Synopsis: Thoma cares for you and praises you after a tricky day of work. A bit of a drabble, but something like this actually happened to me today, so I needed a bit of self indulgence.

Theme(s): Fluff, Comfort.

Relationship: Dating

Word Count: 1261

Enjoy! ;)

After A Hard Day's Work

You kicked your shoes off and flopped down onto the couch with a groan. You grabbed a pillow and buried your face into it so you could let out all your frustrations.

Why did today have to be so difficult?

You'd already had a bad feeling when you woke up sleep deprived and not exactly in peak health. But you hadn't been sick enough to skip work. So you sucked it up, took a swig of tea and went straight to the Kamisato Estate.

And then . . . well, you didn't know if it was your occasional sniffles and sneezes, or lack of experience compared to everyone else . . . but nothing seemed to go right today.

There were always traces of dust left on the floor.

The things you were supposed to put in place never looked quite right.

And you could never seem to finish anything on time.

Even without the intervention or firm (but fair) feedback of your fellow retainers, you knew yourself your work wasn't quite up to par.

Some of your fellow retainers were fairly nice. But others intimidated you with their unfiltered upfrontness. There were times you were afraid to get in their way. And sometimes, when you were rearranging things, you would find yourself "Is this how they would do it?"

You also had a gut feeling that there were also some people there who aware that you were "the new one." And because of that, they were trying things on you they wouldn't dare approach any of your fellow retainers with. It made you feel dumb and overdependent on your fellow retainers when you found yourself asking them for help or advice.

You were trying your best to do your work in a timely manner. But you also wanted to get it right. You did what you were asked but you always felt like you could do more. That was the balance that you struggled to find, but were too afraid to ask in case someone turned around and fired you because you were so terrible at your job.

Even when Ayaka smiled sweetly at you as you finished your shift, the disappointed looks and painfully honest feedback from everyone else still swarmed around in your head.

Oh the relief you felt when you were finally down on that couch with your favourite (salty/ sweet) snack in your hand. You couldn't wait to just kick back and enjoy the upcoming weekend.

But . . . didn't you have commissions to do?

And you had agreed to a complete a request last night.

You moaned and sank into the couch, sniffing as you did so. Leaving aside the panting from your exertions at work today, your stuffy nose wasn't exactly making it the easiest to breathe.

"M'love! I'm home!"

"Hi Thoma," you sighed as your boyfriend stepped in and went straight over for a hug. You felt a bit better as you took in his warmth. And then you felt worse when you remembered that you probably had no right to feel as tired as you did- there were some days where he would work twice as many hours as you.

"How was work today?"

"Tough." You couldn't help admitting it.

"Tough? What happened?"

He sat down, listening intently as you told him how you had struggled with today's shift. How you couldn't finish everything on time, and you couldn't get it finished up to standard. You often paused mid sentence to sniff- not out of sadness, but because your nose was running and it was annoying as anything.

Of course Thoma noticed.

"You don't look well."

"It's just the sniffles. It's nothing bi . . ." You trailed off as you felt an all too familiar tickle in your nose. You turned away from your boyfriend and sneezed into your arm just in time.

"Excuse me!" And then you spluttered. Not a cough too . . .

"Awww." Thoma being Thoma was straight onto his feet, squeezing your shoulder. "You stay there, m'love. I'll make you some tea."

He returned a few minutes later, stirring some lemon tea, sweetened to how you liked it. As you took the cup and began to drink, he sat next to you and put an arm around your shoulder.

"Thank you . . ."

"You're welcome. You get all the rest you need till you feel better."

"I just-" You sighed and shuffled up to him. "I'm not even sad. I'm just disappointed. I'm trying my best in there, y'know? I'm trying to find that balance between doing my jobs fast and doing them well . . ."

"Aww." Thoma wrapped his other arm around you and kissed the top of your head. "I'm sure you are. You'll get better at it. M'lord likes you, as does milady. You just need more time. You're still only new to the job."

You nodded in agreement. "I'm trying to remind myself that. Ugh, I hate it when I do something and some of the others give me those looks."

"You don't worry about them." Thoma gave you little squeezes, prompting you to rest your head on his shoulder. You did so, feeling a wave of relief as you did it.

"I know those people. They think they're above everyone else. They're honestly not worth getting upset over. You just smile and do what you're asked and don't worry if they look at you or say something bad."

"Yeah, some of them trash talk you all the time. Thoma's too laid back or Thoma never puts anything back in its proper place. I hate it when they do that," you muttered, shuddering irritably.

You had a feeling that would get a chuckle from Thoma, but you were still a little surprised when he did so.

"The usual, huh?" he chuckled pleasantly. And then he squeezed you tighter, scattering more little kisses over your head. "I'm telling you, don't worry about them. And don't worry about today. What's done is done. You sit back and relax and enjoy your tea. And when you're finished, I'll draw you a nice hot bath. Would you like that?"

"I have four commissions . . ."

"And you'll have all of next week to do them."

Thoma suddenly pushed you into an upright sitting position with your back to him. He began gently massaging your back and shoulders. You moaned as your shoulders cracked from all the knots he rubbed away.

"Aww . . . You're so tense." Thoma dug his fingers in a little deeper, making circular kneading motions. Even when he pressed hard, he had such a soft touch. You sighed and relaxed a little more as he stoked some of your hair and kissed the back of your neck. It felt so nice . . . Your head drooped a little. You finished off the last mouthful of tea and allowed your body to drop down onto your boyfriend's behind you. He rested down onto the couch, sliding his hands around your chest.

"Here's a new job for you. Your job is to rest up over the weekend so you'll be nice and fresh for your next shift. And no more worrying about today. You just need a little more time and practice and then you'll be fine in there."

You nodded to his words. You knew yourself that the time and practice would be important. But it felt so reassuring to hear it from someone who loved you and understood how hard you were working. You sank into Thoma's chest and noticed that you could finally breathe through your nose again. He smiled down at you and planted one last kiss on your forehead.

"Keep going. You're doing great."

Okay, I know that one was kinda short and the usual from me, but like I said, I kinda needed to write that one to feel better after work today. I WILL work on having us doing something nice for our boi Thoma in the next story. Be sure to Follow and Fav and suggest some prompts so I can have a better idea on what to write next!

Anyways, I'll see you next time!