DESPITE MORE OR less winning last night's drinking game and therefore having the least alcohol in her body, Izzy certainly needed some care after the wild party, her words melting together and laughter much louder than necessary — but even if Diane could barely figure out what she was rambling on about, she could tell that her daughter had had a good time and the joy stretching her lips to a point where her cheeks ached wasn't just because of the drinking. She hadn't even had that much to drink, in the end, but shots tended to have an effect on Izzy, leaving her exhausted and with blank spaces throughout her mind. Nonetheless, even if stumbling into a fast food restaurant with Maze in the middle of the night and feeding each other fries was going to feel like a strange dream in the morning, the woman had fallen asleep with a content smile on her lips and soft snores quickly filling the room.
As far as farewell celebrations went, Lux and Lucifer had delivered.
And when the sun finally rose entirely and Thor was begging for her mom to get up and pay attention to him, Isadora was one hundred percent grateful for the day-off she hadn't even remembered, not until the disoriented state took her down like a tidal wave. She hadn't crossed the line over drunk, leaving out nausea and the headache, but in her post-shots unraveling, the bed seemed quite tempting. However, when the greasy smell of bacon lingered in from the kitchen, both Izzy and Thor were up on their feet in a snap of fingers.
"Have a good night?", Diane wondered in amusement, lips quirked up as she slid more breakfast onto Isadora's empty plate, and smiling up in satisfaction, the woman could only nod.
"Really good. I hope Lux doesn't get demolished, but if it does, then that was about as epic as a party can get. And, now I officially know Maze's favorite pastime activities so, a win", Izzy shrugged, before digging into the goods she was desperate to have in her stomach. With a mouth full, she then continued, "I think at some point we went into another bar and sang Bicycle Race on karaoke? I don't really remember that, but if that happened, then we might have made the world's best duet", her fork pointing at Diane, who laughed and nodded.
It truly had been an eventful night, and feeling closer to Maze than ever was not a bad sensation to experience, either. In fact, it was making Izzy's heart flutter, knowing that the words in love had been thrown around, even if neither had admitted anything too concrete. But just talking about it was progress, a lot of it, and it was giving Izzy a boost of motivation.
And when she couldn't go to work and help Chloe solve the case, she made the most of her day-off and reminisced the previous night by listening to the songs she could remember and worked on her own case. Well, not her case, but the one Dan had given her, the one she was rather close to cracking wide open, a few phone calls away from surprising the man with a victory. The guilt in her had been silenced when she had reminded herself that it didn't mean anything had to be done about it, she was simply figuring out all the facts, not making any decisions. Those decisions, well, they were the youngest Espinoza's to make.
Drowned in the music and curiously flipping through the files on her bed, Thor napping between her crossed legs, Izzy was snapped out of the zone by her phone ringing — not an unwelcome sound after spending hours holed up in her room. Sometimes she valued the alone time, but she needed her friends too, and that was why she was speedily turning off the music and clearing her throat before bringing the phone to her ear. "Hello?", she spoke politely, nervousness lighting up in her chest once she realized that she hadn't checked the caller ID, but before the anxiety could spread, a familiar, silky voice had replied.
"Hey, you wanted a date, right?", Maze sounded positively mischievous and conspiring as she casually greeted Izzy, who was smacked speechless at the question. But, it was true, so quickly, she was forcing words out of her mouth — words, she could do words.
"Uh—oh—yeah! Yeah, um, what'd you have in mind? Wait, you are asking me out, right?", the redhead scrambled the phone into her other hand to use the other to slam the files shut and put them in their own little box, one that she kept hidden in her closet. Silently, she made a joke about being good at hiding in the closet before running her fingers through her hair and giving Thor a look, as if to say, "Buddy, this is it. The next minutes will determine whether or not I'm going out with the woman of my dreams."
"Yeah, I thought I just said that. It's a restaurant, I'll text you the address if you wanna come. I don't think they have the fries you love so much, but wine and steak sound good?", Maze explained, a hopeful tone lifting her voice a bit higher and sending Izzy's heart on overload. There was no stopping the wide grin from taking over, and as she glanced down and chuckled, the woman nodded.
