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The sound of defeated groans could be heard throughout the mindscape as Ford was soundly beaten for the 5th time in a row.
“You cannot be serious.” The scientist covered his face with his hands as he ruminated on his defeat. “I can’t believe I left my queen open for your taking! That was so obvious, how did I miss it?!” Ford ran the game through his head, analyzing every misstep with a grimace. It had been going so well too! He had taken most of Bill’s pieces, and was in the process of cornering his king when he lost his win condition.
“Aw, cheer up IQ!” Somehow, the use of that nickname just made the loss sting more . “You know you’re no match for me!” The crinkle in Bill’s eye was more mocking than anything resembling comfort. It made something in Ford’s chest flare up indignantly at the hit to his pride.
“I beat you in all the games we played yesterday!” he protested, red and sputtering, the already damaged remains of his ego holding on for dear life as he crossed his arms defensively.
“A lucky fluke!” The triangle reasoned, leaning back with a smug grin, taking a slow sip from his cup of tea. Oh it was just too easy to rile ol’ Sixer up!
“That’s it .” Ford stood up, hands planted firmly on the chess board between them, mirroring the challenging glare that was directed towards the deity. “I’m going to beat you this round.”
“Oh? It sounds like you want to make a bet, is that right?” He leaned forward in his chair, intrigued. “What would we be wagering then?”
“Um…” Ford paused, momentarily stumped. He hadn't been meaning to make a bet, but he could admit it sounded…interesting. Both of them did enjoy high stakes after all.
“If I win, we get to spend a day just working on my research instead of the portal,” he finally decided. Don't get him wrong, he loved working on the portal but…he did miss documenting the weirdness of the town he lived in. Plus a break from the portal could be good for his mental health, give him more inspiration for when he returns!
“And if you win you can…uh..” Ford trailed off, momentarily stumped. Actually he wasn't all that sure of what the deity could want and not already have in the snap of a finger. Maybe it was more in the spirit of things?
“We’ll get to that if I win, don't worry about that Sixer,” Bill smirked. “I mean, since you said you were going to win this round~” He leaned forward, voice lilted teasingly as he grinned.
Yeah that…that made sense. No use worrying about what Bill would do if he won because he wasn't going to win. Ford nodded determinedly with the conditions set, already planning his strategy. There was no way he was going to lose now.
“It's a deal then?” The corners of the triangle’s eye curled up into a grin as he extended his hand to seal the agreement.
“Deal.” With that, Ford resolutely shook his hand, blinking away the slight fuzz that making a deal with Bill always brought.
They sat back down in their seats, Ford behind the black pieces and Bill behind white as always. The deity boldly moved his knight first, jumping completely over his pawns, and disrupting Ford's gameplan in an instant. “Hah, I knew you would pull that.” He bluffed, moving a pawn on the opposite side of the board two spaces forward. You know. Like a NORMAL PERSON.
“Sure ya did IQ!” Bill hummed, amusement coloring his words. He matched Ford’s pawn with his own as he continued. “I'm just so predictable afterall!”
“Well I'd say you're predictable in your unpredictability,” Ford mused, diverting the attention to a pawn in a different spot. “Exactly how unpredictable is anyone's guess but it still eliminates some options nonetheless,” he finished with a smile.
Bill subsequently took the exact predictable action of using his knight to capture the pawn Ford just moved.
He blinked at the board, mouth open in a silent “oh.” Yeah of course he would do that actually, not sure why he did move that pawn there…Ford hummed, lips pressed tightly together as his eyebrows scrunched together in thought. He forced himself to focus , tearing himself from his thoughts of how and why , making his next move.
“Oh ,maybe that victory isn’t so guaranteed Fordsy~” The triangle sing-songed, moving a bishop without even looking at the board. “After you were so confident too,” he tsked. “What a shame.”
The man reddenned in embarrassment, stuttering to explain himself. “That was just..” a mistake. “A calculated loss,” he finished, leaning back. “All a part of my plan, I assure you my Muse.” His feigned cool tone quickly blanketed his frazzled nerves, clearing his throat as he waved off the triangle’s concerns.
Bill hummed doubtfully, glancing at the board with a raised eyebrow. “Ah. So I assume this is also a…calculated loss?” He grinned, amusement glinting in his eye as he took another one of Ford’s pieces.
He floundered for a response, humiliation making his mind go blank. He frowned at the board, gritting his teeth. “ Yes . It was on porpoise- pur- it was planned.” He stumbled over his words embarrassingly, choosing to ignore Bill’s cackles. Ford grumbled quietly instead, moving to attack his queen, face flushed a light pink.
Bill effortlessly dodged the attack with a flick of his wrist, grinning. “Yes, yes, you’re just so good at chess, aren’t you Sixer?” he cooed. “Just need to focus on not losing anymore pieces right?”
The only answer he got was a grunt as Ford inspected his possible moves. Focus , he just had to focus …The mindscape went quiet as the 2 players made their next moves in silence, broken only by the quiet clinking of the wooden pieces being placed. Ford’s first few blunders were easily forgotten as time went on, the man capturing Bill’s rook with a small smile.
“Would you look at that?” Bill quipped, breaking the silence with an amused grin. “Seems like you’ve gotten into your groove, eh Sixer?”
