knightley-gambit

[knightley-gambit]

i know what you are horse boy

“And that is?”

As soon as I read this I imagine it as coming from Simeon

I love doodling them in stupid scenarios

[knightley-gambit]

whats your favorite ice cream flavor?

“rocky road”

[knightley-gambit]

" ..yeah, sure."

[ *> Horace relaxed as she let down the arm holding the chisel. ]

[ *> His life could very much still be in danger. Despite it, he'd played his defenses correctly for the most part, and ensured a longer game. ]

[ *> one strange thing, how did she know Simon? The description, no matter how brief still described Simon pretty well; after all, there werent many men Horace knew that'd put their hair up in pigtails often enough to be recognizable by it. ]

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> bad move! bad move! ]

[ *> she knew Simon? ]

[ *> slowly by slowly, Horace was beginning to piece together just what Simon meant earlier.. ]

"Look, okay? I don't know anything about it. I dont know Dogen, so he couldn't have given it to me, make sense?"

[ *> he wouldn't lose his life like this, that much he knew. ]

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> What was with this woman–? ]

"geez– We're done with that now?"

[ *> Maybe not the best move, considering she still had the chisel and all. but if he could maybe manage to coax her away from the chisel.. ]

[ *> subtlety was key; subtlety was key. ]

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> what was she /doing—?/ ]

[ *> seriously, what about the stupid chisel would have her worked up like this?? ]

[ *> Horace, unsure of what she was going to try next, figured his best move in this case would be to move next to the bars. someplace visible. ]

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> Ah. the chisel. ]

[ *> Simeon liked to plan ahead, even if Horace couldn’t tell what he was planning (most of the time, evident by his stacking losses against the man..) Horace still knew that every little thing meant something. ]

” where’d you get that from? what, the chisel? ”

[ *> Even if Horace had no clue as to why she was so freaked out by the chisel, Simeon gave it to Horace for something. for what? that he couldn’t quite piece together yet.. ]

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

[ HEADCANONS ]

>>> -> His memory of the incident in the car is spotty at best. he remembers the more emotionally charged moments, while others are fully gone from his memory.

>>> -> Specifically regarding the incident: he remembers being threatened, not by who in specific nor what it was about. he remembers sobbing and apologizing to Simeon as he tied him up, but not the stuff that came after while they were locked. he remembers being saved, but not by who.

>>> -> i love the implication that Simeon always beat him in chess from the fan-translation, so im taking that <3

>>> -> When they were deciding their names/birthdates/whatever, Horace made it a competition to be older than Simeon. Simeon wanted a winter birthday, while Horace wanted to be older. They went back and forth for a bit until Simeon gave in and settled on Dec 14, while Horace eventually settled on July 20 [<- search that holiday <3]

>>> -> He doesnt know why Simeon ran away from the orphanage, so when he graduated the foster program he made it his mission to track Simeon down. And track him down he did, rather quickly too.

>>> -> To be added to!!

[knightley-gambit]

"Thats all you want?"

"then yeah sure, come in. Doubt you'll find anything useful."

[ *> Horace steps to the side of his door to let her in! ]

[ *> This was already a strange encounter, on one of his first nights in the holding cell no less. Either way, he didnt know who dogen was nor why she was so worked up over him. Best he could do was let her in so she could have what she needed and be on her way. ]

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

'Youre not exactly giving me much to work with here.."

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

So knightley, what would you say your honest opinion of Simon is? Just as a whole and no lies, if there’s something you don’t like about him you can say so

“He’s a good guy, i like him. we’ve known eachother since we were kids. he ran away from the orphanage we were at and i didn’t see him for awhile, you wanted something I didn’t like, guess that.”

[knightley-gambit]

“..who’s Dogen?”

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

((giggling. since I have a Patricia Roland / Fifi laguarde ask blog... wondering what would've happened if she missed or didn't have ammo?))

"Knightley, dear... do you mind speaking to me privately for a moment?"

She looked particularly nervous today. Perhaps there was an issue at the prison?

-- Fifi Laguarde <3 (@foxes-and-criminals)

[ *> Horace was looking around for something when she called for him, it had to have been something small as he was looking around under his desk right then. Maybe a certain sheet of paper? ]

[ *> he lifted his head and.. immediately bumped it on the underside of the table! ouch.. ]

“tsk— huh? Oh, yeah sure, what for?”