"Yeah, very good. Um, how fancy is this date, exactly? Like, on a scale of one to ten, how good should I look for this?", Izzy took a seat on the edge of the bed, which instantly encouraged Thor to go in for some cuddles, and while happily embracing her dog, she tried to contain her excitement. It seemed that her drinking game had been, albeit the holes in her memory and the hunger for junk food, a success, and more importantly, it seemed that her relationship with Maze was showing no signs of stopping. They were discovering this whole thing, going all the way, exploring all aspects, and Izzy was only now starting to realize how strongly she had wanted that all along.
Snorting, Maze made the line crackle. "You're always a twelve, at least. But, really, don't worry about putting too much effort in. As long as you're there, I'm good", she reassured, and melting at her words, Izzy wasn't sure whether to be amused or flattered — Mazikeen was always smooth and flirtatious, but this was something else entirely.
"Wow", Izzy snickered, "that may have been the corniest thing you've said the whole time I've known you", but the teasing was only fond — she didn't mind hearing the sweet-talking at all.
"I know, so many regrets but kinda worth it. See you soon, Iz", the demon ended the call with a chuckle of her own, and as soon as Izzy was convinced that Maze could no longer hear her, she let out an actual squeal, legs kicking up in the air as she fell into the mattress. Not liking her mother's unexpected loudness, Thor was climbing onto her face, and even if Izzy found herself covered in slobber in a matter of seconds, it failed to wipe away the excitement on her face.
When she finally jumped up, leaving behind a very confused looking Cocker Spaniel, Isadora shot finger guns at the dog and grinned. "Yes, my sweet baby, I got a date, yes I dooo", Izzy sang while digging out some clothes from the closet, nothing capable of pushing her down from her happy cloud. Perhaps Thor wasn't all too impressed with his mom's uncharacteristic gushing over a date, but there couldn't possibly be a better way to spend a rare day-off, than going to a restaurant with the woman she was desperately falling for.
—————
GIDDINESS WAS NOT an unfamiliar feeling to Izzy, but it wasn't all that common either — or at least it hadn't been until she had met Maze, but even then, the excited pouncing of her heart hadn't ever reached to heights like these. Admittedly, there was a hint of uneasiness stirring within her, and that was why she had double-checked everything in the house after already double-checking twice, and sent Mazikeen a bunch of worried texts to make sure they had actually had the phone call and that it was okay to come. She sought reassurance, and once Maze had granted her that momentary sweep of relief, Izzy was striding towards the restaurant she had been officially invited to by the brunette, and despite the rising tides of anxiety, she couldn't stop beaming like a ray of sunlight.
Though, undeniably, the smile did falter a tiny bit once she finally stepped inside and realized that she was way too underdressed for the setting — there was someone playing the violin and the rest of the restaurant was in a harmonic silence, not disturbed by even the suited waiters who smoothly glid around the softly carpeted floor. Making a mental note to never let Maze's cheeky compliments cloud her judgment again, Izzy shyly adjusted the jacket she had thrown on and fixed her hair before searching for the woman, only to come face to face with the sight of her hiding behind the corner with someone else. Said someone else, upon further inspection, turned out to be Amenadiel, and at this point Izzy was quick to give up on the whole idea of a date, eyes rolling around as she walked over to the two.
"Need I remind that I am as gay as they come so I'm not having threesomes including a guy. No offense", she couldn't hide the sharp edge of her voice as she crossed her arms and crouched behind the two, subconsciously falling into the hiding as well, without even knowing the reason behind it. Turning around with wide eyes and curiously twisted lips, Maze was one second away from suggesting something much wilder than Izzy had come prepared for, so she didn't hesitate to interject by lifting a finger. "You know, hypothetically, if threesomes were on the table for me, which they are not", she shook her head, but the unwillingness in her didn't scare Maze away — she merely snorted.
"You made it! And you look better than all of the actual angels combined", she flashed a grin, gesturing towards Amenadiel who didn't bother to hide the blatant eye roll, and in the process pulled a reluctant laugh from Izzy.
