Who: Sookie and Tom Where: Sookie’s What: PPPIIIEEEE! When: Sunday, 27th, after the Jake-thread Rating: low Status: closed, complete
It had been a hassle to convince Jake that he was okay to walk on his own and wouldn’t get himself stuck in the next best subway he found. Not that there were actually subways on the island. And Jesus Christ, as much as he disliked the place at times, he had missed the island. Especially, for its people. And today, for the working showers. You never knew how much you missed something unless you did not have it anymore. This was certainly true for warm running water and shower gel.
Next came a hunt for Izzy. While food had been a pressing matter just before he had reached the apartment building, finding Izzy took the priority spot just then. He wouldn’t have thought it possible to miss someone he had known for only so little time so much. But he had, to an amount that was scary. He hadn’t been able to find her in her apartment and Sookie’s was the next stop on his list (okay, the hunger might actually be the one behind choosing Sookie’s over Izzy’s workshop).
The moment he saw the owner of the bakery, Tom couldn’t help but smile. The young woman had such a good and kind hearted nature. “Hey, Sook,” Tom mumbled as he walked over to the counter. “Uh, you got any food for me?” His original attention had been to act nonchalantly - an attention that was abandoned seconds after spotting her. The smile on Tom’s face was undescribably huge.
***
For the time he’d been gone, it’d felt like both of her friends Izzy and Jake had fallen apart at the seams. It was a battle to get Jake to smile sometimes and as time went on and hope had abandoned them, it had only gotten harder to achieve. Sookie was trying to do her best to act like nothing had been wrong when inside she was starting to think that perhaps Tom was just gone like the others. It was hard to remain positive when there was overwhelming negativity: Tom hadn’t shown his face.
Her head was down, back turned to the counter as she washed dishes up in her yellow rubber gloves. Saturday was meant to be her appointment with Hannibal and she’d copped out and cried off sick so she could avoid talking about her feelings, her family and things. He was incredibly intense and Sook just wanted to avoid that. But now it meant owing Peggy a day off and doing the Sunday rush of cleaning and inventory.
Then she heard his voice. That familiar voice that she immediatetly associated with Jake and that was who she expected when she spun around to see. But the look in his eyes, standing alone in front of her… it wasn’t Jake. “Tom?” she blinked and then split her face with a wide grin, immediately diving for the end of the counter to round on him. Sookie couldn’t help but launch herself in a hug at him, wrapping tired arms around his too-thin body. He was alive, that was all she gave a damn about.
“You scared me half to death, you moron!” she chuckled, still hugging him tightly.
***
Tom chuckled soflty. His grin spread even more when her arms wrapped around him. He had missed this. The people here were forced together by chance, surviving in a world far away from their home and so unlike the one most knew. Tom thought that it brought them closer together. He had only known Sookie for a few months but he trusted her more than he had trusted a couple of his friends.
“You know that’s usually my brother. So what can I do to convince you to give me a pie?” he asked, his smile still lingering.
***
She had missed this too; letting the stress and worry out in the only way she knew how. Since the world she had come from had included terrible violence, panic and constant fear, Sookie knew when to appreciate when things were going well, when people she cared about were happy and alive most importantly. Sookie held onto Tom tightly but leant back a bit to let him breathe.
“I know, and he’s still a moron too but right now, you’re King skxawng. Do they know you’re even back yet?” she asked, looking up with concern since nobody had told her anything.
***
Tom appreciated being able to breathe. Air filling his lungs was definitely not something he wanted to miss. “Yeah, Jake does,” Tom nodded. He didn’t know if Jake had already informed everyone else but he wouldn’t put it past his brother to call everyone he knew the second Tom had stepped through that door. His twin was full of boyish enthusiasm and Tom wouldn’t want to have him any other way. “And, uh, you know Jake.”
***
Sookie nodded at his comment, chuckling as she finally let him go. Tom looked too different for her liking and being the Southern girl she was, had to get him sat down and looked after. She took care of her friends. “Tom, you look like you’re about to keel over, you need to sit down,” it wasn’t really asking, more like telling. Ordering. Okay, she was bossing him around but there was a very good need to feed him lodged in her brain. “Let me get you something to eat. I have pie. All your favourites.”
***
Right now, Tom did not mind being fussed over. The Sully twins had an independent streak. When your parents died when you were barely an adult, you needed to learn to stand on your own legs, make your own choices. But right now, Tom was far too tired to complain. He happily let Sookie do the thinking. So Tom sat down and looked up at her expectantly.
