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“Samirah can turn invisible, you don’t get her on your team, Chase!” Mallory hollered from the opposite side of the room where she was picking up a plastic gun and weighing it in her hands.
“Maybe he needs the help, Mack.” Alex threw a smirk at Magnus. He ignored it.
“Guys, I’m obviously not going to use that during the game,” Sam intervened. “Just as Alex is going to promise not to shapeshift. It’s laser tag, not laser tag to the death. We’re also not using any weapons apart from these.” She held up the gun she was handling with a look of distaste.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Alex interrupted. “I did not promise I wasn’t going to shapeshift.”
“And who said anything about no weapons?” Halfborn broke in, stomping over from where he had been standing with Mallory.
Samirah smiled like she was in pain. “The fact that this is mortal laser tag?”
“Yeah, there weren’t any places at Hotel Valhalla and Alex insisted on me trying it!” TJ jumped in, trying to fit a bayonet onto the front of the plastic weapon. “Mortal rules and all!”
Mallory finally came over to join the group and took the bayonet from TJ’s hands. “Nope,” she said and put it in a locker along with her jacket, which she had taken off revealing her startlingly bright HOTEL VALHALLA t-shirt glowing lime green in the strange lighting.
(Alex’s garotte was around her waist – “it’s a belt,” he had insisted – and Jack was in pendant form – “Señor, I am not being stuffed inside a locker for three hours while you have all the fun. Keep me around your neck - you won’t even notice I’m here.”)
“Who’s picking teams?” TJ asked with a forlorn glance towards the locker that held his bayonet.
“I nominate Sam and Alex,” Magnus cut in before Mallory and Halfborn could say anything. Nobody objected, except for Sam’s little squeak of ‘what?’ before Alex chose his first teammate.
“TJ,” Alex called. “You’re the best with a gun. You’re on my team.”
“Yes!” TJ answered, happy to be recognised, and went to stand next to Alex.
“Uh, Mallory,” Sam said, shooting Magnus an apologetic look. Magnus tried not to feel slighted.
“Halfborn,” Alex picked next.
“You’re going down, Keen!” Halfborn hollered and high-fived TJ.
Mallory snorted. “You wish, oaf.”
Magnus went to stand with his team, feeling slightly miffed that Alex hadn’t even glanced at him, let alone picked him for his team. If he was being honest with himself, there was no reason to expect that Alex would have picked him, but Magnus had thought that they were becoming closer. There had been random times Alex had grabbed Magnus’ hand when they were hanging out together - which without fail made Magnus stammer and change the subject - though Alex hadn’t kissed him again since they’d postponed Ragnarok and Magnus had dripped chocolate all over the carpet.
Still, it would have been nice to be on Alex’s team. Now Magnus was up against the scariest and possibly the most dangerous member of the group, who would not hesitate to shoot him – or worse – the second he saw him. The odds were not in Magnus’ favour.
“Alright, five minutes to strategize, then the game starts.” Mallory announced, immediately dragging Samirah and Magnus to the other side of the room, shooting suspicious glares at the others.
“Ok guys, what’s our plan? Sam?” Mallory asked expectantly.
“Shoot and don’t get shot,” Samirah responded promptly.
Mallory looked as if she was trying hard not to snort. Magnus glanced over at the other team and caught Alex’s eye. Alex winked and turned back to his own team, leaving Magnus staring stupidly at him, flustered.
“Hey, Beantown!”
Reddening, Magnus realised that Mallory was trying to get his attention. He met Sam’s gaze and she sent him a knowing look which Magnus ignored.
“Yes?”
“Do you think we should pick someone to attack? Split up? Divide and conquer?”
“Uh, yeah.” Magnus agreed. “That sounds good.”
Mallory looked at him for a few seconds then glanced back at Sam. “Ok, then. I’ll take Gunderson. We have a score to settle.”
“Then I’ll take TJ!” Sam jumped in. “I’m sure he’s planning a full frontal charge - he’ll be easy to target. So Magnus, you can take Alex,” she said with a smile.
“Wait, no! I- “ Magnus tried to backtrack but couldn’t think of an excuse. Other than the fact that he didn’t want to end up actually dead from this game. He felt Jack buzz against his chest and switch from pendant form, apparently deeming it safe to emerge now that the locker was, well, locked.
“Hey, Señor! I can’t believe they picked us last. They probably forgot we were a package deal. But I’m here now, so you can– oh, why hello there!”
