All the king's men
Mar. 25th, 2011 11:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
Jack owns an old chess set, bequeathed to him by his grandfather, and he awakes one moring to find Kiryu barely dressed and admiring the little pieces. At first the vampire thinks he's just interested in their worth; they board is inlaid with onyx and ivory and the pieces themselves are carved in ornate designs and set with precious stones. Yet, as the mara realizes he's awake he comes to look at him with a curious expression.
"You play?"
Jack nods once. "Do you?"
Kiryu shakes his head and returns to the little knight, spinning it round. Jack, settling next to him, plucks the piece out of his fingers and sets it back on the board. He begins to explain the strange shape in which it moves but the mara is quick to cut him off, says that everyone knows that much. He turns the board around, until the black king rests just in front of him. Jack watches him trace the delicate blue lines of the sovereign piece and finds it somehow appropriate.
"If you know how they move, then you know how to play." The vampire says after a considerable silence.
Kiryu merely glances at him out of the corner of his eye, then motions to the serpentine form of the white king.
The game ends in little more than a half hour with the vampire’s crushing defeat of his young partner. He holds the black king in triumph while Kiryu stares at the board, hands clenched in front of him. He didn’t expect to win, Jack knows this, but Jack can still see the phases of disappointment that pass through the mara’s troubled features. What he also sees is the incredible effort it takes to contain them.
“Again!”
Jack just lifts his brow. “I think I’d like some breakfast first... and pants.”
Days turn into weeks which in turn become months but Kiryu’s interest never wanes. He’s quick to learn and Jack soon finds himself struggling against his brief moments of brilliance. But they are brief nonetheless due to his impatient desire to succeed and a foolhardy mistake always lands the little black figure back in Jack’s hands.
It takes the mara a great deal longer to learn the fine art of concession and it is with a great effort that he topples his king for the first time. It is with an equally great effort that Jack hides his amusement.
Kiryu rarely complains however and that comes as a welcome surprise. He deals with so much adversity, on a near daily basis, from his brothers, his parents, from the very city they live in and Jack is normally his respite. The vampire doesn’t particular enjoy upsetting him further. Yet he can’t deny him either, on the semi frequent occasions that he pulls out the board with that characteristic, determined look.
Likewise, Jack rarely offers advice, knows the proud Kiryu would only take it as an insult. Only when he sees that the mara is overwhelmed by his frustration does he dare speak a word or two.
“If you attack like that, you leave yourself wide open.”
”You can’t just aimlessly pursue the king, it’s better to try and control the field.
“Not there. You want to protect the center. It’ll relieve some pressure later in the game.”
As defiant as he is proud, Kiryu never heeds Jack’s suggestions but he’s clearly listening and he’s careful to never make the same mistakes twice. And Jack never once regrets it. He can’t make sense of it yet, but he feels, instinctively, that this is important, more than just a game. When Kiryu sought him out one night, all those years ago, he was looking for a partner. Jack now knows that he’s gaining one in turn.
Kiryu never does win a game against Jack. He is doomed to demise one dark and horrific night and his ashes give birth to a creature called Kalin. Jack tells himself the young mara is still there, that it doesn’t make a difference but the differences are impossible to ignore. But the games persist, a few hours at a time, where it would seem that almost nothing -- save for the furious determination reflected in Kalin’s eyes -- has changed.
The day finally comes when Jack is the one to blunder. He doesn't realize it right away but Kalin is taking a curiously long time to make his move, not because he doesn't see it but because he almost can't believe it. Following his line of sight, the vampire sees it too. When he moved his knight he exposed his flank to Kalin's errant rook. Now, with a slow, steady hand he takes the small spider shaped piece and moves it within two spaces of Jack's king.
"Checkmate."
The mara's hand hovers over the white dragon, which suddenly seems so very small but in a fit of inspiration he picks up his own king instead. The mounting pressure shatters and Kalin smirks. He's proud but Jack is positive that it can't compare to what he feels for his partner.
From that moment, Kalin continues to improve at an alarming rate. He learns to dominate the board and Jack needs every bit of his own skill to provide a suitable challenge. Before long the little black king changes hands almost every other game although it becomes less and less frequent.
