How Green Becomes Wood

"You nearly got it on your own," Dark murmured, setting up his pieces without even really looking at them, "For the board itself, the squares, I used two different kinds of wood. I painted the details the way I paint my models, and the pieces I used wood stain. I am rather proud of how it swivels and unfolds."

"It is your move, Xander," Dark said, sitting comfortably, "White goes first, traditionally."
 
"Right." Xander stared at the board, hesitating. Gingerly, he picked up a white pawn and moved it forward.

Alec leaned on the back of the couch, watching. "Hmm, and we see that White has taken their first move. Intriguing. How shall black respond?"
 
Dark looked at the board, and then up at Xander before looking at Alec, "Referring to us by the piece colours feels strange." Then he moved a pawn to match where Xander's pawn was. It wasn't the most creative move, but it felt respectful, like opponents bowing to each other before a match.
 
"Would you rather I refer to you as Mr. Dark and Mr. Cunningham?" Alec asked, smirking.

"No," Xander said bluntly. "I'd rather you not play narrator at all."

Alec shrugged. "Well, we don't always get everything we want."

Xander chewed his lip a moment before leaning back and whispering, "How did the knight move? Was he the diagonal or the L?"

"The L," Alec whispered back.

Xander nodded and leaned forward again, and they both pretended there was no way Dark could have heard their obvious whispers. Xander moved the knight with confidence.

"Ah, we see that White has sent his Queen's knight into battle," Alec said in his best Attenborough impression. "A bold second move. What shall be Black's response after the meeting of the pawns?"
 
"Would it be teaching you too soon if I remark that it was not the best idea to move that piece yet?" Dark asked, and moved a piece that seemed irrelevant, but that he knew would eventually take that knight.

He wasn't sure if it was better to pretend like he was really confused and in deep thought about what his next move would be, or if he should be honest. It was the first time Xander had asked to spend time with him, so Dark didn't want to make him regret it. They were both good kids, he liked spending time with them--but it'd be easier when he was actually teaching the game.
 
"And here we see lack moving forward. It is an aggressive move, indeed," Alec murmured.

"You already took your turn, so that means I can't undo mine even if it was a bad idea or not," Xander pointed out. He twisted to frown at Alec. "What do you mean it was an aggressive move?"

Alec shrugged and held up his book. "According to this, Ches is supposed to symbolize war and the various tactics employed in different battles. Therefore, I think it would make sense to describe a book as 'aggressive.'"

Xander waved to the board. "This is a symbolism of war? How?"

"No idea. That's just what it says. Aren't you supposed to move?"

Xander sighed and scratched his head, looking over the board. After a moment of thought, he hesitantly moved a piece he thought might possibly get him in position to take Dark's piece.
 
"It comes from India," Dark said, making his move, "it does not particularly model modern warfare," he eyes hardened, "obviously," but only for a moment, "but in the past it was more similar. What the pieces represented were different then, too. It is tactile and cunning, you have to look not just at where the pieces are, but where they might go, and figure out your opponents likely strategies and playing style."

He waited for Xander to make a move before making his own, this time taking a piece, "Are they aggressive, or patient, or sly... and unfortunately you need to figure out who you can sacrifice, since you often cannot save everyone."
 
"And here we see Black giving White a history lesson as well as taking his piece. That will be painful going forward," Alec said in his best "soothing" voice.

"Huh." Xander frowned at the board. "I guess that makes sense."

He knew he wasn't going to win, he had absolutely no illusions to that, but he had hoped to do something to give Dark some kind of good showing. The problem was, he barely knew what he was doing. How could he guess where Dark's pieces were going when he didn't know where his were going? He moved another piece at random.
 
Dark flicked his eyes up towards Alec, "You do realize I am a history teacher, yes? What did you expect moving in with me?" After seeing Xander's move, he plucked his own piece off the board and handed it to him.

"Some other time I will teach you poker, I am very, very good at poker." He made his own move, "Chess is interesting though. Have you ever heard of Game Theory? It is big in economics and animal behavior. It is, in some ways, similar to chess in..." He shook his head, "Some other time, maybe."
 
"I merely remarked on the happenings, I did not comment in the negative or positive," Alec said mildly.

"I already know poker," Xander said automatically. "I used to-ow."

