chesspolitik | Communist. Devil Incarnate. An intriguing collusion?

When his resources told him that Lex was out and his mysterious new house guest was home alone, Lionel ordered the limo to turn around and head back to the mansion to get to the bottom of this. He wanted to know who this man was who dared interfere with the dealings between father and son and thus making his son weak.

As he moved through the mansion with a purposeful stride, Lionel headed right of the study. His resources were nothing but thorough of course. He burst through the door, just as he had earlier and scanned the room until he spotted the Russian sitting in front of the chess set. Lionel smirked, as a game of chess could be very revealing of a man's character...if the man knew how to play at all. "Ah, just the man I was looking for."

Anatoly had been so completely absorbed in examining the chess set that he didn't register Lionel's presence until he had spoken. He barely repressed a yelp and stood to face him, feeling much like Daniel in the lion's den. "Is that so, Mr. Luthor?"

"Of course." Lionel said as he walked over to face the man, almost looming over of him. "I make a point of being acquainted with all of my son's colleagues." It may have been the words of a concerned father, but his tone was a bit too condescending to truly put it off. "Though I will admit, I prefer you with clothes. Those are my son's aren't they?"

"Now," Lionel continued almost immediately, "without my son to rudely interrupt, I think we should be properly introduced. I am Lionel Luthor." Which of course the man should already know.

At the mention of clothes, Anatoly winced, though he was determined not to give Lionel the satisfaction of any further reaction. Embarrassing as it had been, he'd do it all over again to protect Lex. Let Lionel see the gesture as weak, he knew it for what it was.

"Anatoly Sergievsky." He was loath to give anything to Lionel, let alone his name, but his refusal would look odd and only serve to fuel the fires of Lionel's suspicion. This was a game he had no talent at all for, and he could only hope that Lex would soon be home or that Lionel would lose interest in baiting him and leave.

Lionel had no intention of leaving and moved to sit on the couch across the board from Anatoly, sprawling like a king on a throne. "So tell, Mr. Sergievsky, what exactly are you doing here with Lex? Are you momentary entertainment in his exile or do you have a purpose here?"

Anatoly watched him calmly, arms folded across his chest. He was no mere man to be cowed by a show of power and ownership. He'd faced down Molokov in a rage, he could handle Lionel too, surely.

"I don't think that's any of your business, Mr. Luthor."

"Oh but is my business. My son is my business. Or so you would realize if you had children of your own." Lionel's tone of course did not match the parental concern of his words. "And I know better then to think Lex would share his home with someone out of the goodness of his heart. So, what exactly are you doing here?"

Anatoly flinched at the mention of children and turned his head away for a moment, needing a moment to pull himself together. It was a very visible tell and he just knew he'd left himself wide open for attack. There was nothing he could do about it now, only soldier on.

"Is it really that inconceivable to you? Perhaps you don't know Lex as well as you think you do."

Well now...that was interesting. Lionel filed that away for later. "Somehow I doubt you can know someone better then their own father." Then he leaned forward and picked up the black king. "You seemed rather intent on this when I walked in. Do you play?"

"I play a little," Anatoly answered, relieved to be off the subject of children and on to more familiar territory. "I understand you taught Lex."

"Perhaps you'll indulge me in a game then." Lionel said as more of a commend then a request as he set the king back down on the board. "And yes I did. What better way to teach a child about planning and strategy, to prepare him for the cutthroat world?" Anatoly may have thought they were off the subject, but Lionel wasn't going to let go of it that easy.

"How very American," Anatoly remarked mildly, choosing to ignore the mention of children. "To focus on strategy and war rather than the beauty in the pieces and patterns. It is no surprise to me there are few great American chess players."

He paused, giving Lionel the sort of smile he used to give to the press back in the early days before Bangkok and Merano - something warm and friendly that did not reach his eyes. "I would be happy to play a game."

