[berelyn]

It took Downey a long time to wrap his head around the concept of the strip chess after he first heard the term during one of Rust’s drunken gossiping fits (could nothing stay secret in this university?). After that the man naturally assumed that the rules suggested discarding clothing for every lost piece.
When Vetinari (he had been roaring drunk ONE TIME in his life and it had to be with Downey; gods are cruel indeed) told him it isn’t so and you only undress for lost games, Downey blinked in incomprehension: 
‘But then… it would just take… so goddamn long!’
Vetinari smiled, his vision blurred by… well, mostly vodka, but memories as well - long flowing dress which didn’t cling to her curves but accentuated them all the same; delight in his victory, headspinning and pure; one white shoulder, bared after she threw the scarf away with grudging “vell-played”; the excitement as he considered his opening move for the next game; and the curve of Margolotta’s dark lips, promising everything that the night would turn out to be. 
‘That’s the entire point’