Author's Note: For those who have been to the lake before: I cannot remember the name of this one restaurant I always go to, but I do remember that 'Shooters 21' is another one. So, even though I am saying 'Shooters' I'm describing a different restaurant.
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~Hot Competition~

Even though Sirius didn't like being so close to Jason, he felt that the ride did calm him down somewhat. It had been a few hours since they had left and all three of them were getting a bit hungry.

"Jay!" Remus yelled over the engine, "Are we going back to your place to get something to eat?!"

"Not unless you want to, Remmy!" Jason replied.

Sirius, who could barely hear a word they were saying, heard that. He silently cracked his knuckles.

"But I was thinking that we could eat at Shooters!"

Remus gave him an odd glance, "Where?!"

"Shooters!" Jason continued, "It's a restaurant overlooking the lake!"

"Alright, let's go there then!"

Jason nodded and drove for another ten minutes before pulling off into a cove. He slowed down to idle speed and started towards the dock.

Sirius studied the building. It looked like a three story party house turned into a business.

Jason pulled up to an open dock and turned the boat off. He hopped off and began tying it down with a few ropes. Only when it was tightly secure did he offer his hand to Remus and help him off. Sirius jumped off the boat after them.

Jay led them up three flights of stairs to the first floor. It wasn't too crowed and they were seated immediately, up on the second floor next to the open railing by their waitress.

"Good afternoon," the tall girl with a ponytail of red hair smiled, "I'm Deona, and I'll be your waitress. Would you like to order drinks now, or wait a couple minutes to decide?"

The three picked up their menus, and the only one who looked as if he knew what anything on there was, was Jason.

Jason hid a small grin upon seeing their puzzlement, "Thanks, Deona, but we'll need a few."

The red-head just smiled and walked away towards the counter.

"Guess I should have mentioned that this was a muggle restaurant," Jason smirked.

The other two men stayed quiet.

"Look, what I usually do when I'm here with some friends is order a pitcher of beer and a basket of hot wings."

Remus looked buried in confusion, "Hot wings?"

"Chicken wings in hot sauce," Jay chuckled to himself.

"I don't really like hot food."

Jason smiled, "It's alright. They can put the sauce on the side, but is that ok with you two? Hot wings and beer?"

The other two men nodded.

"Deona," Jason smile was way too sweet for Sirius's liking, "Can we order now?"

Deona walked over to the three men, "What can I get you?"

"We'd like a pitcher of your House Beer and a basket of hot wings with the hot sauce on the side please."

The waitress jotted a few notes down on a small pad before leaving quickly and returning with three glasses and a pitcher full of golden liquid. She poured the drinks for the three men before leaving again for another one of her customers.

Jason took a sip of his drink, "So how are you guys enjoying your stay so far?"

Remus's eyes brightened slightly, "It's been great. I'm really glad we came."

"I'm glad you decided to take me up on my offer. It's been a real pleasure being with you again," Jay leaned a little closer to Remus than was necessary, especially for Sirius's liking.

Much to the raven hair's relief, the waitress came back with a generous basket of chicken wings. She placed them in the middle of the table and set the hot sauce right next to it, "Anything else I can get you boys?"

The three shook their heads in unison. Deona smiled sweetly before heading off to the kitchens again. They dug in filling their plates.

Jay poured some of the red liquid over his and laughed to himself, "Their hot sauce can make the devil's mouth burn."

Sirius gruffed, "It can't be that hot."

Jason raised an eyebrow at him, "I'll have you know that very few of my friends can eat more then three of these things when they're covered in this stuff."

'That's probably because you haven't got that many friends,' Sirius thought as he smirked to himself, "And what about you?"

"I have a cast-iron stomach. Twenty is about my limit before I get too full," Jay boasted.

Remus, seeing that familiar gleam in his best friend's eyes, tried to head him off, "Sirius, don't."

"I bet you I could eat more then you can."

The words were out, and Jay had the same look as Sirius, "You're on."

Remus just shook his head and muttered to himself, "Why do I even bother?"

More hot wings were piled onto the competing men's plates and hot sauce literally covered them. Sirius could not tell if his canine nose was just picking up the smell of the sauce or if it was really that potent. Whichever it was, his nose stung of the scent.

With just a nod the two men started in on their plates. Sirius took one bite into his wing and literally felt his mouth catch on fire. He was regretting making this challenge, but he didn't show anything other then a smile of contentment on his face.

