callmeemily | Here comes santa claus!

The holiday this year is so incredibly different than the last.

Last year? Raleigh was holed up in the boarding house, no one in 300 miles but her shitty boss knew her name, and she was so poor that she was eating rice, beans, and leftovers from the Seaside bakery.

This year, everything's changed. Orchard House is chugging along astoundingly well; Raleigh puts in long hours, but it's paying off. She's been able to hire somebody else to work the register, she's getting custom orders - the whole thing. She has friends. Honest to god friends, and she's got enough money that she's actually got presents for people. For a lot of people - it's a mix of cookies and things, but there's a little something for everybody piled on the table in the back corner, and one mass-text later she's humming through the bakery, music playing from the speakers, warm cider in a carafe, and everything's warm and cozy.

She looks at it, at this business that she's made with the help of this whole town, and she can't help but smile. Tonight? Spending tonight with friends and found-family? That's what this whole thing's about.

Gathering post! Raleigh will tag everyone who tags in, but feel free to tag one another, too. :) It's up to you if they have gotten a text, or just heard the music and seen the crowd. Everyone'll get something!

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The use of his first name prompts Coop to give her a dirty look, not that it lasts long because he's knocking her hand away from his side but if he's honest, he doesn't hated. He's never hated it, not really, 'Coop' is just a nickname that had been given to him in high school and had stuck. He's just never really bothered to tell anyone that calling him 'Shea' is fine with him, but it always makes it mean something a little more when people actually do.

Granted, Keira's just giving him shit so it probably means absolutely nothing to her. It doesn't matter, though, she can keep doing it because he kind of likes the way it sounds coming from her.

"Heartbroken, huh?" He rolls his eyes playfully as he knocks her hand away again before reaching for the bottle of vodka he'd brought. "Well, you can tell her that she can come here and drown her sorrows with some booze. The three of us, how about that? It'll totally be the best Christmas Eve either of you will ever have."

"She's screaming herself to sleep, pulling out her hair, if she wasn't so good in bed then it would be really unattractive." Keira teased, making a face at him as he batted her hand away. Just for that she presses her hand just beneath her arms, a spot she knows has always made her particularly ticklish. "Oh, the three of us? I see, not content with actually fucking me for once you want both of us? I'm not sure if she's that kind of woman, she might be but... I think when you finally get round to seducing me I was kind of expecting your full attention."

"I'm not sure I want to meet her anymore..." Coop trails off, arching an eyebrow, though he can't wipe amused smirk off his face. Keira makes it hard to be serious sometimes, if only because it's so easy to be playful around her, and he likes that about their friendship. She keeps him relaxed, keeps him chill, and Coop significantly prefers that over anything else. Having to think hard about what he should do or say with a person, that's not fun for him, just more of a pain in the ass than he wants to deal with, and Keira always seems happy to let him be himself.

"Aw, you know what, that might be the sweetest thing anyone's ever said to me," Coop says, batting his lashes for her before leaning in to press a sloppy kiss to her cheek. "You know I'd be happy to have you take me for a spin any day."

"Of course you do, she's ridiculously hot and I've actually slept with her so clearly she is one up on you." Keira replied dryly. Pushing him in the chest, she leaned away from the sloppy kiss despite the fact her hands might have betrayed a little by curling up and getting tangled in her clothes. Letting go of him she wiped her cheek and gave him a look. "You're worse than one of your clients and puppies at least have the ability to be cute about it. And I know you would but the last time I almost gave in to you, you blew it by throwing a huge party so sucks to be you."

"Christ, she's leveling up all over town," Coop answers, and he's only half-joking because he's admittedly been slacking lately. He'd brought a girl home last night, but she'd been the first--no, second--since he'd gotten out of that stupid cave, the one that had fucked him up with all these thoughts and considerations that he wouldn't have had if shit in this town didn't happen so often.

He's actively choosing not to think about that right now, though, because Coop isn't really interested in letting whatever confusion has seeped in since then weigh him down tonight while he's surrounded by good company. "You're right, it does suck to be me but don't I get another chance? I heard pastries in bakeries are an aphrodisiac, you know. Definitely did not just make that up."

"I'm pretty sure she's slept with every single member of the Flynn household. Who knew Virginia was that... no, I can't even joke about that. She gives me the heebies that woman," Keira drawled, her smile raising a little at his comment. Well, if he talked to Spencer then he'd know how true pastries anywhere were an aphrodisiac to her. She'd pretty much pledged her undying love to Spencer for a pastry, shame he had to go and get married and change jobs leaving her pastryless. "Sure, you can have another chance. When pigs fly. I'm kidding, come on wow me with your aphrodisiac pastries."

Well, his cousin had definitely fucked all the siblings in that ridiculously huge family, so she definitely has that on him. Coop hasn't gone to bed with a single one and that might sound like they're competing, but that's not what it's about because if it was, he'd actually be caring right now. Which he very much doesn't.

Not that he'd say no if a good majority of them wanted to seduce him. Coop's closest to April, though, and they've settled into this nice friendship that he might have been eager enough to trump with sex at one point but now that she works for him, now that she's someone he's actually come to care about, it's different. He's not really willing to compromise this thing they've got going on.

Keira, though. Coop's pretty sure she's trying to make an art form out of trying to find what the right buttons to push on him are, and it's always kind of hilarious because it works, but he's not going to let her know that. Not outright, anyway. "What's your poison? You got the cookies, the cupcakes, the bread knots, the cream puffs... I'm always up for something with frosting. There's just so much goodness that comes out of things with frosting."

"Just so we're clear, cookies are not pastries. So, wash your mouth out with soap for that blasphemy. Actually don't because if I did decide to kiss you then I don't want to taste soap," Keira snapped back cheerily. Keira stepped up to the glass counter, bending over so she can check out all the goodies. "Eyes on the prize Cooper."

Smiling as he talks about frosting, Keira slowly stood up before grinning at him. "You're a fan of frosting, I'm not even sure if that is innuendo or just your general love the thing. I'll take a box of macaroons, if you haven't had them then you're in for a treat."

Here comes santa claus!

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