With a beer in hand, music pulsing through the walls, and a few friends circling the table, Magnus found himself right where he wanted to be, on a board, in control, if only for a moment.

Man, he loved this song— oh, there was a checkmate on the board already.

“Boom,” he said quietly, more to the pieces than the people, a rare curve of a smile flickering across his face as he placed the final move with the ease of someone who’d done it a thousand times before.

He leaned back, letting the warm fog of beer and the sharp clarity of the victory settle in his bones.

Tonight, he wasn’t just tipsy. He was untouchable.