milliways_bar | (no subject)

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rae "sunshine" seddon

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"Helpless" is not a common situation for Sunshine. At least not in this context. But she is. Pinned down, on her back, immobilized, unable to really move or hope to get away.

At least until Terry wakes up from his nap.

It's probably Sunshine's own fault for the child falling asleep on her as they rested on the couch following an afternoon of playing outside. Some naps even the most interesting story can't hold back.

The fair-haired toddler snoozes with his head resting on her shoulder, half of one of the couch's throw-blankets draped over them.

At least Sunshine had thought to have a book with her. She reclines against the armrest, holding the book open with one hand so she might read, the other hand idly stroking the back of one of the bar cats who had taken advantage of the situation and had settled in.

Unsurprisingly, Sunshine finds her own focus difficult to maintain, even for a favorite novel. Some days are just good days for naps.

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"They can hit you in the roof of your mouth on occasion," Ye Baiyi says, "but even that is kind of fun. It's a rather eventful kind of tea."

Sunshine chuckles faintly. "I'll have to be careful with it. It is delicious, though."

So rarely does one have the need to chew while drinking. She may already be thinking of what other flavors might be interesting.

"The little... bubbles, with juice in them? They're great. Lots of potential for complementary flavors with whatever one is drinking at the time..."

"They might be fun in drinks, too," Ye Baiyi muses. "You know, the kind with liquor "

Sunshine thinks on this and chuckles again. "They would!"

She is thinking of some of the highly flavored liqueurs she would combine when she was younger, and how the little bursts of flavor might play together. Or the entire ingredients list of a cocktail kept separate until one drinks it...

"What would you combine, what drink and what in the little bubbles?"

"Well," Ye Baiyi says, "how about different sweet fruity liqueurs suspended in a strong clear liquor with a sour note -- say, vodka with limeade instead of the tea, citrus liquor in the boba, and so on?"

"That would be fun," Sunshine muses. "Lots of potential for mixing and matching flavor combinations and the ratios of stronger liquors to fruity or lighter liqueurs..."

"Some wouldn't work just because the combination of flavors wouldn't work separately, or would unbalance the drink when the bubbles burst."

No one wants a hot sauce boba in their Bloody Mary, or a aromatic bitters boba in their Old Fashioned.

"Yes, like coffee in a citrus based drink," Ye Baiyi says. "That would be terrible."

Sunshine can't quite stifle the sudden momentary horror of imagining that, or the sound she makes because of it. This causes Terry to stir, making sleepy toddler protestations against being woken up.

"Ah, sorry kiddo. My fault," Sunshine murmurs, stroking the boy's soft, fine hair. "Go back to sleep."

"Ah, I should not make terrible jokes like that," Ye Baiyi says. "At least not around sleeping children."

"Yes, it was a told in terrible taste," she agrees, the dry pun accompanied by a grin.

Terry stirs more, shifting, fighting the wakefulness that is taking hold.

"You can still nap if you want, kiddo," Sunshine assures him, patting his back.

Ye Baiyi slurps his own boba tea. "Ugh," he says. "I should be punished for that joke. Put me to work making boba!"

"Would that really be punishment, though? Or an opportunity to taste-test?" She smiles, amused and liking the idea.

Terry rubs at his scrunched-shut eyes, moving more but still clinging to the pretense of sleep. But Sunshine isn't fooled.

"Yeah, yeah, you're awake now, aren't ya?" Sunshine grins wryly at the toddler, who nods begrudgingly, yawning wide. "Oh what a big mouth!"

Terry giggles, opening his eyes and grinning at Sunshine. "Nuh-uh!"

"If we let him try lychee juice boba in apple tea," Ye Baiyi mock-wonders, "would that count as corrupting the youth?"

"Juice?" Terry echoes, looking up hopefully at the man in white, and then to Sunshine. "Apple?"

"Oh, I suppose that wouldn't be too bad..." Sunshine grins. "This one's uncorruptible. You should've seen how he took down those tomato plants, even though they were twice his size."

Terry beams at her, proudly. "Yeah!"

Ye Baiyi chuckles, then goes over to the Bar and brings back a cup of boba tea with exactly those specifications.

"Here you go," he says, offering it to Terry.

Sunshine lifts Terry so they can both sit up more comfortably for drinks, and to make room so they're not taking up the entire couch. Terry gazes wide-eyed at the unfamiliar drink as Ye Baiyi returns, and glances up at Ye Baiyi, then at Sunshine.

"It's fine," Sunshine nods, smiling. "Ye Baiyi is a friend, and knows about tasty food. I've got my own boba tea, as well." She lifts her drink and shows him the bubbles in it.

"Oooooh. Th'nkyouu!" Permission to accept the drink given, the toddler beams up at Ye Baiyi and accepts the offered drink carefully with both hands. "Th'nkyou, Yebai."

"It's a very tasty tea," Ye Baiyi says. "Mine, and hers, and yours. And we're thinking about making even more variations."

For the moment, he evades the need to correct the little tyke about his name, or to even set down what would be appropriate for the kid to call him. In his own language, with a kid that little, they'd default to the ubiquitous 'uncle', but if he were to explain to Terry that the correct way for a kid to address him would be 'Ye-shushu', they'd waste a lot of time they could spend on brewing up weird boba.

"Mm!" Terry makes a delighted little noise as he takes a sip of the drink, then gives a very satisfied little sigh. "Ahh!"

"Like that?" Sunshine chuckles at him. "What other flavors should there be of bubble tea?"

"Um... orange?" Terry suggests. "And kiwi!"

"What is kiwi?" Ye Baiyi asks.

Terry sips his drink, looking from Ye Baiyi to Sunshine. Sunshine, though, is looking expectantly back at him.

"Well?" She smiles. "What's a kiwi? We shared one for a snack the other day."

"Mm, issa fruit!" Terry supplies, after a moment.

"And what's it look like?" Sunshine prompts him. "What color is it?"

"Brown!" Terry replies, readily, knowing his colors. "And fuzzy!"

"And on the inside?"

"Greeeeen! With little bitty seeds!"

"The taste is slightly tart, and it is very juicy and will always drip?" Ye Baiyi says. "That sounds like a yang tao to me. They grow in the region of the Yellow River. I had them."

"Yeah! Reeeally juicy!" Terry nods, delighted. "They're yummy'n'd be good bubble-y."

"I think so too," Sunshine says, ruffling the boy's fine, fluffy hair and making him giggle into his boba tea.

"Yang tao boba it will be, then!" Ye Baiyi declares. "We will need instructions on how to make them, though."

"Yeah, I have no clue how they're done," Sunshine admits, grinning and excited by the opportunity to experiment. She holds up her tea to peer at the little bubbles within. "But I bet we can find out how. Maybe Bar can provide us a recipe or technique to use."

"Research!" Ye Baiyi says. "Let's research, and then let's experiment!"

Never mind the bar can provide them with boba made perfectly to specification -- finding out yourself and mastering the technique is much more fun!

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