Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

God/Satan how he wished he could sit like this all night. Of course, he couldn’t … Lydia needed sleep.

And Beetlejuice … couldn’t. Too restless.

This was such bullshit. Double-y so because not sleeping meant his leg wouldn’t be fully healed by the time Lydia woke up again, and he’d have to try and distract her somehow … Ugh, he’d never hear the end of this. The little scarecrow would know he hadn’t slept.

Even with his skin crawling, he sat for as long as he could muster. Lydia was warm, and looked shockingly comfortable where she was huddled up in a little black and pale ball.

It was so unfair; he’d slept like a rock the last two nights. Granted, the first night he was still recovering from some lingering wounds (unbeknownst to Lydia) but the second night went fine, too. He didn’t have to worry about hiding anymore, so how come he couldn’t waste a few hours snoozing now?!

Damn it, getting all worked up over it just made it harder to sit still. Shit. Fuck.

Beetlejuice didn’t want to let go, but he had to. Slow and reluctant, he scooped Lydia up and put her to bed on ‘her’ side. She’d called it that for some reason. It was all her bed, for fuck’s sake. He just borrowed some space because she wouldn’t let him take the floor. Then again, he shouldn’t complain … it was a damn good bed to sleep in.

Even when he used magic it took longer than he expected. At least three times he thought he’d accidentally woken her up and had to keep everything very still until he was sure.

She was asleep, though. Once she was under cover, Beetlejuice muttered something lecherous about Adam to make sure, no response.

The skies had fully cleared when Beetlejuice floated through the window to the roof. For a while he just stared up at the big, singular moon above. After being stuck in this world for centuries, Beetlejuice figured he’d be sick of even his favorite sights for the rest of time … but no. He only realized a few hours ago, above the roof with Lydia, how much he missed the breathers’ night sky, even after less than a year back in the Neitherworld.

It was dumb. Downright sentimental. His mom would have his head if she knew … then again, what didn’t she want his head for these days? What she didn’t know couldn’t hurt him … for the most part, at least. Sometimes she still found ways.

Must be something similar for Lydia with the Neitherworld. One look out the window and she was completely smitten. He knew the feeling all too well. Beetlejuice hadn’t wanted to make a promise he couldn’t be sure he could keep, not with her, but it didn’t feel good weaseling his away around her wish earlier.

Lydia would fit right in without even trying. She’d love it there, and he knew that. In truth he really wanted to bring her back … but if something happened to her there? The Neitherworld held the potential to be a much, much more dangerous place than the breather world. She was just a human … and a kid, to boot.

But … she wouldn’t be alone. Beetlejuice would be by her side the whole time, obviously. Hell, he’d be the one picking where to show her anyway. Besides … Charles had a point earlier about Lydia’s ‘mental fortitude’. Big words, but he knew roughly what it meant. Lydia was headstrong.

Headstrong enough to deal with him no matter his mood. Even … even when everything went red. Shit, headstrong almost didn’t even cut it … he’d probably been more on the money when he called her insane.

‘I will never be normal, and I don’t ever want to be.’

Beetlejuice absent-mindedly plucked at the ring hanging from his neck, one thumb ran idly across it. No shit she wasn’t normal … He’d struggle to find even a Neitherworlder that could come up with half the ideas that kid had.

No, insane wasn’t the right word either. There was more to it. Maybe more than even Lydia herself knew. It was just a hunch, but …

Beetlejuice turned back toward the window, ring still in hand.

She saw him even when he was supposed to be invisible to all mortals. Through Juno’s curse. If he had to give that old hag credit for something, it was that her curse work was thorough and well-crafted. Especially when aimed at him …

Curses were her goddamn specialty.

And Lydia saw him clear as day. There had to be more to it. To her.

Maybe Beetlejuice had to take his own advice and give her more credit. Lydia really wanted to see the Neitherworld again. Properly visit it. Beetlejuice really wanted to bring her back sometime. Maybe just a short trip the first time – well, second.

She would be fine. He’d make sure of it. And on the off-chance some moron tried anything …

He’d make them long for the Abyss.

When he floated back inside, the restlessness was still there … but less severe. Still no chance in Hell he’d get any sleep … Well, he could always rummage through Lydia’s stuff again. Last time he kinda got distracted – immediately – but hey, at this point he couldn’t really find anything worse than he already had.

