HANGOVERS WERE NEVER a pleasure to have, never welcomed with open arms, but avoiding one after a heavy night of drinking, especially one like Izzy's, was simply impossible. That was the cold, hard truth that dropped onto her consciousness eventually, emitting a long, pained groan from her as she blocked the invasive rays of sunlight by dragging the smooth covers over her head and refusing to wake up. Last night was still a haze as if covered with a veil that she was too tired to drag away — and maybe that was good. One thing was for sure, and that was her lack of filter when drunk, and no doubt she had blurted out things better kept unsaid this time as well. Right now, she didn't care to remember the painfully awkward moments.
For a moment there, she was almost slipping back into a much-needed slumber, but when the little things of her surroundings started to sink in, the peace in her mind became far too disturbed. Thor wasn't tugging on the sheets, worried that the bed had swallowed his mommy, and the very same covers hiding her were too soft and silky, as was the sheet on which her clothed body rested. Diane's humming was nowhere to be heard, and albeit Izzy always insisted on not bothering her mother, the older Holt still attempted to ease her hangovers with some bacon and eggs — yet now, it was silent and the greasy smell of food wasn't filling the air, but instead, a thick cloud of perfume was. And whereas Isadora's own room had its own signature sounds, the right kind of temperature, it seemed that wherever she was... Well, it was a strange place.
Emerging from amidst the duvets and pillows, Izzy sat up with her red, short hair sticking out in every possible direction, and as her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the stylishly decorated place, her thoughts began racing almost as quickly as her heart. "Where the heck...", the deputy muttered to herself, shifting the uncomfortable twist of her bra while her eyes scanned the room and her mind was already falling into a familiar dark trap, causing her fingers to tap against the mattress and her teeth to chew her bottom lip.
"Oh, good, you're awake", a familiar, yet unexpected voice caused Izzy's head to snap towards the elevator, which she hadn't even noticed to be in the room, and at the sight of Mazikeen holding up a drink, Isadora's mouth fell slightly open, and she tried her hardest to remember how last night had ended. "Here you go", the woman continued nonchalantly, offering Izzy a glass, and in response, the taller one of the two knitted her eyebrows together and shook her head rapidly. The last thing she needed was more alcohol.
"Oh, God, no. You—you don't... You don't have a hangover?", she stammered out, unsure where to even begin, but it was the drilling headache that caused the words to tumble out of her mouth. Then again, she wasn't quite sure if the nagging voice in the back of her brain was the outcome of getting wasted or the creeping anxiety that always kicked in when her routines were messed with. She was used to waking up in her own home and following the same kind of steps each and every morning, but there she stood now, in an unfamiliar bedroom with nothing making any sense. "Where the hell am I?", Izzy continued nervously as she walked away from the bed and to the large windows behind her, her gaze finding the busy streets of L.A buzzing like nothing was wrong.
But it felt like it was.
"Lux", was Maze's casual answer, "Lucifer's penthouse. He and his boyfriend were too busy partying all night so I took you here. I don't know where you live", she shrugged as if it was no big deal. "I would have taken you to my place, except I don't got one. Yet — I actually made a deal with Decker—", the dark-skinned woman started to laugh to herself as she explained further, but Izzy cut her off by waving her hand in the air and turning from the open windows to Mazikeen, who was leaning against the large piano in the middle of the room.
"Luc—Lucifer's penthouse. I, uhh, I can't remember coming here. Did—woah, uh, did we...?", the redhead trailed off, feeling uneasy like there was an itch she couldn't reach. She knew exactly what was causing it — straying from her morning routine, following an unfamiliar pattern, and it was driving her obsessive thoughts wild. She was out of control here, and she didn't like it.
For the first time that morning, Maze offered the woman some relief by shaking her head. "No. I may be a demon, but you were totally wasted and I... I got my limits. Just... wanted to make sure you were okay for the rest of the night", she shed some light on the events of the previous evening, and as it slowly came back to Izzy, she responded with a quiet, uncertain nod. It seemed that Mazikeen was growing uncomfortable too, both of them in uncharted territory and unaware of how to proceed, where to proceed.
"I need to call my mom", Isadora suddenly blurted out, worried that her absence would have caused Diane some gray hairs, but as she shakily pushed her fingers through her knotted hair, Maze stepped forward and raised a hand as the anxious deputy started to dig her pockets for her phone.
"You don't have to do that."
Giving the demon an annoyed look, Izzy lifted an eyebrow. "I do. She has to be worried sick when I—", she began to rant, but before she could release all her bottled up feelings, Mazikeen interjected once more.
"No, I mean, I texted her last night. I was walking you to the bed and you kept on trying to call her, but I figured, humans don't really appreciate drunk dials so I stopped you. When you fell asleep, I sent her a message. She knows you're safe", she gestured towards Isadora's phone before crossing her arms over her chest and looking down — and usually, Izzy would have stopped to ask what was wrong, why did she refer to humans as if she wasn't a part of them, if she was feeling the same kind of fear as well, but instead, she cracked a shy smile.
"You texted my mom?", her voice was quiet and careful, and concluding from the snort that Maze replied with, it was a subject not to be poked more. So, she dropped her gaze to her phone where, indeed, a very curt but effective text sat as proof, but mostly her attention was caught by the time — work was about to start and she was here, a post-drinking mess with blush on her cheeks and mascara smeared across her eyes. She just needed to pray that Dan wasn't at the precinct yet, or else the desperate message she sent him to ask for a ride would have been in vain.
