Maria DeLuca believes that (![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} tequilacuresall) wrote in ![[info]](https://www.insanejournal.com/img/community.gif){kind=small} madisonvalley,@ 2024-10-29 18:31:00 |
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What: Just hanging out
When: Saturday Night
Where: Johanna’s place
Warnings: Surprisingly Low
Johanna had been to Lou’s plenty of times, but it’d been a while since she and Maria had actually hung out, and they’d both agreed that was a thing that needed to change. They’d decided that hey, why not hang out at Johanna’s place? Besides, Johanna wouldn’t admit it, but things still felt a little weird around the house without Crowley there. She was resilient, she was adjusting, but things still felt weird.
But she knew Maria would help change that. It was impossible to worry about anything when you were around Maria DeLuca, and that was one of the things Johanna loved most about her.
Plus she had a certain someone to ask Maria about. She’d seen Maria with someone at the fair and she one hundred percent needed to get nosy about that. Yes, needed. Johanna happily shoved her nose into her friends’ lives – mostly within reason, she wasn’t totally intrusive – and now seemed like a situation that called for it. So they’d made plans to hang out at Johanna’s house and now Johanna was making sure she’d gotten enough supplies.
Which really just meant alcohol and unhealthy snacks. And alright, a few vaguely reasonable ones, because options were their friend.
Johanna was sprawled on the couch idly flipping through the tv channels when there was a knock at the door. Setting the remote aside, she stood and went to answer.
It had been far too long since she and Johanna had just hung out together at a place other than Lou’s. She didn’t mind when Johanna came into the bar when she was working, but it wasn’t always conducive to relaxing or just being able to talk about anything they wanted.
Some things, you just didn’t talk about at a bar full of other people, after all.
She stopped on the way to her friend’s house to pick up a bottle of some of the best tequila she could find and a pizza because pizza and booze just seemed to naturally go together. It was one of the building blocks of the universe.
When she got to Johanna’s place she knocked lightly with the hand that held the tequila bottle and wondered how long she should wait before letting herself in. She was saved from making that decision when Johanna opened the door.
“I have booze and freshly made pizza,” she said with a grin as she walked into the house and straight to the living room.
‘And I have a good solid amount of booze along with snacks.” Johanna grinned as she shut the door. “But I will never turn down pizza – or booze selected by you.” Because seriously, when did Maria not bring the good stuff?
Her friend was already setting the pizza down, so Johanna went to the kitchen for plates and the appropriate glasses for tequila. Because like they wouldn’t start with that?
“Okay, so. We have plates, we have napkins, we have glasses.” A pause. “By which I mean plastic cups because we’re oh so classy like that.”
Maria was one of her best friends, and Johanna would forever be glad the woman was in town. So having this opportunity to spend time with her? Would’ve been valuable no matter what. But when it looked like Maria had something good going on in her life? Johanna valued it even more. Because it looked like for once in their lives, Maria wasn’t worrying so much about Michael freaking Guerin.
“Plastic cups can be very classy,” Maria said with a smile as she poured drinks. “You should see my collection of non-breakable glasses that I have at home and the ones I keep behind the bar. You never know when they will come in handy.”
Maria hadn’t thought about Michael Guerin in quite some time and now she had someone else that was on her mind. It was a good thing -- and a nice change. She was relaxed about it and not worried about what might happen from day to day.
Maria handed Johanna a shot. “So, what should we toast to first?”
“An easy one, to start.” Johanna grinned, because Maria had to know the interrogation would come at some point. “How about to being this damn awesome?”
Because really, they were. That deserved appreciation and celebration, if you asked her. Alright, so nobody had. Whatever. Point still stood.
To her, at least.
Maria grinned and nodded. “Yes. The first shot is to us being so damn awesome.”
She tapped her glass against Johanna’s glass before she downed her shot. She poured another drink and settled down on the couch and got comfortable.
“It should be illegal to have this much awesome in one place.”
“It absolutely should,” Johanna agreed as she poured another drink. “Which makes it even more illegal when we get together with, like, Sean and Alex.”
God help everyone, in those cases.
“And as for the next shot…” A mischievous grin. “To whoever it is that has you not thinking about Michael Guerin.”
Because she knew Maria. If Maria was interested enough in someone else to apparently be dating them – or at least starting to – then Michael wasn’t much of a thought in her mind.
“Which means we are definitely overdue on the four of us getting together.”
She loved spending time with her best friends and was so glad that Alex got to have such a happy life here with Sean. She didn’t think that she would have ever seen him this happy after what had been going on back home.
Maria laughed. “Michael Who?”
She definitely hadn’t thought about Michael Guerin and their off again on again history in quite some time.
“Well, for starters, his name is Ben Song.”
“When did you meet him?” Johanna asked, very much curious. “And where? Do I need to start debating your taste in locations?”
Though she had a feeling it’d been, like, speed dating or the bar or something like that. Something with an aspect of being social – that was who Maria was, after all, and nothing that was good for Maria would change that.
“Well, he came into Lou’s a few months ago and we started talking,” Maria said with a smile. “Then we got put together as roommates on that three week cruise so we did a lot of talking and I dragged him to different places to have fun.”
She downed her shot. “Since then, we have been on a date to the carnival and he won me a stuffed animal.”
