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

[feel_human]

Surprised warmth rushes up into her cheeks. "Oh, um – "

She can feel the eyes of her co-workers and of curious townsfolk on her back, and it makes her face heat a little more as her smile turns bashful. "I get a break in about half an hour – "

Which is true, although she almost never takes it. " – Since I'm closing tonight."

[gavemea_45]

Closing. Of course she is. Hell.

Sam smiles at her. "I'll be here."

[feel_human]

"Okay." She's a little flustered as she returns his smile, but her own is bright and sweet even through her confusion. "I'll just... I'll get you that pie. Back in a tick."

She retreats in the next second, her mind awhirl, and hardly notices how she crosses the bar floor back to where Sam and Tara are waiting. Sam's still rubbing down the bar – the same spot as before, she notices, and there's something gone tight and unhappy at his jaw.

"A Bud," she tells him. "And a... oh, a glass of red."

[gavemea_45]

He neatly stacks his side plate on the main and sets them aside, then turns the beer around in his fingers. To all observers he's pretty sure he just looks like a guy lost in thought.

Hopefully Mr. Trouble only thinks that, anyway. Sam does his best to keep an eye on him out of the corner of his own without giving himself away. What the hell is he doing here, anyway?

[feel_human]

She slips into the kitchen to retrieve the piece of pie and blushes furiously at Lafayette's teasing. "If you decide you don't want him," he drawls, flipping a towel over his shoulder and dancing with a roll of his hips until Terry Bellefleur laughs. "You just let me know. I could just eat – him – up."

"Hands off," Sookie says, with spirit, and flees with the plate of pie, then stops at the bar to collect the beer and glass of wine.

The newcomer's table is on the way to Sam's; she stops and sets his wine down for him. "Sure you don't want anythin' else?" she asks, as the man turns his dark, intent gaze back onto her face.

For a second, he just watches her, long enough that she can feel a blush start to pink her cheeks again. "As a matter of fact, I was hopin' you'd be able to tell me a little about the town," he says, finally. There's an old-fashioned slant to his manners, and his voice is smooth and polite. "I have just moved here and I am tryin' to get my bearings."

"Oh?" She can't help her curiosity. "Moved to where?"

He tips his head. "A few miles south. Just past the churchyard."

Recognition sparks in her glance. "The old Compton place? Why – " She can't help her grin. "That's just across an old field from me."

[gavemea_45]

Sookie's voice is bright and cheerful and happy - and clear. Sam's glad of it, as it makes eavesdropping easier, even though he wants to wince as what she's saying.

The old Compton place. He makes a mental note. Hopefully there's a library, or hadn't she said something about a history center? Something to give him an edge.

He can't help but wish Dean were here, but there's no point in it. He'll just have to go this one alone.

[feel_human]

"Imagine that," he says, in his smooth voice. The way he says it, it's like he's not surprised at all, but it goes right over Sookie's head, so pleased is she.

"I guess we'll be neighbors," she says, happily, and holds out her hand, frank and friendly. "So I oughta introduce myself. I'm Sookie. Sookie Stackhouse."

His fingers are cool in hers as he shakes her hand. "Bill," he says, and doesn't give a last name.

Not that it matters so much. Her smile widens. "Well, nice to know you, Bill," she tells him. "Welcome to Bon Temps."

He nods to her, and she's still smiling as she turns to make her way back over to Sam, amused and delighted by this coincidence in equal measure.

[gavemea_45]

"You look cheerful," Sam observes, with a smile of his own. "Good news, I hope?"

[feel_human]

"I guess we'll see," she says, practical even though she's smiling as she sets down his pie and fresh glass of beer. "That fellow you were wondering about? Turns out he just moved into town, just abut next door to me. Isn't that funny?"

Not funny ha-ha, funny odd. "Gran'll be thrilled. There hasn't been anyone near us in years, not for miles."

[gavemea_45]

"How about that," he marvels, while a litany of silent, dismayed curses sears through his mind. "Looks like you've got a new neighbor. Or two? He got a family, did he say?"

[feel_human]

His thoughts are muffled and quiet, but every now and again something sneaks through... like a feeling of frustration that's at complete odds with the clear, friendly look on his face.

Her smile falters, a little, and she looks at him a little more closely. "No, he didn't."

But if he had a family, she'd have expected him to bring them in. There's almost no one comes in to Merlotte's to eat by themselves, aside from drifters like Sam himself, or Andy Bellefleur, and that's because no one can stand to be around him for the length of a meal. "But I guess I'd have heard if a family was movin' to town. Still, it's a big place for just one man."

[gavemea_45]

Something about her expression shifts, and Sam realizes that his expression must be letting something of what's behind it leak through. He shakes his head and smiles again, warm and a little sheepish. "Sorry, I guess that's pretty nosy of me to be asking," he half-apologizes. "Especially with me being new around here myself."

