(this one is taking a bit longer but I'm having fun figuring out their little quirks lol) 

Being awoken by a loud knock on the door didn't bode well for Hollem's day. He barely managed to push himself up before he heard the sound of keys jingling on the other side of it. A moment later, Madam Maria walked in, fully dressed in a beautiful black satin gown, though Hollem knew that it couldn't have been past eight in the morning. 

"Please tell me the building is burning down so I don't do something stupid about being woken up so damn early..." He mumbled, not even bothering to remove the arm Amia had slung around his waist as he cuddled with his head a little too close to his abdomen, still out cold right up against him. 

Maria raised an eyebrow at him, but when he just scowled back in return, she finally got to her point for waking him. "Ramond is out today with the flu..." 

Dear god. He knew what that meant, and he sure as hell didn't want to do it. 

"It needs to get done, Hollem... and I don't trust any of the others with my money." She said, staring at him with narrowed eyes for a few more seconds before lowering her gaze to Amia. 

"Take him with you." 

Hollem's jaw dropped at that. "No!" 

His shout made Amia shift against him, making him squirm a bit. The guy slept like a rock. 

"Then don't take him, but also don't complain to me after you have to wheel the cart back here on your own." She said with a raised eyebrow right before she sauntered off, not giving him a chance to reply. 

Seething, Hollem glared up at the ceiling for a short while before realizing that he had to go now or get stuck going later. Sighing, he looked down at the brat of a young man still wrapped around his waist. 

Did he want to bring him? Hell no. Did he want to pull the cart by himself? Hell no. 

"Hey Amia? Wake up." He grumbled, pushing the guy's head, only to watch it flop back over. 

His eyes narrowed as Amia's left hand slowly inched its way upward along his skin. 

Even in his sleep he's trying to get some.

"Amia, you can work today." He said, watching the man, unsurprisingly, sit up with a bright smile. 

"Really?" He nearly squealed, making Hollem wince at the shrill sound. 

When the guy leaned in and kissed him right on the lips, he about threw him off the bed. If I don't want to be half dead pulling all of the food back from the market myself... 

"Yes, congratulations. You get to work today. It's a very, very important job." Hollem said as he nudged the guy off of him and got out of bed. 

Amia was up not a second later, running about to get himself ready. "Finally! I'll do my best, and don't worry! My best is damn good!" He said as he yanked a shirt over his head. 

Hollem watched him scramble about for a moment before getting himself dressed. He didn't bother for his normal slightly fancy get ups. Instead, he pulled on a worn pair of brown trousers and a clean but old lighter shirt. 

Once he had finished fastening his boots, he looked up to see Amia staring at him, a hint of caution in his eyes. "Why are you dressing like that?" He asked. He was still smiling, but it was clear that he was trying hard not to frown. 

"Get dressed in the clothing you came here in and meet me downstairs." Hollem said, not bothering to explain as he hurried from the room. 

If he told Amia that he was going to be used as a pack mule to pull their cart of food, he would surely throw his biggest fit yet. 

When Amia stomped down the stairs about ten minutes later, Hollem knew that he was going to be dealing with an angry beast. A small one, but those usually have the sharpest claws. 

"I'm not going to be fucking anyone today, am I?" He hissed as he followed Hollem out the front door. 

Since he couldn't really hide the large cart sitting right in front of them, he turned around and shrugged. "The brothel needs supplies." 

It wasn't like he wanted to go, either. 

The look on his face almost made Hollem feel guilty about tricking him. "Come on, the sooner we get this done, the sooner we can get back and hopefully sleep a bit longer." 

That didn't seem to improve the guy's mood, so Hollem just kept his mouth closed and grabbed both handles of the cart. He'd tow it to the market, and Amia could help bring it back. 

They walked awkwardly spread out until the bustle of the market forced them a little closer to keep from being swept away in the current of bodies. 

The cart managed to be enough of a deterrent to keep everyone from pressing in on him, but he could see Amia struggling as they got into the heavier throngs of market-goers. He even noticed a few people glancing back at him, and one older man even turned around and was blatantly stalking him through the thick crowd. 

Why is he even interested? I swear his clothing should keep most eyes off of him.

They couldn't exactly hide that he was pretty handsome, but the grungy clothing should have helped  deter people a little. When the guy got within several feet of Amia, Hollem licked his lips and began hauling the cart in his direction, cutting off several uneven lines of foot traffic. He got shouted at more than a couple times but he made it to Amia just in time to tug him close, making the white-haired man who was just reaching for him suddenly jump back and disappear into the crowd. 

