With this chapter come old promises, church and chess. Also known as Sunday.
{Alison}
Sunday morning. This was her first Sunday morning in California. She had promised her mother that when she moved to Pasadena she wouldn't let church slip out of her priorities. As a girl Alison had loved church. She had gone to an amazing church, she loved it because the people were incredible friends and like family, they couldn't hate her, no matter what she did. Most importantly instead of sitting still for 2 hours every Sunday there were funny skits with bright costumes and games and small groups. It gave her something to love about it. Sure when she hit high school in leveled out to a more adult service, but church was deeply engrained into her mind. That's why it was 6 am on Sunday and she was awake.
She had to go to church. She had to find a church. She had only been in California since Wednesday; she couldn't even find a burger king, let alone a church she could go to. She couldn't let this week go, she had to make a habit of going, rather than not going. She couldn't break her mother's promise on her 5th day in Pasadena. Her mother had been the craziest, least analytical person she had ever known for more than 6 years, but she loved her, and she deserved to know that her daughter was doing the right thing, even though she was over 2,500 miles away.
Penny, she doesn't seem like the churchy type. Penny wouldn't know where to go. Sheldon, he was the only other neighbor she knew, she had a terrible feeling about it as she knocked three times and called Sheldon. It was just a habit of hers, three knocks felt the most natural, and especially considering the fact that Sheldon had a roommate, it was helpful to not only identify herself by voice, but also announce the person who she needed to speak with. Though she couldn't figure out why, Sheldon knocked from the inside of the door.
(Three knocks) "Sheldon"
(Three Knocks) "Sheldon"
Before he opened it.
Only hesitating slightly at this she began, "Sheldon, do you know of a church-"
"I do not regularly attend church, I do not object to the concept of a deity, however I find it unnecessary to make regular attendance a priority." He replied cutting her off.
"Okay, well, I kind of have to, even if it's just for my mother. I promised her that when I was finally living my dreams as a scientist, I wouldn't abandon the one who put me there." She explained. Though it didn't seem like her mother to insist on things so early. Just 5 days…
{Leonard}
Leonard stumbled into the room a second too late. That kept happening, Alison was too fast. It was too early. He usually had an opportunity to warn people before they blindly walked into topics that Sheldon was known to lecture on. He always missed that with her. It was too late.
"Well, what do you do?" Alison asked her voice was soft, as if she had decided that she had fulfilled her portion of the commitment for the day, provided that she actually cared about the answer that was a safe question. Leonard had to get good at identifying people's emotions and intentions. If he hadn't he could be sure he would have been sued before. Alison wasn't necessarily careless as to Sheldon's existence and actions. She hadn't cared about having her privacy invaded, but had thrown a fit over chicken… She wasn't apathetic, Sheldon as a general rule displayed no emotion, but he could tell Alison had feelings, she didn't respond to them very much, but either she felt something or she was a better actress than Penny. She was expressive, that was it. He doubted that even Sheldon could miss her facial expressions. He had to see something, even if he didn't know what to do with the knowledge, Sheldon had to see it, the way she moved.
Maybe Sheldon needed a little extra help learning about other people's emotions. The way she always wore bright colored eye shadow, the way she spoke with her eyes. Her eyes demanded attention. She had spent the past 5 days doing a better job meshing into the schedule of Sheldon Cooper better than any of the others ever had. Sheldon accepted her as a person. He clearly though that she could learn all of the rules. That was a step in the right direction. He had to know what Penny though of the chance that they could form a relationship. It seemed both perfect and designed to fail. She had been involved in group activities more than Raj for the past 5 days. She had taken up the duty of driving Sheldon to and from work, he couldn't help but laugh remembering when Howard tell the story of the time he drove Sheldon home on a moped. Sure he had a car now, but Sheldon never forgets anything. Would he really enter that with an open mind?
{Alison}
"Howard and Bernadette struggle to agree on a place of worship, then blow it off and have breakfast, I believe this week Howard intends on bagels, but he tends to change his mind. Penny won't be up until noon. Amy and Stewart are not of my concern any more. I haven't heard from Raj since Friday at work. Leonard and I will be playing Chess." He stated flatly.
"Chess huh? I used to know… I think now I'd be quite lucky to know anything more than the basic facts," she replied smiling, as she tried to think of everything she knew about chess. She knew the piece names and the general rules about motion, but seeing as she never had any one to play against she knew nothing more than the facts.
"We could always break out the three way board!" Sheldon nearly yelled, she hadn't ever seen him this thrilled.
"That would be great, but I might need a bit of a refresher…" She added stepping inside.
"You'll need more than that," Leonard sighed as he held up a plastic piece to demonstrate his point, "This is the jet pack."
"Leonard you promised to let me explain the rules the next time we had a guest player!" Sheldon wailed.
"I was merely providing an introduction. You may begin," Leonard exhaled the words with little enthusiasm."
Sheldon explained the long complicated rules; by the end she wasn't sure there was any point to the game other than remembering them all.
"So just to be absolutely clear, the objective is still to cause checkmate. No hidden goal that I have to pull out of all of that? No matter how hard I try I will never get all of that right…" She inquired with a dazed expression on her face.
"I have an eidetic memory. You and Leonard on the other hand for some unknown reason are unable to remember a simple set of directions regarding the motion of several fairy pieces…"
"Don't worry he had to tell me 4 times before I got it all… Don't feel bad." Leonard stated in an attempt to prevent distress.
"No, I think I get it, just one thing… What exactly is a fairy piece?" She asked blindly unaware of the obvious answer. "Wait… Don't tell me. Based on the provided information is that the Golf Cart, Serpent, Gorilla and Such? The ones you added?"
