The Scared God [ManXManXMan]

Chapter Eight: Молодец - Maladets

~Chapter Eight: Молодец – Maladets~

Shortly after returning to my room after helping Hors clean the dishes, there is a knock on my door. Since I know Perun has not returned yet – unless he teleported into the house, which I do not think is possible even for him – it must be Hors, though it is a bit early for his daily Bother-Veles time. However, instead of requesting access to my room, he asks, "Do you want to play a game?"

Were it anyone else, I would assume they were messing with me by asking that, but, after spending almost two weeks in his presence, it has become pretty clear that Hors does not understand many movie references, especially not from thrillers. Or, at least, he pretends he does not. With all the reading he does, it is hard to believe that Hors has not heard of at least half of the things he acts ignorant about.

Not that I have really mentioned all that many to him.

I consider turning Hors' offer down on principle, but I honestly have no good excuse for why...not that I need one. Still, I can think of more reasons for accepting than refusing. For one, outside reading books, there is nothing to do here. So far, the only exciting parts of my day involve me eavesdropping on semi-interesting conversations or eating meals. The books Hors gives me are either meant for children or mythology books that just talk about gods I already know personally. While the children's books are at least somewhat entertaining, there are only so many times I can read about a giant red dog before I start to feel pathetic.

Hors may seem like the neutral one, but he is worse than Perun when it comes to mind games.

"Fine," I accept, despite my better judgment. "What game?"

The sun god seems to take this as an invitation, since he opens my door with a flare of magic that makes the door momentarily glow and walks in, carrying a stack of board games under each arm. There are a couple games that are not worth playing with just two people – Clue and, to my surprise, Candy Land – but he also has a chess board, Battleship, Stratego, and Guess Who?. While one of the games looks semi-new, the others appear to be very old versions, which suggest Hors does not go game shopping frequently. However, they are still pretty new compared to what I was expecting, which would have been the original Tafl games or Senet.

I suppose appreciation of traditional foods does not translate to only playing old games.

He sets them on my bed before gesturing towards them while looking at me expectantly. Seeing as chess is a game I know quite well, I am tempted to choose that one, but I also have not played in years, so I may be behind on the rules. And neither of the games that should be played with more than two people are really options in my opinion, so I end up selecting Battleship.

Five minutes later, we are both seated on my bed, the plastic boards with their ships between us. "D-five," Hors says, sounding monotone despite the eager concentration on his face.

"Miss," I reply, taking enjoyment in the little minute frown that says he was clearly expecting to hit one that time. "D-nine."

Hors, either too into the game to notice or simply unconcerned about keeping up his indifferent mask at the moment, scowls. "Hit," he practically growls. "A-five."

I take great joy in saying, "Miss. E-nine."

The sun god glares at me. "Hit. I-one."

Now it is my turn to frown. "Hit," I grumble, annoyed now that it is his turn to be smug. At least it is only my small boat. "F-nine."

While Hors does not look very happy, since I am still probably close to sinking his boat, he smirks a little when he says, "Miss. J-one."

"Hit," I reply, grimacing. "You sunk the small boat. C-nine."