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chillycheem · 6 months ago

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Winner Day 4 - Board games Love and Deepspace Sylys x f!OC 2035 Words Read on Ao3 banner by firefly-graphics

“Ready to submit?”

Calli wrinkled her nose and stared harder at her cards. As if that could magically change the low numbers. She finally sighed and put down her cards. “You win,” she muttered.

“Don’t sound so disappointed, kitten. You can’t win them all.”

She hadn’t won any today. It was like the kitties had turned against her. “Did you bribe them?” she accused, looking up at him.

Sylus cocked a brow at her, shuffling the deck of cards again. “Bribe a deck of cards and the holographic cats that go with them?” he elaborated. “If anyone was going to bribe a program, it would be you.”

How had she never thought about using the muses to try to win? Because she liked beating him with her own skills. Calli sighed and slumped back in her chair. “Do you want to play something else?”

“We still have half an hour booked for the table, sweetie. You were the one that wanted to come here.”

Because of the holiday promotion they were doing. In addition to the little collector’s badges, they were giving away Christmas plush of the kitties. She’d tried to be strong, knowing she already had more than enough plushies at home but she was weak. So she’d convinced both him and her sister to come play with her, separately, to try to increase her odds of getting one. She had done alright against Carrow and managed to get one of the limited items but Sylus was mopping the floor with her today. “I used up all my luck on Carr,” she muttered, looking away from the table.

They’d booked a time later in the evening, mostly for Sylus and partly because the chances of there being children in this time slot was low. He would have come no matter when she’d made the reservation but she’d wanted to try to make it pleasant for him. Maybe she’d tried too hard and now it was fun for him only.

He chuckled from across the table. “Kitten, you are the worst sore loser I’ve ever met.”

She puffed out her cheeks. She was well aware of that. “Nothing wrong with liking winning.”

“I didn’t say there was but you need to recognize when the odds are stacked against you.”

Jerk. Sometimes he let her win, clearly making the wrong choices when it came to placing cards, but there was none of that tonight. He was playing to win and continually doing so. “Let’s take a break,” she said, looking back at him. “Do you want something to eat?”

Scarlet eyes flicked toward the counter before returning to her. “Do you?”

“I wouldn’t mind something else to drink,” Calli admitted, starting to push her chair away from the table. She stopped when his large hand caught her wrist and blinked at him.

“I’ll get it. Hot or cold?”

“Hot.”

He nodded and stood up from the table, passing her the cards.

Fiddling with them absently, she watched him walk up to the counter. How did he look so out of place yet right at home at the same time? His larger frame seemed to dominate the cafe, even with picking the bigger location. It wasn’t just his height but the breadth of his shoulders. He commanded attention just by walking across the room and he was getting it. She could hear whispers and murmurs as he passed tables, glances at him then back at her as they traced where he’d come from. She didn’t care what they thought when they saw her, a little gleeful over the surprised looks even though it was at odds with the holiday spirit. It always amused her when she watched people approach him, attempting to flirt and only being shut down as he turned his attention back to her.

He only ever had eyes for her.

Calli looked away and down at the cards. How many tokens had he won already? The system would keep track and let him cash out once they were done but she was curious. He’d been so nonchalant with each win, ready to start the next match without giving her a moment to sulk. She highly doubted it was because he wanted to keep playing; more likely he didn’t want to deal with her bad mood.

Her nose wrinkled. No. She wasn’t going to get upset. It was just a game and just a plushie. He’d come in from the N109 to spend time with her. She needed to not be sulky.

Looking up as a cup was placed in front of her, she started to smile at him before blinked as something was pressed against her lips. She automatically opened them and bit into the pastry. “Sylus?” she mumbled after swallowing as he took his seat.

“You haven’t had anything since we got here,” he said, putting the pasty on a plate that he pushed closer to her.

Was he saying that she was grumpy because she hadn’t had any sugar? She ripped off another piece and nibbled on it. Or was it just his concern that she needed to eat more, that as soon as he took his eyes off her she was going to stop? Looking at him, she knew it was likely a combination of both. “Do you really want to keep playing?”

“Yes.”

Her nose wrinkled. “You really want to keep beating me that badly?”

“I really want to spend time with you,” he corrected, shuffling the cards and placing them in the centre of the board. “You’re the one that wanted to come here tonight.”

Because she’d thought she might have some hope of getting a prize. Instead all she was getting was pain. Sighing, she picked up her cup and sipped at the hot chocolate he’d gotten her. “Who first?”

“You.”

Of course. She took another sip before setting the cup aside and stealing herself for another loss. A frown crossed her face as she stared at the five and six she pulled, both matching a pair of the coloured cups on the table. “Sylus.”