"Pay attention." Hollem said as he released Amia to pick up the other side of the cart he'd had to drop. "Walk in front of me." 

Crossing his arms over his chest, Amia did as told, but not before Hollem heard him mumbled. "I should have let the guy have me. Maybe then I'd at least be allowed to do some work." 

Biting his tongue on a response, Hollem walked silently behind Amia until they neared the vegetable vendor who normally gave them a pretty good deal since they bought in bulk. 

"Stop here." He said as he set the cart by the booth, not turning to face the vendor until he saw Amia hesitantly come to a stop, then slowly backup until he was standing a few feet from him. 

Hollem would have just let him be, but since he'd already been followed once and nearly grabbed, he didn't bother trying to get him to come closer with a command, and instead just snagged his arm and pulled him to his side before turning his attention to the vendor. 

He ended up buying fifty pounds of potatoes, celery, radishes, onions, carrots, corn, and several different kinds of lettuce. 

Amia refused to offer to help him load them, and he didn't bother asking. When they were all set, he headed over to the meat vendor. He got a few large fish and some salted beef, pork, and about twenty chickens. 

He noticed Amia wandering toward the next door booth as he worked on getting everything loaded. He almost dropped a few things as he worked, but he didn't dare take his eyes off of the guy in case he got grabbed again. 

He was just finishing loading up the pork, intent on getting the chickens next, then heading back, when he noticed Amia staring at something in the other booth. He had the very tip of his thumb between his lips, nibbling without really thinking, it seemed. Leaning closer, he realized that he was staring at a bowl of pomfret cakes. 

He wasn't a fan of the strong sweet flavor of liquorice, which is what made up the tiny, odd black discs. Looking back up at Amia's face, he confirmed that the guy was definitely looking at the odd treats. 

"Hey, Amia?" He called, making the young man jump. 

He nearly cracked a smile at having startled him, but forced it back as he gestured to the chicken carcasses still sitting on the vendor's table.  

"Please finish loading these for me." 

He was surprised when Amia didn't argue, but sent one last longing look at the little sugary discs before turning and doing as told. While he was distracted, Hollem walked over to the booth Amia had been at and nodded to the bowl of chewy sweets. 

The man filled a small pouch with ten or so discs, then handed it over to him. Hollem gave him the money he requested for them, though he couldn't help frown a bit at the price. Liquorice had been in high demand for some reason recently, and the supply had not been able to keep up with it. Thus, the price had inflated quite a bit. 

After tying the pouch tightly to his belt, Hollem returned to the cart. Amia was just finishing getting the chickens loaded. 

Perfect timing. 

"Can you grab one side?" He asked, drawing Amia's attention as he sat down the last bird. 

He didn't look like he wanted to, but he nodded anyways and grabbed one side of the cart, leaving barely an inch or so between them as they both lifted and began to slowly turn it. 

I really should make him pull it all the way back by himself. 

Even with that thought, he couldn't find it in himself to make Amia deal with so much weight. It wouldn't be impossible, but it would be hard. 

They made their way across the market to get some loaves of bread before finally heading back toward the brothel. They were nearly at their street when something slammed into him from the side, sending him stumbling into Amia, nearly tilting their cart over as they both fell on top of each other. 

He heard a yelp from Amia, but also felt someone's hands grab something on his waist. The liquorice. He jumped up to chase after the person as they yanked the leather bag from his belt, snapping the thin string he'd used to tie it, but when he glanced back for just a brief second to check that Amia was getting up, he came skidding to a halt. 

"Amia?" 

The guy was still on his side in the dirt, his left leg lifted close to his chest so that he could hold his ankle. 

Having no other choice, Hollem let the thief get away with the treats and just told himself that he was glad that it wasn't his actual money purse. Walking back to Amia, he knelt beside him and leaned over to check on his ankle. 

The moment he touched it gently, Amia hissed and pulled it away. This won't do. He can't help me with the cart with an injury. 

There wasn't any room to ride in the cart, either, though. 

Pursing his lips, Hollem sighed and slowly helped Amia sit up, then turned to give him his back. "Get on. We're almost back, so I'll carry you the rest of the way." 

He knew that the guy wouldn't want to be helped, and expected to hear an earful before Amia refused to move, but he surprised him, again, and instead of arguing, climbed right up onto his back. Once his arms were firmly wrapped around his neck, Hollem carefully stood up, then grabbed the handles of the cart on either side of him and began pulling it toward the brothel. His muscles screamed as he moved up the small hill, but he refused to slow down. If he did, he doubted he would be able to get himself going again. 

