On a scale of one to ten in terms of worst case scenario type situations, Stanley would place his current predicament at around six or seven. Stupid memes aside, his mother showing up out of the blue while he was with Ezraphel wasn't that bad, in fact it could be much worse. Unfortunately he would only come to this realization after he finished panicking.
"M-Mom! What uh, wh-what are you doing here?"
As he said this he stepped in front of her, as if doing this would somehow stop her from seeing Ezraphel who was literally over a whole foot taller than either of them.
"I came to help you clear out some of Collin's old things."
"Why?"
She raised an eyebrow at his question "so I need a reason to see my own son now?"
Stanley flinched, feeling himself shrink a little under her gaze "n-no but I-ahem" he sputtered initially before quickly composing himself, after which he continued in a calm manner "I would appreciate an explanation since you didn't bother telling me you were coming."
At his immediate recovery and composed response Dana's expression softened and she explained "I don't have anything going on right now and this place is nearby so when you mentioned that you were going to come here today I thought I would help you."
He didn't quite seem to believe her explanation if the suspicious expression he sported was any indication. She didn't mind that because there was an ulterior motive.
"Now then, I think it's time you introduce me to your girlfriend Stanley."
And there was that familiar anxiousness she remembered, though he did a better job of hiding it now than he did back when he was younger.
"Right," he cleared his throat and stepped aside while gesturing to the woman " you already know but this is my girlfriend, Ezraphel. Ez, this is my mom, Dana."
Ezraphel stepped forward and Dana had to crane her neck just to look her in the eye. She tried not to let the astonishment show as she was faced with a shockingly tall, incredibly beautiful and overtly voluptuous young woman. She had already been given a description from Natalie but the reality of Ezraphel's appearance blew whatever expectations she had out of the water.
Still, while her appearance gave the older woman pause, her instincts as a mother made her analyze the woman before her and silently pass judgement. Or she would have if said woman hadn't suddenly swept her into a hug in a way that somehow avoided Dana's head slipping into her cleavage.
"It's so nice to finally meet you!" The blonde disengaged and gave her a bright smile that was all white teeth reminiscent of those found in advertisements for toothpaste.
"A-ah," Dana sputtered, having been caught off guard by the sudden show of affection "and to you as well."
"It is very convenient that you came here now."
"It is?"
"Yes," the taller woman nodded, "Stanley was regaling me with stories of his past with his uncle."
"So I heard" Dana looked at her son with a raised brow.
"She was curious," Stanley answered with a shrug.
Dana merely hummed at his reply and said "I didn't see a Uhaul outside."
Inwardly Stanley cursed but outwardly he remained calm.
"Why would I rent a Uhaul when I have a perfectly spacious car?"
"I thought you said you wanted to clear things out as fast as possible."
"Change of plans, I want to get all of the valuable stuff out first then deal with the rest."
That wasn't even a lie, in fact none of what he said was so far.
"And by valuables you mean his collections?" She asked.
"Well, yeah." He said as if it were obvious.
The contents of the storage unit was the major talking point in their conversations over the last few days. Dana was all too happy to share some of the things expected to be found in the unit as her brother was something of a collector, a hobby that seemed to run in the Berkowitz family.
"Did you at least bring gloves?"
Her question caught him off guard and for a moment he was left stumped "uh…"
"What about masks?"
He winced.
"...hand sanitizer and wipes?" She tried.
"..."
His silence made her shake her head in disappointment,"were you really planning to handle all these dusty boxes without protection and a way to clean yourself afterwards, Stanley?" She didn't wait for an answer before continuing "don't answer that, I can see your hands."
Stanley looked down at his hands to see that they were indeed smeared with some dust. Before he could reflexively wipe them off on his pants Dana went into her purse to pull out a whole pack of rubber gloves, a box of N95 masks, a pack of baby wipes and a bottle of hand sanitizer. Stanley was almost sheepish when he accepted the wipes.
"I don't suppose you brought bags to put the things you aren't keeping in" she asked fully expecting that he didn't only to be surprised when Ezraphel piped up.
"Oh, we have that covered!" Ezraphel said while holding up an unopened roll of garbage bags.
Dana was once again reminded of her presence and nodded at the girl.
"Well, I'm glad at least one of you made a token effort to actually come prepared."
Dana handed Ezraphel a pair of gloves and a mask. Her hands were clean but she used the hand sanitizer anyway. After putting the gloves and masks on the trio began to sift through the contents of the storage unit.
As they uncovered things Dana provided expositions and anecdotes about some of them. Stanley found himself hanging onto his mother's words which surprised him since he didn't think he was that interested in his late uncle's life. Then again it could just as easily be because it was his mother telling stories about her past, something he can't remember her doing much growing up.
