InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "GURL, TAKE IT EASY"

Seamus Finnigan (openbottle) wrote in finnigans_rpg,
@ 2014-10-02 19:27:00

Entry tags:

character: adrian pucey, character: cho chang, character: finbar quigley, character: lisa turpin, character: pandora montgomery, character: seamus finnigan, character: viktor krum

Chess
Who: OPEN THREAD
What: Beginner's Night @ Wizarding Chess Championships
Where: The Roost, Finnigan's
When: Thursday evening
Rating: SFW

Instead of the usual large chessboard taking up the floor of The Roost, Seamus had had Dominic set up several smaller ones - with room around the outside for the more usual kind of tabletop boards and chairs. It was a spur of the moment to do something different for the evening and Seamus honestly didn't know what kind of a crowd to expect.

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pandacharms
2014-10-08 09:30 pm UTC (link)

"Yes, that's me," she said, glancing at him from under her lashes to see if there was a continued reaction attached to her name. Some people knew it right off the bat; some only heard a few things; some were clueless, and that was the nicest though not what happened the most often.

Her next piece slid out, her mind already three moves ahead even as they talked. It was like dueling or a lot of other things she enjoyed. "True, but the previous fellow was a little... unreliable at times." Well, one of them, there were shifts, she knew, but she most often came in later at night or occasionally for lunch.

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openbottle
2014-10-09 03:43 pm UTC (link)

Countering her move, Seamus was able to take the first piece of the game, watching as one of her pawns was sent flying from the board by his knight. He caught the piece and returned it to the table with a grin equal parts triumphant and sheepish. "Apparently this is one of the overenthusiastic sets," he said by way of apology. "Do you have a set of your own?" He generally encouraged people to bring their own sets with them, if they could, as they made playing much easier.

Seamus vaguely remembered that Pandora had been in Slytherin, but he tried not to let that colour his judgement nowadays. He'd seen too many Slytherin students at the battle who looked every bit as scared as he had felt. "He started out well," Seamus said, defending himself as best as he was able. "He was here for two years and it's only really been the last few months he gave us trouble." Admittedly, it had been quite a lot of trouble all at once... Seamus shook his head, focusing on the fact that he'd fixed the problem - for now. "I'm still looking for a second chef, just to make sure this never happens again. If you know anyone..."

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pandacharms
2014-10-09 10:08 pm UTC (link)

Pandora barked a small, surprised laugh as the pawn went flying off the table. "You don't say," she said, highly amused. She had her bishop slip up into play. "I used to, but I haven't in several years, unfortunately. It's on a list to get at some point, or make, depending. I could probably charm a set myself if I put my mind to it."

She dipped her head in assent. "I can understand that, yeah. Sometimes things just go downhill, unfortunately. A second one would be good, though, that way no one gets burned out and people can have days off without you having to cover them, right?" she said, raising an eyebrow. "I'll ask around, though, see if I hear of anyone looking for work."

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openbottle
2014-10-10 04:13 pm UTC (link)

"Really?" Seamus asked, immediately interested. He'd been decent enough at Charms in school, but wouldn't have the least idea how to set about making a chess set of his own. "Was it you who posted in the journals about making customised ones?" He vaguely remembered the entry, though he was pretty sure he'd forgotten to comment on it. "I thought about asking for more details, but I'm honestly not sure I'd want to see chessmen with the faces of people I know treated like that." He gestured to the poor sacrificed pawn, wincing as he imagined... No. He decided not to even go there.

He nodded. "Thanks. And yeah, we've always had kitchen assistants and enough employees who can cook that days off has never been a problem - but I still think having two proper chefs would be better."

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pandacharms
2014-10-11 01:58 am UTC (link)

"No, it wasn't me, but we usually have a set or two on our shelves. I've my Mastery in Charms, so I have the right skill set, but I haven't done chess pieces since my apprenticeship with Master Flitwick, so I'd have to just look up the spells again." Though she wasn't sure she wanted a set charmed by herself. They made decent gifts though.

She ordered another piece forward, her grin sharp as it took one of his pieces, if rather over enthusiastically. "I would agree. Two chefs are better than one, especially long term. That way if something happens you have a built-in back-up."

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openbottle
2014-10-11 07:51 am UTC (link)

"Ah." Seamus scratched the back of his neck sheepishly. "Sorry. I didn't expect the journals to take off the way they have, sometimes its hard to keep track of who says what." He was pleased that so many people had gotten on board with his idea, though. It could only mean good things for Finnigan's.

