"Dear God," you are probably thinking, "when is she going to stop writing X-Men drabbles and do something useful?" Never, is the likely answer. Sorry. Also, despite the title, the actual character Gambit does not come into this story. Although I do think he's awesome. Sorry again. Oh, and yes, I do have to spoil a cute little ending with obligatory angst (well, it wouldn't have filled 100 words otherwise). Sorry.
When ordinary chess got boring, they started to up the stakes: games played without looking at the board; with only half the pieces; whilst so inebriated the squares swam.
Then that, too, palled, and they introduced the forfeits: a cup of tea for a pawn, a day's training for the king.
It was Charles who suggested a kiss for checkmate, and Charles who decimated Erik's men and leaned across the board with eyes bright and lips very red.
From then on, Erik started losing at every opportunity.
("Checkmate for a memory," offered Charles weeks later.
"No," replied Erik, without hesitation.)