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[sunbaked_baker]

A baker's internal clock being what it is, the lengthening nights and shortening days have seen Sunshine out and about well before sunrise lately.

She might be found long before daybreak in the bright kitchen, its windows casting light out into the darkness of the old night, as Sunshine gets cinnamon rolls formed for their final proofing before baking.

While the dough proofs, she might be found in the last chilly minutes of dim greyness, sipping fragrantly-steaming tea on the little porch outside and waiting for the sunrise.

Later, the gigantic cinnamon rolls in the oven, Sunshine might be encountered during her dawn run around the edge of the lake, a swift spot of color in the growing brightness of morning.

Later still, breakfast-time, Sunshine might be encountered in the bar room as she looks for customers, a tray of still-warm and freshly iced Cinnamon Rolls As Big As Your Head balanced on her hip.

Comments

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Ah, it is the sun, beautiful and constant, come to sustain us for another day!" Wei Ying calls, cheerfully, from where he's finishing a simple bowl of congee for breakfast. "So industrious, so early!"

It's not terribly early, at this point. But Wei Wuxian does not get up at an actually early hour without a very good reason, so... it's early enough, for him.

[sunbaked_baker]

"Flatterer," Sunshine beams at him, grinning as she comes over with what's left of her morning baking. "Rising early is a terribly difficult habit to break. Best advice is never to start."

[alongfallfromgrace]

"I will endeavor to follow your excellent advice." Wei Ying promises earnestly. "Would you like some tea? The rats brought a full pot."

[sunbaked_baker]

"Tea sounds amazing," she replies enthusiastically. Rae may be an early riser, but that doesn't mean she doesn't also feel like she's been up since four. "Give me a moment to see to the rest of the cinnamon rolls - Bar can see to selling what's left - and I'll be right with you."

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Ahh, hurry back, lovely sun." Wei Ying calls after her, and sets about pouring tea for her. It's a lovely rou gui oolong, perfect for a crisp autumn morning.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine drops off the remaining cinnamon rolls with the Bar and hangs up her sunflower-patterned apron on a hook behind the counter before coming back.

"Mm, that smells really good," she remarks as she joins him, now clear of the scents of cinnamon and baked goods.

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Another benefit of being here rather than at Cloud Recesses - here you can get tea with real flavor, unlike the delicate stuff they prefer. I don't know which elder of theirs had such a problem with flavor, but it's an all-encompassing obsession." Wei Ying laughs, saluting her with his teacup.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine may give a mild yikes expression. "I can't even imagine. Though I've heard that sometimes a person might have such a strong sense of taste that only the mildest foods are even palatable to them. It's no reason to inflict that restriction on others, though."

She returns his salute and sips her tea, then gives a delighted sigh. "Oh that's lovely. Tastes as good as it smells."

[alongfallfromgrace]

"Ah, you would be so sad at Cloud Recesses, but I would let you have some of my chili oil." Wei Ying assures her, cheerfully. "Do you have big plans for the day?"

[darkeryetdarker]

Gaster has just come downstairs, having just gotten a cup of tea of his own, when he spots Sunshine on the porch.

"Hello, there, Sunshine," he calls out. "Mind if I join you?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine glances over her shoulder to spot Gaster, and smiles easily. "Not at all," she replies. "Please do."

Dawn is coming soon, and it is her favorite time of day, even if the days are becoming somewhat shorter now.

"It's been a while since I've seen you around."

[darkeryetdarker]

"Oh, I've been here. Though I was away for a short while."

Gaster fidgets a bit, rubbing at the rim of his cup, as he thinks of what he'd seen in the void.

"I suppose I've just been busy. What about you?"

[sunbaked_baker]

"Same, really," she chuckles. "I'm in a situation back home that isn't progressing as quickly as I'd like. It has me waiting for the other shoe to drop, so to speak, but every day is still just as full as it ever is."

There's only so much brain one can spare for long-term troubles when there are unscheduled tourist groups descending on lunch rush, wait-staff calling in sick at the last minute, and a sixteen year old's birthday party to bake for later in the week. Not to mention all of her extracurricular activities.

