Lunch, Lasers and Lullabies
The group exited the portal and entered Marco's living room. River reached down and picked up one of the laser puppies and held it out to his wife. She smiled nervously as she carefully pet the tan dog, but quickly retracted her hand when lasers began to blast out in all directions.
"Sit back and relax, Star and I will make you-," Marco was abruptly cut off as his blonde friend began to sing.
" Marco's Super Awesome Nachos! " Star danced around in joy at the thought of Marco's nachos. "They're so good!" Star helped her parents with the puppies while Marco went into the kitchen to make them food. After learning that Star had made the puppies, Moon fought the urge to lecture her and opted to give her a short disapproving look. Thirty minutes later, Marco called everyone over to the kitchen to eat the cheesy, meaty goodness that is nachos.
"Huh, they really are triangles. River, look, they have corn chips too." Moon held up a chip for River to examine before taking a bite. "Mm, these are really good. Thank you, Marco. I've never added anything to my corn chips before, but I know that I'll have the cooks make me some of this hot sauce the next time I do."
"Aw, it's nothing, really. And you don't have to have the cooks make hot sauce, you can just buy a bunch of jars on Earth and take them back to Mewni."
"Marco, why are these decorations still in your kitchen? I was gonna ask earlier, but I was really excited for nachos and then I got distracted by the puppies," Star said before stuffing her mouth with more food.
"Oh…yeah." Marco nervously rubbed the back of his head with his clean hand. "I left them up in case you came back. That was before I knew that you left because of Toffee."
"Aw, Marco, that's so sweet. We, uh…we saw Jackie today." Star laughed nervously as she continued to eat her nachos. Marco followed suit and ate his nachos in silence as well. Moon and River exchanged a look.
Oh, no. River, please don't do anything embarrassing. If Star ever acted awkward around River, he would do something to distract her. But it was too late, he had sensed the tension and jumped to his daughter's defense. River grabbed the last of the nachos and started to wolf them down like a crazed animal. The others ducked to avoid bits of flying food and Moon grimaced. Then, he ripped off the top part of his suit, roughly grabbed Moon, and began to dance sporadically with her.
From inside the kitchen, the sound of laughter filled the air. River had done it once again. Moon couldn't help but to laugh along with Star and Marco as her husband spun her around. She was dizzy and flustered, but glad that the two teens were happy again.
"I think we should end the day with a game of laser tag. What do you think Marco?" Star wiped a few tears from her eyes as she turned to look at him.
"That's sounds like a great idea. Boys against girls?" Marco looked to the two adults to see what they thought. Both adults shrugged. Moon leaned down so River could whisper something to her. Whatever he said, it took several minutes for the grown woman to stop blushing. The two teens failed to notice their low-key flirting as they playfully teased one another.
"Yeah, we're totally gonna kick your butts, right Mom?" Star jumped to her mother's side and held her hand up. The periwinkle-haired woman cleared her throat as she nodded.
"What's 'laser tag'?" Moon looked at Marco for an explanation.
"Laser tag is a game that reenacts a battle with little chances of getting hurt."
"Marco, Star told me I would be fine on that ride, but I'm still shaking," Moon informed disdainfully.
"Well, this is a lot safer than amusement park rides. You wear a vest and carry a toy gun. The toy gun shoots harmless beams of light. There are two teams, and each team has different colored lights, so you know who's on your team. The games played in a dimly light arena with things to help hide you. You use the gun to try and hit the opponents vest multiple times, so you can gain points. The team with the most points win."
"Oh, and the vests glow in that team's color, and light up when they're hit," Star added. She quickly pulled the dimensional scissors out of her pocket and began to take the group to the laser tag arena. Star informed the person in charge about the teams before leading them into the fitting room. "We call blue."
"That's okay because we like green, right River?"
"Yes, green like our loin clothes!" The worker led them into different parts of the arena, shut off the lights, and began the countdown.
10…9…8…
Moon became tense, fearing that something was going to pop out at her. I've fought evil monsters and raised Star, how am I scared of a count down? Then she remembered the roller coaster and rolled her eyes at the memory. If I get hurt, so help me I'll-.
3…2…1…Begin!
"Stay close mom, we'll win this for sure." Star slowly walked around until she spotted Marco. She pulled out her gun and fired. The vest lit up before going dark. "Hah, one point for me! In your face Marco!" Star sped off for a one on one battle with Marco, leaving her confused mother alone.
Someone jumped down from the second level behind Moon with a loud thud. She instinctively turned around, magic glowing instead of her gun. Before she could obliterate the figure, River shot Moon's vest. It lit up and Moon dropped to her knees as she realized what she almost did.
"Moon! Are you hurt? I'm so sorry, this is what Marco said to do." He was shocked when Moon started laughing. Before he knew it, Moon pointed her gun at River and fired. His vest lit up. The two began to laugh at each other and decided to sit this round out. Marco and Star might like to play fight, but for Moon and River it seemed to real. River had unknowingly brought back some bad memories, but she didn't tell him that.
"Are you having a good time, Moon-pie?" River sat next to Moon, so she could rest her head on his shoulder. She closed her eyes and relaxed.
"I haven't felt this panicked since before I became queen. Although, I'm glad we both decided to have a day off." River hugged Moon as they listened to Star and Marco run around shooting each other. The moment was short-lived, soon the lights came back on and the group had to leave the arena.
"Wow, you two stink at this," their daughter pointed out as she looked at the scoreboard. Star couldn't believe that her parents had only gotten one point each. However, she was happy that she beat Marco, again. "In your face, Diaz! That makes thirty-seven wins for me, and two for you." Marco rolled his eyes with a smile. "I guess we better head back, it's almost supper time." Star handed Moon the dimension scissors, so they could return to Mewni and rest from a long day of 'fun'.
At Supper
The dinner table was livelier than it had been in a long time. Everyone was sharing their favorite moments. After supper, Star called her mother into her room. Star had already showered and changed into pajamas before her mother lightly knocked on her door.
"So, Mom, what did you think of today?" Moon sat down next to Star on the bed and pulled her closer. Star's damp hair began to moisten her mother's dress, but she didn't care, she was about to bathe.
"I really enjoyed today. Don't ever take me to another amusement park, but it was fun," the queen said with a smile. She calmed ran her fingers through her daughter's hair as she checked for tangles.
"Did you wanna know why I was in the Tapestry Room this morning," Star asked, an innocent smile on her face. Moon looked down at Star with loving eyes. They grow up so fast.
"I would like to know, yes, but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to," Moon said. Star used the corner of her blanket to cover her mother's lap and laid her head down.
"I was thinking about the battle with Toffee and some stuff you said. I know I can't keep running around forever, so I went to look at your tapestry for the strength to make it through the day. I kept thinking about the fact that you were forced to become queen in one day." Star began to fight tears in her eyes before continuing. "The battle with Toffee made me realize that anything could happen to either of us and that it would be too late to try and grow up properly if I waited until I felt like it. I want to make you proud instead of just disappointing you. I want to be prepared so I can take charge…like you."
"Oh, Star, I'm always proud of you. I know that acting like me goes entirely against who you are, I've accepted it. That's why I wanted to get closer to you. I was so scared that I'd lost you forever, that all those little moments we had would stop. Today, I realized you're more mature than I thought. You're brave and courageous, and I know you'll make a great queen one day." Moon hugged Star tightly, the feeling that Star was almost taken away from her briefly flashing in her mind. Moon never wanted to feel that again, that was why she was going to work on her relationship with her daughter. Star began to yawn, and Moon felt exhaustion hit her in waves.
"Mom, can you sing me to sleep?"
"Of course, sweetie." Moon tucked in Star like she used to when she was little and half-sat, half-laid down next to Star. She sang Star's lullaby until she accidentally fell asleep next to her daughter. River walked in to see if Moon was done and smiled when he found the two loves of his life fast asleep. He tucked in Moon beside Star and quietly left the room.