Dante was on his sofa. Lady and Trish were playing pool behind him. It was a rainy day, and the window had many streaming patterns on it that Dante idly watched roll down the surface. There was an intense silence. Lady had offered to make the pool game more interesting, and slapped down a large wad of cash. Trish had raised an eyebrow and then smiled. The silence was focused...strong and permeating. Dante already knew the result, and he was waiting for the sparks to fly.

Lady had planned her shot, and took a good minute of preparation. When she finally took it, she potted her last three balls in, and casually knocked the black in as well. Trish was gobsmacked. Lady, wearing a blue vest and a skirt with leggings, sauntered by. She paused only to pick up her cash.

"Pleasure to do business with you, Trish." She smirked, a cheeky one.

"You-wha-how?" Trish spluttered. "You cheated! You did something!" She pointed in an accusatory manner. "I need that money!" Lady smiled very teasingly.

"Oh? I'm afraid I won it. Fairly. Sorry honey." Lady spun around, somehow making the money disappear. The epitome of tease.

"C'mon, can't you just lend me some back? I've got to eat!" Trish wasn't quite begging, but if the situation reared its ugly head, Trish was fairly sure that she would rather keep her pride than her body weight. Although that new burger bar down the road appeared very appetising right now. Lady shrugged her shoulders.

"Sorry, but I need new clothes! My wardrobe isn't quite what I want it to be." Lady turned away. "Sorry." She didn't look very apologetic though. The wink she fired off at Trish made sure that the message got across. You snooze, you lose.

"Hey!" Trish advanced on Lady. Lady squared up to her unflinchingly. "How many times have I loaned money to you, hm?"

Dante growled under his breath. He loved to have a back-and-forth. It was practically his second job to be a smartass. But he hated arguing for real. A trading of insults, he was fine with. But an actual fight inside his social group...it threatened to drive him up the wall. And he was growing increasingly uncomfortable with the surrounding atmosphere.

"No can do." Lady locked eyes with Trish. It wasn't quite personal. Not yet. "I won."

"I don't care that you won! I need some cash to tide me over! Come on! Please?" Trish whipped around to face Dante. "Dante! Loan us a few, would you?"

Dante didn't lift himself up. He didn't want to get involved in this argument.

"Honestly Trish, I've got whatever change is on the kitchen side. You can have it, but I doubt you'll even get milk with it." He tensed up when he realised indirectly he had set himself up. He was stuffed either way, but if he had the money to loan, he would've. It would have solved the problem at hand.

"See, Lady? At least he'll give his last penny. Even if he has nothing, he'll still give it up!"

Dante growled again, almost audibly. There it is!

"You just don't get what friendship means, do you? Hell, we're practically a family!" Trish gestured around the shop.

Dante twitched.

"Sorry Trish, but being in what you call a 'family' doesn't mean I have to be a charity giver!" Lady raised her voice. "Some family this is! We've got a demon woman here that is practically the mother of the shop, a demon killing woman that really doesn't give a fuck, and a depressant that happens to be a half-demon! And to extend upon that, none of us really have parents!"

Dante shook.

"All I want is a loan Lady! Stop being such a bitch! And stop bringing Dante into this!"

Lady snorted.

"No Trish, I will bring Dante into this! He lives here too! Plus, you brought him into this in the first place! Why don't you stop being such a beggar? You lost, get over it! My god, do what Vergil did and give up!"

Dante snapped.

In about two seconds, he had triggered, jumped from the couch and sped to Lady. He grabbed her throat with his left hand and held Ivory to her temple with the other. He stared right at her. Lady had never seen his devil form, but now she got the full picture.

Scaly skin, almost like armour. Glowing eyes. Patches of dark. An angry scowl.

Trish's eyes flicked between the two. Dante. Lady. Dante. Lady. Lady couldn't breathe. She was desperately trying to draw that one sacred breath, but her red face indicated to Trish that she couldn't. Lady didn't try to fight back. The gun at her temple convinced her not to. Lady noticed the corner of Dante's eye glisten momentarily. A tear? Dante's eyes lidded slightly. It was almost a look of contemplation that was on his face. Then, he let go of Lady. She collapsed to the floor, holding her throat. She sucked in deep breaths, and coughed deeply. Dante staggered back, dropping Ivory in the process. His trigger dissipated, and he held himself up on the couch.

He glanced up at the two ladies. He looked into their eyes, one at a time. Then, he spun away, his red coat swirling majestically. He opened the door to the downpour, which could arguably be better described as a monsoon. He looked out just for a moment at the sheets of rain. Then he moved forward and simply took the rain. The girls watched as he neglected to shut the door. They watched as his silhouetted form took a seat on the first step outside.

A minute later, Dante heard footsteps. He went to wipe the tears from his eyes. Then he realised the downpour had covered his body in water, including his face. He felt the presence of each lady take a seat next to him on either side. They sat in silence with him for a while. Lady was the first to speak up.

"Dante...I'm sorry about what I said about Vergil. It was uncalled for."

Dante didn't reply. He grasped his face with one hand, body jerking. Each of his companions placed a hand on his shoulder. He let his sobs become audible. The women could feel his body, hear the tears. When he calmed down not a minute later, Lady handed him Ivory.

"Here." She pushed it into his hand. He put it in its holster.

"Come on, let's go inside." Trish pulled him to his feet. They all walked through the door. Trish closed it behind them. As Dante stumbled over to his desk, Lady handed Trish the money she'd won. A look passed between them. Their little spat was transcended by this. They nodded at one-another in silent agreement.

"Hey!" The ladies looked around and saw Dante with the pool cue. "Want to take me on? Two on one?" He smiled, albeit shakily. The women laughed and walked over. It began with Dante potting two balls on the break. How did you do that?

And, within moments, they were laughing, joking, and playfully accusing each other. You've got a magnet!

A family settled.