AN: As always thanks for all the comments and favorites. Ive been very happily surprised by how much people have liked this story. It makes me very happy. Hope you enjoy this one, the story starts to really take off with this chapter.
Jane came out of the bathroom fastening her watch "Come on Maur, dinner starts in twenty minutes." She called over her shoulder to the blonde at the vanity.
"I'm ready." Maura called back gently as she stood up and set her mascara down. "I just need to put my shoes on, and we can go. That dress looks great on you by the way." she told Jane as she passed by her to reach for her heels.
"Yeah?" She asked looking in the body length mirror. "It's not too much for the first night's dinner?" she checked feeling slightly overdressed "I shouldn't wear the pants and that jacket?"
"No, i think those are more of a day time look than this." Maura answered as she reached out to smooth the dress down Jane's back, her hand traveling around the land on her hip "You look amazing. I promise."
"Okay okay" Jane smiled almost shy as she playfully swatted Maura's hand away. "No need to hit on me over it." she teased lightly stepping into her own heels.
"Oh, but we'd be a beautiful couple." Maura pointed out with a grin and a playful wink.
"Yeah yeah keep dreaming Isles." Jane chuckled moving towards the door, holding it open for the blonde and leading her out with a hand to her lower back.
Considering Maura checked in for the conference when they arrived at the hotel, they were able to skip the large line at the tables outside of the ballroom and head straight in.
Once they found their assigned table, Maura was pleased to see they were seated with a number of Pathologists and Medical Examiners from New England and some members of Maura's own Bullet and Blast group. Maura greeted a few people that she knew while Jane spotted the open bar. "I'm gonna go get drinks." She explained with a hand on Maura's hip to get her attention. Maura just nodded and continued on with her conversation.
The line for drinks wasn't too bad yet considering it was an open bar, Jane attributed that luck to the check in line outside. Stepping up to the bar top when it was her turn she ordered a beer for herself and a red wine for Maura. She knew that depending on dinner Maura might switch to a white, but for now it seemed like the safest bet. As soon as she turned to head back to the table her eyes scanned the crowd for Maura.
"Oh shit." she muttered to herself when she saw the last person either of them wanted to see heading right for Maura.
Hurrying back she watched as the taller man reached out to greet Maura with a kiss to her hand. Maura looked immediately uncomfortable and stiffened up as she searched the area around her looking for rescue. Jane knew what she had to do as she approached.
"Here you go sweetie" Jane announced her presence from behind Maura handing her her glass then reaching out to wrap an arm around the blonde's waist, her free hand resting on Maura's hip.
Maura looked down at the hand on her hip confused for a moment before catching on and leaning into Jane just a bit "Thank god, I was starting to wonder where you'd gotten too." Maura smiled brightly at Jane. "You remember Dr. Pike" she said her voice dripping with a disdain that only Jane recognized.
"Of course." Jane nodded at him, meeting his eye with a hardened stare.
"Oh, Detective Rizzoli, I didn't think you'd be here for this." His voice fluctuated just a bit with shock and maybe nerves as he greeted Jane.
"Well, I had so much vacation time saved up that I let Maura talk me into a Vegas get away for a week. I really couldn't say no once she asked with that look." She explained with smile and a glace at Maura causing the few people around them that Maura had been talking to chuckle along with them.
"Yeah, well it's so hard to get you to take time off." Maura defended as she smiled back at Jane. "Jane you remember Dr. Higgins. He was in Boston a few years back for my Bullets and Blast Conference." Maura reminded her
"Of course I do, How are you doing?" Jane asked removing her arm from around Maura to shake his hand. As soon as she noticed Pike step away she moved a little further away from Maura.
"Billy, please" He greeted her with the handshake "I always thought you two would be great together" Dr. Higgins grinned motioning between the two of them.
"Oh no…" Maura corrected with a shake of her head.
"That's just something we do when there's unwanted advances around" Jane explained easily while Maura nodded along "It works like a charm every time." she told him with a proud smile.
Dr. Higgins chuckled but looked unsure of whether he believed this explanation or not. He looked to the rest of their companions to see that their faces seemed to match his. "You've done this before?" He questioned.