…

Why the fuck did he just think that? Why did he have to think it? Realistically there was only one thing she could have hidden in there that would mess him up, and he’d already found the damn ring. Now he’d gone and made himself uneasy for no reason …

The first thing to catch his attention was a little black box with golden webbing on the top. It had almost like a pedestal in the otherwise messy drawer. Beetlejuice remembered seeing it a few days ago, but never got that far.

What else waited for him inside than another fucking gold ring. Trying to distract himself from screaming, Beetlejuice jokingly wondered if the scarecrow was cheating on him.

Huh. This ring was notably smaller than the ones they were wearing around their necks. The rings he’d made were never meant to be used, so the fit never mattered. Originally it was just to leave a little ‘gift’ behind for Lydia as a silly ‘thank you’ for the whole ‘being alive’ thing. They didn’t even fit his fingers properly and he made them!

The ring he just found looked like a wedding ring to him (a real one, that is) … then again, he wasn’t exactly an expert.

It ended up taking him way too long to realize.

Emily. The ring probably belonged to Emily. … yeah, that would add up. Lydia was pretty small, and Charles was pretty big. Emily Deetz had probably been a dainty little thing too.

Beetlejuice squinted and pulled the ring closer to his face. Was there something scratched on the inside of it? He didn’t have a problem seeing because of the dark; he was a demon after all … but it was all so tiny it was hard to see if it was scratches or something else.

Eugh. Yeah, there was something written on the inside … he couldn’t fucking read any of it, though. All swoopy and cursive and shit; not to mention tiny! It could be magic glyphs for all he knew. Well, no, there was no magic to the ring whatsoever (he checked). He was curious now, but it was no use; letters trying to be pretty for no goddamn reason was the bane of his already limited reading skills.

Wait, glyphs … Beetlejuice’s eyes widened. There’s an idea. He closed the box, put the ring back where he found it and closed the drawer with a wave of his hand.

Beetlejuice hovered about a foot above Lydia. She’d gone to bed with the necklace still on, so the ring laid on her arm, almost in her hand.

With the slightest hand movement, Beetlejuice levitated the ring in the air as far as it’d go without tugging on the chain.

Don’t you fucking dare wake up right now, scarecrow, I swear on any deity that will listen –

Lydia didn’t so much as flutter an eyelash. Good thing she was so damn tired … When Beetlejuice levitated her into the air to slip the necklace off her, she stirred and whined a little, but the demon managed to pilfer it and put her back down without waking her. Good thing number two; she had kept her hair kinda short, which made this easier.

“You’ll get it back soon, promise,” Beetlejuice muttered as he went over to the nearest empty piece of wall. He gingerly drew a door and threw a quick glance back at Lydia before he snuck through the door, silent as a mouse.

It was still dark outside when he went through, but he had no sense of the time left until morning … he’d just have to be quick.

Chapter Text

Lydia woke up to an empty bed again. No surprise demon jumpscare this  time … he wasn’t in the room at all it seemed. Lydia took a deep breath. The secret was out. He was probably pestering one of her parents downstairs, or maybe the Maitlands upstairs. Beetlejuice was fine. He was in the house … somewhere.

Her arm hurt a little more than she’d imagined. Well, mostly her shoulder. Lydia got changed without any trouble, though she made a whole lot of faces in the process.

Nothing was broken or anything, but her left shoulder had gotten bruised after being smushed between a demon and the hardwood flooring. Well, at least it made for a good excuse to wear her big, new sweater. Covered a lot, would keep her nice and warm and helped cushion her aching left side.

Lydia descended the stairs in a rapid fashion, her bag ready and slung over her right shoulder for a change. “Beej?” It felt silly to worry about him, but … she still did.

“Lyds!” came a cry from the kitchen. Lydia’s whole body tensed, bracing for fight. For a second she nearly grabbed her bag like a weapon.

A black and white blur shot past her, and Beetlejuice once again cowered behind her.

“What? What’s wrong?” Lydia spun around to get a good look at him.

He scowled right past her, back toward the kitchen. The demon was already in full disguise; beardless, baby-faced and otherwise about as human-looking as he could get. Beetlejuice was wiping at his mouth for some reason … Lydia turned back to the kitchen, thoroughly confused and still a little worried.

Delia leaned on the doorway with a serene smile and her arms crossed over her chest. “He’s just being fussy,” she assured Lydia.

“I got violated is what happened,” the demon muttered bitterly behind her.

