Open Bored Games

[Aine Thompson]

Back at Hogwarts for another semester, somehow. Aine was genuinely surprised they'd let her back. Of course, the professors were really nice to her. Surprisingly, given how resentful she could be, or how poor her magic was. Even the students seemed nice, though she kept a mild distance as she wasn't exactly used to having friends.

It did get a bit lonely, though. Novel companionship only counted for so much. But communicating with people was hard.

Today, though, she decided she'd do something constructive. And by constructive she meant something that wasn't exactly educational or really helpful at all but maybe could be used as a talking point? Before her sat a chess board and a couple of tomes on wizarding chess, and today she was going to try and learn how it worked. She had a basic understanding of chess, and had played a few games at her muggle school, but she could hopefully teach herself to the point of playing a game with another student in time?

Not that there even seemed to be a chess or games club. But she was determined to attempt this form of learning. At least for the next few hours.

 

[Rhys Garner]

Rhys probably spent more time in the library than he did anywhere else in the castle. It was quieter than the student commons, and brighter and more welcoming than the Slytherin common room. It was the perfect spot to just sit down and actually get some work done. Though the new semester had barely even started he already had plans on getting on top of his classes and making sure he was completely prepared for the upcoming year.

Or, that had been the plan, but when he came across what seemed to be a first-year and a wizard's chess set, along with quite a few books on the subject, he had grown curious. "It's basically like muggle chess," he offered as he moved a little closer to the girl, "Just... more violent." It was actually surprising how violent a couple of chess pieces could actually be when given life.

 

[Aine Thompson]

It was possibly easier to learn from playing, or perhaps watching videos, but Aine didn't exactly have those options. It was one of those things where it seemed like you needed a really solid understanding and to have been taught from a young age to play well, and none of Aine's siblings had been interested.

She went alright at Monopoly, though.

She was surprised by the voice of what was presumably another student, though not one she recognized, and finished attemptingto read a sentence for the fifth time to no avail. "Is there, like, a tactical reason for the violence? Like, oh, Nabokov has employed the famed kamikaze gambit, how will his opponent recover from this one? Or is it to encourage playing it safe or something like that?" She'd seen a few tactical video games that encouraged you to care about the characters before sending them to fight, so maybe that was part of it.

Turning her head, she gazed at the older student, a mixture of curiosity and consternation writ upon her face. "Or do wizards just really like violence and explosions and stuff and without tv and movies this is the outlet?" Realizing she was rambling to a complete stranger, she ducked her head with a whispered "sorry!"

 

[Rhys Garner]

The question was, surprisingly, a good one. Rhys paused for just a moment, frowning as he thought about it. But he couldn't actually come up with a good reason for it and ended up shrugging his shoulders. "I don't think it really affects anything. The game is still played the same," the rules hadn't been changed from normal, so he didn't actually see any good reason as to why the pieces were so violent about things. "I suppose it just makes things more interesting?" That was the best explanation for things he could come up with.

But then the girl apologized for nothing and Rhys frowned. "Sorry for what? Asking questions? Don't apologize for being curious about things."

 

[Aine Thompson]

She pondered for a moment, supposing it was probably all asking a bit much of a stranger - and maybe he was right, there wasn't really a deeper reason for it. It certainly seemed like it would just be annoying to clean up the mess of pieces - though magic could do that. Maybe it just seemed unnecessarily cruel to force the physical pieces to keep beating each other up. At least in video games it was behind a screen and there was a further separation from reality.

"I guess you're right," she acquiesced, nodding slowly and turning to have a look at the older boy, a little embarrassed. "Sorry, I kind of just...got used to apologizing a lot. For talking too much. And asking too many questions. So-" she cut herself off from apologizing again, offering a very awkward smile.

 

[Rhys Garner]

Rhys just shrugged his shoulders in a rather unbothered manner at the girl. "You shouldn't ever have to apologize for asking questions. being curious about stuff is a good thing." He was never really going to mind people bothering him with questions. Just so long as they were good questions. If they were stupid then he probably would get annoyed by it all.

