Cormac yawned as he rose in his bed, still wrapped in his blanket burrito. His hair was sticking out every-which-way. "Morning," he muttered.
"Hey, Kiddo. Sleep well?"Marius asked so which Cormac responded by slowly blinked as he yawned once again. "Well, I'll have your breakfast done in a few minutes."
Astien chuckled at Cormac's disheveled hair. "Good to know I'm not the only one who wakes up looking flawless."
Cormac unwrapped himself from his blanket and climbed down to sit at the table.
"Cormac, you look like a mess. When we get to Gaineston, let's head to the bath house. It's not as nice as what Siran had to offer, but it'll be nice to have a hot bath with all this snow about."
Cormac nodded. "Alright."
"Should we stay at an inn?" Marius asked as he placed two more plates of food on the table, one for himself and one for Cormac.
Astien nodded. "Yes, it'd be nice to have some more space for a while. And some privacy." He blushed at the last part.
"Agreed," Cormac said flatly as he dug into his food.
"Sounds like a plan," Marius said happily. "I'll take the first bit of driving today."
"I have some letters I have to write, and a bit of research to do." Astien stood up from the table and wandered over to his wardrobe. He pulled out his clothes and got dressed, then dug some papers out from one of the drawers.
Marius nodded. Once everybody finished their meal, Cormac began cleaning up. Marius dressed warmly before he stepped out and got the carriage moving. Cormac brushed his hair down and sat on his bed and read one of Astien's books.
Astien spent most of the day writing and reading. He barely looked up from his work.
They arrived in town around the early evening during Cormac's shift of driving. He parked the carriage in the shelter the inn had provided and put the horses in the barn.
"This is a nice place," Marius said as he stood in the lobby with Astien.
"I stay here when I pass through. The room I always stay in has a lovely view of the sunrise. Let me go talk to the clerk." Astien walked over to the desk and spoke to the woman behind it. After a moment, he came back with two keys. "Marius, you and I will be sharing a room." He blushed deeply as he said this. He turned to Cormac and handed him the second key. "Cormac, you'll have a room all to yourself. You're right across the hall from us, so you can come in if there's anything you need."
"We'll try to keep it down," Marius said with a chuckle as he quickly gave Astien's butt a squeeze.
"Please do," Cormac said as he went up to his room.
Astien gave a small yelp at the sudden squeeze. He turned, his face very red. "At least wait until we're alone!"
Astien sighed and took the hand that had grabbed him. "Let's get some food. I-" he was interrupted by a sharp kick from Aiden. "I mean, WE, are starving."
"I saw a bistro down the road," Marius said. "We can drop off our things and got there. I'm sure Cormac is capable of feeding himself."
"We should at least ask." Marius and Astien unloaded their things, and as they got ready to leave, Astien knocked on Cormac's door. "Cormac? Marius and I are heading out to eat. Do you want to come along, or do you want is to bring you something, or what?"
"I'll go later," Cormac said. "Have fun."
"Will do," Marius said. "Shall we?"
Astien nodded, and they left the inn. As they walked, Astien had one hand bracing the small of his back. "Ugh, how heavy are you planning on getting, Aiden? You're rather heavy, you know."