Equinoctial Happy Hour with Sunshine

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine has taken this celestial bit of timekeeping as an opportunity to stretch her creative muscles. The days are lengthening, each day lessening the grip of the lingering chill of winter, and green is creeping back into the landscape. Soon will be the time to clean up the herb garden and figure out what has survived, and what needs replacing. Soon will be the time of fresh flowers and berries and fruit and warmth....

While she doesn't hate winter, she is still damn glad to see it gone every single year.

So maybe she's impatient. The Specials board she puts up certainly suggests so.

Sunshine's Springtime Specials

Drinks
Cherry Blossom Cocktail
Grapefuit Mojito
Blackberry-Lavender Champagne Cocktail
Sparkling Spring Berry Sangria
Rose-Lemon Spritzer
All herbal teas

Snacks and Light Fare
A selection of sliced fresh vegetables and chips with a trio of hummus dips
Grilled Halloumi and Cherry Salad
Radish and Egg Salad Sandwich
Orecchiette with Roasted Asparagus and Feta
Strawberry-Rhubarb Hazelnut Muffins


Look, she's just happy the days are longer than the nights again. Come have some refreshment.

Comments

[skyhigh_seance]

Klaus wanders in, his shirt a violent shade of pink and entirely too thin for the weather on his side of the door. He... really should go find his dealer. That was the plan, to begin with, but...

It's warm in here. That's really hard to say no to.

Besides, he can tide himself over with the wonderful wall of... err. Klaus side-eyes the bartender (since when are there bartenders?) as he sidles up to the Bar.

And then Bar doesn't respond to his quiet request for a bottle of whiskey. C'mon, she can't have cut him off already, could she?

[sunbaked_baker]

For her part, the bartender - red haired, and scarred where her colorful clothes don't cover - offers him a friendly if slightly wry smile over her pale pink drink. "She's asleep, at the moment. I'm the understudy. For a few hours, anyway. What can I get you?"

[skyhigh_seance]

"Oh, I see." Klaus smiles, a little over-bright, still a little shivery from his time out-of-doors. "I was just looking for some whiskey, maybe I could get a glass? Actually, you can just leave the bottle, so I don't have to bother you."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Got any preference as to brand? We've got, like, all of them," she gestures to the back wall of bottles. "Old favorite? Try something new?"

But Rae hasn't missed the shivering. "And would you like anything to eat, with it? I like to put together some food specials when I get tapped for Happy Hour, so there's a variety on offer. Free muffin if you'll give your opinion on how the recipe turned out."

[skyhigh_seance]

"Oh, so many choices. Surprise me." Klaus tries to play it off like an adventure. Mostly he just wants alcohol, and can't be bothered to pick a brand. He eyes the board thoughtfully.

He should eat, he knows this. He knows full well he doesn't eat enough, knows that when he does it's not exactly the most healthy fare.

Knows he really isn't feeling it. Ugh. Still. Food. There is some, here, he should have some, just... pick something.

"Um. I guess whatever's easiest?"

[curlytop]

"Ohhhh," George says as he slides onto a stool. "Food. I've missed you." He grins at Sunshine. "You too."

Ghosts? Apparently don't eat. And floating through the smells of the kitchen just isn't the same.

[sunbaked_baker]

She grins, seeing George, but she can't hide the slight shock. "What?" Where've you been that you've been missing food? We can't have that."

Rae would be absolutely guilty of feeding up her friends, except she feels no guilt for it.

[curlytop]

George rubs the back of his neck with a sheepish smile. "Home, actually. Or well...my world, anyway."

Milliways feels much more like home than he thinks the Institute ever will. At the very least, there's food here.

[sunbaked_baker]

She looks surprised, though some of her shock subsides. "How was it?"

Rae can only imagine it would be... strange, to go back. After.

[curlytop]

"It was...odd. But good, I think. I got to see some of my friends." He laughs softly. "I mean, they didn't see me mostly, but still. It was good to see them."

