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xp_logsBishop and Manuel go to the gym instead of playing Chess. The chat as usual. Manny reveals that he can see more about Bishop then he let on.
Bishop was on his weekly trip to the mansion. After his power training with Scott he headed into the gym. He used the weights there that the Brownstone didn't have, specifically a hip rotation machine. It was advertised for women (despite having a weight stack of over a hundred pounds) however he discovered long ago that it helped him train his mind to resist the connection between hip and shoulder angles and it also added a lot of power to his kicks. He also found their pull-up bar had more hand positions on it, which helped him target specific muscles that he wanted, more for definition than strength. Simply looking strong provided just as much benefit as actually being strong.
Manuel sat on a nearby bench waiting for Bishop. After having watched Morgan mimic him, he had no doubts that he should be able to walk without a cane, though a significant limp would hinder him to some degree, he was unphased by the hope that lingered within. If she could do it, as she had proven, then quite honestly, Manuel should be able to succeed as well. It was only another obstacle laid out before him. Lifting weights while seated was not very difficult though working up a suitable sweat in cardio was. He'd spent ten minutes on the bike but when that forced a cramp to surface in his leg, he switched to the rowing machine. Two minutes on there and he was near finished, his body calling an immediate halt to the rest of his workout. Situated on the bench, he pressed his fingers into his hip and ran downwards into the thigh, attempting to work out the problem that he felt. The cane that was issued to him (not the wolf headed one) rested nearby, should he need to stand.
"You are late," he observed, though it was only by two minutes. Bishop was always on time, if always early. "Traffic in the hallway?" The corner of his mouth pulled upwards briefly but disappeared with the dull ache inside his joint.
"I was watching before I interrupted. I'm guessing you didn't stretch out well enough." Bishop found a bench and began stretching before his own work-out. "And you should probably be in better cardio shape before trying to mix it with your leg work-out." He got the impression he knew why Manuel wanted to meet in the gym.
"That is why you are here." They had since dropped the unformal act between them and Manuel was pleased to know that he could read Bishop better than he could when he met them. As their time together increased, so did the quirks and pieces of Bishop come out, suggesting the man had a lot more to him than what was seen at face value. "I need a program that suits me now. My old programs do not work. Even with some changes, they are not suitable to my needs. I am sure you came with suggestions?"
"I came with a program. It's circuit weight training to improve your cardio along with specific thigh stretches and also stretches for the countering muscles. Once you're up on all that then you should start swimming. It doesn't have any impact which will save the extra stress from you knee." Bishop's stretching regimen was intense for something that could be called stretching. With the muscle mass he carried around he would barely bend at the waist if he didn't press himself as hard there as any other time.
Swimming. It was the one word that lingered in his head and he nodded. "Morgan and I are swimming in the mornings. That is taken care of." He nodded, intent on listening rather than talking and stopped in his massage therapy. "Have you written it down or are you going to direct me as to how I can improve? I do not wish to jump into this too fast but slow down using low impact weight training program. Or am I being too selective for you?"
"I have a couple different schedules for you in my bag. You can pick which one you'd prefer and mix up the days, like do the Thursday work-out off any one of them, but you shouldn't cross days. They're designed so that over a week every muscle group gets hit." Once he finished stretching, Bishop moved to a weight machine near Manuel and began adjusting the stack. "I have the suggested weight on a scale of no less than to no more than, so you can go at the pace that is comfortable for you."
"You do not appear to be very busy these days," he added dryly and flexed his ankle before drawing his knee to him and stretching the leg he had been working on. "I have progress on my situation with my powers. Morgan and I explored another option and it proved to be beneficial to me. She had a profound impression that appears to linger and last when we complete our experiment and when we go swimming."
"It just seemed that way because I was staying here for a while." Bishop began lifting weights as he listened to Manuel explain. "I'm glad to hear you're doing better with your powers. Maybe you'll even become social like I probably should too."
"You are social. You socialize with your subtle, intimidating body language when you walk around the mansion. Women are falling over themselves; though I suppose you cannot see it as I can feel it."
"I hear the rumors over the journals and catch glances occasionally." Bishop set the weights back up onto the rack as he finished his set. He sat upright. "I'm not sure I consider that socializing. It's more like I'm something to desire that people see in the halls occasionally, if I meet their preferences."