[feel_human]

"Bein' nosy is practically a competitive sport around here." At least Maxine's not around. "But if you're curious, why not ask him yourself?"

She leans down to collect his empty plates and old glass, pitches her voice to a low, amused whisper. "I don't think he bites."

[gavemea_45]

What he wants to do is bury his face in his hands at that. Looks like Sookie's instincts are a hell of a lot sharper than she realizes, even if she doesn't know just how wrong she is.

What he does is let out a slightly strained laugh that fades into something truly rueful. "Might as well," he decides, and lifts his beer to the stranger in what looks like an invitation. After all, it's not like he hasn't already been spotted.

He's very, very careful not to meet his eyes, however.

[feel_human]

At his table, Bill studies Sam and his motion, then inclines is head in a nod. Sookie smiles, bright and pleased, and straightens with her laden tray. "Then I may as well introduce you," she says, and half-turns so she can see both tables. "Bill, this is Sam," she says, looking from one man to the other. "Sam, this is Bill. Y'all are both new in town, so you've got that in common already."

Along with... other things she can't explain.

Bill touches his glass of wine and lifts it in greeting. "Evenin'."

[gavemea_45]

"Hi," Sam says, keeping it light, cheerful, and outwardly friendly. "From one stranger to another. When I found out, I just couldn't help but be curious what brings you here?"

[feel_human]

The waitress – Sookie – is smiling and satisfied with herself as she walks briskly away. Even without her near, he can smell the sunshine in her blood, can hear the beat of her heart and the steady in-out of her breath.

The scent of her is like nothing he's ever known before. It's intoxicating.

He considers the young man in the booth for a long moment before answering. "You might call it a homecomin' of sorts," Bill says, finally. "My family was from Bon Temps. A long time ago."

[gavemea_45]

He just bets it was a long time ago. A long, long time ago.

Sam lets his smile broaden. "How about that! It must be nice to be back. Did you bring any family with you, or are you looking to reconnect?"

[feel_human]

He knew, coming in here, he'd likely be forced to interact with the humans who live and work here, but it's worth it, to get a closer look at the girl.

Still, it's wearisome in the extreme. And this stranger seems to ask a lot of questions. "I'm afraid my life is a solitary one," he says. "I'm a widower. So... perhaps I have come to seek some comfort in the past."

There's no smile on his lips as he toys with the glass of undrinkable wine. "I suppose you are just passin' through?"

[gavemea_45]

"Sorry to hear that," Sam says, and manages to keep it from sounding insincere. "I hope you find what you're looking for."

He takes a sip of his beer, noticing that the other hasn't actually touched his wine, although he's doing a good job of pretending. Loner or nest, that's the important question, although Sam's got a feeling he'll have to find out either way.

"I was, but I thought I might stick around for a while."

[feel_human]

"Really."

That's inconvenient, but shouldn't affect his plans. The girl is already drawn to him; it's only a matter of time before he can set his strategy into motion. "What changed your mind?"

[gavemea_45]

Sam smiles, careful to keep his gaze no higher than the middle of the vampire's face. As long as he doesn't meet his eyes, the lore says, he shouldn't be able to be whammied, but he's got to be careful as hell that he doesn't get tricked into it.

"I hear the town's got quite a lot of history. I'm kind of a history buff. So as I'm not in any particular hurry to get anywhere, I figured I might as well check things out. For as long as it takes."

[feel_human]

Something almost like a smile, but lacking any warmth or amusement, touches the corner of Bill's lips. "Be careful," he cautions. "Not everyone likes what they find when they look into the past."

"Well, I can see you two are hittin' it off." He glances up to see Sookie, hands on her hips and smiling at them. "Seein' as neither of you are eatin' or drinkin'."

She turns to Sam with a pert look. "Somethin' wrong with that pie, Sam?"

[gavemea_45]

Sam switches his smile to Sookie, real warmth flooding it. "I didn't want to be rude and talk with my mouth full," he explains, and forks up a bite. "It's good, though," he adds, once he swallows. "Real good."

His smile doesn't dim a whit as he turns back to Bill. "You should try some."

[feel_human]

She turns to Bill, who shakes his head. "I admit I came more for company than for sustenance," he says, in that cool, precise voice of his. He lifts the glass of wine. "Call it an... excuse to be here."

Sookie softens, sympathy in her glance. "Well, I can imagine it's awful quiet and lonely, rattling around in that big old house if you're all by yourself," she says. "You're welcome here anytime, Bill. And you don't have to drink that if you don't want to – but so long as you buy somethin', Sam won't kick you out."

She turns an amused glance on Sam-the-newcomer. "My boss Sam, that is."