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> Horace moved a pawn, and stole a glance at Simon. ]

[ *> Although it was just a quick glance, it was obvious. There was the Simon from his memories. Something close to the same one from when they were little kids playing around in the orphanage together. Admittedly, horace hadn’t known that Simon’s whole act around him was a facade until just now; it might’ve been a bit stupid of him to not realize sooner, but really there’s only so much you can figure out when the closest thing to seeing your best friend is back and forth chess plays through the mail. ]

[ *> This Simon, sitting across from him wasn’t exactly new, but familiar. He seemed more ‘real’, more comfortable, more ‘himself’. more— Horace was getting off track. ]

[ *> He considered Simon’s question. ]

”maybe..? i’m not sure honestly.”

[ *> He looked down, waiting for Simon to make his move. ]

[ *> It wasn’t that he wanted to leave, Horace was perfectly fine with staying for Simon for the rest of his life if Simon had wanted it. He just wasn’t sure of the limits in him being a spirit to haunt Simon. ]

[ *> Horace chuckled, Simon had become so different in the little amount of time they’d been together tonight. ]

“So you want me to stay?”

[ *> The way Horace said it wasn’t upset, quite the opposite in fact. He was teasing Simon again. The conclusion made obvious by that stupid lopsided smile of his and the way he looked at Simon. ]

{POST AAI2–BEFORE SIMEONS TRIAL/IN THE HOLDING CELLS [horace’s old cell in specific if you wanna go that way<3] also!! i typed a lot, you don’t need to match me, i wanted to set the scene a bit :] }

[ *> ‘krrshhh..’ ]

[ *> The wooden sound of a few blocks—no, pieces? rolled onto the floor just across the cell. ]

[ *> It sounded like somebody was tampering with something they shouldn’t have been, and had made a mess. ]

[ *> The pieces on the floor rolled around a bit. tumbling around. like somebody were trying to pick them up, yet was failing miserably in their task.. ]

[ *> Simeon was alone in his cell, wasn’t he? He should’ve been, and he was last time he had checked. ]

[ *> Even so, to maybe suggest otherwise, a faint teal glow emanated from the desk just across the cell where the pieces were still being shoved around and away from whatever what disturbing them. ]

— @knightley-gambit [ooooo spooky ghost horace, haunting simeon<33]

[also also, unsure if you got the notif or not but i did reply to that other thread we had going, if you didn’t wanna continue it then thats fine, disregard, i just can’t tell for my life <3]

((I DIDNT GET THE NOTIF MY BAD. AUGH.))

Simon looks up from where he was wallowing, snapping out of his daze.

Truthfully, he wouldn't have paid any attention at all if the situation were not so bizarre. He made no effort to talk to anyone at his new home other than Dogen, and even then he attempted not to embarrass himself by being too vulnerable. Being alone allowed him to process his life after he had been driven by fury, paranoia and mania. He could take things slow- and even then, it seems his heart would start to race once more. Life never truly stopped tormenting him, huh?

He slowly got up, using his experience to tiptoe without a peep. He was a child at the orphanage again, hearing some people talk about their wretched plans. Truthfully, he had never gotten rid of his overly-paranoid habits and he didn't plan to. Not now, especially not now. Everyone was out to get him in one way or another- including whoever this was.

Simon approached. Carefully, slowly, silently, until he could peek and see where this strange light was omitting from.

"...Who's there?"

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> Horace joined him in the brief laughter, it was such a tense and sad moment. what else could he do? He couldn’t be upset Simon was right. Really, they were just dumb kids in a bad situation making do with what little they had. ]

“you’re alright; you’re alright.”

“I do too; but don’t even worry about it, yeah?”

[ *> His voice was soft, he’d never been the sort to comfort. but it seemed taht was what he was trying to do for Simon right then. He didn’t blame him. ]

[ *> Horace stood and pushed off his knees with a small huff—likely out of habit more than anything by this point—and walked back over to the table with the chess set. ]

“And for the record, I always trusted you”

[ *> carefully, so as not to disturb any of the pieces he’d tried so hard to perfect earlier, he walked back. bringing the board over to Simon and setting it down on the floor. ]

[ *> Then he took his seat on the prison floor just across from Simeon. In true Horace competitive fashion, his somber smile became a playful one as he slightly adjusted the pawns to be perfectly on their squares. ]

“what say one more game, with the real Simon Keyes this time?”

