Chess
I don't own Teen Titans
Beast Boy kept scratching his head, staring at the pieces. By now, he was sure Raven had the game down to a science, but he just wanted to figure out how she knew.
Of course, he wasn't playing himself. The Changeling stood in the Common room watching Raven and Robin play a classic game of chess on the dining table. The half-circle eating table had the board game right in the middle as if it were a box of pizza. Robin tapped a finger to his chin while Raven's emotionless face stared at the boy wonder.
"I've got to say, Raven. You're really good at this. Hmmm." He slowly moved his knight over to one of her pawns. Raven used her magic to move her other pawn down one. "Huh."
"Okay, I don't get this game," Beast Boy muttered.
"That's because your attention span isn't higher than a goldfish to play it," Raven said with a small smirk. Beast Boy huffed and sipped his drink loudly. Robin made his move. "But you're not the only one that needs to pay attention more." She moved her bishop. "Checkmate."
"Huh? Wow, nice game, Raven," Robin smiled, offering his hand. Raven smiled and shook his hand. The green teen scanned the board game as if there was a hidden switch to be found.
"But how do... ugh! Alright! That's it. I'm playing you next."
CRASH!
Off somewhere in the corner of the T-tower, something broke. The crash was followed by a rush of footsteps, and Cyborg and Starfire rushed in.
"Yo! Why did my stuff just crash!"
"And my plant pots just slid off their place and broke. It is as if the world just stopped," Starfire said.
Raven gave a side smirk to a fuming Beast Boy. "Could you guys stop it? I'm serious. I want to play. Sure, I haven't played it in a while-"
"You know how to play chess?"
"Don't act so surprised, Raven," Beast Boy groaned.
Raven smirked just a bit wider. She waved her magic hand and reset the game. "I can spare one more game."
"Alright! Get ready to get beat!"
"Are you talking about yourself?"
"Honestly, that was a force of habit," Beast Boy chuckled nervously, "Sorry, I just get in the zone when I'm playing games."
"And you never beat me at them," Cyborg added.
"No one asked you!"
"Now, if everyone could be quiet, we can start," Raven finished. Gulping as his comrades left them in peace, Beast Boy's eyes zoomed in on the board game.
"Soo uhhhh horses move in L's and the rook thingies move in lines, right?" Raven rose her eyebrow but nodded. "Hey, I haven't played this game since... since I was on the Doom Patrol," His voice changed a bit. "Mento and Elasti-girl tried to teach me, but Mento got too invested about it and I didn't want to play it anymore."
"Why did he make you play it?" Raven asked as she moved her piece. Beast Boy turned quiet for a moment, scanning the pieces. Raven stared at him, slightly puzzled. She had never seen Beast Boy so focused in her life. It was like he was calculating each and every move that each piece could make.
In fact, that's exactly what he was doing. By the time, he finally moved the piece, Raven had almost forgotten the question she had asked. "I'm sorry, what did you say?"
"I...I asked why did he make you play it."
"Who?"
"Mento? Doom Patrol?" Raven reminded him. Did he zone out that much?
"Oh! Right. He said it was so I could 'understand strategy' better."
"Did you?"
"No," Beast Boy muttered, "Let's just play the game, please." Raven stared but nodded.
Beast Boy was unusually stressed out during the game; Raven didn't need her powers to sense that. It was like each and every move he made him sweat all the more. And he was taking so long with his turns that when they finally finished, it was nighttime, with Raven as the victor. "Aw man! I was so close!"
Raven simply yawned and stood up. "It's late. I'm going to bed."
"Wait, don't you want a rematch?"
"Not if it puts that much stress on you." She said, walking away.
"Huh? What does that have to do with anything?"
She stopped near the door and turned around. "You were stressed beyond what's normal for a person playing. I've seen you play video games and you're never this anxious."
"I just... wanted to do a good job, that's all."
Raven stayed her eyes on him. Beast Boy couldn't tell what was going on in her mind. Was she trying to calculate something about him? His eyes darted around the room as she walked back to him.
"I'm not Mento, you know."
"Huh?"
"I'm not Mento. You're still afraid of disappointing him... and me."
"Whhaaaat? Noooo," Beast Boy laughed it off. Raven didn't. The green teen's laughter subsided into a sigh. "It's... it's not just that."
"What else is it?"
"I don't know. Maybe the simple fact that I don't know anything about strategy. I mean, I kinda have to have it when I'm leading a team, right?"
Raven nodded. "A board game isn't a reflection of your leadership skills."
"But it does show strategy skills," Beast Boy huffed and dropped his head into his hand. "I've always struggled with figuring out Chess. I even tried beating computers a couple of times. After a while, I just stopped. I just figured I wasn't good at planning things out... and I'm not."
Raven sat back down next to Beast Boy. "The Brotherhood of Evil victory says different."
"I got lucky. I didn't know you guys were still... around," Beast Boy sighed. "And even that plan went badly."
"We all have strengths and weaknesses. Fretting and worrying about your weaknesses doesn't make you less of a person. It just means you're human, like the rest of us."
"Except for Starfire?" Beast Boy chuckled. Raven slightly scowled at him with a raised eyebrow. "But yeah, I get it. It's just hard. People tend to trust people with plans."
"Not everything goes according to plan. You know that," Raven said. She got up and headed to the door. "I'm going to sleep. Goodnight."
"Night," Beast Boy sighed. As the doors hissed open and closed, he stared at the board game, looking at how his defeat came to be. "I just don't get it. Why can't I get this game?" He sighed and walked to bed.
