Priorities, Thoma x Ayato | Genshin Impact

help, chapter 8.

sauce/manga image - takane to hana, nicola 

As the two rested in solitude, Thoma noticed a rather familiar girl struggling to carry a variety of boxes while walking down the stairs. Thoma ran over to the scene in attempt to assist her. As she was about to fall down the stairs due to the weight of the boxes weighing her down, Thoma upheld the boxes and took it from her hands. 

"M-Ma'am, are you okay? Are you hurt by any chance?" Thoma asked, as he held the boxes in his arms. 

"Thoma! Thank you so much for the help." Thoma immediately recognized the voice, it was none other than Yoimiya herself. 

Thoma placed down the boxes to talk to her face to face first before going anywhere. While Yoimiya caught her breath, Ayato suddenly appeared. The two of them jump in surprise. 

"Gah! Hahh...you scared me, my lor---er...I mean, Ayato." Remembering what Ayato said previously, how could he not say his name when requested to by the commissioner himself?

"Hehe, wow! Both the commissioner and Thoma are out today, huh?" Yoimiya chuckled.

"Oh hello, Yoimiya. Yes, today is my day off after all. And how could I decline an invite from Thoma himself to go get drinks especially from that vendor?"  Thoma blushed, he always embarrasses him like this in public. But, soon enough, Thoma relaxes once again and is able to conversate. 

"You flatter me too much, my...sorry, Ayato." A stream of sweat streamed down Thoma's skin. 

"Hm, it's kind of weird hearing Thoma calling you by your first name, Mr. Kamisato. Not only that, but he also seems to be struggling." Yoimiya looked at Thoma, then Ayato in concern. 

"Haha, well, I did ask him to call me by my first name. We are close friends after all." Ayato smiled. 

"Oh, no wonder then, hehe! Don't worry, Thoma, I'm sure you'll get used to it." Yoimiya smiled and winked at Thoma as a sense of reassurance for him. 

"Thanks, Yoimiya...anyway, let's not get off topic: what are in these boxes? I can hold them of course, but they're pretty heavy. Heavier than the previous boxes you usually ask of me to help you with."

"Oh, well...someone ordered a large order of fireworks recently, and my dad asked me to deliver them to the patron." Yoimiya's smiled transitioned into an awkward one.

"Well, I can help if you'd like, Yoimiya. Though it is my day off, I have time to spare. It seems to be quite the package, so I wouldn't mind at all." Ayato said. 

"Yeah, I'd love to help too!" Thoma added.

"Wow, really?! Thank you, guys, so much! I really appreciate it! Here, we'll all take one box each. Conveniently, since there's three of us, and there's three boxes, let's all take one of each." Yoimiya ecstatically replied.

Ayato and Thoma nodded their heads and took one box for each of them. Yoimiya signaled to them to follow her to the following address, and they all followed accordingly until they finally arrived. Yoimiya and the two leave the packages at the patron's front door, and the three of them slump down by a nearby box. 

"Hahhh...what a delivery. I'm worn out..." Yoimiya exhaustedly comments. 

"Oh, I thought you would have more stamina than that considering that fact that you usually delivery packages weekly?" Thoma looked at Yoimiya quizzically. 

"Well, recently, there's been a shipping issue that took one month to resolve, so the business has been a bit slowed down because of that. So, I had a one-month rest...but that only resulted in my stamina being depleted." 

"I don't think it's a matter of stamina, rather, wouldn't it be a matter of the packages weight? I mean, for me, as someone who roams around the city on a daily, that was quite a package to deliver even for me. And I'm sure Thoma could agree as well." Ayato said.

"Hm, you do bring a good point, my...I mean, A-Ayato. As someone who usually has to carry a bunch of heavy items from a daily basis, it was pretty heavy. Yoimiya, I know you already inform me about issues that you usually can't resolve yourself, but really, if you need my help with things like this; don't hesitate to ask." Thoma smiled.

"Thank you, Thoma, for being so supportive. It means a bunch to me." Yoimiya's tired face slowly faded to a bright smile. 

Ayato looks over to the two smiling warmly to each other and feels apart of himself grow upset. He felt apart of himself grow upset, and immediately broke the tension between the two of them out of unaware jealousy. "Ahem." 

"Ah, sorry Ayato. I just wanted to express my gratitude to Yoimiya." As Thoma replied, he thought to himself, "Wait, why am I explaining this to Ayato like I cheated on him?"

"Oh wow, you finally said my name without stuttering or almost saying 'my lord.' I'm happy." Ayato grinned. 

Thoma's eyes widened. Seeing the sight of his lord smiling usually never phased him this much, but what is different about this? It made his heart throb, what was it? Blush forms on his pale cheeks that soon turned into a flushed pink and smiles sincerely. He's never felt this happy to be complimented. 

As Thoma and Ayato shared their moment, they heard someone approach them. The three of them look up, curious as to who it may be. Only to see that it's the Traveler themself.