Good. I'd like that, and I think you might as well when you're looking for things to do- after. [ After is a good word for it, and then a possibly mischievous smile crosses Claude's face to go with his next thought. ] Since you know how to play, I should also warn you I know how to draw games out. Chess just might be a specialty of mine.

[ Useful for someone else who likes to solve puzzles, if he had to guess, and Claude's not really exaggerating about the number of ways he's made past games shift and even if it makes the offer of chess sound a little bit more like a threat than it probably should. That's all part of it, right?

The visit's going on his mental calendar every bit as much as it is for Viktor's, by the sound of it. ]

I'll look forward to our ridiculously long when you're ready for that to happen. I'm holding you to it, my friend.