By Fang Wolfsbane

"An' I'm tellin' you there ain't no way in Hell that yer gonna make that shot," Nicoletta Goldstein said, her hands resting firmly on her hips.

"And I'm telling you I can," Nero retorted, confident in his own skills, at least more than his friend was. Frankly, it hurt a bit. Not that he'd ever admit that to her.

"Has yer head always been this big?"

"Only when it comes to you."

"Tch."

"Kids, kids, c'mon. Just get it over with. I'm starving over here," Dante said from behind his desk, his feet up on the furniture as usual.

"Shut up Dante!" the two of them snapped in unison, for once agreeing on something.

Dante blinked, looking to the two women standing beside him, each observing the contest closely. "Can you believe these two?"

"Considering you're related to one of them, definitely," Lady smirked, her arms crossed over her chest whilst Trish only flashed a pretty smile, leaning her weight against the desk.

"Hey, I take offense to that," Dante made clear, pointing a finger accusingly at the two women. They only rolled their eyes in response.

The room went quiet as Nero took in a breath no one else would dare breathe. Concentrating on his target, Nero tried to visualise it. It was just like during training, not that much different from swinging a sword at a target. He could do this. He could-

"Hey guys, sorry I'm late," Nero's fiancé, Kyrie, announced her arrival, opening the door to the business just as Nero threw his weapon.

The dart flew threw the air at the very moment Kyrie's voice pulled him from his thoughts. Turning his head at the last second, Nero forgot to aim. By the time he remembered to look, the dart had hit the wall, far away from the red bullseye target it was intended for. Nico's dart was closest, making her the winner of their little one-on-one challenge.

"No!" Nero cried whilst Nico excitedly tossed both hands in the air with a loud whoop, earning a high five from Lady the moment she turned around.

Realising that she had caused Nero's defeat in the dartboard contest, Kyrie's cheeks flushed in embarrassment as she sheepishly closed the door behind her. "Sorry, Nero."

The white haired man let out a sigh of defeat, a small smile raising in its place instead as he held his arms out towards the human woman. "Don't worry about it. She would have made me pay for it anyway."

"Hey, I resent that!" Nico protested as the couple hugged each other in greeting, only receiving a raspberry from Nero in return. She returned the favour with a raised finger.

"Right, that settles it," Dante said, smacking his hands against his thighs as he reached for the receiver end of his old desk phone and called the pizza parlour he frequented. "Nero's paying."

"I'm still waiting on my last pay check," Nero pointed out, drawing both Lady and Trish's attention to his uncle.

"Speaking of, when am I getting mine?" Trish inquired, tilting her head towards him, sending a veil of waist-length blonde hair sliding free from over her shoulder.

"That's what I'd like to know too," Lady joined in, leaning in as well with heterochromia eyes narrowed in question.

"Uh, so pepperoni okay with everyone?" Dante asked, but before his hand could touch the phone, the two women intercepted with their hands firmly on the desk before him, keeping the half-demon man from completing his quest. "Oh c'mon! I waited all night for this!"

"You can wait a little longer. Now, where's my cash?" Lady insisted. However, before Dante could lift a finger to answer, the old phone rand, drawing the attention of everyone in the room. Lady groaned in response, knowing that her hard-sought after money would evade her once again.

A couple of seconds of ringing passed before Trish took on the burden of picking up the receiver and holding it to her ear. "Mister Morrison, what good timing."

"Saved by the bell, eh Dante?" Nico teased, earning a pair of white arched brows. Saved from the fire, only to jump into the inferno was usually the case when J.D. Morrison called. Lady was already heading to where they had all deposited their weapons earlier.

Everyone went quiet once more as they watched Trish nod and thank the man on the other end for letting her know about whatever interrupted their pizza night.

"What is it?" Kyrie was the first to ask, looking from Trish to her fiancé as if he had been in on the same call across the room.

" Time to suit up," Trish said with a sigh, putting the phone back down.

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