Sorry It took so long everyone. School and stuff says no free time. Thanks for sticking around if you are still reading. I was in a slight rush to finish this chapter so I'm sorry if it's crappy or to fast. Strong language.
Arthur sighed tiredly as he clocked into work. He had stayed up a little too late celebrating his little victory over the Frenchman, and now he regretted the amount that he drank during said mini-party.
Strolling into the game room he saw Francis sitting at the chess board with a small smirk playing on his lips.
"Well, you look like absolute shit today. Is this a normal look for you, or did you just decide not to sleep?" Francis snickered a bit.
"You don't look any better, frog-face." Arthur hissed a bit and Francis gasped like it was the worst insult he had ever had thrown his way, only to roll his eyes a second later.
"I want a re-match. I want something, so I won't just be playing around with you today, I just wanted to let you know." He looked at his nails after buffing them slightly on his light blue plain outfit.
"You know I will kick your ass AGAIN! Why even bother with a re-match?" Arthur scoffed in amusement and irritation at how Francis acted as if he could just beat him at everything.
"Because, I want to knock you off your high pedestal...I would also like an extra serving of pudding today because the rest of that mush is disgusting."
"You are challenging me...for a cup of pudding?"
"Oui, I am."
Arthur sat there a moment thinking of how he could screw Francis over if he lost.
"If I win you won't get any pudding. Deal?"
"Deal." Francis smirked and let out a small chuckle.
"I'll play you after I get all of my work done."
Arthur went about his usual rounds in the asylum. He had to give medicine to the mid-level patients and give the red wing patients their morning meal. He was a bit late in giving meals to the red wing so they all figured they were either forgotten again by Yao or somebody had made Arthur mad again so they wouldn't get food that morning.
Arthur handed trays into the slots. At the very first room the man snatched the plastic tray and started wildly slapping the old tray and the new tray together for a few seconds before he handed the old tray out. Arthur had expected it, for some reason every time he was late the first or second person he gave food to did that. The noise of the two trays slapping together echoed throughout the entire red wing so Arthur just figured that it was some form of bell for them to know that the food was coming.
He gave food to the rest of the inmates and he had to wait on Ivan a moment because the big Russian seemed to be doing something important for a few seconds before he took his tray.
"Arthur." He greeted a second after he took his tray and his mouth was overly full as he spoke.
"In a rush to eat Ivan?" Arthur scoffed in disgust. He enjoyed pointing out that Ivan was like an animal in every way possible. He heard the thick swallow and hiccup noise. As Ivan swallowed whatever was in his mouth then he heard the tap of the foam spoon on the tray, there was nothing that Ivan could do with a styrofoam spoon.
"You could say that." Ivan hummed practically choking the food down because of the disgusting taste. The room still had an odd smell of sugar which worried Arthur. The red wing didn't get sweets; no candy, no cakes, no pudding. Arthur left the red wing with that on his mind.
He went to the minimum security area again and took care of everything there; giving them their breakfast, handing out the small amount of meds that they needed, just kind of chatting with them about how their days were, giving Matthew his morning pudding to show him that he wasn't forgotten, daily duties in general.
Once he was done in that area he went right back to the game room and he sat down in front of Francis.
"You ready to lose?" Arthur snickered at him softly, ready to win again.
"You know the deal correct? I win I get extra pudding."
"Yes, but if I win you don't get any." He smirked and grabbed his pawn ready to move.
"That sounds fine to me." Francis smiled and he started the little desk timer next to them as soon as Arthur moved his pawn.
In a total of fifteen minutes Arthur was sitting in stunned silence staring at the board as Francis moved his queen into a final position. "Check mate." The Frenchman's voice was calm and smooth as he said the simple phrase.
"What?...No, I want a re-match!" Arthur said in disbelief and reset the board and Francis smiled and reset the clock.
"Very well. This will have to be the last game because lunch is in about an hour."
"That's fine because I know I'm going to beat you!"
