saturday night and the moon is out

[feel_human]

Tucked away off the road in Bon Temps, there's a road house. Warm light spills from its windows, and the sound of a jukebox playing drifts out into the muggy Louisiana night. The regular assortment of trucks and Hail-Mary-please-keep-this-lemon-goin'-just-a-little-longer cars sit in the dirt parking lot; what amounts to about half the town's small population... or, at least, of those of the 'drinking age and above' persuasion.

Inside, it's a bar of the type scattered all across the American South: homey, no-nonsense. Booths and tables. A man in a plaid flannel shirt wiping the bar; a crossdresser in the kitchen singing Gospel hymns and rolling his hips in time with the words just to scandalize the prep cook. A handful of waitresses, bustling about.

Sookie makes her way briskly through it all, a tray balanced on her palm and her eyes kept stubbornly front, as voices swarm around her. Aloud, and... less so.

...I’m just going to have one beer tonight Jesus one beer that’s all...

...better not gripe about me eating fries not after what I did for him last night...

...I cannot wait to get the hell out of this podunk town...

 

 "Well, make sure you do, and before it’s too late," she responds, thoughtless, to the young man. "Because every year you wait? You just get more and more stuck here. Believe me, I know."

He stares at her. So do his parents.

So does the other table. And she realizes, too little too late, that he hadn't said that out loud, not at all. She laughs, uncomfortable. "I’ll get y'all some ketchup," she says, brightly, and flees, ponytail swinging against the nape of her neck as she goes.

Stupid, Sookie, she chides herself. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

 

Comments

[gavemea_45]

He ducks his head at the compliment, a little awkward with it, then gives her a sweet answering smile. "Yes please, ma'am, thank you."

[feel_human]

A light step sounds on the stairs as Adele pours more hot coffee into his mug, and Sookie appears in the doorway in the next moment, her eyes still a little dark and dopey with sleep. "I smell coffee," she says, with a crooked little smile. "And biscuits. Mornin', Gran."

Adele beams at her as she settles back into her seat, and as Sookie comes to drop a kiss onto her upturned cheek. "Mornin', honey," she says, fondly.

Sookie pours herself a cup of coffee and doctors it, then leans against the counter. Her glance tracks to Sam's empty plate, and her smile widens. "Mornin' to you, too, Sam. I see Gran's got you started already."

[gavemea_45]

"She sure has," Sam agrees, smiling warmly back at her. "Good morning, Sookie. Did you sleep okay?"

[feel_human]

"Pretty well, thanks."

Her own smile turns a little shy, but she hides it behind her coffee.

"I like to see a man with an appetite," Adele declares. "Sookie, you oughta show young Mister Winchester around the town today. You don't have to go in to work right away, do you?"

Sookie shakes her head. "No," she confirms. "I'm closin' tonight. I don't have to be in 'til the dinner shift."

[gavemea_45]

"If you want to," Sam adds, hastily. "I mean, I'd like that--"

He would, he really would, and he hopes that his sincerity comes across somehow.

"--but I don't want to be any trouble."

[feel_human]

"'Course I do. Didn't I say so yesterday?" It comes out a little softer than she'd meant it to, and she puts a little briskness into her voice as Adele watches her over her coffee mug.

"But I got a few chores to take care of first. You don't mind, do you, Sam?"

[gavemea_45]

"Not at all. Maybe I can help," he offers.

[feel_human]

"You are a guest," Adele says, mildly scandalized, but Sookie just laughs.

"Maybe," she agrees, cheerfully. "How are you at mowin' lawns?"

[gavemea_45]

"Guess we'll find out," he says, just as cheerful, before he looks at Adele.

"Mrs. Stackhouse, I'd feel better if I could help out with things while I'm here. I really would."

[feel_human]

"Well, suit yourself," Adele sighs, and Sookie gives him a wink, then turns to shut off the oven as the timer goes off. When she opens the door, a cloud of good-smelling steam escapes, and she breathes in, grateful, before removing the tray of biscuits.

