He saw his mother perk up "Ezraphel?"
Whoop there it is. He said it. Admittedly, it took a lot longer than he thought to get here because he genuinely thought he wouldn't have any meaningful things to talk about, but this conversation he knew to be inevitable. So here he was an hour after he arrived finally talking about his girlfriend.
"That is quite the name," his mother commented, "sounds exotic."
"Yeah, it's foreign. European, I think."
"It's Hebrew Stanley" his mother informed in a chiding tone "like Berkowitz."
He just about stopped himself from making a snarky comment that would earn him her ire.
"Right…so anyway, we met last year and..." he trailed off for a bit before adding "and we started dating."
*Gasp*
Stanley felt his eye twitch at the expression of disbelief, relief, and joy present on his mother's face.
"Stanley, you have a girlfriend!?"
He'd ask why she was so surprised but having just gone over the last six or so years of his life, which was now at the forefront of his mind, her reaction made a depressing amount of sense.
"Yeah mom, I have a girlfriend" he sighed.
"Tell me more."
Stanley swallowed.
This was the part he's been working on since he agreed to meet her. Clearly there were some holes in Ezraphel's background that needed to be ironed out. Frankly the whole idea of Ezraphel coming from a subculture of modern religious nonconformists and living in an ultraconservative community was ridiculous.
Other than a lack of modern credentials, an online footprint, an inclination towards traditionalist values pertaining to women in the household (that is more of a personal preference than a stringent belief), and a lack of knowledge on modern technology and culture (which she has since rectified through exposure to both), she didn't have anything in common with the 'Plain People' community.
The first and most obvious thing about Ezraphel is that there was literally nothing conservative about her. From the way she looked to the way she dresses, from her personality to her very presence everything about her was geared towards being loud, bombastic and generally getting as much attention as possible. She also didn't have any religious inclinations even in her old world. When the only thing separating your mother from genuine Godhood was a technicality you don't tend to get into religion.
So with all that said Stanley decided not to bring up her origins and instead focused on the relationship itself. Unlike what he thought about his life post independence, he actually had a lot to say about his relationship with Ezraphel. It helped very much that he rehearsed talking points since his retelling became an exercise in ways not to hint at Ezraphel being anything more than an incredibly beautiful, somewhat airheaded and very eccentric but otherwise loving individual with questionable taste in men.
Despite the parameters limiting him, Stanley still found a lot of safe things to talk about in regards to Ezraphel. He was surprisingly honest about the various aspects of their relationship. He told her about how she metaphorically (but not really) dropped in his life, how she was very persistent about pursuing a relationship with him much to his disappointment, how he made sure to in his own way vet her authenticity through being himself (an obnoxious asshole), and how she eventually won him over.
He then went on to very carefully explain how she changed him for the better. It started with her constant presence in his life making him aware of his overall hygiene which caused him to eventually maintain a certain level of personal cleanliness at all times. Then there was his sense of fashion which he incidentally developed as a result of Ezraphel picking out the clothes he wore on their dates. This level of control also extended to his diet as she was the one responsible for his daily meals.
It was at this point that his mother gained a look of worry and skepticism in her eye that she couldn't quite conceal from him. So her next comment or rather the sentiment behind it didn't exactly come as a surprise to him.
"She sounds like quite the woman if you're comfortable with letting her take control of your life like this."
"I know how it looks mom but she doesn't have any bad intentions. Trust me, I'd know."
She hummed at his words clearly not convinced and he couldn't even be mad at her for it. Even if he tried his best, certain aspects of his story didn't quite mesh well with the image of a healthy and earnest relationship.
His mother took another sip of boba through her straw before she replied, "I won't insult your intelligence by making assumptions Stanley. I will trust your judgment."
"Thanks, I guess."
What a political way of saying, "I don't like what I'm hearing, but since you've proven me wrong before, I'll believe that you have a handle on this relationship for the time being."
*Strike One*
'I guess I deserve that.'
His mother didn't spare enough time for an awkward silence and got straight into interrogating-er questioning him about Ezraphel.
"So, what does she do for a living?"
'Oof.'
"Ez doesn't ah...have a job," he said, then proceeded to sip his boba though his mind was anywhere but on the taste currently entering his mouth as his mother scrutinized him further.
"I see" was her reply, and it didn't take a genius in social interactions to see her disapproval.
*Strike Two*
"Do you have a picture?"
Of course he did, though he didn't take any of them. Once Ezraphel found out about the phone camera, and long after his lecture on not leaving any kind of digital footprint featuring her true form, she was more than happy to leave a few pictures on the phone for him. Once he moved the NSFW ones to his private server he kept the rest in a separate folder. The reason he even bothered to keep the pics wasn't necessarily because he was preemptively preparing for a situation where he needed to show proof he had a girlfriend but more that he felt it was only natural for him to have pictures of his girlfriend on his phone in the first place.
