For Anatoly

[capable_of]

The jukebox had been mercifully silent today as Lex moved about the pool table, taking shot after calculated shot. Small blessings, but Lex had learned to cherish them a lot more since arriving on that island. Among other things. Speaking of which, "12 corner pocket" he muttered in Russian to himself as he bent over and made the shot. The ball bounced off the five, hit the wall and almost glanced off the pocket, but went in. It had taken him a bit to get used to this much more worn table vice his carefully taken care of one in the castle, but he was getting used to it. Plus, the geometry was a refreshing change of thought.

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[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Having just bent over for another shot, Lex glance up and smiled at Anatoly. "Why, Anatoly, what a pleasant surprise!" He said happily before shooting the six ball into the side pocket then stood up. "How are you this hot afternoon?"

[chesspolitik]

"Hot," Anatoly answered. "But I am doing well, despite that. It's really not any worse than Bangkok."

He glanced at the pool table with curiosity. "What is it that you are playing?"

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Lex stood to the side and leaned on his cue, glancing at the table as Anatoly spoke, then looked up at his question. He couldn't help a small laugh. "So involved with chess that you never tried any other games, Anatoly?" He walked around the table till he was standing next to his friend. "This is pool. Or more properly called, billiards."

[chesspolitik]

"What other game could possibly compare?" Anatoly said as straight-faced as he could, though the amusement in his eyes clearly gave him away. "Surely you would know me better than that."

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Bursting out laughing, Lex approached the table and bent over to take another shot, one opposite pocket. Then he stood and turned to half sit on the table. "I'd like to think I would." He said smoothly in reply. "Would you like to learn another, lesser game?" He asked lightly.

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly tilted his head as he watched the ball make its way to the pocket. "Why not? It'd be a new experience, and as you've pointed out, I need to have more of those."

It looked simple enough, but then, so did chess.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Chuckling lightly, Lex sent the last ball, the eight of course, into one of the pockets then nodded at the all. "Grab on of those cue sticks from the wall." He instructed as he began walking around the table, pulling the balls out of the pockets.

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly did as he was bid, fetching the first stick that caught his eye. He examined it carefully, turning it from end to end then rejoined Lex at the table.

"What now, my teacher?" He couldn't help but be amused at their role reversal. He could only hope that he'd be half the good student Lex was.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

As Anatoly rejoined him, Lex produced the triangle rack and began placing the balls inside it, eight ball in the center and a solid and stripe in the bottom two corners. "The object of the game is to pocket all of your balls first, either all solids or all stripes, and then the eight ball." Once all the colored balls were racked, he held up the cue ball. "You use the cue in your hand to shoot this ball at the others to knock them in the pocket." Rolling the racked balls to one side, he placed the cue in the middle of the table, leaned over and just easily shot the cue ball to show Anatoly how it was done. He retrieved the cue ball and waved the other over. "Here, you try."

[chesspolitik]

It all seemed clear enough when Lex was explaining, but in practice, not so much. The ball went everywhere but where Anatoly wanted it to, causing him to be annoyed and mutter under his breath in Russian.

"Well, I do not think I will be a grandmaster of pool anytime soon."

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Leaning on his cue nearby, Lex had a hand casually blocking his mouth so he could grin without seeming like he was mocking him. Finally, he had pity on the Russian and after leaning his cue against the wall, walked over.

"Here just relax." After setting the cue ball back in the center of the table, Lex moved to stand behind Anatoly. He put his hands on the others waist, casually as if he'd always had permission. "Stand slightly askew from the table." He instructed as he turned the other's hips in the direction he wanted them to go.

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly started at the touch, surprised at the familiarity. It didn't seem like Lex's style to be so demonstrative, but perhaps he was putting entirely too much thought into this. This was a lesson, and he'd better pay attention if he wanted to master this game.

"Like this?" He adjusted his stance slightly.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

It wasn't Lex's style, in fact far from it. But that was something to think about another day. As long as Anatoly was okay with it, he was going to press on. He thought of it as testing a theory.

He smiled encouragingly. "Yes, just like that. Now," He moved closer still, pressing his body almost to his as he placed his hands on Anatoly's shoulders now, gently pushing them into position. "Now lean forward, in a relaxed position, leaning on your left arm." His left hand came out to position Anatoly's arm, almost wrapped around the Russian, yet not.

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly took a deep breath in an attempt to clear his head. His concentration was greatly suffering at the moment, and whether it was the heat or something else, he didn't quite know.

"Lean forward, relax," he repeated to himself in Russian to let the instructions sink in. "And then?"

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Lex's brain noted and cataloged the deep breath and soft Russian. Anatoly was distracted but he wasn't agitated, so Lex pressed on. Almost literally.

Placing his hands to shift Anatoly's shoulders again, he angled them as he spoke, "Now, life the stick and rest it on the index finger of your left hand as you hold it up with your right." He wrapped his arms around Anatoly again to position his arms and the stick then pointedly stepped away. Really he was going around to help Anatoly position the fingers of his left hand around the stick, but it also served as another change to observe.