"A piece of meat, if you will. They will have you as their candy to look as, so long as you don't intrupt their fantasies with opening your mouth." The corner of his mouth almost turned upward, but an on coming cramp wiped that away. "Perhaps talking to them, instead of walking through the hallways blindly would improve that image?"
"I wasn't planning on going that far." No references were made to Manuel's struggles. "There's nothing wrong with people having their fantasies and I'd be more controlled by them if I felt the need to stop every one I suspected was held. I talk to people when I can and when they want. If they don't want to then that's nothing that concerns me."
"Perhaps they find you intimidating to speak with? They are not without their own problems and possibly that hinders their ability to open their mouths and express any interest or meaningful conversation."
"Maybe. I couldn't very well go around talking to everyone to assess their interest though. I'm not even that egotistical." Bishop said with a laugh, moving to the next weight machine in his routine.
"My offer to assess would be there, however, I do not want to have feelings in me that would possibly curb my own frame of mind. Still carrying your interest towards Jennie?" he asked casually. "Or has someone else turned your eye. You seem to be humbly pleased with yourself today. More so than usual."
"I'm interested in her, as always, but I've made a few offers and she hasn't accepted. I assume she doesn't have any interest. At least not anything significant enough to acknowledge." Bishop began his next set of weight training, speaking when he lifted, since he was exhaling anyway. "A person has to know when to stop entertaining some wishful thinking." He exhaled again. "And there's a new resident that I get along with well." And again. "She's more reciprocal, too."
"This must be a woman who maintains some interest because she has a smile all over you. please do feel free to expand on physical and personality attributes."
Bishop sat up, using the towel around his neck to wipe his head. "I think she's interested. Her name's Lil and I'm sure you'll run into her at some point. She's just a couple inches shorter than I am." He resisted gossiping too much. He didn't need to reduce himself to a middle school student.
"Lil. Lilian you mean. Yes, I've met her. Beautiful woman. Social, honest. Suitable for you. Perhaps I should talk to her?" He wouldn't but the threat was there. "Someone should inform her of the weight you carry." Manuel was perfectly content to sit here and let Bishop do the workout for him because his cramp would not settle despite the seated stretches he was doing. "Have you asked her out yet?"
"We've done a few things together..." Bishops mind tracked back to something he had just said. "Weight I carry?" He laid back for another set, letting Manuel explain while he did his next set.
"Must I explain everything?" Manuel asked, waited and then took his cane, forcing himself in a standing position. "You mean to tell me you have no weight beyond your face value emotions? Everyone does. They are darker hues beneath brighter contrasting ones. I do not only feel emotions but see them as well."
After the set, Bishop sat back up and wiped some sweat away again, helping to stay cool. "And so you see I have some sort of 'weight.' I'm not familiar enough with your powers to know the terms you use or what they mean any more than Wanda's word 'zarking.' So yes, you'll have to explain it." He knew things frustrated Manuel and while other people grew frustrated back, he had practice at dealing with frustrated people politely.
"I am a tetrachomat. I see more colors than you do and much of what I see is lavishly covered in variations of the primary and secondary colours. Morgan describes it as being on LSD, if that helps with the description."
"So someone should inform Lil that she shouldn't look at me while on LSD?" Bishop laughed, he knew that wasn't the point Manuel was getting to at all. He suggested it as he did to show the man how off track he had gone from his original point. It was probably that Bishop wasn't just one thing, gruff or strong or removed, but varying degrees of those at different times with different people. He didn't see why that would need special warning.
Manuel shook his head and though he didn't laugh, the faint curve of his mouth lifted. "You are speculating - it is in your eyes - about what are you speculating?" he asked.
"Trying to decide what you think you see in me." Bishop began another set of weight lifting, nearing the end of his circuit routine. He decided that if Manuel didn't come out with what he was trying to say by then it would mean he wasn't going to. Some people were secretive about their abilities like that.
"Originally I was teasing you,however if you need to know, I see dark hues of blue, feeling a clear sign of .... frustration perhaps? It borders anger but it is not directed anger at anyone specific? An overall unpleasant feeling of..something general. It is difficult for me to explain exactly what I see. I can merely speculate. Anger and frustration colors differently when it is specifically one person. The other type of anger you show is less aggressive. You feel tortured, but helpless. These are underlying emotions over the many layers you appear to have built up."
