Chapter Text
Rattlesnake Jake’s Perspective:
Under the dark starry sky, lies Mud. Jake stands outside of Mud. His eyes widened. It looks a lot bigger than before.
He walks into the town. Everybody looks at him and gasps. They all tense up. A little girl hides behind her mother.
Sheriff Ranga, who was talking to Beans, spots Jake. “Hey Jake, I’m so glad you could make it!” Ranga beamed. “Hey there, sheriff,” Jake smirked.
Everybody looks at Ranga, and then looks at Jake. “Wait, Ranga, you invited Rattlesnake Jake to Mud!?” Beans exclaimed. “Yup!” Ranga responded. “Sheriff, are you insane!?” Beans exclaimed.
Spoons appears and stammers, “B-but sheriff, r-r-rattlesnake j-jake never leaves town without taking a s-soul. W-What if he tries to k-kill one of us?”
All the mudonians murmur with each in fear. Jake smiles, amused by this.
“Don’t worry, Jake won’t be killing anybody in this town with me around,” reassures Ranga. “Right, Jake?” “Of course,” Jake answered. “See? Besides, even if he were to do that, I’ll just kill him with only one bullet,” Ranga continued. Oh shit, he forgot about that part.
All the mudonions murmur with each other about the sheriff’s sanity. The sheriff seems to ignore this and drags the outlaw to her place.
~~~~~
Together, Jake and Ranga bake the cookies. Ranga makes the batter.
Jake frowns. Why the hell did he agree to this? Baking cookies with the sheriff? Ugh! This is terrible for his reputation. He should not have celebrated Christmas after all.
“By the way, Jake, how did you know I was a fraud?” the sheriff asked, breaking the silence. “How did you know I didn’t kill those Jenkins brothers, and that I’m not from the west?” Jake explains, “Well, 1. I was the one who killed them’ Jenkins brothers, and 2. I was just walking by and saw ya’ with yer car. I could tell by yer car and outfit that you weren’t from aroun’ here.”
“Wait, you saw me there!?”
“Yup, so when I first got to meet ya, I knew you were a fraud.”
Ranga blinks several times. Jake smirks at this. “What? Cat got your tongue, sheriff?” teases Jake. The sheriff ignores him and mixes the batter.
Heh, cute. Wait, cute!? Nope, nope, nope. He doesn't think the sheriff is cute at all, not even 1%. NO! Jake blushes and looks away.
She then pours the batter onto the tray. Jake puts the tray in the oven. He frowns again. God, why did he agree to this?
After about 15 minutes, Jake pulls out the tray of gingerbread dough. He and the sheriff put the gingerbread man and woman cookie cutters on the dough. They decorate the cookies. Okay, making cookies with the sheriff isn’t that bad.
Jake’s gaze softens.
/////
Jake’s mom smiles at him. 6-year-old Jake has cookie batter all over his mouth. “Now, Jacob, cookie batter isn’t good for your little stomach,” Jake’s mom whispered. Little Jake giggles at this.
/////
After decorating the cookies, Jake and Ranga begin eating them. “Hey Sheriff, thanks for invitin’ me over to spend Christmas with you,” Jake spoke as he looked away. “It’s been nice.” “You’re welcome, Jake!” Ranga beamed. “It’s been nice to spend time with you too! We should definitely hang out more often!”
“Hm, yeah, we should. But don’t tell anybody I baked cookies with you, though. It would be terrible for my reputation.”
“Pfft, don’t worry, I won’t tell a single soul.”