If it was up to Audrey Horne, she would keep Halloween year round. Not as if Twin Peaks wasn't creepy enough on it's own without little goblins and witches running around of course, but she happened to love the holiday. The costumes and the candy and even the atmosphere made the days easier to bare. Trees had turned and a nice orange color mixed in with the decorations that lined the houses - it was a fall wonderland.
But tomorrow would be the first of November and she would have to pack away yet another costume into the bottom of a drawer to be forgotten until the next year. For the rest of the evening though, she would enjoy the way the synthetic fabric danced around her legs as she brought out her best witch cackle (regularly and close enough to her father to annoy him and the rich bastards he called 'friends').
The Great Northern's ballroom is lit up in various hues of orange as lights twinkle above and the shadows of pumpkins dance around the floor in the shade of tea lights on the tables. A fire is roaring and it's comfy and warm - cinnamon dusts her nose every now and again and mixed with the smell of coffee and chocolate, it gives her an overwhelming sense of peace. Children run past her, laughing and begging for candy and Audrey leans over to scare them, her witch's hat falling forward into her eyes. When she looks up and meets the tall figure in a black cloak over a dark suit, and the mask covering half of a face, Audrey cannot contain the bubble of laughter that leaves her lips.
"Really? Phantom of the Opera?"
Agent Cooper looks down at his outfit and adjusts his mask in something that is as close to insecurity as she's ever seen from him.
"Is there something wrong? It was short notice, you know. I don't travel with costumes."
"It's Halloween," Audrey counters, crossing her arms.
"For one day out of a whole month. It's not practical."
She shrugs lightly, arms falling to her sides.
"Well what do you think of my costume, Agent Cooper?" she asks, turning slowly.
His eyes appreciate her body in a way she would only excuse from him and when she turns back to face him the smile on his face is enough of an answer.
"Are you a good witch or a bad witch?" he asks though, and Audrey raises a brow.
"Whichever kind you want me to be."
There's a faint smile on his lips and Audrey wishes there could be more - there's something about.. whatever this is with them that keeps Audrey's mouth shut. She wants to scream it from the roof tops, that this tall and handsome special agent is somehow hers, but she knows better. She might be eighteen, might be an adult in the eyes of the law, but getting too close was still out of the question.
At least to the prying eyes and gossipy mouths in Twin Peaks.
But there's a night ahead full of cheap punch and Audrey eats far too many fun size candy bars that by the time the children have been put to bed her stomach aches and she wants to join them. Instead, she is met with a warm hand on the curve of her waist and Audrey leans into the man she knows as her own, her eyes sleep heavy.
"What time is it?" she questions, reaching up to rub her forehead.
"I'm sorry to say that Halloween is officially over."
Audrey sighs and sits up straighter as a few drunk couples stagger by. The dance floor is emptying slowly and Dale makes a move toward the area, pulling Audrey along lightly. She doesn't hesitate, even with the curious eyes on the two. Instead she folds closely to him, his hands on her waist still as she wraps her tiny arms around his neck and inhales his scent. He smells like something she can't explain - like home and love and safety and Audrey wants to bottle it and dab it on her pillow for those nights she can't sleep.
But instead of fall asleep in his arms then and there, Audrey looks up at her special agent and smiles.