Flower Amongst Thorns [Boy x Boy]

Chapter 3

"Give me your order." A deep raspy voice interrupted the swordsman's thoughts.

Artios' hand inched towards the new sword he had picked up at the stalls so that he was ready to attack incase the guy tried something.

It was likely, since this restaurant was on the outskirts of the city and many criminals openly moved around the area.

"Hello Good Sir! Can I just say I love your hat. I have never seen anything like it!" Ivy beamed, moving closer to where the man was standing. A place where he could easily get all his teeth knocked out in the matter of milliseconds with one small move.

Did this kid have no sense of danger?!

Artios started getting prepared to grab the boy and bolt, but was shocked by what happened next.

"Thank you, it's my great grandfather's from the war." The man growled instead of attacking Ivy. He attempted a grin which came out as a scowl on his worn face.

...

Artios did not know what was happening.

One moment they were enjoying their lunch, and the next Ivy was surrounded by five burly men, each at least triple his size, laughing together and sharing stories.

"This 'ere is ma' wife and ma' two kids. The little one's a rascal I tell ya! Jus' learned how ta walk and we can't contain 'im no more." One of them laughed as he held out an old photo in his wallet.

Ivy giggled back, flashing one of his 'brighter than sunshine', smiles at the older man.

The young swordsman couldn't help but feel a pang of jealousy at the fact that it was directed at somebody other than him. He probably smiled at everyone like that.

No what am I thinking?? he shook his head to get rid of the passing thought. The twenty-year-old had probably just had a bit too much to drink.

"We need to get going." He called out, a bit more harshly than he had intended.

"This one have a sour personality, don't he? He don't talk much neither." One of the men snarled.

Artios chose to ignore the comment. It's nothing he hadn't heard before. To the world he was a thief with a bad personality, and that was probably true. He didn't really care what others thought.

"That's not true!" Ivy argued, "Art is actually really nice! He's just shy, that's all. People don't notice and misunderstand him when he's doing nice things because he can come off a little cold, but I know!"

"Like when he took me to the market, and everyone thought he was bullying a little boy, but he was only scaring him away cuz the boy was kicking a little puppy who was just trying to eat his scraps."

Artios' eyes widened, cheeks flushed in startlement. Ivy had seen...That's embarrassing.

That kid was just being stupid and annoying that's all. That's the only reason he helped out the puppy. It meant nothing.

Everyone at the city square was giving him dirty looks when he glared at that boy to make him leave. He didn't think Ivy would've thought much into it.

Nobody ever looked beyond what they could see after all.

"Plus he's taking me to Tate Mountain so that I can find the Luna in it's bloom! Nobody believed me when I said it exists but Art did! He's a really good guy!" Ivy flashed him a toothy grin.

The tall man felt guilt strike him like an arrow through his chest.

Artios was a horrible person.

He had only accompanied the boy for the gem, he knew the Luna didn't exist but just hadn't said anything.

It had to be done.

If you really think about it, it was the boy's fault for being so naïve and believing a random thief he found in prison. That should be a big enough hint to not trust someone.

Yes, that was exactly it. The swordsman was just doing what he was getting paid for, nothing more, nothing less. He hadn't done anything wrong.

But then what was this sinking feeling in his chest...

"Let's go Art," a small hand brushed against his elbow gently, "Bye everyone! Thank you so much for being so friendly and kind towards me... I will definitely come by again if I find the flower! Hopefully I get to see little Jack then." He giggled in the end.

What did he mean 'if' he found the flower?

Before the thief could ponder that thought any further a heavy hand rested on his shoulder.

He looked up to see their waiter from earlier glaring at him with the most menacing expression.

"You best take good care of that boy, okay?" It was framed as a question, however it was anything but. It was an order, a threat.

Artios gave a firm nod to satisfy the man and the pair left the restaurant.

...

"I can't believe you have been to so many beautiful places Art. It's been my dream to travel across the world, even though I have never left the city before." Ivy rambled as they walked up the mountain.

The trail wasn't really in use because it had no rails, and one wrong step could send them plummeting into the river.

However it was a perfect shortcut, and it worked in their advantage as Artios was still a notorious criminal and would probably get recognized in public spaces.

The pathway was quite wide too, it's just that people these days were way too cautious and paranoid.

It was their loss really.

"If you wanted to travel, why didn't you just leave? How old are you anyway?" Artios raised his brow in confusion. The boy did look pretty young, but still old enough to go places on his own.

The thief was on his own since the tender age of eight and he came out completely fine. Well, mostly if you didn't count his career, emotional constipation and lack of empathy.

Artios hadn't wanted to engage the other in conversation because then he'd think the swordsman was interested, and keep on going for even longer, but it didn't make sense. His curiosity got the best of him this time.

Whenever Artios wanted something, he just went and got it. Especially something as simple as going somewhere.

Even earlier the boy had said he hadn't seen the city square before, it really made no sense.

"I am eighteen, but my Mom and Pa have always been really overprotective when it came to me. Even when I was younger they wouldn't let me go anywhere outside of-" Ivy explained, but was  abruptly interrupted by Artios.

"Hold on." The copper haired man cupped his large hand around the teen's mouth as he heard the sharp sound of a twig snap in the background, followed by the muffled sound of boots hitting the grass.

They were being tracked.