After making sure her sister was up, Lauren went to the living room to wake Cassandra and get her coat.
Cassandra was already awake, thanks to the alarm clock. "Hi, Lauren."
"Hey, Cassie. Sleep well?"
"As best I could with the little guy's snoring."
Lauren giggled softly. "Bet that wasn't too good."
Cassandra shook her head, though it was too dark for Lauren to see the gesture well.
"Well, I'd better get my coat."
"Kay. Which way is the bathroom again?"
"Down the hall, second door on the right."
"Alright, thanks."
"Welcome."
Lauren walked towards the closet, which was right beside the counter beside one of the green chairs. Suddenly her foot hit something solid and she cried out as she fell forward. The fall knocked the breath out of her.
"Ack!"
Lauren sat up quickly, startled by the noise.
"Get offa me ya da-wait a sec. You ain't the cat," Beelzemon blinked in surprise. "Lauren?"
Lauren could feel the heat rise to her cheeks as she realized that she had tripped and fallen upon the viral Digimon. She quickly got up and hurried to her room, feeling greatly embarrassed. "Oh my god! I can't believe I tripped on him!" She covered her face with her hands. "This is bad."
"What's bad?"
Lauren turned around to see Cassandra standing in the doorway. "Oh, Cassie, I tripped on him!"
Cassandra tilted her head to one side, clearly confused.
Lauren walked up to her. "Beelzemon. I fell on him. I was going to get my coat when I tripped and fell on him. Oh, this is so terrible!"
Cassandra still looked rather confused. "But how could you've fallen on him? He was in the chair, right?"
Lauren shook her head slowly. "No, he was on the floor."
"Oh! That makes perfect sense now!"
Lauren smacked her head and shook her head.
"Sorry. You know how ditzy I am."
"I know. But I don't mind."
Cassandra beamed. "And that's why you're my friend!"
Lauren smiled slightly. "Thanks. Hey, is my sis up yet?"
"I think so. Better double-check," Cassandra poked her head out the doorway. She turned to Lauren. "She's still in bed."
"Yeah, she likes to stay there until it's time to leave. She gets dressed at least."
"At least she does that. My sis is really hard to get up in the morning."
"Well, come on. We'd better get ready." Lauren said as she walked out of the room towards her sister's room.
Cassandra watched her for a moment before walking into the living room.
Beelzemon was sitting in the chair farthest from the door with the lamp on. "Hey Cass," he said when she walked in. "Lauren alright?"
"She's just fine." Cassandra replied, sitting down in the other chair.
"Kay. I think I really embarrassed her. She kinda tripped on me."
"Yeah, she already told me about that."
"I kinda thought so. I hope I didn't hurt her," Beelzemon put his chin on his knuckles. "I can't remember how I got on the floor. Funny, huh?"
"Yeah, I guess so."
Beelzemon looked up when he heard footsteps.
Lauren walked in. "She's as difficult as ever."
"Can't get her up?"
"Nope. Brat. Oh, well. She'll get up when it's time to leave, which'll be in like two minutes."
"So…whatcha wanna do for the next two minutes?" Cassandra asked.
Lauren shrugged. "Dunno." She walked over to the couch and sat down.
"How ya feelin'?" Beelzemon asked.
Lauren looked at him in surprise, then blushed lightly. "F-fine."
"That's good. Sorry if yer embarrassed."
"I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Beelzemon grinned. "Naw. Hard as steel. Didn't hurt a bit."
"Good."
"Hey, Lauren?"
Lauren looked over at Cassandra. "Hm?"
"Julie's coming over today after school, right?"
"Yeah. Beelzemon, please don't scare her to death, OK?"
"Aww, but it's fun!" Beelzemon whined.
Lauren glared at him, folding her arms.
"OK, OK. I won't scare 'er."
Lauren smiled. "Thank you."
"You're going to come play with us, right? We're playing football."
"Sounds like fun."
Beelzemon frowned. "Hey, whaddaya expect me ta do while you guys're gone?"
Lauren shrugged. "Video games, stare at the wall. I don't know. We're gonna be gone for almost eight hours at school. What do you do when your Tamers are at school?"
"I did go to the gym, or a walk, or take a ride on Behemoth through the Digi world. Looks like I'm screwed."
