xp_logs | Manuel & Bishop log

Manuel and Bishop do some last minute shopping. Bishop has many suggestions. Manuel has many counter-suggestions that result in both parties giving up and buying the same thing.

Bishop showed up at the mansion at the planned time. He was glad that Manuel was also a punctual sort of person, climbing into the car directly and they were off. The plan was to shop for Christmas. He didn't know what his passenger was going for but Bishop needed to buy something for Jennie and he was likely also going to get something for Lil. He had already mentioned a present to one of the two and he wasn't one to go back on his plans when it could be avoided.

The pair passed the time with their usual idle banter on the ride to the mall and as they wondered. Once he spotted a store that he felt would have suitable presents, Bishop stepped in, looking back to Manuel for any possible advice. "I don't have the slightest idea who Jennie would want and she didn't give any guidance." He spoke a bit more to himself for a moment, "Not that she shouldn't want to. I warned her I've never really shopped for anyone."

"All the more reason not to be shopping for her, do you not think?" Manuel asked outside of the door. He leaned over his cane and glanced inside. Frilly things of pinks and purples appeared to consume the tall black man and he shook his head, refusing to move another inch. "I am not going in there," he said, standing his ground and firmly rooted to the spot. "There is an invisible wall between me, you and those," he said, pointing to a black laced lined around a small purple silky bra. "This is not the store I think either of them would like to see you in."

"They have other things. I know you won't let me go back to the Mansion to tell everyone that you're afraid of a woman's store." Bishop stepped in further, looking back to Manuel. "I will too." He looked over the lacy underthings that lined the front of the store, the perfumes and other small gifts kept back near the counter. "And I offered to bring her with me but she passed. She didn't tell me not to buy anything, just passed on accompanying me." He spoke slightly louder so that the invisible wall didn't muffle him.

"I am not afraid," Manuel said firmly. "I am simply not going into a store like this with you. People may think.... things..." Not that Manuel had a preference of either sex if approached but being seen with Bishop in a store like this was very embarrassing. The man stood out and it was nearly impossible to ignore the presence he took up in such a little space. All the women were staring, lips parting in awe and Manuel was the catcher for the team. Excitement was escalating. "Bishop-" Manuel said through grit teeth. "I can hear you perfectly fine from here."

"You can't see this perfume though, can you?" He was still calling out a bit louder than necessary. "They describe the scent on the back." And, to add even more embarrassment, Bishop began to read the back of the box to the Manuel who was still standing outside the door.

"Bishop--" Manuel hissed when people started to look at him. The surrounding people knew Bishop was making a spectacle and he thought about walking away and leaving him there. Collecting up his dignity (or what was left of it) Manuel made his way inside the store and took the bottle from his friend, setting it down on the counter abruptly. "Are we finished?" he asked.

"I haven't even found one present, let alone two." As an older woman walked by, giving the pair the exact look Manuel had been afraid of, and Bishop had a comment to send her along her way. "That's right, now he has to use a cane." He delivered it deadly serious, something that would make her so uncomfortable she'd have to stop staring at them or she'd die from the embarrassment. He returned his attention to possible gifts casually. "If not perfume then what?"

"Stop that. You are worse than Morgan - if that is even possible - giving me a complex. Buying perfume requires you to know her taste," Manuel said, his eyes following the woman out of the store and the crimson quickly crept up to his ears. "If you do not know her taste, you will not be able to buy her perfume she would like," he replied, pushing the subject forward and away from the eyes that were watching them. "Perhaps something different? Like bath soaps." Bath soaps from Bishop. Their gift options were appearing to be limited. "I am not good at this and it is why I did not want to come. I prefer to buy everyone a bottle of wine. I know wine. I do not know perfumes, unless you are buying for a man." He also preferred to buy wines that were normally out of their budget.

"Aren't bath soaps scented like perfume? Will that be the same problem." Bishop wasn't as confined as Manuel in the gift giving department. He looked over just about everything they passed, though he got the feeling if he dated for something particularly inappropriate his partner would have something to say about it. "I don't think I have an expertise like that for certain gifts."

