Bits in Between
Chapter Nine: Chess Match
By Lumendea
AN: This takes place during Child of Earth.
…..
Rose sat down at the park chess set and picked up one of the white knight pieces. She toyed with it and looked around at the people walking along the path. Overhead the sun was shining, but she was protected by the thick green leaves of the trees. A soft breeze added a hint of coolness to the summer day, and Rose breathed in the fresh air happily. It was a mellow sort of day. A Sunday which the Doctor was certain nothing interesting ever happened on. Personally, Rose didn't believe that. She'd had plenty of interesting and weird Sundays in her life.
The park was fairly small near the campus but was known for the chess sets that could almost always be found there. By some great unspoken agreement amongst the citizens, everyone either left them alone or replaced the simple, cheap pieces whenever necessary. On a lark, Rose arranged the pieces with the white ones in front of her. As she picked up the pawn to make the first move in a quick little game against herself, someone sat down across from her.
The Black Guardian was in his familiar all-black tailored suit. His dark suit seemed to banish the light, and Rose swore that the shadows of the trees over them darkened. He gave her a look, and Rose set the pawn down on the board. Without a word, the Black Guardian picked up one of the black pawns and moved it.
Holding back a snark and maybe even a small smile, Rose kept playing in silence. Around them, people kept going about their daily lives and paid them no notice. Each of them lost a few pieces as the game progressed, and Rose found herself sitting up a little straighter and eyeing the board more carefully.
"You can actually play chess," the Black Guardian said, breaking the silence.
"One of my other lives enjoyed chess… I think," Rose said. She shook her head to clear it as a strange set of memories tried to push their way forward. "And I play it with the Doctor on occasion." Black's face twisted into a sneer at the mention of the Doctor and Rose laughed. Just to rub his face in it a bit, she added, "We don't just shag on our dates."
The Black Guardian gave Rose a truly dark look. Laughing, Rose moved her knight and grinned as Black's gaze narrowed on the pieces. There were a few moves he could make to delay her, but Rose was pretty confident that she was going to win.
"You are irritating good at this game," the Black Guardian growled. "Of course, I haven't played with anyone other than White for a long time."
"And let me guess, those games are draws."
"Usually," the Black Guardian agreed.
They fell silent again, and Rose managed to take his knight and only lose a pawn in the process. The permanent frown on the Black Guardian's face was deepening, but Rose only felt amusement. It was odd, but somewhere along the line, she'd stopped being the least bit afraid of him. He grumbled something under his breath as he made another move. Rose hesitated and eyed the board. She could see a way forward, but it would cost her. A moment later, Black took her last bishop. Rose smiled and took his queen with a rook.
"Bad move," Rose said.
"You're very irritating, Rose Tyler," Black muttered. He was glaring at the board.
"Do you know what I think?" Rose asked.
"No, and I don't care."
"I think you do actually like me a bit," Rose said. She folded her hands in front of her and smirked as the Black Guardian looked up at her. "Even though you don't want to."
"Why would I like you, Tyler?" the Black Guardian asked with a sneer. "You're good, disgustingly so."
"Yeah, but I'm also a bit of a rebel. Not too good with orders or authorities." Rose hummed and gave him a tongue-on teeth smile. "Chaotic good, if you will. And chaos is your thing. So I may be good, but you can't help but like the rebel in me."
"Ridiculous," the Black Guardian sneered.
"Liar," Rose teased. "But true, isn't it? You like me despite yourself." She gave him a real smile. "After all, here we are playing chess."
"You have horrible taste in men," the Black Guardian snapped back. He moved his rook with more force than necessary. "The Doctor? Really?"
Smiling, Rose shrugged. "I haven't exactly lived my life in pursuit of the approval of others." She pointed towards his eyes. "Just so you know, you get this tick between your eyebrows when he comes up."
The Black Guardian glared at her, but Rose wasn't intimidated. Instead, she calmly reached down and moved the White Queen into her final position. "And that's checkmate." Giving the Black Guardian a tongue and teeth smile, Rose stood up from her seat. "See you around, Black. Give my regards to White, Blue, and Violet."