Checkmate

Chester moved his knight forwards in an L-shape. He glared at River.
River’s eyes were glued to the board. His face was passive, though he was thinking hard.

“It’s your turn. Move it”, Chester ordered.
River raised a brow and moved a pawn.

Chester looked at the pawn as if the staring would make it disappear. He moved his own pawn in a symmetric move.
River laughed.

Chester glared at him harder than before.
“Are you good at chess?” River questioned merrily.

For a moment it seemed like Chester was going to get up and throw the board over. He didn’t though.
River didn’t seem to notice. He made his move.

“Why don’t you find out?” Chester sneered and made an attempt at getting his horse through the board.
River was still stubbornly oblivious to the others moody condition. He only saw the board.

Which only fueled Chester up more.
The taller of the two, River, finally decided on what his plan was going to be. What came to the game of course.

Chester didn’t even seem to care much for winning once he retorted.
“I wonder if there’s something to drink in the fridge…” River muttered more to himself than Chester.

The irritated little boy thought this outrageous. This was evident on his face.
Only, River still wasn’t facing him, so how could he know.

“Aren’t you supposed to think about the game?” for once, Chester seemed to be trying to calm his anger.
Not that the brown haired one saw the difference.

And Chester had a feeling River was forcing him into the category of a small kid. He hated it, to put it short. Chester pouted.
River grinned charmingly and stood up.

Chester wished he was prepared for these kinds of situations with something throwable.
“But you’re so good with it. Won’t you win anyway?” enlightened River, who was still grinning and now making his way out of the room.

Chester was certain the River’s life meaning was to make him mad. Mad as in angry and mad as in crazy.
River actually thought the other was good with the game. But he thought he had made it clear with his previous sentence.

The other, who was currently considering of moving the pieces in a more advantageous situation. Just as a revenge for the other’s departure.
River was feeling for coke that evening.

Chester didn’t actually care about the whole game, so he did nothing. He still hated River though.
River had just then returned to the doorway.

This time it was Chester who didn’t pay attention to the other. He was taking a shot at glaring the opponent’s king to ashes. He’d win if he succeeded.
Which is of course was when River finally stole a view at the other. In passing though, while he was sitting down on his previous seat.

Chester noticed the other’s presence immediately. He lifted his head.
River was eating the game with his eyes.


And this disturbed Chester greatly. He was definitely sick if he wanted to do it with a game.
As if River had anything of such in mind.

Chester slowly got fed up with the situation.
River had yet to make his next move.

“Why won’t you ever look at me?” Chester inquired, frustration evident in his voice.
River was taken aback by the question. Although it didn’t mean his eyes moved to the desired target.

Chester wanted to scream and break anything he got a hold onto. Including River, who was giving silence to a wrong question.
“Do you want me to look at you?” River asked eventually, his voice quieter than normally.

Chester got up. He succeeded to throw his chair over in the process. He named that as the most idiotic question ever.
River was looking blankly at the board like he just realized he had no idea what it was.

“Well obviously! I want you to pay attention to me! I want to you to care about me! I want you …” The rest died in the boy’s throat and it seemed like he just figured out something crucial.
A hand was raised to make a move, but then it got into a halt. There was no other change in River.

“I want you.” Chester whispered and he shook his head to be contradictory, “And I want you to want me. Why won’t you? You won’t even look at me!”
River continued his move, shifting a piece from a black square to a white one.

The dark haired boy was too shocked to react. He couldn’t understand why River didn’t even care enough to answer him.
“Checkmate”, River declared.

Chester felt no longer like screaming. He felt rather numb.
River seemed to be quite proud of himself and the game’s outcome.

“River… Look at me, please… I feel so cold…” Chester felt himself cracking and his eyes burning with oncoming tears.
But River just furrowed his brows and along with the board only thing in his sight, he looked like he was trying to decide if the move made any sense or not.

Chester made his way around the table and stood next to the other.
River let out an obscure explanation about something being “illegal, but he wrote his own rules”.

“Give me anything. Say something to me. I… I feel… untouched”, Chester kneeled down while he was speaking and his head mimicked the action, making him look like he was pleading for mercy.
The taller boy got up.

Chester thought he was going to leave. He felt embarrassed, but most of all he hurt.
The boy then canceled his previous move by coming down on his knee. He peered through the other’s hair, searching for sincerity from his eyes, although he knew the truth already.

“River, I love you”, Chester said so quiet that if River had been any further, he wouldn’t have heard it.
But River didn’t seem to listen. He pulled Chester up almost roughly. He then grabbed Chester’s chin gently and turned in towards the game.

Chester didn’t want to look at the game. He didn’t care about it one bit. But he complied because it was River who was asking him.
“I’m the last person you should be pleading for anything”.

Chester shook his head. His gaze was still fixed on the game like he had been told to do. He wanted River. Nothing he said could change that. It was him or no one.
“Tell me what you want”, River commanded, finally watching, staring intently at the boy before him.

Chester thought he had already made it obvious. River. He wasn’t ashamed to point this to the other boy either.
“Then your wish will be granted.”

And at time, Chester realized something odd about the game. Slowly, cautiously Chester turned his gaze towards the one next to him. He gasped sharply.
“You’re such a fool, Ches. There’s a reason why I don’t look at you”, River added an afterthought, “You don’t need to plead me. I’ll give you anything you want without it.”

Chester’s eyes were now about the size of plates. He was baffled to say the least. He knew the look River was carrying, he had seen it before on someone else. His heart thumped a thousand miles.
“Do you think you’re the only one who wants to be touched?” the question was breathed tentatively into the other’s ear by River, “I don’t want to hurt you… You’re so innocent… But… You… Please, let me…”

Chester let out an incredulous laugh and looked at the brunette with a matching expression.
River continued to look at him needily. He appeared a tad jumpy as if he couldn’t keep himself under control, but it was more like a mental thing, not physical. Only his hands twitched, but he did not touch.

“Why do you even ask after I just declared my undying love for you?” from Chester it came out like a scold.
That was all the insurance River required.

One second they were standing next to each other, as close as ever and staring at each other in an unnatural distance. The next River had Chester’s lips captured with his own and he was eagerly pushing him in the direction of a sofa he knew lingered somewhere further in the living room. Chester did not mind the rush at all, not even when he was practically thrown on the couch with River on him, the contact never broken.

He pleaded River to touch him and the other was more than happy to comply, telling him that even though he lusted after him to no end, he loved him and unfortunately could never stop loving him. Chester told him he was an idiot and that he was going to make sure he’d keep his word. And the game of chess was forgotten on the table, Chester’s pawn keeping River’s king in a position that could be called:

“Checkmate.”