The bowl currently in front of Nevin was definitely larger than what Eteri had made. Thick cuts of pork rested along the top on one side, or at least there had been an attempt to put them on one side, they really covered half of the bowl or more. Curious, he used his chopsticks - well, the store’s. He had his tucked in his bag at the moment - to level the meat out of the way. Partially crushed beneath it was thin strip of a green leafy vegetable. Eteri had included some of this herself, but not as much. He gave a fond smile to his girlfriend who was already digging in - it seemed her preference for meat affected even her own nation’s meals.
The redhead quietly began working on his own bowl. Nowhere near as proficient as Eteri it took him longer - but he ate more of the additional vegetables as well, while she seemed content with just the meat and the noodles. In the end he gave her some of his pork and snagged some of the veggies from her bowl. If Ayaka was warning that Eteri would need her strength..
Well. He wanted to make sure she ate as much as she could. Nevin raised an eyebrow and spoke softly to Eteri. “Yours is better.” He finished and sat back, settling his hands in his lap as he turned his attention to Ayaka.
“You is lie.” Eteri shot back, slurping her noodles loudly. Come to think of it… the older man had been slurping his rather loudly too. Nevin wondered if this was a custom.
Ayaka was still exchanging words with the old cat next to her in a language he didn’t understand. Finally Ayaka turned to Eteri and again, started talking in Akashiman. Nevin noticed that Eteri didn’t like what was being said, her ears swiveled downward, and for the briefest of moments she stopped eating. ONly briefly before she started again.
His throat was burning fiercely at this point. It seemed food had not been the solution. At this point it was becoming odd that despite his throat - and now that he thought about it some of his mouth- were being affected , but nothing else. He hadn't been eating anything when this started, so then, why? He reached up and massaged his throat again, frowning.
Eteri immediately caught the action. “Nevin! Throat!?” He blinked and was taken aback by the concern and fear in her voice. He leaned back and frowned..
“I'll be fine, Eteri. Your situation is more important. I don't have a fever or any other signs of fighting off an illness. I can go to a doctor in a bit.” He was trying make her calm down.
Eteri shook her head and turned to her sister, talking to her in that same worried tone...just in a different language. Ayaka rose her eyes to look at Nevin and shrugged. Clearly not moved by Eteri’s plight. Eteri rose her voice, and it took Ayaka slamming her sake cup down, and hissing something low to Eteri for Eteri to go back to the remnants of her meal.
“Eteri. I am fine, dear. Don't let me be the cause of problems.”
“Liar…” Eteri mumbled. She pushed her bowl toward him, the vegetables and eggs floated in the little amount of broth she had left him. He winced at the hurt in her voice. He slowly reached out and took the bowl.
“Alright, I'll eat more vegetables. They're good for being sick.” Anything to make that pout go away.
“Not good for being the liars.” She mumbled, crossing her arms in front of her. He sighed and started to reach out to her, pausing and pulling his hand back to rest it on the table. Public displays of affection weren’t right here. He took a deep breath.
“Right now, you are more important. My throat is not actually hurting me. It's more like.. It wants something but I have no idea what. My magic is weird, you know that.” He sighed and shook his head, looking down into the bowl of vegetables. He started fumbling to pick them up - he definitely needed more practice - he paused and slowly looked back to Eteri.
“And I didn't lie. I much prefer your ramen.” Because it was made at home, where no one judged her, or tossed her out. And the two had been figuring out personal preferences, like she found he preferred a bit more of the ‘soy sauce’ than she did. So she always gave him an extra splash when scooping food out for him. This was… Well made, but it was also - generic? Made to appeal to anyone. He frowned into the bowl.
There was a clatter and Ayaka let out a surprised yelp and gave an angry glare.
He looked back to Eteri who was frowning, looking down at her fingers, they were bleeding. He took her hand in his - they were in too much public for him to use his magic. He raised an eyebrow to Eteri, who looked a bit sheepish.
“Cut self on meat skewer….”
Apparently Ayaka had also ordered Eteri more food. Just why was she forcing Eteri to eat so much? He shook his head and brought her fingers to his lips, kissing away the blood that dotted the tips. His eyes widened as he sat back and licked the blood from his lips. The burning was… Subsiding? Why the hell was that?
