Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It had been an uneventful trip for the explorers Adam and Barbara. They had recently decided to go check out Olympic National Park in hopes of finding a few new mythical creatures to take photographs of. The only creatures they’ve run across though were unicorns, small bee-like dragons, and the occasional griffin. While they were impressive creatures to many, the Maitlands have seen them many times before. Currently, they were standing in a clearing, watching some bee-dragons.

“Bee-dragon 208,” Adam stated as he wrote down another tally mark in his notebook.

The bee-dragon in question was currently flying around his head, curious about this giant creature who had approached it. Its attention was soon caught by another bee-dragon and they began to chase each other around the clearing. Barbara smiled at her husband and walked over. He was currently adding another tally to the notebook. Once she reached him, she kissed him on the cheek and watched as the bee-dragons with him.

“This is beautiful Adam.” She told him as she studied the horizon. “I’m surprised we haven’t seen anything other than common creatures though.”

Adam nodded at his wife’s observation as he closed his notebook.

“I am too. While I am impressed with our findings, I wish there was something more.” He told her.

She sighed as she nodded and looked out at the clearing until something caught her eye. Leaving her husband’s side, she walked over to the thing and saw it was a black and white scale. Picking it up, she became excited and turned towards Adam.

“Adam!” She shouted at him. “Look at what I found!”

“Is that?” Adam asked her as he began to walk over. “Is that a naga scale?!”

He took the scale from her and began to study it. The scale in question shimmered in the sunlight, giving off a beautiful green glow. As the two studied the scale, a feeling of being watched came over them. Looking around, they only saw the bee-dragons and trees swaying in the breeze. Still, they felt uncomfortable especially with signs of a naga being in the area.

“I’m going to go grab that anti-naga thing you bought recently, Adam,” Barbara told him. “Something is making me uncomfortable and I would like to be prepared. Just in case.”

Adam nodded as he pocketed the scale. The two gave each other a quick kiss before Barbara ran off to their truck to grab the device. Once she was out of sight, Adam began to pull out his notebook when he felt like someone was watching him. Turning around, he was greeted by a shirtless man standing right behind him.

“Hello?” Adam asked the man. “Do you need anything?”

The man smiled, green hair seemingly brightening a little in the process.

“No, not really. I was admiring the view.” The man told him as he moved closer.

As the man got closer, he heard the bee-dragons start to buzz and growl at the man. Adam was confused at first at the sudden change in behavior until he saw why. Once the man exited the underbrush, instead of legs, he saw a large snake tail trailing behind the man. His eyes widened as he backed away.

“Oh, don’t be afraid.” The naga told him. “I don’t want to hurt you.”

Adam averted his eyes and looked at the grass below him. As he did so, he happened to catch a glance at the man’s snake tail. The tail was almost shrunken into itself and looked very unhealthy. The man has been close to starving. Adam gasped in understanding when he realized what was going on. He was being hunted.

“Don’t be like that.” The naga told him as he attempted to lift his chin. “I only want us to be close friends.”

“Well,” Adam responded as he jerked his head away. “I don’t think that would be a good idea.”

The man, without warning, wrapped his striped tail around him and forced him to look into his eyes. Adam was thankful that the naga hadn’t started the attempt to hypnotize him.

“And why not?”

Adam attempted not to wince as the naga squeezed a bit hard and continued to keep his cool.

“For one, I don’t even know your name.” He told the snake man.

The man stopped and seemed to consider it. He then smiled, pulled back, and crossed his arms.

“Alright. I will give you my name through charades.” The naga told him before patting his arm and holding out two fingers.

“Uh, two words?” Adam told him causing him to pat his arm again and hold out one finger. “First word?”

The naga then looked around before snatching a bug off the ground and holding it in his face.

“Bug? Stink bug? Beetle?” As Adam said the last word, the naga nodded before throwing the bug in his mouth.

He then patted his arm again before holding up two fingers. The guessing game then continued for a little bit until Adam guessed the word juice. The naga nodded before motioning for him to put the two together.

“Your name is Beetlejuice?” Adam asked the man.

“Yes!” Beetlejuice exclaimed. “It usually takes longer than that for someone to guess my name but hey, what can ya do?”