"Yes" Maura nodded matter of factly "At least three times" she offered up easily while Jane rolled her eyes. They didn't need the details.
"Well that's hilarious!" he laughed as the others followed along. "So Detective what brings you out here then if it's not a lovers vacation?" He wondered.
"Just Jane, please. Just a normal friend trip." Jane explained "I was in her office when a reminder popped up to finalize travel plans and once I realized it was in Vegas I knew I had to get in on this" she joked.
"Jane and I work together in Boston" Maura explained to the remaining people around them "She's a homicide detective, the best one I've ever worked with. And since we work so closely and she's so good at the medical side of things we talk about day to day, I convinced her that she'd enjoy some of the lectures we have scheduled along with a few of the panels and if she didn't want to hang around, well the pools are available," The others nodded along with the explanation and Dr. Higgins began to tell them the story of when he worked with them in Boston confirming for the group that Jane did in fact know more of her stuff than anyone he'd ever worked with in law enforcement.
"These two riff off each other like you wouldn't believe." he explained excitedly "They have like a short hand, and a connection that can't be rivaled, It's like they can read each other's minds when it comes to the cases they are on."
"Well yeah as long as Maura here speaks English and doesn't get too technical on me" Jane pointed her beer at her friend with a smile "When she gets excited it's nothing but scientific mumbo jumbo." Jane complained playfully.
"But Jane keeps up with it most of it most of the time, no problem" Maura announced proudly. Jane was just about to add a snippy retort when she felt Maura press up against her and loop her arm around her back. She looked over to see Pike rejoining the group and she understood. She leaned her chin against the side of Maura's head for a moment before answering someone's question directed at her.
Higgins and a few of the other doctors watched the way the two interacted with each other and how comfortable they seemed to be together and how easily they turned on the 'couple' mode. He and a few others looked around to each other to see if anyone else believed the story they were telling them.
Within the next few minutes there was an announcement that dinner would be served soon so everyone moved to take their seats. Jane pulled Maura's chair out with such ease, Higgins could tell it wasn't part of the act, but a normal occurrence between them.
Maura was just about to sit, when she reached out and put a hand on Jane's wrist. Jane looked up at the touch and saw that Maura's seat was directly next to Pike's. Her shoulders dropped in defeat for a moment before she looked over to Maura with a smile. "You know babe, there is a bit of a draft here and you are always cold. Why don't you sit here?" She asked pulling out the other chair for Maura.
"Thank you." Maura whispered before placing a kiss on her cheek. Jane looked at her with wide eyes before moving to sit next to her while Maura chuckled at her reaction.
"Oh good we are seated together Detective Rizzoli." Pike smiled looking almost as excited about this development as she was.
"Yay" she replied in a sarcastic tone that made Billy on his other side snort then cough to hide a laugh..
All through dinner Maura and Jane remained close to keep up pretenses. A hand on a thigh, leaning into each other and sharing small smiles as the dinner went on. Jane would reach over and snag something off Maura's plate with a laugh at the blonde's annoyance. "Can you please keep your hands to yourself" Maura chastised.
"That's not what you said earlier." Jane shot back with a smirk that only grew when she watched a blush creep up Maura's neck and face.
Mid way through dessert Pike excused himself to go to the restroom and Jane and Maura pulled away from each other almost as naturally as they stuck together under his watchful eye.
"You guys are scary good at that" One women commented and Jane shrugged.
"He doesn't really take no for an answer, We've tried" Maura explained "And he's scared of Jane so it works out quite well for me."
"I'm sure Jane would have no troubles dropping him if she had to" Higgins laughed.
"Oh, I would love it." Jane answered with a grin and they all laughed.
Once dinner was done Dr. Higgins looked up and asked the table at large "What's everyone getting up to tonight?"
"I think I'll head back to the room-" Maura started and Jane gasped.
"What no!" She looked outraged. "We are going out Maura Isles. There will be gambling and drinking and other debauchery" She insisted. When Maura looked like she was going to complain Jane continued "Your first lecture isn't until 1pm tomorrow, you have no reason to go to bed early."
