Happy Birthday,
allira_dream! It's just a quick little piece, but I hope you enjoy it anyway.
Fandom: Gilmore Girls
Characters/couples: Lorelai/Luke
Rating: G
Summary: Why Luke isn't exactly a didactic wonder...
The man in the baseball cap and flannel shirt didn't even bother to look up when a thump and a huff by the counter announced the arrival of a new customer. He continued scribbling out the grocery order he had to get out by the end of the day. While he jotted down line after line of vegetables, bread, cheese and meat and briefly paused to consider the number of gherkins he still had in storage, the stool squeaked in progressively shorter intervals.
„So.....“ finally came the female voice from across the room.
„So?“ He mumbled, adding an order for lettuce. Maybe he should double the amount he'd ordered last week. The sandwiches were selling remarkably well, lately. Maybe if he put them on special offer people would actually stop slowly eating themselves into their premature, fatty graves.
„So... aren't you going to ask me what I want?“ asked the voice again, and again, he didn't let himself get distracted.
It was probably a fool's hope, the people in this place never changed. He sighed and scratched out the number, returning it to his usual order.
„Why would I?“
„Uhm, because this is a cafe. Your cafe actually, so it's kind of your job.“
„I already know what you want.“ He really could do with some ham, the last batch was too sinewy, he'd have to have a word with Andrew.
„So let's hear it, Nostradamus?“
„Nostradamus?“
He forced his tone to sound exceptionately bored, mainly because he refused to encourage her.
„Famous famous fortune teller and clairvoyant. Don't you ever read?”
“I know who Nostradamus was. I don't think you do, though.” Onions, he couldn't forget the onions. His pencil scratched quietly along the paper. “And the only way you'd ever put your nose in a book was if you fell on it and it snapped shut.”
There was a cry of strangled outrage and protest. “Hey, I do read. Sometimes. Occasionally. ... " And after a brief pause: "I listen to books on tape?"
He couldn't suppress a snort of amusement. “Really? Name one.”
“Well, there was this one with the man ... and it has this long and bookish title. Oh, and then this other one with the girl who met a donkey ... and they talked... and she asked for directions to the youth hostel and the donkey didn't know, because he never bothered, because seriously, have you ever come across a hostel that doesn't have a “no pets allowed” policy?”
“You can't think of any, can you?” Unimpressed, he bowed down to check on the number of napkins he still had stowed behind the counter and ticked off another box on his mental list when the result proved satisfactory.
“Well Rory had a cassette of “Goodnight moon” when she was little.”
“A stunning example of literary achievement, clearly.”
With some satisfaction he noted the dull thump of a pair of elbows and then a forehead hitting the counter, followed by a long sigh and a whine.“Luke, why don't you just give me a coffee? ”
“I'm trying to teach you a valuable lesson.”
“Before I had my coffee?”
“Exactly.”
She huffed in response, her voice rising in pitch with exasperation, while he went over the list one last time. “And that's where you're wrong. I'll have you know this particular brain won't accept new information below 2 pro mil of caffeine.”
He set aside the list at last, turning to take a cup from the shelf and set it on the counter, already grabbing the coffee from the machine.
“The lesson is, “ he said, pouring some for her. “if you simply came and asked for coffee like any normal human being would, you'd save both of us a lot of time, and me a lot of patience.”
“But,” He finally looked up. The amused quirk of her mouth turned into a mischievious smile, as she raised the coffee to her lips with both hands and took a long sip, “then I'd be spending a lot less time here.”
The smugness in that little gesture made him want to say something, but at the same time, the disarmingly honest warmth in her voice had him turn around, grumbling under his breath.
Luke had never been a man who liked change much, and some things were right just the way they were.