justsookie | travelers traveling and on, like the wheel that will take you home

[ continued from here ]

She remembers, again, the fact that children born on the island have come to expect the annual downfall of snow, of white blanketing their land momentarily in a way so pristine and pure. There's no need to worry about the snow lasting longer than kids might like, because there are only so many days, easily counted down even by the youngest of children. Smile broadening, Sookie tilts her head in Sam's direction, taking in the color of her eyes, brighter now for all her excitement. "Do you now? Guess that makes you a winter kind of girl," Sookie grins, leaning forward to rest her chin in her palm. "I'm more of a summer girl. I love the sun too much to give it up for anything."

Pressing her lips together at the thought of a certain vampire who would be all too invested in her turning back that admission, Sookie glances up in Mathias' direction again. "Should we set a time? Just so that I make sure I can beg out of a shift if I have to," she smiles, cheeks flushed at the thought. (She wonders, briefly, what Neil would even think, were he to know about any of this.)

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Wrinkling her nose, Sookie immediately waves her hand in dismissal of the assessment, shoulder hunching bashfully as she shakes her head and curls cascade about her shoulders. "You only say that because you haven't exactly seen the worst sides of me. Or what I look like when I'm totally overworked. Because... I mean, I still work as a waitress most days on the island, but it's totally different when you're trying to make ends meet and get stressed every day about looking kind enough to pull in the tips," Sookie points out, laughing under her breath. "So I'm... quite different here. Freer, you could say."

Crossing her arms over her chest, she stares over, eyes careful and assessing.

"Although maybe this means I should leave now while I'm ahead, keep your impression a good one while I try to figure out how I should prepare for our date," muses Sookie, brow arching in thought.

Mathias suspects most people feel freer on the island in the long run, away from the lives they had back home, away from stress and, too often, danger. And he doesn't want her to leave just yet, but he also knows he can't ask her to stay without sounding perhaps a little too pushy, a little too eager.

"You won't be the only one trying to figure out how to prepare," he answers, knowing he's going to spend the next several days wondering exactly how it's going to go or what he should do. It isn't that he's particularly nervous, but he wants the date to go well. He likes Sookie, which is a simple emotion, but one he hasn't experienced in some time. He likes her and he wants to impress her.

"Are you going now?" Sam asks, looking up at Sookie. "Will you come back to colour more?"

"You just have to be yourself," Sookie assures Mathias, reaching over to rest her hand on his briefly, just long enough that her heartrate seems to spike, pounding against her chest. She thinks that leaving for the moment is probably the best thing to do— if she stays much longer, surely she'll start tripping over her tongue, choking on her words. Better to leave the overanalyzing to herself, in the confinement of her hut. "Believe me, that'll be more than enough."

Turning to Sam is easier, Sookie's smile splitting wide as she pulls the girl close enough to press a kiss to the top of her head, ruffling her hair briefly before smoothing it out with gentle fingers. "I'm going now, yes," she confirms with a nod. "But I'll definitely be back to color, and I'll be back lots. Next time, I'll make sure to save more time on my schedule for you, okay Sam?"

"Okay," Sam says brightly, then returns to her colouring. The confirmation that Sookie will come back is enough for her and Mathias thinks it should be enough for him, too. It's so much easier for a child, though, and although he doesn't doubt Sookie, he doubts his ability to impress her at all or make her want to return.

"I can be myself," he says, instead of any of the thoughts running through his mind, any of the worries that he's suddenly imagining. There's no sense doing this, making himself so nervous that he begins to stumble over words or falls too quiet altogether. "I'll walk you to the door," he offers, pushing back from the colouring, not only to be polite but because he wants to see her for just a moment without Sam watching. He has nothing to hide from her, nothing he's ashamed of, but he isn't sure what she might think if he kisses Sookie, even if it's only on the cheek.

Smiling one more time at Sam, Sookie looks up just in time to see Mathias rise from the table and follows suit, giving Sam a last wave as the both of them head to the entrance of the hut. When Sookie thinks about it, this is the most she's felt like she's been a part of a home in ages. Months, at least. And no matter how pathetic that might sound to someone who doesn't know her, she's always had a yearning for this, for people who live in a home from day to day, who come to expect one another to be there, who won't turn one another out no matter what mistakes they may make over time. That's family, after all— unconditional.

She finds that her grin widens.

"It was really sweet of you to invite me in," Sookie murmurs, trying to keep her voice low enough to keep from disturbing Sam. "Even though I totally stopped by unannounced and all."

His smile grows as well and he shakes his head, dismissing that. "I invited you in with selfish motivations," he admits, though he's sure she's very aware of that by now, especially the way he pauses by the door and catches her hand. Although he hasn't dated all that much -- Henrich was always better at it, better at impressing girls, better at getting them to let down their walls -- he finds it funny that he should feel so hesitant now, after everything they've already done.

And still, he is hesitant. He has her hand now, remembers the touch of her fingertips on his skin and his neck heats at the memory, almost able to feel the sensation again.

"You can stop by whenever you would like," he tells her and even with her hand in his, he's still reluctant to press forward and kiss her, not because he doesn't want to. More than anything, he wants to kiss her goodbye, to know that he might be able to start their date with the same gesture. For just a moment, though, he wonders if she wants him to.

A girlish blush rises to her cheeks as their hands twine again, and Sookie finds herself distracted by the contact, her thumb brushing gently over the side of his palm. It's such a tiny thing compared to all that they've already done and seen of one another, but there's something about the sunlight that makes her shy, something about taking a few steps back that makes this more serious, and if nothing else, Sookie just doesn't want to mess this up. She's not naive enough to expect a sudden happily ever after for the two of them, but even the start and potential of something deep and lasting, friendship or more, has her heart fluttering against her chest.

"I'll keep that in mind," she tells him, not wanting to seem to eager, and perhaps more importantly, not sure how often she should come over at all. Self-restraint's never been her best skill, and with the three who live in the hut being so much of a family, she doesn't want to intrude too often. Not until she's naturally, perhaps, become part of that group.

Instead, she pushes up on her toes, pressing a brief kiss to the corner of Mathias' lips.

"Good," Mathias says and he smiles into the kiss, then turns his head slightly, catching her mouth in a longer kiss. There's something about the blush that he finds particularly sweet, and that she's leaned up to kiss him is enough to tell him that this is okay. This will be okay. They've planned a date and he hopes he won't do anything between now and then to give her reason to cancel.

"Then I will see you this weekend," he says against her mouth, then pulls back enough to see her, his fingers still twined with hers.

"See you this weekend!" Sam shouts from the other room and Mathias lets out a surprised laugh, glancing back toward her. She hasn't looked up from her colouring, but it's clear she can hear them and doesn't seem to have any interest in what they're doing beyond the knowledge that she'll get to see Sookie again.

Her breath catches when he turns enough to capture her lips in full, entire body tensing for a second before it melts away, her hand raising to brush at his cheek as she smiles against his lips. It's sweet, it's romantic, and it's just enough to keep from cloying as her hand brushes down the side of his neck, so glad for the contact, and even more glad for him.

"See you this weekend!" Sookie calls back to Sam, pulling away for that brief instant before her hand rests on Mathias' chest, feeling his head underneath. "And I'll see you as well." Slowly and reluctantly, she squeezes his hand before letting go of it as well, turning on the step and heading out into the sun, still feeling as though she might be on the cusp of bursting.

But she surely doesn't mind bursting like this.

travelers traveling and on, like the wheel that will take you home

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