Up in the Stars

Checkmate

Heigh ho, heigh ho, back to the story we go!

Hope you all enjoy!

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His fingers tapped against the dark wood of his desk mindlessly.

Midnight eyes on the evening sky outside the wide window.

He glances down at the gold watch on his wrist.

One minute.

A knock at the door sounds and finally he smiles.

He gets up to open it with more excitement than he's felt in weeks.

She's here.

His little nymph is dressed in a soft green dress, the hem just brushing the tops of her knees.

"I've missed you." She says as he greets her.

His heart thrums between his ribs.

Beating out the sound of her name.

Enid. Enid. Enid.

Theodore's lips quirk up as he turns back to face her.

He pulls her into his embrace, nearly squeezing her too tight.

They stand there for a few moments, breathing each other in.

He feels like a man who has been starved.

Enid tilts her head back to look at him.

She takes in his appearance with a focused eye.

It's been quite a while since she's been alone with him after all.

He still looked tired, but a little less stressed.

The bags under his sapphire eyes less heavy.

A shadow of hair stretched along his jaw due to not shaving for a few days.

He looked like the night sky.

Dark and ever reaching.

"I missed you, too, darling." He tucks a wayward curl behind her ear.

His fingers brushing along her cheekbone before he pulled away reluctantly.

A question was on the tip of her tongue.

Where had he been?

She'd barely seen him the past week.

Most days it was only briefly at breakfast with quick kiss brushed against her lips before he was off.

Sometimes she'd hear him at night, watch the light outside her bedroom door flicker on at three in the morning.

She swallows the question down.

If he wanted her to know, he'd tell her.

Instead, she asks:

"What are we doing?" Her curiosity is practically tangible.

"Well, Alex and Dante are working with you on your physical safety. It's my job to help prepare you mentally for any difficult situations you might face. Hopefully you never will, but it's better to be safe than sorry." He pulls out a chair for her before crossing to the other side of his dark oak desk.

Enid's teeth tugged on her bottom lip.

His eyes dropped to watch and darkened.

He cleared his throat and ran a hand through his hair.

Her wide, innocent eyes take in the chess board set on the desk between them.

The board is painted with charcoal and silver shades.