Archive of Our Own ^beta

When Nero stepped outside of the school's gates, he had been expecting his uncle to pick him up.

Instead, it was Lady leaning against the car with her sunglasses on. He perked up, sneakers slapping the ground as he ran towards her. "Auntie!"

A wide grin, her hand ruffling his hair. She had given up on trying to stop him from calling her "auntie", no matter how many times she said that it made her feel old. (Dante found it absolutely hilarious.) "Hey, little guy. How was today?"

"It wasn't so bad! Stupid Claude finally quit bugging me about my hair after he visited the principal's office. I think his mom yelled at him on the phone when the teacher called." He looked around, even jumping up to try to peek through the windows. "Where's Uncle Dante?"

"He has a big job today, but he might be home later tonight."

Nero nodded, climbing into the car after she opened the door. That meant Lady would be staying overnight at the shop with him and the Devil Arms. Both of them had told him that sometimes whenever Dante had big jobs, that usually meant him being away until either in the night or the next day. Nero didn't really worry too much, as he knew both his uncle and Lady beat up bad demons that would eat little kids like him and protected people, and would come home afterwards. While Lady didn't always visit, both of them always had cool stories to tell him.

(A part of him still worried about Uncle Dante, because sometimes he would come back home smelling of blood and hurt.)

"Oh, don't forget, Nero." Lady turned her head a bit. "We still have your doctor's appointment."

Nero pouted, slumping slightly and ignoring how the seatbelt dug into his shoulder. "Do we hafta, Auntie? I never get sick, and Uncle Dante never seems to go see him except talk."

A soft smile, before she ruffled his hair again. "You know your uncle heals a lot faster than normal people. He just wants to make sure you're healthy."

"I know." He knew what that extra shower stall near the kitchen was for, as well that large bed and the giant box with the red cross. "At least Doc Sláine is really nice and gives out lollipops."

His checkup went through normally, other than a mandatory shot that Sláine had to do to fill out the little booklet Lady had handed over. On the way home, Lady seemed to be thinking before taking a different turn, causing Nero to blink and pause from rubbing at the bandage on his arm.

"Hey, home's thataway, Auntie."

She gave him a wink. "I know. Since you were so good at the doctor's visit, I thought, why not a small reward?"

This was one of the few reasons why he liked Lady, eyes widening and bouncing a bit. "Ice cream?"

"My treat. One scoop only, don't want to spoil your dinner."

He could barely make up his mind when they stopped at the local small ice cream store near the park, the array of colors constantly changing as the store changed flavors throughout the year. (One of the flavors they always kept on hand was strawberry, given how often Dante visited when he couldn't get his favorite strawberry sundaes at the local diner.) Even if it was just one scoop, Nero was happy to be able to try the new gooseberry flavor in the store's own waffle cones. Just before taking a big lick, he paused, glancing up at Lady as she paid the cashier before following her outside.

Just as they reached the car, Nero tugged on one of her ammo pouches, drawing a curious stare from her. "Nero?"

He felt silly, wanting to do this thing. He's seen Uncle Dante do it a lot, even though it tended to mean Lady smacking him with a frown on her face and his uncle laughing while skipping away.

"Down." He wished he could be taller, like his uncle. Maybe when he was older.

As soon as Lady knelt down a bit, Nero stretched up on his toes and gave a quick peck to her cheek, blushing and scuffing his sneakers. "Thank you, Auntie."

He had been expecting one of the smacks he's seen his uncle get. Instead, he got a quick kiss to his cheek, as well another ruffling of his hair and a warm smile from Lady. "You're welcome, Nero."