“Dare I ask what you did …?” Lydia just raised a brow at her stepmother.

Delia moved her hand, revealing a toothbrush.

“You …” Lydia looked from Delia to Beetlejuice and back again. “You brushed his teeth?” She looked behind her again. “You let her brush your teeth?”

The only reply from behind was a bashful growl. Now that she thought about it … there was a slight whiff of mint in the air.

“Delia?”

“Yes, Lydia?”

“How?” Lydia was impressed enough with herself for tricking Beetlejuice into taking a shower, and in his defense, it was less ‘tricking’ on her part and more ‘reluctant surrender’ on his part.

The redhead smirked, smug enough to give Beetlejuice competition. “Careful negotiation.”

Lydia scoffed. “Ah, you bribed him.”

“Maybe a little.”

The goth wanted to ask ‘with what?’ but it drowned in a fit of laughter.

Delia put her hands up, but she still smiled. “Look, I just thought his disguise could use a helping, hygienic hand! I was going to brush his hair too, but you came down and he bolted.”

“Speaking of, you took your sweet time Lyds!” Beetlejuice finally piped up. “Dee’s been cooing over me for like an hour!”

“Ten minutes,” ‘Dee’ corrected. “And it’s not my fault you decided to make your disguise so cute!”

“DEMONS AREN’T CUTE, DELILAH!”

“Well, you don’t look very demonic right now, so have me excused, BJ.”

Beetlejuice covered his face and groaned loudly. At least he had the whole teenager act down to a T … though how much was actually an act was honestly debatable!

Stifling another laughter, Lydia gave him a supportive pat on the arm. “There, there … I’ll make it up to you, promise.” She leaned in and whispered the next part. “Welcome to my world.”

Beetlejuice let out a defeated whine but left it at that.

“Anyway!” Delia clapped her hands together and beamed at them. “Breakfast is on the table. I’ll drive you today, be ready in ten minutes!” With that, the redhead left, probably to put away the toothbrush.

“FINALLY!” Beetlejuice rushed past Lydia back into the kitchen.

Lydia rolled her eyes, dumped her bag by the door and followed Beetlejuice to the kitchen island.

There was … a lot of food out for just the two of them. Beetlejuice wasted no time tearing into it.

“So … is this your bribe?”

“Mm-m.”

Lydia paused for a moment. “Beetlejuice, you big dork.” He paused to look at her with round, puzzled eyes. “You should have told me you were hungry. I would’ve figured out something.” She sat down beside him and took some food to the side for herself, leaving the majority for the clearly starving demon.

He just shrugged and went back to wolfing down the rest of the food at a pace that would be alarming for anyone else. Maybe even for him … Lydia sighed and left him to it. She was kinda hungry too, and Delia only gave them ten minutes.

Beetlejuice somehow managed to finish before Lydia, even with her portion being a fraction of his. With a content sigh he simply brushed plates out of the way and flopped over the countertop. For a second Lydia almost thought he’d fall asleep right then and there. He had slept … right?

Lydia glanced down at his leg while his eyes were closed. He’d fixed the pants back up … but was it because his leg was fine, or because he was hiding something?

“Beej?”

“Mm?”

“I’m serious. Please tell me these kinds of things from now on, alright? Being hungry counts as ‘something bothering you’, you know.”

“Right … yeah, sure.”

“Beetlejuice.”

He sat up, hair streaked with pink. “Alright, alright, I will! Just … ‘s fine. Just being a little dramatic … you know me, babes.” Beetlejuice smiled as he wiped away the remains of breakfast from his face, but Lydia’s expression quickly made it falter. “Look, I’ve gone way longer without food before, it wasn’t like an emergency or anything.”

“Jesus Christ, Beej, are you hearing yourself?”

He shrunk in on himself and averted his eyes. “Sorry …”

Lydia had to restrain herself for a moment. She wasn’t angry at him, just exasperated! Now clearly wasn’t the time to let that out, though.

“No, I’m sorry. I’m not angry or anything, promise. Things are different here though, okay?”

It took a moment, but eventually Beetlejuice turned back to her with a lopsided smile. His shoulders dropped a little. “Okay … now stop fussing.” His smile grew to a smirk as he ruffled her hair.

Lydia huffed and dove away, straight into giving him a hug. “Oh, I’m just getting started for the day.”