"I-okay fine." Maura conceded "Whatever you want to do. I did drag you out here with me, and you did so valiantly defend me against a night of misery. "
"Yes!" Jane cheered an arm raised in victory. She turned to the rest of the group "We need fifteen minutes to change then we can meet you in the lobby?" she asked then turned to Maura and could see the unspoken question on her face.
"We are not going out on the strip in dinner clothes. Jeans and t-shirts'' she explained the dress code while Maura looked unsure. "I know it's concerning to you… but it will be worth it I promise. When it's 3 am, you don't want to worry about your skirt blowing up, or breaking a heel" she explained.
"Fine" Maura agreed easily "We will meet you in fifteen minutes" she reiterated Jane's previous statement causing Dr Higgins and the other three who'd hung around to join their outing, to laugh.
"This will be fun come on." Jane promised Maura leading her back over to the elevators to their room.
"I don't have jeans." Maura announced looking into the closet she'd unpacked all of her things in.
Jane came out of the bathroom fixing her ponytail having already changed into her jeans and Red Sox shirt. "What do you mean you don't have jeans? What did you bring for casual wear?" she asked knowing Maura would have accounted for every situation. "You said we were going to stay an extra day or two, so what did you plan to wear then?" she asked standing next to Maura.
"Well, I assumed I would get some things cleaned that I wore during the conference, and go with that." she explained easily and Jane rolled her eyes.
"Move." she demanded and bumped Maura out of the way with her hip. She looked into the closet and was annoyed to see Maura didn't actually have any casual clothes. "You are so odd." she commented as she started looking around at the clothes hanging in front of her making Maura fidget a bit as she touched and moved different things.
"Here" Jane handed Maura a pair of black pixie pants then continued on her journey to find the best casual outfit. "and this." she added handing Maura a light button up shirt. "But untucked and with the top two buttons or so undone, also roll the sleeves up to your elbows. You're not a trial lawyer there's no need to dress so stuffy." she explained as she shooed Maura off to go change.
"I do not dress stuffy!" Maura complained as she took the two hangers from Jane and moved into the bathroom while Jane looked at Maura's shoe selection and picked some black flats and left them out for her.
"Put your hair up," Jane called into the bathroom "We don't need you getting upset if your hair goes flat or frizzy or whatever. Hey you look like a normal person!" she complimented with a smile as Maura came out of the bathroom.
After seeing the look on her face she explained "I just mean, you always look like you try so hard, which you do obviously. And you always look amazing. But it's always so much. You still look great, you just look comfortable."
Maura nodded, she knew what Jane was saying. "Am I wearing these shoes?" She asked, noticing they were out. "This is really more of a morning, day time shoe" She complained.
"Oh my god, Maura. it's casual. You don't need a night time shoe or anything specific. Its Vegas, most people are drunk, or high and just looking for a good time. There is no one looking at what you are wearing right now. You would look crazy if you dressed too nicely. This is perfect for going out on The Strip. Now, grab that sweater you wear with your blue dress, because even if its not cold you will get chilly." Jane insisted as she headed for the door and held it for Maura.
Maura just passed her going into the hallway with a smile on her face. "As much effort as I put into looking nice, you put into looking casual" Maura pointed out as they headed down the hall towards the elevator.
"I don't." Jane answered easily with a shake of her head "I just throw on any shirt with jeans. As for you, I know how much you try to do with everything, so I have to stop you from fancy-ing things up too much."
When they got down to the lobby they were the last ones to meet the group of four others. "Sorry," Jane called to the group "I moved her along as quickly as I could and made her tone down the formal attire."
"Y'all both look great, now lets hit the tables" Higgins yelled with a grin.
"Lets do it!" Jane grinned and she grabbed Maura's hand to drag her along.
They managed to find a cheap blackjack table with seats for everyone as the waitress came around and asked for drinks orders.
"Yeah, I'm gonna have a Blue Moon" Jane requested and turned to Maura
"What Reds do you have?" She asked and Jane shook her head at her friend.
"Maur, I think its just the one option, red or white." Jane supplied. "She'll take a red please" she ordered and the waitress nodded as she jotted the order down and moved to the next table.