The naga chuckled before glaring at him and squeezing tighter. He felt Beetlejuice’s clawed hands grab his chin again and force him to look at his eyes. As he did so, Beetlejuice’s eyes started to swirl and change colors. His body began to relax as his chin was let go but couldn’t find himself able to look away.

“You are a very handsome man,” Beetlejuice told him as he continued to hypnotize him. “It’s a shame though that I won’t be seeing your face ever again.”

He then began to lean in, fangs becoming bared. As Adam was able to feel the naga’s breath, a gasp echoed into his mind.

“You leave my husband alone!” Barbara shouted as she fired a tranquilizer into Beetlejuice’s neck.

This caused the naga to roar in pain and immediately let go of Adam. As he landed on the ground with a grunt, the naga’s spell broke allowing him to gather his senses. Barbara was soon at his side, holding up a naga proof shield and making sure he was okay.

“Are you okay Adam?” She asked him as Beetlejuice snarled and struck the shield.

He shakily nodded in response as he held his head, still recovering from the spell. The naga struck the shield again but with some more force and roared again. They heard some of the bee-dragons growl and buzz around the pissed off Beetlejuice. As they did so, the naga angrily swiped at them and began to get more tired in the process. Finally, Beetlejuice gave the shield one final hit before collapsing.

Barbara then lowered the shield as she heard the man hit the ground and saw him passed out of his stomach. She brought the shield closer and nudged him before completely lowering it. Upon seeing the state Beetlejuice was in, she gasped and knelt beside the naga. As she did so, Adam came over still a little woozy and sat down.

“I’ve never seen a naga in this state before.” She told him. “This forest has many deer and other animals he could hunt. I wonder if he’s an escaped circus animal.”

Barbara reached out and felt the naga’s tail. She couldn’t help but grimace as she felt a little bit of bone poking out of the skin. Turning to Adam, she saw him with a worried expression on his face.

“Should we take him home?” He then asked her. “He’s starving and nagas are already an endangered species.”

“Are you sure?” She asked him, surprised he would suggest such a thing. “Especially after almost getting eaten alive?”

He nodded.

“I’m sure. Even though he’s a bit... much...I think we can handle him.”

Barbara looked at him, still in shock before nodding. She could see where he was coming from and stood up.

“Alright. I will go get some tarp and rope so we can put him in the back of our truck.”

They struggled for a few minutes but they were finally successful and dragged him into the truck bed. They were both thankful for the ramp Adam bought when they had to transport a griffin to Canada. As Barbara tied the naga down, she looked over at Adam who seemed to be dozing off.

“Adam, honey, I will drive.” She told him as she jumped from the truck bed. “You need to sleep.”

He nodded in response as she lead him to the passenger side and helped him into the truck. Once he was buckled in, he passed out, head against the seat. Barbara smiled before closing the door and heading around the truck. As she passed the truck bed, she looked at it before making her way to the driver's side and getting in. As she started the car, she had a feeling they were in for the time of their lives.

Chapter Text

About two days had passed when Adam and Barbara had finally arrived home. They had made sure to drive long hours so they wouldn’t risk people finding Beetlejuice in their truck bed. Only once did they need to stop for the night.

During the stop, they made sure to give him another dose of the tranquilizer before bringing him into their room. Despite being afraid of him, they didn’t want him to get kidnapped and most likely killed.

Once home, they made sure to quickly and silently move him up into the attic. They laid him out on the bed that had been moved up there. Barbara began to remove the ropes and tarp once the naga was down as Adam set up a few things that he thought the snake man would enjoy. It was stuff like water, food, a few books, and extra blankets. When Beetlejuice was completely laid out on the bed, they decided to leave him alone for a bit to wake up.

“I’m worried about him, Adam,” Barbara told her husband as she closed the attic door and began walking down the stairs. “He hasn’t eaten in a while plus we don’t know if he’s an escaped circus animal or not.”

As they walked down the second flight of stairs leading to the living room, Adam nodded as his wife continued to voice her concern. They then sat down on the couch in the living room and talked about Beej. Mostly about ways they could help make him feel more comfortable within their household and not get eaten by him.

Midway through their conversation, they heard a loud thud echo from the attic causing them to jump. Some cursing managed to make it’s way down to their living room causing them to look up in slight worry.

“I’ll go check on him,” Barbara told Adam before standing up and making her way up the stairs.

