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

She shades her eyes from the sun and watches after him, admiring the clean way he cuts through the water. Probably the best thing for her to do about her fears is to learn how to swim so she feels comfortable in the water, but she might have missed her opportunity.

At the very least, she can appreciate his ability, and feel satisfied in giving him the chance to cool off.

From:

gavemea_45

He reaches the center of the pond and jackknifes into a dive, testing the depths before he turns and heads for light and air once more. It's maybe a little deeper than the nine feet Sookie'd claimed, but not much if so.

Sam lets himself float on his back, looking up at the sun, and relaxes for a moment or two.

From:

feel_human

She peers into the water to try and see where he's gone, fighting a wave of unnecessary anxiety. He's a good swimmer, clearly, and this is a swimming hole, not a flash flood.

Still, she relaxes slightly when he comes up for air and smiles to see him floating around like a log.

From:

gavemea_45

After a few minutes, he turns over and makes his lazy way back toward the pier. Sam pulls himself out of the water with a smooth economy of motion, and sits on the boards beside her.

"Pretty refreshing."

From:

feel_human

"Good," she says, looking just as pleased as if she'd been swimming around herself.

"You can come down here whenever you like. Might be nice, considerin' this heat wave we're havin'."

From:

gavemea_45

"Thanks. I'll keep it in mind." As promised, he's careful not to drip on her as he leans over to give her a quick kiss.

From:

feel_human

She kisses him back, daintily, then grins at him and reaches up to rifle her fingers through his shaggy wet hair. "You look so cute."

From:

gavemea_45

"I'd have thought I'd look more like a wet rat," he drawls, leaning into her touch.

From:

feel_human

"Uh-uh."

She giggles and wipes his wet hair off his forehead. "Maybe a wet dog."

From:

gavemea_45

"Woof," he teases. "Anyway, there's no outdoing you when it comes to cute."

From:

feel_human

She wrinkles up her nose and giggles again. "You give me a pretty good run for my money, puppy dog," she teases back. "Just don't shake all over me, you hear?"

From:

gavemea_45

He shoves his hair back from his face and gives her a mischievous grin.

"If you insist."

From:

feel_human

She holds up her hands to fend off any incoming water droplets, laughing at his mischief. "You better behave," she scolds, mock-stern.

"Or else you won't get any pie."

From:

gavemea_45

He stretches out on the dock, laughing up at her. "Okay, you've convinced me."

From:

feel_human

"Good."

She leans down to kiss him, not minding at all that her dry skin presses to his wet body. "Then we can go have some, whenever you're done pretendin' to be a fish."

From:

gavemea_45

"If that's not a lure, I don't know what is," Sam observes. "Ready when you are. I'm all cooled off."

From:

feel_human

"Okay, then."

She pushes to her feet and grabs her towel, then holds out her free hand to him. "Time for a little dessert."

From:

gavemea_45

He does the same with his own bundled towel, seeming not to care what it's supposed to be for, and laces his fingers with hers. "Lead the way."

From:

feel_human

Lead the way she does, back to their little oasis under the tree, where she sets down her towel and takes a seat on the blanket once more before lifting the safely-wrapped pie out of the basket. As soon as she unwraps the cloth from around it, the scent lifts out and floats through the air: tart peaches and butter and sweet syrup. The latticed top glows golden in the dappled shade, flaking beneath her knife as she cuts a generous wedge and sets it on a plate for him.

"Here," she says, offering it with a fork and a smile. "Hope you like peach."

From:

gavemea_45

"Are you kidding?" He looks absolutely blissful at the scent, and holds the plate carefully, waiting for her to cut herself a piece, too.

From:

feel_human

She laughs and cuts herself a smaller piece, sticking her thumb into her mouth to suck off the sweet syrup and a few crumbs of buttery crust, then sits back and forks up a piece.

From:

gavemea_45

He waits for her to take the first bite before he digs into his own slice. As soon as the flavor hits his tongue, Sam makes an inadvertent sound of delight.

"Mmph. Mm."