[crow]

Dante was a surprisingly neat eater too, despite the speed at which he was making things on his plates disappear. Three macaroons followed the first muffin, and then a donut sprinkled with coconuts, then an apple strudel and a Boston Cream donut.

It wasn't the neatness that got to her. She had no idea what it was. Maybe the sheer quantity, or the speed at which he was inhaling all his food--- something about it made her queasy to watch. She began pushing away the plate she'd so jealously guarded a moment ago. “Oh, you're not going to eat that?” said Dante, who had picked up even this miniscule movement. Suvi shook her head, too uncomfortable to offer a verbal reply. “Great. Here, I'll finish that for you.” He grabbed her half-finished fudge piece and jammed it in along with a slice of mango cake, before taking a long swig from one of his mugs.

[Bakery: 45]

[crow]

She glanced at it after he put it down, and realized it was tea--- the same tea that Elliot was drinking. Maybe the flower tea was just a boy thing. She didn't know what Elliot's dad was on about at all. Clearly it couldn't really be girly; the only people she ever saw drinking that stuff were boys.

Thankfully, at least with the rate at which he was going, Dante finished his spread quickly. Elliot had stopped eating too, but he'd been smart not to pick a whole plateful of food. He lost his appetite towards the end, but he managed to force himself to finish what was left of his cupcake. He was fairly sure it wasn't going to come back up, though he wouldn't have put any money on that.

[Bakery: 46]

[crow]

When he had finally finished everything on the table, Dante leaned back, drinking the last mug down to the dregs. He put it down on the table gently. Suvi thought that he ought to have slammed it, the way warriors with big bushy beards and horns on their helmets did in all the story books. Then again, those warriors were also fairly messy feasters. It was just that the idea of binge-eating and delicate manners were still mutually incompatible concepts in Suvi's mind, even after seeing a live example of them coexisting in one individual.

Suvi thought he ought to look the most nauseous out of all of them too, but of course he didn't. His expression was perfectly serene. In fact, if she hadn't known better, she would have thought he looked relieved. That wasn't possible though. Nobody could possibly be relieved after doing that.

[Bakery: 47]

[crow]

“I needed that,” he said, in the most cheerful tone she had ever heard him use. Elliot and Suvi shared an incredulous look across the table.

“You must have a black hole somewhere inside,” said Elliot. “Your stomach isn't even bloated. Where does it go?”

Dante laughed. “Directly into my bloodstream, you could say. Alright, maybe not directly. But I really do have to eat a lot. I think this is the first time it's made me money, rather than costing me a fortune just to feed myself. Speaking of which.” He held out his hand, palm open, face up, in Suvi's direction. She looked at the hand, and then at him. He arched a brow. “Pay up. A bet's a bet.”

[Bakery: 48]

[crow]

“Fine,” Suvi grumbled, fishing around in her pocket for the keystones. She handed them over, along with a bit of pocket lint and some old candy wrappers. “I still can't believe it. I've seen it, I've paid for it, and I still can't believe you just did that.”

Elliot leaned over and said, “I told you betting was a bad idea.”

“Nobody asked you,” she retorted. “You didn't think he could do it either! Admit it.”

Elliot made an apologetic face at Dante. “You gotta admit, it is pretty weird. Most people your size couldn't pull it off.”

Dante was laughing again. “You two have no idea how funny this is for me. You're treating it like this is a talent, and not a huge liability.”

“It's not all bad,” Elliot mused. “You don't get fat, right? And you can eat whatever you want. A lot of people would probably love to have that.”

[Bakery: 49]

[crow]

“Huh,” said Dante. “I never thought of it like that. I guess it's true.”

“If you guys are done,” said Suvi, crossing her arms over her chest, “let's get out of here. He finished eating, we've lost our appetites, and now I'm bored. We're not really going to sit here and discuss his eating habits all day, are we?”

It wasn't solely boredom that motivated her proposal. She was bored, and they were finished, but normally she wsn't opposed to sitting around a bit longer. It was just that she had seen the door open again, and that real pushy guy had come in. She had seen him out of the corner of her eye while the two boys were talking. He was impossible to miss, what with the fact that he was twice her size and made a mad dash for the counter. She winced in sympathy for the poor baking ladies. She hoped he didn't try to take stuff from them before it was ready.

[Bakery: 50]

[crow]

At any rate, she didn't want to be around when he was done picking out food and looking for a place to sit, so she did her best to look real antsy. “Come on,” she wheedled. “There's still lots more to do! We haven't, uh... seen the tree yet! Right? You guys haven't seen the tree?” She had seen the tree, but right now she wouldn't have minded taking another gander. It might turn out to be more fun if she went with friends.

“I saw it on my way here,” said Elliot. She shot him an exasperated look, while he replied with a bewildered one. “... But I haven't seen the petting zoo,” he added slowly.

“Yeah! The zoo! Let's go already,” said Suvi, latching onto this idea with rather more enthusiasm than it probably deserved. Another glance over her shoulder told her that she had no time. Her doom was coming. Jumping out of her seat, she dragged Elliot up out of his chair, then began to shove at Dante, who was enough bigger than she was to be too big to pull.

[Bakery: 51]

[crow]

It was the boys' turn to exchange confused looks, but they complied. It wasn't a bad suggestion, really; it was just the urgency with which Suvi was pushing for it that surprised them. And she was, very literally, pushing for it with everything she had.

She didn't let up until they were a ways away from the bakery. Then, heaving a sigh, she finally leaned back and stopped pushing Dante along. “Whew! I thought I was gonna die in there,” she said.

“Why?” said Elliot, giving her a concerned look. She'd been acting weird, and in that context her words weren't exactly reassuring.