"Okay, Blackjack" Jane announced to Maura, "The goal of this game is to beat the dealer. Either by getting 21, a better hand, or letting the dealer bust" She explained as she pulled $50 out of her pocket and watched as Maura placed a $100 down.
"I do know that" Maura promised her "I've read about it, I know the odds I've just never played" she reminded her.
"Okay then lets do it" Jane grinned and showed Maura how to place her bet and what to do with the cards.
As it turned out Maura was a natural even if it was a little bit dry instead of fun to start with. Jane however found out that having someone run the odds out loud in real time made it a lot easier to win regularly. They were all winning within thirty minutes of playing which only led to more drinking and louder laughs. Maura was actually enjoying herself a lot more than she thought she would in the group setting and didn't feel awkward at all with everyone.
Nearly two hours and several drinks later, their dealer was going home for the night and the group decided it was a good time to leave this table and go play another game.
"I didn't realize gambling with you would be so profitable. Had I equated your Rain Man tendencies to money making before this, we'd have spent a lot more time in Atlantic City." Jane teased bumping her shoulder against Maura's "You good?" she checked lowly between them as they lagged a bit behind the group.
"Yeah" Maura nodded with a smiled nudging Jane's shoulder back "I'm having a lot of fun." she admitted quietly.
"Good" Jane grinned at her, taking hold of her hand to make sure they didn't get separated as they headed through the casino to get to the strip
Later that night they stopped by a bar to pick up some drinks. Maura was really excited to get a three foot tall frozen margarita drink she'd seen someone carrying as they walked between casinos.
As they were waiting at the bar Jane noticed Maura pull in a little tighter to her, she looked over and noticed the guy on the edge of the group next to them getting a little too close to Maura. Their group was full of younger frat looking guys, that kept yelling and pushing each other around a bit. Jane smiled at her and wrapped an arm around her waist and pulled her in a little bit more so Maura had some more room between herself and the other group.
The group got louder and Maura got bumped into again. "Hey man, watch it" Jane snapped in that authoritative voice she uses with her perps.
One of the guys sort of looked over at her and shrugged as the rest laughed and joked about it. "Asshole" she rolled her eyes as she pulled Maura between her and the bar with an arm on either side of her. She angled her body to be between them and Maura.
"Thanks" Maura whisper with a smile and bumped her hip with Jane's slightly leaning back into her a bit so she could see her.
"Don't mention it." Jane winked playfully and wrapped the one arm around Maura's shoulder while reaching out for their drink that was being handed to them over the counter. "You know, it makes it way less badass that you wanted one of these when you're making me split it with you." she informed her as she lowered it off the counter and handed it to Maura.
Maura took a drink humming in appreciation "I guess that's true, but I have no intention of passing out drunk in the middle of a casino." She handed the drink to Jane to try. "Considering how much we've drank tonight already, it's best if we share for now to slow down the rate of alcohol entering our systems ."
"This is great!" Jane took another drink from the long straw sticking out of the huge cup. "Also if you can think that rationally, we aren't too drunk yet."
After thinking about what Maura said, Jane took a second to asses herself to see how drunk she actually was. After a quick self assessment she realized she had a good buzz going, but nothing too crazy. Looking over at Maura she noted a light blush creeping up her neck and cheeks but she seemed more than okay as well.
"You know as much as we drink together, I don't think I've ever seen you drunk" Jane told Maura as they took their drink back to meet the group who were still all going strong.
"I don't think I've ever really been seriously drunk. Not drunk enough to pass out or act any differently than normal" Maura commented after thinking it over for a moment. "I went to parties in college and drank there, but never over indulged too much. I'd say the most drunk I remember being was that year your mother made spiked eggnog at Christmas and we drank half of it before she told us how much liquor was actually in it"
"Oh yeah" Jane grinned remembering that night "That was fun, luckily we didn't have to get home after that, just drag ourselves upstairs before passing out."
"Exactly. If I remember correctly we did dance for a long time with TJ and Tommy before we realized we were drunk."
Jane laughed at that before pointing at Maura "We realized we were drunk because you tried to do the running man and almost fell on your face."
"I did not!" Maura objected pushing Jane's shoulder sending them both sort of stumbling away from each other.
"Woah there! You two okay?" Higgins asked seeing them walk over to the group.
