one sunny afternoon.
His hands moved swiftly across the board while his eyes stayed on the birds perched on the window sill. A sparrow chirped, picking up the last piece of cracked corn with its tiny beak. Cheng smiled, pretending the chirp was a thanks for the meal, we’ll be back tomorrow. Life was difficult with the constant battles and suffering, so people - and demons - must learn to find little joys in life.
Toppling over the white King, Cheng declared himself the victor of this chess match once again. As always, his Black won over White. Whenever he played against himself, he tried to employ different strategies. His black pieces were aggressive and focused on offense, while the white pieces were more determined to defend and conquer steadily. While his skills were improving over the time, he still had a lot to learn.
“Oh, agent Lurker.” He spotted a familiar face passing by. The woman looked deeply in thought, but when wasn’t she? As a senior agent, she had a lot more responsibilities than he. “Want to join me in the sun for a bit?” It was hardly a tempting offer, though they did typically get along. From what Cheng could recall, agent (@miayejin) did not enjoy warm weathers and preferred the chillier days, when the rain would tap soothingly against the window glass. He needed something to hook her in, a topic of discussion she might be interested in.
Cheng’s eyes scanned from one side of the room to the other, searching for inspiration.
Aha.
“I have adopted a new friend.” He gestured towards the little pot of succulent. It was new to Cheng but not new to the organization. You see, until about two days ago, this pot was sitting on another agent’s desk, where it had been for the past several months. A loyal companion, who had unfortunately lost its owner. Cheng wasn’t close with the person who died, but since nobody else was taking the plant, he figured he might as well. His aloe vera at home could use a friend and this succulent should do just fine. “It doesn’t have a name yet.” That was a prompt, but who knows if agent Lurker would be in the mood to entertain.