Bishops and Knights
Rating: T
Summery: Not long after he poisons Sharon Vincent challenges Liam to a game of chess. With… mixed intentions.
Characters: Liam and Vincent
Comments: I told myself one night that I was going to go to the PH prompt site, go to the newest page of prompts and write the first one that caught my eye that very night. No exceptions, no stalling, just write. Funnily enough a prompt about chess, flirting, and Vincent Nightray caught my eye and even though I usually hate writing anything that sort of resembles romance I sat down to write it. Three hours later I found myself with a chess set sitting next to my laptop and having the time of my life. Go figure.
As always, reviews are much appreciated.
Prompt: "So. Recently I learned how crazy things can get when you play Apples to Apples at a party with over 16 people. The round that inspired this post?
Green card: Flirtatious
Red card someone put down: Chess
…then one of the guys at said party started acting out just how this could happen. XD Make this work anons! Thought to post this here since we all know Vincent plays chess… along with a few other characters. "Check mate~!""
Liam had remembered the reason that he avoided playing chess with Vincent Nightray most of the time. The man was a horrible… well, flirt.
"Why, Mister Liam," the other man purred, "It was so very good of you to agree to play chess with me."
"It was the least I could do." he replied neutrally, trying valiantly not to let his exasperation show. "Since Lord Oscar is unavailable."
"So very kind of you, I was so sure he said he was going to be here but…" Vincent gave a little sigh. "Well, it appears I was mistaken."
Despite the fact he rather doubted that story -Lord Oscar was not known for frequenting libraries- Liam kept his face from showing it, instead moving his pawn up to b4 so it formed a solid line of defense with two other pawns slightly behind it.
He'd been surprised when Vincent Nightray had wandered out of the stacks, holding a chess set and looking a little confused. He had claimed Lord Oscar had challenged him to a game in the library and appeared quite sad to hear that the man had left for the Vessalius estate two hours previously. Liam had felt rather bad about Lord Oscar's apparent forgetfulness (though he did have some doubts about the truth of what Vincent had said), bad enough that when Vincent challenged him to a game he'd agreed to it.
And now with him smiling far too appealingly across the chessboard at him Liam was regretting his moment generosity.
"You're quite the diligent man to be hard at work so late." Vincent moved his knight to h6 and then laced his hands so he could prop his chin on them. "Even my hardworking little Echo is asleep at this time of night."
Ignoring the purred compliment Liam asked, "Isn't it risky for you to wander without her? If you fell asleep on the way here no one would know where you were."
"Worried about my safety, Mister Liam?" Vincent's smile widened slightly. "That's quite touching."
"You are one of my co-workers." Liam replied. He moved his rook to f2 in a cautious move, he didn't want to go on the offensive just yet, he needed to build defenses first.
"Ah, but you're very good at looking after people." said Vincent. He leaned forward slightly to inspect the board and the scent of roses wafted across the table.
Nervously Liam leaned back. No one who had done what Vincent had done to Miss Sharon deserved to smell so pleasant. "No, I'm far too busy to take care of anyone."
Vincent reached down and picked up his knight, rolling it in his pale fingers as he spoke, "But I've noticed how our Mad Hatter relies so on you. Why, if not for you his paperwork would never be completed." He set the knight down on g4.
"That's his laziness." Liam snapped. "I just got tired of the holdup it causes when his paperwork doesn't get in on time. It's hardly altruistic." Which was a lie and he knew it. To distract himself from thinking about the fact that Break was all too often too sick or tired to do his own paperwork Liam moved his rook quickly to g3.
Immediately Vincent took it with his bishop and Liam sighed. It was the first piece either of them had lost and he hoped it wasn't a sign of how the game was going to go. If he had a weakness as a chess player it was a tendency to forget about bishops sweeping in on the diagonal.
"Now don't feel bad," Vincent dropped the white marble piece into the little dish to the side of the board. "You see, I'm quite fond of coming at people from the side. I find they don't expect attack quite as much that way." Under the table what was undoubtably Vincent's foot traced a circle on the top of Liam's. Granted that in boots he couldn't feel it very much but he still colored and moved his foot. That made Vincent chuckle, something which sounded distinctly predatory when it came from him.
With a scowl Liam moved his pawn to take Vincent's attacking bishop.
The smile returned to Vincent's face. "Why so upset, Mister Liam?" he moved his now threatened knight back to f6. "Surely you know you sometimes have to sacrifice people to succeed."
"I'm not upset." he moved his foot again when Vincent's toe quite deliberately bumped against his own. "And I don't think it's always necessary to sacrifice people to win." he moved his bishop to e2.
"Isn't that what your Mad Hatter believes?" Vincent asked lightly, putting his knight on b6. "After all, he certainly sacrificed something he had worked very hard for to save his Lady." He placed a finger momentarily on his queen. And then very deliberately moved his rook to a6, his eyes challenging Liam to say something about his double move.
The mention of the incident made Liam go very still. Of course he hadn't forgotten about it, but he hadn't excepted Vincent to bring it up so casually. To hide his sudden hyperawareness of how close Vincent was he ignored the cheating, focused on the board, and moved his knight to a2 and said nothing.
"You're so quiet now," said Vincent in a teasing tone. "Have I shocked you into to silence?" he considered Liam's face and shook his head. "No, I think you already knew about that little incident." He moved his rook forward to d5. "How very cautious of Mister Hatter to warn you."
"Are you trying to get at something?" Liam demanded in a chipped voice as he put a pawn at c5.
"Do you think I am?" Vincent asked, moving his bishop to g7. The smile he beamed across the table was too innocent to be in the slightest bit sincere.