"Why thank you, but you could have given me a heads up and I would have shown up in something a little better. You know, I almost picked a nice dress I haven't worn in ages", she pointed out, although the annoyance was already fading away — she did appreciate the thought, though she still wasn't quite sure why Amenadiel was in their company, but asking that specific question was still held back at the tip of her tongue.
Still smirking smugly, Maze threw an arm over Izzy and pulled her closer, pride behind her dark eyes as she did. "First of all, I will have to see that nice dress. And secondly, I know, I know, but good news — turns out they do have fries here! Probably some expensive, fancy fries, but you want 'em?", she licked her lips briefly — which Izzy most certainly noticed — and leaned closer to the redhead, who, by now, was beyond enchanted by her presence.
"Yes, obviously", Izzy grumbled, and while Maze muttered something along the lines of that's my girl, the deputy finally nodded towards Amenadiel. "Again, no offense, but I thought this was supposed to be a date? And also, not that I'm suspecting your dating skills, but why are we hiding here?", her wondering eyes drifting from the apologetic-looking man to Mazikeen, who offered a sheepish shrug in return, as if it wasn't odd for the three of them to be crouched by a brick wall to avoid being spotted.
"Well, I guess date was a little misleading, but this is my kind of date, hmm? I kind of shadowed him here so that we could all shadow her on her date", Maze nodded towards someone, and with the other woman's arm still around her, Izzy followed her gaze only to spot a very gorgeous Charlotte Richards nursing a drink by the bar, all by her lonesome but definitely not a prey for someone to claim — no, it was obvious that she was the predator in the scenario. And frankly, that put a grimace on Izzy's face.
"Her? Of all people? I mean, I can live with sharing fries with Amenadiel here but Charlotte Richards? I guess she can be wicked, but what does her date have anything to do with—", she began to ramble, but when she noticed a man approaching her from afar, she fell silent. Even more so, when the handsome guy dressed nicely, hair styled neatly and a nervous smile on his lips, turned out to be Dan Espinoza himself. Jaw falling open, Izzy quickly came around, and while nodding in determination, she never took her eyes off of Charlotte and Dan, the two smiling at each other warmly. "Okay", Izzy decided, "we're doing this."
She wasn't sure how this was going to rank up as a first date, but when it came to spending time with Mazikeen, and Amenadiel too, and protecting one of her closest friends from a vicious queen like Charlotte Richards, she had no intentions to go home.
—————
"POOR, POOR DAN. He has no idea. Innocent guy, he really deserves happiness", Izzy was groaning at the sight of her boss being rather handsy with Charlotte, both of them clearly into the relationship — and usually, that would have satisfied Isadora, knowing that her friend was happy, but this time, it was a matter of safety. As much as she loved Dan, she was struggling to believe that he had charmed Charlotte in such a short time, and that left her wondering if the attorney was in it simply to use him. For what, she didn't know, but she was glad to notice that Maze and Amenadiel were on her side.
"Yeah, there's no way this is just a harmless date. With Chloe's ex, I mean, what are the odds?", Maze agreed while sipping on her whiskey, her eyes glued to the pair by the bar, and the sight of them was forcing Amenadiel to pour a drink down his throat too. Izzy, for one, had had enough of drinking for one week though, but she was quite happy munching on the fries Maze had treated her to — at first, Isadora had refused to let her pay, but Mazikeen had insisted on making this a good date at least in one aspect. And well, buying her fries certainly worked.
"Do you realize, that if they were to really fall in love and, I don't know, get married, Dan would be Lucifer's step-dad. Oh my God, Amenadiel, he would be your step-dad—your Step-Dan!", Izzy's eyes flew open as she poked his arm from the other side of the table, Maze seated between them and shaking with laughter at her words. Amenadiel, however, seemed less amused by the concept. "But, like, it gets even more messed up when you add Benjamin to the equation. Like, say, he and Lucifer were to get married too. Now his new mother-in-law... is also his sister-in-law. And Lucifer would be Dan's son-in-law and brother-in-law", Izzy had to wipe tears away from her eyes due to the laughing as she pictured it all — if anything was proof that nothing could come of Dan and Charlotte, that was it. Luckily, if they wouldn't be able to interject, Lucifer would certainly take care of whatever tension was to build between the two.
