#rook was absolutely a play on the pieces on a chess board :)

[weasleyreidstyles]

a game of wizards chess on a rainy day

~∞~ i've never written for enzo before but my mutuals (love you all🫶🏼) have slowly been turning me into an enzo girlie 🤭🤭 this if for week three of @thatdammchickennugget's hogmarch challenge!!

pairing: enzo berkshire x fem!slytherin reader, platonic mattheo riddle x reader

prompt: wizards chess/"you filthy cheater, we go again!"

warning(s): none its all fluff!!!

The weekend's rainy weather brought with it a sense of serenity and peace as it swept across the Scottish highlands like a flurrying storm. The castle grounds were barren of people, everyone making the unanimous decision to avoid the heavy downpour that had steadily been building in a crescendo all week. The corridors were even emptier, avoided by those who wanted to escape the cold, only the odd person running late to a detention, or for a quick stop in the kitchens, could be seen or heard amongst the chattering painting and silently gliding ghosts.

The common rooms however, were teeming with students, from all year groups. In the Slytherin common room, you and your friends had been some of the lucky few to snag a small grouping of pleated seats, right beside a roaring fire. Perhaps it had something to do with the fact that one of said friends was the feared Dark Lord's son, but either way, you were grateful that you could relax by the fire for a few hours, soaking up what little warmth the dungeons could provide in such miserable weather conditions.

Except that you feel anything but relaxed right now. You had somehow found yourself sitting across the small coffee table from Enzo, a fierce game of wizards chess playing out between the two of you. It was common knowledge, between you and your friends, that you absolutely sucked at it, but that didn't stop you from trying, and failing, to beat Enzo at his own favoured game.

You jumped back on your haunches as his bishop savagely destroyed one of your lone pawns and gaped as he jumped up and cheered at his small victory, ignoring the way students around him violently shushed him with scowling faces. Your friends, who only paid sporadic attention to the pair of you, smirked as Enzo sneakily glanced your way, to watch how your face would scrunch in barely restrained irritation.

"And he strikes again!" He says with a cheer, that has Draco glaring at him from over his Potions homework with narrowed eyes. Enzo vehemently ignores him in favour of watching the way your face shifts between a million and one emotions in a split second. "I'm like two moves away from checkmate, sweetheart. Are you sure you can handle losing, again?"

The way he's smirking at you, with mirth painting his face, those brilliantly vibrant eyes of his shining as he stares across the table at you, has a blush fighting it's way up your neck. You scowl at him, menacingly.

"No one likes a show off, Berkshire." You snap, as you move your last remaining rook to take his knight. When Mattheo and Theo snicker from behind you, you turn and rapidly send a glare worthy of one of their own that has them covering their faces to try and hide their laughter from you. Even Draco, who'd been more withdrawn lately, had let out a quiet chuckle.

Sorry love. Mattheo says to you wordlessly and you narrow your glare, solely, on him. But you're not doing a very good job at this.

"Well there's no need to laugh at my misfortune, Matt." You reply and he smirks as he watches the way Enzo looks questioningly between you and him, before he moves another one of his pieces, putting you in checkmate.

You turn towards the table again as you hear the sound of shattering porcelain, watching as your rook is destroyed by his queen, which is now somehow in line with your king piece. You search the board for somewhere you can go, and come up agonisingly empty. You gape at the smug boy across from you.

"You filthy cheater!" You accuse and Enzo sends you a smirk that could bring you to your knees at anytime of the day.

"I did no such thing, sweetheart." He says, but the mischief shining in his russett eyes makes you believe otherwise. "Maybe you should pay attention next time."

His words ignite a challenge within you and you steel yourself as the pair of you become locked into a heated staring contest. In your peripheral, you watch as your friends whisper conspicuously between each other, but you pay them no mind.

Huffing you use your wand to fix and rearrange the pieces to their original positions.

"We go again!" You say resolutely, kneeling closer to the table, as if it would somehow make your wizards chess abilities rise to the surface. But you knew that it was wishful thinking.

Ready to lose again, sweetheart? Enzo speaks to you wordlessly, and your glare intensifies at the way his voice lowers a decibel or two, making it a low rasp in your head. I promise I'll go easy on you. He's smirking to himself as he moves the first piece.

And the cycle continues for another hour, until Blaise lets out an aggrieved sigh and takes your place. You sit beside Pansy huffing as you cross your arms over your chest, casting a look of contempt at Enzo, who does a terrible job of hiding his smug face. After half an hour, their game is a close one, and Blaise only just beats Enzo with a move of pure luck.

The latter comes to sit beside you after that, the game becoming abandoned on the table, an arm reaching across the back of the sofa, hand tracing featherlight patterns against your jumper covered shoulder. He's staring at the side of your face, tracing the way your hair falls in rippling waves as you tilt your head in favour of engrossing yourself in a book instead of focusing on him.

"Still bitter that I won, sweetheart?" He murmurs, leaning in close so that his lips brush the shell of your ear.

The twitch of your lip is the only thing that gives away that you hear him, but you choose to ingore him in favour of finishing the chapter, or at least you try to.

Since Enzo had sat down, you'd read the same sentence at least five times now. He pokes your shoulder with the hand that had been previously caressing it and you turn to him, breath hitching imperceptibly when you realise just how close he is to you.

"I'm only bitter because you cheated. I could've won fair and square." You say, your lips falling into a pout that Enzo desperately wants to kiss away.

"I'm no cheater." He says with enough self assurance that you might be inclined to believe him. "You were the one who turned away from the game."

"Only because Matt distracted me!" You retort, your face moving closer to his on your own accord.

"Perhaps I should put you out of your misery and teach you how to play." He whispers. The tension building between the two of you could be severed by a knife with how palpable the charged atmosphere is.

Said knife appears in the form of Theodore's hushed voice, which sounds fed up as much as it is amused.

"For Salazar's sake, please put us all out of the fucking misery of witnessing this and kiss." It was meant to be a muttered statement between himself and your other friends, but it reaches you nonetheless, causing you to recoil from the close proximity to Enzo, covering your reddening cheeks with your hands.

Enzo doesn't bother to remove his arm from where it practically cradles you into him as he scowls at his best friend. But when you don't move away from his touch, he thanks any god he can think of that you don't shy away from him.

The rest of the afternoon is spent in content silence as you and your friends bask in the murky green glow of the lake, warmed only by the heat of the fire. But you feel heated for a whole other reason, because Enzo's arm is yet to be unwound from your shoulder as you busy yourself with burrowing into his body heat, the position cosy enough for you to settle into finishing your book, and eventually even lulling you to sleep.

Enzo stares down at you with a smile as your book falls limply into his lap. He gingerly picks it up and slides the bookmark, that you'd left on the coffee table, into place before gently putting it on the floor beside your bag. He brings your body closer to his and marvels at the way you instinctively nuzzle your face into his chest, relaxed by the steady beat of his pounding heart.

He places a barely there kiss to the crown of you head and he swears he sees the ghost of a smile gracing your pretty lips.

One day. He'd confess to you one day.

And by the twin looks that he spies on Matt and Theo's faces, that day may come sooner than either of you may think.

~∞~

A little bonus scene:

"I don't understand how the two of them are so oblivious." Pansy says quietly as she watches the way you berate Enzo with no mutinous ammunition behind your words. "They're so obviously in love with eachother."

"Well they are idiots, bella." Theo says with a laugh. "It'll take it being spelled out for them to realise it."

"We cannot meddle with their love lives." Blaise counters, although his glimmering eyes give away that he wants to do exactly that. Draco looks like he agrees.

"Oh come on, B!" Mattheo retorts, a devilish look overtaking his features. "Where's the fun in that?"

"I'll bet twenty galleons that you can't get them to admit it by the end of the month." Pansy offers with a feline smirk and Mattheo's eyes light up in challenge.

"You have yourself a bet, love. Prepared to lose?" He smirks at his friend who only winks back at him before she settles into Theo's side.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." She says and they all turn to watch the way Enzo blatently stares at you, eternal love shining in his russett eyes. "Enzo's looks like he's about to burst with it."

[literary-motif]

EXTREME DONTIS FLUFFFFFFFF I BEG IM STARVED PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

Check Mate

Dontis x Reader

“Check,” Dontis said, moving his black queen to take one of your rooks. 

You raised an eyebrow, looking at him in disbelief. 

The last thing you had expected when Dontis had invited you over to play a game was him presenting you with a chess board, picking up two pawns, and hiding them behind his back to determine which color you would be playing. 

Still, you could never refuse a relaxing game of chess. There was no clock to tick down, which allowed both of you to get lost in your head for as long as you needed to consider your next move. 

Dontis had just spent over ten minutes coming up with that one, offering up his queen to you on a silver platter. There she stood, lonely and isolated, entirely unprotected. 

You chuckled, moving your bishop to take his queen. “I suppose you got so lost in your head, you lost sight of the pieces as they are,” you said, amusement in your voice at his pout. 

“I suppose,” he said, taking a sip of his tea and sighing in annoyance at his stupid mistake. His entire strategy just went up in smoke. “I did not ask before,” Dontis said, looking up at you with warmth in his eyes and the slight upturn of his lips back in place, “would you like to eat something? A snack perhaps? I bought fruits.”

“Sure,” you said, nodding towards the chessboard, “but make your move first.”

He groaned, staring intently at the disarray his pieces were in. You were decidedly more organized, and your pieces were well-secured. There was also the glaringly obvious advantage of your queen standing discreetly behind a wall of pawns while his lay beaten by the side of the board. 

Clicking his tongue, he rested his head on his hands, thinking about different chains of events, trying to tip the odds back in his favor. 

“Sometimes the best answers are the ones right in front of us,” you said cryptically, giving him a smile.

Dontis gazed back with a frown. “I saw your little trap. I am not taking your knight, hunter.”

“Fine,” you muttered, taking a sip of your tea and turning your head to watch the trees gently sway in the wind. 

“I planted them myself,” he muttered, hesitating before touching one of his pawns.

 If he moved it there, what would you do? What game were you playing? He did not want to give you an opening, but he feared it would only be a matter of time until you tightened the knot around the king’s neck and pinned him in place.

You continued gazing at the sturdy trees outside. They were massive, bigger than Dontis’ house, and absolutely breathtaking, especially now during summer, when their leaves were freshly green and appeared to shine in the sunlight. 

“Sometimes I forget how old you are,” you said, watching Dontis move his rook. “Seriously?” You chuckled, stifling your laugh. “No need to get the fruit, I’ll beat you in two.”

“Two?” Dontis asked bewildered, searching the chessboard. “Impossible. You’re lying.”

“Come now,” you feigned hurt, “when have I ever lied to you? Watch” — you moved your rook, taking Dontis’ knight to do the obvious move and beat your now unprotected bishop, then took your queen out of her hiding place and moved her directly in front of his king — “Check Mate.”

He blinked, processing your moves before he sighed, accepting defeat and offering you his hand. “Well played, hunter,” he said.

“You were not so bad yourself,” you said, ducking your head at Dontis’ scoff. “With a bit of practice, I’m sure you can improve greatly.”

“Good thing I have you, then.”

[gustavgiles]

It's time to put Way Too Much Thought into cats playing chess

Or: an overanalysis of this short, in which I try to find a story where one doesn't exist, and also I leave vapid dribblings about my favorite ship (Vikdecai!!!) everywhere because Fuck You That's Why.

TL;DR: Viktor wants Mordecai bishop. Viktor takes Mordecai bishop.

First off, some caveats: 1.) I'm actually pretty fucking bad at chess. I'm going to offer some commentary on their game later, and although I'm going to put on a very confident face in the interest of making this entertaining to read, you should know that I'm *probably* wrong about lots of stuff, and I'm *definitely* going to massage the analysis to make a story out of it.

2.) I don't think anybody ever intended for the chess board to stand up to scrutiny, since Mordecai's queen and king are the wrong way around and the a2 square (Mordecai's pawn in front of his leftmost rook) is black when it should be white, showing that the chess board is set up sideways:

...But as a Vikdecai shipper I am eminently practiced in the art of expending ridiculous amounts of brainpower reading patterns and subtext where they don't exist. So! Let us sally bravely forth, heedless of the futility of our efforts.

First, a reconstruction of the board, or at least a realistic position that's close to what's presented (the obvious change to make is to put Mordecai's king and queen the right way round). The screenshot above gives us a pretty good idea of what Mordecai's half of the board is; we can combine this with the opposing shot of Viktor to learn some things:

Both of Mordecai's bishops have been captured, so the first shot of Mordecai actually shows the positions of all of White's pieces. Then White's board looks something like this:

Viktor's side of the board is a lot harder to construct because the angle's quite poor, so let's start again with Mordecai's shot and see what we can do. One of his bishops has been captured; from Viktor's shot we can see it's his dark-squared bishop (light-squared in the short because remember, the square colors are backwards in the animation). He's just taken a White bishop on b3 with his knight (presumably the queenside Knight, since the position looks quite early), and he's got a pawn butting up against the White e4 pawn, but it looks like no other pawns contesting the center. So let's lock rows 1-5 of the board down as something like this:

Now the guesswork begins. Black's kingside pawn structure looks unchanged, and his kingside Knight is developed somewhat, I'm going to assume to f6. I have absolutely no idea what the hell's going on with his queenside pawn structure. His d-column pawn is no longer in the d column, but it hasn't been captured? We can see from this shot that he's got two pawns on row 5 (side note look how CLOSE TOGETHER they are in this shot they're MERE INCHES from KISSING):

...*ahem*. So let's assume that his d-rank pawn was pushed to d6, then captured something on c5. That lines up with his shot where we can see an advanced pawn on a light square (so dark in our correctly-colored reconstruction). Then the final board position looks something like this:

After all that work I was super excited to plug this into some online chess databases and find out if it actually matched any historical games...

