Skill and guts - a model for the young beginner

[chesspolitik]

Before Anatoly had arrived at the Island, the mere thought of giving chess lessons had never crossed his mind. Before Bangkok, his only goal was to defeat Trumper soundly. During, that goal had changed to find a way out of the political and personal traps that had been set before him. And after... well. He hadn't been fit to think of anything other than what he had just done - giving up his reputation, his freedom, everything he'd loved for the woman he'd loved.

Then he had arrived here and everything changed. He'd found freedom, peace... even love and all of these things were in ways he'd never imagined. While he still loved chess and would happily play for hours until forcibly carried away, the lack of professional matches and the need to keep his wits sharp had encouraged him to consider other ways to express his joy in the game.

Teaching was one way and to his surprise, he found that he enjoyed this very much. There was a special joy in seeing understanding come to a student's eyes as he demonstrated a particular tactic. Best of all was watching their game improve session by session as their thought process moved from looking at individual pieces to seeing the patterns and reacting correspondingly. In prestige, it might not rank with having a title but the personal satisfaction was just as great.

This particular afternoon he was sitting in the rec room, purposely ignoring anyone by the name of Trumper. The chess board was in place, the pieces meticulously placed in their allotted square. He had his tea, all he needed was his student to arrive and then their lesson could begin.

Comments

[justsookie]

Sookie had never been the very intellectual type. Part of her was tempted to blame it on her disability, the fact that thoughts filtered in from almost everyone around her and got tangled like a mess of spaghetti in her mind, leaving her with very little energy or motivation to pick herself up and work through concepts like mitosis or Riemann sums. Deep down, however, she knew that the greater problem lay in the fact that she simply couldn't hold herself back from action, that what Sookie always needed was something to keep in her very hands. Books and vague notions were lovely, but never quite enough.

It was a beautiful way to explain off, at least, her typically rash actions and the almost blind hospitality that she was capable of extending to others. On the island, both of those things only seemed to help Sookie, she noted with a slightly self-satisfied smile, treading down the beaten tracks to the Compound with almost a skip in her step. The reemergence of the sun had done wonders for her mood, evident in the slightly darker tint of her skin against a sky blue sundress. She quickly entered the rec room, a large flower woven into her hair as she waved to Anatoly, carrying two glasses of juice and sliding one over as she sat down across from him.

"I hope I haven't kept you waitin' long? I got a little... distracted by the sun, earlier today," she laughed, expression slightly embarrassed.

[chesspolitik]

"Not at all," Anatoly reassured her, rising to greet her with an enthusiastic smile and gentle kiss on both her cheeks. "It's a relief to see the sun again, isn't? I am happy to see this weather again and that is saying something."

Other people surely thought of this as an island paradise, but he was a son of Russia and bred for the cold harsh winters. He was happiest in the cold and he was bitterly resentful of the fact the island only had cold weather for a scant few weeks every year.

"Thank you for the juice," he added as he sat back down. "You've saved me a trip for tea and fighting for the sugar."

[justsookie]

"Oh, Lord, if you're happy to see it again, then you can probably imagine what it's like for me, havin' grown up in a place that was mostly heat and humidity to begin with," Sookie giggled, pleased at the gentle and unassuming attentions Anatoly offered her without needing any sort of prompting at all. "I think I was literally startin' to wilt, and my skin was definitely gettin' pasty."

Grinning to herself, Sookie's gaze skirted down for a moment as she took a sip of juice, enjoying a slight pucker at the tart flavor.

"And you're very welcome for the juice," she added, shifting into a more comfortable position on the chair as she suddenly became very aware of just how many pieces chess entailed. And how many different types there were. "I've been drinkin' more of it lately because I caught a bit of a cold from the island's stunt last week, sending a bunch of us into dinosaur territory. Don't think I'm contagious anymore, but I've got a handkerchief and wash my hands lots just in case."

[chesspolitik]

"Oh, I can imagine very well," Anatoly grinned. It wasn't difficult at all for him to show his affection for Sookie - her sweetness and welcoming manner just blew through his habitual shyness like the wind through the palm trees. "Every year around December and January, this place gets cold and there's actually snow. I'm sure you'll hate it, most everyone does, but I? I will be just as happy as you are looking now."

