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 can't miss the change in her tone. Sam gives her a curious, earnestly interested look. "Sounds like there's a story there?"

[feel_human]

She shakes her head, her lips tightening. "You'll make up your own mind about Andy when you meet him, I expect."

Adele takes a breath and casts about for a more pleasant topic of conversation. "I hope you have some plans for today. It's Sookie's day off, isn't it?"

[gavemea_45]

He drops that topic right where it is and accepts the subject change - willing himself not to flush as he remembers the suggestion he'd made to Sookie last night.

"Yes ma'am, it is," Sam tells her. "Sookie had said something about a picnic, maybe some sightseeing."

[feel_human]

"Won't that be nice?" she says, smiling.

"It's going to be a hot day. I'll set some tea to chill for you to bring."

[gavemea_45]

His smile is quick and bright. "Thanks. I appreciate it." He glances absently in the direction of the stairs, then out the window at the weather.

"Hot, maybe, but good weather otherwise, I hope."

[feel_human]

"Oh, I expect so."

She pushes up from the table and goes to find the old plastic pitcher, then fills it with water from the tap. "And you ought to stay out in it as much as you can."

[gavemea_45]

This time he does feel the back of his neck flush, and prays nothing of it shows in his face. "Sounds good to me. It'll depend on what Sookie thinks, though. It's her day off."

[feel_human]

"I expect she'll be happy enough to be out in the sun and fresh air," Adele says, sagely. With her back to him, she has no idea of the color painting the back of his neck or his cheeks. She goes to a cupboard and takes down a box of tea bags, then sets them into the pitcher to steep and puts the whole thing in the fridge as a light step sounds on the stairs.

"Mornin', Gran," Sookie says as she comes in. She's giving Adele a kiss on the cheek when she suddenly blushes fiercely: she'd just noticed her pink robe and Sam's overshirt hanging neatly by the pantry door.

[gavemea_45]

He catches her glance and can sympathize, all too well. "Good morning," he offers, giving her a wry smile.

[feel_human]

She's still pink-cheeked as she retrieves a warm plate of breakfast from the oven and pours some coffee for herself, and as she sits at the table. "Mornin'," she tells him, a shy hint to her smile, though her voice sounds normal, at least to herself.

[gavemea_45]

"Did you sleep well?"

He'll have to tell her later what Adele knows, but in the meantime, it's a reasonable question.

[feel_human]

"Like a log," she promises. Which is incredible, given the stress of the night before, but she feels incredibly well-rested.

And this breakfast is incredible. "Mm," she mumbles, around a mouthful of bacon. "Gran, is this different from usual?"

Adele turns to glance at her. "No, it's the same."

Sookie shakes her head and takes another bite. "It tastes so much more complex than usual. Like I can see the farm the pig grew up on."

[gavemea_45]

"Maybe it was just a really good pig," he says, lightly. Or maybe it's aftermath of her near-death experience, somehow. He doesn't let himself wonder any further than that, deliberately deciding not to start drawing conclusions without evidence.

"But there's no question your grandmother's cooking is amazing."

[feel_human]

"It is," Sookie says, proudly. "She's amazin'."

She's no slouch in the kitchen, either, which she plans to prove with her picnic basket, but her pride in Gran is well-founded. "Speakin' of which, I'm gonna have to scare you out of the kitchen, so I can get some things done this mornin'. If you wanted to go back into town, now would be a good time."

[gavemea_45]

"Sounds good," Sam says, easily. "What time do you want me back here?"

[feel_human]

"By eleven okay?" she asks, reaching for another piece of bacon.

[gavemea_45]

"Perfect." Sam finishes the last of his coffee and gets up to take his plate and cup to the sink.

"Can I pick up anything for either of you in town?"

[feel_human]

She shakes her head, but grins at him. "But you might want to, for yourself," she says, amused.

"Unless you maybe thought to bring a pair of swim trunks with you on your roadtrip."

[gavemea_45]

"No, I didn't." The look on his face makes it clear the thought hadn't even crossed his mind. "I'll see what I can find."

He nods to Adele, and gives Sookie a warm smile. "See you later."

[feel_human]

"See you later," Sookie tells him, and watches after him once he's left the kitchen for so long that Adele has to chuckle.

After that, she sets to work with a will, making every good thing she can think of for a picnic. She mixes up peaches and sugar, rolls out pie dough, and fries chicken as the pie's baking; cuts up broccoli, mixes slaw, and marinates cucumbers and slices of tomato. She sets the pie to cool and everything else to chill in the fridge before she heads upstairs to change, brushing out the sleek waves of her hair and curling the ends with an iron.

She tries not to get ahead of herself, but it's hard; after the last two nights, she wants to give him as perfect a day as she can.

[gavemea_45]

He goes into town and picks up something that he figures will stand in for swim trunks well enough, then wanders in and out of a few other places - picking up a cup of coffee, idly talking to people, trying to learn what he can about the trouble Bon Temps's been having.

Jason's been released, he overhears someone saying, and makes a note of the police presence and the location of city hall.

Once it's closer to time, he heads back out to the Stackhouse place.

[feel_human]

The old picnic basket is packed to the gills, neatly covered with a checkered cloth and sitting on the front porch next to a bag that contains an old but soft and clean blanket and an assortment of other soft things. Sookie's seated next to both, on the porch steps, and when Sam rolls back in on the bike, she stands up. Her hair's half tied back, half flowing over her shoulders and back, which are bare in the little sundress she has on, a light rosebud print scattered over white cotton lawn, tied up behind her neck and flaring gently above her knees.

"Hi," she greets him, smiling. "How was town?"

[gavemea_45]

"It was nice," he manages, damn near dumbstruck and staring at her. "Wow. You look -- I mean, um, that's a pretty dress."

[feel_human]

She runs her hands over her skirt, a little self-conscious, her cheeks pink as he stares at her. "Thanks."

It is a pretty dress, and she'd chosen it for exactly that reason. It's pretty and light and just right for a day spent out in the sunshine, and she'd be lying if she said she hadn't been hoping for a good reaction.

[gavemea_45]

He ducks his head and smiles, then finally climbs off the bike and strolls over to her.

"I can carry the things," he says. "Are we walking, or do I need to figure out how to pack them on the bike?"