Once at the attic door, she could hear him shuffling around, either planning an escape or trying to figure out where he was. Knocking on the door, she heard a gasp before entering the attic. As she entered, she saw the bedsheet tangled in the naga’s striped coils and the man looking very confused but cautious. She smiled at him as he sat up and moved the sheets away from his frame.

“How was your sleep?” She asked him as she sat on the bed.

“It was fine,” Beetlejuice told her as he moved back onto the bed. “Had kind of a rude awaken though.”

She became cautious when she heard the naga’s tail move up on the bed near her and his stomach growled.

“Was kind of expecting breakfast in bed thing though.” He told her as he smirked.

His eyes then began to swirl as he looked at her. Quickly, Barbara adverted her gaze and held up a hand in hopes of avoiding his gaze. This caused him to huff, eyes going back to normal and hair turning slightly red.

“Look, if we are going to be living in the same house, you can’t be doing that,” Barbara told him as she lowered her arm and glared at him.

”Fine.” Beetlejuice sighed as he crossed his arms. “Can I at least get some food?”

“Sure. If I may ask though, how long has it been since you’ve last eaten?”

Beetlejuice huffed. “It’s only been about a week.

Not long enough for you to be babying me.” Barbara didn’t respond to his comment and got up off the bed. She then walked over to the dresser where Adam left some stuff and picked up one of the nut bars. She then handed it to him with a small smile as he looked at it with caution. He then took it and watched her as he wolfed it down.

This surprised Barbara as the bar disappeared within a few seconds of being in the naga’s hands. She figured that since he had something to eat only a week ago that he wouldn’t be that hungry. This wasn’t the case though. With a newfound bit of sympathy, she sat down beside him with the box of bars in hand.

“You can eat all of these if you want. We don’t need them.” She told him as she handed him the box.

Beetlejuice then snatched the box from her once she held it closer to him. He then stuck a clawed hand in the box, pulled out a bar, and ate it. Satisfied that he was at least eating, Barbara stood up and began to make her way towards the attic door. Once she opened the door, she turned back to look at Beej.

“If you need anything, please don’t be afraid to call out for us,” Barbara told him before leaving the attic.

When she had made it down the stairs to the living room, she saw Adam tapping away on his computer. Upon closer inspection, she saw it was a website dedicated to saving nagas.

“What are you looking at love?” She asked him as she walked over and kissed him.

“It’s a naga sanctuary,” he told her. “They have some information here about how they help these guys.”

“Anything useful?”

“A few things,” he told her as he held up his notebook. “Mostly stuff explaining what they eat, how often they eat, and other important info.”

As he put down the notebook, Barbara sat down beside him and grabbed a cup of tea Adam made for her. The two sat in silence for a while until Adam broke it.

“I think we should get him some real food. Something that fits a naga’s diet.”

“He happened to mention that he hasn’t had anything since we found him,” Barbara told him. “If you want, I could go down to the local pet store and see if they have any frozen rabbits.”

“That would be wonderful love,” Adam told her with a smile.

After a few minutes, Barbara got up, kissed Adam, and headed out. Once at the pet store, she began to walk around, looking for the things she needed. During the drive to the store, she had decided that she would buy a few other things. Things that she hoped Beetlejuice would enjoy.

As she browsed the shelves, she happened to see a little kid getting a snake with his mom. The mother looked like she was experienced in animal care and excited about the snake. The snake in question was a little ball python. It was happily curled up in the kid’s hand, enjoying the warmth. With a smile, she watched as the kid listed off names while the pet store employee carefully took it and put it in a box.

“Lydia would love to have a snake.” Barbara thought with a smile before a sudden realization hit her. “The Deetz are coming over sometime next month.”

She nearly dropped the heat lamp she had in her arms. Of course, she had to forget about their monthly visit when they had a naga. After a few seconds of standing there, she snapped out of it and continued to shop. The looming threat of the visit chewed at the back of her head as she got the rabbits and paid for everything.

“What are we going to do?” Barbara thought as she sat in the truck, head on the steering wheel. “I don’t want Lydia around this man but we can’t just leave him in the wild.”

She sighed before lifting her head and starting the truck. There was some hope that Beetlejuice would learn that they didn’t want him eating people. Especially, people, they considered close family. If need be, they’ll cross that bridge when they get to it.