GABRIEL #9
I have to agree with Veyron, Blue really is watching us more now, as our bodies glisten with sweat, and he seems less focused on the chess game.
I take Veyron to my bathroom so he can wash up, then walk him to the elevator to say goodbye.
As he’s leaving, he tells me, "If you believe something could come out of this, don’t give up, Gabriel.
Some people say you have to carve your own path in life, but those are the best ones, because they fit you perfectly.
Keep your head up." He gives my shoulder a light pat just as the elevator doors slide shut.
I head back to the rooftop garden, where Blue and Axel are still playing.
A little unsure, I move closer and glance at the chessboard. It looks like they’re evenly matched, with almost the same number of pieces left.
I get the impression that what drives Blue’s performance is the sheer brilliance of his mind rather than experience, since he doesn’t practice much, while Axel probably has years upon years of competitive play behind him and heavily relies on his hard-earned skillset.
I sit down in a rattan chair next to them and end up watching Blue, frankly staring rather intensely, my eyes like two hooks fixed on him. He notices it, and I can see he grows more fidgety, occasionally adjusting his glasses and brushing back loose strands of hair.
After some time of watching the game, I feel like saying something, making a comment or suggestion. I used to play chess with my brother, but I don’t quite have the nerve, and they’d probably just laugh it off anyway.
Axel’s gaze flicks up the moment I rub my chin, like he’s been expecting an interruption.
"Well," he says, smirking as he leans back slightly, eyes still on the board. "You got any advice for Blue, or are you just here to watch me win?"
Blue doesn’t look up. He just moves a piece between his fingers.
"I’m not really into chess," I start, already regretting stepping closer. "As a kid, I played with Dallas quite a lot, but he was awful and bullied me, calling me a short alpha brain, laughing off my mistakes, so I just gave up."
Axel tilts his head, sighing deeply. "That sounds like Dallas. But I’m definitely not him. And my uncle over here might actually benefit from an outside opinion. He plays too risky."
Blue finally glances at me for half a second, then back to the board, not commenting.
I hesitate, scanning the position. Something about the queen really feels slightly too exposed, too committed to the center without enough escape routes.
"Maybe…" I say slowly, "you could make the queen a bit safer. It’s sitting on a diagonal that’s getting more and more dangerous. If you tuck it back one square, you reduce the pressure and keep more control over the center."
Axel lets out a short laugh immediately.
"Oh, no. No, that’s terrible." He shakes his head like he’s heard something absurd. "Don’t do that. Seriously, Blue, don’t listen to him." His tone shifts into something almost insistent, and then he adds, "No offense, but that’s not how we play at this level."
I feel the heat rise a bit in my face. "Yeah," I mutter, already stepping back from it. "You’re right. That was stupid. Blue, don’t listen to me."
Blue locks eyes with me for a second, but doesn’t respond. He simply continues the game.
I stand nearby and… a few moves later, the queen is gone from the board. Axel clicks his tongue and grins wider, almost satisfied.
"Blue should actually listen," he says, glancing at me. "You had a decent instinct for a second there, I’ll give you that. So I just had to discourage him! Ha!"
I shrug slightly. "Nah…"
Axel hums, still watching the board. "You’re Dallas’s brother, that makes sense. He’s talented, but… just too nervous. Always ends up paying for it."
Blue finally leans back a bit, his eyes still on the position.
"More faith in yourself, Gabriel," he says, and his tone is not mocking, just matter-of-fact. "Maybe you actually do have a knack for breaking things down. You see the right path on instinct."
He moves a piece, keeping calm.
"If I had listened to you, I wouldn’t have lost the queen," he adds. "The game would’ve simply gone on longer, with the sides remaining very evenly matched, but… I had a riskier plan in mind. Sometimes it’s worth choosing that kind of path." He smiles, strangely slowly. "This isn’t over, Axel."
His fingers tap the board once.
"In the next moves, I will put your king in check."
Axel’s smirk fades completely. His eyes narrow as he leans in again, scanning the position more carefully. His throat moves as he swallows.
"Yeah," he says after a moment, his voice quieter as he realizes his king is now impossible to defend. "Maybe. Wow. Sometimes you have to go all in, I guess… and risk it." He mutters a curse under his breath.