They played again and this time it only took about ten minutes before Francis once again put Arthur on the spot.
"Are we done with this now?" Francis cackled quietly deep in his throat as Arthur looked confused at the board.
"Fine…" He looked confused at why he was beat twice in a row, like he had never played before when the day before he had beat Francis no problem.
"Don't look so devastated. It's just a game." Francis waved his hand some in the air like he was trying to get rid of the bad atmosphere. He was concerned at how upset his caretaker looked about losing.
"How?...How did you win so fast? I'm good at chess, but you just ran me over…"
"When you have no family, friends, or anyone to talk to you have to entertain yourself in some way. All I had was a chessboard to play with, so I played myself every day almost all day long. I got really good at playing after years of practice." Francis shrugged and gave a light pat to Arthur's shoulder.
"Oh...It looks like I owe you that pudding." Arthur felt awkward when he realized that Francis had just given him a piece of slightly personal information. He didn't want to pry too much into his life, even if he was supposed to be learning more about Francis.
"Oui, you do." Francis smirked and laughed as Arthur left.
Arthur went to the cafeteria and quietly asked the ladies there for an extra cup of pudding, claiming that it was for Matthew and they handed it over to him with a small plastic spoon. They were used to Yao and Arthur coming and asking them for extra pudding for the boy so they didn't question it. Arthur gave a quick thanks and made his way back to Francis while holding the pudding cup.
"There is your bloody pudding." He handed it over and sat down watching Francis open the small container and eat in content. "How exactly did you get so good at chess again?" Arthur leaned back in his chair with a curious look on his face.
"Oh? Well, my family died when I was young so I bounced around from home to home when I was just a boy, then I guess people got tired of having me in their homes so I was out on the streets until I could find a job. I didn't have any friends, because who wants to be friends with the filthy boy that lives in the alley?
Anyway, I lived on the streets for a year or two and I got a job for an elderly woman. She was very kind and seemed to love everyone and she always took in little strays like me. She didn't care about my background as long as I didn't get in trouble and I helped her around her little store…" He seemed to be off in space as he spoke about the old woman with fondness, like a person would speak about their own grandmother. "She died about five years ago. She was the one to introduce me to the game and I would play with her every night before she went to bed before she died...After she died I found out that she had left me her home.
I played chess every single day after that for hours and hours, playing as if she were still alive. I never did beat her…" He closed his eyes with a small laugh. He may have laughed but Arthur could hear it was forced and painful.
"You miss her…" Arthur whispered softly watching the man in front of him. He was touched that a man that seemed so snobbish could be so...respectable. That brought up another question.
"How did you end up in here?..." Arthur raised a brow.
"That's a good question...The best answer I can give you is that I'm a monster apparently…"
"I'm not quite following you. What do you mean a monster? I know your sheet said that you thought you were a werewolf."
"I trusted the wrong person and they went telling others something I had told them years ago. I was a child and didn't know how serious of a thing I was telling to another boy that I thought was my friend. I've yet to turn into any monster here have I? To the rest of you I'm a monster. None of you have any proof that I am, or ever claimed to be, a werewolf. You all are going off of the word of some man who came running saying that he caught me acting odd."
"So do you actually believe that you are a werewolf?"
"Have I been giving you that impression? I know I can be quite a beast, but I didn't think you would really consider me an animal." He winked and laughed deeply.
"You are certainly hairy enough to be half dog." Arthur felt heat travel to his face. "I haven't really seen you acting out of the ordinary, so I suppose you have a point…" He hummed softly looking away.
"ARTHUR!" A booming voice echoed across the room and Ludwig was standing in the doorway to the room beckoning for him to come over. Arthur gave a short nod to his boss then turned back to Francis.
"I need to be off. I will continue this conversation later." He got up and he walked over to Ludwig.
"Having a good break over there?" Ludwig's voice was rough and it was clear that he wasn't to happy about something.
