I awoke the next morning on top of Betelgeuse, somehow. Apparently we moved around a lot in our sleep.

I shifted a little, reluctant to get up. I was all cozy and warm, and also didn't want to disturb Beej, who was still sound asleep. He had a peaceful look on his face, and for a second I saw the care-free man I had met in college. Back when things weren't so complicated.

I sighed.

He stirred in his sleep, wrapping his arms around my waist and pulling me along as he turned onto his side. I snuggled into his broad chest, sighing contentedly.

A few minutes later, I found myself slowly drifting back off to sleep. Just as my eyelids were drooping closed, Minerva came busting through the door, causing Beej and I to bolt awake. Betelgeuse was, once again, in full-on protect mode, with me clutched tightly to his chest. He glared at Nerva.

"Why is it that whenever I spend the night with you, we don't get to sleep past 7:00 am?" Beej grumbled to me as he glared at my other friend, his voice more gravelly than usual since he just woke up.

I sighed. "I have no idea," I replied, my hair frizzy.

"Rise n' shine, love birds! Time's a wastin'!" Nerva chirped cheerily, mercilessly ripping open the curtains, thus letting in the brutal sunlight.

"Minnie, doll, I admire you peppiness, but I literally want to shove all that peppiness back up your a-"

"Don't finish that," I interrupted, stretching and getting out of bed. Betelgeuse begrudgingly did the same.

I pulled on a sweatshirt over my t-shirt and shorts, and followed Nerva out of our bedroom and into the kitchen. Beej trailed in after me, running a hand through his unkempt hair and yawning.

Lydia chuckled and waved at us. "Morning, you two. You guys look dead."

"I feel dead," I responded, grabbing a pop tart and sitting down beside Rita, who had a face mask on and towel wrapped around her hair on top of her head.

"I am dead," Betelgeuse commented, plopping down next to me. I handed him a pop tart, which he accepted gratefully.

Riley came into the kitchen, already dressed and looking polished as ever.

"Good morning, everyone! Who's ready for laser tag?"

Nerva and Lydia whooped excitedly, while the rest of us mumbled a half-hearted response.

"Looks like everyone's in a great mood," the blonde said sarcastically, grinning at Beej, Rita, and me.

"I just wanna finish my pop tart in peace!" I groaned as I took another bite of the toaster pastry and laid my head on Beej's shoulder. He used his free hand to run his fingers through my hair and massage my scalp, which felt absolutely amazing.

"Okay, well, we leave in an hour, so let's get a move on, people!" Nerva said as she got up to take her dishes to the sink.

Once I finished my pop tart and had grabbed a quick cup of coffee, I went back to the room, took a short shower, dried my hair, put on some light makeup, and I was ready to go.

We were all standing by the door, waiting on Rita. I looked down at my new black and white-striped cobra bracelet. He gave me a snaky grin and flicked his tongue at me.

Beej had insisted on shapeshifting in order to save money for admission to the laser tag place, claiming quote: "You don't have to pay for accessories".

"Okay, when we get to the laser tag place, you gotta be perfectly still and quiet, okay?" I told him, adjusting my arm a bit to where he had a better grip.

His little snake head bobbed in understanding.

Riley glanced at his watch and Nerva tapped her foot impatiently. Lydia made faces at Beej, who was trying, to the best of his ability, to make faces back, despite not having near as many facial muscles.

Rita finally joined us in the foyer, makeup flawless and hair styled to perfection. Nerva eyed her judgmentally.

"You realize we're going to play laser tag, not to the Met Gala, right?" she asked sarcastically.

Rita rolled her eyes and stuck her nose up in the air. "I'm well aware. There's nothing wrong with looking fashionable when doing everyday tasks!" she defended, tossing a dark curl over her shoulder.

"Yeah, because running around in a room full of black lights with flashing beacons strapped to your head and body is an everyday task," Betelgeuse hissed so only I could hear, his little snake face grinning up at me smartly.

I stifled a chuckle.

"Alright, well, we're burning daylight, so let's get a move on," Riley interjected, opening the door and motioning for us to go ahead of him.

I did, pulling up Google Maps on my phone as I stepped out onto the sidewalk.

"Okay, it looks like we're gonna have to take the subway," I told the rest as they came to join me outside.

Riley nodded in agreement, sunglasses perched on top of his head as he stared down at his own phone screen. "Mhm. Alright, let's go!"

We got onto the subway and grabbed what seats we could. Riley and I were left standing, but I didn't mind. I stood with my right arm holding onto the handle hanging down from the ceiling. This not only helped me to stay upright, but also gave Beej a better vantage point, so he could look around curiously.

"Oh my gosh, I love your bracelet!" I heard a voice to my right say. I turned my head to see a girl who looked to be around Nerva's age smiling at me. She had large, round glasses, short, purple hair, and a broad, black hat. "It looks so real! Where'd you get it?" She gently touched a shiny scale.

"Uh..."

"It wasn't at Hot Topic, doll, so why don't you get your emo mitts off me?" Beej said to her sassily, his snake tongue flicking out and in.

The girl jerked back in shock. "Did it... Did it just talk??"

I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, he gets a little cranky in the morning."

"Um.... what??"

"I'm an all-powerful demon, do you really wanna ask a bunch of questions?"

"Beej! Stop being rude!" I chastised him, trying not to laugh at his little angry snake face.

