“Locker rooms, in Schwartz's experience, were always underground, like bunkers and bomb shelters. This was less a structural necessity than a symbolic one. The locker room protected you when you were most vulnerable: just before a game, and just after (And halfway through, if the game was football) Before the game, you took off the uniform you wore to face the world and you put on the one you wore to face your opponent. In between you were naked in every way. After the game ended, you couldn't carry your game-time emotions out into the world - you'd be put in an asylum if you did - so you went underground and purged them. You yelled and threw things and pounded on your locker, in anguish or joy. You hugged your teammate, or bitched him out, or punched him in the face. Whatever happened, the locker room remained a haven.”

“[High angel] Carter's fucked-up sense of humor in action.'[The angel] Lucinda flushed deep crimson. 'How can you use such language so carelessly? You sound like you're… like you're in a locker room!"I smoothed down my tank top. 'No way. I'd never wear this in a locker room.''Yeah, it isn't even in school colors,' said Peter.I couldn't resist toying with the guardian. 'If i were in a locker room, i'd probably have on a short cheerleader skirt. And no underwear.'Peter continued playing off me. 'And you'd do that one cheer, right? The one with your hands splayed against the shower wall and ass sticking out?''That's me,' i agreed. 'Always ready to take one for the team.'Even Cody[, the other vampire] flushed at our crassness. Lucinda was practically purple.'You–you two have no sense of decency! None at all.”

“What... Are you on strike from wearing deodorant now too? You smell like a boy's locker room after a wrestling match!”

“Were board games named board games because most of the time you played them when you were bored? Hmm.”

“Because that is when you love somebody - when you see them being game in the face of the worst. Not courageous. Not heroic. Just game.”

“Sometimes this was just the way the game ended. Sometimes you did your best, and it all went straight to hell anyway.”