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"A festival?" Ayato glanced up at Thoma, curiosity leaking into his usually controlled facial expression.
"Yes, my lord. Arataki Itto is hosting a festival. Or, uh, attempting to." The retainer rubbed the back of his neck as he corrected himself. "They've already been kicked out of Ritou."
Ayato chuckled, bringing a gloved hand to hide his smile out of instinct. "My, my.. Perhaps we should lend them a hand?"
Thoma perked up, a tiny smile gracing his face. "Can we?"
"Well.." Ayato tilted his head. "Why not?"
" The Almighty Arataki Great and Glorious Drumalong Festival .. What a mouthful." Ayato smiled as he read through the proposition for the festival, clearly put together with a combination of Shinobu's skills and Itto's.. personality. "This seems like it'll be quite amusing." With a devious gleam in his eyes, he reached for the stamp at his left, dipping it in ink before marking the sheet of paper with his approval.
"Let's see what you can do, Itto." He moved the file onto his 'accepted' pile. "I'm looking forward to it."
-
A message board. Thoma had seemed very excited when he told Ayato about it, chattering about the messages left by the many occupants of Inazuma. Itto had a lot of friends, and he was glad to hear they were willing to support his endeavors. Just as he wanted to.. As it was, though, he couldn't just waltz up to the message board and pin a note with his full name on it like everyone else.
"Thoma." He called out just as the housekeeper was about to exit the room.
"Yes?" Thoma blinked at him, curious. "How may I help you, my–"
"When you pin your message, will you take one of mine too?"
Thoma froze and sputtered for a moment.
"S–sure.." He knew better than to question Ayato's interest.
"And Thoma?" Ayato smiled but his eyes turned dark, and the mondstadtian had to suppress a shudder. "Don't snoop."
"Y-yes, my lord.."
The door shut very quietly when he left, heading to seek comfort from the less threatening Kamisato sibling.
-
A message. What should he write? Normally, Ayato was very good with his words. He could spin any threat or offer into sugary sweet speeches that easily fooled others. He could conceal the truth perfectly, weave tall tales and convince the old men of the tri-comission to welcome change into the nation of eternity. He could write like a poet, he could write as a commissioner, but Ayato did not know how to write as a friend. When his brush would usually glide across the paper with no effort, he now found himself staring at the growing puddle of ink with a blank mind.
Ayato was not one to fumble. He didn't falter, or stew over what to say, much less did he blank out when trying to write a message for an acquaintance .
Let the brush lead the way .
"I've been playing trading cards with my friend Itto for a long time now. He always loses, and you can tell he wants to pout, but he never gives up and asks for another game. It's adorable."
Ayato blinks down at the paper. What?
Well. He crumples the paper and pulls out a new sheet, starting again.
"I've been playing trading card games with my friend Itto for a long time.. I'm always winning, perhaps because I want him to think I'm admirable, so I put in way more effort than reasonable.."
He discards that one as well. Normal. He just needs to write something normal. That's easy.
"I've been playing trading card games with my friend Itto for a long time now. He always loses, but never gives up. I find his resilience truly ad–"
Ayato sighs. Admirable. Admirable. He purges the word adorable from his mind like an intrusive thought.
Staring down at the note, it looks fine. One wouldn't guess the foolish mistakes he made while writing it.
"I was delighted to hear about my friend's festival today. I came here with a limited edition Genius Invokation TCG gift pack to offer my congratulations. I wish him a fantastic festival.
Hopefully, we can see each other again soon. I miss–"
With a pointed glare, he rips the note in half in his irritation. Since when has it been this difficult for him to keep his feelings under wraps? Itto had a way of getting through his defenses, tearing down the walls he had so cautiously established.. he just didn't think it went this far.
Rewriting the message with long-suffering grumbling entirely unfit of his position, he finally signs off at the end.
"–Your TCG Buddy Ayato."
Foolish. The smile that breaks his composed façade in half is unbecoming, but the warmth that blooms in his chest at that one word is undeniably adoration.
Your . It's the only bit of emotion he's allowed to display, even behind a fake identity, but this much is enough for him.
-
"..Your TCG Buddy Ayato. Hahaha!" Itto laughed gleefully as he pinned the message back on the board. "Aniki really is the best!"
Sitting down on a box to open his gift pack, Itto pointedly ignored the butterflies fluttering in his stomach, and the gang stayed blessedly quiet about the flush that covered his ears.
They cheer as he pulls out the cards and the boys settle down beside him, Shinobu taking her spot back-to-back with him, pulling out an obnoxiously large book that Itto couldn't imagine anyone taking pleasure in reading, but she's just special like that, he figures. They'd play late into the night, bathed by paper lantern lights, the oni's contagious laughter filling the air even as he lost. Even so..
Your TCG Buddy Ayato.
Itto smiled giddily, unlike his usual toothy grins or smirks. "Happy?" Shinobu murmured, tone teasing, and his cheeks flushed a light pink, but his smile didn't drop. If anything, it grew a little wider.
"Yeah, I am." He placed another card down on the table. "Hee! Take that, Akira!"
"Boss, you can't use that card right now–"
"Don't be a sore loser now!" He slapped the gang's member on the shoulder, unaware of the happy grin the green haired woman behind him was hiding beneath her mask.
Yes, he was happy.