This stemmed from my friends and I wondering Who would be better at chess: Shiro or Adam?
S8 is here. Everyone be wary.
I wish you all luck and survival this Friday.
Adam~
"Shiro… that's check."
"What?" Shiro protested, staring at the board. "No it's not! The horse-thing's in the way!"
"Not the knight," Adam sighed, slumping back on his bed. "The bishop. I don't know why I'm even helping you."
"I wish you'd help me some," Matt chuckled.
"Well, Adam cares for me more," Shiro smirked.
Adam merely sighed, his eyes returning to the book in his hand.
They had invited Matt to their room for some 'de-stress' time the other day and he and Shiro had decided to play chess. It had sounded like a wonderful idea to Adam until he figured out that he was years better than either of them.
Shiro had managed to beat Matt once by sheer dumb luck and Matt looking down and saying, "What?! Checkmate? You didn't say anything!"
That was when Adam had become the referee for the game.
At least Matt knew the names of the pieces and how they moved and what 'check' and 'checkmate' was. Adam could not say the same for Shiro. Though, his dumb luck kept throwing Matt's minimal knowledge and experience with chess, off.
"And checkmate" Matt declared, tapping the rook down defiantly.
"But what if I move like this…." Shiro said, picking up a pawn on the other side of the board and moving it intimidatingly towards the king.
"That…" Matt fumbled, his face dropping in utter disbelief at Shiro's complete lack of chess skills.
"Shiro," Adam interjected, laying the book he was reading down on the bed. "That isn't possible. Matt beat you, yet again."
"Sorry," Shiro muttered, annoyed. "I know I'm not very good but I'm still learning."
Adam shook his head sadly at Shiro. "Right… and that's why I'm going to teach you."
"Can I watch?" Matt asked. "I would love to go home and beat my little sister. She's a mastermind at this kind of thing and I can never quite beat her."
"Sure!" Shiro agreed. "What's your sister's name?"
"Pidge— well, Katie. I just like calling her Pidge… and she kind of hates it. She's five years younger than me and because of that, I'm generally smarter than her, but I bet that she'll surpass me some day. She's like a computer wizard."
"That's nice," Adam smiled. "I have two little sisters as well. We fight sometimes but for the most part I'm just their play thing whenever they feel like it and I concede." Adam chuckled, glancing over at the picture of him and his sisters rolling down a hill together, one after the other. At the bottom of the hill, they had rolled into a giant pile where Adam had started tickling them and chasing them around as a 'tickle monster.'
It was a pleasant memory.
"Neat!" Matt said, taking a seat on Adam's bed awkwardly. "Shiro, you don't have any siblings— right?"
"No…" Shiro said slowly.
Adam knew that Shiro had hardly any family. He knew that Shiro was basically alone and that he was used to that and had lived like that for years upon years… but it still felt awkward to talk about. Or to even know. Adam felt like he knew some secret information that he wasn't supposed to be aware of but somehow affected everything.
It was like when Adam would read about children in books who would knock on their parents' door and their mom or dad would greet them and then they would ask to sleep with them and would be placed in the parent's bed, between them. Adam had never known a life like that. If he had nightmares, he sucked it up and stayed in his own bed.
Matt must have been able to sense the awkward silence in the room as he picked up Adam's half open book and turned it to its cover. "What's this, Adam?"
Adam grabbed the book back, self-conscious about his reading choices. "Um…. it's the second Percy Jackson series."
"Oh! The Heroes of Olympus ones?" Matt asked. "I love those ones!"
"Really?!" Adam brightened. "Who's your favorite character? I'm only on Son of Neptune so no spoilers."
"Okay… hmm," Matt pondered the question. "I really like Leo. He's fun and interesting. Of course everyone has a crush on Percy… and I like Frank a lot. And Hazel. They are both just such nice muffins. And… I kind of like Nico too. I want to protect him."
"Yeah… I agree with you on most all of those points," Adam smirked. "I like Annabeth, too, though. Because she's awesome."
"Agreed."
"Hey, guys?" Shiro interrupted. "Could someone explain to me what the heck is going on? What is this series?"
"You've never read Percy Jackson?" Matt asked incredulously. "How could you have not read Percy Jackson!"
"I didn't get out to reading much as a kid," Shiro shrugged.
"Man, people really should call you the Jock," Matt joked.
"What?!" Shiro protested. "People call me that?!"
"No, not really. But it's kind of true. You're super strong, not good at math, and you don't read much…"
Adam snorted, not knowing what to say as Shiro fumbled over his words.
"But… but just because I'm not top in math doesn't mean I'm bad at it!" Shiro protested, "I'm pretty good in the computer tech class! And Engineering!"
"I will admit," Adam said, still smiling, "That on the surface you do kind of seem like a jock."
"ADAM!"
"BUT!" Adam continued, "You aren't a stereotypical jock because you are super loving and kind and you get pretty good grades in school. People just think that you're kind of intimidating."
Shiro laid his head on the chessboard, scattering the pieces. "People find me intimidating?"
Matt looked around frantically. "Yes? I mean— once they get to know you, you are a complete teddy bear. So…."
"My life is ruined," Shiro said dramatically.
"How about," Adam told him, trying his best to make Shiro feel better, "I teach you how to play chess and then you will be one step closer to being seen as a smarty pants by everyone."
Matt raised his hand tentatively, "And you can read all of the Percy books so then you won't be a failure at childhood."
Shiro snorted. "Alright. Deal. As long as you, Matt, spread rumors that I'm a Teddy bear and nothing to be intimidated by."
"Except in those piloting chairs," Adam amended. "In those things, you rule."
Shiro laughed. "True. Alright, teach me some chess."