For the next few moves, he was quiet, trying to focus on the game. She wasn't bad - but Seamus had more recent experience and he took several more of her pieces but couldn't quite get her in checkmate. "Exactly," he said, picking up where he'd left off. "Plus, different cooking styles means I can put more things on the menu. Our new chef is from Mexico so I'm hoping we'll be able to change things up a bit."

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pandacharms
2014-10-11 08:51 am UTC (link)

Pandora smiled at him quickly. "No worries," she assured him. "I'm not the best with names a lot of times, so I understand. But the journals are rather great."

She followed his example, focusing and planning, though she'd been right to say she was rusty. It wasn't quite on point, not like her dueling still generally was. But it was fun, and she could improve again. "Hm, never had much Mexican," she admitted. She'd be on the fence about it until she ate some of it, she supposed.

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openbottle
2014-10-11 11:19 pm UTC (link)

Seamus grinned. "Thank you. I'm really pleased with how they've worked out, actually." Even if it was mostly Dominic's work, it had been Seamus' idea and he didn't feel bad for taking credit.

"I've had some, mostly since moving here." London was significantly more varied in the kinds of food available than his home town of Greencastle, which had a pub and a fish and chip shop and that was really about it. "It's good. Onions and peppers and a little bit of spice but not too much, usually." Though Seamus supposed years of Dean and his family had lifted Seamus' tolerance for spice above what might be common.

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pandacharms
2014-10-12 04:23 am UTC (link)

Part of why she liked to use the journals was no one could necessarily see her, and so she could be comfortable and not hide parts of herself.

"I suppose I'll have to give it a try then," she said. "I've eaten quite a few things over the years, so I'm willing to give new things a go." Traveling gave her that opportunity, and she was lucky with that if with not much else.

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openbottle
2014-10-12 07:40 am UTC (link)

"And if you don't like it, Romeo still makes all the usual English things," Seamus confirmed. He'd been quite specific about that when he hired Romeo. He was happy to have some Mexican things on the menu, but this was still a pub and not a restaurant, which meant it should have the food people expected from a pub. Plus, Seamus wasn't giving up his Sunday roasts for anything.

With a quiet noise of triumph, Seamus spotted a way he could win - and in three moves had done just that. "Checkmate." He grinned. "You played well, though. A little bit of practice and you'll be back on form."

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pandacharms
2014-10-12 08:13 am UTC (link)

"Got to have fish and chips," she joked and grinned a bit. "Good to know the pub fare isn't going anywhere. I'd be a sad girl." She faux sniffled.

Pandora looked at the board for a long moment and then sighed. "You're right. Good game," she pronounced, holding out her hand to him over the board. "Thanks for the game, and thanks, I'm hoping to get there. I'm more up on my dueling than my chess lately."

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openbottle
2014-10-12 10:53 am UTC (link)

Seamus nodded. "Exactly. Though I know pub fish and chips are no match for real chip-shop fish and chips." No matter what chef he employed, that seemed to be a constant. He presumed it was something to do with the electric deep-fat fryer, or something. Maybe now that Dominic and Zacharias had got the projector working, it was something to look into.

He shook her hand willingly. "Well, I'm not that much help at duelling on a personal level but you know about the duelling club right?"

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pandacharms
2014-10-13 03:33 am UTC (link)

"They're still great to have." Especially on a day when you really didn't want to attempt anything resembling cooking, and Dora wasn't a great cook. At all. She tended to eat a lot of noodles and eggs and toast when left to her own devices.

"I look in on it sometimes but I've not particpated. I dueled competitively for several years and I can't help but worry that I'd hurt someone on accident." And then get accused of nefarious purposes and yeah she tended to keep to the fringes there.

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openbottle
2014-10-13 04:24 pm UTC (link)

"Better than nothing, anyway." Seamus looked up as the small crowd around one of the larger chess boards applauded. "I wonder who won." He couldn't make out, among the gathered people, who'd been actually playing.

He stood up. "I think I'll go have a look, if you don't mind. Would you like me to find you someone else to play with?" He thought he could probably find someone nearer her skill level, provide her with more of a challenge.

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	pandacharms 2014-10-13 10:34 pm UTC (link)
	"Go on. I'll find someone else to play, no worries," she told him, smiling faintly. "Enjoy the rest of your night and thanks again for the game." (Reply to this) (Parent)

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