In all honesty, Vergil thought that it would have been harder to get his brother away from Lorena. He wasn't about to complain, however, since he'd achieved his desired result. As soon as his younger brother was out of sight, the blue twin slipped into Lorena's room.

The suite she'd been given was one of his favorite rooms in the house, and part of him resented the loss. Now he was one room short on his list of places to avoid Dante. The redhead was apparently basking in the loss of the younger twin, as she was curled up comfortably, her chest rising and falling in the quiet rhythm of sleep. Aware that this may be one of the few chances to get a closer look at her without risking personal injury, and determined not to squander it, Vergil approached the bed and took a seat on the edge beside her.

Vergil looked down at the woman tucked under the sheets, sleeping peacefully in the shadows of the dark. He didn't have much experience with human women. After all, they were simpering, weak, pathetic creatures hardly worth his time.

And contrary to popular belief, witches were still human at their core. So he found it perplexing that this one should seem so… different. Almost reminded him of her, if only a little.

Vergil shook his head. She was the last thing he should've been thinking about and Lorena was leaps and bounds from that woman. Oh no, the raw power seemed to roll off of the redhead in waves.

Lorena shifted in her sleep, rolling towards Vergil and murmuring something under her breath. He leaned a little closer and gently brushed a few rogue strands of hair from her face. Odd how harmless she seemed, now, especially considering that she could probably burn down an entire village with a simple sneeze. He had to admit, he'd never seen any sort of witch be able to do that.

As he watched her sleep, Vergil was taken by an odd sense of curiosity. Leaning down a little farther, he gently pressed his lips to hers. They were warm, pliant and softer than he was used to, but it wasn't unpleasant in the slightest.

She reciprocated, much to his surprise, angling herself to fit against him.

Now keep in mind that Lorena is (mostly) asleep. Her consciousness is completely unaware of this little development- but when Vergil got slightly more aggressive, awareness reared its inconvenient head. It wasn't so bad at first. She stumbled through her muddled brain, still comfortable and happy, and not entirely sure what was going on. And then there was tongue.

Her eyes shot open.

Vergil felt Lorena go rigid and stop moving. Before he could stop what he was doing, pull away and move halfway across the room, a loud smack resounded throughout the room followed by an angry hiss and a string of curses from Vergil's lips. Not wanting to be on the receiving end of his wrath when he finally came back into focus, Lorena leapt from the bed and ran out of the room as fast as her slightly wobbly, sleepy legs could carry her.

She felt uncomfortable and dirty and good lord she could still taste him in her mouth! The urge to dry heave was so intense she was afraid that she was actually going to be sick as soon as she finally stopped running.

Back in the bedroom, Vergil was just starting to regain his composure. The bitch had slapped him. Hard. So hard, in fact, that it still stung- or rather, burned.

There was a hand shaped third degree burn on Vergil's cheek.

He considered storming after her and inflicting something that would hurt just as much, if not more, but decided against it. Lorena wasn't going anywhere. There was plenty of time for her to learn her place and he would see to it that she did.

Not to mention, this was mostly his own fault.

He'd gotten carried away and that was what made him so angry. He shouldn't have… God, everything got unnecessarily complicated when he thought about that woman- even if only for half a second.

Straightening up and fixing his coat, he left the room with what little of his dignity had remained intact.

{break}

"What do you think of her?"

Adrienne looked up from her tea and raised an eyebrow.

"Who? The girl?"

"Who else would I mean?"

Sparda and Adrienne sat in his study, enjoying a late night cup of tea as they'd done for the past 15 years. The Dark Knight eagerly awaited her response as the witch considered her answer.

"Well," she said after a moment, "She's certainly something."

"A good something or a bad something?" he prodded. "You have more of an opinion than that."

Adrienne shrugged and sipped her tea.

"Certainly not a bad something. She's straightforward, at least."

"And?"

Sparda gave Adrienne an expectant look. He could always tell when she wasn't telling him everything.

"I can't say I'm comfortable with her being here," she admitted quietly, biting the inside of her lip. "She's more dangerous than you think."

"...I think that may be one of your more scathing reviews," mused Sparda.

"Hardly scathing. I'm just worried."

"Adrienne."

She sighed and looked down at the floor.

"I just can't see what it is you hope to accomplish from this."

"We need her. The Order will think she's just another human and we can finally put an end to-"

"And you can be absolutely sure of that?" she asked harshly, cutting him off. "What if she turns on us- what then? You know as well as I do that the contracts are never as binding as we make them out to be."

This time he looked down at the floor. Sparda wasn't sure how to answer that because she was right. Contracts didn't hold the same weight they once did. If anything, he was hinging the entire plan on the assumption that Lorena had enough integrity to hold up her end of the deal.

Not a very good plan, now that he thought about it. But he was running out of options.

"I need you to trust me, Adrienne," he said quietly.

It wasn't an answer. It wasn't a guarantee. He knew it wasn't enough for her. But it was all he could do to plead with her.

She looked at him for a brief moment and for once, Sparda was unsure exactly what he saw in her eyes. Adrienne set down her cup, rose from the couch and made to leave without even bothering to gather the remnants of their tea. She paused at the door, casting a look back at him over her shoulder.

"I already do," she replied. "I always have."

The sorceress left the study without another word, leaving Sparda alone to question his thoughts.