...Only to be quite disappointed. But wait! If we roll back one move, before Viktor initiates the bishop<>knight exchange that's put such a bee in Mordecai's bonnet, we *do* get something: Olga Dolzhikova vs. Nikolay Bodnar in a 1998 correspondence game.

That game ended in a draw, though Viktor and Mordecai's might not have, after Viktor's divergence. Getting to that would be jumping the gun, though. First, let us stray even further from the folds of probable reality and assume that Viktor and Mordecai played *exactly* this game, which lets us crack on with the narrativizing:

First we have e4...e5, a very standard opener:

Then Mordecai bares his teeth with the Vienna Game:

The Vienna Game is quietly threatening, but at this point noncommittal. The idea here is to threaten pushing a pawn to f4, making an immediate and aggressive play for the center. Of course, we know from the position we reconstructed earlier that this *doesn't* happen. So was Mordecai just posturing, or did Viktor manage to defuse the threat?

Viktor plays Nc6, the Max Lange Defence:

Which takes the fangs out of the Vienna Gambit. Pawn to f4 is most dangerous when Black plays Nf6 rather than Nc6 because there's a nasty trap line to the intuitive response from Black, namely e5xf4 followed by e4 e5, which forces the f6 knight back into its hidey-hole and allows White uncontested control of the center, where he can set a whole slew of hazards for Black to step into trying to get out of the cramped back rank.

None of that matters since Viktor played the Max Lange.

Perhaps Mordecai chose the Vienna Game hoping to catch Viktor, whom he suspects has no formal chess education, with his pants down (yes that wording is very much intentional); it seems Viktor's wise to the tricks, though.

The game continues with Bc4:

So Mordecai settles in for the long haul and plays for the center in a more reserved way, now preventing Viktor from moving his d pawn by threatening d5 with three separate pieces. Viktor responds with...

The Copycat Variation?????

Once when I was a young child who was tired of getting their ass beat by their dad in chess, I decided "fuck it" and just mirrored the moves he made. We ended up in this exact position.

My dad played Qg4. I suspect his intention was that if Black continues copying and plays Qg5, then White takes g5xg4 and now White's up a queen. So Black can no longer mirror White's move; if Black was *actually* just brainlessly copying White, then this forces them to stop it and think about what they're doing, and Black will wind up adrift with no real gameplan. Easy pickings.

Of course, that's assuming your opponent is an actual literal child, which might not be the case. It's not like this position isn't one that a serious player would never wind up in; much like the board is symmetrical, the advantage is symmetrical, and I believe the Vienna Game, Copycat Variation is considered generally even.

So there's a distinct possibility that Viktor *does* know what he's doing, and he's just decided to play the Copycat Variation for whatever reason.

Maybe that reason is because he knows Mordecai will be pleased by the symmetry and he likes seeing Mordecai happy.

Mordecai chooses to play d2 d3 instead of developing his queen:

Is this... begrudging respect?? Another compact push for the center instead of a trap with the queen. Granted it's not much respect, the only assumption you have to make is that your opponent isn't a total idiot with the chess ability of a toddler, but still! My Partner's Not an Idiot With an Underdeveloped Brain! That's the first small kernel that leads to the blossoming of a beautiful marriage friendship!

Viktor continues with a conventional sort of play, developing his knight:

And Mordecai pushes his bishop to e3, offering an exchange of bishops:

I'm not sure what Mordecai's going for here; the obvious line for Black is now c5xe3...f2xe3, which is still pretty much a dead even position. Maybe he thinks a more open center will let him outmaneuver Viktor?

It doesn't matter, anyways; Viktor doesn't take the exchange, instead pushing a pawn up to defend against the threat while keeping the exchange open:

"No." Viktor says obstinately. "You come to me."

At first glance I thought this was just *worse* than Viktor taking the exchange, and I was watching Viktor hurt himself by being obdurate about not dancing to Mordecai's beat. My thought was that now we'll see e3xc5...d6xc5 and Viktor will lack a pawn on the d column, denying him potential center influence...

But on second examination, the d column pawn was already pretty locked down, and now his queen and bishop are opened up. The positions are still even, but that was a surprisingly deft way of not initiating the exchange.

Mordecai rolls his eyes and does what he was going to do anyway:

And Viktor, satisfied that Mordecai had to take the first step, gladly reciprocates:

With that little do-si-do out of the way, Mordecai continues developing his pieces:

And Viktor makes a mistake:

It's not the end of the world, but it's still not amazing -- Stockfish (a chess computer) evaluates Viktor's previous position at -0.1, meaning pretty much even but with an imperceptible advantage for black (more negative means black has more advantage, more positive means white has more advantage), while it evaluates this position at +0.3, a 0.4 point swing.

Insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but the largest difference in this game so far has only been 0.2 points, so this is a change in advantage twice as large as anything that's happened before.

Back to the game: the obvious intent here was to threaten the c4 bishop with his knight, but not only did he have to lower the threat level on d4 to do it, but he's also pushed his knight to the edge of the board where it's quite boxed in.

The threat against the bishop is idle, as well; the bishop can simply retreat to b3, still threatening d5 but making the exchange unappetizing for Black, since then a5xb3...a2xb3 results in an even exchange of material for a slightly better White position.

It's an odd misstep for how solid Viktor's been playing so far.

Mordecai, testing the waters, retreats his bishop:

And Viktor takes the bait, pushing the evaluation to +0.5 and realizing the losing exchange:

Mordecai's perception is unravelling now. He's slowly coming to the conclusion that Viktor doesn't know the Vienna Game. He doesn't know the term 'Max Lange Defense'. Maybe he played the Copycat Variation for shits and fucking giggles, or because he wanted to make a joke about Mordecai's predilection for geometric perfection.

Viktor has not been driven by tactical acumen and a surprisingly agile intellect, carefully considering all variables before picking lines of play. He has not been carrying on a delicately intricate wordless conversation with Mordecai.

Viktor's been putting pieces Wherever the Fuck He Wants because Fuck You, That's Why.

And Mordecai is *incensed* by this because he can't stop imagining Viktor pursuing him with that same brutish efficacy Viktor's almost kept pace with him while putting in 5% of the work and brainpower.

"Wait," Mordecai says.

"*What* is that?"

[fe-fictions]

How about a story where Robin is dating someone else and Frederick is pining in the background, wallowing how he missed his shot to confess after the war. Yet, he overhears Robin's lover saying that he's only dating Robin to get close to Ylissean's elite. *Holds hands up in prayer* Please make it happen!

(I wrote this for sooo long and it got so much longer than I meant to...it just feels so nice to be writing for Frederick again ;; U ;; )

He was never the type to be regretful, or feel like he’d missed something important. No, he did his best to live honorably and live his life to the absolute fullest.

The struggle came when he realized he had feelings for you. Feelings that he was determined to push aside until the war ended, until things had calmed down enough that he could plan a proper path to courtship with you.

But the knight had taken too long. When he finally felt that he was ready to tell you, he discovered that you were in a relationship with one of the soldiers that had fought valiantly.

In fact, there was little Frederick could find wrong with him; he was charming and kind, friendly with everyone he met, and especially gracious around nobility and royalty among the ranks. Not only that, but he did had a terrible habit of making you laugh quite easily.

Frederick would be lying if he said it didn’t drive him up a wall. The man was quite talented when it came to getting under the lieutenant’s skin, and he was making it even more difficult for him to get any closer to you. 

After all, you were already a high profile individual, so your free time was sparse. But now, the time that you had once spent training him to stomach bear meat and helping him put out and start the camp fires had suddenly disappeared.

Chrom was the first to notice the sudden distance being put between his lieutenant and tactician, although that was namely because of how much more often your new beau had been making an appearance.

The pair of men were sitting in the prince’s tent, enjoying a rousing game of chess, when his Exalt brought the subject up.

“So…Robin’s new relationship is rather…interesting, isn’t it?”

Frederick hoped the twitch of his eye did not betray his otherwise flawless poker face. He moved his rook forward.

“It is certainly quite the change of pace for Robin, yes. It seems that they get along well.”

“I suppose so, yes…but sometimes, I do wonder about his intentions.” Chrom replied, moving his own piece as he spoke.

“What do you mean, milord? You think his intentions with Robin are malicious?”

“Not necessarily malicious, no…but I do not believe his motivations are purely because he wishes to court Robin.”

“Please elaborate, milord.”

“Well, he seems to have taken a lot of interest in the nobility, lately. He’ll tag along with Robin to a council meeting or training session, but he’ll usually float off to speak with Maribelle, or Sumia…sometimes, he’ll corner Lissa.”

“Corner?” Frederick echoed, bristling, “You mean he is trying to ‘play the field’ with the the noblewomen of your court, Prince Chrom? That is unacceptable! Not only because it is harassment towards those fine women, but also because he's taking advantage of Robin!”

“Now, don’t get too far ahead of yourself, Frederick.” Chrom quickly cut in before Frederick could throw in another passionate paragraph about the virtues this man clearly lacked.

The knight huffed, trying his best to retain his patience (and failing).

“I can’t prove anything. I just know what I saw. If his intentions are beyond Robin, we’ll need to figure out what he wants.”

“I will conduct a most in-depth investigation, milord. You needn’t worry.” Frederick rose from his seat, bowing deeply to Chrom. “ I will personally investigate the matter at hand and return with results immediately!”

“But the game isn’t…ah, nevermind.” Chrom sighed, starting to reset the board after the tent flap closed. “You’ve always had one hells of a soft spot for her, anyway.”

------------------------

If there was one thing that everyone around you knew, it was that you always knew more than you let on...and such knowledge you withheld should never be tested.

While the war was over and there was no longer any need for such a keen eye while everyone made the long journey home…you did find that it was getting increasingly difficult to ignore the behavior your lover was portraying.

It started with small mentions of your relationship with the royal family. How you and Chrom seemed to be quite close, and how Lissa got on with you well.

Maribelle was the next mentioned, followed by Sumia, and Ricken…

It didn’t take long to notice his fascination seemed solely focused on the wealthiest of the Shepherds, rather than the whole of your friend group.

He had little interest in Frederick, Vaike, or Stahl…at first you wondered if it was because they were men…but then you realized they weren’t exactly of “noble” birth.

But you opted to ignore it, since he would let the subject go whenever you expressed interest in speaking of something else.

But then he would invite himself into meetings or conversations when you were standing next to them.

If Maribelle and Ricken were talking about strategies for rebuillding the Ylissean economy, it wouldn’t take long for him to appear and start to engage the pair and leave you behind.

Baking with Sumia? He was an excellent baking assistant (for Sumia).

Planning pranks on Virion with Lissa? He had just the thing to really get under the archer’s skin…

It was becoming stifling.

The one thing you were grateful for was that he never seemed able to get close to Chrom, as hard as he tried.

You supposed you had Frederick to thank for that. He didn’t seem fond of your choice in boyfriend, even though his only flaw was he seemed to be overly curious about the wealthier individuals.

“I’ve been meaning to ask…” You had him on a walk one afternoon, doing a lazy patrol of the camp while they set up for the night. “Are you happy with me?”

He seemed genuinely stunned when you asked that, a bewildered smile on his lips.

“Why, whatever do you mean? I find myself enraptured with you more and more with every passing day.”

“I would be inclined to believe that, if I didn’t find you gallivanting around with practically every other Shepherd except for me.”

“What? I’m certain that’s not true.”

“Whenever I’m with Lissa or Sumia, you’re chatting with them like I’m not there. And if Ricken comes over, you’re slinging your arm around his shoulders and carting him away before I can even say hello! It’s a constant issue.”

“You’ll have to forgive me, my dear. It was never my intention to do such a thing. Besides, I think you’re overreacting a bit. I’m just trying to get to know your friends better. You want me to have a good relationship with them, don’t you?”

“Sure, but…” You hesitated, finding it difficult to pull the words together. “But it seems like you’re only interested in a few of my friends. You don’t seem to be interested in Stahl, or Donnel…Frederick is an excellent man to befriend, but you turn your nose up when you see him! A-and that’s not to mention Panne, Tharja or Libra…it just seems like you’re only trying to befriend them because they’ve got notoriety, whereas the others don’t.”

“Hah…it seems I wasn’t as careful as I thought.” Your beau sighed, running a hand through his hair, “You see, Robin, it isn’t false that I want to spend more time with your friends and colleagues who are of noble birth compared to others. But I have a good reason for it!”

“Really?” You quirked an eyebrow, already unimpresed with his confession.

It had already felt as though he was using you to step over and connect with the wealthy. Outright admitting it wasn’t something you were pleased to hear.

“I am doing it for us, Robin! You see, we don’t have the opportunities afforded to those who are of high social standing. If not just you, but the both of us are highly regarded by those in the upper echelons of society, then it will only result in upward mobility for both of us!”

“I can understand that, but…I’m friends with them because they’re good people. Not because I wanted to become a noble, myself.”

“It’s certainly very commendable that you can think that way, Robin, but I’m afraid that’s naïve. You have no idea what it’s like to suffer through challenges that nobility simply breeze past! If I- that is, if we- can move forward and garner that notoriety, think of how much better our futures will be! And the future for our family!”

“Our fami-” You stuttered, eyes blown wide, “What on earth are you talking about?! We’ve barely been together for a few months! You want to have a family with me?”

“Of course! You’re an excellent tactician, and you know so many wonderful, affluent people. It will be to our advantage if we marry!”

