Private Vagārī

[Artur (Γ013)]

"Not every rule. We end them, we don't make them suffer like they did us."

Artur's voice was surprisingly firm as he spoke, although given what his skills were and his gentler disposition, it made quite a bit of sense that he would object to actively punishing the scientists who made them they way they were in any way that came close to what they'd been forced to go through. "That, I think, is what would make it too much for me. If we do run into any of the others, we'll have to make sure they don't think paying torture back with more of the same is a good idea—and I fear that any of them who are still alive would feel that way."

Queen takes e6. Check, and the queen remained entirely out of danger, protected by the bishop. The bishop protected from the black queen by both the white queen and the pawn. Working Julia back into a very tricky situation. "Until then, I'm sure this ship has room enough for both of us to find space if we need it. I'm not particularly worried about that."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

She listened, following his words closely. Maybe he was right, but for her, her reluctance to resort to torture wasn't because she didn't think they deserved it, more than she didn't think herself capable of it. At least not anymore.

Her king retreated to G7.

She sometimes wondered if her emotions controlled her more than she gave them credit for.

"I'm not a needy person with space. What we have, it is satisfactory."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Pawn d2 to d4. Not continuing to press the attack, for the moment; but setting up how he'd finally cut her off. "That at least makes one of us," he replied to her comment on the space. Whether or not it was meant as a joke would be almost impossible to determine, given his utterly deadpan delivery...

Before the small hint of a smile pulled at the corner of his mouth. "The captain's ship was almost claustrophobic, we had to stay so close."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

"...You what?!"

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

His smile faltered.

"You saw how small it was, right? A single couch, a small table to eat at, two sleeping pods right on top of each other? I nearly just grabbed a blanket and went to sleep in the cargo hold."

His brows furrowed deeply.

"What did you think I meant?"

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

"I..."

She stifled a laugh, clearing her throat.

"Don't you worry your head about it, Artur. Just, you know. Girl things." Well now she'd embarassed herself.

She awkwardly placed her C7 pawn to C6, hoping to skip the repercussions of her assumption.

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Girl things.

Somehow, he sincerely doubted it was just 'girl things,' and that it was more of a momentary Julia thing. Maybe she was just trying to make some joke at his expense, maybe she was trying to throw him off his game for real this time, he didn't know. Either way, though, glancing at the board—

—It was clear she was the one who'd been thrown off.

He lifted his queen, moving it to f7, right next to her king. Guarded by the light square bishop, and with the dark square bishop having an unimpeded reach to the only escape the black king could've possibly made.

Qe6 f7...

"Checkmate."

He still couldn't help but wonder if captain Mara had told her about any of the awkwardness of their earliest interactions when she ferried him away from Jaminere. That would certainly explain Julia's reaction, but it would be a dirty trick to pull on someone like Artur.

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

"...Wait, what?"

Julia seemed confused, and then frustrated, before realising who it was she was playing with. She sighed, her head collapsing onto her folded arms, faux pouting.

"Well...that's just unfair."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur raised an eyebrow at Julia's momentary 'distress,' before he started to gather back the pieces and place them in their proper spots on the board. Or, just be ready to pack them up entirely, if she didn't want to play again; he certainly couldn't blame her if that was the case. "You are new," he stated with a small shrug. "My first games were not much better. Some were worse." He drummed his fingers along the similarly-checkered table top they were seated at, glancing at it critically where it peeked out from under the chess board.

"I do think you'd be better than me at the more modern variants, or games like dejarik. I do not like the circular board." Wide open, letting some pieces move completely around with abandon. Having to coordinate two sides of the board, rather than a single linear game...

"Too chaotic."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

"Circular?" She spoke the words like a curious child, before yawning.

"Well, honestly, now I'm exhausted. Perhaps I should cut my losses." Julia leaned back in her seat, rocking back and forth. Then, she stopped. "Talking with you...though..."

She trailed off.

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

And with that, the pieces were swept up, before he deposited them back within the wooden box that doubled as the chess board itself. "You didn't sleep well last night, did you?" he asked, peering over the table at her. The chess box got set up along the curved back of the seat they were at, out of the way. "How about we see what holofilms the ship came with, find a decent one to watch? It's probably full of the old ones—Airtaxi Driver, Captain Rygaen's Ploy, stuff like that—but it might have some of the newer ones."

In fact, given how the ship seemed to be designed to make things as easy as possible...

He reached down, fiddling with some of the controls on the game table. The viewscreen along the wall came to life, and a scrolling menu of film titles appeared.

"Huh. Even has Alderaanian Psycho and that Bakuran bounty hunting film about the human replica droids."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

Her eyes seemed to light up at the mention of the second holofilm.

"...'Do Battle Droids Dream...'? We're watching that. Now. Get the comfy cushions."

Artur (Γ013)

 

[Artur (Γ013)]

Artur blinked at how quickly her mind was made up on the holofilm.

"Jawohl," he replied automatically at her tone, moving to comply...

Before stopping and looking back at her with consternation evident across his face.

"Wait. Julia, there's the entire sofa along the opposite wall. Even all the chairs have cushions." Grumbling something under his breath, he selected the movie in question, the opening titles, credits for the studio that produced it and the like starting to play before the actual holofilm. "Go make yourself comfortable. I can find something to snack on, if you'd like."

A pause.

"Or a nice blanket, to go with your comfy cushions."

Julia (Γ101)

 

[Julia (Γ101)]

"You're a gentleman." A sickeningly sweet smile came with the sentence as she leaped onto the sofa like a cat, immediately taking up most of the space for herself.

"Something sweet would be nice, ja?"

Artur (Γ013)