 

[Aine Thompson]

"Thanks," Aine responded, sincerely. She meant well and had genuine, healthy curiosity, she just didn't always phrase questions well. Or come across well. Or would just be considered a nuisance.

"Um. Do you play?" she asked, politely. "I only know the basics. I was hoping there was a games club or something but I guess there isn't enough interest."

 

[Rhys Garner]

Rhys shrugged a shoulder, "Anytime, I guess." He didn't really mind boosting people's morale a little and making them feel better about being inquisitive. While he was not the most open and social person around, in fact, he was more known for being quiet, he just understood the girl and what it was like to be young and curious about things. Especially the magical world. And then his eyes turned to the chessboard. "I understand the basics of it, but I'm not an expert or anything," he'd played a little bit of chess back in his muggle school after being roped into the chess team, but he had hardly been great at it.

 

[Aine Thompson]

It was hard to get used to the wizarding world, even after a few months at Hogwarts. She knew there were other kids who didn't know anything about it before getting their acceptance letters too, but she felt like the assumption was that you did, and that being from a non-wizarding background was a natural disadvantage you were supposed to just...overcome. She wasn't doing that badly, all things considered - her grades were pretty good if not amazing. But it was hard to unlearn habits you'd cultivated over your life, even when you needed to reach out for help or companionship.

"Same, really. I never learned all the strategies or anything. Just how the pieces move and the very basics. Uh, did you wanna play?" She figured she should ask, though if wizarding chess was the sort of game that got violent maybe the library wasn't the best place. Still, libraries back home had come a long way, and often had games nights and book clubs and all kinds of social events, maybe the library here was a bit more lenient too.

 

[Rhys Garner]

Admittedly, he knew a little more than the basics of chess thanks to picking up some stuff from his time on the chess team back at school. But he had certainly never been a master of the game. But it appeared that the younger girl still wanted to play a game with him. Rhys considered the offer for just a moment, tilting his head as he thought about it. In the end, he couldn't see the harm and offered a small nod before slipping into the empty seat opposite. "You can be white if you like," it was only fair that she get the first move as this was her game. He was just interrupting.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine looked stunned for a moment, blinking in confusion. "Ah, geez. I've never gotten this far before." She'd mostly played games on the computer (on the lowest difficult level, as she could be rather bullheaded about strategy), or played around with the cheap board at home that had belonged to her grandfather that was missing a few pieces. Or eyed off the board at the antique shop, too fearful to touch it.

Certainly nothing with other, real people.

"Uhh..." she pondered for a moment, moving the pawn second from the left forward two spaces, earning a glare from said pawn in response. "Oh, what's your name? I'm Aine, by the way." She added quickly, remembering her manners far later than she should have.

 

[Rhys Garner]

Rhys did have to frown just a little, "We haven't even started the game yet." Had she really never even played a single game of chess before? If that was the case, Rhys had a feeling this was going to be a rather easy win for him even if he wasn't some chess master. Maybe he would have to go easy on the girl, even if he didn't really like losing all that much.

Waiting for the girl to make her move, Rhys followed suit, echoing her own move before leaning back in his seat. Oh, she was right, they hadn't actually introduced themselves yet. "Rhys," he offered with a small and short smile, "Rhys Garner."

 

[Aine Thompson]

"I know," she responded, with a small sigh. "It's the being social part. I didn't expect you to actually agree to it. You don't have to stick around." She moved the pawn third from the left this time, trying to think in terms of a strategy game without having a whole lot of the know-how. Aine suddenly felt distinctly foolish, but she'd put herself in to this situation and she'd have to deal with the consequences.

"Um. Nice to meet you, Rhys." She was about to apologize again, but abruptly cut herself off. It was so hard to kick the habit, and when one was conscious of it it seemed to be more common to want to apologize.