“Um…I…think I need to take a walk.” You moved away from him, holding out a hand to stop him when his mouth opened in protest. “Alone, please.”

When you moved away from him, you felt quite shaken. Perhaps it was because you were feeling so out of sorts that it was clear on your face.

You received a few odd looks from other Shepherds, but it was Frederick who expressed the first concern.

“Robin,” His voice was gentle, but loud enough to draw you out of your thoughts. You looked up at him not realizing you were looking deeply troubled. “...Are you all right?”

“Yes, I am, I…” You trailed off, glancing back. The soldier you fancied had already run off somewhere. Likely to chase after the nobles, or maybe sniff out Chrom.

“You do not sound certain.” He was not convinced, “Would you like to talk about what’s troubling you? Perhaps I could be of assistance.”

“I’d hate to bother you with it. It’s…rather trivial, really. And it involves my courtship.”

Frederick did not hesitate, waving a dismissive hand. “I am your ally and friend, above all else. If your relationship troubles you, I wish for you to feel safe enough that you can confide in me.”

The two of you headed away from the camp, finding a peaceful patch of wildflowers to take a moment and enjoy the quiet.

He could practically see the discomfort radiating off you, and it did make him worry about what was going on.

Thankfully, it would not take long for you to explain what the issue was.

“He’s…he’s a good person, I think. We get along more often than not, but lately it feels like he’s not looking to spend time with me.” You sighed, resting your chin on your palm, “It feels like he’s using me to get close to others.”

“Others of notable rank.” Frederick added. You glanced over at him, and he shrugged. “It is not subtle, Robin. He is not as careful as he thinks he is.”

“So you suspect ulterior motives?” Your question was met with a ready nod, the man just shrugging in response. “I asked him about it. He said he’s trying to get close to the nobility for both our sakes. He wants our ‘family’ to have an easier life, an easier path than what he and I have as…non-nobles.”

Frederick had worked very hard to suppress the choke when you said the word “family”. 

“I see. And do you intend to…settle down with this…individual?”

“I don’t know what I intend to do.” You shook your head, “We’ve only been dating for a few months! We’re nowhere near serious enough for that to have crossed my mind. But it's clear he wants it, and if he’s trying to do all this, er, connection building with the royals and nobles of Ylisse, then…I don’t know, maybe it’s good?”

“But if you aren’t looking to marry him…”

“There's no reason for him to say all that.” You huffed, “I don’t know what I want. The way Lissa and Sumia talk about love, it seems like they’re sure. But when he spoke of marriage and family with me…I don’t know, it didn't make me feel sure.”

“It is certainly a conundrum.” Frederick agreed with you, looking up at the sky. “If you wish to hear my point of view-”

“-Which I do-”

“-I do not believe that he is pursuing the nobility with good intentions. I do not mean to speak ill of his character, but he is not the first nor the last to use others as a means to build his reputation.”

“So you don’t think that he’s doing it for ‘us’?” 

Frederick hesitated, looking at you for a long moment. “I do not wish to demean his character, especially when he is not able to defend himself. But…I do not feel that he has the right intention. His actions betray his words, Robin.”

You looked away, frown deep. “Yeah.”

He felt that he said something wrong in that moment, finding a twist in his heart when he saw the hurt in your eyes.

“I did not mean to upset you. I just…I have seen this behavior before. There are many who would find ways to get close to the nobility to enrich themselves. Many friendships and relationships have been broken in the name of self preservation.”

“It makes sense.” You agreed, though you were still unable to really look at him. Frederick wanted to reach out, to hold your hand or put a comforting arm around your shoulders, or…anything to alleviate that pain.

“I’m sorry. And if it is any consolation, I may not be correct- if you speak with him again, perhaps he will tell you his true motives or-”

“No, I don’t think so.” You shook your head, “He does push me away when he gets a chance to get close to one of the Shepherds he wants to speak to. And he’ll forget me in a conversation to focus on others. I went along with it for a while because I didn’t want to deal with the fallout, I guess. But the fact remains that he’s…definitely not with me for me.”

Frederick sighed softly, finding the confidence to at least put a hand on your shoulder. You leaned into his touch, still distraught, but welcoming of his comfort, at least.

“I’m sorry, Robin. I hope that by telling you these things, it does help you more than harm you.”

“Thanks, Freddybear.” You smiled softly, even if he did roll his eyes. “It’s always comforting to know you’re looking out for me. I value your opinion greatly, even if it doesn’t seem like it, sometimes.”

“Most of the time.”

“Perhaps, yes.” You laughed, if only for a few sweet seconds. A comfortable silence fell over the two of you, staring out at the moonlit flowers. “Well…I suppose I ought to get it over with sooner rather than later, right?”

“It doesn’t have to be tonight. You’ve dealt with enough stress as it is. Some rest may do you quite well.” 

“I suppose you’re right,” You agreed, but the conversation had to pause suddenly when the sound of hurriedly crunched leaves reached your ears.

You both turned to find Chrom all but rushing through the thicket into the valley with you, and he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the two of you.

“Thank the gods, you’re both here. Robin, are you aware that your, er, partner is waiting outside my tent?” 

You shared a look with Frederick. “No, I wasn’t. Why is he…?”

“I don’t know. I was dozing off one moment, and the next he was standing at the entrance asking if I’d like to discuss politics and strategy and whatever else- I-I don’t even know what, but I just laid there and stayed silent for fifteen minutes, and he still wouldn’t leave!”

“Ah.” You shook your head,  earning a sympathetic look from Frederick. “I’ll go have a word with him, and after that, hopefully you won’t have to worry about dealing with his antics ever again.”

“Sounds good.” Chrom’s shoulders dropped with relief, “If it’s all the same, do you mind if I stay here a little while, Frederick? I snuck out the back of the tent and I don’t plan on going back if he’s still going to hover at the entrance for a while. The man is…creepily determined.”

“Understood, milord.” Frederick rose to his feet, offering his hand to help you up as well. 

You nodded to both of them, “I’ll go handle this right now. If I don’t come back, it’s because I’ve collapsed in my tent out of sheer exhaustion.” 

“Please let me know if you need anything, Robin.” Frederick said, his hand still lingering in yours. “Oh, and…if I may…”

“Yes?”

“I want you to know that I would never take you for granted, or use you for my own ends. I respect you, and value you too deeply to ever allow that to happen.”

“O-oh…um…” You blushed, stunned by the sudden admission. Your hand slipped away to nervously tuck a strand of hair behind your ear, “Well, thank you, Frederick. That means a lot.”

You lingered only a moment longer before you headed off to complete your less than enjoyable task, leaving the two men to watch after you in the dark.

Chrom glanced over at the knight, who seemed keen not to lose sight of you.

“That wasn’t exactly subtle, Frederick.”

“I am aware.”

“What happened to playing the long game?”

“There is no game to be played, milord.” Frederick smiled softly, “It is only my wish to seize this opportunity, to become closer with Robin now that it has presented itself.”

“I wish you luck, my friend. Though I doubt you’ll need it- she does tend to have a strange taste in men. You ought to be courting her in no time.”

“Milord, please.”

[bloombird]

Another prompt from @fembot-prompts ! Would probably see it happening in the show canon. Or like after season 1?

"Hey, you should move your rook over-"

"Shhh!! We're trying to concentrate here!" Batsby hissed at Lace Face, who was judging at the bat botbots's.. well, not that great chess strategy.

Batsby's opponent - Game Over - looked at her in a bored expression. She yawned, "You hadn't make a move for 15 minutes-"

"Thirty minutes." Lace Face glanced over at the chess clock.

"Whatever.."

Lace Face muttered, "Why did we even try this?"

Originally, Lace Face and Batsby were supposed to hang out. Something like a jock girls night out.

The two Jock Squad members found Game Over hanging out alone. They asked her if she wanna hang out and play games with them. The game controller perked up at the "games" part and joined in.

However, Game Over wasn't technically sporty and couldn't keep up with them and Lace Face and Batsby absolutely suck at video games.

As to not make things awkward and have her feel left out, they decided to play chess. One: it's a sport. Two: Game Over wouldn't have to feel tired. And three: Kikmee said that it exercises your mind.

Now, here they are.

Batsby groaned as she tried to pick which chess pieces should she move. She already lost 5 pieces which was less than what the game controller bot lost and yet.. Game Over had her checked.

"What's wrong, Batsby? Playing safe?" Game Over teased.

The bat growled as she decided to make her move. She then moved her queen. Game Over grinned and moved her piece.

"Checkmate~!"

"Huh?! What?!" Batsby exclaimed. She looked over the chess board.

"You overthink too hard that you had your king open." Game Over explained coolly and pointed at the chess pieces.

"For someone who plays video games, you sure are good at strategy." Lace Face commented.

Game Over smiled. "I've played some games before.."

Lace Face chuckled as she patted a whining Batsby.

[soultek]

A Hundred Years - A One-Shot [Aliens AU]

Author’s Note: So, this one is for my fellow Bishop Girlies! @mandy23b​ - Happy 4th Friend-Versay! (You’re for sure stuck with me now!)

@sufferthesea​ because 1) Happy (belated) Birthday! and 2) because it was your lyric choice and so I had to make it Bishop, obviously! I thought you’d enjoy 😉

Love you both TONS! 💙

Amanda, I know OC fic isn’t your preference, but, I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Please note there are some weird AF paragraph gaps in this that I just can’t get to work nicely... so I apologise in advance 🙏

Warnings: Some swearing / Depressive spiraling / sex reference and innuendo / He might be *slightly* OOC... please judge this for yourself, I tried my best!

Premise: From this fun little request post.  There’s engineering work to do, and Rex is spiraling. Despite Bishop’s valiant attempts to stop this from happening, it seems more like a delay. Sure, it started off as a joke - but now she’s really thinking on the fact that for the next 100 years he can upgrade himself and she... can’t. Not without drastic medical advancement. Sometimes it’s not about living for the future, but in the moment...

Words: 6965

--- Lyric Chosen ---

“A hundred years wouldn't be long enough” ~ Mean It This Time, Carly Pearce

---

It started, as it always did, with a game of chess. Although, by this point in their down time, the game had been practically forgotten in favour of general chat and gossip. The pieces used more as something to occupy hands – with the rules of the game being broken left, right and centre, as they were moved across the board with no particular destination. Travelling between planets on shorter journeys meant no need for Cryo, but right now Hicks would be glad of it, because he was bored out of his mind. So bored that really he lacked the concentration for a serious game of chess – and his feigned attempts at trying had quickly made Rex lose interest in playing any better. She had been the one to initially distract him with small talk and now the board was an absolute mess.

Though, being stuck together on a ship – and being close friends – meant really there was little to talk about beyond rumour and speculation. Or whatever bets the other crew members had going on this week. Hicks sank all the way down to the table, head resting on his crossed arms. She raised her eyebrows at him, “You know at this point you might as well go back to bed, huh?” “Ah, would that I could Rex… you know the second I do, something will actually happen.” “Well at least it will be worth it for the rest of us!” She tipped the rook she was messing with a little too far and it clattered off the board and rolled across the table, Hicks stretched his palm out to stop it, but even this was half hearted. “This is the most down down time ever.” “Then go find someone to mess around with.” “You’re the most fun to mess around with – suggesting chess was a screw up on my part.” Rexanna leant on her knuckles, eyebrow quirked. She tipped her head, and as she did so loose curls of dark hair fell into her face; regretting her change of position, she blew them out of the way. Maybe she should have tied it back today. “I noticed. And to think I could have kept going for an easy victory!” She looked back to the board – no point now with the state it was in. If they wanted to keep playing, they’d have to reset the whole thing. “But I’ll take the compliment that I think that was.” Hicks raised his head, but not by much, “It’s official, I’ve never been this bored in my life.” “Sorry, I didn’t realise you turned into Hudson on this trip-!” Rex folded her arms, looking away from him nonchalantly. That soon got her best friend sitting up. “You did not.” “Didn’t what?” “I KNOW I didn’t hear you say that-!” She grinned, “Well, if you’re gonna complain I don’t know what you expect me to say!” He leaned across the table, “You are SO lucky I like you!” “Or what?” Rex couldn’t help grin wider, teasing, before he smacked both her shoulders, “OW! Geez, Hicks, you’re a lot bigger than me!” She tried to lunge back across the table, but he had leaned out of reach. Now they were both laughing, and though she was rubbing her right shoulder, Rex wasn’t actually hurting. “Hey, you could always do work!” She suggested; that was always the easiest way to increase any kind of productivity, and on a ship this big, there was always something to do. “Uh, no thank you.” He waved that one away – seeming to suggest that in honesty, the only reason he was sitting across from her now was to avoid working. Fair enough. Hicks swung his right leg up onto the bench beside him, now apparently interested in his combat boots, “Never known you to throw a game of chess.” Her eyes flicked back to the pieces in annoyance, “I didn’t, but you weren’t really taking it seriously so there was no point. There’s nothing in an easy victory.” Hicks was right though; it was her favourite game. From the “CHQ MVIII” on her armour, which had now also been transferred to a tattoo just below her right collarbone, always obscured by her blue flight suit. (Which she’d now become partial to wearing when not in combat, for both comfort and the practicality of ad hoc engineering around the ship. Not to get too ‘matchy-matchy’ with her significant other!) To the chess piece around her neck… it was pretty much how her whole relationship had started… “I dunno, I figure distracting you once or twice has given me easy victories.” Rex’s eyes narrowed, “And you think I’ve forgiven you for that!?!” “Well if I can beat you then I figure you’re not really the best on the ship.” This time instead of leaning across to hit him, Rexanna grabbed the piece nearest to her and threw it at him, “Shut up!” Hicks merely laughed, “Have any of the newbies beaten you yet?” “No!” She was clearly falling for his teasing at the way her voice was pitching - damn him! “I better teach ‘em that all you gotta do is mention-” “And how is that gonna work now, jackass!” She picked up another piece, “Don’t make me throw another at you!” His laugh turned into a full-blown cackle before he calmed a little – smile still mischievous as he looked to her. “Frost, Spunkmeyer and Wierzbowski still got that stupid bet on how long it’s going to take anyone to figure out your relationship?” “I still think they should have had bets on the newbies thinking it’s us, but that’s just me.” Rex gave a shrug, “I think so. It’s not out there… it’s not hidden. It just is. Some of them know, I’m surprised they haven’t told the others… unless they’re getting hush money!” Hicks picked up one of his bishops and studied it with interest, “They do seem to keep thinking we’re a thing.” “You’re not exactly pointing out that you have a girlfriend, are you.” “Well I think I’d much rather be out in space with her than you, but that’s just me.” Rex folded her arms, squinting and mouth open, but didn’t even rise to it, “You wouldn’t be out here without me Hicks and you know it.” “Utterly lost!” He grinned and put the piece back down. Before his smile faded a little as he looked curiously behind her, “Ooop! Your man is here to pick you up.”

