#glibncss

“Oh, five more minutes please, Jo—“ he complained lightly, taking a moment to pull the pillow out from under his head and press over his face a moment to escape his daughter’s prodding. It was still dark outside, sunlight just beginning to crest the horizon, but Malcolm rose with popping joints and pressed a soft kiss to Leandra’s temple as he tucked the blanket up further around her.

(the aftertaste of the rain from the night hung in the air.)

“Do you always talk to your chess pieces?” Teagan asked, looking at the young woman.  He grinned and moved his Queen across the board, knowing his strategy was off a bit.  However, he’d been getting better once he started playing with Eamon again.  Rowan was always good for a chess game when she was alive.  But he’d fallen out of practice at her illness.  “Still, I think I am the one who cannot defeat this foe.  I think in a few moves, you might have me.”

Charlotte was hiding a smile behind the fingers of a hand holding up her head, the other appendage hovering briefly over the board before making a move that immediately playing made her realise she’d turned the tide of their game without meaning to. “I’ll have you know, Bann Teagan, that only the very best chess players speak to their pieces,” she replied with a faux haughty sniff as she sat back. “And I believe our agreed upon wager was a copious amount of apples were I to win, yes?”