Happy Canada day everyone! Since I have the day off, I'm giving you all a double feature! Come back soon for the next chapter!

The days passed, and to the casual observer, Doug and Dylas returned to normal. They still argued constantly and always seemed to be trying to one up each other. Today was the eating festival, so Dylas really wasn't all that excited. Doug had been stuffing his face on a regular basis leading up to this day as a way of training. Dylas complained that Doug was only looking for excuses to eat more, which Doug agreed to whole heartedly. Today though, he'd resolved to not eat a thing until the contest began. Of course, Dylas couldn't pass up an opportunity to torment.

"Dylas, would you please stop with the cooking?" Doug whined as his boyfriend casually cooked up some dishes.

"Sorry." The horse said with a snide grin, "someone has to do it. We can't leave it to Porco 'cause he'd eat all of the dishes himself." He could have allowed Volkanon to do all of the work, maybe get Clorica in on it, but he volunteered specifically to torment Doug. It was working.

"Man, all this waiting is killing me." He licked his lips. The smell of bamboo rice caused his stomach to growl loud enough for the horse to hear, earning a snicker. "Do you have to be cooking with rice?" He looked so sad and longing, just like he did in the clinic. It was amusing to say the least.

Just then, Meg came in to check on Dylas and see how the cooking was going. "Hey Dylas! Volkanon asked me to come check on things. How's it going?"

"Not bad." He replied as he put a loaf of bread in the oven. Doug scoffed, causing the horse to grin snidely.

"Oh Doug, I didn't know you were here." Meg said. "Are you helping Dylas with the cooking?"

"Yeah right." He snorted. "I'm just here to make sure he doesn't mess up the dishes."

"As if you could do any better!"

"I might not even participate this year, if it means I'll have to eat your food."

Dylas scoffed and got to work kneading another loaf of bread out of spite, or so it seemed. Meg seemed pleased, "well, it seems like you've got everything covered. I'll report back." And with that, she left. Doug continued talking as if she never came in at all.

"Do you have to cook so much bread?" His voice was more of a whine.

"I just want to see you squirm a little." He grinned almost evilly as he said that.

"Come on!" He whined in response. They continued on like that for a while, until Doug had to leave and register. All the while Dylas would be silently rooting for his lover to win. It wasn't often that Doug won a festival after all.

Once all the dishes were done, and there were quite a lot of them, Volkanon appeared with a trolley, ready to transport the dishes. Dylas carried a few on his own, looking around for Doug as he entered the square. He was standing with Frey, Porco and Lin Fa. They were all looking voracious. Dylas couldn't help but grin a little, as it was cute to see the dwarf so excited about something.

The contest began shortly after, and Dylas was actually in awe of Doug's ability to stuff down food. He put up a good fight, but in the end he lost to Porco by a small margin. That was impressive in itself, since Doug was less than half the size of Porco. Volkanon handed out prizes and Doug quickly joined with the other bachelors.

"The ladies seem to be extra self-conscious around this time." Arthur observed.

"I don't know what their deal is." Doug said with a grin. "I kinda like a girl with a little meat on her."

Dylas's ears twitched, but he kept quiet as everyone else talked. A few people thanked him for making the dishes this year, when he'd minimally respond to.

After everyone had gone home for the night, the two sneaked off to the Selphia plain to get some quality alone time. They sat down together in fairly close proximity, but weren't touching yet. Dylas had something on his mind.

"Is what you said earlier true?"

"What?"

"About liking girls with a little meat on her." It was clear that he was jealous of that. Not only was the horse toned and not in the possession of much body fat, but he also wasn't a girl.

Doug only grinned, finding his partner's insecurities to be extremely cute. "Yeah, I do like girls with a bit of meat." He paused to gage Dylas's reaction, then continued, "but you don't have to worry, you're not a girl." He paused again, grinning mischievously. "Right?" The horse scoffed at the obvious teasing. Doug was obviously getting a kick out of this, grinning ear to ear. "You know, if you wanted to put on a few pounds, I wouldn't object." He chuckled as Dylas's face darkened. It was a joke, partially. When the horse turned away, Doug moved closer and put his head on Dylas's shoulder.

They sat together like that for a while, not really saying anything. Surprisingly, Dylas was the one to speak first. "So how did my dishes taste?"

"It was good. Even you couldn't mess up a rice dish." He said with a snicker.

"That's good." He completely ignored the snide comment and smiled.

"If you want, I could let you taste some."

"How are you gonna do that? Did you save some or something?"

"Something like that." Doug said. Then he started moving in. He placed a hand on Dylas's leg, which instantly caught his attention. The horse turned his head, and Doug took this opportunity to go in for the kill. He quickly pressed his lips against his lover's before he had time to protest.

Both closed their eyes. It lasted only a few seconds, but it was sweet. Dylas even attempted to kiss back, but his inexperience made him reluctant to do so. They parted, but Doug made no effort to sit back down. "Well, was that delicious or what?" Doug said comically.

Being the completely oblivious guy he was, Dylas responded, "I didn't really get a taste of any of my dishes."

Doug just assumed he was acting clever, which he liked. "Really? Let's try again then." He moved in again, but at least Dylas was a little more prepared this time. Of course, Doug had to up the ante, and so he pressed his tongue against the horse's lips. He was granted access with little prodding, with Dylas's tongue ready to greet him. This kiss was a little slower than their last, and lasted longer.

When they broke apart this time, Dylas seemed to be a lot more confident. He was actually smiling a little, which was adorable to say the least.

"So how was it? Delicious right?" The dwarf asked with a sly grin.

Honestly Dylas didn't know if his lover was referring to the kiss or the food, so he just nodded. Doug sat back down next to his steed looking perfectly contented. This encounter had given Doug a great idea. "Tomorrow-" He began, actually blushing a little himself, "I wanna take you out to the cave. You know, the one that's buried now."

"Why do you want to go there?" It was kind of an odd request, but he wasn't opposed to the idea.

"You know that lovers who write their names there are rumoured to have a happy relationship." It was a little embarrassing having to admit that, but it was true. "It's caved in now, but I think it'll be a nice spot to visit."

"Okay." He said.

"Great!" Doug seemed unusually happy about that, so much so that he stood up and offered Dylas a hand. "I'll walk you home." He asserted.

Dumbfounded at the sudden change of atmosphere, he responded with, "how about I walk you home?"

"I don't think so." He said through gritted teeth. "I can't leave you unattended this late at night."

"What? I'm much more capable than you!"

Doug snickered, he'd never get tired of this. "Come on, let's just go. I'll let you walk me back tomorrow." Sure he could go one and feed this argument, but he wanted to get prepared for tomorrow.

Dylas reluctantly gave in and allowed the Dwarf to walk him home. On his way back to the shop, he couldn't help but feel excited to put his plan to action.