However, now that the danger had passed, relief flooded Suvi with good cheer. She merely smiled at Elliot and said, “The smell of baked stuff was making me queasy, y'know? It was all greasy-like. I think they were starting to fry the donuts.”

[Bakery: 52]

[crow]

Elliot didn't look like he bought her story, and she realized that this must have been what Dante felt like. She reconsidered her decision to tell the little white lie, but in the end she decided the real story wasn't worth recounting. Elliot was a friend, but he was also one of those upstanding citizen types. He probably wouldn't have been on her side if he knew that she goaded the man. “Anyway! The petting zoo. Which direction was it in? I got all turned around,” Suvi said.

Dante said, “I haven't the slightest idea, personally. This is my first time here. I heard they were offering free food.”

“If you keep coming, you might put them out of business,” Suvi muttered. He glanced at her, and she frowned at him. “How come you keep hearing me when I'm talking to myself?” she said suspiciously.

[Bakery: 53]

[crow]

Dante shrugged. “Who said I heard anything? Keep talking to yourself then. Come on, Elliot, you know where the petting zoo is, right?” He slung an arm around Elliot's shoulder and walked on. Elliot did glance back at Suvi, but he faced forward again almost immediately, and hesitantly pointed out a direction.

Suvi ran after them. “Hey, don't exclude me! You two wouldn't even know each other if it weren't for me,” she said. Shoving herself between them, she wedged herself in the middle with one arm around each boy's back. “What are you acting chummy for all of a sudden?”

“I thought you wanted to talk to yourself,” said Dante, his voice laden with mock innocence. Suvi, at a loss for a comeback, merely rolled her eyes and ignored him. If he wanted to try and ignore her, then evidently she could turn that right back on him.

[Bakery: 54]

[crow]

They sorted themselves out soon enough, however. The atmosphere was too cheerful for anyone to stay irritated for long. It wasn't much of a walk, as it turned out; the zoo was relatively close to the bakery. Even along that short stretch, the entire place was decked out in lights. It was kind of amazing, actually, that anyone ever managed to find enough lights for the whole place. “It sure is bright, isn't it?” she said.

Elliot scrutinized one particular string more closely. “I wonder if these are LEDs... I hope their electricity bill isn't too high. This whole thing must cost so much to run.” His house never did anything like this, of course. It cost too much, but more than that, his parents just couldn't be bothered. Elliot had proposed that they buy lights themselves and put them up one year, but Charlie had dismissed it without even hearing him out. If their parents didn't feel jolly, they wouldn't have stood for any attempts by their children either.

[Petting Zoo: 55]

[crow]

It was probably just as well. The kind of things they could afford would have looked pretty sad anyway. And that was why they came to places like this, wasn't it?

“Maybe they have their own ways of generating it. Or maybe these aren't electric lights,” offered Dante.

“Maybe,” said Suvi, who didn't know anything about lights. “If we find some staff, we can ask them. I'm sure they'll know.” The topic of what the lights were made of and how much it cost to light them didn't particularly interest her. She wasn't aware of it, of course, but she did rather come off like a kid from a family with too much money. The thoughts that crossed Elliot's mind on a daily basis often didn't occur to her at all.

[Petting Zoo: 56]

[zapdragon555]

After a long moment of contented, relieved quiet, it was Chibita who broke the silence with a stretch and a grunt, letting go of Karamatsu's hand stealthily. "Welp! My break's over. Though it looks like shop will be closing up fairly soon... you guys oughta get home to your parents. It's Christmas eve! Don't keep them waiting for your sorry butts." Chibita grinned and waved at the brothers, shuffling back over to the chestnut stand.

"Chibita's in a good mood," Osomatsu observed, watching the small man begin to take down a few of the fires. Lo and behold, it looked like the crowd was just starting to thin. "Hey, he's right, though. We oughta go find those other two losers."

"Mm, yeeeah... I bet mom has food almost ready," Jyushimatsu mused, then jumped, remembering something. "Oh! Food! Speaking of! I still have to give this to Santa!"

[Roasted Chestnut Stand - 42]

[zapdragon555]

Karamatsu and Ichimatsu looked over at Jyushi quizzically, then glanced at Osomatsu for an explanation. The eldest brother just shrugged. "If you happen to see a guy dressed like Santa, point him out to us. We have a bone to pick with him," Oso said, sticking his hands in his pockets with a slight mischievous smile.

"No bones! Just cake," Jyushimatsu added with a laugh, then squinted into the thinning crowd. It looked like there was quite a bustle around another food vendor stand... oh, was that hot chocolate? Man, Jyushimatsu could've really gone for some of that, right about then. He didn't let on, but he was cold. "Hey!" he said, looking at the other brothers with a smile. "Wanna go get some hot chocolate?"

"We don't have any money, remember?" Ichimatsu muttered, frowning at the reminder. "Unless that guy has some." He jerked his head in Karamatsu's direction.

[Roasted Chestnut Stand - 43]

[zapdragon555]

"'Th-that guy?' That's cold, Ichi..." Karamatsu laughed awkwardly, rubbing the back of his head. "But... yeah, actually. I have a couple of bucks on me. Leave it to big brother Karamatsu to save you lot."

"I'm older than you, you know," Osomatsu interjected, reaching over to bump a fist down on Karamatsu's head. "By like, at least six minutes."

"You keep track of that?" Karamatsu exclaimed, disbelieving, squinting at the eldest. "Fine. Well, either way, I think we might have to share--"

"Gross."

"--but it should be fine anyway," Karamatsu finished, leering over at Ichimatsu. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a few crumpled dollar bills, beginning to smooth them out. "Let's head over. I think Todomatsu's probably over there; he said something about meeting his date there."

[Roasted Chestnut Stand - 44]