A Whole New World

[tidesnpc]

Characters: Anyone and everyone from all three ships.
Content: The clouds are gone, revealing the long-sought world below.
Setting: The edge of the continent, near the blast site.
Time: After all the monsters have been fought and the ships head southeast.
Warnings: What you bring with you.

Comments

[generaltroll]

Grumman paused, considering the chess board in front of him. His opponent had very cleverly placed him in a bind: in order to free himself from check, he would have to sacrifice either a pawn or a knight.

Normally there would be no contest, but that pawn was a critical part of his defense. With it out of the way, his front line would be unpleasantly vulnerable to attack.

"I must say, old friend, it's good to see that you made it through the chaos in one piece," he said, making idle smalltalk as he considered. "I would have so missed these games."

Deciding that the knight was worth less than the tactical position afforded by that pawn, he reluctantly moved his knight forward and to the right, blocking the path of the rook that was threatening his king.

[ooc: This thread is specifically for Iroh, but anyone who wants to do something else with Grumman can just reply to it!]

/amused by semi-matching icons

[myfavoritetea]

Iroh chuckled, an intense kind of smugness on his face that was usually indicative of plotting something. While he waited for Grumman to move, Iroh considered the other board before them. He could not remember whose idea it had been so long ago- to play a game of chess while simultaneously engaging one another in Pai Sho, but it was a wonderful one, and an experience he had missed in the time since he and Grumman had last seen one another. "As would I. It has been far too long between our games as it is."

He moved his hand almost in unison with his old friend, placing the day lily tile at an intersection and effectively blocking the harmony Grumman had been going for, while also bolstering one of his own. Satisfied, his eyes moved back to the chess board. "I am not surprised to see you remain unscathed, of course," he added with another chuckle. "You were always quite good at that."

[generaltroll]

Oh, fiddlesticks. Grumman had always been much worse at Pai Sho than at chess: it was much more abstract, difficult for him to get his head around. Now...he could move that Day-Lily tile, but all that would do it create an open space for Iroh to place another tile and turn it into a harmony of his own. That would be incredibly foolish of him. Instead, he placed another tile down next to it, preventing Iroh from building off of it. Nobody was gaining anything from that corner of the board.

"You know me, old friend, I'm a cockroach!" Grumman said with a genial smile. "I'm not going to die until I'm good and ready."

[myfavoritetea]

Iroh, conversely, had always found chess to be a bit more difficult for him than Pai Sho. The strategy part was fine- he excelled at forward thinking, but he had trouble predicting all of the possibilities. His rook took the knight, putting him in line to take another pawn the next go around, depending on Grumman's move, of course.

"Neither will I, I hope. We're both incredibly stubborn, after all," he chuckled.

[generaltroll]

Grumman switched over to the chess board, quickly moving his Queen into position to threaten the rook, should it take the pawn. If Iroh wanted to trade a rook for a pawn, that was just fine by him.

"Very true, very true. Although," he said, a little smugly, "I'm rather closer to being good and ready now than I was a week ago. Unless you decide to make a surprise return to the service, there's nobody sitting between me and Bradley's old job."

[myfavoritetea]

Shuddering at the thought, Iroh pulled an overly dramatic face, and moved his own attention back to the game he was more familiar with. "No, thank you. You are quite welcome to it. You have certainly waited enough."

Choosing to work with the disharmony Grumman had just instigated rather than against it, he placed the cup tile on a diagonal from the tile his opponent had just added, effectively neutralizing that disharmony from hindering his own progress.

"And I have... other matters of my own to attend to." He winked knowingly.

[generaltroll]

This was why Grumman disliked Pai Sho: he wasn't entirely certain what Iroh had just done, but he had a strong feeling that he had come out all the worse for it. Taking the offensive, he placed a Knotweed tile right at the center of one of Iroh's distant harmonies, essentially killing it.

"You're sure you're done with the military life?" he asked. "I know I could be shooting myself in the foot, here, but who knows what might be lurking in that new world below us. Doesn't the thought of a proper campaign warm your blood again?"

[myfavoritetea]

"I am very sure, old friend." Chuckling, he flashed a suggestive grin at his fellow lecherous old man. "There are quite a few things that warm my blood, especially lately, and I have no doubt that...present circumstances will eventually cause me to head down to that that world below... but it will not be for Ivona."

Noting the presence of Grumman's queen, Iroh elected to leave the rook where it was for the moment, safe and protected by one of his bishops, and moved his knight in to claim a pawn on the vestiges of the board.

[generaltroll]

Grumman laughed. "At your age? You old scoundrel. I will never understand what it is about you that women find so irresistible."

Grumman had been hoping Iroh would do something like that. He moved his bishop forward, placing Iroh in check while putting his pieces in absolutely no further danger.

[myfavoritetea]

He chuckled knowingly, "I can hardly tell you- then they would all flock to you and leave me to lie in my cold, sadly empty bed."

Looking over the Pai Sho board, Iroh's mischievous little grin only widened. Grumman had reacted just as he'd hoped. He placed the white lotus tile close to the center of the board, knowing that the unique properties of the piece would drastically change the dynamics of all harmonies it effected. Which, in this case, only augmented his own.

[generaltroll]

Grumman grimaced at the Pai Sho board, but he turned it back into a smile as he looked back up at Iroh. "Nonsense, old friend, you know I'm happily married. I hope you're not accusing me of being a philanderer!"

This was why he couldn't get his head around Pai Sho. It was a game that punished aggressive play and encouraged passivity. Grumman was good at waiting, but only on a 'for the right moment to strike' basis.

There wasn't much he could do about that lotus tile. Accepting the loss of position, he instead placed a jasmine tile next to one of his Lilies, creating a new harmony.

[myfavoritetea]

Iroh glared at the chess board, trying desperately to see some way of salvaging this situation. There didn't appear to be one. Prepared to move his rook into the path of the bishop to prevent the check, he suddenly realized there was at least a small ray of hope. "Would I ever do such a thing?" he chuckled merrily. "But I am surprised that you would even question my secrets, my friend."

He castled the king.

[generaltroll]

Grumman's eyebrows shot up. "Pardon me, old friend, but did I just see you castle your king out of check? You know you can't do that." He smiled, and then continued, joking: "Don't try to pull one over on me, my eyes aren't that bad yet!"

[myfavoritetea]

Inwardly chastising himself for his stupidity, Iroh moved the pieces back with a laugh. "Merely making sure you were still paying attention, my friend." He went back to his original idea, and moved the rook into the bishop's path.

The chess game was largely a formality for him, anyway. Grumman almost always won.

[generaltroll]

Much like Iroh always won at Pai Sho. Still, the fun was in the game, not the winning. Grumman mercilessly advanced his bishop forward and took the rook.

"Of course, of course," Grumman said, allowing Iroh to get away with his mistake without further remark.

[myfavoritetea]

Moving back to the game he excelled at, Iroh smirked over the board, and set the night pine next to Grumman's jasmine. Now that harmony, too, was blocked, leaving the lilies able to be redirected and used for his own.

"So, my friend: will be heading down to this new world below, or will you stay?"