At the mention of the dinosaurs, his smile faded. "You were caught up in that? Cassie was too, and got her leg broken for it."

[justsookie]

"Oh, don't say that— if you're certain that I'll hate it, I'm sure that every last cell in my body will stubbornly try to love the snow just as much as you do." Sookie tilted her head for a moment, tapping her cheek with a finger. "You know, I've only seen real snow once in my life, about four years ago. There was this big cyclone that made its way on down to Texas and Louisiana, and we almost never get snow there at all, so it was amazin' to wake up on Christmas Eve to white blanketin' everything in sight."

She laughed, remembering how Jason had gotten so excited at the sight, only then growing irritated when he realized that driving was quite a bit of a chore once the powder was all packed down. Life before the vampires came out of the coffin was hard to remember, at times, but she knew that it had all been extremely calm.

Part of Sookie missed that.

"So I'm sure that a couple of months of snow won't bother me, as long as the clothes box gives me enough to bundle up."

But her expression grew sober as Anatoly mentioned one of his friends, the same one he'd danced with at the Enchantment gathering. "Yeah, I was— I was caught up in that. I'm real sorry to hear that Cassie was, too. I still don't really know what to make of it, even now."

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly listened, the story of the snow storm making him smile. He could imagine her excitement very well - it was surely just like his children's glee at the first proper snowfall. He'd hadn't nearly been home enough to enjoy with them the way he should have, but the moments he did have was very precious to him.

As for the island trickery, well, what was there to say? He would never understand why it did the things it did, not even if he lived forever. "Sometimes, I think that it's actually alive and likes to make us suffer for its amusement. It makes as much sense as any other explanation I've heard."

[justsookie]

"A sentient island, now that'd be somethin'," Sookie shook her head, somewhat in disbelief at the fact that she considered it a viable possibility at all, having seen as much on the island as she did. "It's definitely not somethin' we can rule out. Or maybe it's Purgatory, or Limbo, or... I mean, you're right in that the things it does just seem so much like someone tuggin' at the puppet strings that it can't all be chance."

Feeling her stomach churn at the very thought, Sookie sat up more in her seat, leaning forward to rest her elbows on the table, peering at Anatoly. "Okay, so movin' on to less creepy topics... I never did get to hear who or what it was that has you cleanin' up all nice these days."

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly ducked his head for a moment, his ears turning red. The intense joy of his and Lex's rekindled relationship hadn't yet settled into the quiet domesticity it had been before the break-up. He'd spent so long believing they would never be together again that he could hardly believe his good fortune.

"That... that is a long story. I don't want to bore you with it."

[justsookie]

Sookie had spent the first two and a half decades of her life growing jaded with the idea of relationships, telling herself that it wasn't meant for her, that she couldn't maintain it with her abilities being what they were. But with the arrival of Bill in her life, and the further possibilities that the island had given her, she was all but giddy now when people talked about their relationships, finally getting to play out the girlish side of her that had remained carefully chained for so long. Catching sight of his reddened ears, Sookie laughed, shaking her head and lightly wagging a finger.

"Nuh-uh. You don't get to blush all over the place and not give me the details. C'mon, Anatoly, spill. I'm in a mood for good news, doesn't matter how long the story is or how supposedly borin' it is."

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly laughed softly, holding his hands up in a gesture of defeat. There seemed no recourse but to tell his story, but it wasn't the terrifying thing it might have been a few years ago. He could feel safe sharing such things now.

"I have been here about two and a half years," he started slowly, feeling a bit self-conscious. "I met Lex when I had been here about five months or so. We talked, became friends. And then... more. Everything was... it was the happiest I've even been in a long time."

He paused for a moment to take a sip of juice and to weigh how he would tell the rest of the story. Much of the reason Lex had left was personal, and he didn't think he would want that aspect being shared, even with friends. "He left because he thought it was the right thing to do," he continued finally. "But we were able to talk after many months of being apart, and things are fixed. I hope. I believe so."

[justsookie]

What Anatoly's story lacked in details, he made up for in the expression on his face, one which subtly made turns through adoration and disbelief, revealing a great deal in of itself, and Sookie's gaze remained fixed there with a broad smile just so that she wouldn't miss any of it. There was very little more gratifying to see— as far as situations that didn't at all involve her, anyway— than people in love, people who were able to cast doubts far enough aside to revel in the excitement of being together.

