A Game of Chess

West Berlin, East Germany

October 31, 1950

8:34 PM

Crickets echoed into the empty night, an uncomfortable stillness of the house buzzing in their ears. Alfred walked around the kitchen with a kettle in his hands, placing it onto the stove stoically. Ludwig stared at him in silence, waiting for him to finally speak up. Though, judging by his demeanor and overall lack of joy, he wasn't expecting much.

The American pulled out the tea set from the box, taking out the three canisters. They were actually a bit small now that he took a closer look at them. Because of the packaging, he thought that they would've been bigger. A sigh left his lips as he disappointedly picked up one of the tea canisters. He held it in his hand carelessly, taking a moment to realize the name 'Arthur K.' was engraved in a smooth font beneath it. His eyes furrowed a bit in confusion, flipping it over to see a deep caramel colored sticker labeled in bolded letters, 'English Breakfast'. Were all of them like this? Softly, he placed it down and reached for the cherry red sticker, titled 'Hibiscus' flipping it over to see 'Francis B.' on the bottom as well. He shut his eyes tiredly, a small smile reappearing back onto his face. He didn't think that Arthur was being serious when he said they all chose out a tea flavor for him. After all that happened, he almost forgot who he had by his side.

He picked the English Breakfast back up, popping open the lid. If Arthur really went through all the trouble to get him a gift like this from the family, it was only fair if he tried his first. A small folded note that covered the tea leaves fell onto the counter, catching the American by surprise. What was the purpose of leaving a note? Tea couldn't be that hard to brew right?

'Dearest Alfred,

As you can tell by the description of this container, this is one of many black teas. Usually I'd prefer this by itself, but knowing you and your taste for sweets, the bitter flavor may not be to your liking. However, this mixes surprisingly well with milk and sugar if you add the right ratio and contains caffeine as you had so earnestly described as a necessity in the drinks you favor. This isn't too bad of a tea in my opinion, and I believe that you would find as pleasing as I do.

P.S. Please remove the tea leaves after brewing from your cup. Last time I served you tea, you ate the leaves and choked on it when you realized it wasn't tasty. Do not make the same mistake.

Signed, Arthur Kirkland'

The American placed down the piece of paper, feeling the blood rush into his cheeks as he crumpled it beneath his palms. Really, Arthur didn't have to bring up that memory. He didn't mean to bite on the tea leaves, it just sort of happened.

But he supposed that it was better that this tea had some caffeine. He turned the can over, reading the directions closely. It turned out that he plans on sleeping late tonight. Because of Ivan's unprompted.. arrangement, it's been the only thing he had been able to keep his mind on since they got back. The only reason why he was staying up tonight was because he knew that it'll be hard falling asleep with that bastard's words and that fucking smile he always had on annoying him whenever he closed his eyes. His jacket sat in the washing machine, waiting to be dried. Ivan's smell lingered on it even after he finally pulled away. Since this was planned out, their flights were actually moved to 7' at night tomorrow. From there, they'll land in Leningrad and then attend the meeting. And then after the meeting..

Alfred unpromptly slammed the canister down, cringing at the thought. He didn't want to think about it, he didn't want to. Suffering such a terrible loss to Ivan, but why was this his punishment? His fingers wrapped themselves tightly onto it, unbeknownst to him of how much pressure he was placing on its weak aluminum body. God, he could've picken anything to take from him. Secret documents, inside information, money. Why did he have to do this to him? Did Ivan want to see him sacrifice his pride that badly?