The Knight, The Queen and The Bishop

Posted on Thu Sep 4th, 2025 @ 4:36am by Ensign Henry Taylor & Cass'e'Indira & Tessa di'Orion

Mission: Lower Decks
Location: Tessa's Quarters
Timeline: Concurrent with It's The Ocean

Henry whistled to himself, smiling uncontrollably. Shore leave. A whole day of nothing to do, and a gorgeous, pristine beach from horizon to horizon and blue, blue water waiting on the planet below. He couldn't care less.

He had woken up early, eaten a light breakfast and dressed quickly, his plan set. He was dressed simply in a pair of pants and a tshirt. The shirt was...perhaps a bit too form-fitting, but he had his reasons. Under his left arm was a wooden box with light and dark squares. It rattled as he walked to the rhythm of his steps and went silent as he stopped in front of Tessa's door. He rang the chime and stood there, trying not to bounce on his toes in excitement.

“Milord.” Cass glanced over him up and down, frowning at the potentially provocative shirt he was wearing, but it also made it clear that he wasn’t armed and that was possibly enough, except, it was him. Tessa had even stopped talking about him aside from mentions of him and sickbay. That was curious in itself, or maybe she’d dropped her infatuation with him and he in her, “What can I help you with?”

"Good morning, Ma'am," Henry said, smiling. "I'm here for Tessa's first lesson."

“Her first lesson.” Cass repeated, wondering what he was talking about. Tessa had been studying in medical knowledge for a long time already, so this had to be something new? “Her first lesson in what?”

"Chess," he said, holding up the box. "I'd been playing it on my break in Sickbay, and told her about it. She said you would find it interesting. It's a game of strategy and gambits to capture an enemy king." He looked at her, his smile strong and steady. "May I come in?"

Cass’s eyebrows rose an inch, now this was intriguing. “Yes, come in.” She stated stepping back and out of the way, the first time she’d done that in anything approaching acceptance, “Strategy? Are you sure that playing Her Grace is the better option? She does have a grasp on it, but she’s a healer, not a warrior. Shouldn’t you be playing me instead?”

"I'd thought of that," he said. "And you're welcome to learn as well. But since she's already read the rules, I figured you might be at a disadvantage. But maybe next time?" He went over to a narrow, but high side table and pulled it out, setting a chair on either side of the table and opened the box, pouring the pieces out, flipping the box open and over revealing the board. He reached for the pieces and began setting them up.

“Henry!” Tessa said excitedly, causing Henry to grin ear-to-ear, then tried to reduce that level as she saw Cass watching him. “You brought the chess set? Good, I think I know how the pieces move and umm… The special moves that can happen? If I make a mistake, you’ll correct me, right?”

Henry put a hand to his chest. "I? A humble nurse? Correcting Her Grace, Priestess Tessa'e'Sera di'Orion on a matter of strategy? Surely she will best me, as I have no doubt she'll have me distracted with her wit and charm the entire game." He grinned at her and winked.

Cass chuckled at the byplay in this case, no, she wasn’t going to leave them alone, not with the squeal of excitement that Tessa had made, but this could be entertaining to watch at least, “The pieces look different from each other.. Are any more powerful than one another?”

Henry sat down behind the white pieces and looked at his opponent. "Tessa? What do you think?"

"Yes, and no." Tessa said as she settled herself behind the black pieces and looked over the board that she'd so far only really seen in diagrams, "Each piece can move in different ways. Pawns, this front line, can move forwards, but can take any piece on a diagonal. The Rooks on the edges, can move across and up on straight lines, Knights move in a little L, one to the side, two straight, but in any direction, Bishops can only move on the diagonals, so one is on black, one is on white and they stay on those colors. The Queen can move like either a Bishop or a Rook and the King can only move one space at a time in any direction, unless it's to gain protection from a rook in a certain way. Any piece can take any other piece, if the situation is right." She smiled up at Henry, "Did I get that right?"

