Work Text:
It was Ayato's birthday today.
That's why the estate is a mess.
A colorful mess.
Thoma rushed through the courtyard, trying to avoid the passing servants carrying party materials.
Yoimiya teeters somewhere in the vast open space, trying to hang the banner while Itto and another servant were arguing about adding onikabuto to the decoration.
"Everything's running smoothly" Ayaka claimed, running up to him. A box was in her hands, a tall one, the scent of vanilla and chocolate heavy in the air.
Thoma smiled, "Then we should be prepared by afternoon." He said before unfolding a list from his pocket. "First we should prepare the decorations: almost done, then we would have to cook the food and then we…wait, how are we going to distract him?"
"Well, Yae-sama said she loaded onii-sama with enough work to last until sunset" Ayaka explained "There should be enough time to prepare until then."
"Good. I would rather not repeat last year's situation…"
"I-it wasn't that bad…"
"Ojou, you accidentally spilled the secret plan we had last year and we had to improvise in the worst ways possible to still make it a surprise."
"I tried okay?" Ayaka crossed her arms, her face red. "Besides, onii-sama laughed at the strange clown…."
"...Ojou, it's waka. Everything is amusing to him."
"Oh right…"
"Well at least its not like last time, there we had to distract him." He gave her a grin "Now we have time at our side and there's nothing that could stop our surprise party."
Ayaka was about to respond when Koharu came in, panting excessively.
"OJOU-SAMA…THOMA-SAN" she started, her expression horrified. "AYATO-SAMA IS COMING NOW."
".....could…you repeat that?"
"One of our spies has given me a letter." She passed the neatly folded paper to Ayaka. "Waka-sama is coming home right now."
"Huh!?" Thoma looked around the unprepared courtyard "But we haven't prepared everything yet- And I thought Yae-sama loaded a lot of work on him!"
"Oh about that." A smooth voice said.
They all turned to see Yae, sitting by the estate's steps.
"You asked me to pile work on him that lasts a day," she smirked "But you didn't say whose definition of ' lasts a day '."
Ayaka frowns "But Aunt Y- ehem I mean Yae-sama…"
"Oh give it a rest. You know how the little Camellia flower is" she leaned back "He would appreciate anything you make."
"But it's supposed to be a surprise…."
"Well, then distract him," Yae said.
"You….did this to be entertained…didn't you, Yae-sama?" Thoma sweat dropped.
Yae smiled at them "Obviously~"
"Oh, gods-" Thoma looked at Ayaka, panicking "Okay, okay. This is what we're gonna do. I'll distract him around Inazuma and you try to fix this party as fast as you can."
"But we can't cook-"
"Just figure something out"
"...okay, just go stop him!"
"I'm counting on you" Thoma hurriedly threw the red jacket around his shoulders and ran towards the gate.
Hopefully, they won't explode the estate….they won't right? That's Ayato's job.
Speaking of Ayato…
Thoma runs along the path in Chinju Forest, avoiding the gaze of the hillichurls and the fatui.
That's where he sees him, finishing an Electro Cicin Mage off.
"This is hopeless" Ayato sighed, a shuumatsuban ninja lending him back his bag of documents "These mages really dared to be this close…"
" We can end them right now if you want to, Ayato-sama" The shuumatsuban (*cough cough their surprise party spy*) tried to suggest.
Ayato waves him off "It's fine, the closest fatui member here is far away so let us not engage in unnecessary violence." He pulls the bag close to his chest "Now, let's go home- oh hello there, Thoma."
"Hello too, Waka" Thoma greeted, joining his side.
Ayato looked at him curiously "What are you doing here Thoma? Isn't it near lunchtime? Shouldn't you be in the estate?"
At that, Thoma looked sheepishly "Well, turns out…we are out of….uh…ingredients! We are out of ingredients" he lied "I was hoping to go to the city to get some…..preferably with you."
"Oh, no need to do that" he turns to the shuumatsuban ninja "Could you perhaps-"
"No!" Thoma shouted, making Ayato look at him in surprise. "I…I'm the only one who knows the ingredients!"
Ayato looked at him incredulously "....what do you mean?"
“It’s uh….” Think. Thoma. Think. “It’s….a Mondstadtian…ingredient,”
“A…Mondstadtian ingredient?” the commissioner looked unconvinced “Then tell me, what is this o’ so rare Mondstadtian ingredient?”
