They found an empty table for two—not a lot of people played one-on-one games at these events—and Aitor sat down to keep their place while Gabriel went to choose his game. He came back with a big box and started setting up a board and cards when Aitor went to pick his own game.
When Aitor returned, Gabriel looked at his hand and groaned. “Seriously? All the games you could have chosen and you had to pick that one?”
Aitor smiled, pleased he’d gotten a reaction out of the other man. “What do you have against Hive? I like it.”
“It’s like chess, but with insects. And I hate chess.”
As a kid, Aitor had been good at chess, and that translated to Hive; he’d yet to meet an opponent who would beat him twice. “Then you’ll just have to work harder to beat me at your game, won’t you?” He sat and l