Henry beamed at her. "Absolutely right," he said, leading with his queen's pawn out two spaces. He pulled his chair up so that they were sitting face-to-face across the board, but so close his knees were alongside hers, the table and chessboard the only thing between them. He sat up straight then looked casually over at Cass. 'If you access the computer's files on the game, you could download them to a padd and get caught up enough to play the next game," he suggested.

Tessa moved her king pawn up a single space, letting her leg relax and rest against Henry's own, but it was Cass who spoke, "I think I'll pick up a fair amount from watching you two play. Tessa's got a decent head for strategy, but she's no match for me in Toscari, our main strategy game. Of course, she doesn't have the training for it."

"This is different, Cass, studying how the pieces move and practicing doing it does help." Tessa stared at the pieces to watch for the next move.

Henry was in no rush. He could sit there toying with her leg between his all day if he wanted, and they were still just playing a friendly game. He gave her a small, private smile and moved his right-hand knight up two places and left one. "True," he said, also staring at the board. "Watching the game comes after you learn what it is you're watching."

Almost immediately Tessa moved her queenside knight up and to the position in front of the bishop, threatening the pawn out in front of the rest of the line. "And it can be fascinating at times, too."

"Depending on how bold you are with your strategy," Henry said, moving his Queen's bishop from C1 to G5. He rested an elbow on the table and his chin on his hand, his other hand dropping down and gently caressing her knee under the cover of the table and grinning at her.

Tessa reached for her queen, but stopped her hand and moved it to her kingside bishop and slid it in between Henry’s bishop and her queen. If he wanted to swap bishops, it was better than losing her most major piece. She slid a foot up his calf briefly. “Why didn’t you take the bishop?” Cass asked Tessa, who pointed at the white knight, “Oh..”

Henry was trying not to shiver from the feeling he was getting from Tessa, but he flashed her a confident smile. "It's all about keeping your pieces protected from attack," he said, moving a pawn from b2 to b4, away from his other knight.

“And when to sacrifice pieces.” Tessa added, sliding the foot higher up to his thigh as she took her bishop in hand and nudging his out of place, plucking it from the board and placing it on her side.

Henry massaged Tessa's thigh and knee gently, resisting the urge to tickle her again for taking his piece. Instead, he moved his knight to take her bishop. She then immediately moved her queen to take his knight, giving him a triumphant grin. He gave her a wry smile and moved his right-most pawn two spaces forward, threatening her queen. "One of the things about chess," he said to Cass, "is that even the smallest, most powerless pieces can conquer the Queen if you aren't careful." He gave an amused glance at Tessa.

“Says the player who just lost two pieces.” Tessa gloated as she grabbed her queen and slid it over to the second place from the end, right above the pawn.

Henry shrugged amiably and moved his leftmost pawn up two spaces. "A game isn't over, until it's over," he said.

Tessa moved her queen down, taking the pawn off the board as she tapped her cheek with one finger, the smile still on her face.

Henry didn't look flustered. Instead he moved the last pawn he had on the left up one space, blocking her queen and threatening it again.

It was a rapid move, one she'd apparently been eyeing a bit because she hadn't hesitated. Her queen went diagonal down to take the 'threatening blocker' pawn, taking the pawn and then freezing, "No wait, I want to take that back!" She said it, knowing the rules of the game forbid it.

Henry gave her a grin and squeezed her leg gently before moving his remaining knight up and taking her queen, moving it to his side. "I have your queen, Your Grace," he said, smiling at her.

"And that's the danger of being too aggressive, Your Grace." Cass said with a low chuckle, "And without shoring up your own defenses in the process.

Tessa looked over at Cass and stuck out her tongue, "Not like you'd do any better if you were playing this right now, My Lady." She said snarkily, then moved her left side pawn from a7 to a6. "But the game isn't over yet, Henry, we still have a ways to go." Her foot rubbed his thigh again before she let it trail down his leg.

