[Video] Chess

[geniustheveil]

[The heartless have been getting to quite a few people lately. It's hard to tell at first whether Ami is one of them. She's inside, seated at a small table and playing chess against herself. Masters of the game would note the arrangement of the board as a very famous end game maneuver. She's testing it again, noting its weaknesses and the ways to defend against it.

It's keeping her mind off the shadows, and the things that always seem to not-quite-be-there when she looks. It's keeping her mind off the doubts, the worries, the insecurities. But there's very little of her usual gentle smile despite the seeming calm. She has a perhaps not-so-incongruous question.]

What are the things you do to relax and unwind your mind?

Comments

[Video]

[death_is_a_riot]

Why would your mind need unwinding~?

Re: [Video]

[geniustheveil]

[She downplays it, of course.]

It's nothing. I suppose I've just been thinking a lot with some of my friends returning here lately.

[Those tiny glimpses out of the corner of her eye... it's just her mind playing tricks, isn't it? It has to be.]

[Video]

[death_is_a_riot]

Thinking about the ones who aren't here or about the ones who are~?

[Video]

[geniustheveil]

I suppose it's both. I'm very grateful they've arrived, and I hope we'll spend a great deal of time together. But I worry for the ones still gone.

[Video]

[death_is_a_riot]

But maybe they will leave again~?

Re: [Video]

[geniustheveil]

It's possible. It's happened before.

[Video]

[death_is_a_riot]

Then you should be used to being alone~

Re: [Video]

[geniustheveil]

I am. [It doesn't mean it's what she wants. 'I'm used to it' is her constant excuse, her attempt to convince herself that means it's alright.]

[Video]

[death_is_a_riot]

So why chess, that is a two-player game~?

[Video]

[geniustheveil]

It's a game I like. I can develop my strategies for matches this way.

[Video]

[death_is_a_riot]

[Oh well... didn't look like a heart would be coming from this one after all. ]

You should find some one to play with~

[Video]

[geniustheveil]

[She's just good at hiding it. The truth is, she's feeling worn down. Tired. Disconnected.]

It's alright if I play alone, isn't it? [Is there someone who'd want to play with her?]

[Video]

[death_is_a_riot]

Playing a two-player game alone doesn't sound like much fun~

[Video]

[geniustheveil]

In the absence of a partner, it's better than nothing. [There's something a bit cold about the answer, instead of the gentleness she'd normally use.]