[ *> The white side faced Simon, while the black side faced Horace. ]

{POST AAI2–BEFORE SIMEONS TRIAL/IN THE HOLDING CELLS [horace’s old cell in specific if you wanna go that way<3] also!! i typed a lot, you don’t need to match me, i wanted to set the scene a bit :] }

[ *> ‘krrshhh..’ ]

[ *> The wooden sound of a few blocks—no, pieces? rolled onto the floor just across the cell. ]

[ *> It sounded like somebody was tampering with something they shouldn’t have been, and had made a mess. ]

[ *> The pieces on the floor rolled around a bit. tumbling around. like somebody were trying to pick them up, yet was failing miserably in their task.. ]

[ *> Simeon was alone in his cell, wasn’t he? He should’ve been, and he was last time he had checked. ]

[ *> Even so, to maybe suggest otherwise, a faint teal glow emanated from the desk just across the cell where the pieces were still being shoved around and away from whatever what disturbing them. ]

— @knightley-gambit [ooooo spooky ghost horace, haunting simeon<33]

[also also, unsure if you got the notif or not but i did reply to that other thread we had going, if you didn’t wanna continue it then thats fine, disregard, i just can’t tell for my life <3]

((I DIDNT GET THE NOTIF MY BAD. AUGH.))

Simon looks up from where he was wallowing, snapping out of his daze.

Truthfully, he wouldn't have paid any attention at all if the situation were not so bizarre. He made no effort to talk to anyone at his new home other than Dogen, and even then he attempted not to embarrass himself by being too vulnerable. Being alone allowed him to process his life after he had been driven by fury, paranoia and mania. He could take things slow- and even then, it seems his heart would start to race once more. Life never truly stopped tormenting him, huh?

He slowly got up, using his experience to tiptoe without a peep. He was a child at the orphanage again, hearing some people talk about their wretched plans. Truthfully, he had never gotten rid of his overly-paranoid habits and he didn't plan to. Not now, especially not now. Everyone was out to get him in one way or another- including whoever this was.

Simon approached. Carefully, slowly, silently, until he could peek and see where this strange light was omitting from.

"...Who's there?"

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> He softened at the call of his name, everything he was feeling just a moment prior was nearly gone and instead replaced with some bitter emotion at learning of his role in the whole mess. Everything still hurt, but it was obvious Simon hurt as well. ]

”oh— right— in that car“

[ *> Horace sighed and looked down, it was more than that. ]

“I don’t know if you remember how many times i apologized when i tied you up, but i really didn’t want to do it”

“Yeah, you’re right, i was scared.”

[ *> he waved his hand around in a gesture. ]

“He threatened me over something. I don’t really remember what, just that I knew I had to do what he needed”

“it was something serious like that.”

[ *> he paused, there wasn’t a whole lot Horace remembered prior to the incident. nearly the whole thing was a blur aside from a few moments he’d kept for the entirety of his life. ]

“I think I was supposed to go back, home or to the studio. Can’t remember which.”

“But i—, I just couldn’t leave you there, you know?”

[ *> He turned to look at Simon, a guilty smile on his face. ]

“i really messed things up by listening, didn’t i?”

[ *> it was meant to be a jokey rhetorical question, but something in the way he said it. the wording or the tone, it told Simon that Horace would gladly accept the blame if it was pushed onto him. ]

[ *> Horace would rather Simon pin all the fault on him, hand it off to his decommissioned knight. all so that Simon wouldn’t have to live out the rest of his life with a weight on his shoulders, all so that he could live out a bit of long-sought peace. ]

{POST AAI2–BEFORE SIMEONS TRIAL/IN THE HOLDING CELLS [horace’s old cell in specific if you wanna go that way<3] also!! i typed a lot, you don’t need to match me, i wanted to set the scene a bit :] }

[ *> ‘krrshhh..’ ]

[ *> The wooden sound of a few blocks—no, pieces? rolled onto the floor just across the cell. ]

[ *> It sounded like somebody was tampering with something they shouldn’t have been, and had made a mess. ]

[ *> The pieces on the floor rolled around a bit. tumbling around. like somebody were trying to pick them up, yet was failing miserably in their task.. ]

[ *> Simeon was alone in his cell, wasn’t he? He should’ve been, and he was last time he had checked. ]

[ *> Even so, to maybe suggest otherwise, a faint teal glow emanated from the desk just across the cell where the pieces were still being shoved around and away from whatever what disturbing them. ]

— @knightley-gambit [ooooo spooky ghost horace, haunting simeon<33]

[also also, unsure if you got the notif or not but i did reply to that other thread we had going, if you didn’t wanna continue it then thats fine, disregard, i just can’t tell for my life <3]

((I DIDNT GET THE NOTIF MY BAD. AUGH.))