"What I think is that you seem to have more in mind than simple game of chess." He moved his rook to c2 the looked up from the board to glare at Vincent.
The other man's eyebrows rose. "Now that sounds like an accusation." he leaned much farther across the chessboard. "Maybe you aren't quite as oblivious as those around you think you are." For third time his foot found Liam's under the table, but this time he traced a line down Liam's leg, raising goose bumps of Liam's arms.
Above the table Vincent's face was friendly, slightly too much so, and he innocently moved his rook forward to a3 to take one of Liam's pawn's, ignoring the slight choked noise Liam made.
Making a concerted effort to pull himself together Liam moved his own rook to c3. "Oblivious of w-what exactly?"
"Now isn't that the question." Vincent said. When he put his rook at a1 he knocked over Liam's knight at b1, which it was now threatening from its new position.
The sound of marble on marble made Liam jump, he immediately reached to pick up the piece. He saw the flash of metal and out of nowhere the blades of a pair of scissors settled around his wrist.
Liam froze, the chess piece in hand, with his arm out over the board.
"Always so quick to come to the aid of your knight," Vincent said quietly. "Perhaps you should think a little more of your own safety before you go doing that."
Without Liam meaning to his hand clenched around the piece. The cold of the scissor blades pressed a little harder on his skin as Vincent waggled a finger at him. "Temper, temper Mister Liam. Now is hardly the time for threatening gestures. You hardly see to realize how… vulnerable you are." He reached forward with his free hand to run a finger down Liam's cheek, seeming to quite enjoy the shudder of revulsion this prompted. "You're oh so important to Mister Hatter, almost more important than the Lady he already sacrificed so much to save. Just think, what would he give up to save you?"
Vincent's smile showed teeth and then he said. "And it's your turn, by the way."
Liam had to try twice to get his voice to work properly. "Y-you… you can either play chess or threaten me. You can't do both."
The blades bit into the underside of his wrist as Vincent tightened his grip. "I don't think you have a choice about that, now do you? You should make your move, I'm getting impatient."
A sharp edge broken the skin on top of Liam's wrist and he gave an involuntary little sound of pain.
"Go or I'll have to explain to the higher ups how poor overworked Liam Lunettes cut his wrists open in the library. Such a tragedy. So sad." It wasn't just an idle threat; the scissors began to cut more deeply into his wrist.
Gritting his teeth Liam moved his rook to a3 to take out Vincent's rook on the next turn. He didn't think much about the move, he was more concerned with the steel digging into his skin.
At the move, Vincent looked amused, he didn't close the scissors any more, but he didn't open them any either. Blood was now dripping down onto the chessboard, very red on the white bishop it was landing on. "Still trying to rescue him." He reached over with his free hand to move his rook to b1 and take the knight there. He held the piece up between them, "But to now I have your knight, Mister Liam. Whatever are you going to do?"
With a flick of his fingers he tossed the piece into its dish and took up the blood-stained bishop. "And I have you in the palm of my hand. Stand by the sidelines and look innocent until it's just the time to strike, now isn't that just like you?" his blades dug into Liam's skin just a little more as he hissed, "And I know that free hand has gone back to that gun you have hidden under your jacket. So take it off the gun and make your move so I don't have to see how easy it would be to cut your throat from this close, eh?"
Very slowly Liam withdrew his hand from the gun he had at the small of his back, hidden just under the hem of his uniform jacket. He picked up his queen and used it to knock Vincent's rook off the board, never taking his eyes off Vincent's face as he did so.
"So very defiant. I rather like that about you." Vincent said.
"What do you want Vincent?" Liam asked quietly. "To anger Break by killing me? To threaten me into staying out of your way? To get something from me? None of those things will end well for you."
"Oh really?" Vincent purred. "I doubt that."
"Xerxes will not falter just because I'm dead." Liam said flatly. "I refuse to be threatened out of anything and even if I knew anything you wanted to know I'm not about to tell you."
"Not even to save that wrist?" leaning forward so far over the chessboard that his long hair knocked over a few pieces Vincent studied his face for a moment. "Why it appears you wouldn't even for that. My opinion of you rises quite a bit."
This close the distinctive smell of black roses was unmistakable. Under any other circumstances Liam would have enjoyed the smell, but right now it was just sickeningly sweet and choking. Bizarrely he could feel his face flushing at the proximity, Vincent's own a was few mere inches away from his own and somehow through everything else he could still manage to be flustered about that.
"Blushing?" Vincent's bicolored eyes were cruel this close and yet they were laughing at the same time. "How very adorable."
"…what do you want?" he whispered.
Vincent leaned forward and pressed his lips to Liam's.
That was so completely unexpected that Liam froze, everything going through his mind derailing at the feeling of soft lips on his. He almost didn't notice that the scissors had closed tightly around his wrist he was taken so absolutely by surprise.
By the time he got together enough coherency to try to bite down on the tongue that traced his bottom lip Vincent was leaning back, a satisfied smile on his face. "That." he said. "Exactly that expression is what I wanted."
Shocked and angry and flustered and vaguely wanting Liam recovered enough to glare at him.
He ignored it and knocked over his king with one finger as he rose. "I'll call a retreat for today. I wouldn't want our Mister Mad Hatter too angry with me for encroaching on his territory." The step he took back from the table left Liam's hand free again. "But I'm sure I'll be seeing you again soon, Mister Liam."
And with a small wave Vincent was gone into the vastness of the library, leaving Liam sitting there, holding his bleeding wrist protectively to his chest
Alone.
End.