Who: Izzy and Sookie Where: Sookie’s place What: Girl’s night When: Backdated to Tuesday evening 29 Oct Rating: Low Open: Nope Status: Gdoc, complete.
Izzy arrived at Sookie’s doorstep with a tote bag filled with assorted bottles of wine along with a bottle each of Kahlua and chocolate sauce. Ice cream was good, but it was better with some extra flavoring. After adjusting the straps of the bag over the one shoulder she knocked on the door.
She’d wanted to get some private time with her friend ever since the revelation Sunday about Sookie’s telepathic abilities. It hurt a little that Sook would confide in Tom but not her, but that was something they would get straightened out tonight. The fact the other woman was a telepath didn't bother her in the slightest, Sookie didn't show any interest in using the abilities to snoop on people as far as she could tell, and had a big heart. Izzy couldn't see why she should shun her friend and this was her way of showing that nothing was going to change on her end.
***
Sookie had looked intensely forward to a night with her friend, even going so far as to shut the bakery early so she could get everything together in time at her home, ready for Izzy to come. Sook had had a crazy week, what with Hannibal and then Tom and everything in between. She felt bad about not telling Izzy about her abilities but Izzy felt like her only real friend here. Sure, there was Tom and Jake and even Peggy but it wasn't the same. Izzy felt like someone Sook could really get along with and she didn't like jeopardizing that by revealing her disability.
As the knock came, Sookie swallowed her nerves. She knew that Izzy was upset and maybe if she confided something to her that nobody but Sookie knew, it'd be alright again. Opening the door, she smiled, "Hey Izz. Come in." She stepped aside.
***
"Hey you,". Izzy stepped inside and gave her friend a quick one armed hug on the way through. “I’m glad you said yes, I really needed a girl’s night after the last couple days.” She continued on into the kitchen to deposit her wares.
Between the tension between herself and Juliet over how she’d interacted (or not) with the girls and the situation with Tom, Izzy sorely needed downtime and a girl’s night with Sookie was just what the doctor ordered. It wasn't her intent to exclude Juliet, but they’d also be talking about Sookie’s telepathic powers tonight if she had anything to say about it and that wasn't Izzy’s secret to share.
“How was the bakery today? Get swamped by hungry customers?”
***
Sookie nodded and chuckled softly, leading Izzy into her spotlessly clean kitchen where ice cream was softening on the table. She wondered when they’d broach the subject of her powers but she decided to let the conversation flow more naturally and instead just smiled, “It was manic, I don’t know why but everybody’s got their sweet teeth in. Maybe it’s because of Halloween or something. I am completely sold out of chocolate peanut butter cream pie..” she smirked, “Except for two slices. I hid those for us.”
Sook looked at Izzy’s bags and grinned, “Wine and sauce, right? Awesome. How are you, by the way? You get everything with Tom worked out or do I need to poison him?”
***
“No, you don’t need to poison him,” Izzy shook her head at her friend. “The problem is me, not him, now that I know the island messed with his head. I was mad at him and hurt all this time and none of it was his fault, but it’s going to take me a little while to work past it I think.”
She felt horrible about it, but the memories were still there. Even though it hadn't been Tom in his right mind, it had seemed real to Izzy and it still hurt. The love was still there, but there was a wariness alongside it that was going to take time to overcome and get them back to the way they were before.
“I have to thank you, Sookie.” Izzy told the other woman. “If not for you I wouldn't know for sure if he was telling the truth or just trying to pretend he didn't know anything about it.” She let her hands go to her hips as she faced the elephant in the room. “I've got to ask though: was it such a terrible secret in this place you’re a telepath that you couldn't tell me? I’m a magic user for heaven’s sake! One from a world where magic is out in the open!”
***
Sookie hung her head, stilling as Izzy let herself say her piece. It wasn't like she didn't have it coming but the words, well, they still felt bad coming from her best friend. Sook pulled out two glasses and sat down at her dining table, the corkscrew already out. “I’m glad I could help but I don’t know how much I helped.” she said quietly, knowing that there was something inside her that was all kinds of wrong too. Something she hated and wanted out of her.
“I’m sorry that I didn't tell you,” Sook poured them both a glass of wine each and took a long sip of her own. “I don’t really know for sure why I didn't.” Her head in her hands for a second, she took a breath and another sip for courage. “Everyone is afraid of me, back home. My own mother was afraid of me. Who wouldn't be, right? Knowing what I could know, being a telepath, I’d be scared of me and all I remember of her is her being scared to touch me. I was five.”
Sookie looked up at Izzy. “I’m sorry, Izzy, I just… I just couldn't. I don’t want you to look at me that way. Tom did, I know he’s scared of me. The only person I've met here who hasn't treated me differently is Dr. Lecter and I think that’s mostly because he’s trained to not be weirded out by random crap.”
***
“I trust you Sook.” Izzy took the glass of wine and had a long sip herself. “You’ve got one of the biggest hearts I've ever seen and you love helping people. I might have to cast a few protective spells now that I’m thinking about it, but that’ll be because there might be other telepaths out there I don’t trust. Like whatever was responsible for messing with Tom.”
Mental magic wasn't her strong suit, but with enough time and effort there were spells she could cast to protect against mental intrusion. Probably on a piece of jewelry or something of that nature.
“”You’re still my friend and that isn't going to change on my end because of your ability.”
***
Sookie thought for a second, twirling the stem of the wine glass between her fingers. It was hard to admit but she still wasn't sure if Izzy truly trusted her, but then she wondered who could truly trust another person in that way? Maybe she was reaching for the unobtainable. “Whatever I am, this isn't like magic. It’s deeper than that, it…” she shook her head, “It’s who I am, more than what I am. There’s more to my power than just the telepathy but I can’t control it yet.”
