"I'll take care of that." Astien lifted himself off the bed with a grunt and poked his head into the other room. "Cormac," he whispered, "You okay?"
"He's a mister grumpy pants." Delas said.
"You're being a twat," Cormac groaned at Delas. He looked at Astien with foggy and tired eyes and held his head. "The room won't stop spinning."
Astien slowly walked in and gently pushed Delas back onto his bed. "Delas, please." He walked into the bathroom and took a washcloth, wetting it with cool water. He wrung it out, and walked back to Cormac. "Here, this should feel nice." He gingerly placed the cloth over Cormac's eyes. He turned out the light and quietly closed the door.
"Okay, good night then." Delas said as he curled up under his own sheets.
"How was he?" Marius asked. He was already undressed and under the covers. "Delas isn't giving him too much trouble, is he?"
Cormac soon drifted off into a deep sleep. He dreamed of Wyn, his parents, and Astien.
"Apparently Delas was having a little fun with him. He seems fine otherwise." Astien stripped off his clothes and laid down in bed. He looked over at Marius. "And what do you think you're doing? You got Cormac drunk, you're not allowed in this bed tonight!"
"Hey, I didn't force him to drink all of it, but if that's how you're going to be." He got out of the bed, dragged the blankets with him, and flopped down in the other one. He turned away from Astien as he laid down and closed his eyes.
Astien scoffed and rolled away from Marius. He wanted to be held in his arms, but dammit, the man had to be punished. Hopefully, Astien thought, he would learn a valuable lesson from this.
Marius dozed off eventually.
Morning came, and after Astien woke up, the dirt thin he did was check on Cormac. "Cormac," he whispered, "how are you feeling this morning?"
Cormac groaned and turned over in his bed. "The light...It hurts my eyes."
"I'll have Marius carry you into the carriage. You can close the blinds and lay down, okay?" Astien quietly closed the door.
"Bartenian lotus is good for hangovers. I would always steal some from a herbalist if I was planning on getting drunk." Delas offered.
Marius was up and getting dressed. "How's the Kid doing?"
"He's hungover, what can you expect? Marius, carry him downstairs while I settle checking out and paying. Put him in his bunk, tuck him in, put a nice, cool, wet washcloth over his eyes, and shut the blinds." Astien dressed himself and packed his clothes away. He stood straight, rubbing his back. "I swear, he's heavier every day."
Delas pulled on his clothes an his hood and snuck out the window.
Marius nodded. He got up from the chair and placed a light kiss on Astien's cheek as he headed out the door. He picked Cormac off of his bed and carried him to the carriage.
"Astien's not too mad, right?" Cormac muttered.
"Of course not, he's just worried about you," Marius said as he tucked Cormac into his bunk. "I probably shouldn't have let you drink so much in the first place." He places a cold, wet cloth on the young man's head. "First hangover is always the worst, though. It helps you learn your limits. By the way, where did Delas run off to?"
"No clue. He mentioned something about a lotus."
Astien climbed into the carriage and sat at the table. "Alright, we're all checked out, room's paid up, we're all ready to- where's Delas?"[/font]
"Cormac said he mentioned a lotus or something," Marius said. "He must have wandered off. I'll go look for him. If you get the stove going it'll give the carriage some time to warm up." He adjusted his cloak and stepped out of the carriage.
Marius bumped into Delas, who was trying to enter the carriage at that moment. "Aah! Oh, hey Marius." He walked around the man, and went over to Cormac's bunk. He held a plant's stalk and root over his mouth. It was thick and some sort of liquid was dripping from it. "Here's that lotus root! It's got lots of water and juices and stuff in it. Chew on it 'til nothing else comes out of it. It's good for a hangover."
"I hope you paid for that," Marius said sternly.
Of course, Delas had stolen it. He had no money of his own just yet to buy it with. It only dawned on him as he made his way back that he could have taken some of Cormac's money. But he knew that Marius an Astien didn't want to hear that he had stolen it. So he lied. Lied as easily as he blinked. "I took some money from Cormac's coinpurse. I didn't want to, but he seemed so miserable." He looked straight at Marius as he spoke, never flinching or looking away in the slightest. His skills in the areas of theft and lying had reached the levels of mastery over the years.
"Funny," Marius said, "Cormac's coin purse was with me all night, I didn't want him to get pick pocketed since he was an easy target. I didn't see you come into the room this morning." He crossed his burly arms and his thick brows furrowed. "Now, I'll ask you again: Did you pay for it?" During his travels he had dealt with thieves and pick pockets, but this one he couldn't injure or kill, rather just try to set him on the right path.