She wondered if she could ever have that same type of enthralled look that Anatoly had, if she loved people enough to show it from cheek to cheek, sighing with a pleased look as she rested her chin more heavily in her palm.

"That... is wonderful. It's gotta be hard, keepin' yourselves from one another for months, and— well, obviously I'm curious about why he left at all and I sure hope it doesn't happen again, but— it's just wonderful that you were able to reconnect. There's... so much that gets in the way of love bein' easy, but that doesn't mean that we should avoid tryin' to love at all."

[chesspolitik]

"It's strange you should say that," Anatoly said, propping his chin against the palm of his hand. "Or not so strange as much as interesting. When I came here, I... well, I thought the opposite. I had resigned myself to a life without love, because I believed it was the right thing for me. I had hurt too many people. I never expected to find what I have here."

He imagined Sookie might be one of the few people he could trust with the story of Florence and what he had gone through but he was hesitant still to share that part of his past. It was still too painful, even now.

[justsookie]

Smile fading slightly, Sookie watched Anatoly in silence for a few extended moments, before she leaned slightly back to sit straighter, giving the topic the respect it deserved. Her expression, while devoid of any bright happiness, was more contemplative than melancholy. There was no reason to be sad, after all— Anatoly had reunited with the person he loved, and Sookie herself had discovered that her life could involve that sort of connection as well.

"It's not exactly the way I always thought in the past," she confessed with a slight shrug. "I'd kind of given up on the idea of findin' love for... many years, probably over a decade back home. I mean, I'm sure that my situation isn't exactly the same as yours, but it's not like I was always so gung-ho about findin' a special someone. But I think that everyone needs love. I think it makes people better, to know what love is and to be able to love."

[chesspolitik]

"It wasn't safe," he admitted safely, focusing on his glass to make it easier for him to explain. "I never felt safe. They - the KGB watched me, my family so closely. They could - they did use someone I cared about very much for leverage. It was better not to feel anything at all, to be a perfect machine."

He wondered what it was in Sookie's life that had led her to come to such a similar conclusion but he didn't ask. It wasn't any of business, and he knew much too well that some things could be dangerous if shared. If she wanted to tell him, she would.

"I think you are right. It's a terrifying thing, especially for someone like me, but I am a different person than I was two years ago." He glanced over at the chessboard and smiled ruefully. "Well, perhaps not entirely different. But different enough."

[justsookie]

On some level, it was difficult for Sookie to relate— she had never, to her knowledge, been watched closely in a way where her close friends and family could be used as leverage. She hadn't been that important, just a waitress in Bon Temps who acted weirdly now and again, no one worth close surveillance. Even when it came to thinking of the Cold War and all that it had wrought, clear on the screen of her television, Sookie felt that she was distanced from it all. It was slightly after her time. She was nestled away in a sleepy town that couldn't be bothered, most of the time, aside from the occasional person sent out to war, the Terry Bellefleurs of a podunk like Bon Temps.

Nevertheless, she knew what it was like to try to harden one's heart, to distance oneself from friends and beloved. Sookie had never managed, but it wasn't for lack of trying. The fact that she could see into their minds, read thoughts like they were words on a sheet of paper, kept her from drawing too close. It simply didn't seem right.

"See, the thing about love is that... I don't think people can keep themselves away from it, even if they think it's the smart thing to do," Sookie mused, her hands toying with a couple of the chess pieces, admiring the skill of the carvings. "It's not somethin' you can rationalize yourself out of, especially when you don't really have anywhere to run on the island. You can't keep yourself away from other people forever."

[chesspolitik]

"No," Anatoly agreed, giving in to temptation and fidgeting with the white king for something to do with his hands. It seemed that the chess lesson might take awhile to start, but truly he was in no hurry. They had time, after all.

"It is very easy to close yourself off, tell yourself you will never love again. It might even work for awhile, but then something will happen. You'll meet someone and you'll find yourself throwing out your self-imposed rules. If you are very lucky, you might find your happy ending."