"Here y'are," she says, selecting one with a pair of tongs and setting it on Sam's plate before nudging the butter dish towards him. "Get 'em while they're hot."

[gavemea_45]

He takes the hint and butters the fragrant, flaky biscuit, but nearly has to close his eyes in bliss at the taste of it.

Sam looks at Adele Stackhouse in pure admiration.

[feel_human]

"Land sake's, child," Adele chuckles, flattered. "It's only a biscuit."

"It's one of your biscuits, Gran," Sookie says, smiling, but she puts another on Sam's plate, then takes one for herself and pulls it apart to eat the soft, steaming layers.

[gavemea_45]

"Sookie's right," Sam insists. "I've never had a biscuit like this before."

Dean would love this. For an instant, Sam misses his brother all the way to the depths of his soul before he reminds himself that Dean has his phone number, Dean could call him if he wants, or even find him. He turns his attention back to the present and gives Sookie a grin.

[feel_human]

She doesn't even know his brother, but already she wishes she could give him the scolding he so obviously deserves, just from the flashes she gets every now and then from Sam's thoughts.

"Well, you enjoy them," Adele's telling Sam, pleased as punch with how much he likes her cooking. "We'll just have to feed you proper while you're here."

[gavemea_45]

Sam turns a quick grin on Adele and sneaks another biscuit off the tray. "Yes ma'am," he teases.

[feel_human]

Adele smiles beneficently back at him and sips at her coffee, while Sookie laughs and takes another biscuit, herself. "When you're done, I'll show you where the mower is," she tells Sam.

"I figure I oughta be done with everythin' else by the time you finish. That cuts my chore time in half."

[gavemea_45]

"You got it," Sam promises. He makes his way through the last biscuit at a slower pace, appreciating it wholly, then reaches for the coffee again to finish that off as well. He plans to time it so that he's done about the same time Sookie finishes her own breakfast.

"Mrs. Stackhouse, is there anything else around that needs doing? Things on high shelves, like you said before, maybe?"

[feel_human]

"I'll write you up a list," Gran says, though Sookie sees the teasing light in her eyes. She flicks her fingers at them over her coffee as Sookie finishes her own and sets her mug in the sink. "Go on, then. It's gonna be another hot day, best to finish before the temperature rises."

[gavemea_45]

He takes his plate and cup over to the sink and adds them to Sookie's, then looks at her.

"Ready when you are."

[feel_human]

"Come on, then."

She's all ready to do her chores, in her light tank and cut-offs and old sneakers, and she leads him out to the unscreened front porch, shaded from the early Louisiana sunshine, then jogs down the porch steps. "You sure you don't mind us puttin' you to work?" she asks, glancing at him over her shoulder. "We were just teasin' you, really."

[gavemea_45]

"I'm sure." Sam hurries down the stairs and takes a longer step or two to catch up with her. "I meant what I said, I wouldn't feel right not helping out."

[feel_human]

"Okay, then." She supposes it's a taste of that 'normal life' he'd been wanting, if nothing else, and she has to admit it'll make her morning a little easier.

Sookie leads him around back to where the shed stands, a little rickety and sunfaded, just past the clotheslines. Lifting the latch, she leads him in and gestures to the old mower. "It's not much, but it gets the job done."

[gavemea_45]

"That's what counts, right?" He looks it over, matching it to memories of the couple of times Pastor Jim had let him or Dean mow the churchyard while they were staying with him, and wheels it out of the shed.

"Front, back, and sides, I'm guessing?" Sam gives her a quick smile. "I'm on it."

[feel_human]

His smile's even sweeter in the sunshine, and she smiles back without hesitation. "You're a natural," she teases, and slips her hands into the back pockets of her shorts so she doesn't go doing anything that might make her tardy with her own chores.

"Thanks, Sam."

[gavemea_45]

"No problem." He wheels the mower over to what he thinks is a good starting point, pulls the starter cord a few times until he gets it to work, then grimaces at the roar of the motor.

Sam shakes his head and sets off with a will. It'll be good to help out - and he'll get another close look at the surroundings in the process, he figures.