The usual, so I'm not putting a key.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything.
Check Mate (Part II)
I didn't talk to anyone about the last dream about playing chess with Minerva. After all, there wasn't anything odd about it. It was just an innocent dream. I mean, what could be so odd about Minerva throwing a tantrum? Sure, it was pretty disturbing, but what reason could I possibly have for telling someone? None. Right?
Holly had come over to visit Artemis. She did this fairly often now-a-days, much to her content. She was getting tired of hearing Artemis saying how they only met during a crisis.
Today, Artemis was doing one thing or another on his Apple Mac when Holly came over. She sat there for a few moments, the only sound being the steady clicking of Artemis's typing.
"Let's do something," she said at last.
Artemis stopped typing. "What do you propose we do?" he asked.
"Um…" she said.
Artemis raised an eyebrow.
"I don't know," she said at last.
Artemis sighed and put the computer to sleep. After all, it was Holly…
"How about a game of chess?" he suggested.
"What's that?"
Artemis stared at her. "You don't know what chess is?" he asked incredulously.
Holly shook her head. "I don't exactly care about keeping up with these silly Mud People games."
"But chess isn't silly at all! It's a game of intellect," Artemis said. It was Holly's turn to raise an eyebrow. "Here, I'll show you how to play," said Artemis, taking out his chessboard.
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"Check mate," said Artemis after their fifth match.
"D'Arvit!" cursed Holly. She had lost all five games. "Rematch," she demanded.
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"Check mate."
"What!!!" cried Artemis, not believing what Holly had just said.
"Check mate," she repeated, grinning.
"That's quite impossible. This is only your eighth game of chess. Ever!" he exclaimed.
"Well, I guess you're a really good teacher, then," said Holly with a twinkle in her eye and a smile playing around her lips.
Artemis blushed.
Yay!!! Another chappie. I hope you liked it. In my original idea for this chapter, I had planned a scene where Holly knocks the board of the table (like in the last chapter), but instead of stomping away, she kisses Artemis. I found that this way too melodramatic, though, and I like the way this chapter came out. Hurray for subtle AH! Please review.