Kalin’s ambitions grow with his skill and his interests soon extend beyond the confines of an eight by eight grid. For Jack, the game simply takes on a new form. Now the pawns they play with are real lives and just like the board, Kalin masters them all. By the time Jack names the mara his partner at HTRC, the king has become little more than a totem for Kalin to display on his desk.
That is until one late night, like so many other and Jack finds himself working late to cover for another of Kalin’s inexplicable absences. Probably with his eye on that pretty new pet, the vampire is thinking when the mara appears silently in the doorway. He’s wearing a look Jack knows all to well, one that spells great foturne... or utter calamity. Erring on the side of caution he assume the later and with a sigh, he leans back to regard Kalin with a familiar look of his own. He’s not particularly amused.
Kalin either ignores it or is simply oblivious as he strides inside and set something atop the pile of paperwork. Jack doesn’t expect to see the black king before him and he picks it up, as if to verify its presences, momentarily stunned.
“I hardly think it is the time--”
“Just come!” Kalin interject almost immediately, grabbing Jack by the wrist. There’s no arguing with him when he looks like that and Jack gives his work only a passing glace before relenting with another sigh.
Kalin leads them to the elevator and presses the button for the top floor, the great hall reserved for HTRC’s finest events but it’s been quite some time since they hosted anything. Looking to Kalin for answers Jack finds him fidgeting slightly, anxiously. He keeps quiet, curiosity mounting.
When the doors finally part the vampire has to blink once, twice and still he doesn’t recognize the room before him. He’s pulled inside, drawn by its majesty. The floor is made of marble, inlaid with large squares of onyx and ivory, sixty four to be exact. There’s a raised dais at either end to give the players a better vantage point. But the most spectacular feature of all are the pieces themselves, carved not of wood or stone or precious gems but human flesh and blood. They’re pale with fear and Jack doesn’t need to look twice to confirm the deadly gleam of the weapons in their hands.
Kalin appears at his side. “Do you like it?”
Like it? Not exactly the word the vampire was looking for and he struggles visibly to find a more appropriate one. “It’s... frivolous.” The mara accepts it with a shrug.
“...You play?”
So this is how far they’ve come. This is what life means to them. It’s cruel and malicious and Jack’s grin is positively sadistic. Lifting their king, turning it round in his fingers, Jack offers it to Kalin.
“Do you?”
"You play?"
Jack nods once. "Do you?"
Kiryu shakes his head and returns to the little knight, spinning it round. Jack, settling next to him, plucks the piece out of his fingers and sets it back on the board. He begins to explain the strange shape in which it moves but the mara is quick to cut him off, says that everyone knows that much. He turns the board around, until the black king rests just in front of him. Jack watches him trace the delicate blue lines of the sovereign piece and finds it somehow appropriate.
"If you know how they move, then you know how to play." The vampire says after a considerable silence.
Kiryu merely glances at him out of the corner of his eye, then motions to the serpentine form of the white king.
The game ends in little more than a half hour with the vampire’s crushing defeat of his young partner. He holds the black king in triumph while Kiryu stares at the board, hands clenched in front of him. He didn’t expect to win, Jack knows this, but Jack can still see the phases of disappointment that pass through the mara’s troubled features. What he also sees is the incredible effort it takes to contain them.
“Again!”
Jack just lifts his brow. “I think I’d like some breakfast first... and pants.”
Days turn into weeks which in turn become months but Kiryu’s interest never wanes. He’s quick to learn and Jack soon finds himself struggling against his brief moments of brilliance. But they are brief nonetheless due to his impatient desire to succeed and a foolhardy mistake always lands the little black figure back in Jack’s hands.
It takes the mara a great deal longer to learn the fine art of concession and it is with a great effort that he topples his king for the first time. It is with an equally great effort that Jack hides his amusement.
Kiryu rarely complains however and that comes as a welcome surprise. He deals with so much adversity, on a near daily basis, from his brothers, his parents, from the very city they live in and Jack is normally his respite. The vampire doesn’t particular enjoy upsetting him further. Yet he can’t deny him either, on the semi frequent occasions that he pulls out the board with that characteristic, determined look.
Likewise, Jack rarely offers advice, knows the proud Kiryu would only take it as an insult. Only when he sees that the mara is overwhelmed by his frustration does he dare speak a word or two.
