Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters, just the story idea.
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Lorelai sat at the counter of the diner the following Monday, enjoying a late lunch. The Dragonfly was going to be operational ahead of schedule, which was great because Sookie was going to give birth soon. If they could have the grand opening before she had the baby, Lorelai thought that it would go that much smoother.
As she dragged a fry through the puddle of ketchup on her plate, Luke came out of the kitchen with an armful of plates. He served them to the only table of people in the diner and came back up to where Lorelai was sitting.
"Can I have some more coffee, please?"
"You've already had too much."
"Says you."
"That's right. The person who gives out the coffee thinks you've had too much. You're cut off."
Lorelai gasped and tried to pout, but he ignored her. Trying a different tack, she tilted her head to one side and said innocently, "Luke, honey, do you remember what color underwear I put on this morning?"
Luke blushed and said, "Will you keep your voice down? And no, I left before you got up, as usual. Why would you even ask me that question?"
"Hmm," answered Lorelai. "Because now that I think about it, I'm not sure I remembered to put any on at all." She put her index finger to her chin and looked at the ceiling.
Luke paled. "Don't even," he said.
"Nothing at all between this nice hard stool and little old me."
"What can I do to get you to stop?"
Lorelai pushed her empty mug across the counter at him.
"You win," he said.
"Hee! I always do!"
They were silent as Lorelai slurped her coffee.
"So, I've been thinking," said Lorelai.
"Oh, no," answered Luke.
"What if we did this: You could be Hagar the Horrible and I could be Helga."
Luke stared at her blankly.
"What are you talking about?"
"For Halloween. Hagar the Horrible? From the Funnies?"
"I know who you mean, but that's just not gonna happen."
"No, it's perfect. Just hear me out. Okay, you're last name is 'Danes,' right?"
Luke sighed. "You know it is."
"So I was thinking, I wonder if your family is descended from like the Danes. You know, the barbarians from way back who invaded England and France in the…well…I can't exactly remember what century. Rory's better with dates. But it was in one of her books, so we could ask her. Anyway, we could totally take advantage of the fact that you might be descended from a Danish warrior."
Without batting an eye he said, "No. Forget it. I'm not doing it."
Lorelai pouted. "But Luke, please?"
"Read my lips: no way."
Sighing she said, "Well, what would you dress up as?"
"Myself."
"That's not dressing up."
"Then it's perfect."
Lorelai ate a few more fries. "What about this…."
"No."
She rolled her eyes. "You don't even know what it is yet."
"Doesn't matter. The answer is still no."
"Fine. I'm going back to the Dragonfly. See you tonight?"
Lorelai gathered her stuff together. "I'll be there. Probably between seven-thirty and eight." She kissed him goodbye and headed for the door.
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That night, Lorelai arrived home from the Dragonfly later than usual and exhausted. She dropped her purse and keys on the floor by the door and went upstairs with Lulu chasing her heels. As she changed out of her clothes and into her pajamas, she changed her mind and took her pajamas off again. Instead, she found a red silk teddy and matching robe from her lingerie drawer and quickly put them on.
Once the belt was fastened, she went downstairs and began collecting candles from various rooms. Bringing them all back upstairs to her room, she lit them and then called the diner.
"Luke's," he answered.
"Hi," she said. "Can you guess what I'm wearing?"
"Probably not."
Lorelai giggled and said, "It's seven-thirty, you know."
"I know, I learned how to tell time long ago."
"Glad to hear it. So many men out there can't and it's just embarrassing."
"Well, I aim to please."
"And you succeed. In fact, I'm calling to tell you that when you come over tonight don't knock, okay? Just come on in."
"Really? No knocking?"
"Nope, I'll be upstairs wearing something very naughty."
Luke paused and then said, "I'll be right there."
They hung up and sure enough within ten minutes she heard Luke open the front door and come upstairs. Luke stood in the doorway of her bedroom and smiled. Lorelai was leaning against some pillows.
"Damn," he said.
"You think?"
She stood on her knees as he walked to the bed. As she began to unbutton the hunter green flannel he lowered his head to her neck and lightly grazed his fingertips across the smooth skin of her shoulders.
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Later, Lorelai playfully said, "Now will you be a Danish warrior?"
Luke was lying on his back, completely relaxed, a smile playing at his mouth. "No way in hell," he said.
"You're no fun."
"You love it."
Lorelai had to agree. Then, another thought occurred to her.
"We could go as townies! You could be Taylor and I could be Miss Patty. We could get you one of those wool sweaters with the elbow patches and some khakis! What do you think?"
"Nope."
"Syd and Vaughn from Alias?"
Luke opened his eyes and said, "What kind of crack have you been smoking lately?"
Lorelai playfully pinched the skin just below his ribs. "You think I'm on crack?"
"You're on something if you think I'm going as anyone from a TV show."
"Fine," she said. "No TV shows. What would you go as, and don't say yourself."
Luke sighed. "Lorelai, I don't want to go as anyone."
"Sorry, but that's not an option."
Luke rolled over onto his stomach and pretended to go to sleep.
"Nice try, bucko." Lorelai climbed on top of him and pressed her chest against his back. Then she put her mouth up to his ear and whispered, "I know you want it. Everybody wants to dress up for Halloween. You can't fool me."
Luke pretended to snore.
"Okay, you leave me no choice." Lorelai dug her fingers into his ribs and began to tickle. "Arrrgg!" yelled Luke, who jumped up and pounced on her, tickling in retaliation. Finally, when they were out of breath and lying in tangled sheets, Lorelai said, "Okay, I'm sensing that you don't want to dress up."
Luke gave her a murderous look. Lorelai just giggled.
"All right," she said as she snuggled into his shoulder. "Let's talk about something else."
"Anything."
"My parents mentioned getting together again. Either you come with us one Friday night or we meet at a restaurant somewhere."
"Okay, just tell me when and where."
"You're oddly calm about all this."
"Am I supposed to freak out? Because I've met them before and you said yourself that they already like me. Let's not borrow trouble. There's no reason for it go badly."
"Clearly you haven't spent enough time with them."
"Well, that's why they've invited me over, right?"
Lorelai shook her head. "How does this Friday sound?"
"Fine. Caesar was already on the schedule for closing. Actually, I've got an interview this week with a guy who might be filling in a lot more. It'll leave more time for me to be away doing other things."
"That sounds great." Lorelai smiled. "I'll call tomorrow and let them know."
"Okay."
"So, Luke, darling, honey-bear, where did we land on the Halloween costumes?"