“Yeah, must’ve just been the nerves,” he chuckled softly. He had thankfully been able to salvage the game, not losing any more pieces and actually capturing quite a few of his opponent’s.
“Right, the nerves,” Bill concurred with a sly smile that was hidden behind his tea cup as he took a sip, his queen casually bumping a pawn off the board.
Ford blinked at the board uncomprehendingly, reeling back, bewildered and off-center. The sight of one less black piece caused his head to go fuzzy, words audibly coated in confusion. “Wha…how..?”
Bill just smirked as he hummed smugly.
── △ ──
“Deal.” Bill’s grin widened as they shook on it. Man Sixer was almost too easy to manipulate! “Great! In that case why don’t you just sleep ?”
The floor felt as if it just dropped from under Ford's feet as his hand was yanked, pitching forward with a yelp. The moment of weightless shock paired with Bill's distorted voice left him with little choice than to do exactly that: sleep .
Bill quickly caught the man before he could faceplate into the starry floor, continuing to murmur phrases like sleep , drop , and sink deeper enticingly into the man's ear. He gently laid him down, smoothing an inky hand over the soft curls.
Ford’s eyelids fluttered as he mumbled something unintelligible, the wave of soft comfort quickly claiming him and enveloping the scientist in blankets of pure warmth. Ford could vaguely register words being spoken somewhere(?) but the meaning was far beyond his ability to process, tucked away into a corner of his mind somewhere for himself to find later.
The triangle watched the look of dazed confusion on his pawns face with glee. It always excited him when his Fordsy would just fall right into his lap like this. Sure, he already had a trigger he could've used, but where would be the fun in that?
“...mm…muse..?” the sound of a soft, slightly slurred voice pulled Bill from his thoughts.
“Shhh, that's right Sixer, just drop for your Muse ,” he cooed, running a gloved hand through his hair. Might as well give him a little extra right? It was much more fun seeing the man fall to his skills even without any pre-existing triggers. What could he say? Bill enjoyed a challenge!
The triangle thought back to the bet that they'd just made, idly petting his human as he hummed, an idea striking him.
“Hey Sixer, you know how we're going to play a game of chess for our bet right?” he asked lightly, receiving a vague noise of affirmation from the tranced out scientist in his lap. “Well I have an idea to make it more interesting. Raise the stakes a bit you know?”
The man hummed in interest. Raise the stakes? He did like a challenge…
“I know that you really want to beat me, so just imagine how much better it’ll feel when you beat me on hard mode! So how’s this: everytime you lose a chess piece, you also lose a piece of your mind.”
“It can be your train of thought, maybe you’ll lose your strategy, or your focus. But you’ll still win in the end because you’re just so good aren’t you Fordsy?” Ford shivered at the compliment, a small but dopey grin spreading across his face that Bill smirked at.
“Yeah you are,” he praised, cupping the man’s face fondly. “Now, these little ‘house rules’ will stay in the back of your mind even as you consciously forget them, still following along alright?
“So, remembering to forget, forgetting to remember, wake up .”
— △ —
“What…how…” Ford trailed off, eyebrows lightly furrowed in confusion.
“Hm? What’s that IQ?” The triangle smirked at the dumbfounded expression on the man sitting across from him.
He hummed dazedly, staring at the board, trying to figure out where he went wrong. It was so hard to think when his mind was all fuzzy though…
“It’s your turn Sixer,” Bill gently reminded him with a grin.
“Oh….oh yeah.” Ford startled, turning his attention back to the board from where he had started drifting. A soft click of the wooden knight jumping to capture Bill’s bishop resounded through their small section of the mindscape.
Bill hummed appreciatively as he moved a pawn forward. “Good move IQ.”
The corners of his mouth pulled up into a small smirk from the compliment, humming softly through his turn. “Thanks my muse…”
Another click of the board announced one of Ford’s knights being captured, but he found he couldn’t really be annoyed about it anymore. Not when everything felt so nice and floaty…
He found himself just staring at the board slack-jawed as he let his mind be captured, drifting blissfully in that awfully familiar relaxation…
“You gonna make your move, Fordsy?” Bill teased, the corners of his eye pulled up into a smirk, grinning like the cat with the cream.
Oh yeah….Ford looked across the board, lost, his strategy long forgotten. His blurry gaze barely registered the shapes, certainly not enough to even remember how they worked.
“I just moved my rook here, so my queens open,” the triangle pointed out. “You should capture it with your bishop,” he gestured which pieces to move, it being far too complicated for Ford’s blank mind by now.
Of course, following his muse was easy enough even as simplified as his mind was. The game, if it could even be called that, proceeded in similar fashion, with Bill directing Ford what moves to make, both sides gradually losing more pieces until there was only their kings and a single black queen.
The man was swaying in his seat by now, a thin line of drool trailing down his chin as he stared unseeingly at the pieces.
“You got a clean shot to my king IQ,” Bill murmured, the nickname fond and yet ironic. “Go ahead and take it .”
And really how could he do anything else? With a heavy hand and even heavier mind, Ford moved his queen and won the game.
Bill clapped, smirking at the dazed man who didn’t even seem to realize that he won. “Great job IQ! Knew you had it in you to beat me. What did you have planned if you won again? A day doing research? Sure why not!” he chuckled, ruffling the man’s hair fondly as he leaned into it with a slow blink. “And since you were so good, how about you go ahead and drop for your Muse.”