"Yeah great" Jane answered with a chuckle "We were just remembering a Christmas my mother tried to give us alcohol poisoning."
"It was a fun night" Maura nodded happily as she moved her head to try and capture the straw of her drink between her lips. It took two attempts.
"So whats next?" Jane asked the group at large.
"I think the Bellagio fountain show is starting in a few minutes" One of the ladies with them mentioned.
"Oh yes! I have always wanted to see that, Jane lets do that" Maura requested as she patted Jane's shoulder.
"M'lady gets what m'lady wants, so I'm in." Jane joked as she reached for the drink from Maura "Except she needs to share her drink with me!"
Maura finally let it go as if she'd only just noticed Jane was trying to take it from her.
"I think we need shots before we go!" one of the others announced as they returned to the table with a tray of clear shots and some limes and salt.
"Oh!" Maura clapped excitedly "I haven't ever done a traditional shot with limes and salt, come on Jane."
"Okay fine." She agreed as if she had to be convinced. "Do you know what you're doing?" she asked the blonde who shook her head.
Jane took two shot glasses, two limes, and the salt shaker from the tray. "Hold out your hand" she requested and when Maura did Jane handed her one shot glass and then realized now neither one of them had a free hand. With a shrug she pulled Maura's hand along with the shot back towards her "Gimme this for a sec"
Jane leaned in and licked the area between Maura's thumb and index finger before shaking some salt on it. "Sorry I had to make it work" she explained her actions even though Maura didn't seem too bothered by them at all. The others however, had some raised eyebrows.
Jane did the same for her own hand and then held her shot up to give a little cheers to the rest of the group before turning to Maura "Lick the salt, take the shot, all in one gulp" she made sure to tell her "Then you suck the lime. Ready? One, two Three!"
They both licked the salt off their hands, did their shot then Jane handed Maura her lime wedge and chuckled as she watched her face crinkle up in displeasure, while sucking on her own lime.
"It takes some getting use to" she laughed at her friend.
"I've had tequila before" Maura took a drink of their margarita and lifted it to emphasize her point. "However I prefer it mixed into a drink and not just with salt licked off my hand."
"She shots are usually just a means to an end. They do get funner when you lick the salt off of someone else though" Jane said with a playful raised eyebrow as a joke.
"Why would you lick it off another person? That seems unsanitary" Maura made a face. "Also funner isn't a word Jane. It's 'more fun'"
Jane laughed at he . "Leave it to you to be the Grammar Police while drunk on the the Las Vegas Strip. Also body shots are usually just a reason to lick someone else. People will put the salt on someone else's neck or chest, or whatever, they even pour the shot into a belly button or place the glass between someones boobs" Jane explained and Maura seemed interested.
"Well that could be fun, but seems like a much more…private exchange" Maura tried to reason.
"I think when you're twenty one, you don't really care who you're licking and who's watching" Jane pointed out. "Usually at that age you just see a hot person and want to put your mouth on them."
"I can understand that" Maura nodded once taking a sip of her frozen drink.
"Yeah I'm sure you the Queen of testing for acceptable levels of bacteria in public places would be okay with just licking someone you don't know or having them lick you." Jane teased.
"You just licked me" Maura pointed out.
"Okay yes, but you know me. I clearly have an acceptable level of bacteria since you're sharing your drink with me Dr. Isles." Jane pointed out in a low voice. "Besides after all this time, whatever bacteria I have you have too Maur. Between shared drinks, deserts and whatever else I think our…bacteria systems are merged...or at least well acquainted."
"Huh" Maura thought that over for a moment "You're right. I never really thought of that. You and I share oral bacteria the same way any couple would." Maura concluded "However we would not share all bacteria in the exact same way a couple would, as we have not exchanged other bodily fluids the same way a couple would."
"Ew Maura" Jane distanced herself from Maura with a hand to the blonde's chest "Can we not talk about swapping bodily fluids. Also we wouldn't share bacteria exactly like a couple does, we've never made out" Jane took a sip from the straw before handing the drink back to Maura.
Maura just laughed and she leaned back into Jane. "This straw says otherwise" Maura pointed out with a wink as she caught the straw between her lips, maintaining eye contact as the colorful liquid moved up the straw.
