Nephis stared at Sunny for a couple moments, then briefly glanced at her apron and quietly cleared her throat.
"Right."
She turned around and got back to stirring the rice. A couple seconds later, she added without looking back:
"You'll have to wait for a couple more minutes. And… welcome back, Sunny. Did you make it out of the Antarctic Center alright?"
Sunny wondered how much Changing Star knew about the situation in the Southern Quadrant as he followed Cassie, Effie, and Kai to sit behind a dining table. Settling on a wooden chair… which was far inferior to his own Shadow Chair… he sighed.
"I wouldn't call it "alright". But yes, I made it out. I'm already inside a siege capital in East Antarctica."
Neph's shoulder moved slightly.
"...That's good."
Effie grabbed a few cans of something sugary and refreshing, then pushed one toward Sunny.