"I didn't realize people still lived in the Cold War, with American this and Russian that." Lionel replied with a raised eyebrow. "Patterns are nice if your going to sit and watch. Great men need to be able to command and act. And my son is going to be a great man, once he learns his lesson. Like a good capitalist American." There was a tiny bit of pride in his voice, not that he would ever say such a thing in front of Lex.

He waved his hand at the board, indicating for Anatoly to begin.

"Great men can hardly command and act if they don't understand what it is they're seeing," Anatoly said, unwilling to concede so readily. "Or if they cannot appreciate or show any passion for what they're fighting for."

He trailed off as he focused on the board, planning his strategy. All of his skill would be brought to bear against Lionel. No quarter, no surrender. It was not enough to merely beat him, he had to be thoroughly demolished. It was, perhaps, the one gift he could give to Lex.

"You say your son is going to be a great man. I disagree." Anatoly lifted his head as he moved his knight and looked Lionel straight in the eye. "He already is."

Lionel's eyebrows went up his hairline as he considered the man he was playing against. It was rare that anyone, besides Lex, spoke so boldly to him. Especially in regards to Lex. "Passion is one thing. Passion can be respected. It's emotion that's the trouble and if a leader falls into the trap of just following patterns, his emotions can get in the way when he becomes complacent. Strategy is the key, strategy and action."

He began his game in a bold strategy, moving pawns out of the way to clear the path for the more powerful pieces. A powerful offense in a bold move for early dominance of the board.

"You seem to hold alot of in depth opinions about my son, yet I wasn't aware of your existence until this morning." His tone implied how little went on in Lex's life without his knowing. "What exactly is it that you do, Mr. Sergievsky?"

Such aggressive tactics was a sign of genius or overconfidence. Anatoly knew which he thought it was but made no comment, conceding to Lionel's burst of fury. Let the man overextend himself and spread out his attackers; by the time he penetrated Anatoly's own strategy, it would be far too late to do anything but watch his scheme go up in flames.

"I play chess," he answered smoothly, a hint of a smile visible as he avoided the obviously placed pawn for the sake of shoring up his defenses.

A Russian chess player? How cliche. And clearly just the man being smart. It seems Lionel would have to dig deeper.

"Yes, I guess you must need something to do while Lex conducts his business. I admire your choice of leisure activity, which far exceeds Lex's usual distractions' favorite of spending the money they've earned from keeping his bed warm. So, are you investing it instead?" He asked, all in a perfectly casual, conversational tone of voice as he continued his hard offensive.

Anatoly's grip on his knight tightened and for a few long moments, red haze obscured his vision as he fought to control his reaction and keep his temper. Showing any sign of emotion would play right into Lionel's hands and he could not allow that, not for a moment.

"Perhaps you are not aware, Mr. Luthor," he spoke calmly, as if he was remarking on the weather, "That in professional tournaments, players do not speak while playing the game."

He paused for a moment then continued, still very pleasant. "Of course you are not, by any stretch of the imagination, a professional player. Perhaps it is asking too much for you to be silent and play only the game on the board."

While his expression didn't change, and if it did it only became more sarcastic, Lionel's eyes burned with fury. Who was this man who dared speak to him this way? How dare his son try to hide behind such a man? Did Lex think this would impress him?

This man needed to be taught his place...and Lex along with him. That much Lionel was sure of. His mind began the plotting process and he lost some of his focus in the game, but not the conversation.

"I must say, I'm offended. I thought we were just playing a casual game, so a father could get to know a companion of his son's. I did realize tournament rules applied to such a situation." He mocked cruelly but then shrugged. "But if you insist."

"It was not my intention to offend," Anatoly said easily, his eyes focused on the board. "You seem such the professional business man... not the type to sit down and play casual games with people you consider to be whores."

It was the height of foolishness to continue to antagonize the man so, but he'd had enough of powerful men thinking they could push him around and assert their will over him. He'd found the inspiration and courage from Lex and his example and he was not about to dishonor that gift and swallow his pride now.

Oh yes, Lionel was furious now, but he showed no signs of it. His mind was already recalling phone numbers of men who owed him favors. He wondered of Morgan Edge still had any connections in the Slums he could use...