Rex twisted around in her seat, and sure enough now standing in the doorway of the mess hall was Bishop. She tried not to immediately beam about it – but knew this only meant one thing. Mother had picked up a few knocks here and there with some of the ship’s internals and although not serious, they needed fixing. Rex had been putting it off until they had enough down time and no other work to do… apparently that time had come. She offered a wave, before indicating that she’d be two minutes. He nodded politely, before she turned back to Hicks. “Yeah, guess I now have work to do!” “Aw man, you jinxed it!” Her best friend appeared momentarily sympathetic before his eyes narrowed, “Work? With Bishop? C’mon Rex, where are you really going? I know it ain’t work!” “Do you want a functioning ship or not? We’ve been putting this fix off for weeks!” “Yeah, uh huh, sure!” Hicks raised his eyebrows at her to indicate he believed otherwise, “Have fun getting your fix.” Rex hated that she could feel her cheeks heating, “Screw you!” “Sounds like that’s what’s gonna happen to you, honey.” “If I wasn’t so scared for my life of what Ripley would do to me once we got back, I’d kill you.” Hicks grinned a little wider, “That’s my girl! Also, if we’re being honest, as you can’t survive without me, you’d be throwing yourself out an airlock far before that.” Point noted – but Rexanna wouldn’t say it out loud. She pulled her feet out from under the bench and made a motion to stand, but Hicks was intent on keeping her there as long as possible – now studying more chess pieces. “Hey, didn’t you play against his creator, once?” She was glad for a moment she hadn’t mentally checked out of the conversation already, or she might have taken a while to pick up the train of thought going on here. Hicks was referring to Bishop’s designer and the lead engineer on the 341-B project. “Michael? Yeaaah, what about it?” “Didn’t you win?” Rex wondered if he was being facetious. “No.” “No?!” Hicks genuinely looked surprised when he looked up, “I thought you got what you wanted?” “I did get what I played him for…”   essentially the agreement that once Bishop became an ‘obsolete’ model in Wey-Yu’s eyes, and especially in the eyes of their USCM missions, instead of being deactivated he would become completely Rex’s responsibility. She expected Android law to have progressed by then, but, until such a time, if this protected him it was the least she could do. “…I didn’t win.” “Fair enough. I won’t bring up any more of your losses, I was trying to big you up.” Rex scoffed, “Against a multiple time world chess champion? Try again – remind me of all the times I beat Hudson,” she leaned in, giving her hands purchase to push herself back and away from the table, “or you!” Hicks laughed again, “No chance!” Rex stepped back a few paces, grinning at her best friend, “Alright, I gotta go – enjoy your single life on the ship, Hicks!” “Yeah well, at least I don’t have to hide away any time I want some action and pretend I’m working-!” This time Rexanna laughed, winking at him before turning, “You’re just jealous!”  She held a hand up in a wave goodbye, “See ya!”

Bishop was leaning against the wall outside as she rounded the corner; amused by her friends jabs as much as anything else. She’d get him back later. “Rexanna…” “Sorry-! To be honest I’m not sure if that conversation was worth finishing. But I’m good now… this is about the fix we’ve been putting off right?” “Yes.” He regarded her steadily, “This is… about work.” Catching on, she flicked her eyes back in the direction she’d come from, “Y- Yes, I know.” “Didn’t seem that’s what you and Hicks were talking about.” She very nearly snorted, “I think he was joking with me, but that isn’t what I was expecting anyway. I knew this had to be done… down time comes after, that’s okay with me!” She beamed, walking in step with him, offering a wink that was only met with a look of mild disapproval.

  ***

  They were so close as they walked towards the source of the issue that they found hands and arms almost constantly brushing – pretty soon causing their fingers to entwine. They didn’t let go at any point after that, including as they had to descend several flights of stairs – instead Bishop would walk first in order to keep her steady. Like a gentleman (as he so often was). Sometimes he made Rex wonder why anyone would rather be with a human male – honestly just one mission with any of the guys she’d been posted with would likely put you off for life. Except maybe Hicks – but of course she’d make that exception for her best friend. Even when they came across others in corridors the connection between them was never severed, even if it meant side stepping or doing some more awkward single file walking.

They’d been together a while by now, but any situation like this always made something spark within Rexanna – she never knew if it was excitement or dread, but it was definitely anticipation of what would happen. What would their reaction be; what would his reaction be. So often before she’d unconsciously worried that he would drop her hand at the slightest sign of conflict or disapproval. Which took to Rex holding him just that little bit tighter every time they came to that impasse. Bishop picked this up so quickly that at this point the only way Rex was going to make him let go was if she dropped his hand first. On the ship where most people knew, she was much more relaxed about it; and with any of the first-time fliers, Rex was ranked high enough that staring them down would get them to drop any look of uncertainty.

  Eventually she realised they had got this far without much conversation. Normally that would have been fine; they both knew exactly the issue to fix here and silence was always comfortable between them. In all honesty when she had to spend the majority of her day giving orders to the other engineers or fighting her way through marine banter, returning to a comfortable silence with Bishop was heaven. Everything else was simply exhausting. They didn’t really need words to know how each other was feeling. He could simply hold his arms out for her and that would be enough.

Yet, Rexanna hadn’t seen him all morning – and right now it was like she was neglecting to ask about his day. She turned, “Hey, I thought you’d come and collect me earlier. You weren’t around when I woke up, but considering I had no other work to do, I thought you might leave me a note or something to meet you down here…!” “Oh.” Bishop smiled, “No, I had to run some diagnostics. Still got a few to finish later, you can help, if you like?” “On yourself? Sure… You okay?” “I’m fine – it’s just routine.” He gave a shrug, “Then I thought we ought to be getting on with this before it got too late.” Rex could agree with that, “Routine? You sure?” Ever since she’d found those weird lines of three-laws-defying code in him that he kept rewriting, she had to admit there was a certain level of paranoia that Wey-Yu would find some way of wiping them out of him. “Well…” She didn’t like the pause, this time stopping their walk to actively stare at him. She loosened her fingers from Bishop’s – as if to emphasise the importance of his next answer. “…It’s just upgrades, Ree, you don’t need to worry. I promise. But there are some data chip changes I need to do.” His voice was so gentle with that particular use of her name that she believed him instantly. But she had other issues, chewing her lip momentarily and looking away from the weight of his own stare. Even now sometimes she couldn’t hold those eyes of his. Truth was, she might have got his promise – might even have been given a written contract with a signature… but she didn’t trust Michael and the company one bit. What annoyed Rex most was she didn’t have a choice.

Instead, she made something more like a joke of the situation, continuing their walk. “In 100 years I'll be nothing but dust, and you'll still be walking around upgrading yourself!” Bishop’s response was to chuckle, and she smiled just to hear him laugh, “You don't know that! There could be many medical advancements between now and then.” Funnily enough he said it with every ounce of seriousness, so it was Rexanna’s turn to laugh, “Well they better hurry the hell up or I'll be too old! By that point they better put my brain in an android!” She didn’t know if she were joking or not, but Bishop looked across to her, then looked away with a little smile. “That... would be agreeable.” Rex shook her head, before nudging him playfully with her shoulder; “Yeah, I bet!” She was smiling, and her joke was meant to be throw away… then suddenly she found herself really thinking on it. Her smile faded.

Not due to unhappiness but curiosity – every now and then this was something Rex would think on. There were a lot of things she couldn’t give Bishop that an android partner could. They would be able to understand a lot of mechanical grievances; and that never ending fight for better rights. He was an Equal Opportunity Advisor for the USCM after all. Rex could live her life blissfully and never come into contact with any of that. She tried to be an active ally, for obvious reasons – but did she really give him the support he wanted… or needed? She couldn’t help but voice it: “Would you… like that?” “Like what?” She got the feeling Bishop knew, but wanted her to voice the question anyway. “If I was in an androids’ body instead of mine?” If it was still her just less flesh and bone and more circuit boards and circulation fluid. “I mean would that even be the same to you?” Bishop suddenly frowned so hard that Rexanna thought he might have malfunctioned – this time she held his stare just because of how disbelieving it was; and she was starting to feel like she’d asked something wrong. Her lips parted to say something, anything at this point that would get that look off his face. Bishop spoke first. “No.” There was a hanging silence again, Rex blinked. “S-Sorry, to which part?” “All of it. Why would I want that?” “Well, like I say… my life is so finite. As long as you have a way to keep upgrading… I’ll be long gone by the time anything happens to you. If I was an android I could… be around for so much longer.” He stepped a little closer to her, “Rex.” It was too late; she was spiralling, “I don’t know, maybe that’d be better for you. My life won’t be long enough for either of us – even with the wonders of tech, and you’ll outlive me for so long!” Would he be able to go on without her? Did Rex really want the answer to that question? “Rexanna. Ree. Don’t do that. Stop.” He took her hands back in his, but, as she kept talking Bishop moved his hands to her arms, pulling her closer before placing his forehead gently to hers. “Hey.” Silence again, except she could hear the pounding of her heart inside her head. Brown eyes wide as they looked between his. “You wouldn’t be you. I wouldn’t trade you for anything.” Snaking his left hand down her right arm he traced Rex’s tattoo – a swirl of stars and nebulae - before interlinking their fingers, “You don’t think the reason you are so complex and so… human is part of the reason I fell for you?” She wasn’t really one for blushing, but Rex knew she was getting hot – and he was giving her very little room. Even now Bishop still had troubles with personal space. If Rex backed up, she knew she was about to hit the steel wall of the ship. She tried to look anywhere but his eyes, searching for something to say and stammering. What exactly was she supposed to say to that. In reality, Bishop wasn’t expecting her to return the favour. And she noticed that his right hand was now clasped around her other wrist, fingers pressing against her pulse point – as if to really hammer what he was saying home. Duly noted.

Though he’d have to remind her, again and again and again… 

To break what for her was fast becoming too awkward of a pause, Rex deflected with humour, as her group of marines so often did. “Aw man, and here I thought it was for my stellar good looks!” She made sure her grin was extra cheesy. Bishop’s laugh was almost painful, but his look softened. “Well… perhaps a little of that too.” At least she was giggling and not spiralling; he could cope with that – as apparently this was so funny to her, she ended up collapsing into his shoulder, hiding her face in his flight suit. Or, perhaps Rex was hiding for different reasons… He watched her for a moment, shaking his head, before taking a deep – and unnecessary – breath. “Okay, Ms. Mori. We have a computer to fix. Let’s go.”

Ah, her last name? Now she was in trouble… ***

Rex had fixed plenty of systems like this before - but never in a room that looked quite so compact. Usually equipment like this was afforded areas that were wider, looking a little like rows of servers. For some reason on this ship, they had decided to place it in a cramped space; meaning instead of having rows of modules with gaps in between, they were all stacked on top of each other and screwed into the walls. Not only that, but it must have been stuffed into a tight angled part of the ship - given that the ceiling was an unusual hexagonal shape that seemed to cave in on itself. And there were modules screwed into that too. The saving grace was it was brightly lit. Unsurprisingly, everything they had to fix was up there. Both because a) of course it wasn’t on the floor, and b) it was most likely the weird angles that were causing issues. Rex swivelled in place to Bishop, eyebrow raised, pointing a finger to the ceiling; “Guess we’re climbing?” “Mhm.” He affirmed, before giving her an equally disbelieving look, “You think they’d design this a bit better though.” “Hopefully we fix it well enough for this to be the one time it comes up, but I foresee further issues..!” “Fixing it once in almost 2 years?” Bishop admired that hope and optimism, “I doubt it.” “Yeah,” Rexanna sighed gently, “me too.”

On the far wall, it seemed that the company were quite prepared for engineers to fix any faults in this room; a storage locker conveniently labelled “tools” (as if they wouldn’t have bought their own? Well… at least Bishop had remembered to!) and several cables and harnesses tied neatly together that ran all the way to sturdy looking hooks in the ceiling. At least they’d assist in climbing: but what an effort! Rex puffed out her cheeks with an eye roll; this was going to be a long day.

Before she hooked herself up to ascend though… Rex patted down the pockets of her flight suit, wait… She cursed herself for a moment; surely she didn’t forget them!? Usually she had at least one in a pocket somewhere!! Bishop cleared his throat, and as Rex looked to him she realised he’d known exactly what she was looking for - extending his hand out with a hair tie. “And that’s why I love you.” She took it from him gratefully pulling her dark hair up into it, before smiling, with a gentle, “thank you.” That didn’t perturb him from his joke, though. “Thought it’d be for much more than that.” Bishop bumped his arm against hers as he passed, ready to set himself up for the climb. Rex couldn’t help snorting; “You mean your good looks, right?!” Although he wasn’t facing her, she could hear that smile in his voice. “Something like that.”