Jack had spotted the plastic gun in Mallory’s hand and was immediately distracted, his runes glowing various shades of fluro orange, yellow and green, matching the garish colours of the gun’s barrel. Mallory, Sam and Magnus all gave him unsurprised and unimpressed looks, but had no time to say anything as TJ called out to them from across the room.
“That’s your five minutes up! Game commences in 20… 19…” TJ stopped counting and bolted towards the now open doors of the laser tag arena, Alex and Halfborn close behind him. The countdown continued over the speakers.
“15…14…13…” Mallory and Sam exchanged wide-eyed looks and dashed after the other team. Caught off guard, Magnus grabbed Jack by the hilt and followed suit.
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Entering the arena, Magnus realised that Jack might not be as helpful to have out as he’d originally thought. It was almost pitch black in the arena, so anyone who could see Jack’s softly glowing blade was immediately alerted to Magnus’ position. Fortunately, everyone else had disappeared so quickly that there wasn’t even time for one of Mallory’s trademark eyerolls.
“Um, no - I don’t think so, Señor. Back in the pendant, missing out on all the action just because I glow? No way! You glow and no one’s stuffing you in a locker.”
Magnus gave up on trying to coax Jack back into pendant form after that.
Unfortunately, at that moment the speakers finished the countdown, announced the beginning of the game and started blasting a cheery Taylor Swift song.
“Oh, cool!” Jack said excitedly before starting to sing along in earnest. Magnus suppressed a groan. There was no way he was sneaking up on Alex like this. At this rate, it was more likely that Alex would find them and put Magnus out of his misery before the song was over.
“Jack!” Magnus hissed.
“Yeah?” The blade twisted in midair.
“Do you think you could be really useful and lead the other team away from us so that we can sneak up on them?”
Jack seemed to consider for a moment, tilting from side to side.
“Yeah, I can do that.” He floated off in another direction, (poorly) singing along to the chorus of Love Story.
Magnus breathed a sigh of relief, hoping that Jack wasn’t going anywhere near Sam or Mallory. Just over the music Magnus could hear Mallory and Halfborn’s occasional yells, but it was impossible to tell whether it was a direct fight or merely intimidation tactics. Relaxing a little bit, Magnus figured he could scout around for a bit and then find a good place to watch out for Alex.
Magnus made his way through seemingly random passageways and tunnels, occasionally past a strategically placed glowing lamp faintly glowing, but couldn’t seem to find anyone from his own team, let alone the other. Come to think of it, Mallory and Halfborn’s screams seemed to be getting fainter by the minute. But before Magnus could wish that he hadn’t sent Jack away because Hello, Creepytown, he walked straight into Alex who had his – no, her, Magnus corrected himself with a glance at her – gun trained right at Magnus’ heart with a smirk on her face.
“Any last words, Maggie?”
Magnus fumbled for his gun, figuring he had less than two seconds before Alex shot him and walked away gloating, and the least he could do was use any second of mercy to attempt a dignified death. “Hey, Alex.”
She stepped towards Magnus and he backed away quickly, still trying to hold the plastic gun properly. Magnus finally got a proper grip on the handle and glanced up to see Alex right in front of him, those bright eyes – one a deep brown, the other amber – focused straight on his. His heart skipped a beat. She nudged him backwards into the corner, Magnus stumbling as his back hit the wall.
He opened his mouth – not to beg for mercy (he knew she would just laugh), but maybe he could say something witty in his last moments, make her smile at him with amusement rather than smugness – but before he could say anything, she was kissing him.
Magnus dropped the gun – maybe out of shock, or maybe he realised that this mattered much more to him than any game – and put his hands on her waist, because being allowed to touch Alex without being decapitated was a rare opportunity not to be wasted. A dim glow emitted from his skin, just barely illuminating the passageway. He could feel Alex smile into the kiss, and felt one of her hands on his, the other reaching for… her gun?
He realised what she was doing half a second too late. The laser beamed and flashed, lighting up Magnus’ belt, signalling that he’d been shot. Alex pulled away with a cocky grin. She barely spared Magnus a second glance as she reloaded her gun and walked away. Magnus sighed and leaned back against the wall, wondering how on earth he would explain this to his team.
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Mallory and Halfborn were at each other’s throats, still clawing at victory. Sam and TJ, having called a temporary truce, elected to watch the other two shoot at each other from various points and hiding spots. Every time one got a close shot, Sam would nod with approval and TJ would join in with a smatter of applause. When one of them actually managed to hit the other… well, that hadn’t happened yet. But Sam and TJ had high hopes.