She took another sip of her wine, “Your magic, how did you get it? You learn it, study it or does it just come naturally as breathing?” she asked, curious as to the extent of Izzy’s abilities.
***
“The talent comes as naturally as breathing, though I’m better at some aspects of magic than others.” Izzy admitted cheerfully after another sip of wine. “I had to go to school for it, kind of like a ‘Harry Potter’ type thing except it was grounded in the real world and we had to learn the same sort of things everyone else did in addition to magic.” She could have sworn they’d talked about this a little before, but it wasn't as if she was trying to keep it a secret.
***
Sookie sighed in relief as Izzy talked about her own magic, realizing that maybe they weren't so different after all. She’d been terrified that Izzy would reject her, like other people had. It seemed to spring a couple of ways; they either were angry at her, scared of her, or wanted to study her brain to figure out why. “I’m going to have to start calling you Hermione or something.” she teased, taking another sip of wine.
“But there’s more to it than just my telepathy, Izz. I showed Tom but he just… well, it didn't exactly have a good reaction.” She chuckled and put her wine glass to one side. Maybe showing Izzy this would help. “Okay.” Sook put her hands palm up, her fingers curled slightly. Closing her eyes she concentrated hard, trying to think of good things.
After a second, golden sparks came from the tips of her fingers and thumbs and she opened her eyes. “I’m not completely human.” she muttered.
***
"Oh wow," Izzy breathed, clearly surprised. Whatever she'd been expecting, that wasn't it. It took her a moment to stop staring at Sookie's hands and brought her eyes up to meet those of her friend. “That’s pretty cool Sook. Does it do anything more than make pretty fireworks or is that it? I've never met anyone who had Sidhe ancestry in their background but I’d bet that’s what you are.”
***
Sookie chuckled as the sparks died completely. “That’s all I can make. I did it once at home, bigger than that but I was angry and scared and my ex’s life was in danger so I just acted on instinct.” She reached for her wine again, knowing her sparks wouldn't come back for a long time. “What’s Sidhe?” she asked, interested. She knew she had Faery ancestry but other than that, she had no idea.
***
“It’s a fancy way of saying Fae or Faerie, Sidhe are very powerful beings that were considered gods or angels by earlier cultures. They aren't very common in the mortal realm anymore, at least not in my world.” Izzy shrugged. “You hear stories about them and every so often one would show up when something got them interested enough to see what we’re up to. They seemed to be attracted to poets and artists most of all.”
She reached for her wine. “I’m so sorry to hear about how you were treated growing up Sook, horrible doesn't begin to describe it. For me, magic was a ticket out of being poor so you can bet my mom encouraged me to study hard.”
***
Sookie smiled, relieved that Izzy hadn't had the same experiences she had. She didn't like talking about her telepathy but something Izzy had said made Sook’s eyes widen. “Faery? That’s what I’m supposed to be. I think he said they were called Fae, Faery, The Old Ones…” Sook fiddled with her wine glass, “Maybe our magic, our powers are similar?” she wondered aloud, not knowing the extent of Izzy’s powers or the source of them. Sook barely knew a thing about her own ones, after all.
***
Izzy shook her head. “If your Fae and mine are the same kind then I very much doubt you’re even a half Fae, you’d have much more than just telepathy and sparkly fingers. The Fae make the most powerful human mage ever born look like they’re doing nothing but parlor tricks. Are you allergic to iron at all?”
***
Sook shook her head, “No, not that I know. I’m not allergic to anything.” She sipped the last of her wine and decided to take a break before pouring herself more. “I guess it’s just a coincidence then. We’re just called the same name.” She tried not to sound disappointed; spending a long time not knowing what you were was lonely and tiresome but that wasn't Izzy’s problem or her fault. “Could you teach me anything? Like you learned?”
***
“Some.” Izzy said after a moment’s thought. “Even if you don’t have any natural talent there’s some magics you can learn. They’re just more difficult and require more components, but the more talent the easier it is to learn and do.”
She tapped her fingers on her wine glass speculatively. “Is that something you want to do?”
***
“Maybe?” she looked up at Izzy, biting her lower lip in thought. “If I can control it better than I can already, maybe I won’t be so scared of people. And maybe they wouldn't be so scared of me.” She chuckled wryly, pouring a little more wine. “But I was never much good at holding up my barriers for long. Without those, it’s just constant. Images, feelings, thoughts. Like if you thought about making out with Tom loud enough, I’d probably hear it because I've had this.” She held up her wine. “Same thing happens when I take drugs too. No filter.”
***
“Magic has a lot of self discipline involved.” Izzy warned. “We should probably work on you building your barriers up first. I can help a little with that, I have access to the technical libraries back home so I can see what references I can dig up on telepathy.”
She smiled at her. “But first I want you to read my mind and tell me what I’m thinking.” At the same time she concentrated on this: Sookie Stackhouse is my friend and I’m not scared of her. I think she has an amazing gift, she just needs to learn how to use it.
***
Sook nearly teared up as she let her barriers down and let herself into Izzy’s head. She could hear more besides her thoughts but those were whispers that she couldn't quite discern: there was one strong thought in her head. “I’m Sookie Stackhouse and you’re my friend and you’re not scared of me. You think I have an amazing gift and you think I only need to learn how to use it.” she beamed and felt like bear-hugging Izzy. “Thank you.”
***
“You’re welcome Sook.” Izzy beamed back at her. “What are friends for? Now!” She stood up. “Let’s get out that ice cream, I think we've earned a bowl.”