The demon sighed dramatically but was quick to return the hug. “I was afraid you’d say that …”

With her arms around him Lydia could suddenly tell this younger version of him was scrawnier, it just didn’t show through his clothes.

Determined to not ruin the moment, Lydia simply made a mental note that on the whole, death by sandworm had been far too good a fate for Juno.

“Speaking of …” Lydia noticed Beetlejuice tensing up as she let him go.

“Time’s up!” Delia practically danced past the kitchen. “Grab your bag, let’s go!”

Damnit. Maybe she could get a better chance to grill him on the leg situation at school … If not, she was doing it the moment they came back home!

“You heard the lady,” Beetlejuice teased, giving her a playful shove out to the hallway.

He was hiding something. Lydia would get to the bottom of it before the day was over. For now, she grudgingly picked up her bag and followed Delia to the car. Beetlejuice was right beside her, and at the very least he was walking normally … but Lydia was watching.

Chapter Text

“All I’m saying is you’re lucky I don’t have a gag reflex.”

Delia just laughed as Lydia cringed. “Oh, stop it! I was gentle!”

“That was gentle?! Holy shit I both pity and envy Charles.”

Lydia threw herself across the backseat to slap both hands across Beetlejuice’s mouth. “Alright, that’s it! I’m pulling the plug on this topic! And Delia, stop encouraging him!”

“What, I was being gentle!”

“I believe you, Beetlejuice has a track record of being a whiny bitch baby about hygiene, but that’s not what I meant!”

Only proving her point on the immaturity thing, Beetlejuice decided to lick her hand. With his demon tongue. Lydia’s hands were covered in the slimiest saliva she’d ever had the displeasure of touching.

“Ewwwww!” In spite of herself, Lydia couldn’t help but laugh as she wiped her hands on Beetlejuice’s arm. “Ok, now I’m glad Delia put you through whatever dental manhandling you suffered!”

“That’s exactly what it was! Dental manhandling! Oral manhandling, actually, which usually I can get behind –” Beetlejuice just cackled when Lydia slapped him on the shoulder.

“Lydia,” Delia chided. “Not so hard!”

Lydia ignored Delia and poked a finger into Beetlejuice’s cheek. “Do not.”

He was shaking with poorly contained laughter and mischief, but miraculously he withheld his comment.

The redhead sighed. “I still wish you’d let me brush through your hair before we left, BJ.”

Lydia slowly sat back in her seat, keeping a side eye on Beetlejuice the whole time. “It wouldn’t really have mattered, Delia. We gotta cover up his hair anyway, there’s no way it stays green for six hours straight, especially not at school.”

She could think of at least one person that wouldn’t exactly be earning any favors with Beetlejuice …

“Speaking of, here. This should be harder to knock off your head than the hoodie. You can use both if you want, but … you know.” Lydia reached into her bag and handed Beetlejuice a plain, black beanie.

He took it, but not without a puzzled look on his face. “Lyds, I could’a just made one.”

Lydia shrugged. “It’s a good beanie. I’d use it myself if dad hadn’t accidentally used it for hours last winter, stretching it too big for my head. I think it should fit you just fine though, so it’s yours now.”

Beetlejuice wore the beanie the same way Lydia would. Originally it was folded up in the front, but Lydia had removed the few supporting stitches before using it. She leaned over to tuck away Beetlejuice’s hair and slightly correct its position, then smiled and sat back, satisfied.

Delia and Beetlejuice ended up keeping each other entertained for most of the ride, giving Lydia the chance to sit with her own thoughts. She had half an ear out for their conversation, but most of her mind was replaying everything that had happened over the weekend. If nothing else, it had sure been memorable.

She audibly gasped at one memory in particular. “Beetlejuice!”

His head snapped around her way. “What, what?” The harshness in her tone had startled him.

Lydia pinned him with a stare. “Back in the Neitherworld, when you told me to make a door. Why did you let me draw it on the floor?!”

Beetlejuice made a face like someone who knew they just got caught but regretted no part of it before erupting into laughter. “You didn’t realize before now?!”

“You bastard, you knew! You even made room for it!”

The laugh that had started out in his usual maniacal fashion turned into a much more genuine, full belly laugh. The demon crumbled against the car window, clutching his sides.

Lydia let out an embarrassed howl and hid her face in her hands. Her hair might not turn pink, but her face sure could. She’d been so preoccupied with everything else it genuinely hadn’t clicked until now.