[chesspolitik]

This was ridiculous. He had the fortitude and single-mindedness to master chess, he could certainly keep his mind together long enough for this. That the reason for his distraction was his teacher was a possibility he did not even allow himself to think of.

It was not an easy subject nor had it ever been, so he dealt with it, as he did (or tried to do) with every other uncomfortable subject by simply not acknowledging it.

"I'll have to make a list," Anatoly teased as he tried to adjust his grip to match Lex's words. "And then?"

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Lex just laughed. "The position takes some getting used to but it seems natural once you get is, I assure you."

He finished positioning Anatoly's fingers, index finger over the stick, the others supporting it underneath and took a few smooth steps back behind him. His left arm moved slowly up Anatoly's, his hand curling around the one he'd just carefully positioned, while his right lightly gripped the stick behind Anatoly's hand. Thankfully, they were about the same size, as it made it easy for Lex to use his own body to make the Russian lean forward. "Now, just let your left fingers relax and aim the stick. You don't need alot of force, just tap it." He let his right hand guide the stick, but had Anatoly control it otherwise. Perfectly innocent.

[chesspolitik]

Relax his fingers. Right. He could do that. With another sigh, he narrowed his eyes and aimed. It was just him and the ball, and nothing stood between him and success.

Nothing but his terrible aim, and as he missed again, he swore loudly in Russian, forgetting Lex was behind him.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Lex didn't need to know Russian to know what Anatoly had said and he laughed, a pure guttural laugh, his head dropping momentarily to rest on the back of Anatoly's shoulder as he fought to catch his breath. When he could finally control his laughter, he stepped back to retrieve the ball and reset it.

"Try again." He said, though he didn't retake up his position, instead leaning his hip against the table, arms crossed as he watched. He'd gotten what he was looking for. "You've almost got it."

[chesspolitik]

"That must be a strange definition of 'almost got it'," Anatoly muttered, but he squared his shoulders and settled into shooting position again.

This time, he was successful and he couldn't help but smile in satisfaction. Sure, the ball hadn't gone all that far, but at this point, it was the principle of the thing.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Lex ignored him, just leaning and watching. When Anatoly finally hit the ball, Lex beamed. "Excellent! See? I told you it wasn't that hard."

He'd made the mental note how he'd succeed without Lex's help and it just added a curious undertone to his smile.

"Would you like to practice some more or would you like to try learning while doing?"

[chesspolitik]

"And it only took three tries for me to hit the ball properly," Anatoly said dryly. "But I always have liked a challenge."

He grinned playfully. "So, in that spirit, learning while doing. What's the worse that can happen?"

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

"That's what I hoped you'd say." Lex said, his grin getting brighter as he moved the racked balls into the place on the table, removed the rack and went to retrieve his stick.

"I promise I'll take it easy on you." He teased as he pick up the cue ball and offered it to Anatoly. "Would you like to attempt to break? You just shoot to break up the colored balls and hope one goes in."

[chesspolitik]

"Oh please, don't hold back on my account," Anatoly insisted as he accepted the cue ball. "I never hold back with you at chess, it's only fair."

He stared dubiously at the racked balls. "I'll try. I promise nothing." He'd be happy if he could hit the ball again. Anything else would be extra.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Lex chuckled lightly. "Yes, but I knew how to play chess. This is your first time ever at the game of pool but," Lex shrugged. "If you insist. I won't hold back."

He waved for Anatoly to proceed. "Please. You won't get anywhere if you don't try." He may have cocked his head slightly as he stood back. To analyze Anatoly's form of course.

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly was fully prepared to lose this game, and lose it badly. "I do. I will never learn otherwise."

Lex's instructions in his head running through his head, he once again lined up his shot. It wasn't pretty but it got the job done, at least, and more importantly, one of the balls went in.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

Lex fought hard to hide his smirk as the solid red five dropped into the pocket. It figured.

"Nice break. Very good for your first try, usually that's the shot people have trouble with the most. " He answered honestly. "And you even pocketed a ball. Your solids, so you want to get all the solid balls into the pockets, using the cue ball, before I get all the stripes. Except the eight. Whoever gets all their balls in first has to sink the eight to win." He explained patiently then waved at the table. "Your shot."

[chesspolitik]

"Does it matter which ball I start with or could I choose any one?" It was a minor question, but he was determined to do this properly.

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

"Whichever ball you think can sink. If you do, you go again. If not, then it's my turn." Lex explained smoothly, half of his consciousness already at work mapping out the table and the various angles he would need to win.

[chesspolitik]

Anatoly nodded in response then turned his focus back to the table. He wasn't confident of his ability to sink any of them, but there, that purple one looked like a good candidate.

He missed, but only by a few inches and he stepped back, shaking his head ruefully. "And your turn, it is, my friend."

[capable-of.livejournal.com]

"Your picking this up very quickly." Lex said as he moved around the table to aim at the blue striped fifteen. "It took Clark a whole afternoon before he could even get the cue ball to hit another ball, much less get so close." The fifteen went into the corner without a hitch, followed by the pink thirteen. If he purposefully missed the eleven, he didn't show it.