Sibling bonding chess times.

[dancing_pierrot]

Who: Franziska von Karma and Miles Edgeworth
When: Backdated to Sunday August 1st at exactly 7 PM because Franziska von Karma is always perfectly on time.
Where: Edgeworth’s apartment.
Summary: Edgeworth and Franziska meet to play a game of chess, because it keeps the mind sharp! I mean it’s not like she enjoys his company or anything.
Warnings:

Comments

[mentis_reae]

Edgeworth knew Franziska, and so he knew to be waiting beside the door at precisely 7:00. He waited a requisite moment after she finished knocking before he opened the door, and then stepped aside, nodding to her cordially.
"Franziska," he greeted.

The chess board was already set up, chairs positioned beside it. It was a good, heavy board, one he quite liked, not quite so opulent as his free-standing marble board back home but beautifully crafted nevertheless. It had cost him some fifty dollars Canadian at a second-hand shop - truly, a small price to pay, so far as he was concerned.

"There is a coffee-maker in the kitchen; I myself do not know how to properly brew a pot, but you are free to use it if you so choose." The coffee-maker was Sam’s; the fellow swore by it, but Edgeworth had yet to so much as touch it.

"Would you prefer white or black?"

[dancing_pierrot]

As she entered, Franziska immediately began to look around, examining her surroundings closely. It was not surprising to realise that Miles Edgeworth really hadn't changed at all - even circumstances being what they were, the place still felt like him. She wondered if she would ever be able to achieve the same personal flair with her own living space, but then dismissed the idea as silly: if she had never bothered at home, then why would she start here? Simply because Miles Edgeworth had? Nonsense.

"Are you asking about coffee or chess?" she answered when he spoke; she had been distracted by the room around her and hadn't been following his implications closely enough. "Regardless, coffee is quite unnecessary for now. How about we just get started?"

[mentis_reae]

“Chess,” he said, clearing his throat with just the slightest trace of embarrassment. He supposed that had been rather ambiguous, and he hated nothing so much as being caught in some malapropism or clumsy statement by Franziska. A rather odd fact, since she did not lord those sorts of mistakes over him any more than she lorded any other mistakes over him, but...Well. He wanted to seem eloquent in general. He supposed that seeming eloquent in front of someone as competitive as she was doubly important, for some reason.

“I should be glad to do so. My question, however, still stands: white or black?” He himself tended to take - indeed, tended to prefer - black, the more difficult side to play. It made winning far more satisfying if you were able to do so from a disadvantage.

[dancing_pierrot]

“I have no preference. You choose,” she answered; it was her opinion that it did not matter who started in a game of chess - it was simply a game of skill, and whoever was better would win. She hoped that it was more than obvious who she thought that person was. “However, if you too have no preference, I suggest we simply flip a coin. In fact, if we have enough time,” she emphasised the word with a raised eyebrow at Miles, “we could play several games and swap colors, if you’re particularly worried about equity. I wouldn’t want you to think you had been treated unfairly.”

No longer distracted by her surroundings, she was now paying close attention to his face, wanting to watch his response as well as hear it. This was no time to lose her focus - if she allowed herself to be honest, she considered him a formidable opponent, but that did not mean there was any room for failure on her part.

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[mentis_reae]

“Very well, then; I’ll take black.” He crossed his arms and turned his gaze to the board, already pondering how the game would go. Franziska was often a more aggressive player than he, and he had frequently used that to his advantage over their many games - but this Franziska, who came from a point in time later than his own, who had closed the gap in age between them, might play differently. She was more measured and thoughtful in word and deed, more mature and level-headed. Would that translate to her chess game?

He took the chair behind the line of black pieces, frowning, his brow slightly furrowed. He tried to think of what her opening move would be. King’s pawn to e4, he decided tentatively, narrowing his eyes slightly, already focused.