“We really are two idiots in a pod, huh Babes?”

Lydia gave a brief snort and moved her hand to her temple, letting the other fall. “We sure are,” she chuckled. When she smacked him on the arm, it was light enough to be silent. Beetlejuice stuck a long, striped tongue out at her, grinning from ear to ear. Lydia rolled her eyes with fond exasperation. “No striped tongues on school grounds, Beej. Pack it in, we’re almost there.”

“Have a nice day at school! See you at dinner!” Despite Delia’s eagerness to get to the city, she took the time to enthusiastically wave after them before finally driving off.

“Dinner? Don’t you guys eat dinner at like … late o’clock?” Beetlejuice gave Lydia a puzzled look.

“Yep. She’s off to Bridgeport and will probably be home even later than dad. Errands, work opportunities, she’s got the whole day stacked. We’ll be walking home.”

The demon huffed. “Yeah, sure. More like walking out of sight, then teleporting back.”

Lydia shrugged. “That works too.” With a spin, she faced the school and made a half-assed presenting gesture. “Welcome to high school I guess. Don’t get too excited; it’s a really dull place.”

Beetlejuice bounced on his feet, completely ignoring her last sentence. “Ohoho, look at all those twerps!” There was a dangerous snarl at the end of his voice.

“Actually, we’re here early. People are still showing up.”

“And the only rules you’ve given me are I can’t kill, and I can’t horribly maim …” He rubbed his hands together and let out a malevolent giggle. “I can work with that!”

Lydia put her hands on his shoulders from behind and pressed down until he stood still on his feet. She could have sworn he was about to start levitating with glee any second now. “Cool your jets, Beej. At least let them give you a reason before you start slinging spells, alright?”

“You’re a little late on adding rules now Lyds, but since it’s you I guess I can make an exception. Only one, though!”

Lydia laughed at first, before she realized. “Wait … is that you messing around or is that a real thing?”

“Oh, in deals and contracts it’s very real. You summoned me no strings attached though, so it’s not that serious for you. These things are just so beaten into my head at this point it’s second nature, y’know?”

It was a genuine effort not to launch into questioning. “Oh, you’ve gotta tell me more about this some time. Not now though …” Lydia sighed wistfully. “Ready for six hours in this prison, B- … erh, Lawrence?”

With a smile and a theatric gesture, he insisted; “Ladies first.”

“Oh ha-ha. Chivalry isn’t your color, buddy.” He grinned as he straightened up. “Alright, come on. Let’s go get you a visitor’s pass.”

Lydia hooked her arm in with his and led him toward the administration building. Lucky for her shoulder, Beetlejuice needed very little convincing to follow.

“A what?”

Lydia groaned. “The Netherworld might be the capital champion of soul-sucking bureaucracy … but I think you’ll find the school system to be a pretty good runner-up. You’ll need a visitor’s pass since you’re not a student here, so they can at least sort of ID you. We won’t get away with that for too long, but … ugh, I’m saving that headache for later. Let’s just get through today first.”

Beetlejuice let out a little snort. “Lyds, please. You’re arm in arm with a master in the art of tearing conventions and bureaucracy apart! If I can cheat the Netherworld system, I can handle a breather school.”

“Hmm … maybe you’re right. Still, it can wait. The first time will be easy, just a boring detour.”

By the time they left administration the majority of students had arrived.

“Told you there’d be more.” Lydia smirked and elbowed her BFFFFF casually.

Beetlejuice hummed with interest. He had his hands behind his head as they walked. “Ok, enlighten me Lyds … You hate this place and at least most of the people in it, right?”

“Yep.”

“Then why the new rule?”

“Oh don’t get me wrong, Beej. I very much look forward to seeing what you’ll do when you get started … but remember that this is your first official day back on this side. I’m just trying to make sure you don’t get up to too much trouble right off the bat.”

The demon scoffed. “Aww, that’s really sweet of you, Lyds. Gag-inducingly so, actually. Stop it.”

Lydia leaned over and gave him a mock supportive backrub. “Oh, come on … we both know that’s a very small restriction on your boundless creativity.”

The look they exchanged was outright devilish.

They were getting a lot of looks. No surprise there, really. Lydia noticed but refused to acknowledge them.

Beetlejuice didn’t seem to mind either. He kept walking around with his hands behind his head, taking up as much space as he damn well wanted. Honestly, good for him. If Lydia had had half his confidence on her first day, oh boy … she’d be unstoppable.