Cassandra nodded. "Pretty much."
"This sucks." Beelzemon muttered.
"It's OK. You'll find something, I'm sure," Lauren looked at the clock on the microwave and stood up. "Well, it's time to go. Cassie can you get my coat, please?"
"Sure."
Cassandra went to get Lauren's coat while Lauren went to get her sister up. When all three girls were ready, they left for the bus.
After they were gone, Beelzemon turned off the lamp and went back to sleep.
After school, Lauren and Julie England were sitting together on the bus while Cassandra was sitting in the seat next to them with her sister, Deidre. The three were talking excitedly about what they were going to do when they got home.
"After all my homework's done, it's football!" Cassandra cried, throwing her hands in the air.
"Yeah!"
"Sounds like fun, even if I can't play." Julie said with a hint of sadness in her voice.
The other two's smiles faded.
"Yeah, stupid operation on your leg, huh?" Lauren said.
"Yeah."
Cassandra folded her arms. "And I had been worried sick the whole time you were gone!"
"I told you not to worry!" Lauren chided, shaking a finger at her severely.
"I couldn't help it!"
"Well, I'm still alive aren't I?"
Cassandra nodded slowly. "Yes…."
Lauren looked at Julie. "Julie, when we get to my place, please don't freak out OK?"
Julie looked completely puzzled. "Huh?"
"Well…there's this guy at our place and he's-"
"Oh, I understand." Julie said nodding understandingly.
Lauren shook her head. "No-"
"He's not human!" Cassandra interjected.
Now Julie looked completely confused. "Wha?"
Lauren smacked her forehead. "Cassie! Well, I guess you'll find out in a minute." she said as the bus slowed to a stop.
A handful of children, including Lauren, Julie, Alena Cassandra, and Deidre got off and headed for home.
"OK, Julie. Remain calm, kay?" Lauren said to her friend as they walked up to the front door.
"Uh, OK."
They walked inside.
"Mom, we're home!" Alena called as she dropped her book bag and coat in the nearest chair.
"Kay!" Beth said distractedly as she fixed her hat.
"Julie's coming over for a bit." Lauren said as she set her stuff beside her sister's in the chair.
"Alright. Does she have a ride home?"
"My dad's picking me up in an hour or so."
Beth readjusted her glasses. "Alright," she said, then called over her shoulder, "Beelzemon, come out here!"
"No!"
"What's wrong with him?"
Beth smiled. "He had some Amara trouble, so I fixed it. He didn't like it."
Alena grinned. "What'd ya do?"
"You'll see later. I gotta go now, bye babes." Beth kissed both girls' foreheads and hurried out of the house.
Alena rubbed her hands together, a mischievous grin on her face. "Oh Beelzemon!" she called as she walked towards Beth's room.
"I ain't comin' out!"
"But why?"
"'Cause I look stupid!"
Lauren and Julie watched Alena disappear into the room.
"Ha! You do look stupid!" They heard her giggle.
Both girls looked at each other in confusion.
Alena walked out of the room, still laughing. "That's hilarious!"
"What?" Lauren asked. "What's so funny?"
Before Alena could answer, Beelzemon walked in looking sour.
Julie gasped. "Whoa!"
Lauren cocked her head to one side, confused. "What's so funny?"
Beelzemon rolled his eyes and turned sideways. His metallic-plated tail was looped through the two belts about his waist twice, then tucked in so that it didn't move. "Yer mom did it."
Lauren covered her mouth to stifle her giggle.
Beelzemon turned back around, folding his arms across his chest. "I told you it looked stupid."
Lauren walked up to Beelzemon and patted his arm. "It doesn't look that awful." she said reassuringly.
Beelzemon rolled his eyes. "Right…."
"It could've been worse."
"Yeah, I guess yer right. So, you guys goin' outside?"
Yeah. Why? You wanna come with?"
Beelzemon blinked in surprise at the question. "Uh, well…I guess it couldn't hurt. I am bored."
Lauren smiled. "Alright. Let's go."
The four walked outside and started off down the road.
"So…where we goin' exactly?"
Lauren pointed into the direction they were walking. "Down this way and to the right. There's a big circular area with only a few trailers, perfect for our football."
"Lauren!" Cassandra called when she caught sight of them rounding the corner.
