She’d thought the chess set was relatively normal, even if the style was cheekier than she was used to. But when the first piece moves one space up without her opponent touching it, and the pawn faces those crossed arms forward, she knows she’s in for a different kind of game than she’s ever played before.

Surprised that she’d managed to stifle the gasp when the piece first moves, she’s proud of herself for doing it all the same. Because with the way her opponent’s smirk slips from above his odd chess set, he was expecting more of a reaction. It still does take her a few moments to stop darting glances between the pawn almost daring her to make her own move and the man that willed it forward in the first place.

“Nice trick. Do mine move too?” She asks, a forced hint of nonchalance coloring her tone. Her gaze still flicking back to his, they dart elsewhere on the board now too. Like she can figure out whatever mechanisms had allowed him to move the pawn by sight alone. The more she thinks on it, the less she realizes it makes sense. With all the combinations and strategies in chess, there was no way to accurately control a device under the table with a string or lever. Remote control maybe? But why?

He doesn’t answer her despite the pregnant pause. Not much of one to back down from a challenge, she pushes one of her pawns as well. But she lets hers eat two spaces to his one. Her fist raps against the wooden table supporting their game as soon as she’s done it, throwing the ball back in his court.

Let him move the piece again, seemingly with his mind. Simple parlor tricks weren’t going to win him the game.