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Thoma stares back into the office doors, his concern rising.
His young master hasn’t been out for a while now. It's been hours since he first entered but even now with the moon at its highest peak, he still hasn’t taken a break.
Softly opening the door, Thoma steps into the messy office.
“Waka?” he calls out, jumping over the many many books that have fallen down on the floor.
The once carefully maintained office was like a wasteland of literature now. Files spread across the room like weeds in the garden. Broken quills and brushes were there too, the spilled ink sticking unto Thoma’s sandal much to his dismay. It was so cluttered here, it almost felt like a poorly maintained souvenir shop.
Dodging a falling pile of documents, he finally found his desk.
“Ayato…” he gently approached the teen, careful to not make a sound.
The young lord was slumped over his desk, breathing softly as a soft wind brushed his hair away from his closed eyes.
Thoma shook his head. Typical Ayato, the boy really wants to make his job harder.
Knowing it was painful to wake up like that, he decides to carry him back to his room.
Placing a hand on his back, Thoma attempts to grab at the brush in Ayato’s clenched hands.
*THUD*
“Uh…-ow- young master…can you -ow- let go of my hand li- ow- like that? It kinda hurts..”
“...huh? Thoma?” Ayato blinks away his daze as he releases Thoma from his pinned position on the floor “What…how did you get in? Is there an attack-” Ayato tries to grab his sword but Thoma stops him.
“Nothing’s wrong waka” he assured him “I…just came here because I was worried.”
“Oh…” Ayato says, standing up to walk to his desk. He looked at it for a moment then glanced back at him “You read nothing of the documents right?”
Thoma looked at him in confusion “...yes..why?”
“Nothing” he quickly answered “These documents are a matter of high confidentiality for the commissioners. I was just making sure.” he stored the documents away into a drawer before looking back at Thoma “You can go now.”
“...Excuse me…what?”
“You can go now.”
“Why should I go?”
“Well,” Ayato gestures to himself “I’m alive so you can leave now. I still have work to do.” He says, his hands blocking the cabinet’s handle.
“Waka” the young retainer looked at him disapprovingly “That’s not the only reason I came here you know?”
“Oh truly” Ayato’s legs crossed as he pushed back a strand of hair behind his ear. Thoma tries desperately not to stare. “ Then how can I entertain you further to make sure I am left alone?”
Ayato stared at him but Thoma wasn’t putting up with it. He could see the way Ayato glanced a bit back at the cabinet as if making sure it stayed locked up there.
Ayato might be able to fool the whole world but he cannot fool him.
“Maybe tell me what you’re hiding?”
“What do you mean? I’m hiding nothing.”
“Then” to Ayato’s surprise, Thoma grabs him from his chair and lifts him up on his shoulders like a sack of potatoes “THEN YOU’RE COMING WITH ME”
“THOMA WHAT ARE YOU DOING-”
“Waka, I’m not allowing you to work even more today,” Thoma said, hopping over documents.
“But I still have-”
“Waka” Thoma glared at him.
He couldn’t see Ayato’s face but he knew he was pouting “Fine…just put me down.”
“No cheating?” Thoma asked.
“Fine…no cheating”
With a grin, Thoma puts Ayato down, the young commissioner looking disgruntled.
“Remind me…to never get carried like that again” Ayato grumbled, fixing his coat “So…what exactly do you want me to do?”
“Well, I’m going to feed you some food first, get you to change your clothes, and maybe help you fall asleep.” Thoma counted.
“But I already ate-”
“Ayato-sama, milk tea doesn’t count as lunch and dinner.”
“It is and you just don’t appreciate it enough.”
“Ayato-sama, how many times must I tell you that I’m not joining you on your milk tea cult?”
Thoma leads Ayato to the kitchen and helps him sit down.
“What do you want to eat, waka?”
Ayato shrugged, closing his eyes and leaning on his arm “I don’t know…just give me something sweet.”
Thoma looked at his master in slight concern. Usually, when he says something like that, he would grin at Thoma and say something teasing like “you~”.
First, that glance, and now Ayato has miraculously lost his teasing? Not that Thoma minds him losing the teasing…
Pushing his thoughts away, he started cooking Onigiri. As he does he can’t help but notice how Ayato seemed to stare where his office was located.
