Delas recoiled in his seat, and turned away. "Sorry…" he mumbled.
Astien was already catching up to Marius, and wasn't even aware of it. Where Marius was eating carefully, Astien was simply stuffing it into his face, unaware of the people chattering in the background. He was just focusing on how good the food was.
Cormac focused on his food.
Marius blinked as he glanced over at Astien. He grinned and picked up his pace, unwittingly starting a race.
Delas sighed and kept eating his own food. By this point he wasn't even paying attention to Marius and Astien anymore.
"Ladies and gentlemen, this is a first! These two are racing! Racing I say! It's never happened before!"
Astien still wasn't paying attention. He was alternating between chugging his milk and ripping apart his ribs. The milk was rather good. Was it from a cow? Or some other animal.
"The second one isn't even paying attention to his competition! Buddy, are you on a take that lying down?"
Marius chuckled and kept chowing down on his meal. He wasn't about to let Astien get the best of him.
Cormac chuckled as he watched Astien and Marius chowing down. "I'm not sure who's going to win this."
"If I had any money, I'd bet it on Astien. He's eating for two, after all."
Still lost in how good this food was, Astien was overtaking Marius' lead, and surpassing him.
"Maybe he is going to take it lying down, folks!"
Marius gulped down some milk and hastened his pace.
"Probably. I'll just be impressed when Marius finished this. If he can," Cormac said.
"I'll just be impressed I they don't get hurricane shits after this."
Gulping milk and shoveling his ribs, Astien managed to stay ahead of Marius, despite his best efforts to catch him. Apparently, pregnancy had given him a second stomach.
"Competitor number one, you have fifteen minutes left to finish your food! Can he do it, folks?" The crowd cheered Marius on.
Marius continued to eat with less than a quarter of the ribs left to go. He shoved the ribs into his mouth and pulled out a bare bone, using his teeth to scrape the meat off.
Cormac ate his mashed potatoes.
Astien was coming close to being done with his own plate, an he still seemed to be off in another world.
Delas had finished his food, and was watching the two intently. "They're gonna get the shits something fierce."
"Be glad they have a separate room then," Cormac said. He made a mental note to pick up some ginger and mint for just in case either of them suffered from an upset stomach and stomach acid issues later on in the night.
Marius only had a handful of ribs left and was making quick work of them. Once he finished the final rib he took what was left of his milk and chugged it. "Ha!" He said as he slammed the cup back onto the table.
The other people in the room clapped an cheered, and Astien had picked of his final bone, now chugging down the last of his milk. Wiping his mouth, he suddenly came back to reality. "Why is everyone clapping? All i did was eat ribs."
"Gentlemen, that was astounding! Let's hear it for these two!" The crowd cheered and clapped louder, and the judge turned back to the two men. "A deal's a deal. Your bill is free today. Of course, we've never had two people from the same party completing the challenge. So I guess your next meal's free too!"
"Marius, why is everyone cheering?"
"Apparently we gave them quite a show," Marius said with a chuckle. He helped Astien back to their table.
"Nice eating there," Cormac commented.
"That food was really very good. I'll admit, I kind of got lost in it. We gave them a show? What happened exactly?" Astien asked.
"You two were racing and trying to finish the demon's racks before each other! It was great!" Delas cried.
"I don't recall that. The milk was great, though."
Cormac nodded. "It was pretty impressive." He finished his meal and downed the rest of his drink.
"Huh. Well, I guess that just happened, then." Astien stifled a belch and blushed. "Ah, excuse me."
Marius chuckled. "You're excused. Ready to go, kids?"
Cormac shrugged and adjusted his cloak. "Sure."
Back outside, snow was lightly Fallon upon the world. "Cormac," Astien said, "come, we're going to find a potion shop, maybe head to the herbalists. We need to get that rah cleared up. Now let's see, I'd need…" he reached for his bag, but found it wasn't there. "What?! Oh no, don't tell me… I must have forgotten it bal at the inn." He sighed, and turned to Marius. "Marius, I hate to ask, but could you go run and get it for me? I'll need it to figure out what I need for Cormac. And I need money to pay, of course."
Marius nodded and rushed back to the inn. Cormac scratched at his hands. "It's not that bad. It's gotten better."
"We still need to get rid of it. Besides, you can't train with a sword if your hands itch, right?" Astien smiled.
In front of the inn, by the carriage, two young girls, about Delas' age by the looks of them, were peeking into the carriage and inspecting it. They both wore clothes similar to Astien's, but theirs was less refined, simpler.
"Are you sure this is his carriage? It doesn't look like it."
"It has to be. I saw the horse! It's his favorite horse in the stable, for sure."
"Are you sure?"
"Of course I'm sure! I think I've helped him in the stables enough to remember what his favorite horse looks like! Gods Rila, stop second guessing me."
"This carriage doesn't look like his, it could just be a similar looking horse. Geez Alma, you didn't think about that did you?"
"I guess not," Cormac said. "Do you really think I'll be any good at it?"
"Excuse me ladies," Marius said. "Can I help you with something?"