Rafferty hated playing chess with Trevor. The only thing more annoying than how good he was at the game was how slowly he played it.

Of course he's good at it. I mean, all of the rules, and the little pieces, and the rules about the little pieces. Not to mention the part where you worry about what's going to happen, like, twenty moves from now.

But did he have to groan and fidget before every move, or put his chin on the edge of the board, and peer between the pieces with a pained expression on his face?

He's going to win. He always wins. He doesn't have to put himself through all this misery.

Rafferty came to the conclusion that Jacks must like misery. It was the only thing that made sense.

Trevor eventually made his move, briefly acted like he was going to snatch his pawn back up, thought better of it, and declared that it was Rafferty's turn.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

Rafferty picked up one of her pieces immediately.

"The horse thing moves diagonal, right?" she asked with a smirk.

"It's called a knight, and you know it doesn't," he said.

Yeah, but that scowl was worth it.

Rafferty moved her knight, sweeping Trevor's bishop off the board. Trevor's process began anew, which meant that she had a few minutes.

I don't understand why he doesn't play with Sheridan. Sheridan's actually good.

Sheridan was on the other side of the Common Room. She was briefing Cody and Blaspheme on a new system she had created for grading the effectiveness of their jumps.

Rafferty remembered why she had agreed to play in the first place.

Max entered the room, and everyone looked up.

They listened as he related a report of a God that had been seen in the vicinity of Neech. Max wanted a Hall to volunteer to take the job. He was looking in the direction of Larkin, from C Hall. If the description was accurate, it suggested an opponent that Larkin was well equipped to deal with.

Rafferty spoke up.

"We'll take it," she said.

Max turned to look at her, intrigued.

"But Rafferty, it sounds like a—" Cody piped up.

Blaspheme rolled her eyes to the sky. Even Sheridan raised an eyebrow in Rafferty's direction.

"We'll take it," Rafferty said, as firmly as she could.

"J Hall it is then. Downstairs in ten minutes," Max said. He could have been concerned or he could have been impressed. It was hard to tell with him.

Rafferty nodded, and felt satisfaction flood her chest.

Because Rafferty did things.

And because she would get to stop playing this stupid game.