Bishop sat up after finishing his set, nodding as Manuel spoke. "Maybe that's something we keep private." He caught his breath for a short moment. "Growing up how I did... it's hard to imagine why we'll let people die of simply treated diseases, starve in the streets, or go to prison for life when left with only crime as a choice; but if a person is rich then they gain more worth and they're pampered by everyone for life." He sighed. "We believe that everyone's equal in theory but not in practice. That is frustrating."
"That is because we live in a design where they make the rich richer and the poor poorer. It is also a mind frame. A poor man's lesson descends on his son and follows the line of succession. His son remains poor and continues the cycle of teaching his children the same lesson because he does not know any better. His intent is to teach his son so that he will not repeat the same mistakes. It is the mind frame that sets the rich from the poor. The rich buy assets and teach their children the same. The poor buy what they need and they can never buy anything more than what is ready to put in their hands. The rich learn to save and the poor do not.
As for letting people die for simply treated diseases. It falls back on the question of why do we continue to dump countless amounts of money into research for Cancer when other diseases, other countries or even those on the streets who require money immediately to feed themselves. Because it puts money into the pockets of the rich and again, keeps the poor where they should be. Under our feet. If everyone was rich Bishop, no one would be satisfied. You give the poor some money and they are robbed of their pride, their life's work and become the very thing they loath."
"I think we'll disagree here, Manuel." Bishop wasn't sore about it. People disagreed and that was fine but he could see a world where people were equal in fact and not just claim. Settling for anything less than that wasn't acceptable in his mind. "Despite what has been advocated by some people, there's not a difference between the rich and the poor. At least, nothing that society doesn't put there. We choose who gets to have everything they could possibly want and those who get nothing at all based on who plays best under a set of entirely arbitrary rules. I don't accept that." He stood and tossed his towel into his gym bag.
"I understand what you are saying, however nature does not look for answers in Cancer, nor anything else. It is simply natural selection and the same is with the differences between rich and poor. Except the government plays with that." They're difference in opinion was settled before it even began and Manuel was reminded why he enjoyed spending time with Bishop. "I will keep what we discuss here between us."
"I appreciate that." Bishop nodded. "And I'll see you next week, for Chess unless you are having a problem with your work out schedule." The time for him to do other things was closing in fast and he didn't like to leave so abruptly, but he had business that needed to be taken care of this particular day.
Bishop was on his weekly trip to the mansion. After his power training with Scott he headed into the gym. He used the weights there that the Brownstone didn't have, specifically a hip rotation machine. It was advertised for women (despite having a weight stack of over a hundred pounds) however he discovered long ago that it helped him train his mind to resist the connection between hip and shoulder angles and it also added a lot of power to his kicks. He also found their pull-up bar had more hand positions on it, which helped him target specific muscles that he wanted, more for definition than strength. Simply looking strong provided just as much benefit as actually being strong.
Manuel sat on a nearby bench waiting for Bishop. After having watched Morgan mimic him, he had no doubts that he should be able to walk without a cane, though a significant limp would hinder him to some degree, he was unphased by the hope that lingered within. If she could do it, as she had proven, then quite honestly, Manuel should be able to succeed as well. It was only another obstacle laid out before him. Lifting weights while seated was not very difficult though working up a suitable sweat in cardio was. He'd spent ten minutes on the bike but when that forced a cramp to surface in his leg, he switched to the rowing machine. Two minutes on there and he was near finished, his body calling an immediate halt to the rest of his workout. Situated on the bench, he pressed his fingers into his hip and ran downwards into the thigh, attempting to work out the problem that he felt. The cane that was issued to him (not the wolf headed one) rested nearby, should he need to stand.
"You are late," he observed, though it was only by two minutes. Bishop was always on time, if always early. "Traffic in the hallway?" The corner of his mouth pulled upwards briefly but disappeared with the dull ache inside his joint.
"I was watching before I interrupted. I'm guessing you didn't stretch out well enough." Bishop found a bench and began stretching before his own work-out. "And you should probably be in better cardio shape before trying to mix it with your leg work-out." He got the impression he knew why Manuel wanted to meet in the gym.
"That is why you are here." They had since dropped the unformal act between them and Manuel was pleased to know that he could read Bishop better than he could when he met them. As their time together increased, so did the quirks and pieces of Bishop come out, suggesting the man had a lot more to him than what was seen at face value. "I need a program that suits me now. My old programs do not work. Even with some changes, they are not suitable to my needs. I am sure you came with suggestions?"