Once everyone was ready Jane linked her fingers with Maura's as they headed out to the strip to see the fountain show. It was a weeknight and getting pretty late, so they were able to get a good spot to watch the show which started shortly after they got settled.
Jane noticed Maura shiver even after putting her sweater on "Come here" she told her draping an arm around Maura's shoulders and allowing her to cuddle up to her to keep warm.
"I think the frozen drink is making me cold." Maura explained close to Jane's ear.
Jane looked down at her and giggled "Its also making your lips blue" she told her with a grin, lifting a finger to tap said blue lips.
"Yours too." Maura told her leaning her head against Jane's shoulder and pulling her phone out. "Take a picture with me" She requested flipping to the front facing camera.
After they took a few selfies, Jane took the phone and turned them around. She took a step behind Maura and dropped her arm to around Maura's waist and hooked her chin over the blonde's shoulder. She took pictures of them with the fountains in the background and even took one of herself kissing Maura's cheek for good measure. "There, perfect" she announced as she handed Maura back her phone.
Maura looked over the pictures with a smile before returning her phone to her pocket. "We should take more pictures together, we're cute" she told Jane who remained behind her with her chin over Maura's shoulder after they returned to watching the show.
"Of course we are." she agreed with a grin, leaning in to kiss Maura's cheek again before leaning in further to drink from the cup in Maura's hands.
After the show they ran into a few other doctors from the conference that two of the people in their group knew and headed in for another drink. Jane tried to bow out of the shots that were getting passed around knowing she was getting a little too drunk and wanted to make sure she could still get the two of them back to the hotel safely.
"Come on Jaaane" Maura requested. "Let's do it together. We're having fun" she pointed out with a crooked grin.
"Alright, but last one Maur unless we wanna sleep on the street tonight."
She accepted the shot glass and just chuckled as Maura grabbed her hand and licked it before pouring salt on it for her "Thanks Maur" the sarcastic tone
"You got to lick me, I'm just returning the favor" Maura giggled.
After they took their shot Jane turned to Maura hoping to see her squished up disgusted face again. She could only grin when she got exactly what she wanted.
"You know, after a body shot usually the other person will hold the lime in their mouth for the drinker to suck on." Jane explained knowing Maura would enjoy that juicy tidbit.
"Why would you take the lime from someone else's mouth? That's just essentially - oh, I get it, it's like en erotic display"
Jane sighed "Okay you ruined that really quick"
"Quickly" Maura insisted with a giggle as Jane reached over and pinched her side for correcting her. "Ow!" She screeched and jerked to the side "That hurt." she complained, still grinning.
"It did not." Jane laughed but brought her hand up to rub Maura's ribs, to soothe the pain anyways.
"It did." Maura just nodded sipping her drink.
"You're so full of shit! You're gonna get hives Isles" Jane threatened with a laugh as she took their drink up to the counter to get the four dollar refill that came with it. She spent a few minutes talking to the bartender, laughing at some stupid joke he told her that she never would have found funny normally. But at that moment she found it hilarious.
She turned to make sure Maura was okay still, and noticed she looked annoyed that Jane was talking to the bartender.
"You good?" She checked, draping an arm around her shoulder.
Maura's tiny frown shifted to a smile as she leaned into Jane's embrace "I am now." she nodded and leaned into kiss Jane's cheek.
Jane was so caught off guard by that she missed the fact that the bartender told her he gave her an extra shot for free. He was clearly trying to flirt with her, but it was going unnoticed.. "Thanks " she muttered to him distractedly as she took the drink and handed it back to Maura "No more after this. Seriously, or one of us is going to end up dancing on a pole" she warned.
Maura's eyes immediately widened "Does that mean you'll take me to a strip club if I keep giving you alcohol?" She asked excitedly.
Jane laughed "No I'm just saying we'll be wasted if we drink anything else. We're too old to go this hard on night one. But if you really want to go to a strip club that bad-ly" she added catching Maura's eye wanting credit for using the adverb properly "We can go before we leave"
Maura jumped up and down excitedly then hugged Jane "it will be so much fun I promise!"
