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"You are playing aggressive again."
Eleanor opened with her favorite, as always, the Max Lange Attack, moving her pawn to E4, as Gideon let her do her thing. "And is that a bad thing?" she responded bluntly. "I beat you twice with Max Lange."
"Exactly," he replied firmly, moving his black pawn to E5. "Twice."
Gideon was used to her combative style and the rapidness most likely compared to speed chess, usually dying slowly as the game went on. Some times, she had the occasion to regroup and win the game. Maybe this was the time she'd get lucky again. Some would say she plays a calculated way to intimidate her opponent, though Gideon has played plenty of matches to read her like an open book.
"Maybe it's high time we get to three times."
Gideon raised his eyes from the board, eyebrows raised at her comment, as he made his move once again. If she went on like this, he'd reach mate in three in no time. Confidence had the best of her and in moments like this, it became her worst enemy. Even so, Gideon knew that if there was someone to never let his guard time, it was in front of her. She'd always found a way to rise from the ashes and hit you when you least expect.
"I saw you talking to Spencer," he went on, this time keeping his eyes down, knowing that she'd search for his.
She paused, pretending to buy some time to consider her next move. Instead, she was figuring her answer. "And?" She decided to play safe. For once.
"And all I could say is that I'm worried about him." She subtly nodded in agreement, then suddenly stopped at his next comment. "As I am about you." She frowned, bringing her eyebrows to almost touch.
"Me? Why?" she answered in surprise, Gideon noticing the change of tone in her voice the shock has caused. "I'm a lot better."
"You're a lot better when you take a whole lot more pills, Eleanor."
"That's insane!" she laughed, though her voice nearly broke. "And highly reckless."
"Reckless would be to go on like this. Insane would be talking to your therapist before letting you know." He eventually stopped thinking about chess for a second, linking eyes with her. She was hurt, pain rummaging through her look.
"Threatening me, you mean."
"Is that what you think I've come to?"
She puffed dismissively, trying to keep herself focused on her next few words. It was perhaps the very first time she was hiding her true self from Gideon. He'd lost her.She was already sinking. "I think you consider that I'm slipping away from you since you're not allowed to do your evaluations on me. You're scared that you're losing the control you're used to." She was trying to divert him from the real problem. An opposing strategy compared to her style in chess.
