how deep these bright-eyed feelings run

[justsookie]

The first thing that Sookie Stackhouse had done, after finally moving all of her belongings into the hut that Miguel had passed onto her, was drop her relative location off with her big brother, so that Jason could find his sister at any given time. But when it came to the matter of inviting someone else over to share in the fact that she had finally settled, letting her roots stretch into the ground to keep herself anchored on the island, she wasn't sure that Jason was the best first option. As much as she loved her brother, the notion of showing him her attempts at a makeshift house or home seemed like it was asking for disappointment in one way or another. The two of them could never be home, not really, and the more they tried to shape it for themselves, the more they would miss the home that they'd spent decades in with their gran.

Besides, she wasn't exactly keen on letting Jason know that she had been sharing a place with a man before finally moving out on her own. No doubt that he'd call that living in sin, and Sookie just didn't want to find herself constantly wondering at the different standards her brother set for the both of them.

So instead, she had insisted that Mitchell come along to the small little area in the middle of the island that she could now call her own. Perhaps it was a bit presumptuous, even a little suggestive, inviting her boyfriend over to her place, a place that was solely her own and where not even the threat of supervision lingered. Then again, she told herself, it had been almost a month since the two of them decided to try and see what they could mean to one another, a month of taking things slow, so much that she could hardly believe that she had been with Mitchell for nearly twice the amount of time she'd been with Bill. That she had known him for over three months, several times the length of time that she had known any vampires back in Bon Temps. The very thought made her a mix of giddy and impatient as she led him by the hand to her hut, all laughs and bright smiles as wings beat against her ribcage.

"This is it," she announced, grinning from cheek to cheek. "It's not much, but I've finally got a place of my own."

Comments

[chasinghumanity]

"Not much" was right, but Mitchell took an immediate liking to it anyway. Maybe it was just the simple fact that it was Sookie's home that endeared the hut to him or his naturally optimistic attitude. Maybe it was the fact that now Sookie was no longer living with a man not related to her by blood. But he smiled as he let his gaze wander around the small space, nodding approvingly before he was done.

"Looks great," he said with appropriate enthusiasm. "Can't say it's as nice as ours. George might skin me." A touch of laughter snuck into his voice then. "But it must be nice to finally have your own space, to do with as you like."

[justsookie]

"What George doesn't hear can't hurt him, right?" Sookie replied with a lofty expression, teasing as she looped her arms around his waist, walking backward and further into the hut, tugging him with her. "But no, I'd agree with him, it's not as nice as your place. This hut used to belong to a friend of mine who disappeared recently— it's almost creepy now, like he suspected that he was going to leave, but anyway. I replaced things like the sheets, but I felt like the furniture might as well stay, so that some of him does. Which means the place is a little less colorful than I'd like. Or maybe that's just me tryin' to explain off my laziness."

Peeking over her shoulder, Sookie peeked at the multipurpose living and dining room, with a small table and a couple of chairs in the middle, as well as a bench off to the side covered in haphazard padding and tons of pillows. All bamboo furniture, and it made her wince to think of just how different it was from the home she'd lived in back in Bon Temps.

"It's definitely better now that I'm not roomin' with someone I didn't know all too well," she nodded, turning to face Mitchell again, before reaching for his hand and taking him back to the bedroom, lit bright by a large, open window, sunlight filtering over her pale yellow sheets. "But it gets lonesome, too, so these days I keep on spendin' more time at the Winchester or the Compound."

[chasinghumanity]

It was hard not to read into her words, Sookie babbling a touch about being lonesome, while Mitchell was being led by the hand into a woman's bedroom. Not just any woman of course, but his girlfriend. Even if she didn't realize what she was doing, which Mitchell wouldn't wholly believe if told so, he could only respond one way.

"Or you could just spend more time with me," he countered, smiling playfully. His free hand slid over her hip and to her lower back, pulling her closer, almost as though they were dancing, his hold on her loose and easy. "Not sure I'm doing my boyfriend duties properly if you're feeling lonely."

[justsookie]

Subtlety was never really Sookie's strength, and holding back on temptation worse still. Loneliness was a strange thing, sometimes striking in the middle of the night, sometimes hitting when she was in the Winchester with plenty of people around her and keeping busy, and Sookie had always been especially susceptible to it— right down to the way that she had run over to Bill's estate shortly after gran's death, whisked inside wearing nothing but a nightgown and carried in his strong arms. Taking things slow seemed like the smart choice the second time around, but she certainly didn't protest when Mitchell's hand reached over to the small of her back, earning him a brief gasp and a pleasantly surprised smile, one that easily melted into her own teasing look, hand splayed over his chest.

"Well, I could," she agreed, hand reaching around the curve of his ear and pulling him down slightly. "But I didn't want to abuse my girlfriend rights too much." Because we're meant to take it slow, her mind chimed in, a small voice that Sookie did her best to stifle simply because she didn't want to hear it anymore, not right then.