The next morning, Beast Boy woke up, tired and grumpy. Even the cheerful voice of Starfire flying down the corridor to meet him couldn't bring his spirits up. "Good morning, Beast Boy!"
"Huh? Oh morning, Star."
"Is everything well with you? You do not look well."
"What's the matter, grass stain?" Cyborg announced, strolling down with Robin by his side. "Heard you guys played 'til night and you still lost."
Beast Boy let out a grumble and looked away. "Yeah. I did."
"Hey, man. Don't get upset. You're not this upset when you lose against me. And you beat me a few times."
"That's different. Chess just..." He sighed. "Look, I don't want to talk about it."
"What about it bothers you?" Robin asked.
"Maybe the fact that I try my best to plan things out and I still mess up! It just throws what Mento said about me being a poor planner back at my face! I know that strategy isn't everything, but..." He sighed again, hanging his head as Starfire gently rested her hand on his shoulder. Though the comfort was appreciated with a small sad smile, he obviously wasn't feeling better.
"You've planned things out before," Robin said.
"Figuring out what Raven's doing in her room doesn't count and I fail with those anyway."
"I mean when you play video games," Robin pointed out. "You've played all sorts of games. Puzzle games included."
"That's different," Beast Boy dismissively waved off. "A video game isn't the same as chess. When I play chess, I feel like I have a bunch of voices in my head trying to tell me what to do. Besides, in the video game, I have to think on my feet and-" He stopped. Suddenly, everything in his head came into clear view. "THAT'S IT!" Turning into a cheetah and darting off, Beast Boy left the three other heroes surprised and confused.
Raven was in the common room sipping her tea. Her frown still pressed onto her face. Beast Boy's sadness still lingered in her brain. She didn't mean for something as simple as chess to cause such bad feelings.
She was ripped from her sadness when the doors slid open. "Raven! Let's play a game!"
The sorceress turned around and blinked. "Are you sure?"
"Positive," Beast Boy said with new determination. His normal goofy yet cocksure smile shone brightly. Raven shrugged. Maybe he got over it? "But I want to try something different."
"What's that?" Beast Boy produced a small stop clock used in timed games of chess. Raven rose her eyebrow. "You want to make it timed? Why?"
"Just trust me on this."
Shrugging and sighing, the dark empath floated over to the table and magically reset the game. Beast Boy sat on the seat. "Who goes first?" He asked.
"You lost. You go first," Raven smirked. Beast Boy simply grinned back as he quickly moved a pawn and pressed the timer. Raven was used to this kind of chess. She'd rarely need the amount of time given to play. As she moved her knight and hit the timer, Beast Boy's eyes quickly scanned the area and he moved a knight, nearly smashing the timer.
As time went on, Raven's confidence soon took a turn. Beast Boy's playing suddenly had her on the defense. After a few plays, he managed to capture both of her knights and one rook. Now the time began to press on her. She had to use all of it to make a play. As she tentatively moved her bishop, Beast Boy easily moved his only bishop. "Check."
"What?!" Raven's rare exclamation made the Tower jiggle. Sure enough, a small hole in her defense exposed her. She quickly readjusted.
Beast boy's heart still pounded in his chest. He had never played Chess this well before. The temptation of letting the voices interrupt him was still there and he fought hard not to let them have their way. And he tried hard not to let his defense crack, although, Raven took one of his knights and several pawns.
Another round of plays, and Beast Boy made another scan of the board.
He hesitated before making the final move.
"Checkmate!" Raven nearly shouted.
"Huh?!" Beast Boy saw the board and sighed. "Dang it, I let it happen again."
"That... was a really good game," Raven said, breathing hard.
"Are you okay?" Beast Boy asked. But he smiled a bit. "What? Did I give you a run for your money?"
"Actually... you did," She said with a small smile. "I've actually never had to focus this hard on a game of chess."
"Of course not, you're the undisputed champ of the tower," Beast Boy smirked.
"But you played very well," Raven stood up and offered her hand. "Good game."
"Hehe," Beast Boy smiled and shook her hand. "It obviously wasn't good enough. I let my head start talking at the last moment."
"Your head?"
"I wanted to do the timed chess because I think better on my feet."
Raven nodded. "It clearly shows."
"Yeah, but I still lost."
"But you had fun."
"Huh?"
"The last time you played," She said, "You were stressed out beyond anything I've seen. Now you're not criticizing yourself." Raven let a little tiny smile show. "I'd say you're getting better at not telling yourself you're worthless simply because of a game."
"Huh, I never thought about that," Beast Boy said, smiling, "Thanks Rae."
"It's Raven," The dark sorceress glared.
Beast Boy still smiled. "Of course." They shared a small moment of silence until the green teen made an awkward cough. "Sooo uh... that was actually a quick game, huh?"
"It was timed."
"I know but... how about this? Did you want to play again? I lose, you teach me meditation. You lose, I teach you cooking."
Raven frowned, "You know I'm not the best cook. You remember last time, don't you?"
"Which is why I'm teaching you how to cook."
"And you're the embodiment of a hyperactive kid with attention-deficient hyperactivity disorder."
"I'm... guessing that's ADHD? Maybe?" Beast Boy cringed a bit, waiting for a 'wrong' answer, but the pale teen simply nodded her head. "Which is why you teach me meditation."
"That's a lose-lose situation."
"So?" Raven tilted her head and wordlessly asked why he would even propose that. "What? It's not like we bond over anything else. Why not try? I'm game." Beast Boy said.
Raven simply blinked. And then she gave a small smile. "Alright, you're on." And with that, the two played another game of chess.
The End