“Guys! I found you,” Magnus gasped as he finally emerged from a tunnel after what seemed like an eternity of wandering through dim corridors and caught sight of the flashes of light.
Sam took one look at him, still faintly glowing, and sighed. “We’ll need a different strategy for round 2, then. Alex kissed him, didn’t he?” She directed the last part at TJ who grinned.
“Sorry, Magnus.”
Magnus just nodded. “She. And that’s a lousy trick.”
TJ looked a little apologetic. “She did say it would catch you off guard.”
“Come on, Magnus, that's the oldest trick in the book!” Sam groaned.
Magnus gave them both a dirty look and stood alongside them, watching Mallory and Halfborn.
“So,” Magnus said eventually. “Now what?”
“Well, our first round was just a one-on-one with a single shot and you’re eliminated, as you now know,” Sam explained. “You’re out now, so you and Alex wait until Halfborn or Mallory win their match, and TJ or I shoot each other.”
“Where is Alex?” TJ asked.
“No idea; she disappeared after she shot me. And I’d sent Jack off as well,” Magnus added.
“I can hear all of his thoughts, Señorita. It’s a sword thing. So believe you me, I’ll be hearing about it for a long time.” Jack, still in sword form, floated alongside Alex out of a passageway to Sam’s right.
Alex was smirking. “Good to know, Jack.”
Magnus’ ears burned when he realised what they were talking about, and directed his gaze back to Mallory and Halfborn’s never-ending skirmish, trying to avoid Alex’s eyes. It became even harder when she sidled up next to him, brushing against his side.
“So, who shot who?” she asked Sam and TJ who were relaxed side by side against a wall.
“Oh, we’re still in a truce,” TJ answered.
“This game is taking ages. We’re doing multiple kills next round.”
TJ and Sam nodded in agreement, but Magnus made no response, apart from flushing at the thought of what Alex might do – namely with her mouth on his mouth – for a few shots and a few decades (he knew she would drag this out as long as possible) of bragging rights.
Alex scoffed as if she knew exactly what Magnus was thinking. “In your dreams, Maggie. That strategy won’t work again.”
“Actually, I think it might,” Sam muttered, making TJ chuckle.
“YAH!” Mallory yelled and fired, finally shooting Halfborn in the belt, causing the light to flash for a second then fade out. Halfborn growled and threw down his gun.
“Sam!” TJ cried out, as his belt also went dark.
Samirah held her gun out and smiled. “We said the truce was over as soon as one shot the other. Sorry, TJ.”
Mallory came over and high-fived Sam, before they both turned to look at Magnus. Mallory sighed. “Alex kissed him, didn’t he?”
Alex smiled wickedly. “She. And yes. It worked like a charm. Didn’t even need to shapeshift.”
“New round, and every man for himself.’ Halfborn announced.
“And woman,” Mallory snapped. “And no, it’s not. We’ll play a 15 minute round. We still have the same teams, but you can shoot anyone and can be shot multiple times.”
“If you can be shot at all,” Alex whispered to Sam with a grin.
The teams broke up again for a five minute discussion of strategies, and Mallory immediately turned to Magnus. “Ok Magnus, you need to go somewhere different than last time. Try not to let Alex corner you.” She gave Sam a look. “We’ll go after the rest.”
“I can help you, you know,” Magnus started to argue. “I can go after Alex again. I’ll know what to expect this time.”
Sam smiled as Mallory shot her another look. “It’s Alex, Magnus. You do not know what to expect.”
“You just want to kiss her again, don’t you?” Mallory asked, scornfully.
Magnus folded his arms. “No, of course not. I need to win back my pride.”
“Uh, no. Stick to the original plan – stay away from Alex. You may face off against her if she finds you.”
Magnus rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
“10… 9… 8…” The countdown started blaring over the speakers and both teams scattered. As the countdown reached one, Magnus found himself in a similar spot to the last round, although he could still hear the rest of Floor 19 so he concluded it was not as far away as last time. Jack changed out of pendant form which he had opted for briefly when he and Alex had found their way back to the others at the end of the previous round.
“Hey, Jack. Do you think you could dim the lights a bit?” Magnus asked hopefully.
“Sure, Señor,” Jack replied, settling into a soft orange-pink hue.
“Thanks.”
