Casino Night!

[broken_brushes]

When I'd first come up with the idea of Casino Night, I wasn't sure if it was even possible on the island. In retrospect, that might have been naive of me, because if there was anything I'd learned in over four years on Tabula Rasa, it was that its residents were capable of doing just about anything save getting home

Comments

[justsookie]

Sookie had never really gambled before. It always seemed like a pretty poor decision, making as little as she did at Merlotte's, and Sookie couldn't imagine taking thousands of dollars to haul over to Vegas to blow it all away in a couple of nights. The good thing about Shari's Casino Night, however, was the fact that the only things at stake were volunteered. Prizes were donated, the fee for entrance was just a few hours of volunteer work. Maybe she didn't know all of the math behind how it worked to guarantee herself a nice outcome- heck, she could hardly even remember the order of the hands in poker- but on the whole, it was all so nice that Sookie couldn't imagine being upset even if she came out empty-handed.

Things only improved when she decidedly didn't.

"I have a real sucky poker face," she declared excitedly when she found Mitchell at last, not having been able to spend much time with him when he was dealing at tables (not that they'd ever cheat). "But a whole lotta luck. Though I think I'm gambled out for the evenin'."

[chasinghumanity]

Grinning with pleasure at the sight of Sookie, Mitchell reached out to take her hand, pulling her just a bit closer to him. "Your sucky poker face doesn't matter when you're wearing a dress like that," he informed her. "Have I mentioned lately that you look gorgeous?" He had, at least twice since he had first seen her in that dress, but it bore repeating.

"You figured out what you're going to bid on?" he asked before taking a sip of his drink.

[justsookie]

In spite of how many times Mitchell had already complimented Sookie that evening, it didn't seem to matter- Sookie felt her cheeks flushing again as she leaned lightly against Mitchell, simply enjoying the way she could stay close to his side. Resting a hand on his chest, Sookie quirked a grin, slightly crooked, as she gave him another once-over. "Well, I had to pick up the pace to match the way you look in your tux. I don't think I've seen anyone more handsome," Sookie murmured, stealing a glance around to make sure they weren't attracting an audience, before pressing a quick, but lingering kiss to his lips.

With a satisfied little exhale, Sookie pulled just a touch away, her expression sobering as she looked around again, this time for Russell Edgington- making sure he wasn't within hearing range. "And I think I'm gonna place all my chips on all the self-defense sessions up for auction," she replied, forced levity in her voice. "Bein' in Buffy's class definitely helped, but having a different instructor could help."

[chasinghumanity]

Mitchell made a very soft but very pleased noise into the kiss. It didn't matter how many times they had done it, there was always pleasure to be had in kissing a beautiful woman that he loved.

The pleasure of the kiss and Sookie's falsely bright tone weren't enough however to deafen him against her words. "Sookie," Mitchell started quietly, his own tone a tight, low mix of concern and frustration. "You said-- Are you still worried about that jerk? Is that it?"

And here he had intended to bid on earrings for her.

[justsookie]

Sookie licked her lips nervously, hearing the change in Mitchell's tone, knowing that there was no way for her to completely avoid the topic. She'd never intended to, in the first place- after everything that Bill had hidden from her during their brief relationship, Sookie couldn't help thinking that all of the big, overarching details still had to be laid out. It was just a part of being in a relationship, and it wasn't fair to otherwise blindside someone one loved so dearly.

"Yeah," she sighed, leaning a little more heavily against Mitchell. "It's just... there's some stuff I can't get outta my head, and sometimes I just feel like it's a matter of time, y'know? Until someone comes to the island who isn't just actin' on religious beliefs, isn't just after, I don't know, fairy blood, but who'll actually want to hurt people. We've got the IPD and ITF and all, but I can't lose anyone else. That's all."

[chasinghumanity]

Mitchell's first look was cool and closed-off; it was also, to be fair, purely reactionary and appeared on his face without his conscious knowledge. Religious beliefs and a thirst for fairy blood were not extenuating circumstances under which behavior could be explained and forgiven. In his experience, human beings rarely hurt people just to hurt people. That kind of dark desire was reserved for the other, darker forces that moved alongside humanity. Humans lashed out at other humans because they were frightened, scared, stupid; religion fed those fears and selfishness was an expression of them. Mitchell did not think Sookie should fear what could come. He thought she had a right to fear what was. They had been lucky only

[justsookie]

While Mitchell spoke, Sookie managed to keep completely calm, watching him with wide eyes and instinctively squeezing his hand in return. The more she thought about it, though, the more she found her own impulses, her own beliefs, diverging with his. It wasn't that she couldn't see his point-of-view- if anything, it had once been her belief, that all people needed to do was stay out of the way of trouble, keep quiet, let it all pass by- but after weeks of endless troubles back home, followed by assault on an island that was, relatively speaking, as peaceful as could be, Sookie couldn't find it in herself to remain idle anymore