"I came with a program. It's circuit weight training to improve your cardio along with specific thigh stretches and also stretches for the countering muscles. Once you're up on all that then you should start swimming. It doesn't have any impact which will save the extra stress from you knee." Bishop's stretching regimen was intense for something that could be called stretching. With the muscle mass he carried around he would barely bend at the waist if he didn't press himself as hard there as any other time.
Swimming. It was the one word that lingered in his head and he nodded. "Morgan and I are swimming in the mornings. That is taken care of." He nodded, intent on listening rather than talking and stopped in his massage therapy. "Have you written it down or are you going to direct me as to how I can improve? I do not wish to jump into this too fast but slow down using low impact weight training program. Or am I being too selective for you?"
"I have a couple different schedules for you in my bag. You can pick which one you'd prefer and mix up the days, like do the Thursday work-out off any one of them, but you shouldn't cross days. They're designed so that over a week every muscle group gets hit." Once he finished stretching, Bishop moved to a weight machine near Manuel and began adjusting the stack. "I have the suggested weight on a scale of no less than to no more than, so you can go at the pace that is comfortable for you."
"You do not appear to be very busy these days," he added dryly and flexed his ankle before drawing his knee to him and stretching the leg he had been working on. "I have progress on my situation with my powers. Morgan and I explored another option and it proved to be beneficial to me. She had a profound impression that appears to linger and last when we complete our experiment and when we go swimming."
"It just seemed that way because I was staying here for a while." Bishop began lifting weights as he listened to Manuel explain. "I'm glad to hear you're doing better with your powers. Maybe you'll even become social like I probably should too."
"You are social. You socialize with your subtle, intimidating body language when you walk around the mansion. Women are falling over themselves; though I suppose you cannot see it as I can feel it."
"I hear the rumors over the journals and catch glances occasionally." Bishop set the weights back up onto the rack as he finished his set. He sat upright. "I'm not sure I consider that socializing. It's more like I'm something to desire that people see in the halls occasionally, if I meet their preferences."
"A piece of meat, if you will. They will have you as their candy to look as, so long as you don't intrupt their fantasies with opening your mouth." The corner of his mouth almost turned upward, but an on coming cramp wiped that away. "Perhaps talking to them, instead of walking through the hallways blindly would improve that image?"
"I wasn't planning on going that far." No references were made to Manuel's struggles. "There's nothing wrong with people having their fantasies and I'd be more controlled by them if I felt the need to stop every one I suspected was held. I talk to people when I can and when they want. If they don't want to then that's nothing that concerns me."
"Perhaps they find you intimidating to speak with? They are not without their own problems and possibly that hinders their ability to open their mouths and express any interest or meaningful conversation."
"Maybe. I couldn't very well go around talking to everyone to assess their interest though. I'm not even that egotistical." Bishop said with a laugh, moving to the next weight machine in his routine.
"My offer to assess would be there, however, I do not want to have feelings in me that would possibly curb my own frame of mind. Still carrying your interest towards Jennie?" he asked casually. "Or has someone else turned your eye. You seem to be humbly pleased with yourself today. More so than usual."
"I'm interested in her, as always, but I've made a few offers and she hasn't accepted. I assume she doesn't have any interest. At least not anything significant enough to acknowledge." Bishop began his next set of weight training, speaking when he lifted, since he was exhaling anyway. "A person has to know when to stop entertaining some wishful thinking." He exhaled again. "And there's a new resident that I get along with well." And again. "She's more reciprocal, too."
"This must be a woman who maintains some interest because she has a smile all over you. please do feel free to expand on physical and personality attributes."
Bishop sat up, using the towel around his neck to wipe his head. "I think she's interested. Her name's Lil and I'm sure you'll run into her at some point. She's just a couple inches shorter than I am." He resisted gossiping too much. He didn't need to reduce himself to a middle school student.
"Lil. Lilian you mean. Yes, I've met her. Beautiful woman. Social, honest. Suitable for you. Perhaps I should talk to her?" He wouldn't but the threat was there. "Someone should inform her of the weight you carry." Manuel was perfectly content to sit here and let Bishop do the workout for him because his cramp would not settle despite the seated stretches he was doing. "Have you asked her out yet?"
"We've done a few things together..." Bishops mind tracked back to something he had just said. "Weight I carry?" He laid back for another set, letting Manuel explain while he did his next set.