It didn’t take them long to attach the harnesses and ropes. Luckily they wouldn’t need to also pull a tool box up with them, as the harnesses came with handy tool belts; and anything they couldn’t fit in there was transferred into flight suit pockets. In reality, it wasn’t necessarily so much of a climb, but having to pull yourself up to the level you wanted. Not so bad for him, she supposed, but an arduous task when this whole fix would require you using your arms. There must have been an easier way to do it…?

Rex thought hard, staring at the rope in her hands for a long time. Either she’d missed something Bishop had said or he was just being extra patient with her, because he hadn’t moved to start either. Staring intently in silence and waiting for her to say whatever she was thinking. And then it clicked. “Oh my god…” she said softly, before laughing, “of course!” Seemingly Bishop knew she was about to say something typically Rex by the subsequent look on his face. “Mother, could you please disengage the artificial gravity in this room?”

  There was a beat with no noise. Rex wasn’t even sure if she expected Mother to answer them. Sometimes Mother liked to remain silent when working on things and sometimes she could be overly… motherly.

Her eyes flicked across to Bishop’s as if to tell him it was at least worth a shot; but as Rexanna did so she noticed her clothes begin to rise, followed by her dog tags; escaping her flight suit and threatening to send the chess piece attached (a Bishop, what else?) sailing to the ceiling if she didn’t keep hold of it. Before long, her feet were hovering off the floor as it really kicked in. That unsteady moment when Rex was never sure if she’d remain floating or suddenly crash back down in a heap. The latter had happened many a time - especially when people weren’t expecting it! Luckily the Zero-G held and they found themselves free floating to the top of the room where the work was needed. This time the ropes served as anchors to make sure that they weren’t drifting off away from where they were meant to be. Hopefully no one would decide to check on them, or they were in for a nasty shock. Else the gravity would reengage and Rex would find herself with angry red marks where her harness caught her sudden weight in quite a large fall.

It would be no good doing this if you were afraid of heights.

  The lack of gravity worked wonders; they could effectively “swim” to exactly where they were needed. That would save them some energy; or, maybe a couple of percent on having to recharge later. Though Rex couldn’t help but look over to Bishop for approval. He could tell, of course, so he made her wait for it. Luckily this time his stare included a blink or two. “Well I wasn’t going to say it until it worked - but that is a pretty efficient idea, yes.” Rex couldn’t help but give a little wiggle of a happy dance at this - Bishop just shook his head at her. Sometimes she could get so happy at the tiniest of things. She was still a mystery to him by all accounts. But he liked that.

  She held her tongue for the first few minutes of work - because she actually thought she’d miscalculated - if they needed to remove panels and screws, they risked them soaring off out of reach; and if they were very unlucky, either screws lost, or further damage created they didn’t need to fix. This fear was soon abated when Rexanna realised that everything stayed firmly locked in even once unscrewed. Even those screws had a limit and didn’t come fully out of the plates. The only thing she really need to keep an eye on was her data pad; making sure she was fixing and rewiring all the right parts, before moving onto the next one. They kept a back-and-forth dialogue to ensure everything was covered. And other than that, no small talk passed between them. They stuck to task. Professional. It was probably the main reason they were allowed to go on so many of these colonisation - or ATMOS - missions together. Because work was work; and the relationship came after or between those moments. They knew how to keep things separate. So separate that there were still several newer marines that, even about a year or so into this one, hadn’t figured it out yet. They probably worked better together than most science and engineering teams in the entire Wey-Yu USCM roster. And, in this strictly professional way, they scaled themselves across their entire engineering fix.

***

After screwing her last panel into place Rexanna glanced over her shoulder. Bishop was studying the data pad - having long since finished his section (of course, he had precision and efficiency she didn’t). This would at least tell him if all systems were back to functioning. She waited… and waited… He looked up slowly, almost as if he didn’t know she was looking for the green light. “We’ll probably have to test it. But I would say everything looks nominal here.” He jabbed the pad with his index finger, “we at least fixed everything on the list.”

This was good enough for Rex! Who punched the air. They’d been up here a few hours at least; it had been more work than she initially expected. And they were working in Zero-G; not as easy as she’d hoped. Speaking of… now she was up here, she had less clue of how exactly to get back to the floor… If she asked Mother to reengage the gravity that presented the “all my weight at once” problem of before - likely not a slow process… Though then they could just abseil down… easy!

Bishop watched Rexanna look down to the bottom - the expression of concentration on her face that showed how her thought patterns were figuring their way out of this. “You know,” he spoke up, “I have a system that can engage artificial gravity. I could just float us down to the ground again.” “What?!” Rex’s eyes widened, “You do! Well that saves me a lot of hard thought!” She grinned. He pressed his lips together, thinking, “I mean you have to get to me, but, I’m sure you can manage that.” “Pretty sure I’ve been through hell and back and almost died that one time to finally get to you, so… yeah. A lack of gravity is not going to stop me!” Without warning Rex pushed herself off the wall - it didn’t have quite the desired speed; but she let her rope out enough to sail across the expanse to him. He’d at least pushed himself out to just about the middle of the room by that point anyway.

Realising there was very little to slow herself down now except Bishop, Rexanna latched herself to him; legs tangling with his and clinging to his shoulders. “Uhhhh-! Not sure this is quite what I had in mind-!” He was busy trying to balance both to not send them careering into a wall - but he chuckled; voice teasing. “Funny, because I was.” Rex’s eyes narrowed “Huh?” “I got you over here. And that was the plan.” The silence of her disbelief really said everything, “… The extent of your plan was… Did you just lie to me!?” It took a while for Bishop’s smile to crack, but once it did Rex knew she had absolutely been played. “Well…” One hand fell to her hip; and it brought back memories of the first time he’d teased her, “it wasn’t the extent of my plan. No.” “Oh? What was then?” Because no matter what; they did have to get down. So, he better have a way!

His smile was gentle, and he pressed his forehead back to hers, as he had in the hallway to calm her. “This…” His deep voice lowered to something gentle, not quite a whisper. Bishop closed the gap between them, lips to hers. Rex’s eyes closed on contact, hands tangling in his flight suit as she pulled him a little closer, savouring that contact. He kept her steady in their free float – the hand not on her hip supporting her back; running in soothing circles. He pulled away ever so slightly; but that was another tease, because he knew Rexanna wasn’t going to let him get away with it, before she pulled him in for a deeper one. Oh yeah, this was way better than getting to the ground. Rex was getting to experience a Zero-G kiss! (And how many people could say that, in honesty!?)

***

The next time they really got a quiet moment together was late into the evening, after having to fend off a million comments when Hicks decided to loudly proclaim that the last thing they’d been doing for the past three hours was fixing the ships systems, and the entire table decided to join in. If Rex had hoped anything would go that way this evening, by the time she’d made it back to their room she was exhausted.

They had finally made it down from the precarious situation of turning the gravity back on by Bishop having Rexanna continue to wrap her body around his and taking the full force of gravity and her weight by himself. After she suggested that might hurt, he came back with the cheeky quip of, “I’m used to it.” …She rather thought it might be the other way around, but wouldn’t argue.

In fact by the time she’d had enough of her crew mates and declared she was turning in for the night - which earned numerous pretty crude jeers (and several people swift smacks to the back of the head; not least Hicks for causing all this) - Bishop was already back to the room and settled. On a ship that was somehow even bigger than the Sulaco had been, and on their third such mission, Rexanna and Bishop had been afforded their own room. Small, pretty cramped, and not really enough for two people in one space without some tricky navigation – but still, theirs. Which at this point sure beat bunking with every other marine she knew.

Bishop looked up as the door slid open, she stepped inside with a blown-out breath and a shake of her head. “That good, huh?” “Dinner was dinner – you know what it’s like… it’s everyone else.” A small smile, “Oh. I can imagine your best friend was at his most helpful.” Rexanna’s laugh was almost pained, “You got it.”

“As for dinner, I could have made you some myself, but…” Bishop indicated to the state of himself – ports open and skin pulled back in several places. She was surprised that there was no sign of white circulation fluid everywhere. “Oh shit,” she sounded surprised, “when you said upgrades…” “Oh yes.” He nodded, “The company sent along some new data chips, as I said, so I thought they were worth installing.” “Mhm.” But this many? Wow. Rex wondered momentarily if that shipment had anything to do with her – and then thought she was better off not knowing. She approached the side of the bed, sitting gently so as not to jostle him. Sensing she had no more to say than that, and would be content with watching him, Bishop went back to installing the little chips – clicking them into place. Absentmindedly Rex’s fingers went to her necklace, twisting around the chess piece, and then her dog tags. With both these things was a very old data chip of his from when he had previously been fixed up on a mission. Tech that had become obsolete almost as soon as it was made. It would just have been destroyed otherwise – but there was something about this piece that felt too real to Rex. And too surreal as well; being a previous part of his memory core.

She pushed herself across the bed to him as inconspicuously as possible, folding her legs under herself. He’d continue on as normal, of course. Bishop didn’t have that horrible feeling any human did of being watched – and certainly wasn’t one to make any mistakes because of it. Rexanna had a sudden realisation, while watching him. Well – maybe not a realisation, maybe just a resurfacing of something she’d known for a long time, but had kept pushing down. Something she’d almost reached with her spiral earlier before he’d stopped her. But it was so out in the open now that it was unavoidable. She placed her hand gently on Bishop’s free arm, sliding it slowly to entwine their fingers. Even now there was something Rex quite liked about the difference in their skin tones; it never failed to surprise her just how pale he was in contrast to the darker tanned complexion she had. Rexanna realised that beneath that fairly superficial surface (literally), she was just contemplating her own mortality. And, in a strange way, his too. Eventually there would be no more upgrades – he’d be an old, obsolete, discontinued model. To her that almost seemed a worse fate than death. Did he care about things like that? Did he even think about them? Even with whatever agreement she had with Michael Bishop now – which would save him from being scrapped completely – at some point technology would advance so much it just wouldn’t be compatible. She’d would fight long and hard to make sure this wouldn’t happen. But what about after her? How would he cope after that? She’d age and die but Bishop never would. He was a collection of data chips: metal and plastic... No. That was wrong to say. Even if the truth. He was as human as she was – she’d spent the better part of their first mission together relaying that information. There was no debate in her mind at all that he was alive. But…

Bishop paused his working, glancing up to Rex watching him. Although realising that she wasn’t really watching him anymore – he’d lost her again, inside the void of thoughts within her head. He wasn’t sure why today of all days she was going through it. He knew it happened from time to time, but Rexanna didn’t often get this bad. “Ree…” He prompted gently, sounding a little more curious to know her wavelength. He wanted to affirm at least where she was heading. Whether he could bring her back or not. Her expression was almost one of puzzlement too, as she traced her eyes along the inner workings that were still visible, and the small pile of chips he still had to install. “That’s your heart and soul... what makes you, you... without that you-” He cut her off, now very aware that he was correct. All Bishop had managed to do earlier was pause the journey, but it was clear that the ship had left the space station and wouldn’t be back until it’s travels were complete. “Yes, but, it can all be replaced, I mean you’re wearing one, and I’m still the same as I was.” As much as he had a point, that didn’t feel the same to her. Around her neck was a fix out of necessity – he wouldn’t be here without it. This seemed like compliance. For the hell of it. Because technology just would not slow down… She almost laughed. Really, Rexanna was wrong – it was just a different kind of necessity. And at the end of it all, something she couldn’t do. She’d joked about her mind in an android body earlier – but to a point, she was envious that he could just upgrade or fix himself like this. It all seemed too easy. “And I’m just human... I... I’m not gonna last like...” Rex gasped. Seemingly out of nowhere she pulled back from him, placing a hand over mouth, before tears spiked. Bishop was quick to spring into action; snapping everything closed – this could wait. “Hey, hey... No... stop... why are you crying? Don’t- don’t think like that!” “Shit-!” Rex said again from behind her hand, “It’s just so hard!” He pulled her closer, fingertips gently brushing the remnants of the first tears from her cheeks, “This isn’t even something you have to acknowledge for years. Why is it all coming up now?” “Because I do have to think about it…” Her voice strained as she tried to stop herself from really crying hard. “I can’t be in the marines and doing this forever. I’m limited. And even if I can still work somewhere… you’ll remain out here. And that’s just the start of it-!” “You’re not limited… And…” He took a deep breath, encouraging Rex to imitate it, in an attempt to help calm her. “You’re nowhere near that. If anything, at least Earth will be safe for you.” His smile was a little crooked, “I know people say you shouldn’t live in the past but… somehow, Rex, you’ve managed to do the complete opposite.” “Yeah?” “Yeah, you’re living in the far future. And, while I admit it’s always good to look to the future… something tells me I’ve been neglecting to tell you to live in the moment.” He made a face for a second as if trying to recall, searching the room as if it had answers, “Or… someone has.” Rexanna groaned gently, burying her face in his chest, making Bishop wind his arms around her, rubbing her shoulders soothingly as she sniffed, “I’m an idiot.” “No, you just let your mind go wandering a little too far sometimes…” He held her closer, pulling the warmth of her body flush to his, “We can think about our mortality and live like that, sure. But, the truth is, neither of us know how long we have, so we have to make the most of this time. That's what matters!” His head tipped, recalling something else he’d read, “Medical advancements are happening all the time. We probably have at least another 100 years. So, you don’t have to worry about anything for minimum the next 99.” She laughed, which is what he wanted, rubbing her eyes – before shaking her head disbelievingly. Bishop didn’t really care if Rex believed him or not, he just wanted that smile back on her face. “Even if I had a hundred years to love you it wouldn’t be long enough.”

