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]

“You can just call me Bobby,” he says, before Sam can answer. “I ain’t been called Mister anything in longer than I c’n remember. Sam?”

There’s both a question and a demand in the way Bobby says his name. Sam winces, very slightly.

“Yes, she knows,” he says, and listens as Bobby sighs out an explosive breath. “Now I’m gonna guess you had your reasons, but they better be damn good ones,” he says, gruffly. “You know as well as I do how John’s gonna take this.”

“He doesn’t need to know,” Sam says, flatly. “This hasn’t changed anything, Bobby. I’m calling because Sookie needs help, not because I’ve changed my mind.”

[feel_human]

She watches Sam, uncertain. If this is going to get back to his dad, if it's going to cause more problems...

But he's already made the call, and she can't unring that bell. She only gives him a wry look and addresses the phone, feeling a little snippy at the way the man scolds Sam. "He's just tryin' to help," she says. "And it wasn't gonna be able to be a secret for long, anyhow."

Not with her, and what she can do. "We're callin' because Sam thought you might be able to help with a... a vampire."

[gavemea_45]

“How many in the nest?” Bobby demands, quick and sharp.

“It’s a loner, supposedly,” Sam tells him. He’s already grimacing as he adds, “So he says.”

“You talked to him? Dammit, Sam—“

[feel_human]

"Hey," Sookie says, sharply. "You have no idea what he's been doin' to make sure I'm safe. We called for help, not to get scolded like children. Sam knows what he's doin'."

[gavemea_45]

He’s honestly not sure who’s more stunned, him or Bobby. The silence from phone is distinctly shocked.

“Uh, Bobby,” he starts, only for the older man to interrupt him. “No, let me. Miss, uh, Sookie, was it? I don’t know what Sam told you, but I’ve known those boys since they were knee-high to a grasshopper. It’s just my way. I don’t mean anything by it. Sam knows that.”

[feel_human]

She narrows her eyes at the phone, but refrains from scolding further. It's probably best not to antagonize Sam's contact, even if she's feeling on edge and annoyed.

"Sam says you know a lot," she says, just a little crisp. "What do you know about vampire blood?"

[gavemea_45]

"A lot," Bobby says, dry as dust. Sam can see the expression on his face as clear as if he were standing here. "Wanna narrow things down for me?"

"I need to know if there's a way to break the link between a vampire and someone who's accidentally swallowed some of their blood," Sam puts in.

"Swallowed-- you're not mixed up with those V-chasers, are you?" Now Bobby sounds shocked.

[feel_human]

"Ew," says Sookie, affronted. "No."

Grateful as she is to Bill for saving her life, she can't imagine drinking his blood for any reason other than dire circumstance. "I was -- "

She glances at Sam, looking to see what she ought to say. "Attacked. Bill -- the vampire. He gave me his blood. It saved my life."

[gavemea_45]

"He what?" Sam can hear the distinctive sound of a pile of books being pushed over as Bobby sits down heavily. "He - are you okay?"

[feel_human]

"Yes."

Her glance darts to Sam and away again. "It's had a few... side effects. But the one we're callin' about... Bill says he'll always be able to find me. He'll always know where I am."

[gavemea_45]

"Well, it would," Bobby says, gruffly. Sam suspects he's still shocked, but he's rolling with the punches pretty well. "He does, does he? Bill's the vampire, I'm assumin'?"

"Yeah," Sam says. "That's him. Bill Compton, apparently."

[feel_human]

She listens as, on the other end of the line, Bobby ponders.

"Have you... heard of that before?"

[gavemea_45]

"Well, not a vampire savin' someone, that's for sure," Bobby says. "Not unless, uh..."

"It's not that," Sam says, steadily. "Already went there. If he'd meant to turn her we'd be having a different conversation."

"Okay." Bobby sounds relieved. "As for the blood... most of what I know comes from the underground of addicts. Those idjits who drink the stuff deliberately. Uh, I have to ask -- how much did you swallow?"

[feel_human]

"I don't know," she says, her voice soft and a little ashamed. "I was... but I think it was kind of a lot."

[gavemea_45]

Sam sets the phone on the table where Bobby can still hear them and the other way around, and comes around to lean down and wrap his arms around Sookie where she sits.

"Assume it was at least a glass full," he says. "More than a drug-type dose, for sure."

"Well." Bobby blows out a breath. "I'll have to look a few things up. See what I can find. I'll do it as quick as I can. Sam, you need any help over-- where the heck are you, anyway?"

"I'll let you know if I do," he says, and doesn't answer where. "Appreciate the information, though. A lot."

[feel_human]

She puts a hand on Sam's arm and leans back into his embrace. "So do I," she says, soft. "Thanks, Bobby."

[gavemea_45]

"You're welcome," Bobby says, a little gruff, but gentle. Sam thinks he's not sure how to deal with Sookie's quiet, sincere thanks. "Sam, I'll call you soon. Stay out of trouble, y'hear?"

"Loud and clear," he says. "Thanks, Bobby."

[feel_human]

She hears the click of Sam's contact hanging up the line, and looks up over her shoulder at Sam. "Sorry to get you in trouble with your friend."

[gavemea_45]

"You didn't," Sam assures her. He gives her another hug, then shifts to an easy crouch beside her chair.

"He really is just like that, all the time."

[feel_human]

He's so tall that even crouching by her chair puts him only just below eye level. She keeps her hands in her lap and studies him, solemn.

"You think he'll be able to find somethin'?"

[gavemea_45]

"I've never had a question Bobby wasn't able to find something about," Sam says. "Sometimes it's not a lot, but if there's anything to find, he'll find it. Someone will know, Sookie. We'll find out."

[feel_human]

She nods, opting to trust him. Goodness knows she doesn't know enough about what's happening not to.

"I gettin' kinda tired," she murmurs. "Do you mind if we call it a night?"

[gavemea_45]

"I don't mind," he says, softly. Sam stands, reclaims his phone and shoves it in a pocket, then offers her both hands to help her up.

[feel_human]

She takes his hands and keeps one as she gets to her feet, lacing their fingers together before she turns out the kitchen light and they walk toward the stairs.

Up by her room, she turns to look at him. "Do you want to stay with me? Again?"

[gavemea_45]

"Do you want me to?" he asks, gently. "It's okay if you don't, what with your grandmother and all."