like your church is crying out [r]

he doesn't comment about the nicotine stench, not when zahir doesn't have an actual cigarette in his hand. he is not the judge, only the enforcer. still, the other boy displays a different kind of boldness that stefan has little desire to understand. he doesn't think that he needs to when he would never be caught this late to a meeting.

he does understand the annoyance of everyone else, though. to a were-dog such as himself, the smell was positively overwhelming. he might have just walked away in any other situation, but he had been told to be here.

zahir is not actually breaking any regulations, and that's what annoys stefan more than anything else. he can't actually say or do anything about it. all he can do is struggle not to show his discomfort. he sets the rest of his pieces like a toolset.

he speaks, and stefan isn't sure if he's being baited or not. he decides that it doesn't matter, considering the nature of the activity that they are about to engage in.

he does not take zahir's admission as an indication of skill - stefan's played against some truly mediocre veterans in the past. "but you play it well?" he asks for the sake of continuing their conversation. he actually plans to decide over the course of the next hour or so.

he sends out a white pawn and taps his side of the chess clock.

THOSE DISTANT BELLS

LAIKA OF GS!