Strategy Games [close]

[brynwieldr]

Who: Leo and Hijikata
What: Shogi lessons, discussions of shinki, and Hijikata's Painfully Obvious Crush on Souji
When: June 20th, after Leo's shinki have basically ruined the week.
Where: Hachiman's temple
Summary: Saix is causing problems, Niles is staying at his boyfriend's, Leo needs some stress relief, and Takumi keeps kicking his ass at shogi. Time to find someone both not absolutely bonkers and can probably help Leo with shogi.

[Leo was going to refrain from hiding in Aymeric's wine cellar for now, despite really wanting to hide in Aymeric's wine cellar. What had he done to deserve this? True, he didn't expect anything different from Niles, but why did he have to have a berserker shinki and Niles?

He needed a break, but the next game he and Takumi were supposed to play was shogi and Leo was not in the mood to lose to Takumi again so he was out of the question.

So he went to Hijikata's. True, if the man was any good at shogi he'd likely kick Leo's ass but playing against someone who wasn't Takumi would give Leo a chance to learn more strategies, and anyway he hadn't seen the other man in a while. This was a good excuse for a visit.

Once at the temple, he begins looking for him and letting the quiet of the temple soothe his ravaged nerves]

Comments

[brynwieldr]

Oh, dammit.

[He returns the piece and moves one he knows how to move]

There's a political aspect to most marriages, at least back home, but it's also perfectly acceptable for a Nohrian ruler to ignore everything for marrying the one they love. Of course, then you risk issues like my father had, countless concubines and children because he claimed to love any woman he slept with, but that's hardly unique.

[koukai_kirai]

The one they love... Letting that be a deciding factor honestly sounds rather novel.

Sounds like someone went a little overboard with it, though.

[He moves again, capturing a relatively unimportant piece from Leo's front line.]

[brynwieldr]

[Double dammit]

Yes, well, Father could never tell a woman "no", especially not if they carried his child.

[koukai_kirai]

That would complicate the matter of turning them away.

[He's lucky he didn't get anyone in trouble when he was younger... or at least not anyone willing to admit it was his fault.]

[brynwieldr]

Trust me, keeping all of us bastards didn't make things any easier either.

[koukai_kirai]

I can imagine. It's probably a good thing that Souji entered the picture before my luck ran out there.

[His luck at not having bastards, that is.]

[brynwieldr]

[....Eh, Leo won't troll Hijikata with a "that you know of". He's not that mean.]

I assume Souji has none either. He doesn't seem the type to take many lovers.

[koukai_kirai]

[That gets a small laugh out of Hijikata. He sips at his drink, considering the game board idly.]

Souji? He was never really interested in that sort of thing.

[You know, except for with Hijikata.]

[brynwieldr]

Except for with you, I presume.

[Leo waits for Hijikata's move. He's pretty sure Hijikata has him beat but. Maybe?]

I honestly do think you'd both be better for confessing, Hijikata. Souji likely knows he's important to you already, given how obvious your pining is. I fail to see how it would hurt him to admit it.

/5 years late with Starbucks

[koukai_kirai]

[He shrugs in acknowledgement of that first point, as he scans the board and deliberates with himself about the next move. He's got a few options, and honestly, he's considering how much of a fighting chance to give Leo at this point, which move would teach him more about the strategy of this game.]

I'm sure he does know he's important. It's just... difficult to discuss the matter without bringing our history into it. Feels like it's more sensible to focus on now, if we're both largely happy this way.

[brynwieldr]

Fair enough, though I will still suggest you try to put it out there simply because as your friend? It's painful watching you pine for a man who's right there.

[koukai_kirai]

It's that bad?

[He's gotten softer than he realized, he guesses.]

[He can hardly even blame himself, after all the months he spent watching Souji's life slip away from them both.]

[He fidgets with the piece in his hand, still dithering about where to put it down.]

[brynwieldr]

I'm extremely observant. I doubt most other people see it as readily as I do.

[koukai_kirai]

Mm.

[He doesn't open up quite as much to the majority of other people, either. That makes sense.]

[He sets his piece down, in a position that he's deemed likely to make Leo aware of one of his earlier mistakes and give him a chance to draw this out a little longer, but unlikely to make him actually lose.]

...As long as he's happy, though, that really is enough.

[brynwieldr]

[Leo simply nods, studying the board.

He sighs]

I've lost, haven't I?

[koukai_kirai]

Unless you can see a way out of that that I can't.

[Which is unlikely, but he'll acknowledge the possibility.]

[brynwieldr]

...well, I could flip the table, if I were a child.

[koukai_kirai]

Think that might count as a loss by default.