Word Count: 2,768

LAST UPDATED: 1/5/22

"How does white win in two?"

The chessboard stared at me with a gaze as sharp as Benny's knife from the dusty coffee table, daring me to solve the intriguing puzzle that the pirate behind me had placed. It was a problem I wasn't used to. One that I hadn't stared at on the train to avoid strangers or in backseats of taxis for days trying to solve. It was different and sparse with white that dominated the board, only two or three black pieces stood against the army of pale pieces.

"You wanna hint?" The pirate's mustache tickled my ear, throwing any concentration or attention I had out of balance. I allowed the smile to creep onto my lips as his nose nuzzled its way to my cheek. I knew this was his way of distracting me, and I knew 

"I got it." I pushed him back, feeling his chest bounce lightly with snorts of laughter.

Benny smirked into the lip of his bottle and squeezed my waist a little more toward himself on his "couch" of pillows. I don't let his cuddles and affections distract me from solving the puzzle, which seems so obvious yet so fucking clueless. 

I studied the board for several more minutes until the bolts clicked and the picture came into place.  

After another five minutes goes by with the annoying ticking of his clock. "You have to sacrifice an important piece."

"I got it," I playfully smack his arms away from the chessboard and move my Queen piece right in front of the King. 

"Mhmm ... " He hums his approval and moves the King forward to claim my sacrifice.

I see the advantage point, the flaw in his move, and - with a proud smile - move my rook over so it corners the King. 

"You're gettin' better at these, angel." Benny kisses my cheek and flicks over the black king, his signet ring glinting softly in the ten lamps he owns.

"See? I'm not completely clueless with these." I tease as he resets the pieces and begins placing more pieces on the board. "Hey, you know I love doing chess puzzles with you as any chess nerd would - but I thought we had plans to go to the drive-in tonight?" 

Benny shrugs with an icky look on his face and hugs me tight in between his legs. "I checked the movies and they weren't that good. They were playing that cliche Romeo and Juliet thing again."

"I thought you didn't mind romance movies?"

"Not if it's the third time seeing it," Benny whines. 

This was our typical Friday night; when Benny wasn't abroad for the Federation and I wasn't swamped at the office with editing articles and fact-checking collums. Most times we met at the Metro and had our weekly burgers and pancakes. But with Samuel being off the grill due to a back injury and the sub cook always never frying or seasoning the burgers right, we decided to stay home for the night. Benny always liked to pull out his books and chess puzzles when weekends nights were slow and when we stayed in. I didn't mind it, 

"Okay, this one is the same - white wins in two." This time there were only three black pieces huddled in the corner while white reined over the board.

"It's in two?"

"It's in two."

I analyze the board again, ignoring the ticklish fingers on my waist and kisses on my shoulder. I want to push him away to focus, but his low husky chuckles stop me in my tracks. It only made the victory sweeter when I figured out the puzzle.

I feel giddy and bubbly like a schoolgirl when his ticklish whiskers kiss my cheek. "See? You figured it out, angel."

"Because you've given me these problems before."

"These are from your newest issue," Benny corrects, pulling me back with him to lounge against the many pillows he calls a 'couch'. I melt under his touch and let him kiss my head and play with my fingers, "Just admit you're getting good at figuring these out."

"I'm not a chess player, I'm a reporter." Refusing to give in, I push myself off his lap and straddle him instead so we sit face to face. His face is perfectly glowing in the lamps and soft light of his dungeon apartment. Did he never hear of overhead lighting? "You're the one that insists I take on your legacy."

"Legacy's a strong word," Benny corrects, taking both my hands in his and lacing our fingers together, giving me that small smirk I fell in love with. "It could be something to put on your resume. Or ... a backup career if - for some reason - interviewing other people doesn't pay the rent."

"You sound like my father," I scoff. 

Benny's face doesn't alight in humor but instead darkens in concern.

"If I ever get bored of my job, I'd probably work at the diner again." I run my fingers through his hair to see if it would wipe the frown from his face. It does not. "I'd be a shitty chess player if my rent depended on it anyway. I'm not like you."

"Daphne would give you a lecture and force you to get your job back if you lost it," Benny says truthfully. "She scares me sometimes ... "

I snort, "It's tough love."

"It's terrifying."

"You'll get used to it." I rub his shoulders under his silk kimono and he nearly purrs in pleasure. "But seriously, you're a better chess player than I am because ... you know ... it's your job and you went to Russia when you were like ... what - seven?"