He chuckled, “Well, that’s something we can both agree on.”

---

Thank you for reading! 😚💙

[faytalepsy]

Hi Fay! I was admiring some of your drawings yesterday and this little thing popped into my head 😊 i'm a great fan of your work (not just your drawings but your fics too) so i thought i'd share how they inspire me. It's not much but since it's the first time i write anything at all i'm trying to not be too hard on myself (apologies for any mistakes and formatting, english is not my first language)

you're a gift to this fandom ❤💫

Farah had never bothered to learn how to play chess; truth be told she didn't have the patience for it nor did she care much about strategy (luckily for her and the rest of the batallion, Saul had a natural talent for it).

At first, Rosalind had tried to encourage her to learn by using analogies (that Farah barely understood) and explaining pieces and rules and tactics and other things that Farah didn't pay much attention to. At the end of the day she couldn't remember any of it but to her relief (and surprise) her mentor didn't press it. So Farah never learnt.

Sometimes she felt guilty about it but why should she waste time with that? Her strength was her magic. She was training to become a soldier, to fight in the war. All she had to do was follow Rosalind, she'd train her and lead her into battle. She'd lead all of them to victory.

When she was young Farah used to try to work out which chess piece each member of the batallion represented, even though she only had a vague idea of their value and how they moved: were the specialists meant to be the pawns? Rosalind probably thought so, but surely Saul and Andreas were worth more than an average pawn... and what about the fairies? Would Rosalind consider the less powerful ones in the same regard as the specialists? A fairy like Ben had to be a rook at the very least; he might even become a knight or a bishop one day.

As for the king, Farah decided early on that it represented the inhabitants of the Otherworld. The queen was the most powerful piece in the board which meant it could only be Rosalind. So what was Farah supposed to be?

When she was feeling confident, Farah even dared consider herself as the queen, which left Rosalind in the place of the king. It made sense, she'd tell herself, her mentor didn't take much part in the actual fighting anymore but she remained the most important member of their army. She was the head, their leader, the only piece they couldn't afford to lose.

How stupid she'd been. How blind and ignorant. Pawns and rooks and knights, even the king and queen, they were all just pieces in a game. Rosalind had been the player all along.

Hi my wonderful amazing anon!! I'm incredibly sorry it took me this long to respond but I wanted to do it right and not just type a quick answer crammed in between lectures or other assignments!

First, thank you so so much for your message. I am truly honoured that you shared this with me and everytime I hear one of my works inspires people I could jump with joy! I feel like inspiring others is one of the most beautiful things art can do and it doesn't happen often to me that I'm on the inspiring end!💕

And of course I'm also beyond happy you like ny drawings and fics, thank you for the support!!!💕

As a chess lover (although quite the amateur I fear) I always love chess analogies!! But I have to admit I found it hard to apply them to fate characters because in my mind they only work for specific situations because everyone switches places in my head depending on situation and relationship. That's why I love love love how you had Farah deliberating the pieces and her place on the board from her perspective as a soldier in the war! And the king as the inhabitants of the otherworld would make so much sense! But also Farah deliberating both herself and Rosalind as Queen, comparing how she would measure up to her mentor just to realise that Rosalind was the player all along because she absolutely was.

Again you so much for sharing this and I hope you write more whenever inspiration hits!!

Also can I just say that this message made me happy everytime I opened my inbox for the past week?? because it absolutely has been brightening my day!💕

[dionysia-does-stories]

Shah Mat

Cringetober 2023, Day 24: Chess as a metaphor

On AO3

Rating M - 877 words - Teen Titans - Dick Grayson/Starfire

Summary: Dick knows that Star is going to have to leave for Tameran soon and wants to have the perfect date night, but she picks a very Dick activity of staying in and playing strip poker.

Story:

This wasn’t what Dick intended when he pitched Starfire picking a date night. He told her to choose anything in the world that she wanted to do just the two of them. Fly to Paris for a romantic dinner. Go out dancing somewhere warm and tropical. Go to an island in the middle of the ocean and get to really look at the stars. He’d meant anything.

Starfire had been very firm that she wanted to have a night in at their apartment order pizza and play chess. Dick loved chess and he never lost to anyone anymore. Not even Batman these days. He’d taught Star how to play but she never particularly liked it. 

The last week since she chose their date night she’d been obsessed with the game. Star spent hours googling chess strategies. Which is how she learned about strip chess and had amended her idea for a date night (not that Dick was arguing with the change.)

No this wasn’t what he’d intended but there was a hot shirtless Star playing chess with him. So, that was a plus. He couldn’t shake the feeling that she’d picked this set of activities thinking it would be his ideal date night (if so, she was right).

He had wanted to do something special, something memorable. For Her. The reports from the warfront on Tameran were getting worse everyday. Star was acting like it wasn’t destroying her. But it was a bluff.

Star moved her knight over her pawns and across the board. That was a bluff too. She was always trying to use the knights as a distraction. It was a very Starfire way of thinking. If you were a strong warrior then it was your responsibility to face danger head on.

Dick knew she was going to leave Earth. She had to. She knew her people needed her. She knew her people didn’t enjoy the same comfortable lifestyle that she did. It was the only thing about Earth that wasn’t ‘glorious’. If she could just feel at peace that Tameran was safe and building its way to better future then she wouldn’t feel so obligated. But they needed her. They were under attack and she wasn’t there.

Dick ignored her attempted knight distraction, taking a vulnerable pawn instead. She took off a boot. (One more boot before she removed the pants.)

He’d thought about offering to go with her. Somewhere in his jealous heart he hoped that she could live without Earth. He hoped that what was making the decision so miserable was the thought of leaving him. 

He didn’t stand a chance in that kind of war though. Maybe he could help with strategy and planning if he knew more about the planets involved in the conflict. He was fooling himself. All he would be to Starfire in a Tamaranian war is a vulnerability.

Batman always said that loved ones were a vulnerability to superheroes. He’d picked loneliness over weakness. Dick found a way around that logic. He fell in love with a woman so strong that he became her weakness. He could say with absolute confidence that Batman had no idea how much worse it was to be the one that couldn’t help when help was needed.

Starfire moved her bishop across the board. Dick found himself raising an eyebrow it was a really good move. All Star’s research was paying dividends. She have been beating him. She might have been beating the pants off him (She’d taken enough pieces that he was down to his underwear.)

Dick refocused his efforts. He was thinking of fewer and fewer good moves per turn. He’d been forced to bring his queen out earlier then he wanted to and was now concerned that he was going to lose her. Star’s own queen was on the attack, boxing his pieces in and hunting them down.

He took her rook. She unhooked her bra, flinging it across the room. 

He appreciated the gesture for a second before he pointed out, “you still have socks on.”

“I know.” Star’s face was everything. Sad. Loving. Excited. Disappointed. “But I didn’t think it would be fun to get the end of the game without taking it off.” She moved her knight. “Check mate.”

She had him. In chess, in life. He was hers completely.

He finally said the words he should’ve said months ago, “If you need to go to Tameran then you should go.”

“I wish it was different,” she told him.

He picked up his king. “Did I ever tell you what checkmate means?”

“It’s the name for the move.” She quirked her head to the side. 

She was so cute. (And so naked, Dick’s libido helpfully reminded when her head movement made her breasts sway.)

“It’s an anglicized version of the Persian phrase ‘Shah Mat’.”

“The king is surprised?” 

Sometimes he forgot that she knew every language he knew. God, he wanted to kiss her.

“Surprised but in the sense of frozen, unprepared for attack. The king is helpless.”

Star left her chair to sit on his lap. The curves of her body were tight against (he really was helpless.) She kissed him, pouring all her love into it. “I’ll come back when the war is won.”

[nedlittle]

you’ve heard of the best books of 2022, now get ready for my WORST books of 2022!!!

tamburlaine must die by louise welsh ⭐

“very interesting that francis walsingham plays an important role considering that he DIED THREE YEARS EARLIER OH MY GOD.”

murder in the crooked house by sōji shimada (tr. louise heal kawai) ⭐

“i can't even say that they're pieces on a chess board because at least those have defined purposes. the characters in this book are blank-slate checkers pieces trapped in the absolute stupidest game of mousetrap in the history of mankind.”

murder between the lines (kitty weekes #2) by radha vatsal ⭐.25

“i marked the plot v. character driving force question as n/a because there is simply no action in this "book" love and light “

singapore sapphire (harriet gordon mysteries #1) by a.m. stuart ⭐.5

“oh so this is like COLONIAL-colonial singapore. the only characters that matter are white and singaporeans are either shoved to the side or killed unceremoniously, present only as bodies rather than people. “

tidepool by nicole wilson ⭐.5

“the ending is drawn out for several chapters of exposition that nobody asked for, leaving TIDEPOOL as lifeless and bloated as the corpses that litter its beach. by the end, very little has changed, and even less has been said.”

the partly cloudy patriot by sarah vowell ⭐.75

“the older i get [..] the less tolerance i have for sarah vowell's tone-deaf-american-exceptionalism-neoliberal-schtick. i think that's all i have to say on that point because the political writing in this book speaks for itself.”

rooks & romanticide by j. i. radke ⭐.75

“exoticism is cool if you're writing mediocre white gay romance i guess. i'm so tired. i have a migraine from typing this up.”

a botanist’s guide to parties & poison (saffron everleigh mysteries #1) by kate khavari ⭐.75

“the romance couldn't be more forced if kate khavari inserted ff.net-style author's notes midway through the text to threaten the characters to act more in love so she doesn't kill them off”

murder in old bombay (captain jim & lady diana mysteries #1) by nev march ⭐.75

“[...] would be outpaced by a one-legged tortoise!”

a haunted history of invisible women: true stories of america’s ghosts by leanna renee hieber and andrea janes ⭐.75

when you posit the past (sorry, The Past™) as one endless stream of drudgery and violence and the present (sorry, The Present™) as a utopia for human rights correcting centuries of structural oppression, then not only do you flatten the experiences of marginalized people then, you also flatten the experiences of marginalized people now!

[distopea]

Raum leaned forward over the little table, chin resting on his fist while his eyes focused down on the chess board. He hummed, calculating the position of each piece and the manoeuvres available to him. Eventually, Raum smirked. One of Vasco’s stolen pawns twirled in his fingers, tapped against his lower lip while he contemplated which move to make.

Gabriele was the white; Raum, the black. Age before beauty, he’d said, when they set up the game over two glasses of whiskey and a low melody on the stereo. One of the bodyguard’s ( absolutely numerous, he discovered ) CDs was stuffed into the Hi-Fi, playing something Raum didn’t recognise but rather liked regardless.

Finally he reached out, pushing his black rook forward to claim one of Gabriele’s knights. It opened up the spot, Gabriele’s king now in a vulnerable position from his rook and his bishop.

“Check,” he murmured, plucking the piece off the board and placing it to the side, before his gaze flicked upward to assess his opponent. Orange, evening sun pilled through the window to their right, casting the edges of the other man’s deep brown hair to copper. Ah, he was handsome, with his brow furrowed in concentration, easy enough to drive Raum to distraction without trying. Under that light, it was warm — the alcohol, the music, the game and the company, allowed Raum’s thoughts to slip into a relaxed sort of flow.

He leaned backward in his chair, dragging his drink off the table with one hand, the other still absently toying with Gabriele’s pawn. Eyes were yet still drawn to the older man’s face, despite ( or perhaps, because of ) how he didn’t spare Raum a glance. The blond sipped his drink, watched Vasco contemplate his pieces, and decided to play a little dirty.

He looked out of the window, playing the distracted boy while silently, he slipped one of his bare feet forward under the table. Absently, it brushed Gabriele’s ankle, just small enough to be something accidental. Raum glanced back at Gabriele’s face, finding little reaction, and so he became bolder. He lifted his foot, dragging it up the inside of the other man’s calf. Slowly, it lifted the fabric on his trousers, exposing his sock and— what was that? Garters? Ah, shit. He shouldn’t find that sexy.

Quickly, Raum drank the rest of the whiskey in his glass. He glanced back at the board, but his eyes couldn’t help dragging back to the other man, utterly distracted. He wanted to touch Vasco, all the molecules in his body crying out for it for his contact, the boundaries between them more unclear than ever. His foot was slowly stroking up and down Gabriele’s calf, his lips twisted into something almost petulant.

“Will I wait forever for your next move?” Head tilted aside, cocky and patronising. “Or do you need some help?”

@cantuscorvi

How and why he had agreed to play chess with this insolent and self-assured boy, truly, he wasn’t sure. The whiskey had definitely helped in the matter, because despite it all, Gabriele wasn’t truly a very skilled chess player in the first place. Back when he was in Italy, he had a regular opponent who had no mercy for crushing all of his strategies. “You always attack before looking at your defenses. You play as if there was an army behind your back, but truly, you leave your King in the open.” Lingering words that seemed to still be profoundly true right now. In front of the board, and as he saw his pawns positioned, he understood that once more he was offering an open gate for Raum’s moves. 

He sighed, as he watched the blond moving another of his chess pieces. A frown immediately crossed his features. He forgot about the jazzy sound played on the stereo, one he knew very well, nor the fact that two minutes before, he had quickly looked at Raum; the forbidden vision of the evening sun following the curve of his golden locks, giving him, for one second, the face of an angel. It was probably the booze; he was seeing beauty where he shouldn’t, and he was witnessing defeat where his attention should have been. He was cornered, and there was no need to observe Raum’s features to feel the ooze of his own victory leaking off his aura. 