'Gee, I wonder why that sounds so familiar?'
Even more surprising than his own interest was Ezraphel's. Sure, he knew that she had an interest in his family situation given how important family was to her but it was still strange to see her so engaged with his mother's stories. She didn't try to hide it through their bond either and with how invested she was one would think Collin was her deceased uncle and Dana was her mother.
Stanley hoped Ezraphel would have had an easy time getting his mother's approval because she was so likeable but that was naive thinking. Ezraphel's genuine interest combined with her overall bubbly personality, charm and expert social skills seem to have the opposite effect on his mother. The problem with Ezraphel's usual approach was that Dana Berkowitz suffered from the same idiosyncrasies as her son where she can be guided by her instincts into being irrationally stubborn about a thought or opinion.
In this case she was convinced that Ezraphel was someone suspicious. He knew this to be the case because he was actively trying to read her emotions, not to mention he recognized her mannerisms from back in the day under similar circumstances.
As for why she thought like this, Stanley could only assume it to be a combination of parental instincts and her own inherent habit to scrutinize people. It certainly didn't help that Ezraphel's stunning looks and quirky personality coupled with his drastic change in appearance that she was largely responsible for, was admittedly a red flag.
If Stan himself found his situation suspect as hell then he imagined that his mother, who got her information secondhand (from Natalie), would find it downright surreal.
Now Stanley didn't think his mother was so unreasonable that she thought Ezraphel had malicious intentions towards him. He would like to believe that he and Natalie pleaded a good enough case on Ezraphel's behalf but he wouldn't hold his breath. Getting her to change her opinion was going to be an uphill battle regardless.
The worst part was that he didn't even know where to start on trying to convince her now after his and Natalie's words failed but one thing he knew for sure was that he couldn't go with the usual hands off approach while hoping that Ezraphel will come up with a solution.
As much as he had confidence in her ability to charm her way into the hearts of anyone through pure charisma of the non supernatural variety, this was his mother they were talking about. If stubbornness was an inherited trait then he got it from her and Dana Berkowitz can be a real Karen if pushed.
It wouldn't sit right with him leaving Ezraphel alone in this situation. At the same time, for as much as he wanted to help, he knew he ran the risk of things blowing up in his face. If he kept running defense for Ezraphel his mother might think he was too 'compromised' to be taken seriously. And that ran the risk of alienating her and halting the progress of their mending relationship.
That can't be allowed to happen, he did not make the effort to reach out and get her back in his life just for her to be at arms length because she was being too stubborn for her own good. And yes, Stanley could see the parallels between how his mother was acting with Ezraphel and his own behavior both past and present. He wasn't being hypocritical expressing his displeasure about this because contrary to popular belief hedid not like acting that way himself.
You think he liked being unable to completely trust his literal soul mate because she did something stupid? Fuck no! It suckedballs but that's just how he was and that's why he knew there might be a chance that his mother would never truly accept Ezraphel completely.
The worse part was that she wasn't being malicious towards Ezraphel but was merely concerned for him. And to be fair she wasn't exactly wrong to be worried about him nor did he think she was incorrect for being suspicious of Ezraphel. He would've felt and acted the exact same if she or Natalie got together with some random seemingly perfect himbo dude even if he was genuinely a nice person who changed the trajectory of their lives for the better.
When something seems too good to be true it usually isn't.
As for Ezraphel, there was no chance she didn't understand what was happening and to a greater degree than him. And just as she didn't give up with him she was not about to be deterred by his mother's scrutiny. It wouldn't matter if it took the rest of the older woman's life, Ezraphel will continue trying to get her approval.
The good thing about sharing a magical psychic connection was that you could coordinate without so much as a word spoken, which was exactly what the couple did. Between this and Dana being made to tell stories of her past, the couple were able to gradually whittle down the older woman's defenses.
And just like that hours passed before Stanley called for a break, or rather he made his mother take a break much to her disgruntlement.
"Stanley, I'm not that old," Dana complained.
"I never mentioned your age mom," he replied patiently. "I just suggested you should take a break."
"I can still keep going."
It was hard to take her words seriously when he could literally see her fatigue in the way she moved. It's times like this that he was reminded of his nature as a superhuman. He could casually lift several times his body weight and could literally work the entire day without issue.
But Dana wasn't going to be taken out so easily. It was impressive she lasted this long, he supposed it came with the territory of being a housewife of twenty plus years who was used to taking care of a suburban home with three kids.
