feel_human | saturday night and the moon is out

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.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

feel_human

"Mm."

It's a good thing she's off today, because she can't imagine wanting to do anything with her time aside from this: just lying here with him, warm and cozy, the smell of summer all around them and nobody near to bother them at all. "Comfy?"

From:

gavemea_45

“Yes. Are you?” He raises his head to look down at her.

From:

feel_human

"Mm-hm. You're so nice and warm, and I'm so relaxed."

And his arms feel so good around her. "I don't want to move an inch."

From:

gavemea_45

Sam’s smile is warm. “You don’t have to,” he promises. “We can stay right here for as long as you want.”

From:

feel_human

"Good," she murmurs, and lets her eyes close as she slips an ankle over his. "I'm so happy to have today off to spend with you."

From:

gavemea_45

“I am, too. That you have the day off, I mean.”

There’s no reason to think that they’re in any danger here, not in the light of day, so Sam encourages, “Take a nap, if you want.”

From:

feel_human

"You sure?"

It does sound nice, and she is sleepy after their lunch... and everything else. "Maybe just a short one."

From:

gavemea_45

"I'm sure." It's almost impossibly sweet for her to be with him like this, trusting him to watch over her here in the sunlight with the birds singing and the light breeze through the trees. Moved, Sam kisses her shoulder.

"Very sure."

From:

feel_human

"'Course I do," she murmurs, half-dozing already, not even thinking about whether what she's responding to came out of his mouth or out of his head.

Maybe she only met him a few days ago, but she's seen into his head, and she thinks she's seen into his heart, too. He's someone who can be trusted. She males a soft sound and cuddles close to his side, boneless. "Don't let me sleep too long, honey. We still have pie to eat."

From:

gavemea_45

Sam chuckles. "I definitely won't let you forget the pie." He brings her a bit closer against him, arms around her.

"See you in a bit." This time, he's determined, he won't fall asleep.

From:

feel_human

Her only answer is another soft, drowsy sound, before she falls silent and just breathes, listening to the low hum of insects and the bright trill of birdsong and the breeze rifling through the branches and leaves of the tree they're lying under. His heart beats slow and steady beneath her ear, and his chest rises and falls gently with each breath, and she hasn't felt so safe and protected since she was very small, before her parents knew to be afraid of her.

It's not long before the strain of the last few days catches up and tugs her, seamlessly, into dreams.

From:

gavemea_45

He keeps one arm around her and tucks the other under his head, watching the sunlight play through the branches of the trees and listening to the world around them while she sleeps.

It's not likely that they'll be disturbed, all things considered, but just in case... he'll stay awake and watch out for anything unexpected.

From:

feel_human

Impossible to say how much time has passed before she shifts again, starting to wake up, drifting up out of her light sleep as easily as she'd drifted into it.

But she's not quite ready to give it up just yet. She clings to it, curling her arm around him as she nudges her face into the crook of his neck.

From:

gavemea_45

He looks down at her as she shifts and smiles. "Hi. You awake?"

From:

feel_human

"Gettin' there," she murmurs, thick and drowsy. "How long was I asleep?"

From:

gavemea_45

"Just a little while," he reassures her. "Did you have a nice nap?"

From:

feel_human

"Uh-huh."

She can't even remember the last time she'd allowed herself to nap in the sun like this, like a cat. Reaching up, she rubs sleep out of her eyes. "Did you stay awake that whole time? I hope you didn't get bored."

From:

gavemea_45

"Not bored at all." Sam smiles down at her. "Mostly I was just watching the trees and listening to the birds."

From:

feel_human

"It's nice out here, huh?"

She rolls to her back and stretches, long and languid, then rests her hands on her stomach and looks up at the sheltering leaves.