“Ma che merdia, giuro…” (what a shit show, I swear...) He whispered, his brain working to find a proper solution to this mess. If it wasn’t mat, then it meant there was an opportunity he couldn’t seize, and it started to slowly bother him. Focusing on the board, he pressed both of his elbows onto the table, dark eyes fully concentrated on the next moves he should think about. He was determined not to let Raum win so easily, and finally, when he saw that there might be something to do, his brain couldn’t work anymore. 

He didn’t flinch nor move, but surely, the sensation of his foot pressed against his ankle gave him a sudden electrical salvo and a strange wrench within his guts. He didn’t dare to look up, as for a few seconds, he would give the blond the benefit of the doubt regarding his intentions, yet, the slow and controlled motions were enough to understand that there was no accident in this situation. Gabriele pinned his chin against his fist, unable to focus anymore on the Rook or the Queen, his entire mind boiling with another desire of conquest and victory; one that Raum had been pushing for too long. 

As expected, his foot still locked and plastered against his exposed flesh, Raum couldn’t contain his sensation of victory, bragging to his bodyguard to move, but where and how, there was a sudden blurry meaning to all of this. Eventually, Gabriele looked up, bathing in the unholy vision of that smug smile plastered on Raum’s lips, the same evening light embracing perfectly each corner of his ivory skin, enlightening those intense icy blue eyes and the two beauty marks under his eye, if it wasn’t for those dimples hollowing his cheeks so temptingly; a devilish invitation to earn or claim another sort of victory. Could he ever know what he was about to unleash? Gabriele was certain he could palpate the consequences of his actions, and yet, with no fear and no restraint, he would still move forward in the most dangerous situation. 

It was enough. Gabriele inhaled for a second before he removed himself from this dangerous touch, both of his feet now planted on the carpet before he stood back up. He could witness both surprise and disappointment moving in a hypnotical dance over Raum’s features, but for such a good chess player, surely, he could definitely anticipate the next move. Because deprived of his invisible fetters and his sensation of control, Gabriele skirted the wooden board and extended his large fingers, ten of them finding the fabric of Raum’s collar. With an almost pitiful ease, the boy was back on his feet as well, but was it because of the look on Gabriele’s face or his lowered guard - surely a bit of both - the bodyguard felt that he allowed all of this to happen. 

Everything in the attack. Nothing for the defense. The King was exposed in the backline. 

There were no words needed to express what he wanted; chess wasn’t about sentences and statements after all, but the capacity to act, and he was a man of actions. Where he found the light suiting him the best, Gabriele pushed Raum against the transparent panes of the window, trapped by both the beam of the dying sun and the body of a man who was nothing but his own inferno. Gabriele locked eyes with him, daring to step closer, until, like the light, there were no firm lines anymore between their two bodies. 

He knew he was about to take something that wasn’t his in the first place. Yet, tempted by the devil, he was about to soil his soul forever, the pad of his thumb toying with Raum’s bottom lip, as for once, he had found a proper way to silence him. There was no music playing in the room, if not the everlasting pulsation within his own ears, from his heart erratically bumping against his chest. It was forbidden, but it was so tempting. He inhaled one more time, his thumb gently brushing those two beauty marks with slowness, almost respect. 

“Mat.” Gabriele answered, before he eventually leaned forwards, as he claimed his King and won another kind of game. Lips finally crashed into Raum’s. There was at first nothing but the discovery of their shape, and the sudden warmth coming from his shaky breathing. He pressed his own slightly more, his hand following the curve of his jaw to find its way behind his skull, clapped on his nape, his thumb against his jugular.

At some point, decency and shyness faded; slowly eaten by something far more urgent. Despair crawled through the bodyguard’s body, and while he couldn’t contain that hum coming from the depths of his throat, he offered his tongue for a lascivious dance of victory. 

[saswathacademyworld]

Should you resign after losing your queen?

The queen is undoubtedly the most powerful and important piece on board. It has the greatest mobility and has a value of 9 points — the highest amongst all pieces.

Losing your queen on board can be quite frustrating. Nobody likes letting go of their MVP, right? So what should you do in such a situation?

Should you continue playing the game or resign immediately?

Read on to find out the various possibilities at hand after losing your queen.

1.   Assess the position. Check whether you have enough resources to keep going and build a strong defence.

Doing this is crucial as you’ll get a holistic idea of the position. You can weigh your odds by checking if the remainder of your pieces have enough activity to hold the position. This way, you’ll know whether you will be able to put up a strong defence

In the above position, though White has lost their queen. They can still put up a strong defence and secure a draw.

Theoretically speaking, this is a well-known fortress.

The point is that the Black queen cannot attack the White king as there’s only the last rank left. The White rook cuts off the Black king with the support of f2 pawn.

1.   If your opponent is low on time, it is wise to continue playing. The chances of them making errors increases when there is time pressure.

Time pressure is like a nerve-wracking test. Only the most seasoned players can play calmly during it. And even they sometimes make mistakes. Hence, if you think logically, there is a 50-50 percent chance (on every move) that your opponent might make a mistake.

In such situations, you can play relatively fast, making decent moves on your end. This will put additional pressure on your opponent which has a high probability to work in your favour. In our opinion, it’s worth it to keep playing in these positions.

2.   In a blitz game, you should mostly not resign. Unless you lost your queen pretty early in the game, you must continue to play.

We suggest this based on the same principles of the previous point. Time is one of the most unpredictable factors in chess. Sometimes it works wonders in your favour whereas sometimes it's your worst enemy.

Especially in the current scenario where online chess is a big thing due to the pandemic, this is one of the biggest pieces of advice our coaches give. There is a great chance your opponent will miss something, and you’ll be back in the game!

3.   If you see a fighting chance for yourself, then consider it in depth before resigning.

In many cases, there are ways to complicate or even fight back against the queen.

For example, if you have 3 pieces against the queen or sometimes even 2 bishops, you can try to create some problems for your opponents.

Even if it might not lead you to a win, you will most likely have a comfortable draw at hand.

The above position is from the game Ivanchuk- Jakovenko, 2010.

Here, White has 3 pieces — Rook, Bishop and Knight against Black’s queen. Not only did White complicate the position and play actively, he went on to actually win the game!

When is it okay to resign and save energy?

Objectively though, it is crucial to consider that such possibilities might not always arise. You may lose the queen with absolutely no compensation. When there is no chance to draw or even complicate the game, it can be quite heartbreaking.

When you evaluate with certainty that there is no way you can fight back, the wise decision is to resign. The reason behind this is that you save your energy for the next games. Instead of continuing the ongoing game and eventually losing, you might as well have a good nap or catch up on some Netflix series. This way, you can recharge your batteries and fight it out in the next game.

There is absolutely nothing wrong in resigning if you have assessed the position and the verdict is clearly in your opponent’s favour. Resigning in such cases does not mean that you are giving up. Instead, it means that you are making time for yourself to get re-energized for the next game.

Conclusion

Often we dream and plan about executing beautiful queen sacrifices and winning the game in splendid fashion. However, these calculations may go sideways. Or sometimes you may just blunder away the queen.

With the above article, we hope you have a better picture of when you should keep on fighting despite losing their queen, and when not to. After all, it’s not over until it’s over!

Our coaches can also help you at developing your fighting spirit. So the next time you lose your queen, you’ll absolutely know how to fight back! Book your free demo class with our coaches from here!

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Meta Description - Should you resign after losing your queen or not? This article will give you a framework you can follow for what to do in such a situation.

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[ryoko-akari]

Oh absolutely! Bishops are the perfect piece you hide behind others to set traps and move other things on the board around to get your opponent to forget they even exist. Knight or Rook would be good contestants but a Knight is sort of impulsive, it's got the most freedom to move, second only to the queen, but it's easily pinned and captured as games progress. Rooks are important to any players ability to win (most win cases require one or both rooks) but because of that they're always in the center of attention.

Knights and Rooks are used to make reckless actions to get results quickly. Bishops are used to play the long game and catch an opponent off guard, which fits so perfectly.

Now I'm imagining Owen and Curt playing chess on long missions and going poorly on Curts end while Owen's using it to make all kinds of metaphors for whatever case they're on lol

Oof. Finally. The epilogue is up. It was difficult to write, and a bit of a departure from the rest of the story, but its important moving forward.

I do not know anything about typewriters, so instead I am making a reference to one of my favorite shows- bonus points to anyone who catches it.

Thank you so so much to everyone who has been supportive and left comments and kudos, it means the world to me. I cannot wait to get started on the next installment.

[blue-matches-my-eyes-you-prick]

space emoji!!! stars in space emoji i cant fucking find it but tell me abt ur ocs!!!!!

Rook!

I haven't touched him in a while but he's a hell knight who had an unfortunate, hm, smash and grab encounter with Doo/mguy.

Nearly killed with a massive head injury caused by a certain space marine

Said head injury damaged the part of the brain that allows for higher ranking demons to give directons to lower classes

Still in 'pursuit' of DG after recovering from wounds but not really sure what he's looking for, it's all instinct

Not as agresssive as a fully intact hell knight but he still has his moments

Not seen here but he has a little backpack he scavenged from the super gore nest :) (his original spawn point)

He tries to avoid human settlements as much as possible but mainly he's avoiding harm as much as possible on his journey

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Your writing is so good!! I've been an absolute "Hero x Villain" Fiend recently and your writing has been exactly what I've been looking for

could I possibly request an angry foul-mouthed, and surprisingly Easily Flustered Villain, who definitely gives off Small Dog vibes, (aka thinks they're alot more threatening than they actually are, and act this way to make up for something they don't have) just Big Chihuahua vibes X a Flirty Hero tired of their shit and is trying to knock them down a peg or two

Sorry If it's overly specific lol

The villain was good at chess.

“Sometimes, I think you can’t get more pathetic. But you are so surprising.”

And they were an asshole about it.

“You sacrificed your rook and are down to a fucking pawn. I am so stupid for thinking you actually had a chance this time,” the villain said. As if that wasn’t enough already, they threw their head back and laughed as if this chess game was the funniest thing in the world.

The hero had learnt over the past weeks to ignore this habit — it was reoccouring and started to bore them, so they stared innocently at the chess board instead, as their mind drew lines onto it, figuring out potential moves and strategies.

Under the table, though, they managed to rub against the villain’s shin with their sock. They played with their trousers, occasionally letting their foot slip between the fabric and the villain’s skin. They hadn’t even realised it until the villain’s head snapped up.

“Stop embarrassing yourself. Your amateur advances of distraction are ridiculous.” When the hero looked over at the villain’s already red tinted face, they guessed their amateur advances were more efficient than their nemesis doomed them to be. With long and lazy movements, the hero put their elbows on the table and rested their head on their entangled fingers. They listened reluctantly. “Lose this fucking game accordingly.”

“Calm down. You will finish. I promise,” the hero answered casually. Though it was a delight to listen to the sound of the villain’s breath hitch, to realise that the villain had received the message loud and clear, they had to concentrate.

The situation didn’t look peachy. The hero was, in fact, down to a pawn. And of course, the king.

Clever as the villain was, they had formed a blockage around their own king which was on h4. A pawn on each side. The third on g5. Thus, the king was perfectly protected — damningly so. It was near impossible to win this with the two weakest pieces on the board.

Even though it was elusive, the hero moved their king to f3, seemingly farther away from the danger. In the same second, their foot hooked around the villain’s ankle.

The conquest began.

“Fuck you,” the villain spit and pulled their leg away from the hero’s touch with…hesitation.

“You say such tempting things,” the hero mumbled in return as their eyes undressed their enemy. They watched how the villain slammed a pawn onto g4, threatening the hero’s king and the hero knew those trembling hands weren’t the result of ire.

“I’d appreciate it if you stopped fucking talking. My brain melts when you speak.” They locked eyes with the hero. Big mistake. Using this rare opportunity, the hero let their fingers go over their own lips, dragging slowly, before they eventually pressed their teeth into their bottom lip. They didn’t break eye contact for the tiniest fraction of a second.

Its subtlety was fruitful: the provocative movement worked beautifully, for the villain lowered their eyes and gaped through the chess board for more than just the usual second.

The hero’s king moved.

“Why can’t you put all that energy into other activities?” The hero forced them to lock gazes without even saying anything. When the villain willingly — or unwillingly, the hero didn’t care — looked at them, their eyes fell on the villain’s lips, their fingertips following the curves of a bishop they had stolen a few moves prior. “Activities which are…more fun?”

The villain’s pawn moved. Shakily.

Finding their composure again, the villain laughed nervously as they crossed their arms and leaned back. Their sad attempt to stare the hero down failed miserably. Obviously, they were already at their limit.

“I am only interested in destroying you. May it be on the battlefield or on the chess board. I don’t care. I despise you and every—”

Pawn took pawn.

“Checkmate,” the hero announced. Apathy crossed their features as they scanned their success. It had been a smart move but they could have been better. As always. “Good game.”

They stretched their hand out to shake the villain’s but their enemy slapped it out of the way. Unmistakably full of wrath, the villain’s eyebrows were knitted together.

“You fucking cheated,” the villain said, no, they almost shouted.

The hero sighed and stood up, ready to go. They had already predicted this reaction and one game of chess a week was enough for their nerves. “You lost.”

“You distracted me. You, asshole, cheated. You did—” Before the villain could end the sentence, the hero had already grabbed their collar and yanked them half over the table which knocked the chess board and all the left pieces on it over the edge. Their faces weren’t farther apart from each other than those of two lovers.

The hero could even feel the villain’s short breathing on their cheek.