“Okay, that is absolutely adorable,” Johanna said, downing her shot before looking at her friend. “And so… normal.”
Which was something she knew Maria’s relationships weren’t always full of.
“So you think you two are gonna actually be a thing?” Though even if Ben and Maria only had that one date, Johanna could tell he’d still been good for her friend. She was glad for that.
It meant she didn’t have to go kick the guy’s ass.
Maria smiled at Johanna as she poured some wine into a glass and swirled it around. She knew that they would eventually get drunk tonight because they hadn’t done that in awhile, but she didn’t want that to happen right away.
“Normal is a good thing and something that I had gotten used to never having after everything started happening at home.” She took a drink and looked seriously at her friend. “I really like him, Johanna. I can see myself developing stronger feelings for him and I will be honest and tell you that it scares me to death.”
Of everyone in town besides Alex, Sean, Liz (both of them), and Daisy, Johanna would understand just how terrified she was at the chance of possibly having a normal relationship.
Johanna was all in favor of not getting drunk right away. She was also a fan of wine. So pretty much a win-win on that.
The seriousness on Maria’s face wasn’t something Johanna was used to – well, rephrase. That level of seriousness was something she wasn’t used to. But she was pretty sure it was a good sign, all things considered.
“Love is terrifying,” Johanna said after a moment’s thought. “So of course all the stuff maybe leading up to it is, too. Or at least can be. And considering your relationship history… I think I’d be more surprised if you weren’t at least mildly scared.”
“I am more than mildly scared,” Maria admitted. “I really like Ben and I don’t want anything to happen to scare him away. I mean, nothing about me screams normal woman, and for the most point, I have never had a problem with that.”
Ok, it was a bit difficult to be the weird girl in high school who could predict the future, but that was high school. High school is naturally hard for anyone that isn’t normal Plus, if you add in that she and her mom didn’t exactly look like everyone else in Roswell…
“He needs to meet you, and Alex and Sean. And Liz.” She took a drink of her wine. “If he doesn’t get along with my family, then I’ll know I shouldn’t get my hopes up about things going any further between us.”
“He definitely needs to meet us, yes.” It was Johanna’s turn for a glass of wine now. “And he definitely needs to get along with us. I will, however, accept sheer terror at first. I know I can be a lot to deal with.” Part joking, part serious – she really could be a lot sometimes.
“And hey, look at it this way. He seems like he’s got that quiet vibe going for him. So does Sean, and we know how well he fits in.”
Of course, it also helped that Sean had a sister like Savannah so he was used to loved ones with strong personalities.
“If he is afraid of you very long after meeting you then that means something is wrong or he's hiding something.”
The being used to not being normal had also left her with a hefty dose of suspicion towards anyone who seemed normal -- although she had never felt as strongly for anyone normal before.
“Yeah, Sean does fit in really well. And he did show the right amount of abject terror when I described what I would do to him if he ever hurt Alex.” Maria grinned. “But, he has made Alex really happy and I will never be able to thank him enough for that.”
“Sean’s just a good guy like that.” Johanna knew that was a constant, because she’d known him the first time he was in town. The differences between that time and this one had been kind of strange at first, and yet? Not all that strange. Just kind of an adjustment, at least for some of the people he’d known.
“So I think Ben’s gonna do just fine. If he doesn’t, you’ve got plenty of people who know how to hide a body.”
Absolutely not kidding on that, mostly because Maria did indeed know more of those people than she probably should. Not that Johanna thought that particular skill was going to be needed.
Maria gave Johanna a small, but thankful smile. “I thank whatever spirits that watch over us that led us to meet and become best friends, Johanna. I love Alex, and he will always be my dearest friend, but someone obviously knew I needed you when they brought me here both times.”
She kicked her shoes off and folded her legs up beside her on the couch. She swirled the wine in her glass with a thoughtful look on her face.
“So at what part in the dating thing do you tell the person you're interested in that you are part alien and your psychic powers are actually real?”
Johanna frowned thoughtfully. “Okay, normally I’d say wait until you were sure there was at least the potential for deeper feels there, but you’re already at that point. And you two have had a first date already. So… I think it comes down to whether or not you feel comfortable telling him now. If not, decide how long you might be willing to wait – but don’t wait forever. Yes, you have to protect yourself, but you don’t want to end up missing out on a good thing.”
Johanna and relationship advice didn’t generally go in the same sentence very often, Johanna and good relationship advice even less often. But it was surprisingly wise, from someone with her admittedly shaky, limited relationship experience.
“You’re the only one who can make the decision for you,” she continued. “I know it’s scary, but you know I’m here for you however it plays out.”
***
Maria nodded, looking down into her glass for a long moment. She sighed and looked back up at her friend. “I really hope he’s not the kind of guy to run for the hills due to something like that. He’s the first guy that I have cared for in a long time that didn’t come with a whole luggage depot of baggage to cart around.”
Look, she loved Michael, but she was also very honest. He was not always easy to deal with and there was a lot that someone would have to get past or deal with when they were with him.
“I know you are and I really appreciate that.” She reached for a plate and put a few pieces of pizza on it. “For now, we have pizza to eat some of before we’re too drunk to care that it’s cold.”
Because she knew that was going to happen and she was ok with that. Sometimes you just needed a drunken night with your friends.
[[OOC: Wrap!]]