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“What are you doing?”
The question wasn’t accusatory, but it caught Anne off guard.
“Oh! Uh, I’m learning to play chess.” She answered, continuing to clack away on her keyboard.
Sasha, reclining on the opposite side of the couch from her, crossed her arms. “Why? I thought you didn’t like chess?”
Anne shrugged her shoulders. “Not really, but Marcy does. So I wanted to be better against her.”
The blond scoffed, a playful tone underneath it. “Even with all the practice in the world, I don’t think you could beat Marcy.”
Anne chuckled. “Trust me, I know. I’m not trying to beat her, she just likes it when her opponent is challenging, and I want to be more of a challenge for her.”
Sasha playfully rolled her eyes. “Of course you would.”
The quiet occasional clacking paused as Anne turned to her girlfriend. “And what’s that supposed to mean?” She asked back, just as playfully.
“You’d do anything to make Marcy happy. It’s painfully obvious.” Sasha nudged the brunette with her foot.
Anne rolled her eyes. “Didn’t just yesterday you take her to the animal shelter to pet the dogs?”
“Uh, yeah?” She could see where this was going, but she didn’t want to admit it herself.
“And aren’t you allergic to dogs?” Anne said, a smug look plastered on her face.
Sasha didn’t respond for a moment. “Touché.” She sat up, placing both of her feet on the ground, and scooted closer to Anne. “Do you want any help with your current match?”
“You’re not that good at chess, either. I can handle this.” She said, gently nudging the other’s shoulder.
“Anne, last time I played against you, I beat you in three moves. I didn’t even know that was possible!” Sasha nudged Anne back. “You need all the help you can get. C’mer, lemme see the screen.”
Anne begrudgingly tilted her laptop a little more towards Sasha, letting both of them see it. Admittedly she had been struggling with this next play, Maybe getting some help wouldn’t be so bad.
“Woof. You already got your King pinned in a corner? I don’t think you can win this match anymore.” Anne couldn’t help but feel a little disappointed by that, even though she already figured as much. “But, you can still hit him where it hurts.” Sasha started to clack on the keyboard. “Let me show ya.”
“Oh, that’s a good move, Anne,” Marcy said, leaning over the chessboard slightly, already holding a piece up. “But not good enough!” She placed her Queen enthusiastically on a checkered tile, where it put Anne’s King officially in- “Checkmate!”
Anne leaned her head back and groaned. She had been expecting this loss, but it admittedly didn’t take the light sting away every time it happened. At least Marcy enjoyed playing.
“You’ve gotten so much better since the last time we played!” Marcy smiled, excitedly leaning in even closer to Anne. “Have you been practicing?”
Anne gave back a sheepish smile, her cheeks suddenly feeling warmer. “Uh, yeah, actually. Sasha helped me.”
Marcy’s smile changed at the mention of their girlfriend: just as excited, but a lot warmer. “I can tell. I saw some of her strategies leaking through some of your moves.” She sighed dramatically. “So many good pawns lost in this mighty battle.” She perked up again, setting the pieces back to their starting positions. “Do you wanna play another round, or are you done for now?”
Anne rubbed the back of her neck, it being sore from looking down at the board for so long. “I think I’m done. All this thinking is giving me a headache.”
“Alright.” Marcy wheeled herself from behind the chessboard after she finished resetting it. “How about we watch something, then? I heard there’s a new Vagabondia movie on Newtflix!”
Anne stood up, stretching her back as she did so. “That sounds good.” She grabbed the back of Marcy’s wheelchair, thoughtlessly pushing her to the living room. “Should I call Sasha down to watch with us?”
“Yes, please!”