Shae crossed his arms, clicking his tongue. It seemed a long night with Angela had led their newest employee to sleep in. Micah may be sweet enough to let that slide, but he wasn't on Micah's service today. Meaning Ryan was shit out of luck. The rosewood haired demon grabbed the bottom of his mattress, tipping it up.

Hitting the floor was one way to wake up. Ryan groaned, glancing at the clock on the wall. "It's seven fucking AM!" He griped.

Shae readjusted the sheets to be not as tousled as he calmly replied, "Yes, it is. I understand Micah begins his rounds at ten, but the evil prefer to wake much earlier than the incompetent. I told you this last night but I assume you were too busy watching Angela dust the lower shelves."

"Women." He scoffed, "They always get me in trouble even when they don't try."

"That is one of the reasons I prefer men over women. You should try it some time. You might like it."

Ryan rolled his eyes as he pulled himself up. "I'd rather not, thank you."

"Suit yourself." Shae replied, "Meet me in Wanderlust, bed two, in ten minutes."

The demon walked to go prepare morning medications. Ryan wanted desperately to go back to bed. He even considered it but decided it was for the best to do his job properly. Though he didn't care for Shae's opinion, he did want to get on Jasper's good side. Per Emerson's advise and what he'd witnessed, he knew it was a very good idea.

| | |

Shae flipped through a book, thumbing over the writing in it. Ryan waited patiently on his instruction. He was pretty sure he was about to fall asleep if he had to wait much longer. The demon held a much stricter schedule than his coworker. He set the log down on the silver cart beside him.

"Interesting." He muttered.

"What?" Ryan curiously asked.

"Oh, nothing. It just seems that Beau has changed Casper's risk level. He lowered it. I suppose it has been quite a while since the boy had an outburst. He's a very sweet boy, with an unfortunate disability. Sometimes he just loses all control, destroying everything within fifty feet of him. He doesn't remember anything when it happens. Luckily, it seems the treatment his doctor has him on is working quite well."

"I thought your patients were supposed to be terrifying?"

Shae chuckled, "Oh, dear Casper is only on my service for his outbursts. Otherwise, he'd belong on Micah's. I figured I'd start you off light though."

He narrowed his eyes, "I'm not a little kid."

"Watch your words, my friend. It's fair to warn you I'm not a generous and understanding man like Micah. That's why I'm here though. I'm here for the patients that don't need their hands held." 

Shae entered the door, not bothering to wait on Ryan. He was right about not holding his hand. To him, training a new aid was nothing more than an inconvenience. It'd be great once he was actually trained but for the time being he was ignorant. The demon wasn't too fond of stubbornness either, but he'd teach Ryan the hard way.

Casper was a rather quiet boy. He wasn't necessarily shy, just reserved. The little phantom hid behind his blue and black hair, observing Ryan. He liked the new aid, he'd decided. Eventually he'd make efforts to befriend him once he knew more about him. For now, he'd stick with observing him curiously.

"Next patient," Shae began as the exited the spirit's room, "Kettil Sundberg. A demon with several issues, too many to list. A few years ago he massacred an entire fairy village. Since, he hasn't tried to kill anyone else which is why he was moved to Wanderlust. He does have a bit of a problem stealing from the others and if you try to take anything from him, then he becomes violent." 

"No one warned me there was a klepto around here." He unhappily muttered.

"I believe if you haven't noticed something was missing, it didn't matter too much in the first place." He smirked, "However, something of value has gone missing. Joan is missing one of her necklaces. The little shit knew to wait until after room searches to steal it too."

Ryan walked along side him as they headed towards the end of the hall. "So, let me get this straight. You have a mentally unstable murderer that sneaks into rooms and steals people's shit, and you let him be in general pop?"

"He's not that bad. The doctors try their hardest to keep patients out of Rest Point and I understand why. Have you ever been locked in a room for weeks on end, where the only person you ever see is a demon that comes and gives you meds that make you feel like shit?"

"Actually," He muttered, "I have. I was held captive by your kind during the war and the only time I saw another living being was when I was being tortured."

Shae gritted his teeth, "My kind?" He sighed, "I am sorry to make assumptions. That was wrong of me, but I hope you understand, not all demons are the same. Kettil, for example. Yes, he may be a killer and a kleptomaniac, but he's also windowed with two children, who he hasn't seen in many years. They never come to visit because they're ashamed. I could never imagine the pain of your own children disowning you."

"If I lost the love of my life, I'd probably lose my mind too. Guess that's one of the advantages of never settling down." 

He picked up a small cup with meds and another with water. Shae pushed the door open with his hip, replying, "I used to think that way. Then I met the right person and that all changed."

