her tears after the grandfatherly judge they both knew signed their papers, wishing them good fortune (while also patiently indulging Nero's questions about his turban). The celebratory dinner back home at Devil May Cry between the four of them was half the foods that she could eat and their individual favorites, juice (her and Nero) and ale (Dante and Sláine) being toasted. It was made the extra sweeter when Nero proudly presented the strawberry and boysenberry cheesecake that he had been learning from Eva's recipe journal, something that she was finally able to eat again.
Honestly, what did she do to deserve such a man by her side.
A/N: Follows "Nibble, Nibble", after "Waraizome" and "Edelweiss".
The title obviously refers to Romeo and Juliet, Act II, Scene II, where Juliet's lamenting at the balcony about Romeo being a Montague. The alternative title was "Anthroponymy", which is the study of names, from given name to surname to matronyms, and so forth.
Was supposed to had been posted on Valentine's Day 2019, but eh, it's still February. Part of me was thinking on going with the earlier concept of Valentine's Day that celebrated spring, but with Lady accepting Dante's family name being a new beginning for her, it still thematically fits since Spring has often been associated with new beginnings.
The "Chinese strawberry" is the Myrica rubra, or "yangmei" 楊梅/杨梅 in Chinese, or "red bayberry", part of the bayberry families. I had spent several months in Shanghai years ago, and when my cousin took me to one of the smaller farmer markets during the summer, she bought me a bag of these, which I absolutely fell in love with. (They do stain like crazy.)