#♚⇲⇱⎡ a reflection is only half the man it’s made of; the rest comes from heart ⎦( character study )

[scarletwritesshit]

♚ Jing Yuan x Reader ♚ All's Fair

You stared intently at the chessboard, carefully deciding what course of action to take. You were at a major disadvantage, as you have lost quite a few pawns, a rook, and a knight this early into the game, but you weren’t willing to let your seemingly hopeless situation discourage you. It was quite hard to focus on your next move, however, with Jing Yuan staring intently at you. He seemed to not be in a desperate rush to carry on with his turn, but his piercing gaze pressured you in ways beyond the losing situation in front of you. He smiled softly with half closed eyes, which you found impossible to completely ignore. With your head still leaning over the chessboard, you would occasionally move your eyes up to catch a glimpse of him, hoping that he was unaware of your staring.

Every time you refocused on the game, your situation looked increasingly hopeless. You knew exactly how he would counter every possible move that you could make, yet you couldn’t quite piece together a strategy to manipulate him into falling into a trap and turning the tide in your favor. It’s one thing to know your opponent’s every move, but the knowledge is ultimately useless if you cannot prepare a counter in any way.

Instead of pondering your move while being out of ideas, you simply chose to play passively and move a pawn that was previously left behind the rest of the group. Jing Yuan narrowed his eyes at your choice of action and his gentle smile got a bit larger.

“Interesting. A rather defensive move relative to how you’ve been playing as of late,” he noted.

Without any words to spare, you merely nodded your head, struggling to maintain eye contact with his demanding gaze.

Jing Yuan did not hesitate a moment to make his move. He moved one of his two dull white rooks towards you, once again putting you in danger of losing pieces.

The shininess of your black pieces seemed to reflect the glare in Jing Yuan’s eyes, once again diverting your attention to him. With how intensely he was staring down you and the chessboard, you were quite astounded that he had not lost his patience with you. Then again, when a man has lived for as long as he has and has yet to discover something new to look forward to, time is not of the essence, and so his stoic gaze was a mere quality of his.

Snapping your focus back to the chessboard, a fresh, new look at the situation only looked far grimmer than it was as you were watching him make his move. Jing Yuan watched you as your eyes darted from piece to piece, attempting to carefully consider his potential actions while plotting what would be the best course of action for you to take.

It was rather difficult, however, as Jing Yuan was constantly distracting you. Every time you tried to focus, you couldn’t help but glance back up at him. The way his eye seemed to pierce your soul, despite how unusually gentle his stare was, always drew your attention away from the chessboard.

If only you could think clearly, then maybe you could have a shot of showing him what you’re made of. Plus, you’d have to have something to show after playing with him practically every day. Repeating the same mistakes time and again would not only disappoint him greatly, but bore him of your presence. And if he got bored, then all chances you had with him would be gone, departing as quickly as they arrived.

Ultimately, you bothered not with stressing over your next move. You simply picked up a piece and moved it forward, capturing his rook.

“Not bad, but I had a feeling you would play right into that,” he said, capturing yet another one of your pieces.  

“You really know how to stay a step ahead, don’t you?” you said.

“Of course…it comes naturally after years of practice,” he said with a yawn.

No matter what you tried, your situation kept looking more and more hopeless. His remaining pieces were well over double of what you had, and it was at the point where any move you made would only endanger you elsewhere on the board. Aggression, defense, Jing Yuan knew how to counter it all.

And no matter how many times you looked back and forth between him and the chessboard, it only seemed to get worse with every glance. You picked up one of your pieces and simply moved it forward, out of options, but still willing to see it through till the very end.

His last move must’ve been made when you weren’t paying close enough attention, but he moved his queen towards your king and set it down one space away directly in front of it.

“Checkmate,” he said with a soft smile.

You couldn’t do anything but look at the chessboard in complete defeat.  It felt as if through the entirety of the round, pieces were disappearing right before your very eyes, with Jing Yuan eliminating them with such cunning swiftness. Almost felt like a real battle, with you and his own squadron facing off in an intense sparring round.

Strangely enough, he didn’t jump at the opportunity to claim your king for himself.

“Jing Yuan…you won this war against me. Why haven’t you taken my king?” you said, puzzled.

“Hmm…this isn’t a battle of brute strength that I aimed to win against you,” he said, picking up one of your shiny black pawns and rotating it around his fingers.

“What do you mean by that?”

“You have quite the ways to go,” he said, “Your focus is clearly lacking, as your soldiers were disappearing before your very eyes.”

Come to think of it, your pieces were disappearing awfully quickly, but you have no idea where they could’ve gone. They weren’t off to the side of the table, nor were they around Jing Yuan in any way.

