fic: Queen's Gambit, Accepted

[axolotl]

Title: Queen's Gambit, Accepted
Author: axolotl
Rating: PG
Verse: HGSS/BLW, significantly postgame; chess (algebraic notation)
Characters: Silver/trans!N, Silver/Kotone
Summary: Silver and Julie/N sit down to play a game of chess in a cafe in Sunyshore, while Kotone flits about.
Notes: Hypothetically takes place after New Game + but does not contain significant spoilers for that and does not need that. Written for this pokeprompts prompt; the moves of the chess game theoretically correspond to the different definitions of move, in order, as laid out in the prompt. ...it's not midnight in my time zone yet, this is still on time. :D

1. d4 d5

   Silver and Julie sat in a cafe in Sunyshore, Julie leaning against the window and petting an Eevee in her lap, Silver leaning forward over the chessboard. His left hand held his mug of cocoa firmly against the table, and with his right hand, he scratched behind Crobat’s wings lightly, looking down the board at Julie’s black pieces.

2. c4 dxc4

   “You... gave me a pawn?” Julie had been living in Sinnoh for around three months now, bouncing between towns and trying to figure out just what she thought of the Contest circuit. She hadn’t seen Silver in that time, but for some reason, when he showed up, all he wanted to do was play chess. “Is this some kind of trick?”

3. e4 b5

   “It’s called a gambit,” said Silver.

   “So yes.”

   Silver took a sip of his cocoa to hide his lips curving. “Maybe.”

4. Nf3 Nc6

   Julie lifted her own mug, taking a small sip of coffee. She inhaled through her nose, closing her eyes as the warm bitterness soaked into her sinuses. With her free hand she pushed stray green hair behind her ear as she considered the board.

5. d5 Nb4

   Julie looked up, but Silver did not, as Kotone placed a small plate of cookies on the table next to the board.

   “Thank you,” said Julie, picking one up and holding it between her fingers like a go stone. Silver looked up at hearing her voice, and shook his head, picking up another cookie and taking a bite. He put the cookie half back down on the plate and then pushed a pawn forward.

6. a3 Nd3

   “How’ve you been?” Kotone stepped over to hug Julie, who only had to stand up halfway to meet her. “Silver insisted we had to come and see you this weekend, I was afraid something was going on.”

   Silver harrumphed. “I wanted to play her in chess.”

   Kotone turned around to kiss him on the cheek. “Of course, dear. Chess.”

7. Bxd3 bxd3

   Silver spun the knight between his fingers and looked across the table at Julie, smirking slightly. “You didn’t want to keep the pawn after all?”

   Julie shook her head, and scratched behind Eevee’s ears, white bishop perched next to chocolate cookies on the table. “Kotone told me the way to beat you was to avoid overextending myself and to let you do it first.” Eevee hopped off of her lap and wandered over to another table, begging for snacks.

8. Qxd3 a6

   Silver turned his head to the left, but Kotone had wandered off. He finished his cookie.

   “White makes the first mistake,” said Julie, leaning back into the window and letting the sun warm her face. “Though I have to say I haven’t seen this particular opening before.”

   “It’s not popular,” said Silver, the tip of his boot sliding lightly along the side of Julie’s shoe under the table, rubber squeaking against rubber felt rather than heard. “I stole it from Professor Elm.”

9. O-O g6

   “Oh.” Julie looked out at the ocean through the window, dim shapes of children and Pokemon playing on the beach. “I didn’t realize he played.”

   “Apparently a lot of the Professors do.”

   She frowned and flexed her ankle, sliding her foot out of her shoe and resting it on top of Silver’s boot. “Is that what you’re aiming for, then?”

10. b4 Bg7

    Silver shrugged, looking out the window without seeing what was past it. When he turned his body, Crobat cracked open an eye, looking at Julie and then at the board. “What if it is?”

    Julie pulled her foot back. “I am just...” She broke a cookie in half and left it on the plate. “I’m still not really convinced of the ethics of all this, you know. The Leagues, the Contests.” She picked up her bishop and moved it a square with unnecessary flourish, both of them smiling slightly at the click of wood on wood. “And your participation makes me uncomfortable.”

11. Ra2 Nf6

    “I don’t battle any more.” Silver took a long sip of his cocoa and held it near his lips, staring at the foam stuck to the inner walls of the mug. “I don’t want to battle, either.”