Clearly the two were focused on the game, that was good. The thoughts running through Cass's head were soothing, "I've been designing Toscari on one the PADDs, I'll be right back." She stood from the chair she was sitting at and vanished into the second bedroom, the one where she'd set herself up in.

As soon as she was out of sight, Henry's eyes met Tessa's and they both silently stood up and leaned over the chessboard, their lips meeting as they kissed as quickly and deeply as they could from their position. Henry's hand went to Tessa's cheek and caressed it gently. They counted off the few precious seconds they had and then quickly sat back down, Henry happy to see the smile on her face matched the one on his. "You can tell me I'm a genius tomorrow at lunch," he said, quietly. He picked up the pawn in front of his King and moved it forward one place before returning to his leaning position, his other hand back on her knee.

Cass stepped back into the room, tapping the PADD against her hand as she did and checked to make sure nothing was amiss, perhaps they had gotten over it. "A genius for what?" She'd caught those words.

"For thinking he's got this game won already, most likely." Tessa covered for him quickly, pondering her next move, then moved the pawn from F7 to F5, leaving her King completely unprotected from one flank. Cass winced at the move, seeing the vulnerability even as Tessa bounced her knee in giddiness at his touch, and the kiss of course.

"Forgive me for some self-confidence," Henry said, genuinely studying the board while trying to keep her knee from banging into the table. Bringing his queen up was the obvious aggressive move, but he smelled a trap. Her pawns were too well-placed. He picked up the same pawn he'd moved in front of his king and moved it a second space, threatening her pawn. He idly traced his fingers along her thigh teasingly to distract her, giving her a grin. "Your king is so brave to stand in the open," he said.

Tessa wanted to slap the hand, but that would have drawn far too much attention to what he was doing under the table, so she had to focus hard on the board, a slight glow beginning to emanate from her as she did so, finishing her chevron of pawns by moving the knight's pawn forward one space.

That was pretty much the move Henry had been expecting and he smiled at her. He could feel her skin warm as she glowed. He raised an eyebrow, still amazed at how she could literally have such an angelic glow. He'd noticed it a bit when they'd been together in his quarters, but this was stronger. He figured she was trying to focus and his distraction was working too well, so he rested his hand back on her knee and moved the pawn in front of his king to take away the tip of her pawn spear.

Her hand flickered out to take his pawn with one of her own, but it stopped in midair. Either move would leave another wide open path to her king and that wouldn't work. She needed a relatively neutral move if he did what she expected next and moved her already deployed knight forward and to the edge of the board.

Henry's eyes narrowed and he began his attack with his pawn. Tessa immediately responded by taking taking his pawn. He continued his assault, readying his larger attack. Tessa continued to threaten his pawns, trying to give him too many options, but he was playing a larger game behind his front line, and moved his queen forward behind his pawn. He grinned at her growl of frustration, seeing her rook threatened, but was surprised as she went for mutually-assured destruction, moving her knight to threaten his rook and queen in return.

Henry scanned the board and shrugged, sacrificing his rook to take hers, knowing he still had her on the run. She, as he expected, took his rook, a look of triumph on her face as their eyes met. He squeezed her knee affectionately, enjoying looking into her beautiful blue eyes and watching them flash angrily as he took her other knight and said, "Check."

Tessa sighed as she nodded, this wasn't going very well, but who could blame her? Still, she wasn't going to give up without a fight and gave a shrug, moving her king (temporarily at least) out of the way.

The slaughter began as Henry started on her pawns, moving his queen slightly, putting Tessa back in check as he took away her soldiers, making her quickly pull her king back to the back row. He took another pawn with his queen and watched her huff in frustration, trying to comfort her under the table but suspected that was only annoying her more. She took one of his pawns, but he knew he had her. He moved another pawn up to battle, grinning as she shouted, "that's just not fair!" and tried to move her King out of what she assumed would be harm's way.

