cruelyethuman | Inbox Ximilia

Good. I wouldn't want you to be.

[With a pleasant smile and a tilt of his head, before watching the board again. The strategy that Jim seems to be applying is... a mystery.

As if the moves are made on a whim, but he has seen Jim in action, had watched him fight off a handful of bandits with a gun and bravado. Frowning, he moves another piece himself.]

I do know. Life here is infinitely easier than it is in my world. Imagine, I can simply walk to any of those cabinets and find something to eat. There's water, fresh and disease-free, in every room. And if I want something sweet... well, that's easy to find, as well. For most of my people, this is what paradise must look like.

[ With his quick, unexpected moves, Jim manages to snag a few pieces. Smaller things at first, nothing flashy, and letting a couple of his own being taken in a way that should make Kirigan feel like they're more or less on even ground. But it's clear he can play well, even if it's virtually impossible to predict what he's going to do next. ]

I don't have to imagine. It's the kind of world I've come from.

[ His expression dims somewhat, and he sits back a little, watching Kirigan. ]

But I have... been on a colony before. Lived there a while. All our crops died, we were cut off, so it was— complicated.

A world can be ideal, but it's not necessarily safe. As you well know, and we have seen on our missions before, these comforts can be easily taken away from us.

So. You know what desperation does to a man after all.

[His own moves are made only after careful deliberation, after watching Jim almost as much as he's watching the board. His fingers trailing over each piece as he thinks the moves through.

He moves his rook.]

Check.

They can, yes. But your world-- your universe, managed to create a place of unnumbered delights. And they did it peacefully. That's quite the achievement.

I know that in desperation a person's nature reveals itself.

[ It certainly revealed Governor Kodos's nature, just as it revealed the nature of those unwilling to harm, and looking to help. Jim was just a kid, thirteen at the time, but old enough to try to help instead of harm for his own sake.

He's not surprised by the check, moving swiftly away from the precarious position. In three moves, he's capturing that same rook. ]

As a species, we've seen enough war in the past to know that it's never the way to achieve the things we want. We would have gone extinct by now, if we kept going that way.

True. Yours is very... kind.

[Mentioned like a compliment, but a surprising one. The board is getting steadily low on pieces on both sides and the Darkling maneuvers his around until he's poised to take the queen.]

What are you doing in space, if not conquering. My world has known nothing but war for longer than I have been alive. It is-- exhausting.

Exploring, mostly. Seeing new places, meeting new people, making friends. You know all this, I've told you before.

[ Whether or not Kirigan takes the queen, it's irrelevant. Because it's only two moves later before Jim's cornering his king. ]

Checkmate.

I think that little detail might have slipped by me. There was a vast amount of information to absorb.

[Absorb might be laying it on too thick, when it had been mostly trying and sometimes failing, in finding a familiar foothold in this world.

A world where food was neither killed nor grown, where the door opened unaided. Knowing just just outside of the thin metal walls, the entire universe was a gaping, endless void.

He frowns at the board.]

Indeed. [That's what spending too much time watching Jim instead of the board brought him but there's a smile lingering on the edge of his mouth.] Well played.

You're just not paying enough attention to me.

[ Or in this case, paying too much attention to what he's saying, and not enough attention to what he's doing. He suffers the consequences of it by losing this match. Not that he wouldn't lose anyway, but maybe he could've put up a little more of a fight. ]

Thank you. I always do.

[ He tips his head forward, a bow to show at least some form of modesty. But only a tiny bit. ]

I doubt I can pay any more attention to you and still be considered appropriate.

[Eyes flicking up to Jim's for a second, before he goes back to studying the board. Rethinking he moves and the ones Jim took to outmaneuver him.] I can see why your people would think you a good captain.

You take risks, but calculated ones and you never lose sight of your goal. Very impressive.

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