damned_institute | Day 31: Intercom, Evening

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Day 31: Intercom, Evening

The intercom's jingle came on with its usual overly-cheery quality, echoing through the halls and doctors' offices.

"I trust, as always, that you all enjoyed the last shift and that all the staff-patient interaction went smoothly. Of course, we're nearing the end of another day and so we must begin to bring things to a close. Nurses and orderlies, please escort all the patients to their respective rooms and make sure everyone gets their dinner--which is, by the way, chicken teriyaki and assorted tempura, along with rice and miso soup--before they retire for the night. A vegetarian substitute is of course available, and we have our usual assortment of drinks; we also have a special of hot green tea to go along with the meal.

"Thank you, everyone, for an exceedingly pleasant day, and our therapy sessions will continue tomorrow as scheduled. Enjoy your dinner, and I will be on again before bedtime to say goodnight."

The announcement ended.

[ As always, individual dinner threads go in response to this post, and it helps to put your character's room number in the subject line. Thanks! ]

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Momo set her pen down and looked over at Anya. She was pretty certain this guy didn't care for Anya because... well... she was Anya. The woman's mouth was more than enough of a turn-off to men, the shinigami suspected. Not that she would say that out loud.

"You're pretty," Momo agreed. "I can't picture you with blonde hair, though." She tilted her head a little. "Do you think he might not like you because you are oni? I know there are a lot of guys out there that get a little weirded out by the stuff they don't normally deal with."

"Oh please," Anya said. "He's a vampire." She sighed again. "He's just all dark and broody because he thinks it makes him more attractive to human females. Admittedly, he does look good in black."

Now that wasn't a good place to be going, even in her thoughts. Attractive ensouled vampires who liked to brood underground and wear black leather jackets... There were far too many of them lying around... that she'd had rebound sex with on a table where it could be viewed by... oh... her ex-fiance.

"Is that map done?" Anya asked, changing the subject.

"A vampire?" Momo shrugged. "We've got a few of them around here. If he needs blood, have him speak with me."

The shinigami held up the map. "Yes. Come here so I can show you the way to the basement." A pause. "Why do you want to go there?"

Taking another sip of her tea - it never hurt to be caffeinated before a big fight - Anya took a moment before walking over to her roommate's desk. She crossed her arms and leaned over the back of Momo's chair so she could see the map.

"That's where they're keeping the death rays," she said curtly. "Or at least people made of chopped-up bits of other people."

Death rays? "I highly doubt that," Momo stated, but pointed to the x marked in the walk-in cooler on the first floor. She had made a notation denoting a trap door on the map.

"That's the entrance to the basement. It's underneath an off-color tile on the floor in the cold storage." She looked up at the woman standing over top her. "Good luck getting there."

"Thank you!" Anya said loudly. She made a mental note to either dispense with the human pleasantries entirely or practice them more. Might as well go with the former, since she was a demon now, and likely to stay that way.

She patted Momo rather stiltedly on the shoulder before taking the map, folding it carefully, and tucking it in the waistband of her pants.

Now. She should probably practice a little. She didn't like fighting - she'd much rather make this guy's brain ooze out of his nostrils with a simple spell, but she'd have to resort to the old-fashioned way without her powers.

The vengeance demon made her way to the bed, bent down to retrieve her sword from underneath the mattress, and gave it a couple of expert twirls.

Momo giggled at Anya's thanks even though the verbal component was still jarringly loud. For a moment, Momo went back to her illustration but soon her eyes were drawn to the demon's swordplay.

"You're not bad," she stated.

"Yes!" Anya agreed whole-heartedly, grinning. "I am quite accomplished at swordplay. I even had the Slayer herself nearly beaten!" She decided to leave out the part where Buffy had unequivocally won that particular battle.

The vengeance demon went back to practicing with the sword. Her practice style was slightly more frenetic than someone like, say, Angel's, probably was, but she wanted to get the blood rushing, not meditate on the great interconnected power of blah blah blah.

"If my sword were not currently broken, I'd offer an opportunity to spar," Momo said. Something Anya said caught her attention. "Anya-san... what's a Slayer?"

Anya paused for a moment, resting her sword on the edge of her bed.

"The Chosen One," she explained, her voice thick with sarcasm. Her tone changed to one of reciting a boring speech. "One girl in all the world, blah blah blah, fights the evil forces of darkness, kills vampires, stabs her friends through the chest."

The vengeance demon pouted. "It's all her fault I'm here. I let my guard down for a second, one second, and she killed me. And now I'm here."

Momo raised an eyebrow. "Death isn't the end, Anya-san. I would think an oni would know that."

She thought for a moment. "But... I can... empathize with your plight." Momo looked away from the demon and sighed. Aizen-sama...

"I know that," Anya snapped back. "I'm here, aren't I, not... being non-existent. When you die, you go to a heavenly dimension if you're Buffy, but if you're me, and I happen to be me, you go to a hell dimension."

The vengeance demon laid her sword down on the bed and sat near it, resting her chin in her hands. "But they deserved it," she whispered petulantly, more to herself than Momo. "They all deserved it."

Momo wasn't sure Anya would have been claimed by hell when she died or not. The woman just didn't seem evil enough. She came across as more of a misdirected soul that had been in the wrong place at the wrong time. Sure, she needed cleansing, but even most hollows didn't end up in hell.

The shinigami set her pencil down and walked over to sit on the bed next to Anya. This was a bad idea, she told herself. She's oni. She doesn't need your compassion. And yet, Momo still sat down and placed a hand lightly on Any'as back.

"Who deserved what, Anya-san?" The shinigami's voice was soft and gentle, not a single tone of judgment within it.

Anya was very surprised when Momo sat next to her and started being... comforting. But she wasn't so emotionally destroyed that she really needed that. At least from a stranger. At least not yet, anyway.

The vengeance demon turned away from her roommate and shrugged, trying to get the hand off her back.

"People," she hissed. "People suck." She briefly cogitated on the various semantic applications of the word 'suck,' and how more than one applied in some way to Xander, but that only made her feel worse.

Momo removed her hand and folded it in the other upon her lap. She was quiet for a long moment, wondering if she should just leave the demon be or not.

"Yes. Yes, they do," the shinigami said, deciding to stay with her previous decision. It was still a bad idea, but one she'd chosen. "They are always hurting each other."

"What happened to you?"

"Stuff," Anya said evasively.

She didn't really want to talk about all her problems with some girl she barely knew. She wished Hallie were here - she could talk to Hallie.

Not looking at Momo, Anya stood up, grabbed her sword, and began swinging it again.

Very well, the shinigami would leave the subject be. "I see," Momo replied quietly.

The shingami got to her feet and crossed back over to her desk, expertly ducking underneath one of Anya's swings, and closed her journal. While the demon was practicing, the shinigami retrieved her uniform from the closet and, back turned to Anya, changed her clothing. She tied the hakama and situated the kimono top properly, picking up her vice captain's badge. She smiled at the lilly-of-the-valley insignia upon it and then fastened it to her left upper arm.

'So you have plans tonight?" Momo asked, casually, glancing over at the demon.

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Day 31: Intercom, Evening

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