“You have an awful lot fogging your mind, but if you paid attention to the little things, then perhaps you would have noticed,” he said. Jing Yuan reached across the table with the pawn still in hand, and gently pried open your lips with it. You were expecting cold stone to clash against your teeth, chipping them if you so as much dared to try and chew it.

The pawn tasted like…chocolate?

It was very fine, indeed, but why was it made of literal chocolate?

“Surprised, aren’t you? When you directed your focus elsewhere, I would slide one of your pieces off of the board. You were far too focused on me to notice what was happening in front of you,” he said, resting his hands on his legs.

“You noticed? But how?”

“You truly have yet to fully understand. A seasoned general pays attention to the entirety of their surroundings, not just what is set in stone before them. In the face of a real war, rules are not going to be upheld, meaning anything can happen for any reason,” he said, sliding another one of your pawns off of the board and slipping it under his tongue.

You were paying attention…just your focus was directed at the wrong thing. It was impossible when Jing Yuan had such a demanding air to him that you couldn’t take your eyes off of him. Not only that, but he was simply too gorgeous for you to resist attempting to sneak a peek.

“If you weren’t so distracting, this wouldn’t be an issue for me,” you said.

“Me? Distracting? How so, might I ask? I have merely been observing you in silence.”

That was the exact problem here. If he wasn’t looming over you constantly, then perhaps you wouldn’t be having as much difficultly taking action…or allowing him more opportunities to eat your pieces, apparently. Would he even believe you, if you told him the real reason why you were so fixated on him? Would he even remotely consider your words as being honest, rather than a poorly attempted excuse? Even worse yet, has he already figured you out himself?

Rather than respond, you averted your gaze from him, trying to hide your face noticeably burning up.

“Hmmm…I see,” he said.

“What? I didn’t even say anything?”

“You don’t have to. I’ve seen that look from you far too often myself, meaning words are not necessary for me to understand.”

Once again, you said nothing, as you merely glanced at him for a brief moment before once again looking away. Out of the corner of your eyes, you saw as he nudged his queen ever so gently onto the space where your king was located. Still, he didn’t knock it off the space, which you found to be even more unusual.

“While you were most vulnerable, I took this chance to wipe out everything that stood in my way for a total victory.”

“Isn’t…that how chess is supposed to work?” you said.

Jing Yuan shook his head gently. “Not just chess, my dear. You simply obliterate what’s distracting you, and strike when their guard is at their weakest. It is true for board games, war…”

He reached across the table and lifted up your chin so that you were now staring him directly in the eye.

“…and love.”

Struggling to find words, you very nervously asked him, “So…you knew all along, or was this your idea of a confession?”

“With the way I have seen you act, there was hardly any room for doubt that you had quite the interest in me. I was hoping that you would fess up and confess yourself, saving me the trouble, but I had to resort to ensnaring you in a little trap of mine and giving you that little push that you needed.”

With how he had put you on the spot, you found it hard to refuse his demands.

“You’re a skilled general, and I am nothing more than one of many that work under you. I wouldn’t have had a chance no matter what I said or did for you.”

“I fear you may be misjudging the situation ever so slightly,” he said, leaning his face in closer to yours, “I only have so much free time in my day between my afternoon nap and whatever it is Yanqing requests of me. Do you really think that I would have the time to meddle around with those that I do not care about?”

“I suppose not.”

“Precisely. With that being said, I think I have truly won our little game here, exposing not only your king for the taking, but more importantly, your heart. Am I correct?”

“You caught me in the act Jing Yuan, because I really do like you, but I’m not sure how I can prove to you that I am worthy of staying by your side.”

“You just did,” he said, with an ever so devious little smirk.

“But I didn’t-“

He moved his finger up to shush your mouth, preventing you from saying anything further.

“An explanation would simply cut into my nap time at this point. You are more than welcome to come join me, that is, if you accept my feelings for you in return.”

In return?

Jing Yuan never showed obvious signs of any sort of feelings towards you. However, he may have been right about one thing, and that was your failure to focus on the minute but equally important details that reveal the full story. These chess games of his held a deeper meaning than exercising his mind as a way to pass time. It was his way of growing closer to you without giving you an easy chance to catch on. It may have taken you a while to realize it, but even the cunning Jing Yuan wasn’t safe from the truth eventually becoming unraveled. And, if he planned for you to never figure him out, then he was out of luck, as now you had an understanding of him greater than before.

Luckily, you could count on him never showing any mercy just because you two officially became an item in a sudden but pleasant turn of events. Deep understanding of him comes with both the advantage and disadvantage of him understanding everything about you in return.

He’s managed to capture your king, but who’s the real winner here?

#honkai star rail #jing yuan #jing yuan x reader #fanfic #fanfiction