    “But you support battling.” She rested her hand on his, lightly, taking some of the weight of the mug. “I wish that you would not. There are more happy Pokemon here than in Unova, but...”

12. Nd2 O-O

    Their hands stayed touching as they played their moves, Julie castling by moving her king, and then her rook, and then adjusting them both. Silver kept his eyes on the board. “So the contests,” he said, and then waited. Julie shook her head.

    She squeezed Silver’s hand. “Did you really expect anything different?”

    “I hoped,” said Silver, and he looked up to meet her eyes, and she shivered a bit.

    “You’ll never actually calm down, will you?”

13. Ne5 Bb7

    Silver slammed the knight down onto e5. “And did moving calm you down, Julienne?” He brought the mug back to the table, pulling away from his opponent’s hand, and turned his head toward the front of the cafe. He saw Kotone leaning on the counter, chatting with the barista, Eevee weaving between her legs and nuzzling her calves. From the way her back shook, he could tell she was laughing.

    Julie folded her hands over lap and took a deep breath, leaning back and watching the slow revolutions of a ceiling fan. “I didn’t try to liberate any Pokemon, if that’s what you mean.” She lifted one hand, rested it on her bishop, and thought for a moment. “Mostly I talked with a lot of young women who were trying to earn ribbons, and to their Pokemon.” She slid the bishop into place without lifting it from the board.

14. Rc2 Rc8

    Silver looked back at the board. “A double fianchetto? Who are you, Aggron Nimzovich?” He pushed his rook over to stare down the c file.

    Julie smiled and took another sip of coffee, relaxing a bit. “Clearly.” After a moment she couldn’t hold her face still and tilted her head down. “Silver, who is that?”

15. Bb2 Qd6

    “He wrote a book about chess that I read recently.” Silver took a cookie half and held it in his cocoa for moment, letting it half-dissolve. “You’ve probably read a lot of people influenced by his work.”

    “I haven’t read much chess at all, Silver. I am not as into this as you. I just... played a lot when I was small.” They locked eyes. Silver bit his lip slightly. “What made you get so excited about this recently?” Silver said nothing.

16. Rfc1 Rfd1

    “He misses battling,” said Kotone, who placed a chair next to the table and sat down, pulling Eevee up onto her lap. “And he misses you.” Silver tried to glare at her but couldn’t keep the smile from showing in the wrinkles around his eyes.

    “It’s true.” Silver put his rooks in a line and stared across the table. “I’m used to spending hours a day training for competition, you know? I don’t know what to do with myself, around the house. Kotone’s on the road a lot, and it’s been strange not having you there.”

    “I’m sor—” Silver reached up and put his hand over Julie’s mouth.

    “Don’t be.” He took his hand back, and Kotone grabbed it, squeezing softly. “But do make your move.”

17. Nc6 Rd7

    Julie moved her rook, and then raised an eyebrow when Silver immediately moved his knight into place in the midst of all of her pieces. She looked at the board for a moment, and then back up. “This isn’t some crazy punishment thing for me going away, is it?”

    “What??” Silver swallowed, and shook his head quickly. Crobat opened its eyes again, and moved to shield its trainer’s eyes with a wing, but Silver pushed it gently away. “No, Julie. No.” He shook his head again. “I wanted you to go.”

    “But why play if we already know you’re just going to win? I feel like I’ve been walking into a trap since move two.”

18. e5 Qxd5

    “Because I love you,” said Silver, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world, and then he slid his e-pawn forward to threaten Julie’s knight and queen. “To show you that I’ve grown since you’ve gone.”

    Julie thought for a moment, and then slid her foot back on top of Silver’s boot. “Kotone, does he always show his love this... aggressively?”

    The older woman laughed, and stared straight at Silver’s face, smiling more and more broadly as his cheeks grew redder than his hair. “Not nearly as much as I’d like, actually. You seem to bring it out in him.”

19. QxQ RxQ

    After trading queens, Silver drank the last of his cocoa, and lifted the toe of his boot slightly against Julie’s foot. “We could do something else.” His face was still pink and fading. “I mean, not like that.” He looked out the window again. “Unless you wanted I guess. I mean. Um.”

    Julie lifted his chin with a finger. “There are other people in the cafe, you know.” They both turned to Kotone, who was failing to hide giggles in her iced tea.

    “I’d run interference if you wanted to grab the restroom,” she said, and then both of them blushed, Silver reaching quickly down for his knight.