"Not sure about that. I took a risk not so long ago, and I ended up regretting it," I whisper, kinda more to myself than to them, but Blue hears it, and his eyes fix on me.
He knows what I’m talking about, for sure, but I quickly turn my head away.
Axel straightens abruptly, then stands up.
"I could probably work around that, conjure up some miracle. But the problem is, I’ve got somewhere to be," he adds quickly. "Business."
Blue lifts his brows. "Seriously? Now? That was just a warm-up."
Axel gives a short, dismissive huff. "You’ve got another candidate here anyway," he says, nodding toward me. "His idea wasn’t half bad."
Blue’s gaze shifts to me for a second, thoughtful.
"Who knows," he says at last.
"No, no. I’m not playing." I raise my hands defensively. "I’m the kind of player who invests heavily in defense and protecting my pieces, while Blue plays aggressively and takes bold risks. Entirely different strategies. That would be a real mess."
"Chess reflects people’s personalities in such interesting ways," Axel says with a half-smile. "After all, a bodyguard is supposed to protect his queen, isn’t he? The queen takes more risks."
"That was super deep," Blue says dryly and shrugs. "You’ll take your revenge next week, Axel."
"I can’t next week, I’ve got state championships, but I’ll come by in two," Axel says, already turning toward the door.
He throws me an inquisitive glance, running his fingers through his unusual hair streaked with violet. His expression is peculiar, slightly sour even, as if he's wrestling with some deep frustration. Then he says a brief goodbye.
When he leaves, it’s just me and Blue, and for some reason I feel this nervous kind of excitement in my body, but there’s nowhere for it to go.
James brings snacks, and Blue eats, sprawled out on his lounge chair, looking up at the sky where a few clouds drift by.
We sit like this for a while and finally, I gather enough courage to ask him if Marlow can come over next week, and Blue has no problem with that.
Since I can’t think of anything else to say, and Blue is sitting motionless, still staring at the sky, looking super lost in thought, I get up and leave the garden.
I go to my room to make a phone call. I dial Marlow’s number.
"Hey, bro."
"Oh, Gabe…" There’s a moment of awkward silence.
"Um, listen. We haven’t talked in a while, and I was thinking maybe I could invite you over here. Veyron mentioned you haven’t been doing great," I say, getting straight to the point.
A pause. "Oh, okay, so Veyron put you up to this," Marlow says bitterly.
"Don’t sulk. I was going to call you earlier anyway. He just mentioned you’ve been off, and I wanted to check in," I reply.
He huffs. "It’s not that bad. Veyron exaggerated. I’m fine… just getting through things day by day."
"Ага, конечно.[11] That’s bullshit, and you know it. Come by over the weekend, please. Blue's butler will let you in."
There’s a brief silence on the line, then he speaks in a subdued voice. "Alright. I was actually planning to bring you something our parents left behind, and I don’t want to throw it away."
"What?"
"They didn’t pack your little ‘hacker’ backpack," he says, clearing his throat.
"Oh, right. I didn’t think I’d need it, so I didn’t ask for it, but, well, it might come in handy. You never know how things are going to play out," I add vaguely.
"Just don’t get yourself into trouble. You already know how that ends."
"No, I mean yeah… I mean no… I won’t. Forget it, just bring my backpack!"
Marlow lets out a heavy sigh. "Okay. I’ll come by."
Then he hangs up.
Around six, a yoga instructor shows up.
Blue is obviously a fan of that kind of training, and the guy, a lean omega in his forties, runs a session with him for about an hour.
Asking myself why I even do this to myself, I sit there and watch, having a semi the whole time.
Blue changed into something fitted for yoga and very revealing, a thin top and tight floral pants.
His hair is tied up high, and his neck is exposed, but he still wears his glasses.
As I watch him move into downward dog, I feel an uncomfortable warmth creeping low in my abdomen, even though I try to fight it, repeating to myself that it’s just pointless.
It’s like licking a candy through the glass.
It’s also the first time I’ve really had a chance to study his body from behind, and for someone so slim and slight, his hips are surprisingly rounded, and his ass has a nice, pert shape to it.
There are moments when my gaze just sticks there, and that’s when the worst part begins.
Hot flashes of self-torturing visions start running through my head.