Disclaimey: I own none of Jhonen's work!

/ Devi entered her bedroom a while later, dry and clothed, and sat down on the floor. She stared at the painting of a doll, one she called Sickness. She felt like kicking herself. She found little enjoyment in anything these days; even painting had lost its joy. She started thinking about her past. All the stupid guys she'd dated, what a maniac Nny was, how pointless life seemed, Nny, How dumb she was, Nny... She grabbed a notepad and a pen and began to scrawl downa mess of angry,incoherant words.

She absolutely loathed him. His memory was enough to make her snarl and throw a jar of paint at the window. It broke against the glass, and paint splattered over everything.

"Oh shit, that was stupid. I just wasted my yellow," Devi said, calming down a bit.

She went over to the window and looked out over the dark alley behind her house. It was empty. Like her life. What was she gonna do? She had absolutely no ideas as to what she was going to do with her life. She needed a break from it all.

She picked up the phone and punched in seven digits. She waited a moment, until over the line she heard a cheerful "Hello?"

"Hi Tenna," Devi said.

"Oh. Hi Dev. What's up?" Tenna asked in a bubbly way. Tenna was way too giddy.

"Nothing. That's just it. I can't figure out what I'm gonna do with my life. It's getting more and more confusing. I just...need to figure out stuff for my future. So, what do you pronounce that I do?" Devi asked, throwing herself back on her sofa.

"Um...get away from your habitual life and surroundings and go stay somewhere else for a while. Be free for a few days," Tenna said.

"Like...?" Devi asked, poking at a small cigarette burn in her couch (where did that come from, she'd never smoked?).

"Um...go to a resort. Oh, I know! Stay in a hotel in Hawaii!" Tenna said happily. There came a characteristic squeak from her rubber skeleton doll, Spooky, over the phone line.

"Only one problem, Ten. Hotels & resorts cost m-o-n-e-y," Devi said.

"So?' Tenna asked.

"I don't have any. Well, I do, but not enough for one of those places. That job for NERVE publishing isn't making as much as I thought I would yet, since I can't get any of the work finished the way they want it. They just keep wanting it revised. So pricey places are out," Devi said. She thought she heard Tenna squeak Spooky again.

"Um...I dunno. You're the one with the ideas," Tenna said.

"Me? Ideas? Ha! I haven't had ideas in like a month," Devi

"Um, OK. Well, you could...could...I give up," Tenna said.

"It figures. So, I'm screwed, right?" Devi said.

"Yeah pretty much. Wait! What about your parents...I mean your dad?" Tenna asked.

"What about him?" Devi asked.

"Go visit him! It'll get you away from your hive, right? " Tenna said.

"You want me to visit my dad?" Devi asked.

"Yes," Tenna said.

"I can't! Do you realize that he would not be happy at all to see me? He said, when I wanted to move out, that I would never be able to make it out there! And I think he was right! Look at me! I'm working for some jackass book publishing company, drawing and painting pictures of science fiction shit, and I don't even like it!" Devi said.

"Aww c'mon Dev. He'd be happy to see you. He's your daddy! He hasn't seen you since you were seventeen!" Tenna said.

"It's only been a year! He just moved to that whatever-it's-called city last month. I can't go see him!" Devi said.

"Oh c'mon Devina! You gotta get out of your damn hive for a little while!" Tenna said. Devi winced.

"Don't call me that! Sheesh! You know I told you never to bring up my real name!" Devi said.

"OK OK jeez calm down! Why don't you go see your daddy?" Tenna asked.

"Ok Ten I'll think about it then. You don't have to pester," Devi said.

"Wanna go get something at Eat or Die?" Tenna asked eagerly.

"No," Devi said.

"Come on!" Tenna said.

"NO Tenna," Devi said.

"Pleeeeeeease?"

"Nope."

"Oh come on please?"

"No!"

"Oh you had a good time last time!"

"No I didn't."

"So? Maybe this time will be different."

"No, Tenna."

"Oh c'mon. I'll call you Devina again!"

"No!"

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"

"OK fine. You win Ten."

"Yay!" Tenna said happily. The phone clicked off. Devi heard Tenna's door slam (she lived in the apartment two floors down) and she heard the sound of Tenna's footsteps on the stairs, and she heard the knock on the door. Then Tenna barged in before Devi answered.

"Ready to go?" Tenna asked, bouncing on the balls of her feet.

Devi didn't answer. She picked up her coat and put it on. "Let's just go," she said.

"Kay!" Tenna said gleefully. They left the apartment building. Devi opened her car door. Tenna hopped into the passenger seat and clicked her seatbelt on. Devi sat down but decided not to bother with her seatbelt.

They started to drive.

Tenna kept squeaking Spooky, and it took a lot of self-control for Devi to keep from grabbing him and throwing him out the window.

A few minutes later they arrived at Eat or Die (Chinese cuisine). They went inside and sat down. They were sitting there talking when Devi looked over Tenna's shoulder.

"Oh merciful cheese no!" she said quietly.

"What?" Tenna asked.

"It's Johnny," Devi whispered, slouching down in her seat.

"The homicidal dude?" Tenna asked.

"Yeah. Is he gone?" Devi asked.

"Noppers," Tenna said calmly.

"Oh shit, oh holy sweet shit, I'm gonna die!" Devi said, staring at Nny sitting in his booth alone, eating egg rolls.

"Oh I dunno. He doesn't look like he's trying anything. He's just eating," Tenna said.

"He's insane. You don't know him. He's so...unhinged. He'll just be all nice, and then he'll flip out and kill somebody. Oh just...just let him go away!" Devi said.

"I think you're overreacting," Tenna said.

"Overreacting? Ya think? I don't think so!" Devi said, slouching lower in her seat.

More sooney.

Moonchild