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it's a beautiful day for a neighbor
It's been one hell of a Saturday, and it's not even noon yet.
He'd been woken up nearly at the crack of dawn by a petite pair of hands--quickly followed by a larger, stronger pair--in bed this morning and the past couple hours had consisted of the kind of vigorous activity Coop can't get out of playing basketball or going to the gym. He'd met the married couple, Sophie and Luka, during his time abroad in France nearly six years ago and when he'd decided to return to Siren Cove, he'd invited them to visit anytime. They'd accepted his offer and every third week in July, Coop takes a few days off from work--aside from emergency calls, of course--to spend some quality time with his friends.
He waves goodbye to them now with the promise of seeing them again next year as their cab pulls off the curb in front of his house. He waves until the car turns a corner and then he drops his arm to his side, rolling his neck and shoulders with a satisfied sigh and smile before offering a wave to a small group of people who pass. It takes him a moment to understand why he's getting stares as they walk by until he looks down and remembers he's not wearing much in the way of any actual clothing, save for the pair of itty bitty briefs that are really just a courtesy anyway.
He gives the group a salute, holding back a laugh at the way a couple of them trip over their own feet before they correct themselves in a hurry, and shifts his attention to the next person who approaches with a bright grin.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?"
[OOC: Be a neighbor, be coming over for a visit, or just be passing by!]
He'd been woken up nearly at the crack of dawn by a petite pair of hands--quickly followed by a larger, stronger pair--in bed this morning and the past couple hours had consisted of the kind of vigorous activity Coop can't get out of playing basketball or going to the gym. He'd met the married couple, Sophie and Luka, during his time abroad in France nearly six years ago and when he'd decided to return to Siren Cove, he'd invited them to visit anytime. They'd accepted his offer and every third week in July, Coop takes a few days off from work--aside from emergency calls, of course--to spend some quality time with his friends.
He waves goodbye to them now with the promise of seeing them again next year as their cab pulls off the curb in front of his house. He waves until the car turns a corner and then he drops his arm to his side, rolling his neck and shoulders with a satisfied sigh and smile before offering a wave to a small group of people who pass. It takes him a moment to understand why he's getting stares as they walk by until he looks down and remembers he's not wearing much in the way of any actual clothing, save for the pair of itty bitty briefs that are really just a courtesy anyway.
He gives the group a salute, holding back a laugh at the way a couple of them trip over their own feet before they correct themselves in a hurry, and shifts his attention to the next person who approaches with a bright grin.
"Beautiful day, isn't it?"
[OOC: Be a neighbor, be coming over for a visit, or just be passing by!]
no subject
He wants Raleigh to like him and keep liking him, not just because he can already picture what it would be like to kiss her but because she's genuine and earnest and all those things that can be so hard to find in a first impression of a person. He makes no apologies for himself, and he gets the sense that Raleigh is real enough to be the same way. Maybe he's wrong--he's been wrong before, and he'd paid for it--but he likes to think he's a good judge of character, and Raleigh's character is one he'd like to see stick around for more than just a day.
"Not true of all scary things but yeah, you're on the right track. I have this one client, chihuahua? Cutest little thing you've ever seen but goddamn, she's a monster after she gets her shots. Nearly bit my entire hand off once, I swear, she's a demon." His gaze falls on something just beyond Raleigh and his slicing comes to a stop as a fond smile curves his lip. He nods for her to look behind her at the pair of dogs that have wandered into the kitchen, and he can't help the soft laugh that escapes him.
"They always show up when there's scraps to be had," he says. "The American bulldog there, that's Sunny. He's been with me since high school, isn't that right, boy?" Sunny grunts as if in response and Coop shakes his head, mouthing an apology to Raleigh. "He's not great with his manners, old dog and new tricks and all that, right? Lucy, though, she's a sweetheart. Lab retriever mix, gentle as a lamb. And weirdly enough, they're like, total best friends. Also mine. We're the three best friends that anybody could have."
The dogs approach Raleigh, sniffing at her feet before Sunny loses interest and heads straight for Coop and Lucy lifts herself onto her hind legs so she can rest her front paws against Raleigh's hip. Coop's smile widens as he drops a piece of grilled chicken to the floor for Sunny to work on before returning to his cooking duties. "She likes you, she's friendly but she'll only jump up on people she likes. You do quick work on almost the whole household but don't mind Sunny, he always takes forever with the warming up."
He bends down to grab a mixing bowl and gets to work on combining the oil, ginger, and soy sauce before squeezing the lime juice in. "Anyway, yeah, the stick up Spencer's ass is less of a stick and more of a 'fuck you' to everyone who's ever treated him like shit, which is a lot, and I can't really blame him for being on edge. Far as you and my kitchen go, at least have her say it to my face, okay? No notes. I don't do notes. And if--if--someone, who even knows who, was lookin' to find out what my favorite pastry is, I'd have to say it's the Napoléon, straight from Le Grenier à Pain."
He says it with a near perfect French accent, one he's maintained even all these years after being so far removed from Paris. "This someone's got a lot to live up to, but I will very gladly accept any and all attempts to recreate what is seriously the most divine thing I've ever had the pleasure of putting in my mouth."
no subject
"Your dogs are adorable," she says with a breathless grin, and she's still scratching Lucy's coat as she looks down at Sunny. "I'm not worried. He'll come 'round." And if he doesn't, bygones would be bygones, and she wouldn't fuss - she'd still bring them treats. "It's defense," she says quietly, "And I think it's valid, you know? It's totally valid." She sighs quietly as she says that, and she shakes her head.
