"Did I miss anything?" Dante whispered far too loudly, as he clambered up the tree trunk until he was a few branches above Nero. There was an obnoxious cracking sound as he slipped and took a few seconds to steady himself.
"Nothing yet…" Nero mumbled, staring through a pair of binoculars into his own backyard. "Although I'm starting to think we should have picked a closer tree–" Nero stopped and sniffed, then lowered the binoculars. "Is… Is that chicken?" he asked, looking above him.
"I got hungry on the way over," Dante said through a mouthful of food. "Want some?"
"Dude, ew. No," Nero replied.
"I'll take some if you're offering!" Lady said from somewhere off to their left.
"We just ate," Trish chastised her from somewhere higher still.
"Will you guys keep it down?!" Nero hissed. "This is a covert op!"
"Where's Vergil?" Trish asked.
"He probably had better stuff to do," Lady said huffily. "Right, Dante?"
"Actually, I couldn't find him," Dante explained. "I did leave him a note, but I highly doubt this is his sort of thing anyway."
"Does Vergil even celebrate Christmas?" Trish asked.
"Do you?" Nero asked, rolling his eyes. So much for a quiet evening.
"I'm only here to keep Lady company," Trish said, almost proudly.
"That cute Mrs Claus dress you bought the other day suggests otherwise," Lady said teasingly.
Trish laughed. "What can I say, I appreciate a good looking outfit."
"I too, appreciate a good looking outfit," Dante chimed in. "How much would it cost to get you to wear that around the office?"
"Dante eww, that's your mother!" Lady called out.
"Where do you think I got my good looks from?" Dante chuckled. "Besides–"
"Whatever you're about to say, I don't wanna hear it," Nero groaned.
"Well I'm curious," Trish said.
"Guys!" Nero said firmly. "Focus on the mission, my family is in there!"
A collective sigh echoed through the air.
"If you're that worried, shouldn't you be down there with them?" Lady asked.
"Yeah or at least have one of us staying over?" Dante agreed.
Nero shook his head. "I don't want to scare it off." He looked through the binoculars again. "Besides, last time I was asleep right next door and didn't hear a thing. This time I'll get it before it gets in…"
"And you're sure Kyrie isn't just messing with you?" Trish asked.
"There's no way she'd have kept it up this long," Nero said. "Especially after I told her what we were doing tonight."
Dante took another noisy bite of his chicken. "Honestly," he gulped. "Are magically appearing presents really such a bad thing? I'd love to wake up to a whole buncha free stuff."
"You're telling me that the idea of something sneaking into your home, where your family is sleeping, without anyone noticing, doesn't concern you?!" Nero asked in disbelief.
"Man I dunno," Dante said thoughtfully. "If only all burglars were as considerate, then maybe–"
"What's that?" Lady called out suddenly. The group turned their attention back to the house, where an outdoor light had come on. They watched as Nico stepped out of the garage and lit a cigarette.
"Damn it Nico," Nero mumbled under his breath. Nico looked over towards the trees and waved, despite the fact she couldn't see or hear them. A cloud of smoke hung in the air around her, and it was hard to tell if it was from her breath, or cigarette smoke.
"Can I just point out how freaking cold it is?" Lady said, as Nico headed back inside. She adjusted her position slightly. "Are we seriously planning on staying out here all night?"
"Oh right, human," Trish said nonchalantly.
"Oh crap, yeah," Nero agreed. He searched for Lady in the darkness. "Guess we kinda forgot to take that into consideration," he said apologetically. "If it gets too much you can go, I guess."
"Gee, thanks," Lady said. "What happened to it being super important that I was here?"
"Hey, come on," Nero said. "It is important. Besides…" he let out a sigh. "I wanted to be able to spend some time with you guys on Christmas Eve for once."
"Aww, how sweet," Lady said sarcastically. "And you thought camping up a tree was the best way to do that, huh?"
"Come on Lady, no need to be so harsh," Dante said. "The kid's trying."
"I'm not a–" Nero took a deep breath. "Look, I'm sorry, OK. I'm not exactly having a great time either."
"Maybe we should just call it here," Trish said. "We don't even know that it'll happen again this year."
"It's happened two years in a row now," Nero said firmly. "I'm not taking that chance."