With a distressed look he exclaimed, "Oh my god, fairy chess pieces are any pieces added that aren't in orthodox chess!"
"I just said that! I get it. Well, most of it, I'll figure the rest out," Alison wailed, she really only remembered half of the rules, but she figured with that, plus the original chess rules, she could figure out anything that she didn't know from watching Sheldon and Leonard. She could do it herself; it couldn't be that hard…
The match played out Alison was floundering, but she was holding on. Considering this was the first time she had played chess against an actual person, not to mention that this was some crazy made up version with a million rules she hadn't ever heard before today, she was doing awesome. But she was thankful that they didn't make three way chess clocks. It took her an inordinate amount of time to place a move. The most hysterical part being that she wasn't under attack of any kind, she didn't care though, she saw that she had the opportunity to set an unbreakable wall. She wouldn't waste that. She knew it wouldn't be long before one of them had been eliminated. Leonard and Sheldon were really good, she was barely holding on. As far as winning that would be impossible, she hadn't captured anything, but it seemed like Sheldon and Leonard were mostly fighting each other, leaving her to observe and prepare.
And that she did. To watch her would be something like watching a bug fight to dodge the blades of a blender, safe, yet unable to accept the safety. At one point she stood up on the couch and put both hands on her eyes. She was thinking too hard, she was determined to have a flawless, impenetrable barrier ready before the attention turned to taking her down. She knew the rules, she knew some strategies, but she could hardly see a way to apply them here. Over thinking everything aside, it was working.
Leonard lost, and by the time they had finished Alison had set up a lovely pawn barrier. This was crazy; with Sheldon's army weakened she could actually stand a chance.
{Sheldon}
Alison had a brain; he had ignored her because he was sure she would flounder. He had compromised his army and now he would have to break through defenses that she had 50 turns to set up. He had won in that he had been the first to checkmate, if he was playing someone who was actually good that would be enough. He should have paid attention to her. She had instinct, he hated to admit it, but he couldn't see a way for him to beat her. He made a move to tuck his king further into the back corner of his territory. He had gained respect for her. She was nearly as smart as him. It had been a slight oversight to leave her untouched and unthreatened for so long, but that was Leonard's error. She hardly knew how to play chess, even at this disadvantaged state he had to beat her.
Amy had never wanted to play this game, and yet Alison was up for anything, she had jumped fearlessly in, and a few turns later it was clear she would win. He had broken a big enough hole in the pawn barrier that he could slip something through. But what, she had captured his remaining gorilla in the process. He was down to a queen, serpent, beekeeper, pope, and both bishops. Plus Prince Joey, but that hardly counted…
{Alison}
'Does a knight in shining golf cart count as something that can deliver checkmate? I haven't touched it so it has to be done. Or maybe it would be wiser to send a bishop...' She knew the odds were in her favor, and all she had to do was get something into that back into that corner. Sheldon was brilliant. He had taken down Leonard and was now making quick work of her pawns. She had been forced to move the rest of the barrier that he didn't capture out of the way. She had only 4 pawns left. He had taken a rook and a night while she tried to kill his serpent. If this was their usual Sunday morning activity this was awesome.
She didn't see why she had avoided this so strongly, except she did know why. It hurt to think about it, but she needed to tell someone. Not Penny, Penny wouldn't get it. She would have to find a time to talk to Sheldon. He would know exactly what to say. He was a solid factual person, he would know all of the right words to say to someone trying to get out of an emotionally caked past.
{Sheldon}
Alison wasn't paying attention, he could tell by how fast he was gaining place, she wasn't trying anymore. He could save the match. She was too distracted by something, he didn't care what it was, but it was amazing, it gave him time to infiltrate her security without her noticing. It was brilliant, it was sneaky, but it worked, he had slipped past. He for a moment thought to ask what was concerning her, but his competitive spirit got the best of him. She wasn't thinking properly, that was her problem.
He figured it best to give her a bit of warning, "Alison, you are in check."
She looked startled; he had shaken her out of her thoughts. She shook her head quickly and looked at the board. It was good, but he would have to chase her around for a while. Even when she wasn't thinking she still had more functioning logic skills than his mother ever employed. It was his rook against her king, her bishop, and her rook. He chased her king around the board for 6 minutes, he was aware that she wasn't letting herself be cornered, he knew that they had hit two repetitions of the three she would need to call draw, but if she didn't know he would win. It hit. She said nothing. He smiled, but then she asked, "Wait was that the third… so clearly I'm not going to do anything differently, and neither are you…"
Sheldon wanted to win this, but clearly she had strategic skills. She had natural abilities, and she had played. That was something Amy NEVER did. She was good, and maybe she wasn't totally forgetful.
"It is a pleasure to tie you Sheldon" Alison said dipping her head to him.
"And you as well," He sighed.
"Would you like to come to my apartment? I have Tea and something that might be used in the place of scones…" She invited with a warm smile.
At least she was honest. Mystery tea and biscuits, they were good, she threw them in the microwave, and he had to admit the mystery tea was decent. There wasn't much to complain about. Usually chess is much shorter, matches with Leonard ended quickly. He had misses the time for his breakfast, today was off schedule, so he might as well enjoy the fruits of his draw.
{Alison}
After a wonderful game of chess, which she was entirely unprepared for, a breakfast with her neighbor and an incident involving her sink plug nearly falling down the drain she was ready for a Sunday afternoon nap. She would need it. Tomorrow she had to face her team. Maybe the excitement that came from observing the virus would convince them to smile. Once, or even go insane and put on a color that isn't grey!
Hopefully this was good, this might not seem like much right now, but it's just a little stepping stone on the way to the point where things actually start happening. Next chapter there will be a car scene!