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Arthur hoped that morning was better than any other. He asked for the same thing every day with the vain expectation of avoiding his brother’s and his neighbor’s nuisance. One of them was the most annoying; even his simple presence was unbearable.
He was half way to his town and he hadn’t seen some of them yet. Maybe he was having good luck finally and his brother and his neighbor had forgotten him, or they had been devoured by a dragon. He preferred the second option, because being forgotten wasn’t pleasant at all.
He played with some fairies in his way, ran around a unicorn near to a river, and he cared about keeping his clothes clean because a nation can’t be dirty without a proper reason. A silly boy had said so.
Later, he saw his friends off and went to his destination –the market opened only that day of the week. He was almost as clean as he was when he had left his home and thought the silly boy couldn't say a word about his appearance.
On the stands there were had very interesting objects, shiny things and some magic artifacts that called his attention. He saw them with the look of a boy who wants to buy everything, although he didn’t have enough money to achieve his desires.
He finally bought a magic amulet to shoo away the evil spirits and another to move the bad influences away.
He kept looking the rest of the stands.
Arthur didn’t know why one of them called his attention especially. It was a stand that sold girls products. He usually didn’t pay attention to this kind of products, but this time his eyes lost over the ribbons that the stand had. He realized late that he hadn’t moved a centimeter from he was. He blushed thinking that he might look stupid, moved closer to the stand and examined the ribbons.
There were ribbons of all the colors. He extended a hand and took a blue one. It was then when he realized why he picked the blue ribbon: it reminded him of Francis, that silly boy. He imagined the blue ribbon tied in Francis’ hair without he could help it. He scolded himself and left the ribbon in the table but it was too late.
“Are you interested in it, kid?” the seller said.
Arthur nodded, feeling a bit shy. It was unnecessary to clarify that he didn’t see himself as somebody young; he had lived a lot of years, probably more than the seller. He bought one, but he decided it would be a joke for Francis. For that reason, he chose a pink ribbon very pretty and, for sure, foolish enough for Francis.
When the seller wished him good luck with his girlfriend’s gift, Arthur couldn't say that his cheeks weren’t red.
He left the market and went to play with his friends again. Only in the afternoon he could finally find Francis, near to the bank of a river. He had a unicorn next to him, but the blonde boy ignored his presence. One of the things that made Francis a silly was his inability to see—or just feel—the magic.
Despite he only was playing a joke, Arthur gathered courage to come closer to Francis.
“How are you, little one?”
Francis used to call him by many ways, but Arthur felt exasperated by all the names that contained the word “little”. He wasn’t small anymore, he was a nation and he would be powerful soon.
Ignoring Arthur’s intention, Francis gave him a kiss on the forehead and, then, he squeezed his cheeks, because he knew that Arthur hated this.
Arthur started to complain while Francis laughed. Arthur would have pounced on Francis to teach him some respect in another occasion, but not today. He had his joke in mind.
“Look, silly,” Arthur said. “I have a gift for you.”
Francis stopped his laugh immediately, and he looked at Arthur with truly interest.
“For me?”
“Of course, that's what I've said…” Arthur searched into his pockets until he found his present. His hand trembled when he got out the pink ribbon and when he gave it to Francis. “… I-It makes me think of you, b-because it is so girlish!”
Arthur was prepared to laugh. He really was. He would make fun of Francis and his gestures, his delicate dress and his manners and, then, he would make clear that he was better than him.
He never expected a hug from Francis.
“Thank you! This is very cute!”
Francis gave him more kisses and a squeeze in his nose.
Arthur, with a very happy Francis for the rest of the day, cursed his jokes as well as his amulets against the bad influences and evil spirits.