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[pawntakesking]

WELCOME TO YOUR PRIVATE CHANNEL, REGULUS BLACK. FOR SECURE COMMUNICATION, USE 079.07.1663.55 *** REGULUS BLACK has joined 079.07.1663.55 <ToujoursPur> This is the current address of Regulus Arcturus Black, formerly of London. <ToujoursPur> Please leave any messages here, and I will respond as soon as I can. Alternatively, ask at the Kit-TEA-Kat Café if you wish to see me in person. <ToujoursPur> Yours, R.A.B.

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[pawntakesking]

[Regulus smiles wryly, moving his own pawn to capture Eridanus'.]

I would hope so. Despite all evidence to the contrary.

I appreciate the sentiment, in any case. I suspect I would have been proud to study under you.

[icy_veins]

[A sly grin splits the sharp plains of Eridanus' face as he watches Regulus claim his piece, and it's enough to bubble an airy laugh through his broad chest.]

So you say, though you have demonstrated yourself to have grown past such things.

[Eridanus sets his knight forward, claiming that pawn that had just stolen his own.]

Well, at the very least I can still tutor you in the ways of getting your arse thoroughly handed to you in stratagem.

[pawntakesking]

[Regulus chuckles, a brief, dry sound.]

Knowing that you've had orders of magnitude longer to practice, I'll try not to take it personally.

[He considers the board for only a moment before moving his bishop through to the square which is, with the move of Eridanus' knight, no longer threatened. An intentional sacrifice. He can see how he could get Eridanus in check three moves from now, although he's sure the more experienced player will have seen it too and planned for it.]

It's interesting, don't you think, how common chess seems to be across worlds?

[icy_veins]

[Eridanus returns with an airy laugh, his head nodding to one side with Regulus' cheeky remark.]

You certainly are not incorrect. [His smile wanes into something more comfortable, as his own gaze drops back to the board.

He sees what Regulus is doing, his plan is good, but it's too obvious. Eridanus does not move his knight though, and rather, moves his own bishop from the opposite side of the board—to where it could easily contest any piece that moved for his king.]

Even if they are not exactly chess, I have found games similar enough through many cultures on Vathea. So, I'm not so surprised of its existence beyond realms. [His gaze meets Regulus',] it's certainly nice though, isn't it? No matter the world, the language you speak, or your past — everyone is equal with a chessboard between them.

[pawntakesking]

[He's rather relieved by that move. It would have been a disappointment, in many ways, if Eridanus just let him get away with it.]

[He smiles, glancing up at Eridanus for a moment before returning to studying the board.]

There's a poetry to it, certainly. Though there's also an irony, isn't there? Equality, over a board of kings and pawns.

[Making his decision, he leaves his bishop where it is and shifts another pawn instead.]

And, of course, a game of winners and losers.

[icy_veins]

[Eridanus chuckles, his gaze unfaltering from the board. He watches Regulus contemplate his move, abandoning his bishop in favor of a more cautious pawn.]

Hm well, from one pawn to another... [There's certainly an irony there.]

Don't you find it to be comforting knowing that, if you play your moves right, even a pawn can take down a king?

[It would be a foolish ploy in the game of chess, but metaphorically, his point stands. Eridanus hovers his claws over his knight, and moves it center-board before lifting his gaze to meet the young man's.]

Every piece on the board holds power, and winning and losing is not determined from where you start, but the decisions you make to get to your end.

[pawntakesking]

A pawn can't take down a king.

[There's a certain hardness in his voice, a rawness that's out of place in his usually flat and clipped tones.]

That is, not himself. He can only help others to do so. Or prevent them.

[icy_veins]

[Despite the tension in Regulus' shoulders and his voice, Eridanus' response is nothing short of a relaxed huff of laughter.]

I would say that you should tell that to my father — but he wouldn't be able to give you any response.

[Because the pawn slit the king's throat from ear to ear.]

Why do you believe the pawn to have less power than it does?

[pawntakesking]

Because I know how the game works.

[He reaches over, moving his rook. The shadows fall a little too deep across the board when he does.]

All a pawn can do is lure the king out. Almost definitionally, if the pawn is the only threatening piece, the king is not in checkmate. And you can start to think that it will work, that if you are clever enough and think far enough ahead, it must be possible, but it isn't. The best you can hope for is a worthwhile sacrifice.

[He clears his throat, reaching for his tea.]

Or you can just waste your pawn before it has a chance to cross the board and become a piece. Which, let's be honest with ourselves, is more likely.

It's certainly what's happened in my experience.