[darkeryetdarker]

"Ah, yes. That can be frustrating." (He'd know - being tasked with finding a way to free your entire race isn't quite the same type of impatience, but still.)
"Do you mind if I ask about it, or...?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine chuckles a little. "I don't mind."

She knows it is a danger, being too open in Milliways about her life when she must keep so much of it secret back home. But it is a risk she has come to accept.

"There is still a lot that isn't known for sure about the situation. But I may have helped catch and imprison someone who may have been involved in the disappearance of my father's family, seventeen years ago. She's in custody, but they're now trying to find out if she compromised any other investigations over the years."

Lots of waiting.

[darkeryetdarker]

"Oh...goodness." Gaster's eyesockets widen a bit. "That is...quite a lot to handle. I can see how you would be frustrated by that."

He glances back down at his tea.

"Do you, ah, often catch criminals like that?"

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine chuckles faintly. "No, she's... she's a special case, thank all the listening gods."

If every master vampire Rae faced were like the Goddess of Pain, she would probably already be dead many times over.

"She... had been causing me a lot of grief, the last few years, and I didn't know why. She revealed herself when she caught me and some of my local SOFs - that's Special Other Forces - providing evidence of her actions against me to her superior."

Her free hand ghosts across the smooth, well-healed burn scars on her neck.

"Needless to say, she was very unhappy with me."

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi will find her at 'later still', following the scent of the cinnamon rolls through the bar room while carrying his sword Longbei in his hand.

[sunbaked_baker]

Sunshine spots him coming - hard to miss the fellow in the voluminous white robes with the giant sword - and grins.

If she were meaner, she would go on, leading him along a winding path through the bar room.

But she's not. Even if the idea amuses her briefly.

"Good morning, Ye Baiyi!"

[old_monster]

"Good morning, Yangguang-guniang," Ye Baiyi answers when he reaches the source of the heavenly scent. "What is this, and what do I have to do to get some of it?"

He puts down the sword, leaning it against a pillar. You offer strong drink to the spirits of swords and the memory of the departed; baked goods are strictly for the living and non-spiritual aspects of existence.

[sunbaked_baker]

Her expression is mildly surprised - how has he gone this long without being introduced to cinnamon rolls? Sunshine, you're slipping.

"Ahh," she smiles at him, chuckling like one with a treat to share. "These are Sunshine's Famous Cinnamon Rolls As Big As Your Head. And you don't have to do anything - in fact I've been terribly remiss, not introducing you sooner."

[old_monster]

"I think I went straight to the relevant innovation of the day when we met," Ye Baiyi says. "So don't blame yourself, blame my hasty curiosity."

[sunbaked_baker]

"I think we'll live," she smiles, wry, setting down the tray in order to plate up one of the gigantic cinnamon rolls for him: each of them is giant, soft, still warm from the ovens, fragrant with melted cinnamon-sugar and fresh vanilla icing dribbling in every crevice.

She offers him the plate, and napkins. "These are my best-sellers, and helped put my stepfather's coffeehouse on the map. They can be a bit messy but... general consensus is that they're worth the risk."

[old_monster]

Ye Baiyi looks at the large, fragrant thing, takes a deep breath of the warm, sweet scent, and smiles at Sunshine.

"I must confess I have no idea how to eat this," he says. "Not even that unhinged brat Qin Huaizhang's disciple runs around with has a big enough mouth to just bite into it."

Perhaps Longbei must come into play after all?

[sunbaked_baker]

"Keeping a brat's mouth full is a tried and true strategy," spoken like a true older sister, "at least when it comes to the younger of my half-brothers. I usually only see him zooming through the coffeehouse with his friends, but he knows he gets one each of every type of cookie on offer."

Two if they're chocolate.

"Keeps him out of everyone's way, at least. But in cinnamon rolls' case, one usually finds the end of the spiral a pulls a bit off at a time, to eat it little by little."

Or uses a fork, which is incorrect.