Shaking her head, Maze turned to Izzy, taking a fry from between her lips and grinning as she ate it herself. "This is why I love you—r humor. Like I said", she cleared her throat, "you're not boring", not so sneakily hiding what she almost said, but the lack of courage in blurting it out didn't hurt. If anything, the fact that she had even considered it, was lighting Izzy's heart on fire, making her chest burn with desire as she smiled down at her fries. And, even though she didn't want to pressure Maze into anything, she did want to silently devote her support to her, so driven by the rush, Izzy took her hand under the table.
"You too", she spoke quietly, not saying the words but the weight of them still hung in the air as they gazed at each other by the candles, whiskey and greasy potatoes, fingers interlocked and hearts beating so unbearably loud it felt like filling the whole restaurant with the heavy thuds.
Until, of course, Amenadiel broke the silence. "Ugh!", a grimace twisted his face, and when the two women turned to Charlotte and Dan again, they found them making out against the bar counter. It easily pulled similar disagreeing sounds from Izzy, whereas Maze grasped the opportunity and used her free hand to sneakily take photos of their disgusted faces. Not much later, Charlotte was leading Dan away by the hand, and already chuckling evilly, Maze grabbed her leather jacket.
"Come on, I know where he lives", the demon plotted, and while Izzy's lips parted to argue with the idea, Amenadiel was quicker.
"I'm not gonna go watch my mother — well, uh, Izzy, technically our Father's ex — make out with Dan!", he seemed revolted by the idea, and Izzy couldn't very much blame him — she too had limits, and watching her boss go into bed with some form of the Shedevil was beyond those.
Laughing, Maze stopped and gave the two an incredulous look. "They're not gonna make out. They're gonna—", she smacked her hands on the table, making the glasses tremble with the bang, "ahh!" Already flustered, Amenadiel insisted that he knew what they were going to do, but even if the deep moans were causing a burn on Izzy's face too, the woman failed to hold back laughter. She wasn't quite sure what she had expected, but so far, the evening wasn't half-bad — even if they had lost Dan to the enemy.
With an attempt to swallow the chuckles, Izzy linked arms with Maze and nodded, successfully turning her attention back to her, their eyes meeting again and Mazikeen's dark red lips merely inches away. "I think I gotta agree with him. Watching Dan have sex is not on my bucket list, and we do still have a bunch of fries to get through", Isadora nodded towards the plate in front of them, and as if to prove a point, she picked up a few of the fries and offered them to Maze, who gratefully accepted.
Surprisingly, the moment was still possible to salvage — very capable of sensing the tension in the air, Amenadiel didn't take long to make a graceful exit, and when left alone, Maze and Izzy earned several eye rolls by ordering more fries to keep them occupied while they laughed together about stories they hadn't shared in a long time. It was casual, nothing too special, nothing to get too dressed for, but by the end of the night, Izzy realized that it was them. Linda had suggested finding something that suited them, something that wasn't necessarily from a rom-com, but something that would be a perfect fit for their story.
This was it — they did have the candles, but instead of talking about work, they had stalked an odd pairing on their own date. They had the delicious food, but there was no pressure to eat fancy, and the ice cream they split wasn't the most sophisticated thing on the menu, either. But it was fun, and they were comfortable, and for two women who weren't experts on relationships, that was a big win. Inevitably, the reason behind Izzy's fond smile, directed at Maze when she didn't notice, was because they had had a successful date after all, with their own flair added to it.
And although she didn't say it out loud that night, Izzy was positive that she was falling in love more and more every day.
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this was one of the longest chapters in this book, but i hope it was interesting enough to keep you guys reading (: i really love writing about maze and izzy, and including more amenadiel was fun too, he is reaaaalllly underrated. also, more tension between izzy and charlotte, and more of that is definitely coming.
there is a lot happening in the upcoming chapters but i promise, it will all tie together nicely eventually! i hope you liked it, thank you for reading + THANK YOU for this sudden rise in reads and votes, not sure what sparked all this attention but i'm super happy to see you guys are enjoying it so far xx
+ also, if y'all feel like finding out more about izzy, i have a "meet my ocs" book for more info on her and my other characters (: