(no subject)

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine exits the kitchen wreathed in the enticing smells of freshly-baked deliciousness. The tray bearing the scintillating scents' source is securely held in her arms: cinnamon rolls roughly the size of human skulls; a pyramid of moist chocolate cake squares dotted with white chocolate chips and pecans, topped with ginger fudge icing and crushed pistachios and the occasional fleck of sea salt; lines of gooey lemon-strawberry bars like sin dusted with the veneer of powdered sugar purity; sliced spirals of rich chocolate cake and hazelnut icing; a cluster of flaky pastries like miniature meteor craters, with caramel and almond filling; a circle of long, low slices of dense chocolate cake like wedges of pure darkness; and two single-serving sized oval pastry dishes with a light, unassuming pastry crust lying even with its upper rim, hiding anything that might be below.

The tray and its treasures are set upon one of the central tables of the bar room, where Rae puts up her sign.

Sunshine's Freshly-Made Baked Goods
(Prices as listed or otherworld equivalent)
Cinnamon Rolls As Big As Your Head: $4
(Extra Icing: $.50)
Primordial Fudgecake: $3
Lemon Lechery: $3
Killer Zebras: $3
Caramel Cataclysms: $3
Bitter Chocolate Death: $3.50
Death of Marat: $4 (only two available)

It's been a full day of baking, and Rae is pleased. Sunshine hangs her apron over the back of one of the chairs at the table, and settles down with her Incantus, looking for a section on invisibility.

Comments

[cook_the_rude]

Dr. Lecter, however, seems perfectly capable of seeing her as he approaches her with a cheerful smile.

"Good afternoon, Sunshine," he says.

[sunbaked_baker]

She glances up from the ancient text with a neutral expression, her mood fortified by the good day.

"Hello, Dr. Lecter."

[cook_the_rude]

"I think I never tried the Primordial Fudgecake," Lecter muses. "What's so primordial about it?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"When I created the recipe, I advertised asking for assistance naming it. That was the option I liked the best. It has a little bit of everything in it."

[cook_the_rude]

"Like primordial soup, it will bring life?"

[have_no_mercy]

Tess can smell chocolate. Not only can she smell it, she can see that it can be hers for a very reasonable price. That, in and of itself, makes this the best day she's spent here so far.

"Everything looks amazing, but those Bitter Chocolate Deaths, I think I need two."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Gladly, though be warned - they're pretty intense," Rae grins at the woman, putting aside the grimoire and getting to her feet to serve up the low wedges of darkness.

[have_no_mercy]

"I like my chocolate intense," Tess says, rifling for a bill of an appropriate amount, handing it over when she finds one. "Do you do this often?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Fairly often, when I'm here," she answers with a smile, accepting the payment and handing over the plate with its two slices of Bitter Chocolate Death on it. "It's how I pay for my room and board."

No way a single baker's wages would pay for regular rent, utilities, groceries, gas, and room and board at the end of the universe.

[gotham_knocking]

"Must be baked goods week." Nothing wrong with that.

[sunbaked_baker]

"I've always said they needed their own holiday," Rae grins at him. "Has there been other baked goods for sale this week, then?"

She sometimes misses out, not always being around.

[gotham_knocking]

"Not for sale. A friend of mine, Lois Lane, had a birthday and brought in cake. There was a cheesecake to die for." Like his bubble used to make.

"Who's Marat?" He pronounces it as if it's English.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Very nice," Rae says, smiling.

"Marat," she adds, pronouncing it the French way, "was a radical journalist and revolutionary during the Reign of Terror following the French Revolution. He was murdered in his bathtub, a scene which has been the subject of some famous paintings."

[athelstanthescribe]

"You've been busy", Athelstan says with approval, even if his smile doesn't quite reach his eyes.

(If the mun understands correctly how it works, his shadows seem much darker now.)

[sunbaked_baker]

"It's been that kind of day," Rae says, taking him in. He looks... somewhat better. The lines of being shattered are still there, but the pieces are knitting themselves back together, little by little.

"What about you?" Busy healing, she hopes.

[athelstanthescribe]

"Better", he assures her. "Young Squire Alan was another to offer healing, and though I still don't dare hurry along the outer wounds, he could and did repair the deeper damage."

That's in body. He's not sure what to say about the other harm done.

[sunbaked_baker]

"The internal wounds are usually the most dangerous," Rae murmurs, not just speaking of the physical injuries.

She hesitates offering, after what happened with Sinric, but she can't not. "Are you in pain at all? Even without actually healing the injuries, I could at least give you respite from the pain of them."

[like_quicksilver]

All of the treats look good, and Gyda spends a good few minutes trying to figure out which ones she wants. There's also the matter of her not having any money.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Hey there," says the red-headed woman with a smile, looking up from her very old book. Her hair is held back by a blue, sunflower-dotted handkerchief, and her bright yellow tanktop leaves her scarred shoulders and arms bare.

"See something you'd like to try?"

[like_quicksilver]

"One of each." She couldn't decide which she wanted to try first and she saw no reason why she couldn't have one of each. If she couldn't eat all of them, she could give them to Athelstan or father next time she saw them. "But, I don't have any money."

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine chuckles. That's a high compliment, but one or two free things per person is usually where Rae limits it. She tilts her head at the girl. "How about a free taste-test, then? Which one look best to you?"

[thewidewideworld]

A familiar blonde waif lingers near the bar as she sets up, waiting for a chance to talk to her when she's not so busy.

[sunbaked_baker]

She sends her latest customer off with a smile and a couple Caramel Cataclysms, and a piece of Primordial Fudgecake. As she tucks her hair behind her ear and looks around for her book, she notices Sinric lingering there.

He's looking better than he was the last time she saw him. That's something. Though she won't pretend this isn't awkward.

Tentative, she gives him a little wave and a faint smile in invitation.

[thewidewideworld]

He waves back and comes over, a little awkward himself. "Miss Seddon." He bows deeply.

"I hoped that I might speak with you to thank you for what you did for me. It has been over two years for me and I regret that I had not the chance to thank and apologise to you for how I reacted." He bows again, so deeply his hair almost brushes the floor.

[sunbaked_baker]

Rae reaches down to take his hands as he bows again, wishing him to stand.

"There's no need to apologize," she assures him, meeting his gaze. "You did nothing wrong. You were in pain, and suffering more than just physical injury. I'm just glad you've recovered, and are okay."