"I am only going on the information set before me and what I know of my son. Plus, any man, no matter his profession, is still a useful source of information. And really, you should take this as a warning, if Lex has fooled you into thinking your relationship is anything but. He's too much in love with a farmboy of all people to care about anyone else."

As Lionel spoke he considered the board. Something was not quite right but he couldn't put his finger on it...

"You don't know your son half as well as you think you do," Anatoly said a little venomously as he drove Lionel deeper into a corner, slowly but surely isolating his king from his defenders.

"And you don't know me at all," he continued, determined to make his point loud and clear. "Or what our relationship is like or even what it is. I tell you this so you understand where we are, you and I."

It was that moment that Lex choose to enter the study. That's where he kept his chess board so he had no doubt that's where he would find Anatoly when he returned from running an errand at the Kent Farm. He'd wanted to be sure to do it during school hours so he would miss Clark and Mrs. Kent assured him that his order would be delivered that afternoon. It occurred to him that he should have asked if she could deliver so he didn't have to deal with either of the Kent men but now he'd just have to hope Clark was distracted by Lana to do the deliveries today, so as to avoid an awkward conversation. No doubt he was enjoying being home just as much as Lex was. Minus surprise visits from Lionel of course.

Speaking of Lionel, Lex had begun to walk faster when he heard raised voices and opened the door to the sight of Anatoly taking on his father in a game of chess and verbally dressing him down at the same time.

Lex had never been more turned on and terrified in his life. Anatoly looked beautiful in his passion and fiery defense of Lex...but the furious look in Lionel's eyes was one Lex was all too familiar with.

Edited 2009-10-01 03:09 (UTC)

Lionel was not one to give up without a fight and kept moving his pieces in a desperate attempt to defend his king, but it was starting to become clear that he'd spread himself too thin.

"And why don't you enlighten me then. Where are we, you and I?" Lionel asked in a frustrated tone, that almost sounded bored.

He didn't see his son enter the room, or he wouldn't have asked the question.

"You are in checkmate, Mr. Luthor." Anatoly couldn't resist the note of triumph in his voice. It wasn't professional and very much like his hated opponent, but his victory over Lionel was just as sweet as the victory over Trumper.

"And I? Am a grandmaster and world champion two times over and a good match as anyone you might find for your son. There is not enough money in the worlds or threats you can level at me to change that."

It was positively the sexiest thing Lex had ever seen in his life. To see his father so thoroughly defeated by Anatoly, and knowing the Russian had done it for him, was the best thing he could ever have imagined.

Of course, knowing his father, it was also one of the most terrifying. But he would deal with that later.

Clearing his throat to make his presence known, he gave into his desire and walked over to Anatoly, pulling the Russian up and kissing him passionately right there in front of his father. When he was done, he turned to Lionel, "I thought you had to be in Chicago father? Why are you wasting time playing games you can't win?" The situation was bad enough, so Lex couldn't resist his own parting shot.

Lionel could only stare at the board in disbelief. This upstart had beaten him. Yes, he may be an admitted Grandmaster, but it was still a blow to Lionel's ego.

He may have been able to live with that, until Lex cleared his throat. Being humiliated in front of his son...his hand was twitching to get at the cell phone in his pocket and dialing Morgan's number. They needed to be taught a lesson.

But none of this showed on his face as he looked up, with a polite look, that turned into a flinch when Lex kissed the man. So emotional...but perhaps this would finally be Lionel's way of breaking him of that. He nodded to the two as he stood, sweeping his coat around him. "You didn't tell me your newest bed warmer actually had a brain Lex. It's a step up from your usual. And you are right, I must be going." With one parting glare at the two men, his fury plain and terrifying in his eyes, he turned and left, cellphone to his ear before he left the front door of the mansion.

Yes, he had to be in Chicago tonight. But he knew if he entrusted this to Morgan, his old friend would come through just as if he himself had done it. And he had the added bonus of an alibi.

Communist. Devil Incarnate. An intriguing collusion?

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