"Hey, Cassie. Ready to play?"
"Yup! I got the football."
"Is Raheem and Taylor playing?" Alena asked.
"Yeah, Here they come." Cassandra said, pointing to two colored boys coming down the drive of the farthest trailer on the right.
Raheem had short black hair and was wearing black shorts and a red t-shirt. Taylor, his older brother, also had short black hair. He wore a red and white sports shorts and a dark blue t-shirt.
"Hey, it the Crazy Lady!" Taylor said when he spotted Lauren.
"Stop calling me that!"
Taylor giggled. "No!"
Lauren rolled her eyes. "Let's just play already!"
"OK."
Beelzemon and Julie sat down on the curb while they watched the others play.
"This ain't as much fun as actually playin'." Beelzemon grumbled.
"Why don't you play?"
"'Cause I'm too tall!" Beelzemon replied in a mocking tone, folding his arms across his chest. "They just don't want me ta win, that's all."
"Hm. I can't play because I had surgery on my leg."
"That don't sound too good," Beelzemon said as he looked around. "Man, I can't believe how fast all the snow melted nor how warm it is."
"Well, winter is just about over."
Beelzemon nodded.
"So who's the weird lookin' guy over there?" Raheem asked as he tossed the ball to Cassandra.
"Oh, that's our cheerleader. He's just not in a good mood." Cassandra said with a giggle.
Luckily, the "cheerleader" had not heard her.
Lauren walked over and sat down beside Julie. "God am I tired! It was rather fun, though."
"Good fer you. I'm bored!" Beelzemon whined.
Cassandra ran up to them. "I know what you can do!"
Beelzemon looked up at her. "What?"
Cassandra backed up and started doing a cheerleading routine with her arms. "Gimme a C! Gimme an O! Gimme an L! Gimme a T! What does that spell?"
Beelzemon thought about it for a moment before replying, "Colt?"
Cassandra planted her fists on her hips. "OK, you smart-aleck. Gimme an S. Now what does it spell?"
"Colts. Why the heck are you spellin' that?"
"It's a football team! The greatest there ever was!"
"Yeah, right." Beelzemon said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"I have proof they won the XL1 super bowl! Now do the cheer!"
"You're stupid." Beelzemon stated bluntly.
"I may be blonde, but I'm not stupid!"
"Whatever. I ain't doin' the stupid cheer."
Cassandra scoffed and walked off.
Beelzemon snickered and looked down at the two girls. "She's weird."
"Hey!"
Beelzemon looked up to see Cassandra holding the football, which she was aiming at him.
"This is for not doing the cheer!" She hurled it at him.
Beelzemon effortlessly caught the ball and stood up, aggravated. "You stupid little human!"
Cassandra merely glared at him.
As he pulled his arm back to throw, Lauren yelled, "Duck!"
Taylor, Raheem, and Alena dropped down on the ground. Cassandra squealed and ducked as the ball whistled through the air towards her.
They stood up and looked in the direction the football had gone. There were several chunks missing from the tree the football had embedded itself in.
Taylor whistled. "Whoa."
Beelzemon smirked and folded his arms across his chest.
"And that's why you can't play!" Cassandra screamed at the bemused viral.
"Actually, I'm too tall."
"Fine, then! You're too strong too!"
Beelzemon shrugged. "Oh well. Not like we can play anyways."
Cassandra pointed to the tree that held the football. "Get our ball out, you cheerleader."
Beelzemon's eyes narrowed dangerously and he bared his fangs.
"Cassie!" Lauren said warningly. "Please don't provoke him."
Cassandra folded her arms.
Beelzemon walked up to the tree, effortlessly pulled out the football, and thrust it in Cassandra's hands. "Here." Then he walked off.
Everyone watched as he disappeared from view behind a trailer.
Cassandra turned to the others, holding out the football. "OK, who wants to play?"
Everyone but Julie and Lauren raised their hands. "We do!"
When the game was over, Lauren, Julie, and Alena walked back to the trailer, where Julie's father was waiting.
"Hey, Dad. Time to go?"
Julie's father nodded. "Yes."
"OK. Bye, Lauren. Bye, Alena."
"Bye, Julie. See you tomorrow."
"Kay, bye."
Lauren and Alena went inside as the truck pulled out of the driveway.