Magnus walked along in silence as the upbeat pop songs blasting from the speakers played overhead. Jack floated along beside him, also quiet, for a record-breaking forty seconds before he piped up.
“So, Señor. Alex kissed you?”
“Jack!” Magnus snapped, blushing.
“Alright, alright. I’m just sayin.’ You should definitely make a move. She’s gorgeous. That garotte of hers…” Jack sighed dreamily.
Magnus cleared his throat. “Focus on the mission, Jack.”
“Ah, it’s always ‘focus on the mission, Jack,’ and ‘stop singing the wrong words to Taylor Swift's latest single, Jack.’ Let me have some fun, Señor. I’ll hear whatever you think about her anyway.”
“That’s not the point.” Magnus raised the plastic gun like he’d sometimes seen detectives do on the shelter’s battered television. “Right now, we need to keep away from Alex.”
A new voice interrupted. “Aw, surely you don’t mean that, Maggie.”
Magnus spun round and cursed when he found himself almost chest to chest with Alex Fierro.
“Um.” Magnus paused, trying to think of something to say but coming up empty. Alex smirked.
“Well, aren’t you going to shoot me? It’s only fair, as I used dubious tactics last time.”
Magnus took a step backward. “I– uh.”
“Go on,” Alex coaxed. “Shoot me.”
Magnus raised his gun, unsure whether she was tricking him or making fun of him or genuinely wanted to make up for the last round. Alex was still smirking at him, almost like she didn’t believe he would do it. Jack was watching them both in apprehensive silence.
Torn between shooting her or running from what was sure to be a hit to his own belt as soon as he went to pull the trigger, Magnus decided to do the next logical thing – he stepped forward again and leaned down, pressing his lips against hers.
Hands already abandoning her gun, Alex stretched up to put her arms around his neck, kissing him back enthusiastically.
Magnus could have easily lost himself in her – at any other time he would have been reduced to an incoherent mess at the pleased noises Alex was making in her throat; she was right there, and how often did this happen back on Floor 19? – but as one hand settled on her waist, the other was down by his side still holding the gun, reminding him of what he had to do. He stepped away from her suddenly, forcing her to release him as he aimed and pulled the trigger, shooting her neatly.
“Jack! Run!” Magnus yelled and sprinted down the passageway, Jack floating behind him, complaining the whole way.
“You know very well I don’t have legs, and I’m still sensitive about it…”
“Sorry, Jack.” Magnus panted, stopping to catch his breath after they put a good amount of distance between them and Alex.
“Yeah, yeah. Anyway – that kiss, Señor! Well done! It was almost as good a move as this one I used on this stunning battle-axe once…”
“Jack.”
“Señor?”
“Could you please be quiet while I figure out a plan?”
“You know what the plan is! Find Alex again and kiss her til the round’s over!”
Magnus sighed, despite that sounding like a very good suggestion in his opinion. “I think I've effectively killed any chances of that happening for the rest of the day. The only thing Alex will be concerned with now is finding us and shooting me so many times that I wish I’d never dreamed of trying to get one up on her.
“And we’ve pretty much done this strategy to death, unfortunately,” he added, slightly wistfully, thinking of Alex’s surprised but pleased reaction to him using said strategy.
Jack hummed but didn’t respond. He made a sound as if he was going to say something but they were interrupted by Halfborn’s gruff yell of “TJ! On your left!,” followed by an indignant shout, identical to the ones heard from TJ’s room when he was losing a round in his video game.
“Nice, Mallory! Oh–” They heard Sam falter, as if she was also shot.
“Can you hear Alex?” Magnus whispered to Jack. “Should we go over to where everyone else is fighting?”
Jack performed the sword equivalent of an unenthusiastic nod, and they made their way to the middle of the battlefield, keeping an eye out for any flashes of pink or green.
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Still standing where Magnus had kissed her and run, Alex couldn’t decide what to do. On one hand, she wanted to follow Magnus and suggest they form a temporary truce (so she could kiss him without being interrupted by someone shooting someone else, she thought, then cursed her mushy thoughts about a stupid boy). On the other hand, she really, really wanted to win this round. And Magnus was one up on her.
She thought about his expression – the surprise when she caught him off guard the first time and the look that always crossed his face when their eyes met, like they were his favourite thing to study – and vowed to get in at least two shots before she even thought of kissing him again.