Thoma flushed.
Oh gods, he did not think this far.
HE DID NOT THINK THIS FAR.
Ayato’s lips stretch into a thin line “I guess we will go home now-”
“IT’S SOMETHING MY MOTHER USES!” Thoma burst out, cutting off Ayato, “She used to use…uh…this little plant” he tried to explain. “And since the decree is over…uh…I was hoping…that it was somewhere in….Ritou?”
“So….you are finding…a little plant from Mondstadt….that’s probably in Ritou?” Ayato repeated.
“Yes”
“...then why should I come with you?” the blue-haired man asked “Not that I would pass an opportunity to be with you but I’m really tired right now…”
“Please waka” Thoma pleaded “For me?”
Ayato hesitated “...fine. But can we make it quick?” Ayato yawned “I’ve been awake since one o’clock,,,”
“Of course” Thoma assured, grabbing his hand.
After Ayato dismisses the ninja, the two of them headed for Ritou.
A rain of sakura petals rained on them as Ayato smoothens his new kimono with a frown.
“So what kind of plant are you looking for?” Ayato asked, fixing the large Unchikatsugi of his disguise. How Ayato has a disguise so quickly? Thoma does not know. He just had one under his sleeves and here they are now.
Thoma looks away, sweat beading on his face. “It’s uh….blue…”
“...That does not shorten the list of plants, Thoma.”
“Uhhh…it’s called” Thoma searches his mind for any Mondtsadtian sounding name. “....Corn…flower?”
“Corn flower?”
“Cornflower!”
“Okay…” the commissioner said but the disbelief was still present in his face “Where should we start searching?”
“The trading organization” he answered swiftly “They should have it."
Ayato nodded, trailing after Thoma to the International Trade Association.
Thoma was nervous. Of course, why wouldn’t he be?
There is a little secret after all….cornflower does not exist in Teyvat.
How is he going to pull this off with his master looking at him like that?
"Oh, greetings Thoma” the merchant there greeted Thoma as they approach. “How can we help you? And you have brought a special lady with you too?” the merchant smiled at Ayato.
Thoma choked ‘Lady-”
Ayato laughs, fluttering his fan elegantly.
Thoma blushed at the sight.
“We…are looking for cornflower,” Thoma said, his face turning pale.
The merchant titled his head, looking confused “But it doesn’t e-”
Thoma’s look stopped him.
The merchant smiled nervously “uh... we... have them, but it’s not yet delivered here at the current moment…”
Ayato looked at the two of them suspiciously, his purple eyes narrowed…. he’s really not convinced, isn’t he…
“So there isn’t any ‘cornflower’ here?” Thoma asked.
“Uh…no….”
“Uh….thank you….I guess?” Thoma said, not looking at the man in embarrassment.
“Uh…any time Thoma!” and then to Thoma’s further uncomfortableness, the merchant then kissed Ayato’s gloved hand. The merchant winked. “See you around too, pretty lady.”
The said “lady” fluttered his fan.
The two of them leave and finally, in the shadow of a sakura tree, Ayato lets out a groan.
“This is so strange,” he said, taking away his kissed glove and putting it back into his pocket.
“Sorry about that” Thoma said sheepishly, giving Ayato a spare glove from his jacket. He always kept spare gloves and hairpieces for the Kamisato siblings in cases like this.
Ayato takes the glove gratefully.
“So, we don’t have a lead to your little ‘cornflower’” Ayato said, sliding the glove back into his pale hand.
Thoma scratched his head “It seems so.”
“So;...are we going home now?” Ayato looked at him curiously “Or are we still going on in this wild goose chase?”
“Well we should- huh? Wild goose chase?”
At that, Ayato chuckled “You really think I’ll buy the cornflower excuse? Seriously Thoma, don’t you think I studied a bit of Plant biology for my curriculum as a child?”
“Then….why did you go along with it?”
“Well, considering how desperate you looked; I honestly thought it was code for something. But alas” he laughed “It seems you tricked me either way Thoma.”
“...I honestly don’t know if that is a compliment or an insult waka.”
“Flip a coin.” he said, leaning back against the tree “Surprise me.” His face then turned serious “But seriously, why were you so desperate in keeping me away from the house?”