Izzy drew steady breaths then — this was okay, it was okay. She just needed to get to work and back on track, and the anxiety would fade away. She'd be in control of the situation again, and the feeling of utter disorientation would be inferior to everything else.
"Uh, thank you", she pursed her lips together once more as she squeezed her phone tightly, and before quickly rushing out of the penthouse, which was actually beyond impressive in every way, Isadora leaned down to press a gentle kiss on Mazikeen's cheek. "Demon or not, I know you usually sign up for sex and not all... this, so thank you, for the effort. I really appreciate it", the cop nodded and offered a grateful smile at Maze, who couldn't help but gaze at her in wonder. As if questioning, what was happening to her and why? She wasn't supposed to care, Izzy was right, she didn't do all this cuddly, fluffy stuff, yet for some reason, the thought of letting Isadora wander out in the dark streets all by herself had been one not even worth considering.
With a faint smile, Mazikeen nodded, although there was that familiar hint of teasing at the corner of her mouth as she did. "Any time, officer."
—————
AFTER A LOT of teasing from Dan regarding Izzy's walk of shame, and the woman firing back with "Have you learned that term through Benjamin or do you have some first-hand experience?", the two had actually gotten to work, where no one really seemed to notice that they were a handful of minutes late. With a deep sigh, Isadora let her body sink into the chair she had dragged from an empty desk over to Dan's, and ran her hands across her face and hair — both of which she had attempted to desperately salvage to make it seem like she hadn't gotten drunk off her ass last night and woken up in her crush's bedroom, and luckily, the sight wasn't as bad anymore. As for her clothes, Dan's jacket did a good job of covering up the shirt that had been torn during the violent fight in the bar.
"Oof, looks like someone had quite the eventful night", Lucifer's voice was as filled with glee as ever, just like the grin on his face as he sat on the edge of Daniel's desk and gestured towards Izzy. Right. Perhaps the smeared make-up had been handled with, but her lip was still a tad swollen and a hint of a purple-hued bruise was developing at the corner of her eye, albeit she couldn't vividly remember receiving all those injuries. Still, she had no regrets regarding the previous evening — though this morning was a whole different case — and that encouraged her to offer a pained smile at Lucifer.
"I could say the same. Kinda makes a girl wonder what might the Devil be so busy doing that he can't spare a few hours to sleep", the deputy teased him, shamelessly bringing up the memory of Benjamin, but instead of being impressed with the woman, Lucifer merely narrowed his eyes at Izzy.
"And how might said girl know about my whereabouts during the midnight hours?", he inquired thoughtfully, and snorting at his lack of comment on Benji and how they had spent the night, Isadora shrugged with a faint smile touching her lips.
"I'm a cop, remember?", she commented, but sneakily winked at Lucifer before rolling around with the chair, "those are some damn comfortable sheets, though."
Concluding from the look of realization that painted over Lucifer's charming features, he had had no clue of how Maze had taken Izzy to his penthouse, and actually, she didn't like it very much either. Simply, because even if gaining Mazikeen's trust and affection was an ideal plan, it was taking Isadora's inner balance and peace out of her hands and ripping it to shreds. Most people wouldn't have understood, but she relied on her habits, desperately needed them to function and being pulled away from those little things that built her day was unbearable. There was no steady foundation to give her the reassurance she was sometimes almost too dependent on.
Before Lucifer could say anything, whether it would have been impressed or annoyed, Chloe was stepping into the scene with a new, bright smile on her lips, causing Izzy to do the same as she greeted the detective with a newfound positivity in her heart.
"Hey, Izzy. How—uh, how are you doing?", the blonde gestured at her own lip, and getting the hint, Isadora chuckled.
"Excluding the mild headache, I'm just great. What's up?", she beamed up at Chloe, who nodded in agreement and laughed a little as well. The exchange earned an approving look from Lucifer, who was clearly proud of the two cops and the improvement between them and their friendship — it was about time.
"Well, Lucifer and I are about to go catch a killer, and I was wondering— well, technically I'm ordering you to come with, but yeah. I think you deserve a second chance. Maybe this time will go better than last time?", Chloe explained then, interlocking her own fingers with one another as she looked down at Izzy, whose lips parted in surprise and eyes flew wide open at the unexpected suggestion — or order, really.
She couldn't believe it, believe Chloe's immense benevolence and faith in the woman, and the thought of a new opportunity to catch a criminal made her heart flutter. Still, the looming anxiety posed a threat to her in the distant depths of her mind, but as Isadora stood up and vowed her loyalty to Detective Decker, she tried to ignore it the best she could.
But she really should've learned by now that when it came to her disorder and the restlessness, there was no ignoring that, or else it would surely become her downfall.
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okay this is a bit of a filler chapter, but if you look at the details, there is actually some pretty significant stuff going on that will set a lot of things right on track for the next chapter. as you may have noticed, izzy's anxiety is making an appearance, because i felt it is important to remind everyone (including her, and me) that it exists and it's not just some detail to make her character more unique. it actually does have an effect on her, and that will be the main point of the next chapter (:
another thing that will play a part in later chapters is maze and her evolving feelings for izzy,, because she's maze and she doesn't really deal with all that too lightly, THERE IS DRAMA AHEAD. and if you've read light me up, you know that there is foorrrr suuuuure troubles coming.
i swear, i'll let them be happy soon but for now, THINGS ARE ABOUT TO ESCALATE. i hope you liked it!! ✨❤️