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Magnus knew he had made the wrong choice as soon as he stepped out into the view of the others. Mallory and Sam yelled at him to duck – Halfborn and TJ fired at him as soon as they caught sight of him, barely missing as he dove behind the nearest wall.
“Where’s Alex?” Samirah called.
“I shot her!” Magnus yelled back.
Mallory looked startled. “Nice work, Beantown! I didn’t think you had it in you!”
She fell silent as she tucked and rolled, shielding her belt from view as Halfborn aimed but failed to reach his target.
“Get out of here, Magnus!” Sam yelled, trying in vain to catch Halfborn or TJ off guard. Halfborn gave a roar of triumph as Mallory’s belt went dull, his shot mostly coincidence as he fired a stream of laser beams in her direction until one managed to collide.
Admitting to himself that he wasn’t going to be much help either way, Magnus resolved to follow Sam’s instructions and get out of there, leaving his teammates undistracted. It was pure luck that neither Halfborn nor TJ managed to land a hit on Magnus as he dashed across the open floor and threw himself into a new passageway leaving Jack behind with a single indignant “Señor!” echoing in the arena.
He knew it was harsh that he’d abandoned Jack like that and he’d be hearing about it for eternity, but Magnus hoped that the sound would draw Alex to where he’d just left rather than prompting her to roam the tunnels. He was sure that Alex was looking for him now, most likely ready to decapitate him five different ways before dinner.
He moved slowly through the darkness, listening out for any hint of her whereabouts, but he heard nothing but his own footsteps, and the sounds of the rest of his team shooting down Halfborn and TJ continuously and viciously. He felt slightly sorry for them but mostly very smug, sure that the only reason they were losing so badly was because Alex was way too distracted to be of any help to them.
Magnus reached the end of the corridor and entered a wide, open space, much like the one that the rest of Floor 19 was currently occupying. Seeing it was empty, he started moving swiftly to the other side when a voice from somewhere to his right said “Magnus Chase. Where do you think you’re going?”
Magnus flinched and spun around to see Alex about five feet away from him, entering the same space through a different tunnel. He let out a breath, his gun trained on her, and thanked Frey (not even sarcastically!) that he’d been preparing for this.
“You called me Magnus for once,” he told Alex.
“It’s a pretty big moment,” she replied. “I wanted to afford you what little dignity I can before you die a very humiliating death at my hands. Unfortunately it’s not very much.”
“I really hope you remember that we’re not in Valhalla right now and you don’t mean my literal death.”
Alex just laughed, which did nothing to reassure him, and stepped forward so they stood facing each other from opposite sides of the area.
Guns raised, they circled each other slowly, both all too aware that any sign of weakness would be exploited instantly.
“Not very original,” Alex said, looking right at him. “That last move of yours. But I enjoyed it all the same.” She winked at him and he tried desperately to keep his focus, cheeks flaming.
It would have been a tense silence if not for the obnoxiously loud Spice Girls track blaring from the speakers.
Magnus’ gaze darted down to Alex’s belt and back up, looking for an opening to shoot her but she was on the defensive and he knew he wouldn’t be able to get a clear shot. They both took a few more steps.
“So, Maggie. How are we going to settle this?” Alex asked, teasingly. “As much as I’m sure you’d like to keep this up until Ragnarok, we’ve got to come to an agreement somehow. I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight.”
Magnus’ ears burned at the implication, and tried not to think of where else she could be sleeping tonight.
“There’s an easier way to do this, Magnus,” she said, an amused look on her face. She took one slow step forward.
Magnus forced himself to stay in place. “What’s that?”
“Forfeit,” she answered with a wide grin. “Drop the gun, Maggie.”
It was that smile. The one that was a little evil and amused and triumphant and made his stomach turn to butterflies. It was the same smile she gave him whenever Floor 19 won the daily training battle (which wasn’t often, meaning he liked earning it all the more). His breathing faltered for a second but he forced his mouth to move and speak the words that had probably been on the tip of his tongue since he met her. “Go to dinner with me.”
“Huh?”
“Tonight. If I win, you come to Midgard with me for dinner,” he clarified.
Alex raised an eyebrow. “And if I win?”
Magnus shrugged. “I’ll take you to dinner to celebrate.”
Alex looked at him for a minute. “Not falafel.”
Magnus frowned, lowering his guard, distracted by the slight against Amir’s falafel stand. “Deal.”
Alex beamed. “Deal,” she agreed.
And shot him.
(She made up for it a few seconds later though, to Magnus’ great satisfaction.)