“And why are you so desperate in going back to the house?” Thoma shot back, sitting on the grass.
“Hmmm, to be honest, I’m not sure.” he sighed, sitting down next to Thoma. “I…..just want to be home I guess…”
“That makes sense” Thoma mumbled thoughtfully “How long have you been at your office…like 7 weeks?”
“8 weeks” Ayato corrected, laying his head on Thoma’s shoulders. Thoma tries not to shake in self-consciousness.
"That…is an awfully long time. 2 months of work…"
"Looking back, it is," Ayato said, slight amusement in his tone. "I should probably take more breaks but here we are, 2 months later. Trying to find the non-existent cornflower. And I have a glove with a kiss mark just to show it." He chuckles "Seems a little ridiculous, doesn't it?"
"Yeah, it is"
Ayato sighed "To be honest, this seems a little forlorn but…." He kissed Thoma's cheek "I missed you both, both you and Ayaka."
Thoma flushed "I-I…missed you too, waka."
Ayato smiles at that, closing his eyes and burying his head deeper into Thoma's shoulder.
Thoma does the same, appreciating his lord's presence. Appreciating that no matter how long he has to wait, Ayato will always be at his side.
They stay like that for a while, how long that while was, Thoma doesn't know.
He just know that the next time he blinked, Sayu was shaking his shoulder.
"Ojou…san said it's time" she yawned, looking like she wanted to be anywhere else but here.
Thoma nodded, shaking the sleeping man (when that happened? He doesn't know either) awake.
"Waka, it's time to go home" Thoma said as Ayato blinked "This time, it's not a trick."
Ayato chuckles at him, grabbing his hand.
The three of them head back to the estate, Thoma's excitement rising with each step.
Ayato looked at him in slight confusion "Why do you look like you are a child getting a dog?" He asked, jumping up a step.
That's when Thoma grinned at him "You'll see."
Intrigued, Ayato rushes up the steps and into the estate.
It was dark and there was-
"SURPRISE!"
Ayato jumped as everyone approached him with a large chocolate and vanilla cake, their faces bright.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY AYATO-SAMA!"
"What?" Ayato looked at all of them in surprise and at Thoma "What is this?"
"A surprise party for the birthday boy" Thoma said, placing a hand on Ayato's back "We had to improvise here and there but it worked didn't it?" Then he stared at him playfully "Why the look waka? Did you forget?"
"I...I didn't even know it was my birthday," he laughed, looking sheepish. "I truly forgot from all the work."
At that, Ayaka approached him, placing a party hat on his head "Then let us remind you . Now" she grabs the cake and presents it to Ayato, the 25 flames in the cake glowing."Make a wish"
With a grin, Ayato blows the candles out.
.
.
.
.
.
The festivities were wild and chaotic, just like Ayato.
The lights were bright and food flowed around almost like a river. Confetti rained around and banners flew in the air as Itto and another member of the gang challenged each other to a beetle fight.
Even Yae Miko of all people decided to join in the fun, having a tofu eating contest with Yoimiya as Ayaka laughed at the blonde's face.
As the party continues, Thoma notices the star of the whole party was gone from the courtyard.
And he knows where he was.
Sneaking away, Thoma heads for the tiny hill near the estate.
There Ayato sat in front of two stones, his face calm.
"Hey, waka" Thoma said as he knelt down beside him.
He then lit a candle at the two graves.
Ayato lets out an exhale, one of contentment "Sorry about leaving the party" Ayato said, "I just wanted a bit of a recharge after all the social interaction."
"It's fine," another voice said.
Ayaka stood behind them, a basket of white camellias in her grasp.
"After all" she placed them in front of the grave "We should spend our birthdays with the one we care about the most."
Ayato smiles at her, ruffling her long hair "Ah, well spoken as always little sister."
Ayaka laughs "Well I learned from the best onii-sama"
"But, did you have fun waka?" Thoma asks, fixing the flower arrangements.
Silence filled the air as the two waited with bated breath.
Did he like it? Did he hate it?
That's when Ayato smiles.
"I had fun." His arms wrap around them , pulling them closer "Thank you….for the party."
Ayaka and Thoma looked at each other before embracing him.
"Happy birthday…Ayato"