(no subject)

[sunbaked_baker]

If you're out and about on the grounds of Milliways this morning, you'll likely find that Sunshine is, as well. It is a grey and lackluster morning, but it's the first maybe-not-bitterly-cold day in a while, and that still counts for a lot.

So if you're outside around dawn (the days may be getting longer, but dawn is still not exactly early, this time of year), you might find Sunshine as a brightly-colored figure running swift laps around the shore of the lake.

If you venture into the forest later in the morning, you may find a relatively circular clearing large enough for the slanting winter sunlight to reach down past the leafless branches, the ground smooth and dry and marked with runes, being used as an area for training.

Later still, when the clouds have thickened and are promising imminent precipitation (though whether snow, sleet or rain is anyone's guess), a freshly-showered Sunshine can be found resting on the back steps of Milliways' kitchen with tea.

Comments

[acertainpov]

"Farewell to the snow, then."

It's Obi-Wan, approaching from the back door, already nursing a cup of tea of his own. He stands just behind Rae for a second before coming down to sit beside her.

[sunbaked_baker]

"I'll drink to that," Sunshine wholeheartedly endorses this farewell, offering a wry smile over her shoulder for the Jedi as he sits. "Here's hoping, anyway."

The air in proximity to Sunshine is a comfortable temperature, significantly warmer than the chilly open air beyond. It doesn't take much effort, and the comfort is worth what little energy it does take.

[acertainpov]

Well, this is much more comfortabel than just being out in his robes. Obi-Wan chooses to sit in the warmth, resting his tea on his legs, just behind his white armored knee pads.

"I do miss planets with noticeable seasons," he says. "Usually I'm either visting too briefly or the world is mono-climatic, so I don't get to see the change as clearly."

[sunbaked_baker]

Her lips thin slightly as she presses them together. No taking long vacations during a galaxy-spanning war, she supposes. Just when one needs restorative down-time more than ever.

"It'll be Spring here soon enough," she says, focusing on the noticeable seasons he's more likely to get to see, rather than giving voice to her opinions on the littler joys squashed by war. "The days will be warmer, and brighter, and longer, and there'll be leaves budding on the trees. One of the magic-handling patrons usually manifests cherry trees by the lake at some point in early Spring, all covered in a mass of pale pink blooms. They're always worth seeing."

[acertainpov]

At her regret, he tilts a small rueful smile her way. No time for vacation, but eventually the war will be over and he can go back to his usual Jedi life.

"I look forward to seeing that," he agrees. "Where there are seasons, spring is one of my favourites."

[sunbaked_baker]

"It's lovely, getting to experience everything waking up again after winter has worn out its welcome," she smiles, including herself in that process. "But I love spring mostly for its promise of summer."

Give her the long, blazing days, all bright heat, and generally you have a happy Sunshine. Though not always. It is nearly summer in her world and yet here she is, choosing to spend her time in late winter at the end of the universe.

[acertainpov]

"Now, summer depends on the planet," Obi-Wan says. "In my experience there is definitely such a thing as too hot a desert."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Maybe," Sunshine allows, her grin wry. "Even the most blazing summers where I'm from still feel pleasant to me. One of the first reasons Charlie thought to set me working in the kitchens rather than out front with the customers," apart from her inability to master a convincing customer-service smile or tone when she wasn't feeling friendly, "was that I was one of the few who could handle the additional heat from the ovens going full-blast in high summer."

[acertainpov]

Obi-Wan smiles wryly.

"Well, someone's got to do it, I suppose. Rather you than me, I must say."

[wayward_sun]

Oh, that's Sunshine. She doesn't appear to have any baked goods about her person though.

Oh well.

Lucifer amblers down and leans against the railing.

He's got a drink in his hand and the scent of expensive alcohol in the air around him suggests that it isn't his first.

"Hello."

Brightly.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine looks up from her tea, faint look of contentment brightening into a true smile. "Hey you," she replies, visibly glad to see him. "It's been a while."

[wayward_sun]

"It has," he agrees, his smile widening.

"Keeping busy?"

He takes a sip of his drink.

"Making new, delicious treats?"

Is he hopeful? Yes he is.

