New Year's Eve

[plantfood]

Although he isn't prone to overindulging, Mathias is impressed with his own restraint when presented with so many drinks from home. It's been several hours now and he's on his third and last beer of the night, though he knows he could find any number of brands he's particularly fond of and suspects he could drink himself sick on all the things he misses from home. This third beer, however, is just enough and he's pleasantly buzzed, warm and flushed, feeling better than he has in some time.

The past few weeks haven't been hard. They've been good on the surface. He has friends -- good friends, people he's come to love -- and there's a beautiful woman who seems to like him. A woman he enjoys spending time with, someone Sam has taken to fairly well and Mathias knows that these are all good things and yet he can't stop and settle for even a moment.

He can't stop thinking about Veronica.

Things are good on the surface and he's always been good at making sure people only ever see the surface, but beneath that things aren't good. They aren't bad. But they aren't good and he finds himself feeling more and more guilty with every passing day.

The beer, though, has helped. For the moment, he's not thinking about much of anything except the music and the food and the beer. He's wearing a smile as he leans against the wall, his tie pulled loose and the top button of his shirt undone. The bottle is dangling absently from his fingers, though he hasn't forgotten that it's there, and when he sees Sookie, the smile only grows. He might feel guilty most days, but right now, it's just nice to see her.

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[justsookie]

She's never been the best at restraint. More than anything else, Sookie Stackhouse knows that her personality is one that runs straight down its course, rarely stops for anything, for all that her principles are mired deep and pulled together from any number of experiences in her past. She's a girl who feels strongly, and all those emotions are hard to hold back by any stretch of the imagination, save for denial. There are times when she's able to lie to herself, chasing after an ideal, a dream long since gathered, but tonight, she's starting to feel all of that unravel. As much as she wants to believe that the situation is perfect, a turn for the fairy tale, with a man so sweet and understanding, responsible enough to care for a child not his own— there's something missing in the equation.

Strings holding her back.

When she spots Mathias, Sookie feels her heart pounding against her chest, and her cheeks suddenly feel warm, abuzz with energy, even as her hands fidget with the folds of her dress, fabric creased in places where she's sat too long just now. Speaking with Mitchell. Agreeing to give that relationship another try. Agreeing to close the door on the smile in front of her eyes. (Not for the first time, even in those few minutes, Sookie asks herself whether or not this is a mistake.)

There's no sugarcoating a choice like that, and so when Sookie finally weaves her way to a more intimate distance, she immediately takes a breath to steel herself. "So," she begins, resting her hand on her chest to calm her heart. "Remember when I told you that I had this ex some time ago, but that I was completely ready to move on? Even Biblically, obviously?"

She presses her lips together for a moment. "I might... have spoken too soon."