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THE NEXT WEEK is a haven compared to the week before. On top of being in no threat, there is an abundance of food and of water, comfortable beds to sleep in, warmth, safety... Not to mention the fact that everyone is under an unspoken house arrest, which means Eleanor and Taron have an abundance of time to spend with each other.
On the first day, Tim adjusted the makeshift splint onto Eleanor's leg before she and Taron raided the closest for a board game.
"What about Monopoly?" Taron asks, his hands on his hips as him and Eleanor look at the many shelves of games.
"That game lasts forever," Eleanor replies.
"We might be here for a while," Taron says as he looks at her. Eleanor scrunches her nose up at him. "Okay.... Checkers?"
"Too easy." Taron shakes his head with a smile.
"What about chess?" Eleanor gives him a look. "What?"
"You're, like, a master at chess."
"So?"
"It won't be a fair game."
"It's not all about winning, Rigby," Taron says as he grabs the chess board off of a shelf. "C'mon, I'll teach you the ways, young grasshopper."
"Grasshopper?" Eleanor says with a laugh, watching as Taron begins walking backward down the hallway.
"Yeah. Y'know, from that TV show back in the seventies...."
"No, yeah. I understood that reference." Taron nods, waiting until Eleanor starts following him before turning around. Eleanor chuckles.
The two of them situate themselves in the empty family room, Taron turning the armchairs by the large window overlooking the backyard to face each other with a small table in the middle. Eleanor sits in one and Taron sits in the other after he sets Eleanor's crutches against the wall.
"Okay, let's do this," Taron says as he sets up the pieces in their proper places.
Merely ten minutes pass before Taron surveys the board, making his last move.
"Check and mate," Taron says, leaning back in his chair as he folds his hands on his stomach. Eleanor narrows her eyes at him and he grins. All of her fallen pieces are on his side, whereas all but four of his are still on the board.
"Let's go again," Eleanor says, beginning to set up the pieces.