[justsookie]

Sookie's gaze grew slightly unfocused as she fingered the black knight piece, attracted to it only because it seemed to be the most recognizable out of all of the pieces. Was a happy ending something that she would ever be able to hold in her own hands? She wasn't willing to bet on it. Time after time, something seemed to get in the way of happiness for her in Bon Temps, and although she was loath to think that the island would be similarly chaotic, it was hard to be that optimistic when it had just recently thrown her among the dinosaurs without warning or preamble.

"There are days when I feel like I'd settle for just a peaceful endin'," Sookie remarked with a sigh. "Not that I don't enjoy bein' blissfully happy, but sometimes it hurts twice as much to have it torn away."

[chesspolitik]

"I understand," Anatoly said, squeezing her shoulder gently. He hoped she wouldn't think it was too forward or for any nefarious purpose, but it pained him to know that someone else, especially someone so sweet as her could feel that way.

"I admit it is all part of what I have always loved about chess. The flow of the game is all on you. It is orderly, you can plan strategies and you can control where it is going if you are good enough. Chess made sense when few other things did."

[justsookie]

Far from seeing Anatoly's gesture as too forward, Sookie felt it welcome, the closeness of another person and empathy which passed between the two of them through touch alone. Immediately, she smiled, letting her gaze dip down to brush over the chess pieces, pretty and orderly as they were.

"I had somethin' like that for a while," she nodded. "Spellin' bees. I mean, it's less about strategy and more simply either knowin' or not knowin'." Sookie neglected to mention the fact that when she couldn't remember how to spell a specific word, she simply ha to dip into another person's thoughts, like the judge as they looked down at the dictionary. "But I never stopped wantin' more, stuff that I can't plan out all the way, stuff that makes me feel alive. I might've found it again here, and... well, all that we can do is hope, right? That things work out."

[chesspolitik]

"You are right," Anatoly said after a moment of reflection. "I find it's easier here to hope and believe things will work out then I could anywhere else, as strange as it is to say."

He smiled warmly and leaned back in his chair. There had been some bad times here but they were all outweighed by the good moments. He'd arrived a shell of a person and after a few years of true friendship and security, he felt as if he was finally becoming someone worth knowing.

[justsookie]

"I don't think it's that weird to say," Sookie remarked after a pause. "Of course, I still don't really know if we're here for a reason, or what this place is, but sometimes I feel like all you can really do here is... live. There's so much less violence here than what I knew, back home. Everyone's human, no one's got more power than anyone else. There's no ruler tellin' us what to do or how to do it."

Arching a brow, Sookie took a long draw out of her glass, puckering at the tart flavor. "You'd think that the place would go all chaotic, that people would just steal from each other and stuff, but it's not like that at all. So, I think it makes sense. Havin' more hope here."

[chesspolitik]

"Do you know what makes me laugh when I think about it? If any place could be said to truly uphold the communistic ideal, this would be it. Yes, there's police and a government of sort here, but most everyone here seems ready and willing to lend their help if needed." Anatoly wasn't usually one to talk about politics or anything related, but this had been something he'd been mulling over for some time now.

[justsookie]

"Does it really count, though, if we get food kinda delivered to us and don't have enough resources to come up with all the luxuries people would normally fight over?" Sookie pondered, tapping her chin with a finger. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm dumb as bricks when it comes to politics. I still don't get the difference between socialism and communism, or why we need both the senate and the house of representatives in the American government. It all just goes straight over my head, but... I feel like yeah, if we don't have to fight over things and there's enough to keep everyone happy, and not so much that people get caught up in competin', people should be content."

[chesspolitik]

"Politics are not my strength either," Anatoly admitted. "And I am sure my "comrades" would find something to complain about if they were here, but truly I think this is as close as we can get to the perfect place."

"That is, of course, if you leave out the strange things the Island likes to do."

[justsookie]

Sookie peered down at her hands, running her fingers over her palms, feeling the dry, rough surface of her skin. She would need to find some sort of moisturizer soon, preferably one of the fairly numerous aloe plants around the jungle.

"I don't think I've got the guts to call anythin' close to perfection anymore," she said. "It always seems like when I come close to a life that's just happy and carefree, somethin' tugs it away. People can still disappear in the blink of an eye, and we can still... gosh, get dragged out to the dinosaurs. I really like Tabula Rasa, but I just don't want to jinx myself."