Since the dining room was decimated, they were forced to relocate to what Lorena felt was one of many parlors. It was a beautiful room, but the atmosphere was so stifling from the elder demon's rage that Lorena was barely able to appreciate it. Currently, he was in the middle of shouting at the two younger men.
"...completely irresponsible! Never in my life have I ever had to witness something so embarrassing, so disgraceful!" he roared.
"Aw, calm down, pops," said the red twin with a sheepish smile. "We were only having a little spat."
"'Little?'" echoed Sparda. "'Little' does not leave my dining room in shambles!"
The older man sighed and rubbed his temples.
"What am I going to do with you two?"
"My sincerest apologies, father," said the blue twin with a glare at his brother. "We never meant for-"
"I don't care what your intentions were, Vergil. I expect better of you- both of you," replied Sparda, looking at both of his sons. "Instead, the two of you act like complete imbeciles."
Vergil and Dante exchanged an almost sheepish look, followed by a muttered apology to their father.
"At any rate," continued Sparda, "There is a slightly more important matter for us to discuss."
He circled around to where Lorena sat, watching them all in a mix of mild bemusement and utter terror. He placed his hands on her shoulders and stood behind her.
"Dante, Vergil, this is Lorena," he stated, "And she is going to infiltrate the Order for us."
Lorena shot upright, her sudden movement smacking Sparda upside the head in the middle of his sentence. She immediately rounded on him.
"Whoa, hold on a second. THE ORDER?!" she echoed in disbelief, followed by a nervous chuckle. "Oh no, I will do just about anything- and I do mean anything, but I will not do...I mean, you never said anything about...That."
Sparda rubbed his chin and eyed the woman warily.
"I did not spare you simply for your own benefit," he replied. "And seeing as I did, I believe you owe me something in return."
Lorena's jaw almost dropped.
"You have got to be shitting me."
Sparda shrugged and a wry smile formed on his lips.
"I'm afraid not, my dear. Those are the rules."
Sauntering back around a speechless Lorena and past his sons, he took a seat in one of the chairs. Vergil stared back at his father, equally speechless, while Dante sauntered over to where Lorena was standing.
"Father," said Vergil after a moment, "This is unnecessary. We have the situation-"
Sparda held up a hand, cutting off his son.
"Vergil, my boy, you have a very interesting definition of control," he replied casually.
"But-"
Sparda raised an eyebrow, effectively silencing his son again. He did not break eye contact with the elder twin as he addressed the younger.
"What do you think, Dante?"
The younger twin was looking Lorena over critically, as if sizing up a racehorse. He fingered a lock of her dark red hair, seemingly admiring the color.
"I like her- and the idea's not bad either" he said after a moment, emphasizing his comment with a grin.
...And a playful swat on the rear, chuckling when she tensed up at the contact. Now whereas most women would've ignored it, Lorena simply snapped. Given everything that had just transpired, you can't blame her, but it was a weird reaction nonetheless. Pivoting on her heel, she caught the red twin completely off guard and socked him square in the jaw.
Dante lost his balance and fell backwards into the couch behind them, stunned that she'd actually hit him. Lorena, however, was too angry and in danger of reducing the room to a burnt-out husk to care, so she stormed out and slammed the door shut behind her. Vergil and Sparda stared after her for a moment in equally stunned silence before the elder demon burst out laughing once again, clapping his hands together. Vergil glared at his father.
"I'm glad you find this so entertaining."
Walking over to the sofa, he offered his brother a hand and helped him back on his feet. Dante gingerly rubbed the spot where she'd hit him, wincing slightly at the contact.
"Ouch," he muttered. "She's got one heck of a right hook- this really stings."
Vergil gripped his brother's jaw and turned his face to examine the damage. He was prepared to tell his brother that he was overreacting, but what Vergil saw startled him. What should have been a rapidly healing bruise was instead a third degree burn. He looked back at his father.
"Apparently, she 'accidentally' burnt down a church," commented Sparda.
Vergil's lips quirked in the makings of a smile. Letting go of his brother, Vergil took a seat on the sofa, turning over this new-found information in his head. Free of his brother's grip, Dante rubbed his jaw again (it still stung) and looked at his father with an expression of slight discomfort.
"You sure know how to pick 'em, pops."
Sparda smiled at his younger son and nodded at the door.
"Do me a favor and go take Lorena back to her room- she's bound to get lost otherwise."
The younger twin heaved a sigh, but a smile tugged on his lips (despite the stinging).
"Okay, but if she sets my hair on fire, I'm blaming you."
Dante fixed his coat and strode out of the room with a whistle on his lips. As soon as he was gone, Sparda turned his attention to his other son.
"Vergil, please tell Adrienne that I'd like to have a word."
The elder son rose from his seat and bowed slightly before turning on his heel and leaving the room.