Benny gives me a look and I only shrug innocently. "Technically I didn't beat him," he says, "I played with the Russian players but never got to play against Borgov. I've read all his games, though, and he plays pretty dirty with his bishops and knights. He used  - "

I smirk.

Benny puffs a sigh, "Sorry."

"No, please. I think it's cute when you rant about chess." I run a hand through his floppy bangs and inwardly swoon over how fluffy his hair (even though he only uses cheap drug store shampoo) . "How is your hair so freaking soft, dude, I've only seen you shower with that shitty shampoo you get at the convenience store."

"I use conditioner, too." He defends, taking my hand off his hair. 

"When we're at my place and when I bring mine over to your dungeon." I excuse his defense.

"Hey, what's wrong with the apartment?"

"Seriously?" I half choke, "Benny, baby, I love you so much but this place is a shit hole. Your bathroom is in the kitchen." He only scoffs lightly and shoves me off his lap, but we were giggling the entire time.

Benny's apartment was probably the shittest apartment in Manhatten (I knew the shittest apartment was probably in Harlem, underneath a diner). He knew it, too, but he grew roots here and it had sentimental value.

"I don't hate it," I add and Benny snorts from the kitchen. "It's pretty convenient when you're shivering in a cold basement and can just leap into your clothes without stumbling from a bathroom."

"Yeah, not so convenient when you have guests sleeping on an air mattress in your living room." Benny's voice turns faint and grimaces.

Hilton had once crashed at the apartment when he was too drunk to get back to his own. Benny and I had had a bath together (and other things ... ) and when we stumbled out of the tub, he was standing in the kitchen with a half cup of coffee watching us drip on the concrete floor.

"Yeah that's not one of our proudest moments ... " I mumbled, wrapping my sweater a little tighter around my camisole. "In my defense, you said he was a hard sleeper."

"When he's outside the city. He can't sleep at my place because of the firetrucks." He jabs a finger toward the windows. Benny's small street was a busy side road the locals used to get out of major route traffic - and the firetrucks used it frequently when a certain restaurant uptown caught fire.

I smirk again and just shrug at his look of seriousness. "I know. Still doesn't excuse the fact that your shower is in the living room."

"Hey, you had the exact same thing." Benny jabs his finger at me now lounging on his pillows. "And as for the chess lessons - can't it just be something fun to do? I know you'll never lose your job of being a journalist because you're the best reporter in Manhatten," I smile faintly and he copies my grin.

"But it's ... " he drops the bottle on the counter and puffs a breath. I sit up on my heels and wait for his answer, knowing damn well that this was going to be sentimental somehow. "I dunno it's ... the only thing I know. It's the least I can do in teaching you and doing these little games. I mean, what if you want to join me in tournaments one day? Just for fun?"

"I'm not going to any tournaments unless it's for a job." I haul myself up and pad over to Benny, "or if you need your lucky charm." He gives me a look when I hand him our take-out containers. He takes them and shoves them into his bare fridge. "Besides, I don't have a rating or a clock or any good experience. And I'm pretty sure all the chess masters in New York would beat me."

The co-State's Champion scoffs beside me as he shuts the fridge "I have trained you for almost a year and you've learned nothing? If I can train the World Champion to beat that damn Russian player, I can easily train you to win at least one beginner's game."

I apologize for my stare and grab our beer bottles. "You know what I mean. You let me win, and all you've done is shown me fun chess puzzles and stuff. And you let me study all your games after for my articles."

"You know how to play chess, don't pretend you don't, Lia." Benny's face scrunches seriously and he drops the bottles in the small box by the door. "You're entire childhood, your Mom taught you to play chess to make a living someday - "

"And I have." My voice sounds sharper than I intended and it shockee me more than Benny. His face softens at what history he accidentally touched and runs a nervous hand through his hair. I stand awkwardly in the kitchen and feel suddenly conscious of who I was - who I really was.

"I ... I'm sorry, Lia," Benny mutters, quickly approaching me and kissing my head (like she used to), "I didn't mean to - "

"It's okay." I pat his chest and give him a smile. "It's fine. Really, baby. I'm okay." He stares at me for a minute, not believing me; but after the fifth time I tell him I'm fine, he steps back and nods. But the stare he gives me and the stiffness in his back tells me he didn't drop it. "Benny ... ?"