“If you attack like that, you leave yourself wide open.”
”You can’t just aimlessly pursue the king, it’s better to try and control the field.
“Not there. You want to protect the center. It’ll relieve some pressure later in the game.”
As defiant as he is proud, Kiryu never heeds Jack’s suggestions but he’s clearly listening and he’s careful to never make the same mistakes twice. And Jack never once regrets it. He can’t make sense of it yet, but he feels, instinctively, that this is important, more than just a game. When Kiryu sought him out one night, all those years ago, he was looking for a partner. Jack now knows that he’s gaining one in turn.
Kiryu never does win a game against Jack. He is doomed to demise one dark and horrific night and his ashes give birth to a creature called Kalin. Jack tells himself the young mara is still there, that it doesn’t make a difference but the differences are impossible to ignore. But the games persist, a few hours at a time, where it would seem that almost nothing -- save for the furious determination reflected in Kalin’s eyes -- has changed.
The day finally comes when Jack is the one to blunder. He doesn't realize it right away but Kalin is taking a curiously long time to make his move, not because he doesn't see it but because he almost can't believe it. Following his line of sight, the vampire sees it too. When he moved his knight he exposed his flank to Kalin's errant rook. Now, with a slow, steady hand he takes the small spider shaped piece and moves it within two spaces of Jack's king.
"Checkmate."
The mara's hand hovers over the white dragon, which suddenly seems so very small but in a fit of inspiration he picks up his own king instead. The mounting pressure shatters and Kalin smirks. He's proud but Jack is positive that it can't compare to what he feels for his partner.
From that moment, Kalin continues to improve at an alarming rate. He learns to dominate the board and Jack needs every bit of his own skill to provide a suitable challenge. Before long the little black king changes hands almost every other game although it becomes less and less frequent.
Kalin’s ambitions grow with his skill and his interests soon extend beyond the confines of an eight by eight grid. For Jack, the game simply takes on a new form. Now the pawns they play with are real lives and just like the board, Kalin masters them all. By the time Jack names the mara his partner at HTRC, the king has become little more than a totem for Kalin to display on his desk.
That is until one late night, like so many other and Jack finds himself working late to cover for another of Kalin’s inexplicable absences. Probably with his eye on that pretty new pet, the vampire is thinking when the mara appears silently in the doorway. He’s wearing a look Jack knows all to well, one that spells great foturne... or utter calamity. Erring on the side of caution he assume the later and with a sigh, he leans back to regard Kalin with a familiar look of his own. He’s not particularly amused.
Kalin either ignores it or is simply oblivious as he strides inside and set something atop the pile of paperwork. Jack doesn’t expect to see the black king before him and he picks it up, as if to verify its presences, momentarily stunned.
“I hardly think it is the time--”
“Just come!” Kalin interject almost immediately, grabbing Jack by the wrist. There’s no arguing with him when he looks like that and Jack gives his work only a passing glace before relenting with another sigh.
Kalin leads them to the elevator and presses the button for the top floor, the great hall reserved for HTRC’s finest events but it’s been quite some time since they hosted anything. Looking to Kalin for answers Jack finds him fidgeting slightly, anxiously. He keeps quiet, curiosity mounting.
When the doors finally part the vampire has to blink once, twice and still he doesn’t recognize the room before him. He’s pulled inside, drawn by its majesty. The floor is made of marble, inlaid with large squares of onyx and ivory, sixty four to be exact. There’s a raised dais at either end to give the players a better vantage point. But the most spectacular feature of all are the pieces themselves, carved not of wood or stone or precious gems but human flesh and blood. They’re pale with fear and Jack doesn’t need to look twice to confirm the deadly gleam of the weapons in their hands.
Kalin appears at his side. “Do you like it?”
Like it? Not exactly the word the vampire was looking for and he struggles visibly to find a more appropriate one. “It’s... frivolous.” The mara accepts it with a shrug.
“...You play?”
So this is how far they’ve come. This is what life means to them. It’s cruel and malicious and Jack’s grin is positively sadistic. Lifting their king, turning it round in his fingers, Jack offers it to Kalin.
“Do you?”