[ dextera always has a good time, playing chess—even with ryo, it was fun, because ryo understood the game like someone who has been studying it. though, with guren, dextera has to stay on his toes, and that unpredictability makes it more fun than ever before.
even when guren uses coarse language in dextera’s christian home, he seems amused, and when he moves his next piece, he very pointedly lowers the counter to four.
this competitive, cheeky side of dextera—guren brings it out more and more. ]
[It's like a good fight, playing chess with Dextera. It's nostalgic and new all at once, and thinking back on how far he's come is always nice. He always wants to provide a nice challenge for Dextera... but here he is, pinned, four turns of ten seconds each to go.
He pushes away the distracting thoughts of how he wants to wrestle Dextera to the ground himself after this match, regardless of the victor, because he won't be able to do that, and instead lets his hand hover over the board as he thinks.
Ten whole seconds, and he makes his move, captures one of Dextera's pieces. He's going to be using all of the seconds of Dextera's turns to think, as well, but with how used to this it all is, Guren doubts they'll be the full ten each. It's more limited.
His eyes flick back across the board to meet Dextera's, anyway, because he wants to see them.]
[ dextera has no idea that guren wants to fight him, but it’s for the best, because if he thought about that, it might distract him from this very careful plan he has laid out. he does notice guren’s eyes on him, and when he glances up to meet that gaze, his own expression is fond—even with the sharp glint of a challenge as he claims guren’s bishop.
a little more, and he’ll have his king in check, and it seems like there’s no way for guren to get out of that.
it’s fun, though, playing this to the end. guren has gotten much better with the ten second limit, and dextera thinks it won’t be long before he does manage to overpower him. the next game they play, maybe... ]
[The only problem is, the more he gets excited, the more it hurts. This energy has nowhere to go, he's getting more distracted. The room is already just Dextera and this chess board, and now, each turn he's losing, he's paying attention to his own moves less. He's given up, because if he pressed on with all of his energy, it might hurt too much to reach the end and not be able to move his hand across the board and grab at Dextera's arm, his face, anything.
His gaze gets too sharp, too heavy on Dextera, but he can't bring himself to move it away.
So, his last few turns are just long stares, and then moves that don't matter. It's a little unfortunate, but he wasn't going to be able to make it out of this, anyway. He lost, five turns from the end.]
[ dextera can’t touch guren, because guren can’t touch him, but they’ve already established that things can cross the distance just fine.
so when he moves his last piece to take guren’s king, he overshoots it, just enough to touch guren’s hand with the heel of the piece—and he smiles, not exactly apologetic, but maybe wistful for not being able to touch him properly.
[Hey. Hey. Stop that right now. Except Guren doesn't want him to stop at all. It's so painful, but it makes him laugh even still, since it's lighter than the heavy feelings he was allowing to build up. He takes his King and flicks it right at Dextera.]
Alright, you win, don't rub it in. You're lucky I can't touch you right now.
[How's that for a threat that's heterosexual in every way]
[ dextera laughs, and this time there’s an apology in his tone, but the kind that suggests he’s not really sorry. he wants to touch guren more than ever now that he knows he can’t, but just having him here is good too. ]
Safe.
[ when they get touch back—when, not if, surely when—then dextera will greet him with another one of those hugs he’s become so fond of, the same kind that they’ve shared a few times now since being separated. ]
[ One of those hugs sounds pretty damn nice right now, though Guren won’t admit it. He stares down at the board, instead, with his captured pieces missing, and tries to work out where he lost. Ugh, everything makes him want touch more. ]
[ dextera starts to reach out for his hand, which is perhaps not even something he would have done if they could touch, but he redirects himself at the last moment to point to one of his own captured pieces, on guren's side. it had probably seemed like such a victory at the time, but...! ]
[ It had seemed simple, believable, and Dextera’s face hadn’t shown him much different. He needs to catch things like this better, trust nothing. Now, his hands squeezing together, his eyes on Dextera, he hums. ]
[ a part of him was worried that guren would be mad that dextera tricked him! luckily, however, he just seems fired up—and motivation is something that dextera can gladly work with. after a pause, and a small sigh of relief, he nods.
this is much better than worrying about not being able to touch each other, their minds occupied by chess instead. and, with a time limit, they can play dozens of games with their afternoon, if they want to. dextera is a whole lot less busy than guren, and such a day sounds beyond perfect to him.
