*Third person, no one's P.O.V., Jeans office*

Jean- Excellent work on those hilichurl camp's Amber, citizens of monstadt can rest easy knowing the nearest hilichurl camp is all the way at windrise.

Amber- It wasn't just me, Thomas here helped out a lot too, without him I never would've been able to take out all those hilichurl's, Heck I probably wouldn't even be alive at this point.

Jean- what do you mean?

Amber- While we were out fighting off the first camp an axe metachurl was about to cleave me in two until he stepped in and took the blade himself.

Jean- is this true?

She asks turning towards the male who's been silent this whole time, lifting up his now ruined hand he simply says.

Thomas- Yep 

Jean- .........Amber go wait outside

Amber- Huh, why?

Jean- Please Amber! Go practice your archery or something I need to speak with Thomas alone.

Amber- oh okay, bye Thomas!

She says with a friendly wave and receiving one back, once the outrider is out the door Jean then turns to the male.

Jean- I suppose you want a thank you now?

Thomas- keep it, just doing my job 

Jean- job, what do you mean?

She asks before the male grins and explains to her everything he told amber about him being a hero and all that. Once he's done the blonde simply sits down at her desk and folds her arms.

Jean- I know you didn't ask for one but, thank you

Thomas- *nods silently*

Jean- moving on, I have your next assignment right here-

Thomas- whoa hey hold on!, don't I get a quick break to fix up my hand or something?

Jean- Very well, report to the market district and ask our resident blacksmith to forge you a new one, once that's done come back here for your next assignment.

Thomas- you got it boss Jeany!

Jean- Don't call me that!

Thomas- hahahaha, see ya!

He says waving goodbye leaving the grandmaster alone at her desk, blowing a loose strand of hair from her face she simply states.

Jean- Strange guy....

Before turning back to her papers however it isn't long before her door reopens and she looks up to find Kaeya and Sarah standing there, the latter covered in bruises and dirt.

Jean- what happened to you?

Sarah- I.....don't......wanna.......talk about it!

*MEANWHILE*

Thomas- 15th century blacksmith......I'd probably have better luck finding a hand in the dumpster....

He grumbles to himself walking around the market district looking for said blacksmith to at least try and forge him a new hand. Whilst walking around he receives a lot of cold stares from those around him and I mean A LOT with the amount of cold stares he's receiving it's a miracle he hasn't been frozen solid by now. After several more minutes and stopping by a nearby open flame to warm himself up he eventually finds the blacksmith shop how It took him so long to find it considering it's a small town and it's located right at the entrance is beyond me but hey here we are now with him standing in front of said blacksmith being completely ignored.

Thomas- Umm....hello, can I get some service here?

Wagner- what do you want?

Thomas- gee, talk about rude customer service you treat all your customers with the same cold attitude?

Wagner- yes, especially the ones who destroy half of the town I live in and force me to work triple time to make up for all the destroyed weapons, armor and siege weapons. Now what do you want?

Thomas- I need a new hand, think you can handle that?

Wagner- sure, that'll be 10,000 mora

Thomas- .........right, mora........*sigh* I'll pass on the new one I guess.

He says turning around and heading off leaving Wagner to resume his business, sauntering up the stairs and into the knights HQ he steps into jeans office.

Jean- so how's the new hand coming along?

Thomas- no go, I'm broke

Jean- Right, that could be an issue, not only for your new hand but to pay for just about everything during your time here.

Thomas- you got a solution?

Jean- one, but you probably won't like it

Thomas- lay it on me, I can take it

Jean- you work as a butler for the knights of favonius 

She states causing a shocked look to envelop the males face, counting to three in her head she then braces herself and covers her ears.

Thomas- WHAT!!!!!!!!??????!!!!!!!!

He screams VERY loudly causing several birds to fly away in freight and even a few windows to crack slightly. Uncovering her ears and rubbing them in pain Jean then turns to the male.

Jean- Now hear me out-

Thomas- you want me to work as your servant!?!

Jean- well yes-

Thomas- screw that, I'd rather starve!!!

Jean- just hear me out, it's not that bad. All you have to do is run some errands and cook and clean for the knights around monstadt, we'll pay you in mora so you can feed yourself and afford a new hand. I'll also inform your friend when she returns from her mission with Kaeya.

Thomas- but-

Jean- listen do you want the mora or not?