This didn’t hinder them from twisting the fabric between their fingers more violently, though.

“Now listen carefully, baby,” the hero warned dangerously low. “It would please me incredibly more and make it so much easier to bed you if you weren’t such a fucking pain in my ass. Get your shit together or I will make you, got that?”

The villain swallowed and stared. After what seemed like minutes of silence they nodded.

“Fantastic. Now be a good little villain and clean this mess.”

[snowflakeanimelover]

Check Mate(Obanai Iguro x Female Reader)

Relationship: Obanai Iguro x Female Reader

Fandom: Demon Slayer

Warnings: Cute fluff :)

--- --- --- ---

I was taught that life was like a game of chess. You are the queen or king, and the people around you are your ponds. Your closest friends are the rook, knight, castle, and bishop.

Now the question is....how will you play the game?

Chess can be played many ways. It’s all about chance and using your mind. If it ends quickly, you are probably the best chess player out there, or you aren’t playing the game right. 

So far, this game must be going well. It has been about a full ten minutes since Obanai had his turn. I sat quietly, cupping my chin in thought as I stare at the board game. 

I took glances here and there at Obanai, the Serpent Hashira, who sat on the other side of the board. With these types of games, I genuinely take a long time on each turn. I was nervous and scared that Obanai would be annoyed at me for taking so long. Although it has been ten minutes straight of me thinking about my next move, the multicolor-eyed man has said nothing. 

“S-sorry, Obanai....I don’t mean to be taking so long.” I mutter, putting my hand out over a piece to move it. Of course, my hand stops before touching it, my eyes shifting over to another piece I had in mind.

He hums after a few seconds of silence. “I don’t care. It’s fun playing chess with you.” 

My cheeks warm at his kind words, my hand grabbing the third piece I have picked and moving it. 

“Rook to B4, huh? Bad move.”

“Hah?!” I blurt out in shock. I watch as he moves his knight, which is very close to my rook, in an L like path. The last square being straight onto my rook.

And with that, his Knight and his castle had a path towards my king. I was trapped.

“Check mate.” He silently declares, standing up and stretching from sitting down too long.

“H-how did I miss that?!” I was about ready to pull out my hair. I must’ve been distracted by his kind words.

Yes, I have grown a crush towards the young man. I may be his Tsuguko, but over time I couldn’t help myself. Obanai has been very kind to me, despite the horrible rumors about him being very creepy to others and absolutely rude. He’s the opposite. And because he is my teacher, I can’t just tell him how I feel.

“A-alright...what do you want this time...?” I sigh in defeat. After every game is played, the winner decides a task for the loser to do. Whether it was for the winner, or something completely different. 

So far, every single turn I have lost.

“Hmm...” He thinks, sitting down once more, but this time leaning against the wooden wall. “Come here.” He beckons.

I sat there, confused. After some time, I reluctantly get closer. He beckons me even closer. As soon as I got closer, though, he grabs my arm and twists me around.

Now, I was leaned up against his side, his arm over my shoulders. We were...cuddling. 

My face was about ready to explode from the embarrassment.

“U-um...Obanai...? What....what are you doing?” I was so nervous and very confused.

“(Y/N)...I like you. I can’t help but stare at your beauty during our chess games. You are smart, kind, and sometimes dumb.”

I choke on my air at his last comment. I wasn’t offended, just afraid I’ll interrupt him by laughing. I covered my mouth, trying to hold back my laughter. 

“I...I like you, too...” I manage to blurt out. His arm tightens around my form after those words were spoken. “Also...what did you want me to do, exactly?”

He takes a deep breath. “Just stay like this for a while longer.” I smile, getting more comfortable by his side. My eyes close, feeling the warmth of the sun against my face. My ears pay close attention to the beating of his heart against his chest.

My dream really has come true, after all. Perhaps, I played right into his trap, just like chess. Check mate, indeed.

[thedilucharem]

Death by Chess (Long Post)

Diluc: (abruptly sets a chessboard down on a table) I have a proposition for you.

Ningguang: (looks at the board and then back up at him) Oh? And what would that be? Another game of chess?

Diluc: (nods expectantly as he sits across from her and sets up the usual chess pieces)

Ningguang: Hmm. (smirks) After you lost the last four we played the other month? How uncharacteristically persistent of you, Master Diluc, to want to be beaten by me again.

Diluc: Hmm, I thought you would say that. Which is why I have these (pushes custom chess pieces forward)

Ningguang: (raises a single eyebrow and clinks her golden phalangeal features together in intrigue)

Diluc: This (holds up a custom piece that looks like a fatter pawn) is the politician. This (holds up a custom piece that looks like a skinnier rook) is the bureaucrat. And these (pushes ten six-sided die) are filibusters.

(on a couch on the other side of the room)

Beidou: (in giddy shock) By the Archons.

Childe: (raises eyebrows) You did goad him into playing with her the first time, comrade.

Beidou: (rolls eye) I gave him a few warnings before he accepted the invitation she sent and has been doing so himself after that, so technically, I didn't do shit.

Childe: (sniggers) Sure you didn't.

Beidou: (shrugs as she leans back and takes a swig out of her flask) Ehhh, he would've done it even if I didn't tell him.

Childe: Uh huh. Even without telling him about how she specifically changes the rules in-game?

Beidou: (shrugs) Look, if he wanted to play some kind of pseudo-chess with her, he needs to learn the hard way that he will not win. Then again, I didn't know he would make his own version of chess just to prove a point. (chugs another swig out of her flask)

(back at the table)

Ningguang: So essentially, these pieces hinder a good portion of any actual moves that the player can make, much like some legislative decisions in reality.

Diluc: Precisely. (hands her the corresponding colored die) So would you accept my proposal?

Ningguang: (looks him in the eyes, interest sparking them) I do. Pray that you don't disappoint me.

Diluc: (nods in acknowledgment) Believe me, I most certainly won't. (gestures to Ningguang) White gets the first move.

Ningguang: (chuckles lightly and makes her move)

(back at the couch)

Childe: This game makes no sense to me at all.

Beidou: It doesn't make sense to me either and I've tried playing with him at least ten times.

Childe: (contemplatively) I feel like this has unleashed some sort of monster deep inside of him and I don't know if we're gonna be able to kill it.

Beidou: (shrugs) At least he's not nearly as brutal as Ning when he absolutely wastes me in less than half an hour. (swishes the liquid in an expensive-looking bottle) Anyway, want some brandy? It's the good stuff that got imported from Natlan.

Childe: Don't mind if I do. (grabs two glasses from the shelf behind him and tosses one to Beidou) To watching the Uncrowned King of Mondstadt trying to beat the Tianquan at her own game.

Beidou: (chuckles) Hell yeah, I'll cheer to that. (clinks glass and drinks)

(meanwhile on the ground next to the couch)

Zhongli: (discards a card into a select pile and sets one down) My turn is finished now.

Itto: HA! (slams down a card on top of one of Zhongli's) Now that unit's stunned until the next turn.

Zhongli: I wouldn't say so, as you have triggered this effect card (flips a card over) and have applied 'Poison' to your frontline units.

Itto: Hah?! (looks it over) Oh, come on! How did I not see that coming? (immediately perks up at something in his hand) But I do have this! (swaps one card with another card) 150% of the damage inflicted on my units gets reflected back at you!

Zhongli: Hmm. (frowns slightly as he looks for a certain card in his hand) Let me see here . . . ah! (turns a card over) Since my units are resistant to poison, they can activate the effect of taking half the damage.

Itto: (genuinely impressed) Damn, Gramps! I gotta say you're pretty good at this game!

Zhongli: You are quite the player yourself, as you have given me an excellent refresher on how the game was played to begin with. (laughs warmly) I was afraid that my deck would simply collect dust and never see proper use again, so I thank you for the opportunity to ensure that that didn't happen.

Itto: (grins and laughs) Any time! I still can't believe that you have the first edition deck and the extension packs though! Those cards are super rare now and you hardly see em' anywhere anymore. (turns the focus back to the game) Anyway, let's get back to it! I've still got some tricks left up my sleeve!

(back at the table)

Diluc: (deadpanned) Your move.

Ningguang: (calculated) Indeed. (thinks a bit before moving a piece, then rolling two die) (under her breath) Dammit.

Diluc: Hmm. (rolls three die) (tries not to cringe too hard) Oof.

Ningguang: (drums the table with irritation and frustration as she looks at the board) (moves a piece over to the further side of the board and moves another piece with it)

Diluc: (trying not to sweat as he rolls a single die) (exhales as he moves a rook) (as nonchalantly as possible) Check.

Ningguang: (moves one piece before rolling all five die) Heh. (decisively moves her queen) Check.

Baiwen: (coming in with the third pitcher of chilled juice) Holy fuck.

(at the couch)

Beidou: (drunkenly shakes Childe with her free hand) Ginger, redhead, whatever the fuck your hair color is, look!

Childe: (blearily blinks) Hmmm? (turns to the chess game to see Diluc and Ningguang staring each other down) Holy Tsarista.

Beidou: (staring at the floor, slack-jawed and bug-eyed in drunken shock) What the fuuuuck?

Childe: (slumps into Beidou's lap) (slurs) Why hasn't anyone won yet? I'm bored.

Beidou: (stares at Childe) I don't fuckin' know. (tries to drink from an empty flask) Where'd the brandy go?

Childe: (giggles as he shakes an empty bottle) Down my throat hehe.

Beidou: (glares and shoves him off her lap) Asshole.

Childe: (slumps into a pile on the floor) Owie . . .

(on the floor next to the couch)

Itto: (triumphantly slaps a final card onto the ground) Woo! I won! I'm still the champion!

Zhongli: (gaily) It was truly riveting. (holds out his hand as to shake it)

Itto: (clasps his entire arm and pulls him into a side hug) Hell yeah it was! I don't remember the last time I had to fight that hard for a win! Refreshing stuff, I tell ya. (laughs heartily)

Zhongli: (laughs along and pats Itto's arm) Yes, it was quite a good game.

Childe: (groaning on the ground a few feet away from the cards) Yay, good game . . .

(back at the table)

Diluc: . . .

Ningguang: . . .

Diluc: (throws his hands in the air and slumps into his chair) Well, there we go, I can't make any more moves.

Ningguang: (leans back into her chair and crosses her arms in exasperation) Neither can I.

Diluc: So it's a draw then.

Ningguang: So it is.

Diluc: (hums in contemplative thought) Shall we play another game to break the tie?

Ningguang: (nods in reply) Perhaps we should.

Childe: (loudly from the other side of the room) Noooo. It's been over six hours and I'm going to kill something if you do, Firefly.

Beidou: (groans) Ning, just take the goddamn draw (saunters up to her and looks her in the eyes) and admit you didn't win.

Ningguang: (scoffs) I've never let myself settle for that in my life, so there is no reason to start now doing so now. I'm going to win this next game.

Diluc: (deadpans) Besides, a draw isn't a win in any regard.

Beidou: (turns to Diluc and clasps a hand on his shoulder) You've just gotten into a draw with the woman (gestures at Ningguang) who created a completely broken version of chess with your own other broken version that she couldn't manipulate in her favor. Take the fucking draw.

Diluc and Ningguang: No, I don't think I will.

Beidou: (sighs deeply and puts a hand to her face) Well, have fun with that, 'cause I don't have it in me to stick around for that.

Childe: (peels himself from the floor more soberly) Well, I'm leaving too. (turning to Zhongli and Itto) I'll pay for dinner and drinks after we clear some hoarders or something-

Zhongli & Itto: (on the floor completely entranced by talking about their decks)

Childe: . . . (turns to Beidou) Wanna head to the Dragon's Roost? Happy Hour ends at eight and they have an all-you-can-eat dumpling bar.

Beidou: (trods in his direction) I'm down. (waves to the rest and she slings her free arm around Childe's shoulders) I'll see you around. (walks out the archway)

Zhongli: (perks up at the mention of the Dragon's Roost) Wait, you're going over there? (turns to Itto) I believe that the menu of the Dragon's Roost has a large selection of food that is free of any soybeans.

Itto: (stomach growls at the mention of food) Really? Well, what are we waiting around here for? (already packed their cards away) Let's go, I'm starving! (yanks Zhongli onto his feet and out the archway)

Zhongli: (loudly from out the archway) Thank you for your hospitality-

Itto: Come on, go-go-go! The sun's already starting to go down!

(back at the table)

Ningguang: (crosses fingers together) To make things more interesting, why don't we add a twenty-sided die for the filibuster system? Evens are pluses and odds are minuses.

Diluc: (nods) I'll take it.

Ningguang: Well, white goes first.

Diluc: (cracks knuckles and extends his hand) May the best player win, Lady Tianquan.

Ningguang: (takes his hand and shakes it firmly) Likewise, Master Diluc.

---

The next day, Chongyun and Xingqiu came across a chessboard, scattered game pieces, and one rather unusual-looking twenty-sided die that seemed to have been thrown from the Jade Chamber. No one besides the two players knows who won or what happened during that second round of chess, as not even the secretaries were there to bear witness to it.

If you ask the Captain of the Crux Fleet Beidou, she swears with certainty that the Tianquan threw the board first, but if you ask Tartaglia of the Fatui Harbingers, he will say that it was Diluc Ragnvindr from Mondstadt in a rare but characteristic fit of frustration. The visitor from Inazuma will say that they both contributed to it and his companion, Zhongli from the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor simply replied that it would not surprise him if that was indeed the case

However, if you ask the two players in question, they will only tell you that it was the most exciting and challenging game of chess they had ever had the pleasure of playing, much to the consternation of those who know them.

(inspired by this collection of headcanons)