As Time Goes By
Scene One- The Cafe
He's old and he knows it.
He can feel his age weighing him down. Not in his bones, not anywhere in his body, but in his mind, making him cautious and weary and just tired.
The girl sitting across from him makes him feel older still.
She's all nerves and fidgety, entirely restless. He's tranquil, rooted to the ground and to this earth in ways she'll never be or understand. He is not a creature of much change; the world alters itself around him and he remains constant, a plant fixed into the soil, growing slowly older with no known expiration date.
She's a walking time bomb, only given a century at best to live out an entire lifetime, hardly enough time to truly live. If time were a tree, he would be one of its branches, and she, merely a leaf. Yes, a leaf, one of too many dangling upon the edge, so brittle and frail, liable to fall at any time and wither upon the ground. There she would crumble and disappear, forgotten nearly as soon as her existence began.
For her, however, that short lifetime is all she will ever know. She will never realize just how short her own existence is, not when she and all those around her only live for decades, not centuries or millennia. She believes the time she has is enough; it only proves how ignorant humans can sometimes be.
"—rama?"
How long has he not been listening? He gives her one of his usual smile, the one that never quite meets his eyes. "I'm sorry, Kagome, could you repeat that last bit?" he requests.
His smile seems to have no effect. Her brow furrows as a soft frown turns her lips downward. The mug she is holding makes a light clink as she sets it down on the table between them.
"Are you okay, Kurama? You seem… distracted."
Kagome's head tilts ever so slightly to the side as she says it, a telltale sign that she is concerned. She is no longer as restless as before, though he can tell the tension that was present before has not disappeared completely. They have been alone together in the past, but never has there been this much anxiousness present in her. She has spent more time looking out the café window than at him. It worries him, for he believes he knows the reason for this change of attitude.
"Just thinking," Kurama assures her, though he is careful not to make his voice too inviting.
The frown disappears and is replaced by a soft smile. "That brain of yours just never stops ticking, huh?" She says it fondly.
Kurama stays absolutely still when he sees her hand move. He peers into her face, but she's lowered her eyes. "…Ya know, you can tell me what's wrong," she tells him. She hesitates, then covers his hands with hers. "Easier for me to help if—"
He does not waste time as he gently slides his hand away and places it on his lap, out of sight. She cuts off when he moves, her eyes flickering up to his face searchingly. Yes, she is looking for something specific, and he ensures she will not find it.
She's young, and almost everything she does seems to remind him of that fact. He feels tired, having to deal with her in this instance. Her company might have been enjoyable, but he has no need for one more girl with a crush.
"Kagome…" he says and just barely keeps the sigh out of his voice. She looks up then, and her eyes are hopeful. He wishes they weren't.
"I'm sorry."
They both know the apology is not because he was not listening. There is a second where he sees the hurt fill her eyes, followed quickly by regret and then indignation. That is all he sees before she turns her head as she searches for the bag at her feet.
Her chair screeches back as she stands, drawing more than a few looks from others around the room. Her hand is tightly wrapped around the strap of her bag.
"No, I'm sorry," she mumbles as she stomps by. Her tone is bitter; her words, clipped.
Kurama expects her to slam the door on her way out, but it closes ever so quietly and it seems worse then, a silent fury. He is still for a long moment, aware of the curious gazes but ignoring them. Then, with a small sip of his drink, he stands and heads for the entrance, the bell above the door ringing cheerfully as he exits.