Simon looks up from where he was wallowing, snapping out of his daze.

Truthfully, he wouldn't have paid any attention at all if the situation were not so bizarre. He made no effort to talk to anyone at his new home other than Dogen, and even then he attempted not to embarrass himself by being too vulnerable. Being alone allowed him to process his life after he had been driven by fury, paranoia and mania. He could take things slow- and even then, it seems his heart would start to race once more. Life never truly stopped tormenting him, huh?

He slowly got up, using his experience to tiptoe without a peep. He was a child at the orphanage again, hearing some people talk about their wretched plans. Truthfully, he had never gotten rid of his overly-paranoid habits and he didn't plan to. Not now, especially not now. Everyone was out to get him in one way or another- including whoever this was.

Simon approached. Carefully, slowly, silently, until he could peek and see where this strange light was omitting from.

"...Who's there?"

[knightley-gambit]

[ *> it was a lot to process to say the least. ]

[ *> If Horace still had his stomach, he was sure he’d be nauseous. ]

[ *> every new tidbit of information was like a fresh wound tearing open someplace inconvenient on his body, and every extra detail being the salt poured inside. ]

[ *> Simon had hated him day in and day out for the past 18 years, and Horace didn’t even realize once. ]

[ *> he looked back at Simon with an unreadable expression. His eyes were just slightly squinted, and his mouth open, like he wanted to say something but was too far shocked to actually form the words. ]

[ *> atleast it wasn’t all hate..? what wasn’t hate then? had he enjoyed any of their 1:1 games? or anytime they went someplace together? anything at all..? ]

[ *> Despite it all, even after everything, even after hearing each admission be worse than the one that came before it Horace couldn’t hate Simon. well—truthfully, he didn’t know how to really /feel/ towards him right then. He could just leave Simon all on his own and process it alone. But could he? Would that be too cruel? He couldn’t stay, not unless he wanted to start shouting at Simon or do whatever it was ghosts did when they were upset. (probably still shout, but that was irrelevant.) ]

[ *> Horace didn’t say anything. Trust Simon? could he really? ]

{POST AAI2–BEFORE SIMEONS TRIAL/IN THE HOLDING CELLS [horace’s old cell in specific if you wanna go that way<3] also!! i typed a lot, you don’t need to match me, i wanted to set the scene a bit :] }

[ *> ‘krrshhh..’ ]

[ *> The wooden sound of a few blocks—no, pieces? rolled onto the floor just across the cell. ]

[ *> It sounded like somebody was tampering with something they shouldn’t have been, and had made a mess. ]

[ *> The pieces on the floor rolled around a bit. tumbling around. like somebody were trying to pick them up, yet was failing miserably in their task.. ]

[ *> Simeon was alone in his cell, wasn’t he? He should’ve been, and he was last time he had checked. ]

[ *> Even so, to maybe suggest otherwise, a faint teal glow emanated from the desk just across the cell where the pieces were still being shoved around and away from whatever what disturbing them. ]

— @knightley-gambit [ooooo spooky ghost horace, haunting simeon<33]

[also also, unsure if you got the notif or not but i did reply to that other thread we had going, if you didn’t wanna continue it then thats fine, disregard, i just can’t tell for my life <3]

((I DIDNT GET THE NOTIF MY BAD. AUGH.))

Simon looks up from where he was wallowing, snapping out of his daze.

Truthfully, he wouldn't have paid any attention at all if the situation were not so bizarre. He made no effort to talk to anyone at his new home other than Dogen, and even then he attempted not to embarrass himself by being too vulnerable. Being alone allowed him to process his life after he had been driven by fury, paranoia and mania. He could take things slow- and even then, it seems his heart would start to race once more. Life never truly stopped tormenting him, huh?

He slowly got up, using his experience to tiptoe without a peep. He was a child at the orphanage again, hearing some people talk about their wretched plans. Truthfully, he had never gotten rid of his overly-paranoid habits and he didn't plan to. Not now, especially not now. Everyone was out to get him in one way or another- including whoever this was.

Simon approached. Carefully, slowly, silently, until he could peek and see where this strange light was omitting from.

"...Who's there?"