Disclaimer: I do not own any part of the Southern Vampire Mysteries universe.

A/N: So sorry about the delay everyone. I was sick and then my internet was down for an entire week and then it was Thanksgiving, which means craziness. So, again, I apologize. For anyone from Seattle, please don't be offended by this chapter, I grew up in Seattle myself and I love the city, I simply chose it because I'm familiar with it. Incidentally, gray is one of the few neutral colors that I really like.

Theme 19: Gray

POV: Sookie

Rating: T

Roses Are Red, Cities Are Gray

I sighed as I stared out the window of the hotel room I was staying in. Here I was wrapped up right in the middle of all that vampire shit again. Part of me was wishing I had never laid eyes on a vampire. The other part of me was anxious for the vampire currently sleeping in the lightproof chamber of the suite I was in to awaken. The sky was slowly getting darker so it wouldn't be long now.

This trip is different than the other's I've been on for vampire business because of the aforementioned vampire. I was the first trip that he insisted I share a suite with him. He said that after what happened during the Fairy War that he didn't want me further from him than that, but I still secretly believe that he's trying to increase his chances of getting some action. After all, we still live individually back home, but I decided not to waste my time point that out to him. I don't want him to get the wrong idea. I love my house and am still perfectly content to live there.

The sound of a door opening startles me out of my thoughts and before I turn towards the sound, I notice that the sky has become full dark and the artificial lights of the city are lit up like a Christmas tree. When I noticed this, I knew at once where the sound came from. Before I have fully turned to face him, I am greeting him, "Good evening, Eric. Sleep well?"

He chuckled, "Same as always, Dear One, same as always."

"Of course, how could I forget? Vampires always sleep like the dead."

"Truer words were never spoken," he replied, "And you, Lover? How did you pass the long, lonely day without me?"

"Well," I sighed, "Seeing as you didn't want me wandering around unattended, I spent the day reading a Seattle guide book and contemplating how dreary cities in general look at this time of year."

Eric moved past me, glanced out the window and remarked "It doesn't look particularly dreary to me."

"Of course it doesn't," I said. Seeing his confused look, I continued, "You've only ever seen cities like this at night, when they're all lit up and have the glow of neon signs brightening up the night. You have no idea how dull cities look in the daylight."

"Then explain it to me."

That took me by surprise and I thought for a moment before answering, "Cities in the daylight are alright on bright, clear, sunny days, but now, in late fall there's nothing but gray everywhere you look. Even today, without rain, the sky was still gray. The streets are gray. Most of the buildings are gray. Even the trees in the city look like you're viewing them through a gray filter."

Eric surprised me again as he burst out laughing. I scowled at him in return and snapped, "What?"

"It's just that, it occurs to me that you must have never seen the Experience Music Project, in the city center."

I shook my head, "Why?"

"Let's just say," he seemed to be choosing his wording carefully, "that the building is colorful enough to make up for a whole city of gray. I'll try to take you there after we have concluded our business here. But, while we're on the subject, why don't you like the color gray?"

"No reason, it just seems like a dreary color," I answered.

Eric shook his head, "The Sookie I know doesn't dislike things for no reason. Think about it. What made you start to dislike gray."

I thought about it long and hard before I answered and was shocked at what I learned, "You're right. I didn't always dislike the color gray. It's just been so long, that I didn't make the connection. The day my parents died was a gray day. I remember staring out the window that day, watching rain fall from a dark gray sky. Less than an hour later, my parents were dead."

"I suppose that is a good enough reason," Eric told me, "but I don't want you forever to associate something as mundane as a color with sadness. When we have some free moments, I will take you out into the city, which despite being lit up at night is still the same gray city you saw today, and I will show you the time of your life. But you have to promise me one thing."

"What's that?" I asked

"You have to remember, from now on, that the time of your life was had in a gray, dreary looking city."

Mystified, I nodded, "Okay, but why?"

Eric smirked, "No reason really, I just happen to like the color gray."

A/N: Next theme is "Fortitude."