20. Nxe7+ Kd8

    “You threaten both of my rooks?” Julie looked crestfallen.

    “Well, I can only take one.” Silver tossed Julie’s captured pawn up in the air and caught it.

    “As if that helps.”

21. NxRc8 BxN KOTONExe5

    Silver captured Julie’s rook, Julie recaptured with her bishop, and Silver was about to grab his pawn when Kotone snatched it away.

    “We’re... using that.”

    “Silver, you are up a rook. You can handle it.” She tilted her head way back and started to balance the pawn on her nose.

    “But...”

    Julie shrugged. “We could just stop.”

    Silver shook his head. “No, we’ll play it out. I’ll just simplify.”

22. BxN BxB

    Eevee hopped from Kotone’s lap onto Julie’s, and Julie rested her left hand on the Pokemon’s head, staring off into space beyond Silver’s shoulder. At another table, a younger woman was carefully fastening a ribbon on each of a Vulpix’s six tails, the Pokemon sitting patiently but looking out the window with a hint of longing in its eyes. Julie thought about what the Vulpix might be longing for, but decided not to ask. Instead, she turned sideways to face both Silver and Kotone. “Can I... complexify?”

    “Hmm?” Kotone took the pawn off of her nose and dragged her chair over next to Silver, leaning on one shoulder as Crobat continued to perch unmoving on the other.

    “Can I stay with you for a while, when we get back to Johto?”
23. RxN RxB

    Silver turned to Kotone, who was already looking up at him. He took a deep breath.

    “You’re allowed to say yes,” said Kotone, wrapping arms around one of Silver’s. He exhaled.

    After a moment he asked: “What’s a while?”
24. RxB+ Bg7

    Julie shrugged her shoulders, the fabric of her button-down shirt riding up a bit until she smoothed it down. “What would be too long to be a while?”

    Silver and Kotone held eye contact for a moment, and then he looked back at Julie. His body shook a little bit, and Crobat woke up, draping a long wing across his shoulders and onto Kotone. It settled talons lightly into her hair, and waited.

25. g3 Bb2

    “I don’t think there is a time that would be too long,” said Silver, pushing up a pawn to make room for his King. Julie nodded, fingers pulling softly through Eevee’s fur.

    “...can we go back to Johto when we’re done with this game?”

    Kotone laughed, bright and clear, and soon Silver was laughing too, and Julie, and even Crobat almost smiled.

26. R1c2 RxR

    Kotone stood up from her chair. “Well, we have this hotel room for another couple of days still. The original plan had been to spend some time in Sinnoh; I haven’t been here in ages. But we could work something out.”

    Silver spoke in his smallest voice. “The hotel room has a king bed.”
27. RxR Bxa3

    Kotone missed half a beat and then put one hand on her hip. “Does Julie steal blankets? Because that could be a problem.”

    “Oh, no!” Julie shook her head. “I only borrow them.”
28. Ra2 Bxb4

    Silver looked down at the board. “This could be a problem.”

    “We can get extra blankets, I was only teasing her.”

    “No,” said Silver, “look.” He pointed to Julie’s bishop, and then zigged his finger, and then zagged, and then zigged again, and Julie tried to follow it but couldn’t keep up. Kotone just smiled and waggled a finger at him.

    “You got cocky,” said Kotone. “You should know better.”

29. Rxb6 Bc5

    “You randomly took my pawn off the board when I was going to take a knight with it!” Silver huffed.

    Kotone clicked her tongue. “It was still a winnable game.”

    Julie stared at the board for a moment, and tried to move the pieces around in her head. “I don’t get it.”

30. Kf1 b4

    “This is why we need to practice together!” Silver started his king’s slow march across the board. “See, you won’t be able to turn the pawn into a Queen because I can get the king over in time.”

    “So you still win?”

    “Oh no, it’s a draw. At least, I think it is. Because you can start picking off my remaining pawns while I stop you from promoting, and you can set the bishop and a pawn to protect each other and I don’t think I have sufficient material. I should have kept both rooks.”

    “So... we both win.”

31. Ke2 b3

    Silver shook his head. “Not really, a draw is only a half a point.”

    Julie shook her head back, and slid her toes up underneath the hem around Silver’s ankles, nails biting softly into his calf. “Oh, no. I’m pretty sure we both win.”

32. 1/2 – 1/2