Axel lets out a short laugh immediately.
"Oh, no. No, that’s terrible." He shakes his head like he’s heard something absurd. "Don’t do that. Seriously, Blue, don’t listen to him." His tone shifts into something almost insistent, and then he adds, "No offense, but that’s not how we play at this level."
I feel the heat rise a bit in my face. "Yeah," I mutter, already stepping back from it. "You’re right. That was stupid. Blue, don’t listen to me."
Blue locks eyes with me for a second, but doesn’t respond. He simply continues the game.
I stand nearby and… a few moves later, the queen is gone from the board. Axel clicks his tongue and grins wider, almost satisfied.
"Blueshouldactually listen," he says, glancing at me. "You had a decent instinct for a second there, I’ll give you that. So I just had to discourage him! Ha!"
I shrug slightly. "Nah…"
Axel hums, still watching the board. "You’re Dallas’s brother, that makes sense. He’s talented, but… just too nervous. Always ends up paying for it."
Blue finally leans back a bit, his eyes still on the position.
"More faith in yourself, Gabriel," he says, and his tone is not mocking, just matter-of-fact. "Maybe you actually do have a knack for breaking things down. You see the right path on instinct."
He moves a piece, keeping calm.
"If I had listened to you, I wouldn’t have lost the queen," he adds. "The game would’ve simply gone on longer, with the sides remaining very evenly matched, but… I had a riskier plan in mind. Sometimes it’s worth choosing that kind of path." He smiles, strangely slowly. "This isn’t over, Axel."
His fingers tap the board once.
"In the next moves, I will put your king in check."
Axel’s smirk fades completely. His eyes narrow as he leans in again, scanning the position more carefully. His throat moves as he swallows.
"Yeah," he says after a moment, his voice quieter as he realizes his king is now impossible to defend. "Maybe. Wow. Sometimes you have to go all in, I guess… and risk it." He mutters a curse under his breath.
"Not sure about that. I took a risk not so long ago, and I ended up regretting it," I whisper, kinda more to myself than to them, but Blue hears it, and his eyes fix on me.
He knows what I’m talking about, for sure, but I quickly turn my head away.
Axel straightens abruptly, then stands up.
"I could probably work around that, conjure up some miracle. But the problem is, I’ve got somewhere to be," he adds quickly. "Business."
Blue lifts his brows. "Seriously? Now? That was just a warm-up."
Axel gives a short, dismissive huff. "You’ve got another candidate here anyway," he says, nodding toward me. "His idea wasn’t half bad."
Blue’s gaze shifts to me for a second, thoughtful.
"Who knows," he says at last.
"No, no. I’m not playing." I raise my hands defensively. "I’m the kind of player who invests heavily in defense and protecting my pieces, while Blue plays aggressively and takes bold risks. Entirely different strategies. That would be a real mess."
"Chess reflects people’s personalities in such interesting ways," Axel says with a half-smile. "After all, a bodyguard is supposed to protect his queen, isn’t he? The queen takes more risks."
"That was super deep," Blue says dryly and shrugs. "You’ll take your revenge next week, Axel."
"I can’t next week, I’ve got state championships, but I’ll come by in two," Axel says, already turning toward the door.
He throws me an inquisitive glance, running his fingers through his unusual hair streaked with violet. His expression is peculiar, slightly sour even, as if he's wrestling with some deep frustration. Then he says a brief goodbye.
When he leaves, it’s just me and Blue, and for some reason I feel this nervous kind of excitement in my body, but there’s nowhere for it to go.