"You're not the first one to tell me that, trust me, but love just isn't my thing." Ryan said, thinking how much the idea of being dedicated to one person disturbed him.

From his days as a solider, he knew it was a massive vulnerability. Just look at how many times people went after Angelo to get to Chris, or tried to kill Ricky to drive Ghost out of hiding. It's not wrong to love people. He loved his family, but he wasn't about to pour his entire heart into one person. If he did, well he could end up like Kettil.

The room wasn't exactly to a hoarder's level. It was definitely more cluttered than the others, with no rhyme or reason to what was in there. In the corner of the small room, there was a very disturbed demon crouched on his bed. His eyes were completely black and lipstick smeared across his mouth. His shirt was absent but a prominent leather collar and leash hung from his neck. He was filthy, as Ryan would expect from someone of his species. 

"Good morning, Kettil. I do suppose you're not going to take your medication this morning?" Shae asked, knowing the answer already. The smaller demon laughed in response and shook his head. His aid pulled a pin out of his pocket, showing it to him. "Do you have this one yet?"

Kettil turned his head curiously and examined the pattern. Being that he'd never stepped foot on Earth, he didn't exactly understand the imagine of Lady Rainicorn. He didn't care though. All he knew was it was pretty and he needed to add it to his already massive collection. He reached out for it but Shae retracted his hand.

"I'll let you have it if you take your medication." He said.

The smaller glared at him. Even though this happened nearly every morning and he knew to expect it, it still pissed him off. Regardless, like every day and night, he muttered a "fine" and took his pills. Shae took a look around the room, seeing the bronze necklace with a charm in the shape of a sun hanging off the mirror.

"Now, Kettil, Joan would like this back." He spoke as he put the charm in his hand. 

"No!" He protested. Kettil got up from his bed and hit Shae's hand away angry. He jumped up on his dresser and grasped the necklace close to his chest. "Mine now."

"I will give you another necklace to have if you'd like, but that one belongs to Joan. You took it without her permission. You know that's wrong, Kettil. You wouldn't want me to have to get Dr. Angel involved in this, do you?"

He frowned, "...No." 

Shae extended his hand, "Please give it to me. I'll make sure tomorrow I bring you a necklace even more beautiful to replace it."

Kettil growled, tightening his grip on it. He'd seen his aid get aggressive before and it wasn't a scene he wanted to go through again. As much as he didn't want to, he handed over Joan's necklace. It pained him to let go of it. In his mind, if it wasn't in use, the girl must not want it. He'd appreciate it more than she did. 

"Thank you." Shae slipped the item into his coat pocket. He noticed his patient eyeing Ryan evilly. "I almost forgot to introduce you to our newest aid, Ryan. I'm currently training him. You'll have to excuse Kettil. He doesn't speak English well." 

He raised his eyebrow, "A demon that doesn't know English?"

"He's one of the oldest patients here." Shae spoke as they began to leave the room, "Much older than me, even."

"Jasper is still the oldest, though, I'm guessing?" 

"To our knowledge. There is one patient that refuses to tell us when they were born. For all we know, they could be thousands of years old. That's the tricky part about witches. Speaking of, that bitch is our next stop. Dusk is a hermaphrodite, but typically we use female pronouns for her. Mostly because she's more a bitch than an asshole." 

Ryan was shocked to hear him talk about a patient that way. He knew the criminally insane were worlds different from the mentally ill, but still. That was someone Shae was responsible for caring for. The two had walked out of the Wanderlust ward and continued towards the hallway that was kept out of view from the main entrance. 

It seemed to get darker as they continued through twisting paths. All these doors, and he had no idea what exactly was inside them. Were they other patient rooms? The staff slept upstairs, with the exception of Shae who'd rather stay with Yuki in his ward. Maybe they were offices or storage rooms. Either way, the doors were obviously locked and not to be entered.

They reached an iron gate separating Rest Point from the rest of the asylum. Shae pulled his key out from his pocket, unlocking it. The gate creaked loudly as he pushed it open. Ryan politely held it open for him so he could push the cart through. As he let it shut, he took note of the way he automatically locked. 

"Don't worry. It's supposed to do that." Shae said, "Now, as for Dusk. I suggest you do not believe a word she says. She's a expert manipulator." 

He pulled out a key card from his coat pocket. It was then that Ryan noticed that the door of the ward was locked the old fashion way, whereas the actual patient rooms used electronic locks. It was bizarre. Maybe they figured if they used both types it would deter from anyone being able to break out. As creepy and dark as it was here, Ryan was starting now to worry what exactly did live here...