#lukebgraham

"Just what the doctor ordered," he sighed. "What you wanna sit?"

The change was noticeable enough that Luke made a mental note to buy a giant jar of sauerkraut to keep in the fridge. He didn't fully understand why but if Dana needed it and it did...something, then he'd make sure it was always available.

It was silly. It was so silly but Luke couldn’t help it. It would’ve been almost criminal not to get it.

He held out the plushie with its big red bow out to Dana, trying to bite back a grin. “Merry Christmas, land shark. Got you a friend.”

   "How'd this even get started? I don't remember." Oh wait, Luke and his turtle-ing because -

"No... we went our separate ways." The only new friend he has is MJ. He was almost completely certain he didn't want to mention MJ to Fletcher, though. He wouldn't lie of course, he couldn't, if the vampire was brought up Luke would speak on the topic. He wouldn't be offering anything himself, though.

"How is... your wife?"

Let's start with question one. "Like me, but an asshole." His smile was undoubtedly forced, fake, and brief. "People treat survivors like selfish pricks. Ya know? So we're all... selfish pricks."

God, why was he talking so much?

Question two.

"Happy t'have someone she can complain about. Happy t'say she's gotta man. Happy... she ain't alone."

And upon purchase, made a request for a side of sauerkraut he would be devouring as soon as they turned away. With his fingers.

The kid working the stand wasn't paid nearly enough to care if a customer was friendly or not or what they ordered. He barely even looked at them. He just took the money, gave them their food, and went on with his life. Luke was immeasurably grateful to him.

Hot dog in hand, Luke guided them toward the beach, leaving the woman behind them to wrangle her kids long enough to get their orders.

"What are you getting?" he asked, falling into line behind a woman with two children.

“Okay...” Luke’s voice trailed off as he squinted at Dana. What did he have cooking in that head of his that had to be shown instead of explained? Something that would make people perceive him as an idiot...

He’d contemplate while they stood in line.

"Would you be pissed if I said you're smarter than I thought you'd be when we first met? Explain accountant to me."

Luke snorted. “Nah, I get that a lot. It’s the blond hair, no one ever expects smart from blond hair.” Something he’d used to his advantage more than once in his line of work.

His height helped, too. No one ever expected the little blond lawyer to be a shark.

“Why the idiot direction? So you can fly under the radar?” It made sense. From what little he knew, vampires were able to exist successfully because they flew under the radar.