“Am I allowed the ones with real sugar?” Tom said with the silly expression of a child who had been promised his favourite candy.
***
She chuckled and pulled out the plastic menu from the pocket on the side of a booth, handing it to him, “Yes, but if you tell Izzy, I’m denying all responsibility for your choices.” Sookie pulled out her notepad and pencil, “Would you like a minute to make a choice or do you know what you’d like?” she asked, putting on her waitressing voice.
***
Over the last month Tom had contemplated this choice over and over again. Everyday he had come to a different conclusion. Sweet or savoury - it was a hard decision. And it seemed like an important one. God, he had fantasised about these pies. “Uh, what’s the current special?” he asked after a moment of undecidedness. He’d take that one. Something new.
***
Sookie smiled, “We have two pies special this month. One is a savoury macaroni pie with five cheese sauce and cheddar parmesan crust, topped with bacon crumbles or the sweet option is apple cranberry pie with pecan streusel crust, served warm with either ice cream, cream or English custard.” she rattled off. “Which would you like?”
***
Two pies? He heard the words and knew he was doomed. Tom tried to construct them in his head. He didn’t know all the ingredients but he knew enough to make his mouth water. Finally, after his growling stomach nudged him to make a decision, he ended with the only one that human to his mind: “Uh, can I have both?”
***
Sookie raised her eyebrow at him and thought for a second. She was kind of a soft touch when it came to the Sully boys. “I guess it’s okay as long as you promise me you’re gonna go see the doctor. Just… don’t go see Dr. Lecter. Trust me.” she chuckled and wrote down his order, “Do you want something to drink too?”
***
“Err… yeah. Something that’s not water. You got a beer?” Tom asked. Frankly, he had no idea how late it was. Maybe it was just ten in the morning. You started to lose track when you were stuck underneath the earth. His own watch had broken by an attempt to torture a broken down wall into vanishing. But he could need a beer anyway.
***
Sookie nodded, tilting her head at him. "There's a cold beer in the fridge but you're only having one. I'll get killed by your relatives otherwise." She squeezed his shoulder tightly as if to remind herself that he was real and actually alive. "You can take a care package home but I'll make sure it's healthy food. I don't want you dying on me again." She went to the fridge and grabbed a beer, cracking it open with a bottle top. "Your pie will be ready in a few minutes, I'll just go put them both in the oven." She said, putting the beer down in front of Tom.
***
“Uhm, sorry that I got you worried,” Tom mumbled as he inspected the beer slowly. Feeling the cool bottle in his hands was an overwhelming feeling. “Guess I should leave the whole stunt stuff to Jake. Scientists belong into their labs, eh?” Would something like this have happened to Jake? He wasn’t sure. In some aspects his twin was smarter than him though he went to great lengths to make it up for it in others.
***
Sookie put his slices of pie into the oven at the front of the counter to warm through and tidied up herself, covered in flour as she was. Sook had missed Tom a lot; learning Na'vi from him had been easy and fun and without him, she'd lost a chunk of her knowledge. And she missed him too, of course. "Hey now," she muttered, sitting across from him and putting her hand on his arm, "You're more than just a scientist, you know. And I forgive you for leaving and getting lost. I'm just glad you're back."
***
Tom smiled a genuine smile. “Thanks, Sook,” he said. “You know, a part of me is really glad to have landed here.” It wasn’t what he had wanted for life. It wasn’t what he had trained for all these years. And sometimes he missed his future - would have been future - badly. Pandora - he had looked forward to it. But it wasn’t going to happen. Even if he would have gone, even if he had lived, things wouldn’t have been like he had wished them to. His dreams would have crumbled anyway. Due to death or human selfishness. No, here was good. It was better than his earth. He had nature! It still was the most incredible thing. A living breathing system. There wouldn’t be a day when he would not be fascinated with it. Millions of years of chance had brought it into existence and there wasn’t a single part of it that wasn’t beautiful. Everything had its place, its purpose. Everything worked together. It was mind boggling. And he loved it. Nature was all he had ever wanted. And now he had it all. His brother, wonderful friends and Izzy. And all of them (even Jake) endured his excited babbling.
***
Sookie forced herself not to listen to the thoughts that were obviously whirling in his head. She knew the Sully brothers were men of few words; sometimes it was like talking to a steel wall instead of a brick one, but she hated to invade people’s privacy like that. Lecter called it a gift but Sook knew it was a curse. But there was something she thought was a gift. “Being here, it’s like some insane dream that turns into a nightmare and back again.” She chuckled, leaning back and letting her hand drop from on top of his. “Do you want to see something?”
Sook put her hands palms up with the fingers curled loosely. She closed her eyes and concentrated hard as sparks of bright golden light shot from her fingers like she was cutting metal. Her eyes opened and she breathed, “It’s sunlight. It’s nature, right? That’s your area.”
***
Tom jumped. Whatever he had expected, this hadn’t been it. His whole body jerked with surprise. He nearly swiped the bottle of beer off the table. “Fuck!” he swore. “That’s, uh, that’s sunlight?” And then he remembered: she could read minds. He had almost forgotten it. Sookie had special skills - magical skills - like Izzy. She wasn’t a normal human being. And now that he remembered he felt strangely vulnerable again. He knew he should trust her - he knew he could. But she could listen to his thoughts and feelings if she wanted. All his fears, doubts, all the parts of himself that he wished to go away were open to her like a book. The privacy of someone’s mind had always been a given. But here it wasn’t anymore. No laws of nature were given anymore. There was nothing you could ever count on. If gravity on day decided that it was underpaid, it would simply go on a strike. He wouldn’t put it past happening here.
***
“Uhm, yeah it’s… it’s sunlight. It’s just a stupid trick.” Sookie immediately stopped as soon as he cussed. The blood drained from her face, partly from shame and partly from being tired practising. He was the only one she’d thought would ever accept her ability, or at least the only person she thought might; Sook didn’t know many people that well after all. As soon as she stopped, Sook stood up, embarrassed and ashamed. She shouldn’t have done that. Dr Lecter was right that it wasn’t a good thing, to be advertising herself. She plastered on her smile, “Pie’s done.” Tom probably would never look at her like a person again. So few people back in her world did anyway and she’d known them for much longer. Hell, her own mother had been scared of her. Sookie busied herself behind the counter, plating up the pies.
***
Tom immediately felt bad. No matter what his feelings, he hadn’t meant to shoo her away. He hadn’t meant to hurt hers. The excitement about the pie was dim. Friends came first. “I - uh - it’s pretty amazing, you know. Sorry, I’m just getting used to this whole magic stuff. How - uh - where did it come from - the sunlight?” He followed her towards the counter, taking a place there and placing his beer in front of him.
***
“It’s not magic.” Sookie insisted, sliding the two pieces of pie onto separate plates as she had her back to the counter, working to just keep to herself. “It’s what I am, at least part of who I am. The part that isn’t human.” she rubbed her arm nervously. If he was agitated at the sight of her abilities, how was he going to react to her genetics? “Part of me isn’t human, it’s another species. A tiny part,” she turned and looked at him, setting down the plates. “Miniscule, really. Not worth mentioning.” she tucked her hair back.
“There’s a vampire here, someone I know from my world. He knew what I was so I fed him in exchange for some answers and those are the ones he gave me.” she shrugged. Dr. Lecter was the only other person who knew anything about this. Maybe it had just gotten built up inside her but she trusted Tom like a brother. “I’m sorry. I thought… since you worked on the avatars project… and the science…” she waved her hand, “It’s silly.”
***
“Oh… err… what?” he concluded as they came to the feeding point and then his thoughts got kind of stuck there. She fed a vampire? They drank blood, at least in most literature. Which meant that she had let herself get hurt. Sookie wasn’t his girlfriend or his sister but she was close enough to him that he came to the conclusion that that wasn’t right. “Is he a danger to you?”
***
Sookie wiped down the countertop before crossing her arms over her chest defensively. It was her body, her choice as far as she was concerned. “Eric likes to talk a big game but as long as you play up to his ego, he’ll give in.” she shrugged, “I’m fine anyway. My ex was a vampire too and he fed from me, I took some supplements and I was fine.” She served up herself a slice of pie too but preferred hers cold. “Don’t you go trying to protect me either, Tom Sully or there’ll be no pie ever again, sugar free or not. Now eat that up before I change my mind.” Sook hopped up onto the counter and sat there as she ate her cherry pie. “You’re going to Bruce right?” she said, hoping to change the subject from her poor decision making.
