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Thoma had always been a curious child and this was his first time out of the estate ever. He had always been restricted by his Master to the land enclosed by the estate walls but today was his birthday. Since today was a special day his Master brought him out to pick a cake himself from the bakery.
Thoma had a very hard time choosing from all the different cakes in the store but he settled on a big cake that was filled with caramelised apples. He was now waiting for his Master who got caught up by someone he knew while paying for the cake.
At first, Thoma waited obediently in the bakery like his Master asked him to but he was honestly getting a little bit bored staring at the cakes on display. So he wandered outside, he wanted to take a quick look at the world outside he seldom got to see. Among the glamour of the storefronts, Thoma noticed a stranger sitting in an alley looking very pale. His clothes were dishevelled and dirty, he looked rather unwell.
“Hello sir, are you okay?” Thoma asked the stranger sitting in the alleyway. Thoma adjusted the sleeves of his pure white blouse in nervousness. He felt a little bit nervous now that he approached the stranger. The stranger's eyes seemed to flicker across his clothes, pure white ruffled blouse with a blue ribbon, clean black slacks and the silver tag on the collar around Thoma’s neck. The stranger seemed to lock onto the emblem on the tag and simply shook his head and looked away.
Thoma frowned. He was sure the stranger could hear him and he was sure he was polite too, so why was he being ignored?
The man glanced at Thoma who was still standing there waiting for an answer, he heaved a heavy sigh “Kid, you shouldn’t be here,”
“Why? Sir, you don’t look okay, do you need help?” Thoma asked.
The stranger looked very tired and seemed to reluctantly ask Thoma, “Where’s your Master kid.”
“In the shop over there,” Thoma pointed across the road to the bakery, “he’s buying a cake. It’s my birthday today!” Thoma got excited at the mention of his birthday. Still, he bit it down when he realised it wasn’t very appropriate to be talking about his cake in front of an injured man, “Why don’t you look okay sir?”
“How can we humans be okay when we’re under the thumb of the vampires,” the man hissed under his breath. He looked Thoma in the eye and could see the confused look in them. He simply heaved a tired sigh before waving Thoma away, “Don’t worry about it kid, just go back to your Master before he gets angry.”
“But-” Thoma jumped, he was cut off by the sound of his Master calling him.
“Thoma what are you doing over there, come over here now. Our carriage is here to pick us up.”
“I’m sorry, I’m coming,” Thoma left the man and ran to Ayato immediately and they got into their carriage.
Once they settled inside the carriage Ayato sternly looked at Thoma, “I thought I told you to wait for me inside.” Thoma immediately felt guilty and bowed his head.
Ayato heaved a sigh, “It’s okay, we’ll talk about this later, let’s enjoy your birthday first.” He ruffled Thoma’s hair and a slight smile emerged on Thoma’s face at Ayato’s comforting gesture.
“Okay.”
By the time they got back to the estate Thoma was already in a cheerful mood. He was excited to celebrate his birthday by eating the delicious-looking cake he picked out himself.
“Thoma,” Ayato paused at the door, “I have some business to take care of right now so go ahead and enjoy your cake. I’ll be with you shortly.”
“But…” Thoma frowned, he wanted to eat his cake but he didn’t want to eat it by himself, he started to whine “I want to eat it with you Master it’s my birthday today-”
“ Thoma ,” Ayato said with a stern voice and a frown. He cut off Thoma’s whining. Thoma turned his eyes downwards and looked at his hands, the sternness in Ayato’s voice immediately shut him down. He was filled with an overwhelming amount of guilt and disappointment in himself for upsetting his master.
“I have some business to take care of first, you will go enjoy your cake first while I take care of it, understand?” Ayato asked Thoma, the disappointment at having to ask Thoma twice evident in his voice. At this point, Thoma felt like he was on the verge of tears. He hated how he was feeling right now, he hated how Ayato sounded upset at him.
Thoma gave a small nod in understanding. If he opened his mouth he wasn’t sure he could stop himself from crying.
Ayato looked up at the maids on the other side of the room and they got the hint and escorted Thoma away to enjoy his cake.
Ayato heaved a deep sigh, he hated seeing Thoma so sad on his birthday, it was supposed to be a happy celebration after all. Ayato wanted to avoid souring the mood but what had to be done had to be done, Thoma was also disobedient multiple times after all. His excitement must’ve gotten to him so he forgot that his Master’s words were meant to be followed.
After this business was done Ayato would go to Thoma and give him a hug, tell him everything is okay now and that Thoma just had to listen to him more keenly in the future. They could then happily enjoy his birthday cake together. Ayato couldn’t wait to see the sweet smile that would appear on Thoma’s face as he dug into the cake. Even though Ayato sent Thoma to eat his cake earlier, he’s sure Thoma hasn’t taken a single bite yet because of Ayato’s earlier scolding.
They called it his ‘birthday’ but today was actually the anniversary of the day Ayato first found Thoma. He was walking down the beach, deep in thought and in need of a change of scenery after a day of tiring politics with the other aristocratic vampires. The first thing Ayato noticed wasn’t Thoma’s small body laying in the sand, bruised, battered and bleeding from what Ayato assumed was falling overboard from a boat. The first thing Ayato noticed was the smell of someone's blood. Thoma’s blood smelled so divine, appealing and immediately called to him. He was attracted to the blood and ended up chancing upon Thoma in the sand. Thinking back, part of him was shocked that no other vampires had found Thoma before him with how potent the smell of his blood was.
Thoma's body looked so small and weak, there was no way Thoma would survive if Ayato fed off him at that moment. So even though the urge to feed off of him was so strong Ayato bit his tongue and decided to take Thoma home to nurse him back to health. It wasn’t out of the known for vampires to take humans as pets for a variety of reasons. Under the grime and wounds, Ayato could tell Thoma was quite a cute child. He also had blond hair that was almost unseen in Inazuma, he must’ve washed up from a faraway country. Thoma was still a child and a small part of Ayato still felt a sense of pity for a small human child that was abandoned alone on the beach. Maybe his chance upon Thoma that day was simply fate, from the very moment they met he felt a strong connection to this small child to keep and protect him.
That’s why he had to take care of this business first. The moment Thoma was out of sight and earshot, elite members of the Shuumatsuban appeared. They were staff under Ayato that mainly engaged in espionage and top secret missions under Ayato’s orders. A few had even followed his and Thoma’s outing to the city in the shadows today.
Wasting no time, Ayato went straight to business.
“That human rat Thoma talked to in front of the bakery, bring him to me. I want to pay him a visit in the estates' basement tonight. Go now.” With that, Ayato waved his arms and the members dispersed to fulfil his orders.
It was necessary for Ayato to take care of the trash that decided to talk to his lovely and sweet pet. He didn’t think too kindly of humans planting seeds of doubt and question into his pet's mind. How did humans even have the gull to talk so casually to someone who was his. He feels he makes it very clear with a tag on the silk choker around Thoma’s neck that has his clan’s emblem.
Satisfied with everything, Ayato happily hummed to himself as he made his way to his sweet pet. Thoma was probably feeling very beaten up at himself right now. He’ll go and comfort Thoma and then they can enjoy the cake Thoma picked out today and have a happy birthday celebration.