"Why do they have to send you of all people, everyday?" Katarina groaned, sitting cross-legged as she moved a chess piece toward the other side of the board. Garen chuckled, causing her eyes to leave the playing board and give him a scrutinizing glare. He smiled, kindly, cockily, back at her, then continued to move a piece across the board as well.
It was a Sunday, or maybe Tuesday. Friday? Katarina couldn't quite tell. Time passed by slowly as she sat in the cell, only met by a small amount of food brought in by her capturer and then a roll of bread or two any other time he decided to make a visit to chastise her.
She knew he just wanted to come in to make fun of her, rub it in her face that he had "captured" her, but she couldn't help think it a bit sweet. Would he visit his other prisoners, personally caught? Or was it just her? She took a small, thoughtful bite of the roll he brought her when he came down. Her eyes searched for a nice opening on the playing board.
It was also sweet how he thought to sneak her a bit more bread than they would have, most likely, preferred to be given to her. That, and brought down a dirty old chess board, to "ease her boredom". It seemed a bit sweet, flirty even, but he hadn't given up on beating her. Here she was, glaring at a chess board, trying to make her next move, and she'd lost every other game with him 7-0.
"Having a hard time?" Garen smirked, his blue eyes meeting hers.
Katarina scoffed. "Oh, as if. I know exactly how to beat you." She smirked back, lying through her teeth.
Her hand moved through the opening of the bars separating them. Her fingers hovered over a chess piece and she then moved it through two spots, taking out one of his men. She smiled, triumphant.
Garen looked at her and smiled back. Katarina's smile died down. She was never able to tell if she was winning in this game. There was no blood. There was no heartbeat to hear. Every time she felt good, every time she felt successful, he would smile back, giving no sign of his feelings about her last move. If she had a top ten of feeling-defeated moments, playing chess with Garen of the Demacian military would be in her top five.
She stared, her blue eyes moving from his, downward, stopping slowly on his lips, his jawline, downward, following his slightly outstretched arm, downward, following his hand, downward, following his slightly outstretched fingers, reaching for a piece. He moved it slowly, half-way across the board, and she had no where to go. Stuck, she stared at the piece. He didn't need to say it. That was checkmate.
"Oh." She finally whispered, her hands beginning to flit away from the board. She grasped the bars of the cell and helped herself up, sighing loudly as she turned her back to him and walked across the cell to sit on the thin blanket laid over stone.
"You're done?" Garen asked, standing up as well as he watched her sit and face him. She rolled her eyes, annoyed. "Yeah, done."
"I'm helping, you know." He said, trying to find an angle to look her well in the face. Her hair framed it and fell over it as she looked away from him, to the wall next to her. "I don't see how that's helping." She said irritably.
Garen sighed, turning his back to his capture and toward the exit once more. Katarina continued to stare at the wall, unwilling to watch him leave, again. "I'll see what else I can do." Garen said, a sort of sorrow tinging his voice.
Katarina rubbed her arm sourly, ignoring him all the while. She listened as the door closed behind him and the room was filled with silence and an odd loneliness once more.