[It is a pretty perfect day. They're playing, Guren is learning and applying what he learns, and he's going to beat Dextera or so help him...
But what's important is that he doesn't have all that much to do. There are quests, but after fighting so many spider ladies last month, he's a little tired on spamming those. Maybe he can take a break. After all, even with new arrivals, he's given out more productive tasks to a couple of Real Adults, and he feels like he can be a little lazy and leave his defense force work to things he's doing on the down low.
This is much nicer. The bracelet even feels natural on his wrist now, even if he keeps remembering it. In the breaks between his turns, his other hand sometimes moves closer to touch it.]
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no subject
even when guren uses coarse language in dextera’s christian home, he seems amused, and when he moves his next piece, he very pointedly lowers the counter to four.
this competitive, cheeky side of dextera—guren brings it out more and more. ]
no subject
He pushes away the distracting thoughts of how he wants to wrestle Dextera to the ground himself after this match, regardless of the victor, because he won't be able to do that, and instead lets his hand hover over the board as he thinks.
Ten whole seconds, and he makes his move, captures one of Dextera's pieces. He's going to be using all of the seconds of Dextera's turns to think, as well, but with how used to this it all is, Guren doubts they'll be the full ten each. It's more limited.
His eyes flick back across the board to meet Dextera's, anyway, because he wants to see them.]
no subject
a little more, and he’ll have his king in check, and it seems like there’s no way for guren to get out of that.
it’s fun, though, playing this to the end. guren has gotten much better with the ten second limit, and dextera thinks it won’t be long before he does manage to overpower him. the next game they play, maybe... ]
no subject
His gaze gets too sharp, too heavy on Dextera, but he can't bring himself to move it away.
So, his last few turns are just long stares, and then moves that don't matter. It's a little unfortunate, but he wasn't going to be able to make it out of this, anyway. He lost, five turns from the end.]
no subject
so when he moves his last piece to take guren’s king, he overshoots it, just enough to touch guren’s hand with the heel of the piece—and he smiles, not exactly apologetic, but maybe wistful for not being able to touch him properly.
of course, that’s checkmate. ]
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Alright, you win, don't rub it in. You're lucky I can't touch you right now.
[How's that for a threat that's heterosexual in every way]
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Safe.
[ when they get touch back—when, not if, surely when—then dextera will greet him with another one of those hugs he’s become so fond of, the same kind that they’ve shared a few times now since being separated. ]
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Show me, mister five turns.
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Bait.
[ as it turns out, dextera is devious. ]
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[ It had seemed simple, believable, and Dextera’s face hadn’t shown him much different. He needs to catch things like this better, trust nothing. Now, his hands squeezing together, his eyes on Dextera, he hums. ]
Let’s go again.
no subject
this is much better than worrying about not being able to touch each other, their minds occupied by chess instead. and, with a time limit, they can play dozens of games with their afternoon, if they want to. dextera is a whole lot less busy than guren, and such a day sounds beyond perfect to him.
YOUR ASS IS GRASS, GUREN ]
no subject
But what's important is that he doesn't have all that much to do. There are quests, but after fighting so many spider ladies last month, he's a little tired on spamming those. Maybe he can take a break. After all, even with new arrivals, he's given out more productive tasks to a couple of Real Adults, and he feels like he can be a little lazy and leave his defense force work to things he's doing on the down low.
This is much nicer. The bracelet even feels natural on his wrist now, even if he keeps remembering it. In the breaks between his turns, his other hand sometimes moves closer to touch it.]