Even if it was for a fraction of a second, he still noticed the small frown on his face and the way he seemed to clutch his ring finger.
What exactly were those documents?
“I’m done, waka,” Thoma says, placing the plate of onigiri down “Try to eat it slowly, we would rather not upset your stomach after starving yourself for so long.”
Ayato mindlessly nodded, placing the onigiri into his mouth almost mechanically.
The blond looks at him worriedly “Are you okay waka?”
Ayato snapped from his trance “Huh? Of course, I’m fine.”
“Are you sure though? You seem out of it today…”
“I-...I’m just tired okay” he waved off Thoma’s concern. “Just…don’t fret about it too much”
‘The way you say that makes me fret even more. Since when did you admit you’re tired?’ Thoma almost said but he shut up.
Ayato finishes the meal and lets out a yawn.
“Told you shouldn’t work anymore,” Thoma said as he placed the plate back into the sink.
Ayato nods his head before reaching out his arms “Thomaa carryyyyy”
Thoma felt his face flush "Hahaha real funny Ayato"
Ayato glared at him sleepily.
"...oh Ayato" Thoma shook his head with fondness. "Why do you want to make my job harder?"
Ayato smiles softly before his face darkens "Just….indulge me for a bit…please?"
Thoma frowned.
Now he really was worried.
Thoma scooped him up, making Ayato laugh in surprise.
Ayato's slightly toned arms wrapped around his neck, the commissioner laying his head on Thoma's chest and curling up closer to him.
Thoma felt his face heat up even further, trying to not stare at his master's face.
The blue-haired man wore a calm expression, a little smile on his lips.
His kissable lips, so plump and soft….
Now Thoma's face was hotter than the pyro vision at his side.
Why is this man making his job more difficult?
Thoma enters his master's room and sits him gently on the futon.
"Can you undress yourself or-"
"You can do it Thoma" he mumbled "I don't mind…."
Thoma nodded his head before carefully removing his waka's right sleeve.
Porcelain-like skin greeted him, making Thoma dizzy.
Oh gods, why is being a retainer for this man so hard?
Thoma gulped, removing Ayato's left sleeve.
Soon the man was facing a topless Ayato, his skin too close for Thoma to keep a straight face.
Holy mother of the Shogun, why is his back view so beautiful to Thoma?
It was perfectly toned but still retained its "fragile like look". As if Ayato was an ice sculpture, beautiful but can be easily shattered.
The blond takes in a sharp breath and quickly changes Ayato into "sleeping clothes".
"Good night waka," Thoma says, pushing Ayato to the bed.
The young lord looked uncomfortable. "I….don't think I want to sleep yet…."
"Huh, why?"
"I…" he hesitated.
Thoma couldn't keep in anymore "Waka, tell me what's wrong? You never failed to tease me, never admit you are tired and never got this bold to cling to me before…"
Ayato looked down "I do…not understand what you mean…."
Thoma glared at him "And you also never found it hard to hide you're lying to me….please waka" he clutched his master's pale hands "Tell me…"
Ayato stayed silent.
Thoma sighed "Fine. If you don't want to tell me, do not." He got up before looking back at Ayato who looked troubled. "Goodnight waka-"
"Thoma wait-" Ayato grabs his arm.
Thoma turned to see Ayato on the verge of tears….He has never seen Ayato on the verge of tears…since that day...
"I…..yes something is wrong…" he admitted softly, pushing a small note from his sleeve into Thoma's big hands.
Thoma gave him a look of confusion before reading it.
"They…want you to marry?"
Ayato nodded, biting his sakura petal lips "Yes….They want me to marry one of the lower clan girls of the Kanjou Commission…"
Thoma felt his heart drop.
His master…was marrying another?
"And….what's wrong with that?...."
"Thoma….I don't…love her….I…love someone else…"
Oh.
He….loves another.
Thoma felt a pain stab through his chest, making him stagger a bit.
He….loves another.
"Oh…I see waka" he said, his voice shaking "I……how….about…you love that other woman instead? I don't think she'll be minded…by the elders" he swallowed "Either way…goodnight waka"
Thoma stood up, starting to leave when Ayato said something
Ayato’s voice was quiet but it rang clear in his ears.
“Because I love you Thoma”
Time seemed to slow down, the world around them quiet except for Thoma and Ayato’s own breathing.