***
Tom nodded at the question. “Yeah, I will.” Bruce was his doctor of trust. The man had saved his life and that was a healthy start into a patient-doctor relationship. But the topic of vampires wasn’t over. “Just don’t let him hurt you, yeah? If he did, I had to try and hurt him and I doubt that ends well for me.” He tried to pull it into a joke but the bare content still stood: he did not want Sookie to get hurt. “So, uh, what is it what you are then?”
***
Sookie bit her lip, refraining from commenting that Eric would probably rip Tom in half with one fang and drain him dry before he could blink. She appreciated the sentiment, as misguided as it was. “You have to promise me you won’t laugh, Sully.” she pouted, “I’m.. part Fairy.” She waited for his reaction. “I know it’s fucking lame but they’re meant to be really old creatures with a direct link to nature and they have these powers and stuff that somehow I got because my great great great great whatever was one of them.” she rambled, trying to ignore how ridiculous it sounded. “I just want rid of it now. The powers.. they have a way of making you feel disconnected. Like everyone’s afraid of you.” she finished. “You know, just sometimes.”
***
Tom’s reaction was the following: a frown and bitten lips to keep him from smiling. Fairy was, uh, interesting. Weren’t they tiny and had wings and such? Then again, the local pub was run by a vampire that walked around in broad daylight. He guessed supernatural creatures just didn’t like sticking to folklore. And then she came to the part where she mentioned that everyone was afraid. The guilt crept in. It had been his first reaction, hadn’t it? And he still wasn’t sure of it. But it wasn’t her that scared him. It was simply everything. “You know, in Spain Izzy saved my ass. We ran into these burglars - I seem to somehow invite people to mug me, I don’t know - and yeah, not sure what would have happened if Izzy hadn’t cast a spell. Uhm, I guess what I’m trying to say is that everything about this experience is scary to me. I’ve been studying physics, maths, chemistry and biology. My life has been dedicated to explain the world and suddenly I can’t anymore. And it’s the one thing I’m really good at. But now, the most likeliest explanation is magic. Something I know nothing about. Something that doesn’t make sense and sense is something I’ve always believed in. So, yeah, it’s scary. Everything is scary. But it’s a bit less scary if people like you and Izzy are on my side. Don’t try to get rid of them. I can tell you that being a mere human with no powers and no understanding for this sort of thing makes you feel very, very little.” He had never openly expressed these feelings, not like this. But he thought they would help Sookie and giving away his own insecurities were just so much easier with someone who felt as vulnerable as you.
***
She smiled softly, knowingly. Sookie hadn’t considered how important it must be for him to feel normal after what he’d been through being alone for the last month and how much he must have missed feeling normal. She licked her spoon of cherry pie clean and took a spoon of his apple pie for good measure. “You know that once, hundreds of years ago or whatever, people saw electricity in the sky and were scared because they couldn’t explain it. What might seem magical or fictional right now might one day be completely explainable by the laws of physics. I bet if you looked at my blood, there’d be some evidence of what I am. Genetically something’d…” she rambled. “All it takes is the right mind and determination to figure these things out. For God’s sake, they convert solar rays into electricity and vegetable oil into fuel. I don’t know a lot about science but that’s magic to me.” she ate a spoon of his pie, swinging her legs off the counter top. Sook didn’t want Tom to just give up science, his passion and talent, just because of the new and terrifying. She was terrified too.
***
Tom nodded. Izzy had tried to convince him of the same. Even Tom had tried to convince himself of the same. He had asked Izzy to explain it to him but he couldn’t quite grasp it. It was just too far out of his reach. Or maybe he was just not clever enough for it. But she was right - it was like electricity. The Mayas, people from Egypt, everyone - they had all created gods to explain what they had experienced: water dripping from the sky, the tides of the ocean, life. And Tom had his very own: gravity, atoms, DNA. Those were his explanations. But maybe it was time to open up. Was he like the church reacting to Copernicus? Maybe magic was just another factor to physics. There was still so much that was unknown and not understood. There was dark matter, for example. It was a human invention to make to make physical phenomena explainable. Gravity wouldn’t make sense without it. But besides the hole in the explanation, there was no prove. You couldn’t observe it. Just like the placebo effect. No one knew how that worked. Maybe this was magic. Maybe it had always been around like electrons had always been around when the Egypts had tried to make sense of fire.