[sticktothemission]

Great. Of course. Of course Gabriel gets pulled into Milliways when Bar is asleep and he's in a wheelchair.

He eyes the specials board with a slight scowl, wondering if he'll be able to eat any of that. Maybe the sandwich.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Hey there," greets the colorfully-dressed, red-haired bartender with a friendly smile. "Happy Spring! Can I get you anything?"

[sticktothemission]

"Hey." Gabriel looks up at her, one cheek twitching sharply. He can feel it but he can't do anything about it.

"Sandwich the best finger food?" His speech is slow and careful but he's still slurring his words at the edges.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Best finger foods," she echoes, "yeah, definitely the sandwich and the veggie or pita chips with dip."

"You doing all right?" Rae adds. She doesn't think she's run into this fellow before, and doesn't know what is normal for him, but he seems to be having some difficulty.

[sticktothemission]

He considers the chips but those would require picking up multiple things that are prone to cracking if he handles them too roughly. The sandwich should at least hold together, if perhaps get a little squished. "Go with the first."

To her question he lifts one hand off the arm rest, showcasing its trembling. He sets it back down with a sharp, one-shouldered shrug. "Not dead." His tone implies that it really could be worse.

[nerves_of_ice]

He studies the specials board from a distance for a few minutes before he walks up to the bar.

"Surprise me."

There's a beat of silence, followed by a small smile.

"Hi, Sunny."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Hey you," Sunshine's smile brightens, gladdened to see him. To see him be him. "It's been too long."

Far too long.

"Surprise you? I'll see what I can do."

[nerves_of_ice]

"It has," he agrees.

He's seen her from time to time around the bar, but he's been hesitant to approach.

After all, when he came back, he made her cry.

But the man who's trying, hard, to figure out who Bucky Barnes might be in the world as it is now is taking step after slow step to reclaim himself ... including his past. Or as much of it as he can find, anyway.

Which means talking to people again. Being social, again.

If he can.

"I'm sure you'll figure it out."

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine did cry, but it was not... It was nothing she would begrudge him for. She was merely overwhelmed by the crash of swallowed and accepted grief with the rush of shock and surprise at being presented with the impossible, unexpected and unlooked-for, standing before her.

She had lost many friends, but had never had someone come back from the dead before.

She has, likewise, been making progress in figuring out her life as it is now, changing some things, and making peace with others. Rae has been happier these past few months than she has been in a long time.

"Be right back," she promises, stepping backwards into the kitchen to fetch his surprise.

[nerves_of_ice]

"I'll be here."

He suits actions to words, taking a seat on a barstool.

[childofrebellion]

Cassian not feeling well so he stares at the specials trying to make sense of them, he'll rest when he's finished this mission,

"What's orecchiette?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine offers him a smile. "Orecchiette is a kind of small wheat pasta, small curved discs."

Not to mention their name refers to them as being shaped like ears...

"In this case, they're served in a light sauce with roasted asparagus sprouts and feta cheese."

[childofrebellion]

He coughs, covering his mouth and curling up a little in his jacket, "I'll try that and a tea. Something soothing, I'm trying not to get sick."

[sunbaked_baker]

"I've got some ginger-lime tea that is wonderous for sore throats," she promises, nodding. "I'll be right back."

She comes back with a plate of the roasted asparagus and feta orecchiette, and a cup of fragrantly steaming tea. The teaball in the large mug is full of grated fresh ginger, and the spicy-sweet scent of it mingles with the sharp citrus of the lime juice. "There's honey herr if you like it sweet," she adds as she sets the plate and mug in front of him. "Honey is good for one's throat, too."

[childofrebellion]

When the food comes, he perks up, looking it all over with a smile,

"This looks delicious. I cook here too sometimes. It is, I love having honey to add to tea." He inhales the tea, relaxing a little as the steam fills his sinuses.: