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Every month, come hell or high water, there is a chess tournament at Rhodes Island.
Usually in the second dorm's shared space, preferably on a slow day where most operators have finished their assignments, it forever seems to be the hardest challenge of operator Elysium's existence.
"You're being so dramatic."
Somewhere in a hallway close by, in the early hours of the morning, a sniper and a vanguard are in each other's unexpected company. They wake too early for their own good, having been assigned to the same squad for a slew of missions at dawn now. This particular section of wall has become their spot.
The vanguard sputters in response to the sniper's quip: "Have you even seen it for yourself?"
"Yeah, 'course," Exusiai says nonchalantly. She nibbles on a stolen pocky stick. "I was in the third row two months ago. Might as well have been the last row because of all the mess up front, but… your loss was so immediately apparent."
Traditionally, Elysium has only ever competed in the preliminary rounds — always against the first seed, no one else. And then he leaves until the next time. But this first round draws high spectator counts and word-of-mouth ratings all the same. Probably because the first seed is Thorns.
"I put up a good fight! It was a struggle —"
"A wipeout, Ely. It was a total wipeout for your side. Checkmate in like ten moves."
"Still two more than last time."
She suppresses a smile. "To get back on track… What I meant was, you don't have to be so serious about it. I hear every time you lose it's as if someone pulled that red tuft out your hair and dyed it all white. Or black. ...What is your natural hair colour?"
"That's a secret! Gives me a mysterious allure." Elysium tosses his head. "It doesn't matter this time, though. We made a bet. The loser has to shave himself bald."
An awkward silence.
"...You're joking, right?"
"Thorns doesn't 'joke'. He suggested it and I accepted it."
"Oh," says Exusiai. Now she frowns a little. "Okay, I'm usually all for being reckless and having fun, but… you'd better be prepared. A busted van can be fixed in a day, but your luscious locks can't."
"I know. I'm hoping the high stakes will let me play better."
"And you're here four hours before it starts, already freaking out."
"Where's that Lateranian faith I've heard so much about?"
"I don't want to… misplace it." She takes something out of her jacket pocket. "I can offer you chocolate instead."
"... Thanks." He takes the box of snacks and says, "How much do you spend on these?"
"I don't know. Tex has a huge shipment of it delivered regularly. It's counted as company expenses."
"Is that… legal?"
"Written somewhere in the contract… a couple hundred lines in… maybe." She shrugs. "Does it make it better if we've had people booby trap the box before? Pipe bomb happened at least three times already. Unoriginal."
"That just makes it a liability."
"Let's call it extra practice." A second stick is taken from the box in his hand. "But, yeah, if you ever need to find a loophole, give us a call!"
"You think Thorns and I signed a contract about chess?"
"You mentioned bets. It was worth a try —"
"Because... we did, actually."
At her incredulous expression Elysium adds on hastily, "Not that it's legally binding or anything. It's like a bro code."
"...Uh huh. What's on it?"
"I have it here…" He fishes out a mildly crumpled piece of paper from his bag. "He suggests the terms and I agree to them. Look."
She gives him a confused glance. "I can't decipher half of these words."
"He writes fast. Maximum efficiency."
"Is that really a good thing if no one can read it?"
"I can read it. Even when I was still there Iberia's focus on style was kind of nonexistent."
"...But your handwriting is so —"
"Details!" He flourishes the paper for emphasis. "The important part is that I am honour-bound to play the first round of each tournament against him for the foreseeable future. And we will uphold all the stakes to the best of our abilities."
Exusiai takes the so-called contract from him and squints at it. "What even made you agree to stake your hair?"
"I'm not not scared, but I need to project some confidence."
"It just seems to me that you can't say no to him." Elysium does not meet her piercing gaze. "I think this extends past your chess thing."
He clears his throat. "...Speaking of things, let's move on to another."
She stifles a retort. "Did he ever follow through on the stakes?"
"I'm pretty sure we — I did all of them. Being his room service for a week, twice, check. Helping him with his workshopping tasks, check. Stealing Ms. Christine for a while so we could make a temporary cat corner in the cafeteria..." Elysium makes a pained expression. "Phantom appeared instantly and scared me out of my wits. All he said was thanks and then he left with her in tow — but not before she clawed me."
"I think I'm starting to like this Thorns…"
"Last month was the one where he got to put braids in my hair. I looked so weird for a while, but he was pretty proud of his work, so I couldn't be mad. Then two months ago, right after you witnessed our power struggle, I helped him clean up his dorm." Exusiai unwittingly imagines the Liberi in a maid costume and… admittedly, it works. "He came back in time from the tournament to help, but I didn't need it! He insisted. Pretty sure he thought it was funny. We were like roommates —"
"Elysium," she says seriously, "You've enjoyed fulfilling every single forfeit he's thrown at you, haven't you?"
He cocks his head. "Yeah, I guess you could say that. Besides me having to ruin my reputation with Miss Christine, of course." Holding up his right hand for emphasis, Elysium continues: "But he applied the prototype of some new ointment he developed on that scratch, and the pain disappeared almost instantly, so s'all good."
"Seems weird for the stakes to be so high this time then."
"He's unpredictable, that Thorns," he says, and if Exusiai dared to speculate she'd say he sounded wistful. "Although he did recently hint at why…"
"Go on."
"He said he prepared a plan. 'I'll be merciful this time. It's just more fun that way.'" Elysium does the quotation marks with his free hand. "'In return, if you win, have a different wager prepared. I want to keep my hair.' I asked him what the point was and he just shrugged and said something about wanting me to win at least once."
"Why even suggest the stake at all then?"
"I think he wants to throw the ball in my court without telling me outright."
"To be honest, I'm not sure he'll lose even with him going easy on you…"
"Ah, well," he says, laughing a little, "...You don't actually think I'm under the impression I can win? Ever?"
She blinks at him. "What do you mean?"
"I'll tell you something no one else knows." Elysium stage-whispers, "...I am actually okay at chess. He's just too good."
"Oh. So you ultimately just give up and let him win."
"Yeah. Tournament ends faster."
Exusiai lightly nudges his shoulder. "Can't say I'm surprised. Allows you to spend more time with him."
He makes a face. "Yes. So what?"
"So what? Ely, are you sure you and Thorns aren't… more than friends?"
"We are best friends."
"...Right. If you say so."
Elysium is silent for a moment before continuing, "That might change in a short while."
"Oh?"
"I thought of another wager. Not saying what it is."
"Aww, come on."
"You'll see. Hopefully. If you're coming to watch, anyway."
"I sure am."
"It's going to be a bold move."
"Good thing you were made for bold moves, Ely."
"Right?"
*
Within the first few seconds of the first round of the tournament, a very specific scenario unfolds. One player makes serious blunders on their turn, allowing the other to win in just two moves.
"Checkmate."
It would have made for a very boring match if it weren't for the two specific parties involved. The crowd is in uproar.
Someone asks what the bet was.
"Loser has to shave his head," Elysium says. "But…"
He glances meaningfully at his opponent, who says, "I would prefer not to be bald. It's his winning debut; he can pick another wager if he wants." Thorns leans forward on the table, eyes bright and beautiful and no, Elysium, don't stare! "Well? Take pity on me."
The crowd holds its breath. Elysium pretends to think, hoping the laissez-faire attitude he's so (in)famous for shines through and masks his nerves. Thorns raises his eyebrows expectantly.
"Hmm, I think..."
Their eyes meet despite the Liberi's best efforts. Elysium says in a rush: "Loser has to kiss the hottest guy in the room."
The crowd's energy heightens. Out of the corner of his eye Elysium thinks he sees Exusiai's enthusiastic thumbs up.
When he looks back, Thorns' expression has changed to one of vague surprise and mild confusion. Elysium continues, "I guess we didn't think that one through, though. I mean, what if I hadn't won —"
"Elysium."
"Aha… Yes?"
"We should discuss this wager outside."
Thorns drags Elysium out by the arm. There is loud cheering. Exusiai snaps a picture of the chessboard for posterity.
* * *
"I see Thorns' haircut is intact."
"Yes." The two of them are adjacent to each other, one on a raised platform behind the other. Elysium gestures with his flag and Exusiai raises her gun. Bullets drill through the enemy grunt below. "It is."
"And I'm guessing you're definitely 'more than friends' now!"
"Yes." Elysium glances at where Thorns is — a not-very-safe distance away. "We are. Hey, you do know I'm providing very efficient communications here, right? You don't have to shout —"
"Are we going to have any more chess matches between you then?"
"...Oh, he's teaching me, actually. Contract's still being revised."
"Mm," Exusiai hums, "You're leaving something out."
Elysium wishes he'd never underestimated the angel's capacity for intuition. "Well... there is a price for his lessons."
"What is it?"
"I… cook him meals," he says slowly. "He seems to like them a lot."
She shakes her head, amused. "So the rumours are true… You really are his dedicated housewife."
Elysium opens his mouth to argue, but the sound of convenient gunfire interrupts him first.
