"Hey Tomi, wanna light up?"
That question was the last thing Tomi had expected to hear, once the world had finally stopped spinning and disappearing around her. It was so absurd she couldn't help but laugh. She realized that at some point she'd closed her eyes to stop herself feeling so dizzy, and so she opened them again. Strangely, it felt almost like waking up, and once she'd had a chance to take stock of her surroundings, her memories of Lust and the church started to feel increasingly unreal. The room she found herself in now was bright, modern, and huge. She was splayed out on the couch, like she'd passed out there the night before the way she often did at home, but this wasn't her home. Or was it? It was certainly a far cry from the home she thought she remembered. The couch she was waking up on was a massive, leather, curved piece, quite unlike the blocky, old, misshapen couch she usually woke up on, and the room around it looked like something out of a movie. It was the kind of open-plan, two-story living she'd only ever seen rich people have in movies. One entire wall was just a huge pane of glass, overlooking an expansive garden, and in one corner there was an artsy spiral staircase leading to a balcony and other rooms on the second floor. Everywhere Tomi looked, as she rubbed her eyes and gazed around in awe, she saw signs of opulence the likes of which she'd never known for herself.
"Tomi!" came the voice again, more insistently. "C'mon! Smoke?"
"Sure," Tomi replied, never one to refuse such an enticing offer. But then she looked over at the woman who was speaking to her and reclining on the couch a short distance from her. Tomi had never seen her before in her life. She was dressed in a striking fashionable way, with tall boots, a pleasingly form-fitting dress, and a cropped fur jacket over the top. Her hair was in a carefully-styled pixie cut and was deep purple, making a nice counterpart to her paler, lilac skin. She wore big, round glasses with purple lenses that kept her eyes obscured and, strangest of all, she had two tails with small, spade-shaped points stretching out behind her. Or was that strange? Tomi couldn't really remember. Clear thinking was evading her. That didn't give her any reason to worry. She was perfectly comfortable being less than sober.
"Good choice," the strange, demonic woman purred, reaching down into her bra and fishing out a small vaporizer pen. She brought it to her lips and inhaled from it deeply, before slowly exhaling a cloud of smoke that hung around her like a thick haze. Then, she reached forward and offered the vape pen to Tomi. Tomi reached out and took it. She was incredibly confused by the situation she seemed to have found herself in, and she couldn't seem to remember how she had gotten there, but she wasn't about to turn down what smelled like very, very good weed.
Sure enough, once she lifted the vape pen to her own lips and inhaled from it, the immediate and powerful headrush confirmed to her that it was very good weed indeed. Tomi sighed contentedly and, after passing the vape pen back, let herself sink into the soft, comfortable couch beneath her. But then, after a moment, she lifted her head to stare at her companion. "Hey, um, who are you again?" Tomi asked, giggling absently.
"Babe!" The demonic woman feigned shock. Her voice was expressive, drawing out each word and ending them with thick vocal fry. "I didn't realize you were so stoned you'd forgotten your bestie!"
"Yeah..." Tomi replied sheepishly, unable to keep a big smile off of her face. She felt so relaxed.
"Well then, allow me to introduce myself," the woman said, licking her lips. She spoke as if it was all a big in-joke, and Tomi somehow felt included even though she was completely in the dark. "I'm Greed! You know me, remember. We're old friends."
"Oh, right," Tomi giggled. That sounded wrong to her, but it sounded very, very right, too. "And, uh, where are we?"
"Tomi!" Greed sounded scandalized and amused. "Wow, you really are out of it! I know what you need. Here."
Greed reached down beside the couch and picked up a bottle of champagne that Tomi somehow hadn't noticed. She popped the cork, took a hearty swig, and passed the bottle to Tomi. Reflexively, she drank too. Her eyes went wide at the explosion of delicious, sweet, fizzing bubbles in her mouth. It tasted faintly of apples, and tasted very, very expensive. Tomi had never had such good wine before.
"That bring back any memories?" Greed asked. Tomi shook her head. Greed made an amused, frustrated gesture. "This is where you live, Tomi."
"It... it is?" That set far more alarm bells ringing for Tomi. Her surroundings inspired far too much awe in her, and felt far too strange to be anything familiar. Something was wrong. For the first time, Tomi took note of her own clothes. She wasn't wearing one of her usual well-worn, baggy outfits. She was in Star Sentinel uniform, slightly crumpled, but still glowing faintly with starlight. Tomi knew that had to mean something. She wouldn't have transformed for no reason. Something was definitely wrong. With that thought fixed in her mind, memories of the church and the demons started to creep back in. She looked at Greed with fresh eyes, and then sprang to her feet, moving more clumsily than she would have liked.
"Something wrong, babe?" Greed simpered.
"Yeah, you!" Tomi shouted. "You're one of them, or something." Her head still felt distinctly fuzzy. She wished she hadn't accepted the intoxicating delights Greed had offered her.
"Yes babe, I am," Greed drawled. She seemed entirely untroubled by Tomi's aggressive posture, and remained exactly where she was, reclining on the couch. She reached for the bottle that Tomi had set down, and took another sip of champagne. "And so what?"
"So what?" Tomi repeated incredulously. She couldn't believe the demon's nonchalance. "So... what the hell is this? Where are we?"
"Ugh," Greed groaned, sounding bored. "I already told you. This is your home."
