A/N: First time writing anything Thommy, so I hope it's decent. Flirty Thommy for msjoshepinemarch over on tumblr.
Jimmy was glad Thomas was back. He would never admit it to anyone but himself, and even then only in the privacy of his room, but he had missed the under butler greatly. And so, when he spotted Thomas trudging down the men's quarters hallway the morning after his Lordship had returned, Jimmy's heart soared with a peculiar gladness.
Thomas spotted him and smiled, accommodating his stride to allow Jimmy to catch up to him and walk beside him.
"Good morning, Jimmy. How are you?"
Jimmy glanced up at the older man, tilting his chin ever slightly; he'd forgotten how tall Thomas was.
"M'fine." Jimmy had never been a morning person, and it certainly showed, regardless of how he felt about seeing his fellow worker back on English soil.
"How was America?" The instant he asked, Jimmy felt odd, as if perhaps he had overstepped. What if Thomas didn't want to say? Surely it was rude for Jimmy to have assumed Thomas would want to tell someone about his trip.
"Fine, thank you very much. It was— enlightening, to say the least. Anything new here? Anna seems much more herself." Thomas noted, a small smile curving his pale lips as they kept in time with one another, their steps in sync as they made their way down the empty staircase to the servant's hall.
"It was alright. Nothing really happened. Bit boring, actually. Did you go to many clubs?" Jimmy was curious. The most he'd heard of America had been through Thomas' letters and he'd only seen a little of New York City in the pictures.
"No, not really. It was a quiet journey, really, peaceful."
A beat of silence followed, and Jimmy took a breath.
"I missed you— I mean, I—" Jimmy stuttered, looking away as his cheeks burned.
Thomas smiled widely this time, his neck flushing slightly at the comment.
As they neared the landing to the servant's hall, they stopped, Thomas still red and Jimmy still flustered. Pale fingers reached out to brush Jimmy's arm, but stopped as Baxter passed by, the din of scraping chairs in the hall nearly drowning Thomas' next words.
"I missed you, too, Jimmy."
And then Thomas was gone, slipping into his chair at the long table and leaving behind a very shocked Jimmy.