[icy_veins]

Regulus.

[Eridanus' voice is firm, paternal even, but there is no anger in it. The look he fixes the man across the board with is by all means gentle. There's concern in his furrowed brow and for the moment, he doesn't take his turn.

Instead he leans forward, and his voice drops to a conspiratorial whisper.]

You are not a sacrificial lamb, we are not sacrificial lambs.

[He sighs, the sound thick with irritation. He wants to say that if he could go back — if he could do for Regulus what he did for himself — he would. But he can't, it's too soon, he won't allow himself that level of attachment.]

I don't know how you died, but it is not your only merit.

[pawntakesking]

[The irritation comes through to him more than the gentleness, being more familiar in such moments, and Regulus tenses a little, as if waiting for the penny to drop. For that irritation to turn on him directly.]

[When it doesn't, he sighs softly.]

I know. Don't worry, I know.

[Because there was no merit in it.]

[icy_veins]

[Eridanus inhales slow, steadying the anger that had flared so easily within him. It's ridiculous how protective he feels of the man across the table from him, simply for the fact that they share common experiences.]

My father, [he starts as he moves his bishop forward,] never truly saw me as a person. I could do whatever I wanted, within the parameters he set for me. Even when I was across the world from him, he was always watching me. He took away my chance at happiness, and I... I apologize that you no doubt understand that feeling.

[He raises his gaze, leveling melancholy eyes at the aqueous shadow across from him.]

Our scars will certainly follow us, but they do not define us. I was the pawn who killed the king, and if only— if only I could give you the same retribution I gave myself, dear Regulus.

[pawntakesking]

[Regulus frowns, his glowing eyes narrowing. He appreciates the sentiment, he truly does - and appreciates, too, being trusted with what he has no doubt is a very personal and meaningful story. But also...]

Am I misunderstanding, or did you just tell me you committed patricide?

[icy_veins]

[Eridanus levels his gaze at Regulus, and his eyes are cold, distant.]

And I would do it again, [he murmurs quietly,] he had far more blood on his hands than I ever would have. He was cruel, and he deserved everything he got.

[pawntakesking]

Oh.

[What else can you really say to that? Regulus doesn't meet Eridanus' eyes, dropping his own gaze to his hands, clasped in front of him on the table.]

[It isn't that he can't sympathise with the betrayal. Of all people, he can understand it. But he never has quite shaken that one principle driven into him almost from birth: blood is more important than anything. Family is sacred. Parents are especially sacred. You can't just...]

[He swallows.]

I see.

I... can't say my father was quite that bad.

[icy_veins]

[Eridanus sees the way Regulus tenses, sees the conflict in the rise of his shoulders and the way he won't meet his gaze. In his lap, Eridanus continues to pet that purring cat, oblivious to the tension in the room between the two men.]

You shared some... vulnerability with me.

[He pauses, unsure if this is... the right thing to do, but it only seems fair now. Even if it's a bit like buying trust.]

Never mind the abuses he wrought upon me since my birth — he had the love of my life assassinated. If things had been his way, he would have claimed my infant son then, too. My mother died alone and grieving over the death of my youngest brother, who fell in war. My father only ever cared about anyone but himself.

[He lowers his own gaze then.]

I do not even consider him family, beyond the seed he gave to birth me.

[pawntakesking]

I see.

[And he does, at least a little. Family is sacred, but it's not unchangeable. Push the boundaries of your position far enough, and you can lose it. That's understandable.]

[He nods, reaching for the now-cool teapot to top up his cup.]

I'm very sorry. It sounds as though he put you through hell.

I can't blame you for wanting revenge.

[icy_veins]

[Eridanus exhales softly, and as Regulus reaches for his tea, he does the very same with his coffee mug. He takes a swift pull off it, enjoying the bitter taste as it slides down his throat.

Then he lowers his gaze to the board.]

Yes well, my one wish was to never turn out like him, and in some ways I succeeded. As we discussed, I am away from Eucryphia, which is the best way to keep her from my family's legacy of harm.

[pawntakesking]

[Regulus sighs, and finally reaches out to make his move.]

That's terribly sad. That to be away from someone should be the best way to protect them.

I understand it, though.

[icy_veins]

[There's a smile that crosses Eridanus' features, but it's melancholy, and perhaps a bit defeated.]

Not quite the experience I wished to call us kindred over.

[He leans forward and moves a pawn forward.]

Rather, our pasts are behind us now — and while they shed light on who we are now, we have the freedom to choose who we will be in the future, yes?