By the time they got back to the front door, he was about ready to drop. Sweat dripped from his brow and his muscles felt a bit numb. It had been so long since he'd done such work, and he usually brought someone to help bring the cart back... not to ride on his back while he did it all. 

He dropped the cart right out front, then ducked inside with Amia still holding onto him like a monkey. "The supplies are back." He said to Anna, who would get a few of their workers to unload it. 

"Can you also send someone up to my room to tend to Amia's ankle, as well as draw a cold bath?" He said, earning a nod. "Yes sir." 

Hollem quickly carried Amia up to their room and settled him on the edge of the bed. He had just gotten the young man's shoe off when their house healer came up. She wasn't professionally trained or anything, but she did love to study healing and did very well with basic sprains and broken bones. And, of course, she was also one of their whores. 

"I'll leave him to you, I need to run back out for a few minutes." He said as he got up, passing someone hauling up cold water for his bath. He couldn't wait to get out of his sticky clothing, but he forced himself to head back down the stairs and out the door. 

Instead of helping unload, since there were already several people getting to the cart, he headed back down toward the market. The sun was getting higher in the sky, burning the back of his neck, spurring him to move quicker. 

When he finally got back to the booth that had the little lquorice discs, he was surprised to see only a few left in the large straw bowl. He quickly picked up the three that remained and paid the ridiculous price the man required before turning to head back to the brothel. 

For some reason, he felt nervous holding the three coin-shaped treats. He'd bought a whole purse of them earlier, at least ten discs, but now to return with only three... Granted, Amia hadn't known that he'd gotten that many, and how many he'd return with this time, or that he'd bought any at all. But still... 

By the time he finally made it back up to his room, after seeing Maria about getting paid back for the supplies, besides the liquorice, he wasn't surprised to see that Amia had clearly bathed. His tired eyes lifted to meet his and Hollem couldn't help but offer him a small smile. 

He headed into the washroom and quickly rinsed the discs he had in the bowl of clean water that had been left on the counter. 

"What is that?" 

Hollem jumped, nearly dropping the liquorice when he heard Amia so close. The guy was standing next to him, barely putting weight on his injured foot as he tried to see what Hollem was now hiding in his fist. 

"Nothing." He mumbled. "Get back to the bed. You shouldn't be walking on that." 

Amia didn't seem to believe him, but he let it drop and carefully hobbled back toward the bed to lay down. Sighing, Hollem set the treats on the counter and quickly stripped out of his soaked clothing. He took a short bath, loving the chill of the water as he ran the bar of soap along his body, scrubbing away the sweat. 

By the time he got out and pulled on a pair of soft, worn pants to sleep in, Amia was snoring on his back in bed. 

Must have given him some medicine for the pain. 

Grabbing the liquorice from the counter, he walked over and sat on the bed beside Amia. It took a minute, but he managed to shift him closer to the wall, giving him just enough room to slip himself into the bed comfortably. He tossed two of the treats onto the nightstand, then held one up in the dim room to eye the design on it. All of them were stamped with a castle and owl on them. He'd heard that they do it to show its quality, but as he brought the black disc to his mouth and took sucked on it just barely, he couldn't help but make a face at how disgusting it tasted. 

Quality my arse. 

He was about to toss it back with the other two, then get some rest, when he felt eyes on him. Without turning his head, he glanced at Amia from the corner of his eye, catching the young man licking his lips as his eyes stared longingly at the treat. 

As his tongue swiped out again, Hollem felt his stomach twist... probably from the gross taste still in his mouth. He turned a bit and slid the disc between Amia's lips, startling him a bit. 

"It tastes disgusting. You can have it." He mumbled before rolling over to get comfortable. 

There was silence for a moment before he heard a delighted little squeak from the guy. He closed his eyes as to the sound of Amia savoring the liquorice. When he had finished, Hollem felt warmth press against his back. 

"There's two more on the nightstand, but eat them tonight." He whispered, his voice already gruff with sleep. They would only get a few more hours before they had to work for the evening, so he wanted to take advantage of them, and Amia should, too. 

He wasn't surprised in the least, though, when after a few minutes, and with Amia likely thinking that he'd gone to sleep, he felt the bed shift abruptly several times as the guy climbed over him to get to the treats. 

Instead of being annoyed, however, Hollem actually felt his lips tug up just a tiny bit as he let himself drift off. The last thing he processed before falling asleep was the bed dipping one more time and the warmth of Amia's body returning to press against his own.