IF IZZY HAD been told earlier that day that by 9 PM she would be singing Pat Benatar, or Beyoncé, or Macklemore with Chloe Decker, then she would have for sure laughed out loud, but now that they had already spent an unreasonable amount of time tackling the karaoke stage, the thought was no longer so distant. Of course, she had gotten in a few Stevie Nicks hits with Ella and a perfect duet version of Wild Side with Maze. Needless to say, the whole tiki bar was growing rather tired of their excessive singing, and Izzy could have sworn she heard a few people applause when they finally stumbled out of the front and back to their seats.

"So, who do you got a crush on?", Mazikeen was curiously inquiring once they were seated, and at the words she had hoped to never hear, Izzy grabbed her shot glass and downed it all in one ravenous gulp, making her cringe before directing a charming, thoroughly drunk smile at the leather-clad woman. It was getting more and more obvious that she had elected to let her guard down and do what she rarely did — let alcohol play a role in the good times, which didn't always mean the same thing, but from the innocent gleam and the words that were about to tumble out of her mouth, it was easy to gather that she was the one who had had the most to drink that night.

"Uh, hey—heya, do you like puppies? Because I'm—I'm totally like a puppy, y'know? I mean, I'm cute as heck", Izzy smoothly changed the subject instead of pouring her heart out about her developing feelings for Mazikeen, while gesturing at herself. "But if you really upset me, I will kick your ass", she put on her best stern face, before breaking into another heartwarming smile, "though it is more likely that I'll just... uh, lick you", her intoxicated frame leaning closer to Mazikeen, whose eyes instantly flickered down to the deputy's pink, soft lips.

The moment, however, was interrupted when Izzy knocked her drink down, the glass shattering against the wooden floor and some of the alcohol spilling onto Mazikeen's legs — at this, an apologetic, shocked look dawned onto Isadora's face but she was quick to break into snorts. "You know, that's not really how I planned on making you wet", she looked up at Maze, who couldn't be less bothered with the beer on her high heels, she just broke into a genuine smile and shook her head fondly at the mess of a redhead in front of her.

Before the two could exchange any more words, an arm was slung over Isadora's shoulders and the woman found herself leaning into Chloe, who had let her hair down and had also joined Izzy in getting drunk, to get rid of her issues and troubles. For now, she was just someone looking for quality time with her new friends, with the case still on her mind, but at a more reasonable distance. "And then Lucifer's all like hey Chloe, name three friends that you could go call and have a drink with", the detective mimicked Lucifer's suave accent, and that was all Izzy needed to be cracking up on the counter, smacking her palms against the wood while her eyes crinkled in the most adorable way.

"Well, one, two, three and four!", Linda counted for her, which was probably smart considering Chloe was just as, if not more disoriented as Isadora was.

"So, you're saying, if I called you guys, you would drop everything and come and have a drink with me?", she asked in disbelief, and nodding her head, Izzy was finally interjecting with an opinion of her own.

"Heck yes!", the deputy cheered, "I don't think I'd—I'd have the courage to say this if I was painfully sober but listen, Chloe... You're amazing, and we're your friends now. You just give us a call and we're there, 'cause that's—that's what women do for other women. Support each other", nodding her head vigorously while remaining rather close to the blonde's face, both of them too preoccupied to notice the lack of space.

With an amazed gaze in her pure eyes, Chloe shook her head. "I've never had friends like that. Like, ever", she sighed, and at this, Maze took the opportunity to speak up.

"Well, you're a lot more tolerable when you're drunk, Decker", the demon commented, and knitting her eyebrows together, the detective questioned if that was really true, and both Izzy and Maze nodded — although Isadora didn't hate Chloe otherwise, she did have to admit that getting to know her was much easier in a setting like this, rather than the precinct.

"Yeah, for real, I look up to you at work but I've been mildly scared that you—you know, hate me", the redhead slurred, and baffled to hear this, Detective Decker didn't hesitate to pull her co-worker into a tight hug while she vehemently apologized for ever making it seem like that — the truth was, she thought Izzy was amazing, so kind and caring, and definitely had the potential to become a great detective one day. She just wasn't too good at always showing it, and like this night had proved already, chilling out wasn't always one of her many talents, either. And as she vowed that out loud, their soft embrace developed into a group hug when Ella and Linda joined, and albeit Mazikeen stayed out of the nauseously human exchange, she pointed out that if only she had brought her knives along, they could have made a blood pact.

Once the group of ladies separated from one another, Linda pointed out how they were making progress, while Ella and Izzy made a toast to a reason that was forgotten as soon as the glasses were knocked back, and Maze tried to catch up with them even if she kept mentioning something called supernatural metabolism and therefore, her inability to actually get drunk, but it was a temporary relief of sorts. Meanwhile, Chloe was drifting away from her new friends, and as one of them pointed out that she was making a new one, Izzy grabbed her beer and twirled around to find her stumbling towards a bunch of men. However, once she skipped the one that looked like her type and approached the most intimidating gentleman, panic flooded into the women's hearts.

"Oh, sh—Chloe! Hey, Chloe, come here, look what I have!", Izzy tried to regain the blonde's attention with the keys she was quickly pulling out of her pocket, and as she dangled the several key chains in the air to create a noise, Maze narrowed her eyes at the taller woman and snorted.

"Yeah, not everyone's a puppy like you, Iz", she commented in amusement, earning a disappointed look from Izzy who shoved her keys away and crossed her arms over her chest.

