Immediately in it was going perhaps as well as expected. Bart had lit up - cute, really, and adding a nervous blush to Briar's cheeks at the attention - and then rushed into arguing for a bet to go with it. It went as such:
"A ... a bet? Like, Jewels? Uh --"
"Yeah! Any game's a lot more fun with something on the line, Bri! It makes you try harder --"
"Gosh, I, uhm, don't really keep much money on me --"
"-- and the mages here could REALLY benefit from trying harder. I know I'm good, but that doesn't really --"
"I have about a thousand Jewel ... it's for lunch ..."
"-- give everyone else the excuse to barely try, especially when they challenge me. So 1000j? Sound good, Bri?"
Briar looked positively dizzy by the end of the interaction, but acquiesced. He'd just have to try extra hard: both for Bart and his tummy. This, too, went over as well as anyone could assume. With no prior experience and the knowledge of the game second-hand from watching occasionally, Briar stumbled through his first pawn movements and quickly found himself overwhelmed.
Bart was, at least, respectful in the course of the game despite his righteous confidence, and he sucked in a breath each time before he could express disappointment at Briar's play. The Soul Dew Mage, for his part, smiled along with his tongue between his lips in thought. Bart couldn't help the lower of his guard. Knight to G8. He sighed. "You know, I don't try to be mean about it all, Bri. It's just that ..." Briar glanced up, cheeks sharp, and slowed to let Bart talk while he stared down at the board. He went on to explain that everyone around him, his brothers, his parents -- they all wanted him to succeed. Maybe more than he did, sometimes. He just didn't want to lag behind.
Check. "I like being good at this. I mean, really really good. It's so cool that I can keep up with mages on a chessboard even without magic." Check. "But I don't want to be a bully. I'm just stressed, I guess. A little lonely sometimes. Is that ... okay?"
Briar smiles at him before getting checked again. He was just stalling his life at this point. Laughs a soft, melodic laugh, the sound as carefree as the breeze. "I think it's amazing you're so passionate about something, Bart. I've never been very - uhm - competitive, but I think if there's anything worth caring this much about, it's something you love. ... Mmm. As long as you love it, right?"
Bart exhaled, moving one more piece for game. Checkmate. It went unspoken. "You don't have to be lonely, if that's the case. You have something you love. And you have people that love it, too. And people like me - that love that you love it. Yeah?" Briar beams as Bart's lips quiver, straightening to a firm line and a look away from the table. Briar helpfully plays along, patting himself on the knee with a tut at the boardstate. "I guess lunch is on me though, ehe. Golly, Bart, well played. Eh? I'll have to practice real hard to do better next time we play."
A quiet moment. "... Thas okay. A-hm. Let me. I ... got what I wanted. ... Good game."
[621 | 922]