Thomas- *Sigh*

*Ten minutes later*

Thomas- I cannot believe you're making me wear this

He grumbles in a clearly upset tone as he stands in front of the now grinning grandmaster wearing a traditional butler outfit consisting of a full body suit, tie and white gloves.

Jean- oh come on, it's not that bad and besides you look great!, 'really you do'

She thinks to herself looking the male over in his new outfit ignoring the glare he's currently giving her. Fidgeting with his tie and and tailcoats the male reply's.

Thomas- No, I look and feel ridiculous!

Jean- well it's either feel ridiculous or starve your choice!, now report to the servant room our resident maid Noelle will fill you in on your first butler assignment. Depending on how you do is how much mora you'll get.

Thomas- and the servant room is?

Jean- out the door, through the larger one in the hall and first door on the right you can't miss it.

Thomas- right, let's get this over with.

He grumbles one last time stepping out the door oblivious to the stares Jean has been giving him the whole time since he got into the outfit. Stepping outside he then follows Jean  directions and finds himself face to face with a large mahogany door, on the front there's a gold plaque that reads SERVANT ROOM, AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY.

Thomas- guess that should've been pretty obvious

He says to no one in particular before stepping in, once inside this is what he sees. A large room made from the same mahogany as the door, black and white checkered flooring, a large mahogany table sits in the enter of the room covered in silver platers and silver wear, around the room are several cabinets and drawers presumably filled with more plates and silver wear. Sinks, ovens and other commodities fill the room also. Standing in the center of the room is a short white haired, green eyed girl wearing what looks like a battle maid outfit, pretty cool.

Thomas- yo, I'm guessing you're Noelle?

He says sauntering up to the female in question.

Noelle- yes, that's me

Thomas- cool, Jean said you'd help out with this whole "servant" shtick. I've never really done this before. So do we like have assigned sections of the HQ? Or do we starts in one area and work our way over? How do we do? is what I'm asking.

Noelle- well normally, I just wait here until somebody rings one of those bells over there.

She says pointing to a nearby wall and sure enough sitting there is a cabinet filled with tons of small golden bells all connected to strings of rope that lead into the wall and several other parts of the building.

Noelle- once one of them rings, I simply go to the marked room and ask what they require of me

Thomas- cool cool, by the way, I'm Thomas, you've probably heard of me and what I've done so go ahead I'll let you get a free one in.

He says leaning forward eyes closed expecting to be sucker punched or kicked in the gnards. When nothing happens for several seconds he reopens his eyes to find the maid standing there a perplexed look on her face.

Noelle- are you alright?

Thomas- you're not punching me

Noelle- do you want me to?

Thomas- no it's just, well....I don't know I guess I expected you to be angry with me for attacking the city and all. I thought maybe you'd want payback. Everyone else I've met has already either given me a cold stare or pointed some kind of blade at my throat, don't you want to?

Noelle- oh archon's no!, I would never!

Thomas- really?

Noelle- yes, I realize you attacked and destroyed our city, along with hospitalizing countless of guards but I understand why. We attacked first you were merely defending yourselves!

Thomas- THANK YOU FINALLY SOMEONE WHO UNDERSTANDS!!!!!

*ring ring ring*

Noelle- and there's our first task, I'll let you take this one

Thomas- okay it's says here this bell is connected to the grandmasters office.

Noelle- then it must be 4:30 Jean likes to have tea at this time

Thomas- oh okay

He says grabbing a nearby kettle and putting on the stove, while that's heating up another bell rings beside him.

Thomas- this one says, the barracks

Noelle- probably just some dirty weapons that need polishing I'll take this one, you just focus on getting that tea to Jean and make sure not to spill any.

She instructs running off to the barracks leaving the male the alone with his thoughts, thoughts being.

Thomas- 'right here we go Thomas your first assignment don't screw this up'

After several more minutes and a very annoying high pitched screaming coming from the kettle later the tea is finally done. Placing it on one of the trays along with a cup of sugar cubes and a silver spoon he brings the plater over to the grandmasters office careful not to spill any of it. Once there he comes face to face with us first trial as a butler. The door. Seeing as his arms are full he proceeds to nudge the door open with his foot almost spilling some tea but managing to save it. Once inside he finds Jean there a smirk on her face.

Jean- so how's the butler life treating you?

Thomas- just fine! Would that be one sugar or two?

Jean- just one

Thomas- sounds good

He says mixing some sugar into the cup before handing it off to Jean. Standing the with us arms folded behind his back like a butler should he waits for her reaction to the tea he made. Seeing as he's never made tea in his life before the reaction is what you would expect. She spit it out.

