Memory Registry!

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A million spinning construction gifs.

To be done when I am far less tired and more sober.

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Memory 1: Lucien and his Eldest Brother

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Lucien sits in the study of a grand building, one that he recognizes as a formal manor home for the royal family attached to a local fort. Across from him, his elder brother, who for all the world would be identical to Lucien were it not for the missing eye and scarring on his face. Between them, an ornate chess board, clearly a display piece, that the two had pulled down that evening. Lucien's mind is wracked with frustration that, even after two years of training at the academy, his brother could still best them as though he was a child.

"Do you really not get it, Luci?" the older man chides him, smirking in a way that makes the pit of Lucien's stomach get hot and then cold with irritation.

"I— I concede that you really are a brilliant mind, still. I just don't know how you manage every time!" The words sting on his lips and the back of his throat.

"Ah, Luci, Luci... I'll tell you, then, as a graduation gift. It's the same trick I've been playing since we were boys. You've always been so into paying attention to your surroundings, so willing to jump up at a moment's notice, that you never notice when I palm and move a piece." The other man laughs and gestures at two pawns. "A moment ago, that was a square back. Useless in its position then; but you caught movement on the grounds and that second was all I needed."

"Oh. I see. How... simple." Lucien found himself not quite readily responding or in full control of his facilities at that revelation. Then, his brother laughed, and after a moment to register the sound, Lucien threw the board and the table aside and jumped from his seat, across the space between them, already throwing the first blow.

Takeaways

• Lucien is perhaps not the best chess player in the world...
  
• He is earnest, attentive to his surroundings, and a bit impulsive.
  
• But he also has an absolute willingness to not take injustice even from the people whom he cares about.
  
• The end of his formal education was two years in the nation's military academy; presumably he knows something about fighting and military tactics because of this.
  
• He has at least two brothers, since he recognizes this one to be the eldest of them.
  
• Apparently nobody he's close with ever seems to call him more than Luci. No respect from big bro. :(