[chasinghumanity]

"If you did, I wouldn't be the one complainin'," Mitchell answered, the teasing grin only barely hanging on, his attention taken by her gentle encouragement and her lips.

Maybe it was silly, but his heart still made a leap for his throat every time Mitchell kissed Sookie like this, slow and intent, coaxing her lips apart, searching for something just a little bit deeper. Surely a month was long enough to get over butterflies, but Mitchell couldn't complain even if it were the case. Better this kind of light, silly nervousness than the taste of dread, of fear on his tongue that would have been there months ago. He would enjoy the nerves, in that case, and the girl who gave them to him.

[justsookie]

Her eyes lingered on that slowly fading grin, not even fully aware of the fact that Mitchell was staring at her too, aside from subconscious tingling she felt on the back of her neck, pleasant against her skin. Soon, it didn't matter, the two of them leaned too close for her gaze to focus, eyes falling shut as she returned the kiss, and her lips easily parting with a soft, satisfied inhale. The hand which had lingered by his ear wove into his hair, a little needy and insistent, movement keeping tremors away from her fingers.

To say that she hadn't imagined how things might develop between them over time would have been a blatant lie, even if her speculation usually went unvoiced. But all of her expectations, the scenarios she spent spare time daydreaming of, vanished without a trace then as a lazy haziness fell over her senses, her free hand teasing at the bottom button of his plaid shirt until it popped free. The heart which was still beating violently in her chest made itself known in the quiet whimper that passed through her lips as she took a step back toward the bed, wondering if he'd follow.

[chasinghumanity]

There were few things more lovely than a direct woman. He almost wanted to laugh, grin with a kind of giddy sense of anticipation and relief, at Sookie unbuttoning his shirt and leading them towards the bed. But Sookie was unbuttoning his shirt and leading them towards the bed, which wasn't really funny at all. Neither was that little noise she made, the one which made his hand slide lower to the curve of her arse, the light fabric bunching up under his grasping fingers.

He followed as easily as ever, the part of his brain that made decisions slowly shutting off. The real decision -- whether or not he was ready for this -- had sorted itself out already, influenced by the natural reactions of his body. Whether Sookie was ready was her decision, not something he would make for her or question her on. Letting go of her hand, Mitchell grabbed another handful of her dress, tugging it up further, the hem now skirting somewhere along her hips.

[justsookie]

It took an effort for Sookie to break quickly from the kiss, raising her hands over her head until Mitchell could tug the dress off altogether, gasping as air suddenly met her heated skin, and with it a shock of realization hitting. Sookie's views on sex aligned closely with the lessons gran had taught her all her life, that it was always best when there was love involved, that one should try their best to think everything through— but if that wasn't possible, and in many cases gran had warned her that it wouldn't be, to instead make that split-second decision on whether or not the time felt right. Keeping a shiver down, she let the dress drop with a whisper on the ground, leaning in to kiss Mitchell again; whether or not she was ready to say that she loved him, Sookie wasn't sure, but he was everything to her right then, and that was more than enough.

"Okay," she whispered, lips trailing down to his neck and kissing the thin skin underneath his jaw. "You're wearin' so much more than I am, that isn't exactly fair." Partially to mask the nervousness at being so scantily clad in front of Mitchell, she kept herself close to him, not yet letting him get a full view as her fingers hastily worked at the rest of his buttons, letting the shirt drop before tugging off the undershirt as well with a snap of static that was met with a yelp of protest which died in her throat.

With a barely suppressed giggle, Sookie leaned back slightly with her hands sliding down to his hips, her eyes raking over Mitchell with a look of approval before she raised a brow. "Do I finally get to see your hands?"

[chasinghumanity]

Far too used to hiding his lack of body heat with layers of clothes, Mitchell was also used to removing more layers of clothes given the chill of English nights. It was unfair for Sookie to be so near naked and him so far behind, wanting to join her. He didn't fuss at being undressed, only wishing he could help move things along. Not one to be embarrassed over his appearance -- It was what it was and had been for nearly a hundred years -- Mitchell merely smirked under her judicious gaze.

He chuckled low in his throat and slipped his arms under Sookie's and around her waist, pushing in for a kiss as he pulled the worn woolen gloves off behind her back. "Maybe," he murmured against her mouth, his teeth grazing her bottom lip. The gloves dropped to the floor and his hands, warm and soft, slid up her back to the clasp of her bra. "They're going to be a bit busy."

[justsookie]

Although his words sent a thrill up Sookie's spine, one that manifested in the quaver of her breath as she returned his kiss, what she couldn't help but notice was the warmth of his hands as they grazed against her skin. There was no need to gasp at their touch in the way that she had with Bill's, as cold as they often were in the chill of the night. No, this was entirely new, starting over, with someone who was alive. She pushed forward with an eager groan, kissing him more assertively as one hand raked down his chest to settle at his belt, tugging it free of the buckle as quickly as she could manage.

"I like the sound of that," she confessed between kisses, fingers lingering by his hip as she toed her sandals off, then slowly worked on the zipper of his jeans. "Pretty sure mine have their work cut out for them, too."