“It’s your turn, sweetie.”

Calli stared at him but all he did was smile at her and wait for her to play a card. Huffing, she slid the six under the appropriate cup and watched the pink kitten appear inside it. “You don’t have to cheat to make me feel better.”

“Would I do that?”

She watched him play a three. “Yes.”

He chuckled and waved her on.

“I can win on my own,” she muttered, slipping the five onto the board.

“Grumpy when she loses, grumpy when she wins. Sweetie, you can’t play both sides that hard.”

Says the man who played both sides whenever it was convenient for him. “It doesn’t feel good to win when I didn’t do it on my own.”

He hummed and pulled a card. “Do you want to swap cards then? We can always trade.”

A deal always in her favour although every time she’d tried tonight he’d plucked the best card back into his hand. “No thank you.”

“Are we in a stalemate then?” Sylus asked curiously as she drew a card.

“Maybe.” Most likely since he was also drawing a card. “You could just win. There’s not much point in me winning a token or two at this point.”

“Then what’s the point?”

She gave him a look before turning to the prize machine. “I’m greedy,” she muttered.

Sylus chuckled lowly, playing a card. “So you don’t want just one, you want all of them?”

“They’re a matching set. One is nice but...they’ll be out of place.”

“Do you even have any place to put them?” he asked, playing another card that had her frowning as she realized he’d played two sixes in the coloured cups. He was ahead of her. Again.

“I’ll find space.” But at this rate she wasn’t going to get anymore than the one she’d managed to score in her games against Carrow. Her nose wrinkled as he beat her and she tossed down her cards. “Not that it matters.”

“Of course it matters,” he said smoothly, resetting the board again. “Finish your snack.”

Sighing, she slumped back in her chair and alternated between the pastry and her drink. “How many do you have?” she asked.

“Enough.”

What was that supposed to even mean? When he started to deal the cards again, she shook her head. “You win,” she said.

“We still have the table for a bit.”

She knew that but she also knew that she didn’t want to completely ruin the night and her mood was going to keep souring if she kept losing.

His legs shifted under the table, wrapping around hers and caging her in with him. “Don’t be grumpy, kitten,” he murmured.

She was trying. She just didn’t know why he’d turned on hard mode tonight. She doubted he wanted any of them for himself since he’d sighed when she’d tried to put any on display in his room. Even if he’d relented and allowed a pair of crows to sit on a shelf, his interest wasn’t in the rewards. It was in the time spent together.

“Which one do you have?” he asked quietly.

“The red one.” If she was honest, it was the one she’d wanted the most and she was glad that she’d at least gotten it. But it would have been cute lined up with the other holiday colours. It just wasn’t meant to be and she had to be content that she’d gotten lucky enough to pull it.

Sylus’ gaze slid to the machines along one wall where people were slipping in their tokens with excitement. “How many are there?”

“Four.”

He hummed before pushing away from the table. His hand on her shoulder stopped her from joining him and he pointedly looked at the pastry and drink. “Finish them,” he told her.

She frowned up at him but he didn’t say anything else as he went back to the counter. He wasn’t going to order her more food was he? They’d already had dinner before coming here so he knew she’d eaten so why was he so focused on making sure she finished these?

Turning to look out the window, she cradled the cup in her hands and watched the snow drift down lazily. The city was slowly turning into a winter wonderland and if it kept up, there would be a decent layer by the time the holiday arrived. Which would be nice. It had been a few years since they’d had any snow to go with it. The perfect weather to cuddle up inside and watch the lights reflect off the snow. Maybe she could-

Calli blinked as several items thumped gently onto the table before her eyes widened and jerked up to find Sylus beside the table again. She hadn’t taken a good look at the soft pile on the table but she was willing to bet it was a full set of the limited holiday plushies.

“What?” he asked mildly. “You didn’t think I was going to keep them for myself did you?”

She continued to stare, feeling silly that she hadn’t thought of that. She’d been too caught up in losing she hadn’t really thought about what he did every single time he won a prize when they were together. Her cheeks coloured as he chuckled and braced a hand on the table to lean down to her. She made a soft noise as he kissed her and kept staring as he moved away.

He smiled and held out a hand to her. “Come on. I should get my grumpy kitten home so she has enough time to figure out where her kittens are going to go.”

“Are you going to help me?”

“Haven’t I already?”

It wasn’t a no. A fizzy happiness welled up in her as she took his hand and she popped up onto her toes to kiss his cheek. “Thank you, Sylus, and I’m sorry.”

“Forget the second bit, sweetie. I’m well equipped to deal with your claws.”

Looking at the little pile of plush, her mouth quirked. He was just well equipped to deal with her, claws or not.

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