FIC: Torchwood - Only a Game

[fajrdrako]

Title: Only a Game
Fandom: Torchwood
Characters: Jack, Gwen, Ianto
Challenge: theatrical_muse prompt #230 - Black and white.
Rating: G
Disclaimer: Not mine, no claims, all property of the BBC.
Notes: Cross-posted to theatrical_muse, my LJ, and to torchwoodgwen. 434 words.


Only a Game

It was not a game: it was a war.

When she was sixteen, Gwen had been in the school Chess Club for a few months, because she'd fancied Nigel Jenkins, the club president. After a while she discovered that he had a thing for Jenny Underwriter, who was a twit, and chess wasn't much fun anyway. So that was that.

But she was a rather good strategist.

Jack, on the other hand, played like a madman or a fiend. There was no way to anticipate his moves. He kept sneaking up on her, and if she didn't know better, she'd think he was telepathic. He played with suave grace as if he were hardly thinking of the game at all; it might have been simply a game of chance. He played fairly quickly, assessing the board and then moving without hesitation, as if his path were always clear. Sometimes he recklessly sacrificed pieces, only to swoop down on Gwen in the next turn, leaving her with devastating losses. Sometimes he flirted a little as he played, which was distracting. But she liked it. She liked it more than she probably should have.

If Chess Club at school had been this much fun, she'd have stuck with it.

They were playing at Jack's desk. Halfway through the game, Ianto came in with fresh coffee - no wonder they loved him so. He watched them play without comment. "DO you play chess?" Gwen asked him, and Ianto raised an eyebrow as if shrugging. "I know the moves."

Jack grinned as if Ianto had said something lewd. "Mind on the game?" Gwen said to him, and Jack moved his bishop with casual grace. She drummed her fingers on the desk, trying to see a way past his blockade. "Shit," she said.

"Perhaps we should play strip chess next time," suggested Jack.

"You can play that with Ianto," said Gwen sharply. She moved. It was not a good move. She lost another pawn immediately.

"No fun that way," said Jack. "Ianto would try to lose. He is a shameless slut."

"I learned from a master," said Ianto. "But I am a gentleman, and I never cheat."

Jack looked reproachfully at Gwen. "He thinks I cheat. Check."

"Beast," said Gwen, glaring at the board. It didn't help. She was losing. Badly. A few more turns....

"You cheat all the time," said Ianto. A dimple appeared and disappeared, a smile too quick to properly catch. "It's one of the things I love about you."

Gwen stared at the chess pieces; the pieces in black and white wood, a set both old and beautiful, from a box of carved oak. Jack said it had been a gift, but he did not explain who gave it to him. "It doesn't matter," he said, dismissing another bit of his past. And she had wondered: was it one of his lovers who had given him this, or anacquaintance , or someone he knew at Torchwood? It looked like something from the twentieth century. It looked valuable; and so it must be, if Jack had kept it.

She played. He played. She moved again, and was mated.

"One day," said Gwen, "One day, I swear, I'll beat you."

"Good luck," said Ianto, smiling.


~ ~ ~

Character: Gwen Cooper
Fandom: Doctor Who/Torchwood
Words: 545

~ ~ ~

Comments

[adjovi.livejournal.com]

this made me smile--thanks for sharing. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

My pleasure - thanks for commenting!

[raissad.livejournal.com]

That was great. :)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you! Glad you enjoyed it.

[laurab1.livejournal.com]

I love that :) Can hear all 3 of them perfectly.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Thank you so much!

[coffeegirl18.livejournal.com]

I love chess, I have a rather nice marble one that my parents gave me. But sadly it's in storage.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

How lovely! I have a set made of rubber, with figures from the King Arthur myth - and the board is a rug. It's all rather too big for my small apartment so I don't currently keep it on display, it's packed in my locker - except for one beautiful rook that resides on my bookcase. It looks like a medieval tower.

[coffeegirl18.livejournal.com]

I have massive checker board like that. That'd be cool, I like the whole Arthurian legend.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love the Arthurian legends because they are medieval (and romantic) - and when I saw this chess set at the age of 18 or so, it was love at first sight.

[coffeegirl18.livejournal.com]

They definitely are and I like how each knight has their own story. I'm mostly a fan of Tristan and Isolde (before the movie, although it was good) since it's a pretty and really tragic story.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Now, I haven't seen Tristan and Isolde yet - and I have my very own copy of it. Thanks for reminding me! I have time to watch it now!

I don't know who/what my favourite bits of the Arthurian legends are - I prefer to leave Sarmations out of it, thank you all the same, but different versions of the story invoke and enhance different characters. I liked T.H. White's Lancelot and Mary Stewart's Merlin and Richard Harris' Arthur - and I'm not sure I've seen my own vision of any of those characters in fiction. I suppose I should write my own. I see them as extremely archetypal, and they are archetypes I like - the Mage, the Saviour-King, the Knight.

I also like playing with the love triangles and/or threesomes embedded in the story. A soft spot for Courtly Love.

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

Just because - as I've said before - rude_not_ginger is made of awesome, I think you should - really should - check this (http://community.livejournal.com/ficrecfriday/4331.html).

Long live ficrecfriday!!!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

How wonderful! Thanks for the link.

[kikibug13.livejournal.com]

^_^ That comm is definitely worth watching on Friday. Especially for some of us who miss things that are posted when we're distracted >.> and love reading the good stuff anyway.

Anyhoo. Cheers, you made it to a rude_not_ginger recommendation. ;) (heh since I love her writing and trust her taste, making it to her lists is ALWAYS love!)

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yes, I look forward to perusing this much more. I was quite chuffed to see that rude_not_ginger liked my snarky Ianto. Lots of good reading among those recs! - thanks again.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Many many thanks!