It was still hard to believe and a part of him refused to do so. But hadn’t he sworn to believe evidence no matter what it told him? If the data spoke against your hypothesis, you abandoned it, no matter how much effort it took to create it. No matter how much you liked it. And Tom himself had frowned at scientist who had been reluctant to let go who twitched their explanations just so that the data fit the theory. And now his brain wanted to do the same. The data was pro-magic. Tom wasn’t. But he had to believe it, like the church had to believe in a heliocentric system. Otherwise, he would get left behind and believe in something that was a lie. And even if he did not like the truth, it was better than accepting a fake.
“Valid point,” Tom mumbled and smiled at his friend. His pie was forgotten over science. Thinking regularly made him forget about food. “I guess it’s just hard to accept, you know. I know nothing about it.” He shrugged. And he couldn’t do it. So he guessed that his scientific use was outdated. He was the Professor with a knowledge of 50 years ago.
***
(Yes! He is!)
Sookie suddenly realised and chuckled with mirth. “Oh my God, Tom Sully, are you moping and being all Jake-ish about the unknown because you don’t know it?” she smiled and hopped off the counter, coming behind and wrapping her arms around him tightly, kissing his cheek lasciviously. “That is too adorable. But hey, if you want to do some experiments, I’m your girl. God knows Bruce would like to get his hands on me for some tests. Dr Lecter even did MRIs and CT scans and he couldn’t see anything. You’re welcome to attempt to explain the unexplainable.” she ruffled her fingers through his hair before standing up, “You have a wealth of unexplainable people on the island. There’s big green monsters, vampires, super soldiers of like three different kinds. Witches and now there’s a fairy. Don’t call me Tinkerbell and we’ll get along fine.” she giggled.
***
Tom’s first impulse was to object. He wasn’t like Jake. And Jake wasn’t moping. Well, he was but only Tom was allowed to say that. But then she went on and his frown grew. He wasn’t moping! And he surely wasn’t adorable while doing so! But the prospect of science was endearing. He wanted - needed - to know more about everything he did not understand. “O-kay…,” he said reluctantly. “Thanks, I guess?” Scepticism poured from his words. He still wasn’t sure where the whole adorable came from.
***
She beamed at his perplexed expression, releasing him from her hold and hopping back up on the counter. Screw it, if he wasn’t going to have the pie, she’d steal it. “If you wanted, obviously. I ain’t gonna force you to look at me with your science eye.” Sook shrugged and grabbed a fork from the side to eat his macaroni pie. “How are you feeling, anyway?” she asked a little more softly, “Are you in pain?”
***
The moment Sookie started to eat from his pie, Tom noticed what he was missing out on. He took a bite and grinned. “ This is good," he said through a mouth full of pie. The forgotten hunger was back immediately and demanded his attention. "But I'm fine. Just hungry, you know." His knee was scratched open but that was just a minor injury. Nothing to worry about. "How have you been? "
***
Sook looked at him intently, trying to gauge whether he was lying without looking into his mind. He didn’t look completely okay, he seemed a little too thin for her liking but she was used to feeding men more than their fair share. “As long as you’re okay. But go to the doctor anyway.” Sook hopped off the counter, “I’ve been okay. I’m seeing another doc here. He’s… helpful.” she thought that was the right way to describe Hannibal.
***
The short hesitation did not go unnoticed but he wouldn’t pry into it. She could tell him if she wanted but if she didn’t, he wouldn’t press the matter. “So, uh, is he helping you with what you are?” he asked.
***
Sookie thought about that for a second. Was she actually being helped? “Yes.” she said after a moment, “He’s got this way about him, this intensity. I thought he was scary at first, but he’s helping me to see that what I am might not be a complete curse.” she looked at Tom, “That I could help people sometimes so they might not be so scared of me.” she smiled a little, “At the least, Dr Lecter isn’t scared of me.”
***
Tom nodded. “So, is he like a psychiatrist?” He had wanted to say ‘shrink’ at first but that wasn’t sensible. Who wouldn’t see someone after being different all your life and if he helped her, then it was the right thing to do.
***
She nodded, “Yeah, I don’t know how that happened. He’s really good at what he does.” Sook smiled softly. “It started out as just a doctor’s appointment and then he found out about my weird brain and wanted to talk to me.” Sook shrugged. She had never really thought about the fact she was seeing a psychiatrist.