Suddenly, Chloe was dragging the guy over to the bar, where the four of them shuffled uncomfortably and tried to escape the situation somehow — however, it seemed the detective was once again The Detective, instead of looking for trouble or a hook-up in her drunken state. "Ella, Izzy, look. From the case, right? The same handstamp as Daria and Naomi", Chloe pointed at the man's wrist, and with their smiles fading away, both of the LAPD workers felt a sense of clarity wash over them momentarily as they looked down, and sure enough, there was an evident connection to the murder they had been investigating today.

However, neither could say anything, when Chloe's attempt to ask the guy if he had seen the victims was rudely interrupted by a woman, who was fuming as she shoved the guy away and stood up to the two cops and one scientist with an enraged glare. "What's your deal?", she spat at Chloe, and at that instant, both Izzy and Ella were regaining their posture and taking a step closer as if to prove their protectiveness over their own, and the latter insisted that she was just asking a few questions. But that did not sit well with the jealous girlfriend.

"Well, he's taken, so back off, skank!"

In a split second, Maze's voice was booming throughout the bar as she stepped forward with her most intimidating stride. "Hey! No one calls my skank a skank", she defied the woman, the atmosphere suddenly filled to the brim with tension and anger, just waiting for a match to be lit so it could explode in their faces. And Mazikeen was just fine with being the one to strike the first blow. "I'm hurting her", she added bravely, and with that, she was leaping towards the stranger, but as Linda yelled out protests, Izzy was already putting her beer down and rushing to grab the demon's arms to hold her back — of course, she would have been no match if Mazikeen were to truly try and break free, but she tried to calm herself down as Isadora's gentle but tight grip sent waves of warmth throughout her heart and nonexistent soul.

"Hey, hey, take a breath. We're investigating them for a murder, not planning a new one", the deputy joked and gave a not-so-sneaky, pathetic wink at Maze while softly caressing the muscular arms she had forgotten to let go of. But concluding from the look that was returned to her, the hold was hardly a bad thing.

"Yes, Maze, remember. Aggression is not the answer. Clearly, this woman is having some serious trust issues", Linda tried to help her friend, nodding in agreement with Izzy while she reminded Mazikeen of their talks and what they had gone through together — there was no need to, smack a bitch, as Maze herself had put it, every time she got a little frustrated. But it seemed that even Linda was done sympathizing, because with that, the blonde was already continuing, "or, maybe she's just a raging bitch!"

Izzy couldn't hold back her laughter, but it was cut off as soon as it had burst free, because the girlfriend trying to claim her man was done dancing around too, and reacted by punching Chloe in the face. In the process, the detective stumbled into Izzy who was quick to lose her balance and drop her hold on Mazikeen — it was almost symbolic, letting her literal demon off a leash, granting her the freedom to rage — but before the deputy could go toppling down onto the sticky floor, Ella tried to grab her, only for one of their official enemy's friends to step in and swing her fist across the air, splitting Isadora's lip as she smacked her harshly.

With a groan, Izzy went down and Ella was quick to defend her by throwing her arms around the other girl's neck, and reacting in a similar manner, except with a lot more fury, Maze let out a deep growl and began punching and kicking at everyone who came in her way. Meanwhile, Linda was rushing underneath the bar counter and squealing as Chloe was taken down again, and following suit, Izzy crawled over to the therapist who didn't hesitate to pull the beaten woman into a protective hug.

"Maze, Maze, Maze!", they both cheered and clapped their hands together as their friend grabbed one of the pool sticks and knocked it into two pieces, which she proceeded to use to her advantage in kicking ass — some guys tried to stop her, but it only resulted in them crying out on the floor, with the main suspect that Chloe had tried to question taking the worst of it. Needless to say, when Mazikeen was finally done and she looked up with her flawless skin glistening with a hint of sweat and a bit of blood on her cheek, a wildfire burning behind her eyes, Izzy had never been more intimidated and attracted as she was then, admiring the woman from afar with nothing but praise for her.

"Are you okay?", Linda's voice broke through the blur of Izzy's mind eventually, as she was seeing and hearing nothing but Mazikeen who was almost highlighted in her vision, ironically radiating with light like an angel, and it took her a long time to realize that the question was aimed at her. But, once the reality of the situation started to dawn on her and the light buzz of her most recent drink slowly wore off, the deputy forced out a pained groan at the realization of a throbbing headache and a metallic taste in her mouth, an outcome of the busted lip that she had ignored completely until now. Still, as she touched her punched face carefully, she broke out a careful smile at Linda and nodded. Truthfully, although she was in physical pain, she couldn't remember she had had this much fun, this kind of bonding with friends.

Only then she understood that she and Chloe did have something in common — the lack of people to rely on, other than family. She had been so occupied with achieving her dreams, studying and relentlessly working, that since her teenage years, she hadn't really gotten attached to anyone but her dog and her mom. It was strange, considering that she was quite the outgoing, social person who loved to make friends, yet only now, there was that utterly fulfilled, warm feeling in the pit of her stomach that was taking enough space to lift her heart, and widen her smile — even if it caused her pain. Because now, she really did have some great friends, and they weren't even all here tonight.

So, she nodded once more and pulled Linda into another hug and let out a shameless little laugh, "Honestly, this is the most fun night I've had in a long time."

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man this is already the second chapter in this one episode AND THERE WILL BE ANOTHER ONE. it's going to get dramatic 🤔 ,,anyway i know this was kinda slow-paced but it's important regarding her friendship with these women, especially chloe, and yes i also got some deep philosophical thoughts in there about her not having that many friends before. but now, she's becoming happier by the day (:

thank you for 5k!! it means the world to me (: feel free to leave me your thoughts, and also, which friendship (not just with these three) are you liking the most so far? or is there something you'd like to see more of? thank you x