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Barley takes board games very seriously. That was one of the first things you learned when you began dating him.
He actually has a tall closet in his garage just for board games — most of them very Dungeons and Dragons-esque but he does own some others too, games that are supposed to be just about fun. And at first you played mainly those, because he didn’t immediately want to demolish you with his collection of strategy games.
But what he didn’t know was that you read a dozen rule books and studied strategies, so when he’d finally agree to take you as his opponent in one of his strategy games, you’d be ready to show your claws and take him down before he’d even properly settle his characters on the board.
His confidence was almost adorable that night. “Okay, remember that this game is not about luck. This is about strategy and respecting—”
You interrupted him. “The rulebook, yeah. I know. I read it a little last night.”
He was briefly surprised, but then nodded contently. “Good, then we won’t have to waste time on that.”
The game began, and not even ten turns later, you already stole one of his resources. He blinked, but then smiled. “Oh, that was good. Seems like you’re a natural, but you still made one mistake.”
You cocked your head. “And what was the mistake?”
He slid the resource back to his side of the board before he took a look at your character sheet with a smug grin, ready to point out the mistake you did, but ended up frowning. “Wait, you can’t have that much influence yet.”
“Well, I took the mountain path so yes, I can,” you corrected with a sweet smile. “I stole the troll’s key to the Halquet Cavern vault, which means the King gave me influence.” You slid the resource back to your side. “So I’ll take this back, thank you.”
Barley’s eyes switched between you and the board. “You’ve researched a bit more than just last night.”
You shrugged with a mocking pout. “Might have.”
He scoffed. “Oh, you’re a snake. Fine, I won’t play nice anymore.”
He cracked his knuckles and crouched, rolling the dice across the board and you smirked — this was exactly what you were waiting for.
Six turns later, his mouth dropped open as you rolled the dice and cast a spell on his knight, stunning him to stay in place for next two turns. “You can’t do that!”
“I can,” you snickered while moving your mage towards the inner corridors of the castle.
“Well, by rules you can, but what about your morals?” he grumbled.
“I have no morals if having them means I can lose,” you replied. “Your turn.”
He scowled, looking at the board. “You took over my tavern, you succeeded in turning the elves against me, and on top of it you have tamed Grimquills, the most feared griffin in the whole realm, that was supposed to be untameable. Whatever I will do, I will just drag myself deeper in trouble.”
You narrowed your eyes at him. “So… does that mean…?”
He nodded, slumping into his chair. “I will yield, abdicate and give you the throne to rule over the realm. Which means… you won.”
You blinked before throwing your arms up. “Yes!”
He pouted, crossing his arms. “Don’t think this is over, one day I will come back and reclaim the throne.”
You grinned at him. “Aw, Barley, don’t be such a sore loser.”
He shot you a look. “I’m not, I’ve just… never lost before.”
You cocked your head. “Well, I look forward to you trying to win again. But now, should we order some food and watch some good movie?”
He sighed. “Yeah. Whatever.”
You held yourself back from hopping to the living room. Sure, you knew you’d be a tough opponent to him, but you never once actually believed you’d win. But that just made it taste sweeter.
And Barley would get over it soon enough, when you were snuggled together on his couch at the latest.