Jean- UGH!, this tea is nothing more then hot leaf juice!

Thomas- grandmaster that's what ALL tea is

Jean- how can a butler of my own knights say something so horrible!

(A cookie 🍪 and a firm handshake 🤝 to anyone who gets that reference)

Thomas- whatever, so you gonna pay me now?

Jean- patience, you'll get your mora at the end of the day. Now the windows around the HQ need cleaning after you screamed really loudly and scared the birds away causing some to defecate on them.

Thomas- .......yes grandmaster.

And so Thomas was off to clean the windows around the building. Once that was done he was tasked with helping others knights with target practice said knights had lots of fun using him to hold up the targets and then "accidentally" missing their shots by a few inches. The day continued on like this over and over with the male running around the city tending to others knights to either clean certain things, make food and tea for them, help them with practice, you name it he probably did it and here we are now several hours later the male had just finished cleaning the last window around the building now panting for air as he's been running all over town all day until finally It was break time.

Thomas- good God, how do you deal with this Noelle?

Noelle- you get used to it after a while, trust me I was just like you when I first started. 

She replies setting a silver plater with a tea kettle and little nibbles on the empty table in front of them.

Noelle- are you hungry? I made us some snacks, how about tea would you like some? one sugar or two?

Thomas- Three!

He replies leaning forward and grabbing a plate of delicious looking pancakes covered in berries and chocolate syrup, grabbing a fork he takes a bite and immediately all his worries and frustrations are long forgotten replaced by a sensation of freedom and bliss like he's soaring through the sky riding a cloud made from pancakes.

Thomas- oh my god,did you make these?

Noelle- that's right, they're my special lighter than air pancakes, I thought you'd like some after working so hard to make the others happy today.

Thomas- you're too pure for this world Noelle,*takes another bite* man, you'd make one hell of a wife

Noelle- GAH!!!

She yelps in shock/embarrassment dropping the cup of tea she was holding causing it to shatter on the floor. 

Thomas- you good?

Noelle- yes, I'm fine.

She says dropping down to her knees and cleaning up the mess, as the male watches her he can't help but notice her outfit once more, as said previously it looks like some kind of battle maid attire but with such a shy and kind attitude he can't possibly imagine her being one to fight. Not able to hold the question back anymore he decides to lay it on her.

Thomas- hey Noelle?

Noelle- yes?

Thomas- are you a knight of favonius?

Noelle- ...............

Thomas- Noelle?

Noelle- No, I'm not but I'm training be one!

Thomas- and how's that coming along for you?

Noelle- not well, although I'm a capable fighter with incredible strength and stamina Jean just won't let me join the knights, furthermore no matter how hard I train and practice I always seem to fail the knight of favonius initiation test.

Thomas- well maybe I can help?

Noelle- what do you mean?

Thomas- explain to me what you're struggling on with the test

Noelle- well most of the test is easy for me. I can get past the obstacle course, the first aid section and the strategic section but the combat part always stumps me.

Thomas- combat?

Noelle- yes, at the end of the test you have to face off against several armed knights defeat them and you're done, after that it's just a quick prayer you get chosen as the next knight of favonius.

Thomas- and you say you always fail the combat section?

Noelle- yes, no matter how hard I train I can never manage to beat the other knights.

Thomas- and what exactly is your training regime?

Noelle- well I usually do 100 push ups, sit ups, squats and run two laps around monstadt,

Thomas- okay and what about your sparring?

Noelle- I usually go to the training room and practice on a bunch of dummies and-

She starts but is cut off as the male raises his hand to silence her.

Thomas- stop, that's all I needed to hear. Tell me, when was the last time you've faced an actual person or monster in battle? And I don't mean the initiation test.

Noelle- Hmm........never.

Thomas- that's your problem, you see you've been training against mere dummies and targets your whole life, you've never actually faced a real opponent in battle before. I don't think I need to tell you that fighting a real living person is FAR different from fighting a board. So in order to truly improve you need to face a REAL opponent and be put in a real life or death situation.

Noelle- what do you mean?

Thomas- how much longer is our break?

Noelle- thirteen minutes why?

Thomas- that's plenty of time, follow me! And move it!

He says running off with the maid in hot pursuit, following him out the door and through the market district Noelle finally manages to catch up to him.

Noelle- HOLD ON!, where are we going?

