❝ logic is panic's prey. ❞
kurama, yu yu hakusho
“Thank you sir.” Serena lowered her head in gratitude for his compliment. Aside from her co-workers and her boss, no one has really ever mentioned the outdoor look nor anything. Then again the weather was far too hot for them to notice and by the time the sunlight bid goodbye—the customers couldn’t really appreciate it’s splendor how it should have been. The server fixed her posture and wrote down his order with a simple elegant handwriting.
“I concur but..considering how most people these days are living, it may be difficult for that to happen.” Tucking away the small note pad and pen inside of her apron, gazing down she responded. “So long as materialism blinds them—the beauty of the simpler things in life goes unnoticed but that’s okay.“ Her sapphire orbs gazed upon his own dazzling emerald greens; sunlight adding more color to them if such a thing was possible. They certainly put to shame any precious gem, even more so the contrast between them and his crimson hair. “It gives me more opportunities to enjoy them myself. I’m sure you do the same, ne?” With a final smile she responded before heading back inside to take care of his order not really awaiting an answer for her question in return.
He noted that the waitress had an alluring presence not unlike the flowers that rest before them. The hypnotic cadences of her voice swept him further into the momentary tizzy, the product of several pleasurable influences. Upon her exit did he notice the sway of her apron, moving in-sync with the winds—cooler than the cats that prowled on the rails bounding the terrace.
“Of course,” his delayed response to her question. Returning to a somewhat normal state of mind, Kurama observes the makeup of his table. Smooth and light, its mirrored surface reflects the sky in all its cerulean depth. His stomach growls, a testament to his growing appetite. It was not the first time he had gone into such a frenzy, and if he played his cards right, it would not be the last; hunger pangs be damned.
“Lovely..?” Did he mean the flowers? It had to be that taking into consideration where he was looking before she had approached. “Ah..we brought them here not too long ago. Maybe a week or so.“ She trailed on, pointed on the furthest corner to the right. “Those roses there were the last to be brought here. Yesterday to be exact.” She smiled almost happily. Flowers were something she absolutely adored and the season couldn’t have been more perfect. The idea to bring those were her own and it gave her great joy to know that customers were taking a liking to the new ambiance.
“I’m glad you enjoy them very much, sir.” Serena’s expression lit up completely feeling more comfortable with the new customer. He really did seem to like them and that was always a good thing.
Kurama grows pensive. The wind trifles looming Spanish moss, fringing green on brown fences in a hostile makeover. Tulips demarcate throngs of roses and hydrangeas, lily-whiter than the sun frenetic. The end result was a ornate menagerie of plants, faltered only by the weather.
“Quite the eye you have, miss.” He forgot again his reasons for doing what he had done: to escape, to bask as himself in anonymity. The café was far removed from his side of the city, decreasing the chance of anyone recognizing him. The space allowed for him to unmask and relax. And right then and there, he could not ask for anything more.
Forgoing ordering his tea, he continues. “The world needs more people who can love it. Wouldn’t you agree?”
Summer was at it’s peak—bringing in the unbearable heat that most would scurry around to avoid. It had been an hectic day to say the least. Most tables inside were full and none of the outside were occupied due to the same issue despite it having proper shading. At least she thought there wasn’t anyone outside until Red caught her line of vision. ‘Oh no!’ She mentally panicked. How long were they outside..? And how did she not notice!? Setting the dirty dishes she held from a previous customer in a large bin, Serena hastily walked outside—meeting the person outside.
“I-I am so sorry there sir! I hope you were not waiting for too long..” She bowed apologetically, thinking of how the others who worked alongside her also forgot. “Have..you decided on what to order?“ Pen on one hand, paper on the other—Serena gazed in emerald optics awaiting for an answer. Did..he really want to eat outside? “If the weather is too much, I can always find a table inside for you.”
The flowery milieu caused a divorce between where he sat and where his mind drifted: across the street and to the field. He frolicked among his own kind with a kind of charge that kept itself reserved to intimate moments. The scenario that unfolded, he felt, fit such criteria. So raptured in the day’s effulgence, Kurama forgot himself in the process. As a result, the waitress’ words fell on near-deaf ears.
But just enough to comprehend. “Lovely, aren’t they?” The tone of his voice conveyed the headiness of his ‘adventure.’ The untrained eye would mistake his mental euphoria for something else. At least he had the mannerisms down pat.
Balmy sunlight distorts with the passing clouds. Refracting through skyscrapers and windshields, it eventually finds repose in a garden. The rows of flowers embrace its presence and in turn unpacks it for sustenance. A café terrace offers a candid view with entertainment provided by petunia and bergamot.
Kurama’s eyes carry a child’s verve coupled with sage reserve. He sits alone; the other patrons remain inside, away from the sultry afternoon. And so it goes.
