"Jane, come on, it's your turn!" Maura leaned back slightly on her bar stool, smiling brightly at the detective.
"Oh, no. No, no, no. That is so not happening," Jane shook her head vehemently. "You wanted to come to a karaoke bar, sure, yeah, fine. But we definitely did not agree on me having to contribute to the mounting levels of embarrassment."
Maura shot her a playful glare, "What else did you plan on doing here? It's a karaoke bar, I would have thought a great detective such as yourself would be able to figure out why you were being taken here."
Jane's mouth dropped open, "Maur, did you just make a joke?"
The grin froze on Maura's face. "Only if it was funny..." she trailed off, uncertain. Jane laughed and slapped her lightly on the shoulder.
"It was good; you're getting better." Jane smirked.
"Excellent, so you'll go up then?" Maura asked, attempting a sly bargain. Jane nearly spit out her gulp of beer.
"No!" Jane exclaimed adamantly.
"What if we trade?" Maura offered, uncrossing and recrossing her legs while staring at Jane.
"What are we trading?" she asked, intrigued.
"You've always wanted to get me drunk... if you sing a song, you can take me either to your apartment or my house and get me absolutely-" she paused, trying to think of the appropriate word, "-sloshed?"
Jane's face lit up at the suggestion. "You're on, Doc." She hopped up from her stool and strolled to the bar quickly, getting two shots, and walking back to their table. "Cheers, Maur," she said and in unison they tossed back the liquor. Maura made a face that made Jane chuckle. "You won't have to have whiskey for the rest of the night. It's just tradition that the first hard shot has to be whiskey. And you didn't even have hardcore whiskey. I got you one that was mixed with honey." Jane laughed lightly.
"Oh. Thanks, Jane," Maura smiled brightly at being included in a tradition. "Now stop stalling and go!"
Jane held up her hands in mock surrender as she walked away to talk to the guy in charge of the karaoke machine. They chatted for a brief moment and Jane pointed to something on his screen before he gestured for her to wait by the make-shift platform stage which was currently occupied by a very drunk couple.
She took a brief moment to second-guess her song choice, to second-guess the huge choice she'd made tonight, but with a deep breath she steadied herself. This was a long time coming. She'd heard the evidence from others, thought she'd witnessed certain things herself; it seemed like an open and shut case.
No turning back, she assured herself and then the couple departed the stage. The guy by the computer gave her a nod and she jumped on stage, shyly lifting the microphone from the stand. In hindsight, this song might be a little too slow for the bar, but Jane talked herself into believing that no one was really paying attention to her anyway; no one knew her here, they'd be too absorbed in their own conversations. The music intro ticked by as she talked herself into going through with it.
"I've got a yearning to caress you. One thought keeps burning in my soul. A hungry yearning to possess you is far beyond my control. I want your love for now, forever. I want your heart and soul." She licked her lips unconsciously, letting her gaze flick over to Maura near the back. She couldn't decipher the look on the medical examiner's face and quickly steered her eyes elsewhere.
"My life I give to you, anema e core. I only live for you, anema e core." Now was the tricky part for Jane. "Forse sarrà ca 'o chianto è doce, forse sarrà ca bene fa. Quanno mme sento cchiù felice, nun è felicità. Specie si è vote tu mme dice, distratta, 'a verità."
Maura felt her jaw drop when Jane seamlessly transitioned into Italian. Aside from a few stray words, most of which were most likely curses, she'd never heard the detective speak a foreign language. And she'd most certainly never dreamed she could sing in Italian. Her low, husky voice was almost made for this song somehow. Maura knew both the English and Italian versions of the song, knew that the switch into Italian was entirely Jane. She felt herself getting a little warm under the collar and was well aware that it had less to do with the actual temperature and more to do with the bombshell on stage.
"Stu desiderio 'e te mme fa paura, campà cu te, sempre cu te, pe nun murì. Che ce dicimmo a fa parole amare, si 'o bbene pò campà cu nu respiro? Si smanie pure tu pe' christ'ammore, tenimmoce accussì, anema e core! Tenimmoce accussì, anema e core." Jane finished the song and only then did she feel confident enough to look straight at Maura. The doctor returned her unflinching stare.
Maura was vaguely aware of the applause surrounding her at Jane's performance, regardless of the fact that the detective hadn't really moved from her starting spot on the stage. It occurred to her all of a sudden, why they called it eye contact.
Jane mutely stepped down from the stage and navigated the maze of a crowd with ease to get back to their table.
"So..." Jane started, unsure of what to say next, wondering if Maura had in fact picked up on the subtext; a skill the medical examiner had been improving as of late.
Maura's very methodical and rational brain was working very hard at the moment. She evaluated the song choice and various behavioural patterns throughout their friendship.
Jane lightly shook her friend's shoulders. "Maur? You still with me?"
Making her final deductions, refusing to guess even now, she nodded and leaned in so that her mouth was right next to Jane's ear.
Jane could feel her breath against her lobe and promptly stopped breathing.
"Take me home, Jane. You can get me drunk tomorrow."
[Song used is Anema E Core. The actual song isn't half and half, but Jane made it that way, so there. Also, I am not fluent in Italian (sadly) so I got the lyrics off the internet. I cannot guarantee that they are correct/sensical/spelled right. If you happen to speak Italian and know the words are incorrect, please let me know.]