"Bart, huh? Sure, I'll play you. Name's Asher by the way." The grey-haired mage said, placing himself on the stony seat of the stone table. On the surface was a painted chess board, though it was losing grip on the table from the age. Bart smiled calmly, though it hid a small detail to be noted. When the mage was sat comfortably, he let the detail out.

"By the way, we're betting jewels on this." The nerd subtly explained, but didn't quite get past Asher. The boy slid a pile of jewels onto the side of the table, right next to the paint. "This much should suffice. Put jewels there as a payment. Unless you're too scared.

Cocky little kid, was he so confident in himself? Then again, he had to get those jewels somehow. Whatever, he was just a kid. An annoying one, but still a kid Instead of reacting, Asher had to think of the situation. If he didn't want to gamble, it would look like he had less jewels to spare than this kid. No, Dakota had his pride, he was not going to give it up to the likes of the child who barely had his baby teeth taken out. So he slid some jewels into the pile from his now nearly-empty jewel sack.

The kid started off by bringing out one of the two knights, a default move to be made in the beginning of a chess game. Unfortunately, Asher did not know too much about the game. Instead of respecting to morals of chess, he placed the pawn on the third furthest right one space forward. When the chess piece clicked onto the surface, a chuckle could be heard from the boy.

"You have got to be joking, have you ever played this game before?" Bart asked, confident as he swiftly took a black pawn from his near middle area, more to the right however, and placed it once space forward. To that, the mage did have to react, as he did have his pride.

"Of course I have! What, aren't children taught to respect their elders these days?" Asher asked mockingly, smirking as he raised the pawn to the side of the empty space, moving it up two spaces. The click of the chess piece did not follow with a chuckle, nor a response.

When the mage looked up, he looked up to find the kid hanging his head down. What? Come on, it wasn't that good a roast, he went light because he was a child. There was no way a child could be hurt by such a stupid phrase.

"Asher, right?" Bart asked, still keeping his head held down low. "You are a mage, you have to be an adult, right?"

Not the most accurate statement from boy genius, but Asher went along with it and nodded his head.

"So why did you agree to my game? I'm a kid, and you're an adult." He continued, using some flawed logic in the eyes of the mage. But there perhaps was more to the story, and their game of chess wasn't going to end until this kid made a move.

"What are you going on about?" He asked Bart, crossing his arms and leaning back. However, there was no back support on the stony seat, nearly making him lose balance.

Bart stayed silent for a moment, lifted his head, and a small little tear would roll down his cheek. "I'm not... You know... As good at this game as my brothers." He explained, another tear rolling from the opposing left eye. "You wouldn't genuinely accept this game, right? You're not supposed to, you're an adult. Adults don't acknowledge those below them."

"Hey, hey now!" The mage cut in, waving his hands forward as rudely as humanly possible. Abusing that "adult" authority. "What I said was just a joke! Your brothers have nothing to do with this game, it's just you and me."

Another silence between the two of them. This time less awkward, but not completely normal either. This weird skinny kid started crying and the adult mage was understanding none of it.

"Asher. Did you know I cannot recall the last time I have seen my father's face?" Bart explained, looking down onto the chess board. He picked up one of his own pieces, the queen this time. Slowly, he would hover it over the board, sending it diagonally before reaching the edge. "My family wants a family of champions. My brother... They have bested the best of the lands in all sorts of sports... Even chess, my favorite."

"So?" The mage asked, eyes half-closed and tone lazy. It wasn't him not caring, but how he naturally came off as. The kid seemed smart enough to not acknowledge that, maybe even understand that in fact.

"Mami said that the day I become a champion, I will be his child. But my brothers took the one thing I am actually good at!" The kid screamed, the area around them being able to hear. Asher just looked to the kid with an indifferent pose."She doesn't say it, but I see how she treats them compared to myself. So Asher, you don't even know me, yet you bothered to play this game with me. Why?"

This one was an interesting case. Seems the child wasn't loved for himself, but his talents once he displayed them. He seemed smart, but desperate. If he falls to despair over a simple "sport" like chess, then he probably tried very hard to become a "champion" of the game. It explains the betting, if he could rake in a lot of jewels.

"Who cares? It's a game, you're a kid. Games are supposed to be fun, right?" He explained, uncrossing his arms and resting them on the stone surface of the table instead.  "While the gambling aspect is weird, I guess that gets an adrenaline rush in ya. But that doesn't stop me, takes a huge pair to do that with an adult."

He paused, realizing what he said.

"Uh... You'll understand that when you're older." He defensively added, shaking his arms forward before Bart could ask anything.

"Jokes on you, I already know what that means." Bart explained before pointing to the board. "By the way, Fool's mate. You already lost."

And so he did, the king was trapped no matter what move he made. It was game, and the money had been lost. Asher was stunned, both by how this kid knew what a pair meant and how he shut the mage down within just two turns. On top of that, the mage was going to have to sleep in an inn tonight.

But Bart had mercy, smiling as he would slide the jewel pile towards him. "Thank you, Asher. That was fun, keep this as a bit of a reward." The kid explained. One more small tear, but there was a smile equipped on his face. The poor thing. Without given a chance to reply, the child turned around and proceeded to walk away.

So there Asher was, alone with a chess board, the kid leaving behind the pieces. Hm. Fool's mate... Huh? No matter how anyone put it, the fool was the father, the mother a fraction as well. But the concept of this chess strategy as well as the moment he had with Bart, he couldn't let it go. So he snatched the attacking Queen and the victimized King as a couple momentos. Fool's mate, he wanted to know more.

WC: 1363