"I'll likely have to get even more drunk than I am now to think so. Even then I probably wont like it."
"I gotta pee." Maura announced abruptly making Jane snort a laugh at how quickly she changed the topic.
"Did you just say gotta and pee in the same sentence?" She questioned excitedly "Oh your fancy boarding school would be so disappointed in your poor grammar and vulgar language. But me, I've never been prouder " She told her with a grin."Let's go find a bathroom before you loose anymore of your giant vocabulary abilities"
Jane told the others they were going to the bathroom before she hooked her arm in Maura's and headed further into the casino. It took a little bit and a few wrong turns before they were lost.
"Where the fuck are we?" Jane questioned when they passed an escalator going down "How did we get upstairs?" She asked Maura who looked just as confused.
"I have no idea, but look there's the restroom. Hold this" she hurriedly gave Jane the huge drink and rushed off.
"What Maura no! I have to pee too!" She groaned when Maura disappeared. She waited a moment for Maura to return and she almost headed in with the margarita anyways. But she knew Maura would have a fit if she found out the drink had entered the bathroom. Jane was just about to leave it outside and go in when Maura came out "Took you long enough! Here I have to go too!" She said quickly handing off the cup and rushing into the bathroom.
Jane struggled just a bit once she was faced with undoing her pants, and she quickly realized why Maura took such a long time. They'd drunken quite a bit in a short amount of time and were now drunker than Jane had anticipated. Once she got herself all sorted out she took care of her business and washed her hands before going back out to meet Maura. When she came out the blonde was not where she left her. Jane was confused for a moment before she noticed Maura was about twenty yards away looking up at a directional sign.
"Look Jane they have a wedding chapel we should go see it!" Maura told her excitedly pointing up at the sign.
"Why would we want to see a wedding chapel?" Jane questioned.
"Jane!" Maura gasped and smacked her in the stomach with an arm that seemed to be out of her control "It's a Las Vegas wedding chapel! We have to! You wouldn't go to Paris and not see the Eiffel Tower, or London and not see Big Ben, or Italy and not see the ... the " she trailed off and leaned to the side trying to figure out the name of the thing she was about to say. She leaned so far she nearly toppled over. Jane reached out to grab her just in time to keep her on her feet.
"Leaning tower of pizza" Jane supplied with a chuckle
"Pisa not pizza" Maura corrected as she wrapped an arm around Jane. "Though I think you'd like it more If it was pizza" Maura joked. Jane didn't think it was that funny but Maura did and was still laughing a full two minutes later.
"Okay, Maura lets go see it before you wet yourself out here"
"See what?" Maura asked looking around making Jane laugh.
"The chapel, honey"
"What chapel?"
"The one you wanted to see!"
"Oh yes! Let's go see it!" Maura nodded excitedly and took Jane's hand before pulling her off in the direction the sign said. "Wait!" Maura called out stopping so quickly that Jane ran into her back.
Jane had to reach out and to grab both of Maura's hips to keep them upright "What?!" She asked confused as to why they stopped.
"I think I read the sign backwards it's the other way!" Maura pointed back the way they came and headed off again pulling Jane along behind her in the other direction.
"How do you read sign backwards?" Jane asked with a laugh like it was the funniest thing she's ever heard.
"My neurotransmitters are delayed in communicating with my brain due to… due to heavy alcohol consumption" Maura tried to explain rationally "It took a moment for me to actually realize the sign was pointing that way"
"Which way?" Jane asked
"The other way"
"Why are we going this way if the sign was pointing the other way?" Jane asked growing more confused by the moment.
"No, no its pointing this way now" Maura explained "It was pointing the other way when we were going the wrong way"
"It changed?" Jane asked clearly frustrated.
"No I don't think so." Maura answered having no clue what the conversation they were having was any more. She kept going in the direction they were heading and pulled Jane along with her hugging Jane's arm tightly to her chest. "Look there it is!" She pointed out excitedly.
"Here what is?" Jane was both lost and confused as she looked around.
"We're here, lets go in. Come on" Maura said running her hand down Jane's arm and latching their fingers together before she pulled her through the door. "I wonder if they have a gift shop" she thought aloud as the door closed behind them.