Lady sighed. "Alright, alright, I'll endure it a bit longer," she said.
"Thank you, I appreciate it," Nero said.
"Just a shame your old man isn't here yet, huh?" Dante asked. "Then it really would be a complete family get together."
"Yeah OK, rub it in," Nero mumbled.
"Hey, there's still time, hence the yet."
"Time for what?"
Dante yelped as his brother appeared on the branch above him. "Christ Vergil, a little warning next time please?"
"I believe you are the one who invited me at the last minute, Dante. If anyone needs to give more warning, it should be you."
"Oh great, now there are two of 'em," Lady grumbled.
"What foolish venture is this anyway? Should you not all be tucked up warm in bed awaiting Santa Claus like the immature children you are?" Vergil asked, leaning back against the tree trunk. His foot was hanging next to Dante's head, and the latter shoved it away.
"Says the guy who turned up to hunt said Santa Claus," Dante chuckled.
Vergil grunted indignantly. "I merely wished to see what ridiculous scheme my unruly child had ended up getting you all involved in this time."
"We are not hunting Santa Claus," Nero clarified. "We're hunting whatever the hell keeps managing to sneak into my house."
"Sounds like Santa Claus to me," Lady said.
"Thanks for coming, bro," Dante said quietly to Vergil. "Nero appreciates it more than he'd admit."
"I'm not here to make people happy," Vergil retorted. "I just had some time to kill since I finished my chores early this year."
"Didn't want to be alone at Christmas, more like," Lady mumbled. There was a crackling noise above her.
"What's the human doing here?" Vergil asked, appearing on one of the branches beside her.
"Hello to you too," Lady said, rolling her eyes and crossing her arms in an attempt to hide the fact that she'd almost lost her balance in surprise.
"You should go home before you freeze to death," Vergil said bluntly. "Manoeuvring a corpse at this height would be most inconvenient."
"Like you'd even bother helping," Lady spat.
"Now now, let's save the lovers' tiffs for when you're at home, hmm?" Trish said teasingly.
"Gross," Lady said. Vergil just chuckled before dropping down next to Nero.
"You're being uncharacteristically sociable," Nero said, staring through the binoculars to avoid looking at his father.
"You wound me," Vergil said, glaring at Nero until he finally met his eyes. "Is a father not allowed to spend some time with his son at Christmas?"
"If you wanted to spend time with me you'd have shown up for the last two Christmases as well," Nero said bluntly. A chorus of ooohhhh sounds came from the others.
"I was busy," Vergil said matter-of-factly. "The world doesn't revolve around you, Nero."
"Oh no he didn't!" Lady called out.
"Man, I don't have time for this," Nero said. "If you're gonna be an ass, you can get lost."
"But then he'd never come back!" Dante yelled.
Vergil's eyebrow twitched. "Very well. I shall accompany you on your ridiculous quest in silence then."
"Good enough," Nero said, waving his hand dismissively at Vergil. "Just grab a spot and tell me if you see anything." Vergil faded into the foliage again before appearing somewhere next to Dante.
"Man, it's gonna be a long night…" Dante sighed.
The hours passed mostly in silence after that, save for the odd hushed argument between Dante and Vergil. As the weather cooled and a thin layer of snow started to fall, Lady finally held her hands up in defeat.
"I-I'm s-s-sorry–" she sneezed. "I can't do this any more damn it!" she cried. "I'm turning blue here!"
"I'm surprised you lasted this long," Nero said apologetically. He shifted around until he could make out Lady's shivering form and removed his coat. "Here," he said, tossing it to her. "You definitely need this more than I do. Head on into the garage until you warm up a little. If you're lucky, Nico might wake up and let you into the van."
"Th-Thank you…" Lady said. She wrapped Nero's coat around her shoulder and started climbing slowly down the tree. By this point the snow had started to form a thin layer on the ground, and the group watched as she made her way across Nero's back garden, leaving a dark trail in her wake.
"How's everyone else doing?" Nero asked. To his surprise only Trish responded.
"Looks like the dynamic duo fell asleep," she said, unable to mask the amusement in her voice. There was a snort and then Vergil finally spoke.
"...I am not sleeping. Merely holding up my end of the bargain."
