Flower Amongst Thorns [Boy x Boy]

Chapter 2

"Say Artios, your name is so~ long. Can I call you Art?" Ivy emphasized as they walked through the endless rows of shops and vendors in the city square.

The escape part was a piece of cake. Entertaining this kid, was not. He talked so much. Too much. This was going to be a long six days.

Only six days and you can have the gem. Only six days. Only six more days of this and you can have your ideal life. You can have all the money and riches in the world. Only six days.

Artios took a deep breath before answering, "Whatever."

"Yay, Art! Hey, Art! What's up Art? How are you doing today Art? Art. Art. Art. I love nicknames, and art too actually. Oh my god, are those paint brushes?! There are so many different kinds!" He squealed when he saw a stall full of painting supplies.

"What? Have you never seen an art shop before?" Artios raised his brow sarcastically, now starting to loose his patience a little bit. If this went on any longer, he would have a massive headache.

He was not used to this much talking, and energy. He usually travelled alone for a reason.

"Not really. This is so amazing!" The small boy answered casually as he jumped with excitement, running to have a closer look at everything.

That took Artios by surprise.

Everyone who lived here had seen the city square before. It was the only shopping destination available and took up around thirty percent of the tiny city.

Any person living here should've come across it at least once if not in their daily lives.

Who exactly was this boy?

Come to think of it, Ivy had said nothing about himself other than his name...

"That'll be three gold coins sir." Artios heard a woman at one of the stalls sing sweetly.

The swordsman then suddenly realized that Ivy had disappeared from his spot beside him, and wandered off while he was in thought.

Artios could hear the greed in the vendor's voice from a mile away.

"Sure thing, lemme see what I have..." Ivy dug into the pouch that was hanging off the side of his belt to pull out the exact amount, the lady's eyes instantly increasing to the size of marbles.

"Wait!" The swordsman yelled.

He saw the little keychains in the boys palm before moving his gaze to the chalkboard in front of it, and then calmly stated, "The price written here says two coppers."

"Oh...I'm sorry, that was my mistake." The woman laughed, trying (but failing) to hide her disappointment, "I'm getting old, my eye sight isn't as good as it used to be. That'll be two coppers young man."

"Sure, here. Thank you." Artios hastily placed the money in her palms before Ivy could reach for his pouch and show the entire world all his money.

He then grabbed the platinum haired boy's hand and pulled him away from the stall as quickly as he could.

"Thanks." Ivy smiled shyly.