"I'm sorry sir? Did I do something wrong?" Arthur was staring to get really nervous.
"No, I just wanted to tell you that we will be discharging your patient over there. The detectives that were looking into his case came back and told me that there was no significant evidence to keep him pinned up here."
"We are discharging him this fast?" He blinked in surprise. "It's only been maybe two or three days since he arrived."
"No. We still have to fill out all of the paperwork and put him through the registry. He will be released at the end of the week." Ludwig grumbled.
Arthur looked back at Francis who had set up another chess game and was playing himself.
"Where will he go when he gets out?"
"Back to where ever he came from."
"I see…" Arthur thought over everything that he had just been told.
"Well, my family died when I was young so I bounced around from home to home.
I didn't have any friends, because who wants to be friends with the filthy boy that lives in the alley?
The best answer I can give you is that I'm a monster apparently…"
Francis' words echoed in his head as he stared at him, thinking about how he would be going back home to an empty house, no friends, and no family.
"Get back to work Kirkland." Ludwig barked out and Arthur jumped back into reality.
"Yes sir." He went back over to Francis.
"How was the ass kissing session?" Francis smirked looking up from his pawns.
"He still has it occupied by a stick. Thanks for asking." Arthur snorted and they shared a short laugh.
"You are being released. You should be out by the end of the week is what he told me." Francis froze a moment then looked at him in surprise.
"I'm being released? Already?..."
"It surprised me too, but at least you get to get out of this hell hole."
"...Right…" Francis' voice was quiet as he sat there slowly pushing the pieces across the board. Arthur stared at the chess board and the scattered pieces across it for a moment.
"Francis...I want to have a new bet" Arthur looked back up to Francis' face.
"Hm?" He didn't look up from his game of moving his knight around to take out the little pawns.
"For the rest of the week you will play me in chess three times a day. I'll play you when I get to work, before lunch each day, and before I leave to go home." Francis looked up to him with a raised brow.
"And?"
"If I win a single game then you have to meet me at the park three blocks from here this weekend after you get out. You'll have to talk to me and tell me more about this old lady you were talking about."
"What if you don't win?" A small smirk slowly formed.
"Then once you get out I'll have to tell you more about myself when we get to the park." Arthur huffed and looked away.
"I think I will accept this challenge." He let out a laugh and Arthur snorted but had a tiny smile.
"Well I have to keep an eye on you somehow. Maybe I could teach you how to be a better chess player." Arthur said in a matter of fact tone.
"We start this evening then?" Francis grinned widely.
"Before I go home."
XOXOXOXO
"Checkmate. Checkmate. Checkmate. Checkmate. Checkmate."
Arthur heard that phrase over and over from Francis' lips. Every day, three times a day. Each game slowly got longer and longer, dragging out hours of Arthur's and Francis' free time. Every day Arthur listened to the cocky Frenchman win and say that stupid phrase that ended the game. Checkmate.
"Are you ready for the last checkmate Arthur?" Francis smirked slightly as Arthur sat down across from him one more time. Arthur was silent as he looked at the man.
Francis was no longer in his patient clothes, the plain long sleeved shirt and plain loose pants. He was in the clothes he arrived in, a tighter gray shirt that had the sleeves to his elbows and a pair of loose black dress pants.
"I'm ready." Arthur started the timer and Francis moved his pawn first in their final game of the final day that Francis would be there.
A full two hours later the timer was stopped.
"Checkmate." The words left Arthur's lips like he had practiced saying them every day to himself. Francis looked up at him as he stood grabbing his jacket to leave.
"Good game."
"You let me win didn't you."
"No." Francis smiled gently. "You won fair and square. Good game."
"Park. Tomorrow. Noon. Don't be late or I will kick your ass." Francis smiled at Arthur's words.
"Same to you brush-brows."
"Stupid frog."
Hope you liked this chapter. Review if you want. If you find any mistakes just tell me. Thanks for reading.