He points at the floor and shakes his head. "No. You're right. You're fine. You can take care of yourself, angel. I'm sure as hell know that ... " he chuckles to himself, rubbing the back of his neck and holding his hips. His jeans hang low, the single belt he uses looks worn out and tired. I should buy him a new one for Christmas.

"You know I just ... wish I could've told that cowardly bastard what he's done and what he did - "

"Benny," I scold and make him turn to look at me; his brown eyes are hard in the several lamps he owns. Hard and cold and angry and sad. "It's done. I'm home. I'm with you. End of discussion. Okay?"

I walk forward and wrap my arms around his waist, leaning into him. He rests his chin on my head and holds me close, squeezing harder than normal and burying me into him; pulling me closer and closer into his solitude of cigarettes, chipped chess pieces, and greasy diner food; as if trying to shield me away from the prison I once called home. 

"You're home." Benny kisses my head and squeezes me tight. "I know."

I pull away from him and rub his chest softly, loving the feeling of his warm skin and finding the small crown charm on his necklace. 

I smirk and play with it. "Remember when I gave this to you?"

Benny nods with a soft chuckle, "I had just lost a game against some stuck-up French player at that french museum I can't pronounce. I blamed it on you because I had missed you so much, and when I came home all pissed and upset about it, you were here ... waiting for me and ... I just... missed you so fucking much."

I snort.

He brushes a strand of hair from my face and smiles again, the gaze in his eyes completely raw with adoration and memory. "I felt like an ass for losing and for missing our anniversary. Being abroad and stuff,"

"You knew I didn't care,"

"It was our one-year anniversary," He whines, "But you made up for it with burgers and the charms."

His fingers find the crown's twin, bejeweled and subtle around my neck. "I never take it off."

"Neither do I," I remind him. "It helps a lot during stressful days."

"Yeah?" Benny tugs me close by my belt loops.

"I love saying my boyfriend has a matching set when young players try to hit on me," I know how jealous Benny could be, especially when it came to other chess players. Yes, most of them were middle-aged men in their forties with divorces and kids under the belt, but there were some that were my age.

"Uh-huh," Benny's voice gets a bit tighter as I continue bragging.

"But I love to brag about my boyfriend, especially to the ladies at work," I tease, feeling his jeans poke my stomach. "I think I made an intern cry once."

"I didn't know I had such a flirty fanbase." 

I scoff and tug him down by his chains, "You have one flirty fanbase and one clingy girlfriend."

Benny hums his approval and squats down, wrapping his arms around my knees and yanking me up and onto his hips. I squeak in surprise and cry out his name as he stumbles into his bedroom, kicking the glass door shut and dropping us on his squeaky full mattress. I cling to his neck and try to stop laughing as he peppers my neck in kisses. 

"Okay! Okay! Stop!" I push his face away from my cheeks and cup his face to keep him from doing more. "You love me I get it, stop!"

"I do," Benny's voice softens and the whispers catch me off guard. "And I don't care about my fanbase, it's just a bunch of single or depressed wives wanting their husband to give them more attention at night than their vodka bottle." I frown at his specific analogy but scoff either way, "I'd prefer a sassy journalist than all of them. You are my ... lucky charm after all."

"You've been winning games before you met me," I remind him. "Give yourself some credit."

"Oh, I do. I know I'm good at chess. I've been to all seven countries and have been the states champion for years." His reaction is a bit confusing and I wanted to question why I was his lucky charm in the first place.

"Then if you're so good why do you need me there?" I ask.

"Who else is gonna cheer me on at games?" 

"Your flirty fanbase."

Benny smacks my thigh and I laugh again. 

"No I get it, I'm your lucky charm." I pull him back to me and kiss his soft lips. "Who else is gonna pep talk you before a game?"

His laugh is husky and real and my heart opens up for him. He mutters something along the lines of love and kisses me again. 

"Or make you feel ... relaxed before them, too?" I bite his bottom lip and he shivers. 

"You saucy little ... " Benny quickly pins my hips to the mattress and I squeal with a annoyed concious, knowing I'll have to call in work "sick" from hip aches.

*~* Just another fluffy little piece of a soft moment I want to happen 🥰 I kinda have a feeling he'd constantly challenge me to chess puzzles and seeing if I can solve them (being I've scripted I have a little chess experience in that DR) Newt's SFW Alphabet is up next! 🌸