Thomas- to find some monsters, now let's see

He replies before using his hand to block his eyes from the sunlight to give him a better view of the surrounding area. Scanning the fields around him looking for some targets-I mean monsters he eventually locates some. Three slimes that look like they're made of water all splashing around in a lake minding their own business.

Thomas- perfect!, okay follow me N

He says before running off once more, once they reach about thirty feet of the slimes they quickly crouch down behind some large bushes as to not be seen. Turning to Noelle Thomas instructs.

Thomas- okay, show me what you got!

Noelle- right!

She replies before leaping out from behind the bushes and charging into battle her claymore now in hand.

Thomas- WOW THATS A BIG SWORD, ITS AS BIG AS SHE IS!!!

He shouts in shock at the sight of her massive weapon, back to Noelle we find her fending off the three slimes as is doing pretty well. As one slime bounces towards her she uses her sword as a shield and blocks the slimes attack causing it to bounce off her blade. Once it's down and stunned she takes this moment to swing her sword down and slice it in half. She proceeds to use this same technique on the other two until she's standing in a puddle of water and slime condensate. Turning back to the male she asks.

Noelle- how'd I do?

Thomas- brilliantly, come on let's find you some more targets- I mean dummies- I mean 

Noelle- monsters?

Thomas- yes! Thank you

So they do, continuing down a nearby path the two then search for more slimes, once they find some Thomas sends Noelle out to battle and watches her fight. Currently she's facing a giant pyro slime with only a few problems.

Thomas- 'hmm....her technique seems nice and her strength is incredible'

As if able to hear his thoughts Noelle then picks up the large slime and chucks it into a nearby lake evaporating the poor thing.

Thomas- 'definitely, combine those two with a solid head on her shoulders, good medical training and a decent strategic mind and you've got yourself one hell of a knight!, but according to her she still can't seem to pass the test and even if she does Jean won't let her become a knight'

Noelle- hey Thomas I'm ready to go!, come on let's find some more slimes!

Thomas- be there in a second!, 'like i said she's definitely a strong fighter and she's taken on six slimes all at once with very few stumbles so the problem can't be that she gets outnumbered easily, if not that then what?'

 Noelle- oh my!, look at the time we need to get back to HQ our break was over thirty minutes ago, there still so much to clean and cook and fix and prepare and-

Thomas- BINGO!!!

Noelle- bingo?

Thomas- Noelle, I think I've figured out what your issue is! And why you can't seem to pass the test

Noelle- you have?, tell me!

Thomas- first you tell me, when was the last time you've taken a break from work, beside the thirty minute ones we get in between days.

Noelle- Hmm...........Never.

Thomas- never?

Noelle- that's right, I'm always busy with something whether it be cooking for the knights, cleaning around the HQ, washing ambers headbands or counting how many eye patches Kaeya has bought.

Thomas- is he actually missing an eye?

Noelle- no that's just part of his pirate get up, back to my point I'm always busy with something so I've never had a proper break from work and certainly never a whole day off.

Thomas- there's your issue, Noelle you're pushing yourself too hard!, you need to relax and take some time to yourself!

Noelle- but who will clean around monstadt in my absence?

Thomas- there's plenty of other maids and butlers around here, let them handle it. I get you want to work hard and keep busy but an essential part of growing stronger is taking a break and letting yourself destress.

Noelle- so taking a break for the sake of training?, I've never never thought about it like that before.

Thomas- trust me, I know what it's like to push yourself and refuse to take a break, I was just like you before but then I started relaxing and taking breaks and because of that I was able to improve myself so much as both a person and a fighter

Noelle- but I've never taken a break before, how will I know what to do?

Thomas- I'll help you!

Noelle- really, you'd do that?

Thomas- of course, what do you say the first day off I get I'll rope along with me as we can spend the whole day together.

Noelle- just the two of us?, like a d-date?

Thomas-N-NO!, I mean YES! I mean maybe?, o-only if you want to.

Noelle- then it's a "date" maybe!

Thomas- o-okay

The male squeaks watching the maid turn and start walking off, turning her head to look at him she exclaims.

Noelle- come on!, the sooner we finish our tasks the sooner we go on our maybe date!

Thomas- 'why does she sound a little excited about that?'

He asks himself following after her, feeling her chest Noelle feels her heart beat slightly faster and her face warming up.

Noelle- 'that's odd, I hope I'm not coming down with something I'll have to check in with Barbara when I get done for today'

She thinks to herself leading the male back towards mondstadt excited for what her future with the scientist holds.