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The Game in the Parlor

The cocoa was dark and rich with cream; the gingerbread was soft and spicy. Severus sighed in contentment, tapping the ivory edge of the domino against the parlor tabletop.

He had quickly given up on perfecting Elaine's meager chess skills. She might be able to make bread from memory, know the melting point of twenty different cheeses within a half of a degree, and be able to clear one-hundred-and-forty-four mahjong tiles in less than five minutes when playing solitaire, but when it came to chess, she was hopeless.

In the interest of compromise they were now steadily working their way through a mail-order catalogue's recommendations for two-player games. The curio cabinets in the parlor were beginning to fill with brightly colored boxes that offered their evening entertainment.

They had played a rousing night of Uno, wasted three days on attempting every variant of draughts they could remember, another late night spent in a best out of twenty Rummikub game marathon, and challenged each other to create the most outrageous board for Kulami. Severus had drawn the line at Twister but was tentatively interested in King of Tokyo and Ticket to Ride.

Currently they were sizing each other up over a heated game of Trains.

"You never did tell me what you used to teach." She snapped a piece down gleefully, matching the chartreuse dots.

Severus ran a fingertip over the tops of his tiles. "You never did ask, that I recall," he countered. "Science—chemistry after a fashion I suppose, self-defense briefly, and I was actually Headmaster. That too was of short but painful duration."

"You didn't enjoy teaching?" She wasn't looking at him, choosing instead to study the board, sensing that she was treading very close to a dangerous topic.

He answered thoughtfully. "I might have enjoyed it under different circumstances. I became a teacher very young and not entirely of my own choice. There were still pupils there who remembered me from my own student days. It was rather unbearable at first." He trailed off but then continued in a softer voice. "I like teaching but I didn't like so many other things, mainly the students. Which, as it happens, is a bit of a problem in a boarding school. I was a nightmare of a professor, actually. First, because I had to be in order to keep ahold on the classes and then—then just because I forgot how to be decent."

The air was heavy with dark memories until Elaine laid down a double with a happy little cry and remarked with studied nonchalance, "You seem awfully decent now."

"I do, don't I? It's been carefully cultivated over the last few years." He smirked and laid down his last two tiles, winning the game.

Elaine laughed. "But not decent enough to let me win at Trains?"

"Merlin, no; I have some pride left, after all." He pushed his empty cup towards her slightly. "Cocoa for the winner and best two out of three?"

Chartreuse, #85

Chess – a complicated two-player strategy game, one of the most popular games in the world. Its origins are believed to be from sixth century India.

Mahjong – a game of Chinese origins that can be played as both a multi-player game and solitaire.

Uno – an American card game published by Mattel. Its rules put it in the Crazy Eights family of card games.

Draughts (also called Checkers) – a two-player strategy board game with many possible variants on the rules. A similar game has been played for thousands of years and draughts boards have been found in Ur dating from 3000 B.C.

Rummikub – a tile game originating in Israel. It combines some elements of rummy, dominoes, mahjong and chess.

Carcassonne – a German board game published by Hans im Glück.

Kulami – a two-player strategy game published by FoxMind.

King of Tokyo – a dice-based game designed by Richard Garfield (designer of Magic: The Gathering) & published by IELLO.

Ticket to Ride – a route/network building, set collection type game designed by Alan R. Moon & published by Days of Wonder.

Trains (also called Mexican Train) – a game played with dominoes and is similar to the game Chicken Foot. Dominoes originated in China and can be used to play many games.