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Naomi peeks around her cover. When she sees no sign of the enemy, she dives and rolls behind the best small wall a few feet up. She can hear sounds of the battle—grunts and cries, guns and beeps, laughter—and she tries to block it all out. She’s on a mission. She straightens her vest, looks out again. She’s still alone. She’d picked a good corner to start off in. No one’s thought to look for her here. And she has a perfect vantage point.
A shadow crosses the main opening to the small area she’s hidden in. She preps her gun, leans out just enough to see. As soon as she sees a foot she aims up. Fires.
Tali groans as her vest lights up, beeping like haywire as her score goes down.
“That’s not fair, Shepard,” the quarian whines, throwing her hands in the air as Naomi emerges from the shadows, laughing. “This section is barely a blip on the course map!”
“That’s what I was going for, Tali. Unnoticeable.” Naomi looks down at the feed on her omni-tool. Tali dropped down two spots; lower than Liara, but higher than Traynor and Cortez. Naomi’s second only to Garrus, with Vega and Ash tied for a close third. Kaidan’s holding steady in fourth. It’s on par for everyone’s skill set. Garrus is a sharp-shooter, Naomi and James are Marines, and Kaidan’s an experienced biotic. She just hopes her boyfriend isn’t playing too dirty to keep his fourth place spot. “Have you seen Kaidan at all?”
Tali looks up from her own omni-tool, shrugging slightly. “Last I saw, he was gunning for Vega and Garrus. The bosh’tets are trying to take each other out to raise their scores.”
“Even though I’m in second place? And Ash is right up with us?”
Tali sighs, shrugs again. “What do you humans say? ‘Boys will be boys?’”
Naomi gives a sigh of her own, shooting her friend an apologetic smile. “Yeah. That’s how it goes. But we’ll show them.” She waves her laser gun. “You going after them, too?”
“I’ll leave that to you. I’m going to at least keep Traynor and Cortez down so I can save some of my dignity.”
Naomi watches Tali slink into the shadows, smiling and shaking her head. She'd thought Tali would do better. Maybe with everyone putting their all into the game, she'd just fallen behind. It's a shame, but at least she's still in second. She studied the map for a moment before closing her omni-tool and bolting out the way Tali had come. It's time to go man hunting.
The game had been James’s idea. They had a chance to stop for shore leave for more than a day, long enough for the marine to find out that the Armax Arena has a laser tag course and to plan an outing for most of the Normandy crew. They’d decided to forego teams, instead favoring an every-man-for-himself game. Scores improve when taking someone out, and lessen when getting taken out. Naturally, the trained soldiers are doing the best. Naomi wants that number one spot. She has to take out Ash, Vega and Kaidan, or go straight for Garrus.
The former sounds far easier. Garrus is most likely holed up in a good sniper’s nest. She hasn’t seen anything high enough, yet. Kaidan, Ash, and Vega would be far easier to track. As she searches, peering into zones and down passageways, she can hear the sounds of her crew being shot down and their reactions. Garrus laughs at a defeated yell from James. That would boost Kaidan and Ash ahead. But her score is still too high for Ash to catch her yet. Traynor’s accented celebration in chorus with Cortez’s annoyed curse and groan. It’s all out war. And yet, it’s far less stressful than the war they’re trying to forget.
God… if it could just be like this, stay like this…
Naomi’s about to cross into one of the larger areas when a hand wraps around her wrist and yanks her into a smaller alcove. A short cry escapes her, ending abruptly when her back is pressed against the soft black wall and warm lips press against hers. She stiffens against the body holding her in place. When the shock wears off, when she realizes just what is happening, she practically melts. Her hands fist in the “stranger’s” shirt, keeping him close. Despite the beeping, the sounds of “battle” and her friends shouting and laughing, all she can hear is the thudding of her heart, the gentle humming coming from both of them as they kiss.
She blinks up at him when they finally break for air, eyes adjusting to the dark of the alcove. “Kaidan?” They’re still so close her lips brush his with every syllable.
His low chuckle sends a warmth straight through her. “Expecting someone else to pin you to a wall and kiss you in the dark like this?”
“Hmmm,” she hums against his lips, tracing the lines of his muscles through his uniform. “Vega?”
Kaidan stiffens for just a moment before huffing another laugh, pecking her lips again. “Don’t let Ash hear you say that. She might kill him.”
“Good. Makes it easier for me to win.”
Naomi tugs him in for another searing kiss, appreciating Kaidan’s low groan as he presses against her, traps her between his chest and the wall. They shouldn’t be doing this. Not here. Not with a huge apartment they could be taking advantage of instead. It’s always hard to stop once they begin. But it’s been days since she’s had him like this, since she’s had much time to be alone with him with energy to do more than shower and collapse in bed. She wants him. As soon as she finishes this game, she’s going to take him home and—
An unexpectedly loud beeping interrupts her thoughts. It takes her fairly lust-clouded mind a moment to process: it’s her vest beeping.
Naomi’s mouth hangs open as her boyfriend steps back, smug grin illuminated by her glowing vest and his omni-tool as the scores update in real time. Kaidan moves up in the rankings after taking down the second-place Commander. Her thoughts don’t process. She tries to piece everything together but all she can see is her proud looking, asshole boyfriend checking his score.
Had he… he had.
“You kissed me… so you could shoot me?”
“You know what they say,” he near sing-songs, looking back at her with a bright smile. “All’s fair in love and laser tag. Oh… looks like I’m tied for third with Vega now.” He backs out of the alcove, giving her a small wave as he goes. “Thanks for the kiss, though. Really hot.”
Naomi stares at him, still in utter shock over such an unexpected betrayal. A whoop echoes from nearby.
“You actually got her, LT?” Ashley. Of course. Of course she’d be in on it. “I can’t believe it worked!”
Finally, the shock fades. Naomi glares at Kaidan. With this, Ash would be in second place. And she’d be knocked down to third. Or fourth. Kaidan must see her expression. He’s gone before she can raise her gun, laughing and calling to Ashley to run.
“Yeah, you better run, Alenko,” Naomi calls after him, running off in the same direction. “‘Cause when I catch you, you’re going to wish I had a real gun!”
She can hear the jeers and cheers of her crew—Traynor, Tali, Vega, and Garrus supporting her, Ash laughing at Kaidan (“Cover your own ass, LT! I won’t go down because of you!”)—all their voices full of merriment. Amusement. Joy. Yes, she’d love for this fun to last forever. To keep everyone else she loves alive and happy. But now, more than anything…
She wants to win this game. And take her stunningly handsome and infuriating boyfriend down in the process.