 

[Rhys Garner]

Ah, it appeared he had found someone else who was a bit socially awkward. Rhys knew that feeling. A lot. He rarely opened his mouth to have a conversation with someone and even when he did he never ended up saying all too much. "I don't mind if you want someone to practice with," if he hadn't wanted to do it then he wouldn't have stuck around. He wasn't really the sort to do things he didn't want to. "And we don't have to talk if you don't want to, either," he added with a shrug. He wouldn't mind just sitting there and playing without all the chatter. In fact, he would almost prefer it.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine gave a slight sigh of relief. Sure, she had very little idea of what she was doing and knew she was probably annoying the older boy. But there was only so much she could learn from books and playing alone, and even if he absolutely trounced her, which she expected he would, at least she might pick up a few things from it. Hopefully. She gave a small thumbs-up, glad that he didn't expect very much or any conversation out of her and that she could focus on trying to understand the game a bit more. With that, she moved a knight from behind the pawns she'd already moved, placing it behind the first pawn in some kind of preparation. For what, she didn't know.

 

[Rhys Garner]

It seemed as though the younger girl was content with falling into silence, and Rhys certainly didn't mind that. He didn't really have much to say for himself, just settling back in his seat as he observed the girl's next move. Maybe people might think that it would be more interesting trying to goad each other on and teasing, but this silence was perfectly fine for Rhys. It helped him concentrate better, thinking about what move he wanted to pull of next before opting to stick with his pawns, moving another of them forward a space.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine liked not having to make small talk. She wasn't rude, as such, but she always felt so uncomfortable trying to chat in general. But it didn't always go too well, and she knew she came across a bit rude unintentionally. She'd seemingly offended half the girls she'd attempted to speak to, so sometimes it was just easier not to. She moved another pawn forward, this time on the other side of the board. She would probably have to play more aggressively soon, though she suspected that would be the start of a massacre for her pieces. As it is, they gave her a couple of glares at her uncertain movements.

 

[Rhys Garner]

Rhys was ignoring the way his pieces kept looking back at him and were trying to egg him on into doing something a little more aggressive. It seemed as though they were out for blood or something. Though he continued to pay them no mind, just so long as they followed his orders and did as they were told then he really didn't care much what they complained about. Quietly watching the girl move another one of her paws, Rhys took a moment to consider the bored before ordering one of his knights to move forward. Maybe that was 'aggressive' enough to shut the pieces up for a moment.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine's pieces plainly didn't trust her. She wondered if people who owned boards had something of a rapport with their pieces, maybe coaching the player along. Though perhaps they were more emotion driven than AI was. "Hmmm...wizarding AI..." she muttered quietly, without really thinking. She moved her other knight forward, more for symmetry than any actual clever play, which elicited some groans from the pieces. At least AI backtalk can be turned off.

 

[Rhys Garner]

He was surprised to hear the girl mutter something, glancing up for the board to look across the table. "What was that? Were you trying to talk to me? Sorry, didn't quite get what you said." He was unsure of whether she was trying to talk to him or not. Then again, she had been muttering and he supposed if she wanted him to hear something she would have spoken up. But, Rhys was coming to find the younger girl was just as socially weird as he was, so maybe muttering was just easier.

 

[Aine Thompson]

Aine barely registered that she'd even said something out loud until the older boy questioned her on it. "Oh, I was just..." she started, shaking her head a little at how silly the thought was as she tried to put it in to words. "I mean, magic's all new to me, so I'm just kind of curious at how the pieces even have personalities and seem to have thoughts? In the muggle world, it's probably just programming and AI and stuff, but here it's like, oh nooo, technology and magic together bad, so now I'm just kind of wondering about the philosophy of it all, y'know?" Realizing this defeated the purpose of playing quietly, she looked back down at the pieces and moved one of the pawns she'd already moved another spot forward.