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:

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."

From:

feel_human

She laughs at the look on his face.

"Good?"

From:

gavemea_45

Sam swallows and beams a grin at her. "Good? This is great. It's amazing."

From:

feel_human

She looks satisfied and smiles as she forks up more of her own pie, sweet and tart and buttery all at once, letting him enjoy his at his own pace.

From:

gavemea_45

Sam spends several blissful minutes savoring each bite - taste, scent, the crisp texture of the crust, the sweetness of the peaches - and then scrapes his plate with the edge of his fork to make sure he gets every last crumb.

From:

feel_human

She grins as she sees him all but licking the plate clean. "There's plenty more if you want it," she teases.

From:

gavemea_45

"I do, but then there won't be any pie for later or tomorrow," he counters.

From:

feel_human

"There's always more pie, Sam," she points out, laughing again as she cuts into the remainder to dig out a second piece for him. "I can make more, and Gran makes the best pecan pie you've ever tasted."

From:

gavemea_45

He doesn't need any more prompting to hold out his plate. His smile is sweet and hopeful as he observes, "I like pecan pie, too."

From:

feel_human

"Then we'll make sure to get you some."

She hadn't really believed, yesterday, that either of them would be able to focus on their date with the specter of Bill and Maudette's murder hanging over their heads. Now, she's honestly surprised to realize she hadn't thought about either in hours.

She loads up his plate once more, then sits back to watch him enjoy it.

From:

gavemea_45

This piece he eats more slowly, full as he is but still willing to find a corner or two for food as good as this.

"I'm glad I came to Bon Temps," he murmurs, as he works through the pie. "Although you may get tired of feeding me at this rate."