His heart beats fast, his face heating up as his master’s words spin around him, knitting themselves into a web he cannot escape from.
“Because I love you Thoma.”
Because…he loves….
Thoma felt tears pour down his face as he sat back down, taking his master's hands into his own.
"...I…love you too waka…."
Suddenly Ayato laughed "Isn't it ironic that I've been planning this whole dance and singing number to confess to you…. only to end up like this?" He said bitterly "Certainly removes the magic from the moment doesn't it?"
"To be honest, I was planning something like that too" he chuckled until silence overtook them.
"I…don't want to marry anyone else but you…" Ayato said, his voice fragile "But they won't stop until I do…."
Thoma looked down, feeling hopeless when a strange idea formed in his mind.
"Waka….how about we marry each other here? Right now?"
Ayato looked at him in disbelief "What!? Have you lost your mind? Weddings don't work like that. They need an authoritative figure…and witnesses-"
"Well…." Thoma opens a window, the view of Inazuma city. Grabbing two flowers from the window sill, he turns to him with a mischievous smile "How about we let the Raiden Shogun herself be our witness then and let yourself be the authoritative figure?"
Kneeling in front of his lord, he lifts one of his master's slender hands and places a kiss on it. "Kamisato Ayato, son of Kamisato Kayo….my life….my fire since I've arrived in Inazuma…" he takes the flower and twists it into a make-shift ring "Will you take this ring to be my rightfully named husband…forever and ever under the witness of the Raiden Shogun."
Ayato looked at him in shock before releasing a laugh "You…you really are ridiculous" he wheezed "Of course, I would you idiot"
Grinning, Thoma slides the makeshift ring- a red camellia- into Ayato's pale finger.
Ayato then clears his throat. "Thoma, born of Mondstadt and Inazuma, you silly little sun that shines on me every day with your ridiculous ideas" he chuckles "yet my home….do you" he twists the flower into a ring as well "Take me to be your rightfully wedded husband…forever and ever under the witness of the Raiden Shogun?"
As he stared at Ayato, glowing in the moonlight ethereally…he already knew his answer.
"Yes," he breathes out.
Ayato gently placed the yellow camellia on Thoma's ringer finger before kissing its knuckle.
Thoma flushed "You really want to make my job harder huh?" He whispered light-heartedly.
Ayato smiles, cupping Thoma's face "Then under the witness of the Raiden Shogun and the authority of the Yashiro Commissioner '' he leaned forward "I pronounce us husband and… husband" he pressed on, kissing Thoma.
Thoma has a look of pleasant surprise before closing his eyes, basking in his presence.
Soon Ayato pulled apart, breathless. "May the Sacred Sakura look upon this marriage with favor…"
"And bless this marriage with an eternity as long as the Raiden Shogun's reign.." Thoma finished.
Silence filled the room again but it felt…natural.
Ayato tilted his head, pressing their foreheads together.
Thoma caressed his master's…no…husband's face, breathing softly.
They stayed like that for a while, just…appreciating the other being there next to them when Ayato suddenly nodded off.
"Huh?" Ayato snapped up before yawning "Awwww….I ruined the moment" he frowned.
Thoma shook his head, pressing a kiss on the blue-haired man's forehead "Sorry I kept you awake for too long. You should have fallen asleep now…"
"Nonsense" Ayato said, a small smile on his pretty face. "I appreciate being sleep-deprived if it means spending it like this with you."
Thoma looks at him in amusement before scooping him into his arms" Since when were you this clingy"
"Just now" he yawned as Thoma placed him back into bed.
Thoma tries to get up but Ayato's tired glare stops him.
"We can cuddle now, we're married aren't we?" The commissioner mumbles.
Thoma chuckles, pulling the man's slim body closer to him "If you say so, waka."
Ayato beamed at him, curling up against his sturdy frame. Before he shut his eyes, he suddenly lifted his head "Wait…if we are married…who's the male wife?"
"Me duh," Thoma said, sounding just as tired as him as he ran his fingers through blue hair "No offense but you can't cook to save your life."
"Oh you're cruel, now I want a divorce" Ayato jokes.
"If you are willing to eat ash for the rest of your life, then sure"
Ayato grinned "Goodnight Thoma" and kissed him clumsily.
Thoma smiled back "Goodnight too, Ayato…."