"Sure, whatever you say pops," Nero grinned. He checked his watch. It was just after 4am. Three more hours and the boys would be waking up. The presents had been there in the morning for the last two years, so if the creature was going to strike, it would do it soon. "Just a few more hours to go guys," Nero said, rubbing his hands together. "Keep those eyes peeled."
"You got it," Trish agreed. "Although I have to say I'm a little jealous of Lady right now…"
"Don't be, Nico snores like a hog," Nero laughed. "There's a reason she spends most of her time in the van."
"I can unfortunately relate," Vergil said. There was a dull thud followed by a groan from Dante. "Wake up you imbecile…"
"I ammm…" Dante slurred. A few twigs snapped as he apparently rolled over and fell down a few feet. "Wha?! Where is it?!" he asked, suddenly wide awake.
"Just a few more hours," Nero said again. "Think you can handle that?"
"Yeah, sure, whatever…" he yawned, then cried out. "Look! Footprints!"
Nero just sighed and filled him in on the last few minutes.
The rest of the stakeout passed unsurprisingly, but disappointingly, without further incident. As the first streaks of daylight started to appear in the far distance, Nero clapped his hands together. "Alright, that's a wrap…" he said sadly. "I'm guessing no-one saw anything they neglected to mention?"
"Nothing here," Trish reported.
"I saw Vergil kiss the Yamato in his sleep," Dante said proudly, before a sharp thwack echoed through the air.
"Alright… Let's haul our sorry asses inside and see what's waiting for us I guess," Nero sighed. "And before you ask, yes you're invited too, dad."
"I appreciate the offer, but–"
"No buts, you're comin' with," Dante said, slinging an arm around Vergil's shoulders and nearly pulling them both off the tree. "No excuses this time."
Vergil growled in irritation. "Fine, but I leave after breakfast."
The house was already filled with children's laughter as the group approached. As soon as Nero opened the door, Kyrie was all over them with pre-warmed blankets and cups of tea.
"Where's Lady?" she asked, hesitantly handing the spare cup to Vergil instead, who was currently also wrapped in the blanket intended for Lady.
"She ended up heading back early," Nero said, kissing Kyrie's cheek. "Too cold. Hopefully she'll turn up with Nico at some point."
Kyrie stared at Vergil and smiled nervously. "Apologies for not anticipating your arrival, it's just–"
"Nero, Nero, Nero!" Julio, Kyle, and Carlo ran into the kitchen and grabbed onto Nero's sweater. "Come quick!"
"You have to see!"
"It happened again!"
Nero exchanged nervous glances with the others and ran into the living room. There, just like last year and the year before that, a huge pile of wrapped boxes sat under the tree addressed not just to the children, but to Kyrie and Nero as well. This year it appeared there were even a few for Nico and the others.
"But how?!" Nero asked in disbelief, pacing around the room. "How does this keep happening?!"
"I saw him!" Julio blurted out. Everyone's eyes turned towards the young boy.
"Saw who, sweetie?" Kyrie asked gently.
"Santa Claus!" Julio grinned. "He was… He appeared in a bright light, kinda like an alien, an' all these presents just poured outta the light, an' he had this big coat on but it was blue, not red, an' I didn't see his face or nothin', but he said if I ever told anyone what I saw he would–" Julio slapped his hands over his mouth. "Oops," he mumbled.
Nero's eyes widened. He turned to look at Dante and Trish. "Where's…?" his eyes scanned the room. "Vergil!" Nero yelled, running back into the kitchen.
The blanket Vergil had been using was folded up neatly on the table, with the empty cup placed next to it. Unsurprisingly, Vergil was nowhere to be found. Nero sighed and walked back to the living room. He wanted to be mad, but he couldn't. Not with three kids who had grown up with nothing looking up at him so expectantly. Vergil, however, was an idiot if he thought he was getting away with this that easily. Nero shook his head at Trish and Dante before they could say anything, then turned back to the boys. "Merry Christmas," Nero said with a wry smile. "Let's be sure to write Santa an extra special thank you letter this year, OK?"
A/N - This is... Certainly something XD
I wanted to write something Christmassy, and this is what happened. Yes it's a bit early, but I'm away for the next week or so, so I'm posting it now. It's kinda dumb but Christmas stuff is always a bit random, so enjoy lol
Merry Christmas!