Once they finally reached Lydia’s locker, she was more than happy to hide between Beetlejuice and the locker door for a moment. She did need a few books from here, but she was in no hurry to get them right away.

“Doing okay, scarecrow?”

Lydia glanced up at him and smiled. “Yeah.” Looking him up and down, she scoffed. “You’ve seen too many high school movies.” He was doing that stupid cocky side lean on the locker next to hers.

She was okay. Was, until a very specific scent began to seep through the air vent in the locker door.

Pre-shower Beetlejuice hadn’t exactly smelled pleasant. Generally stinky, sure, but also a little like a graveyard in the rain, and a room that hadn’t been opened in God knows how many years. It had been a strange combination for sure.

Even that confusing mix was preferable to the toxic gas cloud invading her space right now. Hairspray, fake tan, a gag-inducing perfume sprayed at least three times more than necessary and an equally sickening bubblegum scent.

Claire Brewster could be used as a chemical weapon on par with mustard gas. Where was the Hague when you needed it …

“Like, that’s just what Winter River needed; another freak.”

It felt as if Lydia could burst into flames on the spot. This was Claire’s first encounter with Beetlejuice, and that’s what she opened with?! Somehow that topped even the dogshit ‘welcome’ she’d given Lydia on her first day!

Lydia glanced over at the demon. He dipped in a mock bow, smirking. “At your service.”

“Oh, at least this one talks.” Acrylic nails tapped impatiently on Lydia’s cover. “I know you’re back there, Lydia,” Claire sang, notes so sour it nearly rivaled her stench in unpleasantness. “Aren’t you going to introduce me to your boyfriend or whatever?”

The locker door slammed shut. Lydia turned to Claire and raised her chin. “My cousin, actually. If your lashes weren’t collapsing under their own weight, you might have noticed this says ‘Lawrence Deetz’.”

She pointed to the stupid visitor’s pass sticker on Beetlejuice’s chest, even following the name along with her finger as if teaching a small child to read.

The insult gave Claire pause for a moment. She simply scrounged her face up in disapproval. Before she could catch herself, Lydia continued. There was blood in the water now.

“Leave him be, Claire.” Lydia put her hands on the other girl’s shoulders. “You know, between you and me, just girl to girl …” She put on her fakest ‘sincere’ look and a sympathetic pout. “Lawrence is just way out of your league.”

Beetlejuice let out a loud howl behind her, surprised and amused in equal measure. She heard him collapse against the lockers, laughing like he had done in the car.

The other people in the hallway started laughing too, which was a fun bonus. But sweetest of all was the look on Claire’s face. Her jaw dropped and she looked like Lydia had kicked her in the taint. Those baby blue eyes looked ready to just pop right out.

At first the blonde just squealed. “EEEUUUGH! As if!” And with that, she turned around and stomped off down the hall, leaving behind a cloud of hairspray and excess makeup.

God what a rush! Lydia hadn’t felt this high and mighty since her and Beetlejuice’s marathon of scares.

“You sly dog!” The only way she could describe Beetlejuice’s tone was an excited disbelief.

She turned around, still smirking. He looked her up and down, ecstatic and blatantly impressed. “Jesus fucking Christ, Lyds, this whole time you had me worried! Talking about name-calling and other kids avoiding you, as if I didn’t notice you were cherry picking your damn words to make it sound less bad.”

Huh. He’d been more observant than she gave him credit for.

“You didn’t say shit about how you just verbally murder them in return!”

Lydia chuckled and opened her locker again. This time she got the books she needed instead of wasting time. “That’s because I usually don’t. Claire’s the worst of the worst, but this was an exception. Normally I try to ignore her, but she crossed a line going after you like that.”

She shrugged and shoved the last book into her backpack. “I figured if there was ever a time to bite back, this was it. You would have done the same for me if it was the other way around.”

Beetlejuice was still for a long moment, giving her a look she couldn’t quite read.

Finally, after what felt like a small eternity, he took a deep breath through his nose and let it out the same way. “Can’t kill her, can’t horribly maim her.” His mouth didn’t move, only his eyes narrowed. “Small restriction.”

Lydia smirked as the bell rang. “You’ve got six hours, Lawrence. Make the most of it, hm?”

Beetlejuice grinned as she hooked her arm in with his again. “You bet.”