***
“If he can help, then it’s good,” Tom said, nodding again. He took another bite and let the pie crumble and melt in his mouth. “Hmm, this is really good.” He had said that before but it needed to be said again. This was better than his dreams had been. He side-eyed the apple-cranberry pie. A part of him wanted a pre-taste. But switching between savoury and sweet might ruin the taste. Tom was torn.
***
Sook saw him looking at the apple pie and felt like being evil. “You know how good that crust it?” she said, pulling the pie towards her, “Just melts in the mouth, like butter… but sweet, crumbly, crunchy little caramelly pecan pieces…” she picked up a fork, “Apples are soft and tender, sweet enough without hurting your teeth and then there comes these little bursts of cranberry inside.” she got some pie on the fork, “The perfect Fall pie.”
***
Tom stared at her while his mouth watered. “Sookie Stackhouse, you are a goddamn pie-tease.” He shrugged and let her win. He hooked the plate with his fork and pulled it closer to him. Ten seconds later, the sweet delicious taste melted on his tongue. At this very moment, he would substitute all the sex in this world for the taste in his mouth. “God, this is good.”
***
Sookie beamed and took her mouthful, knowing her mission was accomplished. Tom was back to being Tom, love of pie and everything intact. She just needed to look after him, get him to Bruce and back to Izzy and then life would feel normal again. “Thanks. It was my Gran’s recipe.”
***
“So, how is everyone else doing?” Tom asked while his mouth got filled again. Everyone else mostly consisted of Izzy, Sarah and Rachel - his family. He hadn’t gotten used to that thought just yet. He wasn’t sure if he would ever get used to that thought.
***
Sookie looked down, “They missed you. Rachel... I don’t think she ever gave up hope that you’d come back to us here. Now you are, she’s gonna be impossible to live with.” Sook joked and smiled, “Izzy’s a mess, so was Jake… Sarah’s kind of caught up in her own things… but… I don’t know if you heard. Aaron lost his girlfriend. She was killed in New York and then another her came back…” Sookie sighed, “It’s been rough since you left.”
***
“Oh,” Tom mumbled. He didn’t know Aaron personally but he had helped Jake. Everyone who helped Jake was someone Tom cared about. “That’s shit, Sook!” The amount of people that died was scary. He wasn’t sure if them coming back could make up for it. No, he was pretty damn sure it couldn’t. “All these deaths - it makes you scared.”
***
Sookie nodded sadly, “Yeah it does. I guess. You can die anywhere but here it seems worse. We’re a community, a whole island of people just waiting to go home but we’re already home. It’s here, together. We live as a family and that’s how it hurts when people die.” she put her hand on his shoulder and squeezed, “But you’re back. Good things happen too.
***
Tom smiled and nodded. “They definitely do. I mean, I should be dead right now. So I should be glad for everything that comes.” He was - mostly. But sometimes the whole island made it hard for you to see this as a second chance. He didn’t want to live to see his brother suffer and people die.
***
“Hey,” she said softly, sympathetically, “You need to talk about this?” Sookie looked Tom in the eye, knowing pain when she saw it. It was plastered all over him, or at least she thought so. Sook hopped down from the counter, “If you need to talk, I’ll just listen like you need.”
***
Tom shook his head softly. Sookie was too kind. She always seemed to worry more than the person she was talking to. She was a good friend. “Nah, it’s okay. Jake, uh, already offered. I guess I just need a few days, yeah?”
***
She nodded and hopped back down from the counter. Whatever it was that was going through his head, she was certain he’d go to someone for help. Sookie hated pushing for her friends to get help but it seemed like Tom was more than willing to get some in his own time if he needed it. “No problem, sweetie.” She smiled and walked around to the counter, “You want some pie to take home? You might not have any food there.”
***
The last spoonful of pie was swallowed and Tom pushed the empty plate away. Again, he shook his head. “I was on my way to Izzy’s shop. I’ll come back later, yeah? Thanks for the offer.” He beamed at her as he got up. His heart already started to pound at the prospect of seeing Izzy again.
***
“Deal.” Sook smiled, taking his empty plates and used cutlery. She was a bit nervous for him, seeing Izzy after all this time and how he treated her before. “You’ll be okay with Izzy, in the end. She’s a sweet girl, she’s my friend,” Sookie tilted her head a bit, “And I know she loves you to death, Tom. Just grovel at her feet and you’re all set.” She winked.