He quietly moved his rightmost pawn one space forward, beginning his final phase towards victory. Tessa moved her bishop and he watched her carefully, not sure if she was setting him up or if she was surrendering. Either way, his pawn soldiered forward. Another pawn of hers moved down, ready to be taken, but he didn't rise to the bait and kept his lone pawn moving ever closer to the end.

Tessa frowned at the moves that Henry was taking, as she took his pawn. "That's not very sporting of you. Have to take the easy way to win rather than actually working for it?"

"I work hard for the victories most worth having," he said, looking her in the eye and squeezing her leg gently. Then, with an apologetic smile, he moved his rightmost pawn to the end of the board. He took the rook of his she'd captured and turned it upside down. "A second queen should speed this along," he said, grinning.

"Sorry to disappoint you." Tessa stated as she took the newly crowned queen with her rook from the opposite corner. "And yes, I know I can tell that one goodbye too."

"Somehow I'll manage," he said, taking her last rook with his.

She shot him a look and moved her king, trying to fortify him within the last of her army. He moved another pawn forward, slow and steady winning the race. Tessa moved her final knight once more, "Knight to C2, Check. It's not going to do much good, but it'll delay your cruel pawn march at least one more round."

Henry smiled proudly at her. He hadn't realized he'd given her an opening. "It still took me by surprise. Well done," he said, sincerely. He began to surround her king, freezing her bishop in place and fencing her in, keeping his eye on her knight, which suddenly moved up to try and scare his rook away and free up her bishop. She's learning fast, he thought proudly. Two could pay at that game, though, and he brought his queen up by the rook.

Tessa sighed and took the rook, watching him then take her last knight. She took his pawn with hers, giving him a smirk. He moved his knight, taking one of hers as well. She tried to rally but he had her pinned and they both knew it. He finally claimed her bishop and attempted to corner her king, but she was getting very good at wriggling out of his traps.

"My poor pawn!" Tessa wailed theatrically, "Survived this long just to fall to a cruel monarch!" Tessa said as he left her with only one ally on the board. He chuckled as she then went after his last pawn, but he flanked her. That was his mistake. Tessa’s eyes grew wide, then she slowly picked up her pawn and slid it diagonally to the knight, “Ha!”

Henry froze and his free hand smacked himself in the face, while his other hand squeezed her leg in frustration. "That was dumb on my part," he said. "Very good catch." He moved his king and took her last pawn, leaving her king all alone. "No more Ensign Nice Guy," he said.

Cass reached out with her own hand and clapped Tessa on the shoulder, causing her leg to jerk up and bump Henry’s hand on the underside of the table. “Just like your mother, never giving up until the end.”

Tessa looked up at Cass over her shoulder. “That means a lot, coming from you.” She finally reached out and tipped her king over, flashing a brilliant smile at Henry. “But there’s no escape for a king on the run with no allies and no more tricks that can be pulled. It’s all just a matter of time, and not much of that.”

Henry took his hand off her knee, his smile faltering for just an instant, but he forced it back on and reached across the table. "That was a great game," he said, offering a handshake.

Tessa cringed as she saw it and all she wanted to do was apologize, but with Cass there, it wouldn’t be a wise choice. She took his hand and let it linger there in his as long as she thought she could. “Thanks, but I was on the run far too much, I’ll get better, I promise!”

As Henry held her hand in his, he glanced at the chronometer. Two hours of being close to her, and they still had the rest of the day. Someone once said Happily Ever After just meant having a little more time together. He smiled at her, warmly and fully this time, and his eyes held a challenge. "Well, nothing sharpens your skills like a rematch."

“And there’s no time like the present!” Tessa said, reaching out for her defeated king, knocking his over as she brought it back to her side, eyes twinkling.

Henry grinned at the challenge, his hand returning to her knee as her foot resumed moving up and down his calf and they reset the board, buying a little more time.