Maybe that's where this sudden burst of pride came from. She was so used to taking care of him that having the script flipped on her on just their second meeting after so many years apart was
Stanley wasn't backing down though so they found themselves at an impasse. Luckily just as the mother and son standoff was occurring the metaphorical Calvary arrived in the form of Ezraphel carrying two foldable chairs and a covered picnic basket.
"I'm back~" Ezraphel announced as she started setting everything up in the relatively narrow walkway.
She did not get those from the car but good luck trying to prove it.
"Thanks Ez" he took one of the chairs and laid it out before glancing at his mother "sit down…please" he added.
It was clear that Dana wasn't too happy about it but seeing the expression on her son's face she acquiesced and sat down.
"Fine, but only for a few minutes."
"Thank you" he said while watching some of the tension leave her.
"In the meantime, why don't you help yourself to some iced tea and sandwiches." Ezraphel suggested as she opened the basket to take out a thermos and wrapped sandwiches.
"I don't think you're allowed to eat in here" Dana frowned.
"Who's going to know?" Ezraphel asked in a conspiring tone as she poured a cup of ice tea and held it out to her.
Stanley did not look in the direction of the camera that they were in full view of nor did he acknowledge the subtle weaving of magic he could sense around it.
Seeing his mother reluctantly take the offered cup of ice tea and wrapped sandwich Stanley did the same though he took three sandwiches. He took a seat on one of the storage bins while Ezraphel took the other chair next to Dana's.
"Did you make these?" Dana asked Ezraphel after taking a bite of her warm sandwich.
"Yes, ma'am" she answered "how is it?"
She took a small bite then paused with widened eyes before they settled and after swallowing she gave her verdict.
"Not bad."
Stanley rolled his eyes and adult into his snack with measured gusto. While Stanley enjoyed himself in silence Ezraphel managed to strike up a small conversation with Dana about food preparation, specifically the ones they were enjoying.
'Finally' thought the Incubus as he felt his mother's got engaged in the conversation.
After finishing his meal Stanley pushed off his makeshift seat and dumped the trash in a garbage bag half filled with useless crap from the storage unit.
"I'm getting back to it" he informed before donning his gloves and mask.
The two ladies watched him re enter the storage unit with varying thoughts. For Ezraphel this would be the first time he left her alone with his mother without his supervision, showing that he was placing a great amount of trust in her. Considering recent events, that was huge progress!
She would not mess this up!
Meanwhile Dana saw the opportunity being left alone with Ezraphel. After several hours with the woman she could say that Ezraphel didn't seem to be a bad person yet there was something about her that tickled her instincts and she had yet to find out why.
Because outside of her suspicions of Ezraphel Dana found that things were actually going well. Coming here wasn't exactly an easy decision, there was a reason why she never bothered coming back to this place after her initial business was finished.
Collin's death hit her particularly hard when it happened and that pain never went away. She thought she was finished grieving her brother's death but just wrapping up the Storage unit key in that present was enough to open that old wound.
As such this visit was as much a type of closure for her as it was a surprise visit for her son. Stanley being present helped and contrary to her expectations Ezraphel's presence was also helping to ease the pain. Her seemingly genuine interest made recalling her past easier to bear.
Having to navigate these feelings ultimately kept her from getting a proper measure of Ezraphel. She was hoping interacting with the other woman without Stanley's presence would help her come to a decision.
Meanwhile with Stanley in the storage unit, by this point they had checked and assessed most of the contents so far and placed everything into categories based on what they would do with them.
The ones that were both valuable and/or sentimental were either already moved to the car or set aside for the easiest access for when they would come back to collect it on another day.
The ones that were not of great or personal importance but had some value would be donated or sold.
The last category was designated as junk for useless items they can't do anything with except discard. Those too were set aside, some in trash bags, for another day as there just wasn't enough space in the car to fit.
Stanley was now at the very back of the storage unit where they seem to be finding more junk than anything else. Though it was more because they lost their value/functionality due to time and neglect than being inherent junk. There might be some value in some of them if they were restored or perhaps a niche market online since people will buy anything but he hasn't made a decision on how to proceed with that yet.
"Huh," was Stanley's response to seeing a few large storage bins stacked on top of each other in a corner.
Not the first time he's come across such a sight but all of them had a piece of tape stuck on them with words too faded to make out. He could tell they've been in the storage unit for a while based on their position and the accumulated dust and grime present.
'For all I know these might legitimately be the first things he put in here.'
Shrugging his shoulder he unlatched the cover of the closest bin and came face to face with the sight of stacks upon stacks of old boardgames and tabletop RPGs.
"Whoa" he couldn't help but whistle at some of the stuff.
Stanley wasn't much of a tabletop guy, he played a few of the classic boardgames back in the day but that's about it. Not that he wasn't open to getting into tabletop but that curiosity just never crystallized into a want.