He hadn't even checked on the pictures in the months since they were taken until literally the day before. So when he gave her the phone it was with the confidence that they were good SFW pictures that showed off how photogenic his girlfriend was. So you could imagine his nervousness when, aside from the initial shock of seeing Ezraphel for the first time, the more his mother swiped to look at the other photos the more she seemed... not pleased.
Oh she tried to hide it; she really did, but now that he had his emotions under control, his Incubus powers of empathy started working again. Now he could clearly see and even feel her displeasure as well as the increasing worry. When she saw enough she handed the phone back to him with a smile so plastic it was fit for a Barbie doll.
"She seems like a nice girl. I would love to meet her."
*STRIKE THREE*
"Like, right now? Today?"
His mother seemed mildly surprised but nodded all the same, though with some hesitance, "if it's not too much trouble."
Stanley clicked his mouth shut as he contemplated his answer. He considered the topic of a visit coming up during the conversation. The plan would be to put off the visit until a more convenient time. He could still totally do that and would be well within his right to but...
He did not like the expression on her face when she was looking at Ezraphel's pictures. It was clear to him that his mother did not approve of Ezraphel which rubbed Stanley the wrong way. He would have actually called her out on it if not for the fact that he also felt an undertone of worry mixed in with her disapproval.
From there his brain worked to find a reason for his mother's feelings and came to a conclusion that was frankly ridiculous to him yet obvious when looking at his situation from the outside.
So what was his mother's deal?
Well, she thought he was being taken advantage of by Ezraphel and was worried about him. He wasn't necessarily surprised by this since literally everyone he's close to had the exact same reaction to various degrees. On the one hand he's touched at their concern, but on the other hand, they immediately assumed he's the victim of thot manipulation which kind of pissed him off. The idea that he, Stanley Muthafuckin Berkowitz, would be caught simping was…completely fucking understandable.
He wasn't even mad that she was thinking this, but he couldn't let her get away with it. Not him being a simp that's getting taken advantage of (though that did irk him), but that Ezraphel was that kind of woman. At the very least he couldn't allow those thoughts to fester for however long until they set up a date for her to meet Ezraphel. And it was with this thought process stewing in his brain that Stanley Berkowitz made the first truly impulsive decision in recent memory that was in contrast to his actions thus far.
"You know what? Why don't I take you to meet her right now?"
His mother, clearly not expecting such an offer, was visibly taken aback. She recovered enough however to scrutinize her son and while it has been many years since she directly interacted with him she's spent enough time around him in this hour or so to pick up what's changed about his personality and what hasn't. So she knew that this offer of his was about as hasty and unplanned as it could get.
Which is why when she asked the question "are you sure about this?" it was in a deliberately slow and measured tone.
To her credit it seemingly had the desired effect of giving him pause as he considered whether or not he wanted to go through with this. Stanley shifted his jaw for a moment and one could literally see the gears turning as his mind raced.
After several seconds he replied "I need to make a call."
…
Dana watched him slip out of his seat, leaving her alone to enjoy the rest of her breakfast. For a moment she pondered the rather interesting life her son led; however, it didn't take long for her mind to go back to that woman. With the way her son described her she might as well be an angel but she could see the red flags as clear as day. And her son, being the clever boy she knew him to be, was at least aware of how it looked if he could call out her worries.
It was unfortunate then that despite this and the fact that he had proven himself to be smart and sensible that she just could fully trust he knew what he was doing. Especially in regards to this woman who from the sounds of it played a major role in her son's current positive physical and emotional changes. Hell she might have been the one to push him into meeting her in the first place.
She sounded too good to be true and then there's the relationship dynamic itself. From the sounds of it while this Ezraphel seemed to be driving force behind her son's change it also put her in a position of power over him. It felt like her son was being made to be dependent on this woman which was a dangerous prospect. It also hit just a bit too close home because Dana had just recently managed to get out of a toxic relationship that was basically the inverse of what she suspected her son was experiencing.
Still, even with her suspicions and worry for her son's emotional safety she did not want to cast aspersions on the woman just yet. It was a shame then that either she did not hide her emotions well enough or underestimated her son's ability to pick up on these things because he saw through her façade and was now aware of her thoughts on his significant other.
It was a mistake on her part but one that opened a possible opportunity. Obviously she did not expect to be invited to his house yet. She could hope but that was just wishful thinking at best. So naturally his invitation, hasty as it was, caught her by surprise, and she almost jumped at the opportunity but caught herself. Her question to him afterwards had been to calm herself down just as much as it was for him.
Now he was gone, most likely to call that woman, and it made her anxious. If it were just Stanley then Dana would know the answer but with that woman as a wildcard she genuinely had no idea what the answer would be.
'I suppose I'll find out now,' she thought, seeing Stanley making his way back to the table.