A single yellow eye flicked in Thomas' direction, but otherwise the figure in the shadows was completely still. 

Thomas swallowed, dropped back half a step, and tried again. "Is this yours?" he stammered, holding out a ten-potch piece. "It was, it was on the floor... right there... and, er, you're the closest..."

The yellow eye flicked away again.

Thomas frowned, stammered a little, made as if to leave, stopped, made as if to leave again, then before he could quite stop himself inched forward and pressed the ten-potch coin into the figure's hand. "Here..."

The yellow eye flicked down towards the coin, now caught neatly between the thumb and first two fingers of one gloved hand.

Thomas hesitated, flickered off a half-smile that didn't go anywhere before faltering and vanishing, wiggled his fingers in an uncertain wave that didn't go anywhere either, backed up a few paces, and hurried off down the corridor.

After a moment, the owner of the yellow eye and the hand--and now the owner of a ten-potch piece, as well--detached himself from the wall and the shadows, and followed.

-----

"Master."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Thomas simultaneously threw his armload of papers in the air, whipped around, and leaped backwards, all entirely ungracefully. The backs of his thighs collided with his desk and he half-fell half-sat on it, clutching at his chest. "Don't do that!" he wailed, staring wide-eyed at the silent figure who stood just in front of the door to his office. "What do you want?"

Watari held up the ten-potch piece, glinting in the sunlight. "I accepted coin from you. I owe you a service."

"Oh! Oh, no, that's quite all right, I don't need anything, it wasn't my coin anyway, you don't have to..." Thomas waved his hands frantically, trying to ward off the implacable apparition.

"I insist."

Thomas' protestations died away entirely at the flat tone in Watari's voice. Swallowing, he looked around the room frantically, until his eyes lit on the empty money box from the inn. "Here!" he cried, grabbing it. "Take this down to Sebastian, in the inn..." His voice trailed off. The ninja was shaking his head.

"You didn't pay me enough for that."

"Not enough for..." Thomas swallowed again and eventually remembered to put the box down. "What did I pay you enough for?"

The single yellow eye that showed glinted with something not entirely unlike amusement. "Not much."

Thomas scanned the room even more frantically. Motion in one corner caught his eye. "... kill that mouse?"

"Assassinations are extra."

"Wound it?"

"It's gone now. I can wait until it comes back."

"No!" Thomas yelped, then remembered to modify his voice. "No, that's all right, I'll find something... something else... file these papers?"

"Can't read Zexen."

"Bodyguard me for thirty seconds?"

"Bodyguard duties are extra."

Finally, completely out of ideas, Thomas threw his hands up in the air and cried, "Scratch my back!"

The figure in front of him flickered once and vanished into thin air. At the exact same moment, from just behind his left ear, Watari said, "Yes, master."

Thomas stiffened in shock as two gloved hands slid up under his jacket. For exactly thirty seconds Watari's fingers dug into his back, efficiently hunting down and assassinating every last itch; just as Thomas was starting to relax into it the hands vanished, and Watari flickered into existence in front of him once more. Without a word Watari bowed to Thomas. And then he disappeared.

Thomas' legs crumpled under him a moment later and he thumped onto the floor, breathing hard.