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“WHAT,” Thoma began, “are THOSE.”
Ayaka froze, her soaked socks clutched in her suddenly shaking hands. What was wrong with her? It was just Thoma! Just because he sounded weirdly pissed at her, didn’t mean he WAS. Maybe he’d just had a bad day- she should be happy he was willing to relax enough in her company to loosen the ‘i am so very happy here’ mask he constantly was donning.
She turned and nervously laughed. “Well, it’s silly really…”
Thoma’s face was blank, utterly devoid of emotion. She took a small, instinctual step back. What the fuck?
“Why are your socks wet,” he asked flatly. “I laundered those this morning. It’s not even raining.”
“I danced for the traveler,” she said sheepishly. “I think they really liked it, but I was so nervous I forgot to take my shoes off.”
From the shadows, Thoma’s broom appeared. She blinked, clutching her dripping socks tighter. He was clutching it like a bat, his hands shaking with…rage? At her? Her socks? She knew he took pride in his work as a housekeeper and that he washed and dried all her clothes with the utmost diligence, but wasn’t this anger a bit much?
“Thoma,” she began.
“Silence, wench,” Thoma said, twirling his broom like a lightsaber. “Do you know how long it takes to dry your stupid fucking clothes every morning? Do you know how much water I have to draw, how much I have to scrub to get the fucking mud off after you go galavanting with the traveler for hours at a time? Do you care? You think I WANT to do this work everyday? It’s thanks to shit like this that I NEVER get a break. I’m done. I’m fucking done.”
“You’re quitting?” she asked, horrified. “Thoma, wait-”
“Quitting?” he asked with a dark, hair-raising chuckle. “QUITTING? I’ve invested too much time into this place to just QUIT. No, my Lady, I’m going to teach you a lesson.”
Ayaka backed away as Thoma prowled forward, grasping his broom like an extension of his body. It was akin to how he handled his polearm and vision- how had he gotten so equipped with a broom that he could literally turn it into a weapon at his leisure?
“Thoma,” she tried again, “we can discuss this-”
“There’s nothing to discuss,” he hissed before charging forward at the speed of light.
Ayaka shrieked and spun away in a flurry of frost. She sprinted forwards, Thoma’s pounding footsteps in her ears.
“BROTHER,” she shouted, grabbing random pots and throwing them to the ground. Thoma maniacally laughed as they fell with a clatter, surely making even more of a mess than her socks ever would have. “GUARDS???”
It was like no one was home. No one was here to save her from the housekeeper. Had some kind of demon possessed Thoma??? He was so docile usually! No matter how bloody, torn, dirty, or soaked her clothes had become before, he had never reacted like this! Had he suffered a head injury?
“THOMA, I’LL GIVE YOU A RAISE,” she screamed as the broom narrowly sailed past her head. His range with the fucking thing was terrifying!! “I’LL DO YOUR LAUNDRY FOR A WEEK, PLEASE-”
Thoma’s laughter grew in volume until her words were entirely drowned out by his wheezing, crazed chuckles. She was dead. So, so dead. She hadn’t even written a will.
She whipped around a corner, careening for a closet. It was like the halls of the estate had suddenly become infinitely long. There was no escape from Thoma and his broom.
She slammed the door shut behind her, scuttling to the farthest corner. She could hear Thoma’s panting breaths from a few feet away and she muffled her own wheezes with her hands.
“Ayaka~” Thoma sang, “where are you?”
She shuddered, her wet socks still in hand. They smelled a little. She wondered if the traveler might want them because there was no way in hell she was ever putting them on again without reliving this trauma.
“Ayaka, if you don’t come out, you’re going to worry everyone,” Thoma said and suddenly he slammed a fist into the closet door. She heard the sound of his long, perfectly trimmed nails scratching against the wood. “I can’t wash those socks if you don’t come out~”
She shook her head mutedly. Like HELL was she going out there.
“Come on, come out,” he coaxed. “Don’t MAKE me come in there.”
???????
The scratching stopped. “Fine.”
She sighed in relief as she heard his retreating steps. Then-
The door splintered in two and she screamed at the top of her lungs. The broom, that stupid fucking wooden broom that was probably older than her, had split the door right down the middle. The two halves collapsed as Thoma peered into the closet, his lips twisted into an ugly, evil grin. He stepped inside, raising the broom.
“Ayaka~”
She fainted.
“My Lady? My Lady~~ wake up!” Ayaka shivered, cracking open her eyes and screamed as she saw two emerald ones boring into her own. Thoma jerked back in surprise, arms raised as she flung a pillow at him in terror. It hit him square in the face and she heard his muffled yelp. She backed away, fumbling for her sword. “Ayaka, what is it?” he cried, setting her pillow back down. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost!”
“You-” she gasped.
“Oh my, are you sick?” he asked, leaning forward in concern. “I think you’ve had a nightmare!”
“I-” she rasped, letting her sword clatter to the ground. She looked around, frowning.
“I thought you slept in because you were finally taking a break,” he sighed. “I should’ve known something was wrong! Taking a break doesn’t seem to be in your vocabulary.”
She scratched her head, staring at him. He… looked fine. Normal. Not a broom-wielding villain. Just like the same doting housekeeper that she had known for more than half her life. Had…had it really been a dream?
“You know, it’s funny,” he said, righting the sheets and beginning to bustle around the room. From his belt, he pulled out a duster and began to idly dust pictures, figurines, really anything he could get his hands on. “Your brother had almost the same reaction a few days ago when I went to check on him! The way he looked at me, you would’ve thought I slapped him. Oh goodness, I hope something isn’t getting passed around. It’ll be a problem if everyone falls ill.” He blabbered on as she just watched quietly from bed. Eventually, he left with the promise to bring her back some food.
Once she calmed her racing heart, she was calling up Yoimiya and they were setting that fucking broom on fire.