"I'll advise her to skip the notes. She doesn't have hands, so I'm guessing that's not a problem?" She smiles, and then he says he likes Napoléons, and she nods - the accent, it's... she's only seen it online, she's never really been anywhere but Tennesee, Boston, and here, but it's perfect, and it's sort of the first time that she's wondered if she could actually recreate it.
"Well, I always shoot for divine," it's a quiet sort of confession; a little weird, for her, because she's honest. She's honest, and oddly she's actually having to think about the fact that she's actually trying to do these things, and she has no idea if she's doing them right and for the first time there's someone who will know.
At least, he seems like he'll be genuine and honest. "I guess we'll just see how that goes, then? I may just stop by with some attempts, see what you like?"
no subject
Still, it's always a good test of how far a friendship can go.
He nods as he gathers the salad greens and throws them in the bowl, grabbing a wooden mixing fork as he tosses the contents of the bowl. "It is. It's valid. He deserves better than that." He sighs to himself, ready to move forward from the subject, before brightening with a glance around the kitchen. "Touche. No hands, also no feet. Which means..." He pauses, tilting his head as if deep in thought before starting a slow nod.
"Yeah, you know what, I think that means you'll just have to come around more often. I'll leave you to your torrid love affairs, that's totally fine, but you'll have to pay penance by taste-tasting my food in the backyard with me. It'll be a hardship but I think we can get through it together. The view will help."
He's flirting, he can't help himself even if he's genuinely digging Raleigh's vibe. She can hold her own, though, she's already proven that she can roll with the punches, and he finds few quality more attractive in a person than a good sense of humor.
"I also always shoot for divine," he tells her with a flash of a cheeky smile. "And you can stop by with as many attempts as you want as often as you want, believe me, you won't hear complaints from my end."
no subject
"Coop, that is the weakest leap of logic I've ever heard. Did you even try?" She leans her chin on her hand as she looks at him, and she leans forward and snags another piece of mango that's escaped and is sitting on one of the cutting boards and pops it in her mouth. "You cook, I bring as many napoleans as you're willing to eat without putting your hard work at risk-" Because yes, she had seen what he looks like, thanks, she's not blind, "and it's a deal. Experiments and cooking and I get to see more of my one true love. Your kitchen." She paused, looking down at them for a second. "And your dogs. What can I say, I'm not a one-love sort of girl, Lucy's pretty much stolen my heart and run off with it already."
no subject
Another laugh slips past him, this one more amused with himself than anything else because yeah, he can admit that he's totally full of shit sometimes. Except he hadn't been totally full of shit just now, they've known each other for all of three seconds but she's already sassy as hell and she's nice to his dogs and those are two qualities he always likes in a person. Also, napoleons. He won't forget the napoleons.
"I'm talking about the food you're about to eat, by the way," he says with a wink. He'll flirt, but he doesn't like to be gross about it. He knows he walks a fine line between confident and cocky but he tries to be as real with people as he can. He works hard and plays just as hard, he makes no apologies for it, and the people who've accepted that are the ones who have stayed in his life. He already kind of hopes Raleigh will be one of them.
The last thing he needs to do is add the chicken, but he grabs a couple plates for them first before doling out the appropriate portion from the mixing bowl onto each. He glances up at Raleigh, wiggling his eyebrows. "I hope you're prepared for this because this is the best salad you'll ever have, and I'm totally not talking it up way more than I should at all even though I'm not a professional chef and there's probably way better ones than this like ten feet from my house but that's beside the point, if you love Lucy and you love my kitchen, you will agree to my delusion."
He places the chicken slices carefully over the salad on one of the plates then nudges it toward her before doing the same for his own. He doesn't bother cleaning up just yet, he wants to know what she thinks, so he hands her a fork from his utensil drawer and crosses his arms over his chest as he watches carefully for a reaction.
no subject
"I choose," she says as he doles out the salads, "To believe that the backyard taste-testing was for future meals because that way, I get to give you pastries and get the opinion of somebody who actually knows what they're supposed to be eating. I feel like I could give somebody here a Krispy Kreme, and they'd not be able to tell the difference." She smiles at him, leaning her chin on her hand as he winks, but then he asks if she's prepared, and she raises her eyebrows but she nods. "I got it. Thinking hat on, loving your dogs and kitchen, delusion in place."
She knows she's being watched, so she carefully stabs a bite of salad that's got a little bit of everything, and takes a bite- And it's good. It's really good, and she gets this look on her face--
There's a thing about Raleigh.
She likes food. She really likes good food, she likes the way it tastes, the way that flavors play together - but there's a problem. Food? Is expensive. She went from virtually every dollar she had going to her mother to being a broke college student, to living in a town where she'd lived on virtually only rice and beans and whatever she could get from the bakery for six months. Now, she lives with Joel and Spencer, and she's started eating regular meals, she's starting to actually have extra money to buy food and cook, but this?
She makes a face and a sound that she realises suddenly aren't quite appropriate, and it makes her actually turn red. Chewing and swallowing, her hand is in front of her mouth when she speaks. "Sorry- Sorry, it's good. You did good, it's good." She's still crimson as she looks studiously down at her salad because-- because she's missed flavor, but it's just all.... it's right. It's all right, the way he's put it together, the profile and the layers. It's good.