"Hey, Norge~!" Denmark yelled with a huge grin on his face, barging into Norway's house uninvited for the fifth time that week.
Norway looked up from his book tiredly. "Didn't I tell you to at least knock before you kick the door down?"
"I didn't break the door this time..." Denmark huffed as a light blush settled on his face. "Well, I didn't break it too much anyway..."
Norway sighed in annoyance at the Dane. There was really no hope for this guy, was there?
"Why are you here?" Norway inquired, his tone of voice making it clear that whatever the reason, it better be good.
"Hm? Oh, I came over to play chess with you, lillebror!" Denmark said, his usual ridiculous grin spreading across his face.
Norway raised an eyebrow at this request. "You haven't picked up a chess set in years, why the sudden re-interest?"
"Hey, who says I haven't played in years? I so have!" the Dane whined defensively. "I've been practicing recently too, so I'm definitely gonna beat you!"
"Oh wow, I'm so scared," Norway said, sarcasm dripping from each word.
"You should be!" Denmark grinned, somehow completely missing Norway's sarcastic tone and annoyed glare.
Denmark walked over to Norway's table and began setting up the chessboard he'd brought with him while the latter watched in bemusement.
Norway had always been better than Denmark at the game of chess, and the Dane had only ever won one game out of hundreds when playing against the Norwegian.
The one time Norway had let Denmark win at a game of chess (Norway had let him win, mind you), the Dane had gone around rubbing it in Norway's face, boasting his victory to anyone who would listen (and even those who didn't want to listen) for ages.
It had been forgivable the first few times, seeing as he never got the chance to brag since he never won at chess against Norway, but as time went by and he still wouldn't shut up about it, it certainly began to get on the Norwegian's nerves.
Norway shook his head in annoyance at the memory. Denmark could really be so intolerable sometimes.
"I've finished setting up!" Denmark called. "Come over here and get ready for me to beat you!"
Norway's reply was to glance sideways at him for a moment before picking up his book again. "No. I'm not playing."
"See, you're so scared you're gonna lose that you won't even play!" Denmark teased.
"Eh, it's just that playing chess with the likes of you would be a complete waste of my time."
Denmark, as usual, completely missed the jab. "C'mon, Norge!" he whined. "We haven't played in sooooo long...!"
"No."
"Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"
Glancing at Denmark, and then at his book one last time, Norway sighed and gave in. "Fine, but only if you'll shut up for once."
Denmark smiled, his eyes lighting up. "Yay! You're such a great brother, Nor!"
Norway rolled his eyes and put away his book before making his way over to the table. He surveyed the chess set... and immediately found a mistake.
"You've put the kings and queens on the wrong squares, stupid. The queen is supposed to be on her own colour." Norway berated, switching the pieces around to put them in the correct position.
Denmark turned red like one of Spain's tomatoes. "W-well, a lot of people get that wrong..."
"You haven't really been practicing, have you?" Norway accused.
"W-well..."
"Hm, thought so. Either way, we should get started before you waste any more of my time."
"Ooh, I wanna go first!" Denmark cried, regaining his composure.
"Typical," Norway mumbled, rotating the board so that the white pieces were on Denmark's side.
Denmark looked to be deep in thought before making his first move, which was one that Norway had encountered many times.
"He's using the same opening he always uses, isn't he?" Norway thought, seeing that familiar move. "Haven't I told him countless times that he should try using different openings? Honestly, he never learns."
Without saying a single word out loud, however, Norway silently made his own move.
He watched Denmark closely as the Dane made his next move. Sure enough, Denmark's move was exactly what Norway had predicted.
Norway subtly rolled his eyes. "Seriously?"
After playing for a while, Norway had captured several of Denmark's pieces and was close to victory while the Dane had only managed to capture a pawn and a knight.
"Check." Norway said, placing his bishop down, his eyes and voice betraying no hint of emotion.
Denmark, for once, thought about his options before making his move. Analysing the situation, he realised that there were no pieces he could put between his king and Norway's attacking bishop, and there was only one square which his king could move to- that square being open to attack if Norway moved his rook on the next move.
Denmark racked his mind frantically, trying to think of ways to get out of this situation. Finding no solutions, he decided there was only one way- to cheat. He didn't like to cheat, but hey- desperate times called for desperate measures.
"So, Norge..." Denmark said as casually as he could. "How're things?"
Norway crossed his arms and eyed Denmark with suspicion. "Get on with with your move."
Denmark panicked mentally- his plan to divert the Norwegian's attention had been unsuccessful! Determined to succeed, however, he tried again.
"If I were a chess piece, what kind do you think I'd be?" he asked casually.
Norway gave Denmark a disbelieving look before deciding to play along. He pretended to be deep in thought before replying: "I think you'd be... a king."
Denmark grinned sincerely. "Aw, you think of me as the king! Wow, I'm so happy!"
"Only because you're slow, useless and can barely do anything for yourself." Norway clarified with a huff.
"But the king is still the most important piece, right~?"
"...Just get on with your move." Norway sniped, annoyed at having been caught without a comeback.
Denmark's grin wavered. His plan to divert attention had failed again?!
He decided to try one last time.
"I'm hungry..." he moaned, clutching his stomach over-dramatically. "Could ya get me some food, Norge?"
Norway glared sharply at Denmark. Honestly, did the Dane think he was stupid or something? It was so clear what Denmark was trying to do that he might as well have been screaming out his plan for all to hear.
"C'mon Norge, pleeeeeease?" Denmark whined, putting on his best puppy dog eyes.
Norway sighed, knowing that the only way he'd be able to shut Denmark up would be to get him what he wanted.
"Fine. You better not mess with the board while I'm gone." Norway warned, before getting up and going to the kitchen.
Denmark saw his chance. He ignored Norway's words and quickly moved one of his pawns one square to the left, to get it into a position where he would be able to move it to block Norway's attacking bishop. He then sat back and tried to look casual for Norway's return.
Norway walked in a few seconds later holding a slice of butter cake. Seeing Denmark's overly-casual manner, he sighed. "Alright, what did you?"
Denmark tried to sound innocent. "What did I do? I didn't do anything."
Norway inspected the chess board and noticed the change almost immediately. "This pawn was not on this square." he said accusingly, pointing at the pawn Denmark had moved.
Denmark tried not to let his guilt show. "What do you mean, that was always there!"
Norway glanced at Denmark with a look of pure annoyance on his face, but decided not to argue further. A small thing like this wasn't worth his time anyway.
"Whatever. Here's the food you asked for, by the way." Norway said, handing Denmark the cake before sitting back in his seat.
"Thanks bro!" Denmark cheered. He did a victory dance in his mind- he'd gotten away with moving the piece, and not only that, now he had cake to eat! Yes! Win-win!
"You're noisy." Norway huffed. "Anyway, it's your turn."
"Oh yeah, right." Denmark moved the pawn forward so that it blocked Norway's bishop.
"Just as planned," he thought devilishly.
Norway gazed at the piece with a disinterested expression, then moved his knight before transferring his gaze to his opponent.
Denmark stared at the board for several seconds before his eyes widened in disbelief, realising what had happened: while he'd been focused on just one of Norway's bishops, he'd completely overlooked the other pieces that surrounded his king.
"Checkmate."