WEIGHT OF THE WORLD ↠ Mazikeen [2]

03 | FINAL ADVICE

EVEN THOUGH SLEEP HAD ESCAPED IZZY ALL NIGHT, she was energetic when arriving at the precinct the next day. Maze's breakdown and Elaine's unexpected arrival had invited insomnia into the Holt-Smith household, but once the sun had risen and a new day was welcomed, Izzy had decided to focus on the positive – she was ready to be under Dan's guidance on a journey to become a detective, and she was excited to see Lucifer again. She truly had missed the man, and she had missed being the Devil's personal consultant, as he had once called her.

                     "Someone's peppy today", Kai noted from his desk, earning a grin from Izzy who made her way to Detective Nolan and Benjamin, who was nursing a cup of coffee with dark circles under his eyes. "Makes one of you", he added snarkily, at which Benji stuck out his tongue but made sure to kiss Izzy's cheek once the woman was standing beside them.

                     "Aren't you guys? Lucifer's back!" Izzy gushed before nudging at Benji with her elbow, "I'm sure that's why you didn't get a wink of sleep, either."

                     Humming, Benjamin drew a long sip from his coffee and smacked his lips before clearing his throat. "Yeah, yup. Uh, not in the way you'd think, though", he began ominously, pulling confused looks from both Izzy and Kai. "Ugh, I'm... He just... feels different. We didn't even, you know... f-", he continued, and loudly interrupting with a nervous laugh, Kai waved his hands in the air to stop him from going further.

                     "All for sex-positive conversations, but uh, I just woke up and I'm gonna need a softer adjustment", he intervened before grabbing Benjamin's coffee and taking a gulp of it, only for disappointment to bloom on his face. "You didn't spike this?"

                     "He's quitting drinking", Izzy interjected before turning to Benji and giving him a sympathetic smile. "I'm sure that for the two of you, it's weird but he did just come back from Hell. And Mazikeen told me that time works differently down there, you know? It must have been eons for him", she explained, and with a hesitant nod, Ben agreed.

                     "Yeah, he mentioned that, too. And it's not like I just missed the sex, you know? But I just wonder if he didn't miss me", he wondered out loud, and at that, both Kai and Izzy snorted.

                     "No way", they spoke in unison, and with a smile, Benjamin thanked them.

                     Izzy began explaining how her aunt had come to stay with her, and the two wished her the best of luck – apparently, neither of them was a big believer in looking after family, but to Izzy, it was the only obvious answer. She knew from personal experience with her dad that blood wasn't everything, but it had been years since she had seen Elaine, and the least she wanted to do was give her a chance and see if her mother could have been, for the first time ever, overreacting.

                     Either way, they didn't get too far in the conversation when Dan was walking over to them, giving Benjamin a slap on the shoulder before pulling Izzy away. "Ready to think like a detective? Chloe just called, we've got a murder", he announced, handing his notepad to Izzy, "you can study what I usually write down on the drive over."