"Must I explain everything?" Manuel asked, waited and then took his cane, forcing himself in a standing position. "You mean to tell me you have no weight beyond your face value emotions? Everyone does. They are darker hues beneath brighter contrasting ones. I do not only feel emotions but see them as well."
After the set, Bishop sat back up and wiped some sweat away again, helping to stay cool. "And so you see I have some sort of 'weight.' I'm not familiar enough with your powers to know the terms you use or what they mean any more than Wanda's word 'zarking.' So yes, you'll have to explain it." He knew things frustrated Manuel and while other people grew frustrated back, he had practice at dealing with frustrated people politely.
"I am a tetrachomat. I see more colors than you do and much of what I see is lavishly covered in variations of the primary and secondary colours. Morgan describes it as being on LSD, if that helps with the description."
"So someone should inform Lil that she shouldn't look at me while on LSD?" Bishop laughed, he knew that wasn't the point Manuel was getting to at all. He suggested it as he did to show the man how off track he had gone from his original point. It was probably that Bishop wasn't just one thing, gruff or strong or removed, but varying degrees of those at different times with different people. He didn't see why that would need special warning.
Manuel shook his head and though he didn't laugh, the faint curve of his mouth lifted. "You are speculating - it is in your eyes - about what are you speculating?" he asked.
"Trying to decide what you think you see in me." Bishop began another set of weight lifting, nearing the end of his circuit routine. He decided that if Manuel didn't come out with what he was trying to say by then it would mean he wasn't going to. Some people were secretive about their abilities like that.
"Originally I was teasing you,however if you need to know, I see dark hues of blue, feeling a clear sign of .... frustration perhaps? It borders anger but it is not directed anger at anyone specific? An overall unpleasant feeling of..something general. It is difficult for me to explain exactly what I see. I can merely speculate. Anger and frustration colors differently when it is specifically one person. The other type of anger you show is less aggressive. You feel tortured, but helpless. These are underlying emotions over the many layers you appear to have built up."
Bishop sat up after finishing his set, nodding as Manuel spoke. "Maybe that's something we keep private." He caught his breath for a short moment. "Growing up how I did... it's hard to imagine why we'll let people die of simply treated diseases, starve in the streets, or go to prison for life when left with only crime as a choice; but if a person is rich then they gain more worth and they're pampered by everyone for life." He sighed. "We believe that everyone's equal in theory but not in practice. That is frustrating."
"That is because we live in a design where they make the rich richer and the poor poorer. It is also a mind frame. A poor man's lesson descends on his son and follows the line of succession. His son remains poor and continues the cycle of teaching his children the same lesson because he does not know any better. His intent is to teach his son so that he will not repeat the same mistakes. It is the mind frame that sets the rich from the poor. The rich buy assets and teach their children the same. The poor buy what they need and they can never buy anything more than what is ready to put in their hands. The rich learn to save and the poor do not.
As for letting people die for simply treated diseases. It falls back on the question of why do we continue to dump countless amounts of money into research for Cancer when other diseases, other countries or even those on the streets who require money immediately to feed themselves. Because it puts money into the pockets of the rich and again, keeps the poor where they should be. Under our feet. If everyone was rich Bishop, no one would be satisfied. You give the poor some money and they are robbed of their pride, their life's work and become the very thing they loath."
"I think we'll disagree here, Manuel." Bishop wasn't sore about it. People disagreed and that was fine but he could see a world where people were equal in fact and not just claim. Settling for anything less than that wasn't acceptable in his mind. "Despite what has been advocated by some people, there's not a difference between the rich and the poor. At least, nothing that society doesn't put there. We choose who gets to have everything they could possibly want and those who get nothing at all based on who plays best under a set of entirely arbitrary rules. I don't accept that." He stood and tossed his towel into his gym bag.
"I understand what you are saying, however nature does not look for answers in Cancer, nor anything else. It is simply natural selection and the same is with the differences between rich and poor. Except the government plays with that." They're difference in opinion was settled before it even began and Manuel was reminded why he enjoyed spending time with Bishop. "I will keep what we discuss here between us."
"I appreciate that." Bishop nodded. "And I'll see you next week, for Chess unless you are having a problem with your work out schedule." The time for him to do other things was closing in fast and he didn't like to leave so abruptly, but he had business that needed to be taken care of this particular day.
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