'Might just have Ez portal these straight to my office.' He thought to himself.
Sure they were old, literally older than him, but he might just preserve them as legacy pieces or something.
'Might finally get started on that tabletop journey too.'
After putting the lid back on he lifted the bin with casual ease and set aside to open the one under it. Within the second one Stanley found metaphorical gold.
"Holy shit."
It was videogames, he found a lot of videogames and even a few consoles. Vintage stuff from the late 80s up to the 90s. He spied a Sega Genesis, SNES and Nintendo 64. And then there were the games: the first Sonic, Mortal Kombat, Mario, Zelda, The first Diablo, Duke Nukem, Quake, Doom, Golden Eye, the original Fallout, System Shock and a whole bunch of others.
"This is some OG gamer shit right here" Stanley muttered.
He didn't even own most of these games, well he didn't own the physical versions. He could have made the push to collect them and initially did only to realize that the retro videogame market was a fucking shitshow.
"Nope, not getting into that" he shook the ragebait thoughts from his mind. "Focus on the here and now Stan."
After taking a breath he took stock of his findings and came to a conclusion.
"This definitely does not belong to Uncle Collin" Stanley surmised.
Not because it couldn't but that the man would mention it. He knew Stanley was into videogames and he was the type of guy who bragged about his trading card collection. You could say it was just a hobby he grew out of but gaming in the 80s and 90s was expensive and his uncle and really the entire Berkowitz family weren't so well off that they could spend the kind of money to accumulate such a collection if it was just a hobby they indulged in casually.
No, this collection was attained by someone making a concerted effort to accumulate them.
'So the question is, who does this belong to?'
Or rather who did it belong to because he wasn't about to make a return. Once again he checked the tape with the faded words and shook his head.
"Guess it doesn't matter."
What matters was that he had more physical games for his collection and with Ezraphel's magic they would be in pristine condition too! He didn't know it but at some point Stanley sported a wide smile as he covered the bin and lifted it to gain access to the third and final one.
Feeling excited he opened the bin only to find nothing but what seemed to be personal items much to his disappointment.
"Oh" his shoulders slumped in disappointment before he clicked his tongue "damn." He then shrugged "meh, two outta three ain't bad."
With that he began going through the storage bin while figuring that the contents must belong to the same mystery person as the other two storage bins. Eventually he found an old photo album and opened the first page and stared at the content unblinkingly.
"..."
'...'
{…}
[...]
…
Meanwhile Ezraphel was suddenly hit with what was by far the most potent emotional response from Stanley ever. Her breath hitched and her mind swam from the feedback before her gaze snapped in his direction.
"Ezraphel?" Dana called out with some concern as she noticed the woman's sudden change.
"Excuse me for a moment." The disguised Lilim stood abruptly and quickly made her way to Stanley's location.
She found him kneeling over a storage bin with a photo album in hand. He mechanically turned a page as his eyes slowly roamed over its contents.
"Stanley?"
The man paused and the roiling emotions emanating from him transformed into a sudden calmness that felt downright eerie.
"Hey Ez, what's up?" He feigned casualness.
"...I sensed a disturbance," she replied.
"Yeah, that makes sense."
Just then Dana showed up, moving past Ezraphel to look at her son "Stanley, what is-" The older woman froze as she stared at the contents of the storage bin "is that…?"
"Yep" Stanley said casually yet carefully as he stood up "looks like Uncle Collin was keeping some of Lana's stuff."
"Oh…" she replied and an awkward silence ensued as she did not know how to proceed.
Luckily Ezraphel was much too curious about this new development and concerned for Stanley's well being to let this awkward silence continue
"Who is Lana?" Ezraphel asked after the silence started to stretch.
In response mother and son shared a glance, both looked unsure yet it was Stanley whose expression became resolute and he gave her the open photo album. Ezraphel's eyes were immediately drawn to a singular Polaroid photograph. In it three people were standing at what looked like a fair of some kind. A younger Collin had his arms over the shoulders of two shorter women, one of whom was clearly a younger Dana. The other woman in the photo looked completely identical to Dana.
Ezraphel's eyes widened as she looked at the other woman. Seeing this picture as well as the expression on Stanley's face Dana released a quiet breath and spoke.
"Lana Berkowitz is my twin sister" Dana informed in a measured tone that Ezraphel sensed was packed with many heavy emotions.
Ezraphel's eyebrows jumped as she looked back at the photograph.
But Dana wasn't finished yet.
"She is also Stanley's biological mother."
Ezraphel's head jolted up at the news to give Dana a wide eyed stare.
'WHAT!?'
-To Be Continued-