- Drabble -
Player: dreamoflight
Subject: Itsuki Koizumi
Table: B [ Prompt Table ]
Prompt: Shield
“Would you like some tea?”
Itsuki looked up from his game of Solitaire with a smile. He was seated at the clubroom’s table in his usual seat; the others had ended up with cleaning duty that day, and he was alone with the upperclassman. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Oh, no, it’s no trouble...” Mikuru came over with the teapot and a cup, and while pouring, said hesitantly, “I’ll play something with you, if you like, while we wait for Kyon-kun and the others...”
He agreed, and gathered up the cards to reshuffle and deal as she made her way over to the other side of the table, lifting up the skirt of her maid costume delicately in one hand.
She watched him deal the cards out, eight to each of them, biting her lip a bit, and then blurted out, “Are you all right, Koizumi-kun?”
He looked up at her, vaguely surprised, still smiling, and she continued in that way people do when they’ve gone too far not to say anything else, “It’s just-- you look a little tired lately, and I know there’s been a lot happening with Suzumiya-san, and...”
He paused, tapping the card he had been about to deal idly on the table. Asahina-san was sweet, and kind, and comforting, and probably a good person to tell your problems to. She would listen attentively, and make sympathetic noises in all the right places; she would probably come over and cook for him when he was too tired to go out, and make sure he got enough sleep; and sooner or later she would put the pieces together, she would start to realize that he wasn’t always what he said he was, and what then? Once she understood him, what then? Dislike? Avoidance?
Pity?
“I’m all right,” he said, with that eternal smile, the one that kept people at a distance rather than welcoming them in, dealing the last card and picking up his hand. “I’ve just been staying up late studying, that’s all. It’s really nothing out of the ordinary.”
She hesitated, but he knew she wouldn’t challenge him. “If you’re sure...”
“I am. Thank you for your concern.”
She looked down and nodded, and they played in silence until the others made their way to the clubroom, Itsuki losing every round.
Subject: Itsuki Koizumi
Table: B [ Prompt Table ]
Prompt: Shield
“Would you like some tea?”
Itsuki looked up from his game of Solitaire with a smile. He was seated at the clubroom’s table in his usual seat; the others had ended up with cleaning duty that day, and he was alone with the upperclassman. “If you wouldn’t mind.”
“Oh, no, it’s no trouble...” Mikuru came over with the teapot and a cup, and while pouring, said hesitantly, “I’ll play something with you, if you like, while we wait for Kyon-kun and the others...”
He agreed, and gathered up the cards to reshuffle and deal as she made her way over to the other side of the table, lifting up the skirt of her maid costume delicately in one hand.
She watched him deal the cards out, eight to each of them, biting her lip a bit, and then blurted out, “Are you all right, Koizumi-kun?”
He looked up at her, vaguely surprised, still smiling, and she continued in that way people do when they’ve gone too far not to say anything else, “It’s just-- you look a little tired lately, and I know there’s been a lot happening with Suzumiya-san, and...”
He paused, tapping the card he had been about to deal idly on the table. Asahina-san was sweet, and kind, and comforting, and probably a good person to tell your problems to. She would listen attentively, and make sympathetic noises in all the right places; she would probably come over and cook for him when he was too tired to go out, and make sure he got enough sleep; and sooner or later she would put the pieces together, she would start to realize that he wasn’t always what he said he was, and what then? Once she understood him, what then? Dislike? Avoidance?
Pity?
“I’m all right,” he said, with that eternal smile, the one that kept people at a distance rather than welcoming them in, dealing the last card and picking up his hand. “I’ve just been staying up late studying, that’s all. It’s really nothing out of the ordinary.”
She hesitated, but he knew she wouldn’t challenge him. “If you’re sure...”
“I am. Thank you for your concern.”
She looked down and nodded, and they played in silence until the others made their way to the clubroom, Itsuki losing every round.