"Well, I'm not just an accessory and she's being a little too nosy!" he whined.

"Um, this whole thing was your idea, remember?" I reminded him, putting a hand on my hip.

The girl beside me was staring at us with wide eyes.

"You're crazy, lady!" she told me fearfully, picking up her backpack and carefully but hurriedly making her way down the train, far away from Beej and me.

I sighed and looked down at him. "You gotta lay low. We don't want mass panic."

He flicked his tongue at me disagreeably and stared at the other passengers.

Riley just chuckled softly beside me.

"You know, I would say you two are like a normal old married couple, but nothing about you two is normal."

I grinned and rolled my eyes. "You could say that again."

After about 20 minutes we arrived at our stop. We got off the subway and were pleasantly surprised to find that the laser tag place was on the same block. It only took us a couple of minutes to get there.

We entered, paid, and were briefed on the policies and standard safety rules. The guy briefing us glanced around at all of us.

"How old is the youngest?" he asked, pointing to Lydia.

"Seventeen," she answered, strapping on her gear.

"Okay, look, guys. You can climb and stuff, basically you can do everything I told you not to do, except destroy stuff and purposefully try to hurt another player."

We all shared a confused glance.

"The manager's out, and you guys are the only ones here, also you're all at least 17, so you're good," he explained, giving us a nonchalant thumbs-up.

Nerva and Lydia high-fived excitedly, Riley did a fist pump, and Beej (now back in his normal form) gave me a toothy grin.

"Alright, have fun!" the employee said, opening the door.

We all took off. Lydia and I broke off from the others, planting ourselves at the top of one of the towers, crouching so the others wouldn't spot us.

"Alright, I'm gonna scope out the vantage point, see if I can hit anything," I told Lydia, standing up and propping my gun on the ledge sniper-style.

I saw Riley zip by and pulled the trigger. I heard him curse in confusion a moment later. Nerva ran by, looking around for what had hit Riley. I hit her twice, then ducked down before she could see me. Lydia was staring at me.

"Okay, how in the world were you able to hit them?" she asked me.

I smiled and shrugged. "I did some time in the military."

The teen laughed and shook her head at me. "(Y/N), is there anything you can't do?"

"Oh, absolutely. I can't play drums or piano. Both equally confuse and frustrate me," I told her, standing back up and cautiously moving down the ramp that led up to the tower. Lydia followed me, laughing at my comment about not being able to play certain musical instruments.

"Alright, I'll take the left, you take the right," Lydia told me as we came to a dividing wall in the environment.

I nodded and lightly treaded down the right side, carrying my gun like they taught me to in the military. I slowed my breathing and looked around, taking in every aspect and detail. I heard movement to my left. I spun and shot, hitting Minerva squarely in the chest.

"Gosh darnnit, (Y/N)!" she said, crossing her arms as she impatiently waited ten seconds to respawn.

I quickly jogged away father down the path, putting enough distance between Nerva and I so that I could now slow down again. I forced myself to calm down so that I would be able to hear over the deafening pounding of my heart.

"Pssst, (Y/N)!"

I turned and shot.

Betelgeuse ducked behind a wall, narrowly escaping my laser.

"Jesus Christ!" I heard him shout.

He peeked out over the top of the low wall cautiously. I was still pointing my gun at him warily.

"I want a truce! Truce!" he said pleadingly.

I arched an eyebrow at him suspiciously, lowering my weapon ever so slightly. "Why do you, of all people, want a truce?"

"Because Riley's holing Lydia hostage, so I thought we could team up to free her."

"Oh, it's on, Blondie!" I said, a determined grin making its way onto my face.

"So, what happened to Minnie and Rita?" Betelgeuse asked me, following as I maneuvered through the maze-like environment.

"Oh, they're off duking it out amongst themselves somewhere," I answered him.

The demon chuckled. "Sounds about right."

We made our way back to the other end of the environment, Betelgeuse pointing in the general direction of where he saw Lydia and Riley.

Once we neared the place where Beej said he saw Lydia and Riley, the two of us crouched down behind a wall.

"Okay, and you're positive this is where you saw them?" I asked my companion, adjusting my gear.

He nodded.

"Alright. Ambush?"

Beej gave me a Cheshire Cat grin. "Ambush."

"You ready?"

He smirked at me. "I will be after you gimme a kiss for good luck."

I grinned in spite of myself and rolled my eyes at him. "Okay, fine."

I wrapped an arm around his neck and pressed my lips against his. He placed a hand on the back of my neck, tilting my head back a bit and deepening the kiss. I smiled into the kiss.

"Geez, can you guys go five minutes without making out?" I heard a voice say.

I abruptly pulled away from Betelgeuse and whipped around to face the voice. I saw Lydia standing there with her arms crossed and a look of disgust on her face.

My brow furrowed in confusion. "Lydia? But I thought Riley...."

I stopped talking when I felt my chest pad vibrate and heard my gun buzz. I looked down at my chest pad wide-eyed and saw that my beacon had turned red, and my gun's display was blinking a countdown until I respawned.

Beej had shot me.

Before Lydia could avenge me, he took her out, too.

"You betrayed me. Oh, I'm gonna kill you," I told the demon, chuckling darkly.

He just giggled mischievously. "Too late, babes. Lydia already did that, with bad art."

And with that, he was gone, his faint laughter echoing in gleeful waves off the walls.