About a third way into their plates, both men started to feel the burn, literally. Sweat was accumulating on each of their foreheads and upper lips, but neither of them were about to give up, determined to defeat the other.

The stakes were running high at about halfway through their plates when the two took a few seconds to breathe.

"How about we make this a little more interesting?" Jason smirked.

Sirius raised an eyebrow wiping a few drops of salty liquid away from his face, "What did you have in mind?"

Remus was getting a little tired of each of their competitiveness, "Just stop. You both are going to make yourselves sick."

Jason smiled, "Don't worry, Remmy. Sirius won't last once I make my proposition."

Sirius growled, both at hearing his nickname to Remus and being underestimated so easily, "Talk is cheap. What is it?"

Jay's smile easily grew into a smirk, "I could have Deona bring out the fire hot sauce and we could douse our wings in that."

"What's the difference?"

"The fire hot sauce is twice as spicy and has rumored it could put a hole through steel."

Sirius faked a laughed, "Bring it on."

Remus just gave up. If the two were going to fight like little boys, he was going to let them get it out of their systems.

Jason ordered the sauce and the two did exactly as planned, drenched the remaining wings in it. The smell made Sirius's eyes water and burn. It was hot. By the time he got through the first wing his mouth was numb, but there was no way he was going to give up, even if his vision was going a bit fuzzy.

By the time the two were done, neither could feel their mouths or their throats. Their stomachs churned in aggravation as did their growls because neither of them had won. They had both tied, and neither were *that* proud to try for more.

Jason paid for the bill and staggered on ahead to start up the boat, and probably to throw up. He left Remus to pick up Sirius who was starting to look a little green.

"Serves you right," Remus scolded.

Sirius felt too sick to say a word.

Remus hoisted him to his feet and guided him down towards the dock. He miraculously got Sirius onto the boat and Jason took off in a hurry for home. Each wave caused Sirius even more discomfort.

After what seemed like hours, Jay finally tied the boat to his dock and head up to his house. Remus, once again, pulled Sirius up and made him follow the way Jason had gone. The werewolf felt like he was playing mother as he lead Sirius up to his room and stripped him of all clothes but boxers. He even went as far as to tuck the other man into bed, but the sick man didn't stay there long.

In a bout of nausea, Sirius leaped out of bed and ran into the bathroom where Remus heard the continual sound of retching. The blonde sighed in sympathy. Even though Sirius had done this to himself, he didn't like it when his best friend felt this bad.

Remus walked into the bathroom and knelt down beside Sirius who was sitting in front of the toilet with his head over the bowl. The blonde pulled back the man's hair away from his face and began rubbing soothing circles into his back. Sirius had another retching attack before he slumped down away from the toilet and sat with his back to the wall.

"Ugg," was all he managed to say.

Remus just shook his head and hoisted his friend to unsteady feet for the third time that day. He shuffled them into the bedroom, careful to not jar him too much lest he throw up again. Sirius, quite cooperatively, got into bed and allowed Remus to tuck him in again; something he didn't normally like when he was sick.

Making sure Sirius was falling asleep, Remus turned off the lights and closed the door behind him muttering, "Goodnight, Siri," as he went.

|~*~|

Sirius once again awoke to the feeling of somebody watching him. A slight breeze blew over his face as he opened his eyes and noticed the balcony door was open. He had a feeling who was here.

"Remus?" Sirius called out. He noted that he felt much better than before; definitely much better.

"I'm here," Remus's voice sounded weak.

Sirius shot straight up and saw the blonde leaning up against the dresser for support. He jumped out of bed and was at his side in an instant, "What's wrong?"

"Not... feeling... well," his voice came out in ragged gasps.

Sirius turned on a small lamp beside them and for the first time, saw just how pale Remus actually was. His skin was slick with sheen sweat and his eyes were starting to glaze over. The blonde's body was shaking and he looked incredibly frail. His knees gave out from under him and he landed right against Sirius who held onto him tightly.

Sirius scooped the other man up into his arms and laid him gently onto his bed, "Stay awake, Remmy. You have to tell me what's wrong. What can I do?"

"It's the... moon," Remus heaved out.

"The moon?" Sirius questioned, "But full moon was two weeks ago. You still have another two to go."

Remus shook his head slightly, "America... moon cycle is... different..."

Sirius ran out onto the balcony and looked up. Sure enough, the moon was full and bright. Sirius could only think of one word to say, "Shit."