The "ow" was due to Alec bumping into the back of his head. Alec murmured a quiet "sorry."

"I used to mess with the pieces," Xander said. He moved his piece.

"Here we see White making another move. According to the narrator's book, the most difficult opponent to play against is one that is random, as it is impossible to anticipate their movements," Alec said, checking a page in his book. "How will Black defend or attack?"
 
"If I thought there was something immoral about poker I would not offer to teach it, do not worry," Dark said, amused, unsure if the bump was intentional or not.

Then he looked down at the board and signed heavily, before moving one piece, "Check."
 
Alec raised his brow, "Black is going to respond by defeating White. The game goes to Black! The opponents will now shake hands."

Xander smirked and held out his hand. "Alright, you're decently alright," he said, deliberately holding back his praise to tease Dark. "I suppose you might have a few things to teach me. You wanna go again and show me how it's really done?"
 
Dark looked at Alec and pointed to the board, "I only put him in check, you can get out of check. You win on Checkmate, when there are no other options." He accepted Xander's surrender, though, but for fun talked through the different ways Xander could have gotten out of check, and even the ways he could have one, not to gloat or tease him, but to show him the game, "And I am sure there are a multitude of ways the game could have gone that I cannot even see. But let us clear the board, and really begin."

He set his pieces back where they belonged, "You are still White, so the important thing to learn is never open with F3, like this." He moved Xander's pawn to demonstrate, "There is a big complicated reason to avoid it, but it is a good rule of thumb to begin with." Then he allowed Xander to make his move. Since he was an experienced teacher, and a good one, when it came down to it, he didn't info dump, and instead took it one step, or, move, at a time.
 
Alec checked his book, flipping through the pages. "Oh, right. Check and checkmate. Sorry, I forgot." He leaned on the back of Xander's chair and watched Dark walk Xander through the different moves.

Xander watched Dark with a fierce frown on his face as he tried to follow what he was saying. He made mental notes, writing nothing down as he followed everything Dark said. He was far more focused now than he ever was in the classroom, though his left hand tapped continuously through the whole thing, never pausing even once.
 
"You look like you are thinking hard," Dark said, impressed, "I hope one day to lose by your hand." And he meant it, because he wasn't vain enough to hate losing. If Xander studied and learned enough to beat him in the game, that would mean he had done well, not failed.

If anything, he wanted to lose to Xander, one day. Not today. But one day. It would mean he taught him well... If Xander ever learned not to be so intensely aggressive in his moves.
 
Xander looked up at Dark, startled by his words. "Really? I wouldn't have thought you'd want to lose."

Alec held up a finger. "All good mentors hope to be surpassed by their pupils! I read that somewhere."

Xander considered the statement and then nodded. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense." He leaned back and stretched out his back. "But now I'm stiff from bending over. No wonder old dudes who play chess are always slumped."
 
"We would do better with a higher table," Dark agreed, "but you winning means I taught you well. Or that I am mentally declining," he frowned, "I never counted on getting old. But do not worry, if I teach you, when the baby gets older, you can teach her, and in doing so have someone to beat that doesn't mean I am approaching decrepitude."

He won the game without flourish, "I do have to say, I am so accustomed to losing to Daizi, it does bring me some pleasure to win."
 
Xander smirked at Dark. "You're already old," he said. He pointed toward the kitchen. "You forgot to put a dish away, something you never do. If that's not decrepitude, I don't know what is."

When Dark turned to glance, Xander nimbly flipped the board around, careful not to disrupt any of the pieces. He was back up and stretching before Dark could look back, and Alec stood trying to muffle his laughter. It was very cartoonish, but Xander couldn't help himself.
 
"I am older than you, but I am not old," Dark replied, but still looked towards the kitchen, because he swore he had put all of the plates away, and was more or less certain that if a plate was left out, it was because someone else had enjoyed a snack and didn't clean up after themselves.

When he turned back, remarking that there was no plate there, he looked at the board and said, "If you intend to make it look as if I had lost, you would have been better perfectly switching the colours around."
 
"I thought you preferred white," Xander said innocently. "After all, that's the colors that seem to e on your side of the board."

Alec giggled and said, "If you keep this up, you're going to be like that old dude who plays chess with himself."

"That's a cartoon, and it is hilarious," Xander replied dryly.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top