[sunbaked_baker]

"You know me," Rae answers to the affirmative, smiling. "I've been trying out new recipes every so often. Even had a taste-testing a month or so ago. You'd have liked the black-bottomed brandy bites, I think."

It got a slightly racy and alliterative name - it must have gone over well with the taste-testers.

"What about you? How goes the new gig?" She's not entirely sure what she should call it. Side-hustle?

[wayward_sun]

"And I missed it."

He ighs. Threatrically.

"I'm good. This crime solving business is right up my alley."

[sunbaked_baker]

"There'll be another," she assures him, smiling in his direction. "You're enjoying it, then? Any interesting cases so far?"

[wayward_sun]

"I'm smack dab in the middle of one, actually," he says. "I went to this paty, hosted by an up and coming athlete. And helped him break out of his shell. Terribly repressed. Anyway, this morning he wakes me up because the young woman I encouraged him to get to know is floating around face down in the pool."

He sighs and then his face darkens. "And apparently, someone has been pretending to be me. I'll have to get to the bottom of that as well."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Yikes," she says, empathetically. "To both. Any idea what might have happened?"

[nerves_of_ice]

He wakes from disturbed dreams before dawn. Bucky checks on the goats, confirms they're okay, and decides on a whim to see if sunrise over the lake at Milliways looks anything like sunrise in Wakanda.

He grabs a cup of black coffee from the bar and carries it outside with him as he walks down toward the water.

[sunbaked_baker]

The late winter clouds don't promise much, but there is one speck of brightness in the grey early morning. A distant figure in bright yellow and orange, red shoes sending it swiftly and sure-footed along the uneven and pebbly terrain of the lake shore.

Different runners run differently. Some run as though they are chasing some unseen prey. Others run as though they are the ones being chased. Sunshine runs, even from this distance, like there is somewhere she desperately needs to be, somewhere she needs to reach in time.

[nerves_of_ice]

Whoever that is, they're colorful.

Unwilling to interrupt their circuit, he stops a couple of meters back from the beaten path to give them a chance to pass by - and also to clearly see him before they do, so that they won't be surprised by a stranger looming out of the dawn.

[sunbaked_baker]

The runner certainly is in the zone, not really paying attention to their surroundings as they follow the curves of the lake. She runs swiftly, surefooted, but not inhumanly fast. Sunshine's morning run around the lake is practically meditation for her, an opportunity to sweep away the lingering dreams and shadows from the night before, and meet the day with clear eyes.

Her awareness comes back to herself as she sees the figure ahead near the path, further as she recognizes him, and begins to slow her flat-out run into a jog.

Her jog slows into a walk as she approaches, offering a breathless smile. There's genuine gladness to see him in there, even with the slight mental stumbling over the sight of the empty sleeve. "Hey you," she says in between quick breaths of chilly morning air.

Her hair is cut shorter than it was the last time they spoke, the shorn ends of red drifting somewhere between jawline and shoulder, the shorter hairs at her temples clinging damply to her skin. The burn scars around her neck are new additions, too, suggesting the original cause of the drastically different haircut, though the scars themselves are well-healed.

[nerves_of_ice]

"Sunny?" He looks startled, his glance flicking from her face to her neck and back again, but then he grins, real and bright.

"Been a while."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Far too long," she agrees wholeheartedly, beaming. She step forward with arms spread for a hug if he's amenable. She knows she's a bit warm from her run, but it really has been far too long. "Oh it's good to see you. You're looking well."

[nerves_of_ice]

He takes a second to hastily set his mug down on the ground at his feet, then welcomes her in and hugs her back.

(It helps that she's made it optional; that he's not caught off guard, and can see it coming; that he's had time in Wakanda to relearn some things.)

"Thanks," he replies. "You, too."

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine doesn't give hugs often in Milliways, but when she does, she gives good hugs. It isn't a bear-hug. Not a rib-cracking squeeze. It's just the warmth of being emphatically held for a moment, solid, grounding, caught in the immediacy of gladness that the person is there.

It's a good hug.

"Oh, I'm getting by," she allows, stepping back again. "It's been a bit of a rough winter."