"Hey guys." Beelzemon said, not looking away from the TV as they walked in.
"Hey. Having fun?" Lauren asked as she sat down on the couch.
"No." Beelzemon said bluntly.
"Aww, that's so sad." Alena said mockingly as she walked to the kitchen.
Beelzemon rolled his eyes in annoyance.
Lauren smiled. "Don't mind her. She's in a sour mood. Her team lost."
"Oh."
Lauren leaned forward, picked up the note from the table, and read it. She sighed. "Leftovers for dinner again."
"Again?" Alena groaned. "No! We barely have anything as it is!"
Beelzemon snorted, "Great! Just what we need to make the day worse!"
Lauren shrugged. "Could be worse. We could just starve."
"Noooo! I need food!" Alena cried.
"You ain't the only one!"
Lauren smiled and shook her head.
Bart leapt up onto her lap and settled himself down.
Beelzemon watched Lauren as she absently stroked the cat's fur while she watched TV.
Alena walked into the living room, picked up the remote, and started flipping through the channels as she sat down in the other chair.
"Is this what you guys do every day?" Beelzemon asked.
"Pretty much."
Beelzemon rolled his eyes, sighed huffily, and put his cheek on his knuckles. He ended up dozing off a few minutes later from sheer boredom.
Seeing that the viral was asleep, Alena got up and picked the piece of purple yarn off the floor. She tied it to his tail and sat back down, giggling.
Every time Beelzemon's tail twitched, Amara attacked it. She had difficulty keeping hold of the smooth metal plates with her claws, but managed to keep hold of the yarn as she rolled around, grabbing it between her paws and gnawing on it as she tangled herself up more and more until she looked like a gray and purple ball of yarn.
The entire time the kitten played, Beelzemon didn't stirred, completely oblivious to the tiny creature's antics.
Both girls enjoyed watching Amara playing with the yarn and the Digimon's fidgety tail.
The frisky kitten would sometimes leap up when his tail brushed against her, startled. But seeing what it was, would bat at it or she would rub against it for a moment before going back to playing with the yarn.
Sometime later, Alena went to Beth's room to watch TV while Lauren played Halo 2.
By now, Beelzemon was awake and watching Lauren. He didn't even notice the yarn tied to his tail. "Hey, Lauren. Can I play later?"
"Later."
Beelzemon sighed. Something told him he wouldn't get to play at all. "Lauren?"
"What?"
"Can I use the shower?"
"'Course. Down the hall. Though you probably won't be able to stand, you're too tall and the shower is very small."
Beelzemon stood up. "Kay thanks."
"Sure think, dude," Lauren said as the viral left the room. Suddenly she paused and blinked, slightly bewildered. "Man, I've been hanging around Nena too much." She shook her head and returned to her game.
Several minutes later, both girls were startled by a yelp.
Lauren looked up from her game to see Beelzemon walking down the hall towards the living room, holding the towel about his waist with one hand and the struggling, yowling Amara in the other. Water dripped down his body and a sour look was on his face.
Seeing the mostly naked Digimon, Lauren blushed deeply and quickly dropped her gaze, turning her head away.
"This stupid cat won't leave me alone!" Beelzemon growled as he walked into the living room.
"Maybe because you have a tail." Alena said as she walked down the hallway.
Beelzemon turned around. "Even so, she's getting' on my nerves! I mean, look at what she did to my leg!" he said, indicating the long scratches on his left leg, some oozing blood.
"What's wrong with his leg?" Lauren asked, not looking up.
"Amara scratched it up."
"Is he bleeding?"
"No. He's oozing Kool-Aid." Alena said sarcastically, rolling her eyes.
Beelzemon blinked in confusion. "Kool-Aid?"
"Yeah, genius. It's sarcasm."
Beelzemon frowned. "I know what it is!" he snapped. He glared down at Amara writhing in his grip, giving her a slight squeeze.
"Yeah…right..."
Beelzemon growled as his gaze shot back to Alena, his eyes narrowing menacingly.
Alena, unintimidated, took Amara and walked back to her room.
"God I'm so sick of her!" Beelzemon grumbled under his breath as he walked back to the bathroom.
Making sure the viral was gone, Lauren returned to her game, groaning when she saw that she had died. "Aww, man!"
Later, Beelzemon was curled up in the other chair covered in a dark green blanket that Lauren had given him so that he wouldn't freeze since his clothes were sitting on the bathroom floor.
"How you doin' over there? Need anything?"
"Hm?" Beelzemon looked at Lauren, who had her eyes glued to the TV. "Naw, I'm fine. Thanks fer askin' kiddoe."
Lauren nodded. "Just tell me if you do."
Beelzemon smiled to himself as he nestled further into the chair to get more comfortable. Nice ta know someone's so caring, 'specially 'bout me.
"Die stupid critters die!" Lauren yelled at the TV screen as she was firing upon a small group of Grunts.
Beelzemon chuckled. "Caring about living things at least."
Lauren cackled with glee as the whole group was blown sky high with a plasma grenade. "I win, ya stupid little critters!"
Beelzemon watched Lauren for a while longer before drifting off to sleep.
Not long after the demonic viral slipped into slumber, Alena walked into the living room carrying his boots.
Lauren looked over at her sister when she heard a loud thunk. "Sis, what're you doing?"
"Nothing." Alena replied, then walked out of the room.
Lauren shrugged and returned to her game.
At 8:23 Beth returned home from work.
"Guys I-" She halted when she saw the sleeping viral.
Lauren smiled at her mother. "Hey, Mom. Bring home anything?" she asked quietly.
"Of course I did." Beth replied softly as she walked to the kitchen, dropping the bag on the table before walking to her room.
Lauren paused her game and went to the table. She opened the bag and took out a small container of mashed potatoes, gravy, and chicken.
Alena walked in. "Food!" She hurried to the table and opened the container of chicken and produced two chicken legs, then hurried off to her room.
Lauren fixed herself a plate and returned to the chair to eat. Just as she was about to bite into a chicken leg, she paused and looked up at Beelzemon. With plate still in hand, she walked up to the chair that held the still slumbering viral. "Beelzemon, Beelzemon." she called softly, lightly poking his shoulder.
The viral demon lord squirmed and muttered something under his breath.
"Beelzemon?"
"Whaaaaat?!" Beelzemon mumbled, cracking open one eye irritably.
"Got ya something to eat."
Beelzemon sat up, now fully awake. He took the plate from Lauren and began devouring its contents.
Satisfied, Lauren returned to the kitchen to fix another plate.
At 9:30, the girls went to bed.
Beelzemon was bored so he decided to see what Beth was doing. Making sure to keep the blanket tightly wrapped around his lanky frame, he walked to the back bedroom and rapped the wooden door lightly with his knuckles.
"Puddin' go to bed!"
Beelzemon blinked in surprise. "Huh?" He knocked on the door again.
"Alena, go…to…bed!"
"I ain't yer kid!"
"Oh? OK, come in."
Beelzemon opened the door to see Beth sitting on the bed, Jade beside her, working on her afghan as she watched TV.
Beth smiled "I'm sorry. Alena likes to get up after I send her to bed."
"Why'd ya say Puddin' earlier?" Beelzemon asked as he walked over and sat down on the end of the bed.
"That's her nickname."
Beelzemon snickered. "Puddin', that's a funny name."
Beth shrugged. "She used to like it. So what do you want?"
"Just ta see what yer doin'. I'm bored."
Beth nodded understandingly as she went back to her crocheting.
"So…what're ya doin'?"
"Crocheting."
"Oh," Beelzemon said, not interested. "You got anything to snack on?"
"In a few I'm going to get a bowl of cereal, you're welcome to join me."
"Alright."
The two conversed for a few minutes before going into the kitchen and fixing bowls of cereal. They sat at the kitchen table to eat and talk.
Alena walked in to the living room, pausing when she saw Beelzemon and her mother eating. She frowned and walked to the kitchen. "Hey! You stole my cereal time with Mom!"
Beelzemon shrugged his shoulders under the blanket. "Sorry."
Alena folded her arms huffily.
"Come on, honey. You can sit with us too. But make sure to go right to bed when you're finished."
"Yes Mom." Alena said, looking a little happier as she fixed her bowl of cereal.
Beth and Beelzemon continued with their conversation, Alena interrupting every now and again.
When they had finished, they went off to their rooms, Beelzemon going to the living room and curling up on the couch.