"No, because they will use up a bar of soap even if they don't like it. Women do not like things like that to go to waste. Scented soaps fade and you cannot do any wrong with buying one. She will use it regardless. Perfumes tend to sit on the shelf because their scents linger longer and sit in her clothes. She would have to tolerate it for an entire day which would mean she would not wear it if she didn't like it." A woman rushed past him, butting in beside Manuel and briefly gave him an apology before she continued on her mission.

"This store is getting crowded. What type of present are you looking for? Can you not simply buy her a package of condoms, wine and flowers. I'm sure she will get your point." And earn Bishop a slap across the face, but Manuel's smile was there. It felt natural around Bishop.

"If that was the goal then buying the wine and flowers would just be am waste. She'd get my point when I showed up with the condoms." Bishop shot a smile back. "I'm more interested in a lasting impression." He idly thumbed through a couple of things. "I can't seen Jennie enjoying anything in here, regardless."

"I'm sure you've already made that in your pursuit. She hasn't shown any interest yet?" He didn't think she would. In fact, he didn't think Jennie was suitable for Bishop at all. Lillian was a much better choice and he had pointed that out more than once. "Buy Jennie a blanket. She's always liked to curl up with something and if it will not be you, it gives her something else to curl up with."

"That might be something she'd like." He nodded, glancing through the store for something along those lines. "And no, nothing really. I've taken her to a couple things but nothing worth talking about. I guess it's just hard to gauge interest if you can't see the color of people's souls." He said the ending overly dramatically. "She's a direct enough woman she'd have told me though, I'm sure."

"Mmm Yes. I'm sure," he repeated. "A blanket for Jennie," he said, shuffling randomly through a rack. "--to warm her cold soul and what of Lillian? She seems easily bought off with food. Speaking of which, what are you doing for Christmas Eve? Are you seeing family or are you here for the holidays. I believe Lillian, Doug, Marie Ange and I are going out for dinner. You should attend. That in itself would make a lasting impression."

"I was probably going to work. I can show up, since it's mostly people I work with that you've managed to trick into liking you somehow." He gave Manuel a little playful ribbing, since he had been giving the same treatment today. "For Lillian, I'm undecided. I should just get everyone the exact same card and be done with it."

"That would be very tasteless," Manuel said, brushing a hand over his ribs while he nudged Bishop with the end of his cane. "Imagine their faces when they open them; look how cheap Bishop is. For Lillian, you should get her something that compliments her height, if you are thinking clothing."

"I don't even know what clothing compliments height." He was good at dressing himself but that was about as far as his talent in fashion went.

"A long scarf. Sunglasses that compliment the colour of her hair. Try and think outside of the box. You are being very narrow minded here, especially for someone with height equal to hers."

"Narrow minded? I'm simply not an expert in women's clothing or gifts." He kept wondering around the store, easily stepping through people and clearing a way to where he wanted to go. "I'm not sure I'm thrilled with the idea of getting Jennie a blanket, either."

Manuel let him lead the way, reveling in the path that was being made. The crowds were increasing and he could feel his anxiety climb as much as his impatience. Everyone around him was in a hurry and it was radiating off of him as well. "Obviously." And he wasn't helping much, or trying very hard. "What about a necklace and earrings?"

"Jewelry for women I'm not dating. That would be a bit much, I imagine." He managed to make his way toward an area that was titled 'loungewear.' This seemed to interest him more than anything else, he knew that Jennie at least needed to relax more. Lil he could probably buy off with expensive chocolates.

"I hope you are not going to buy them chocolates," Manuel asked, echoing Bishop's thoughts. "That is much too traditional and women today are thinking more about what goes to their hips." He had that feeling that Bishop was a chocolate and flowers type, simplistic and not very well thought out. "That is a gift that you give someone you don't know what to get."

"That would work out. I don't know what to get either of them." No traditional gifts? Please, Bishop was all sorts of traditional when it came to things like that. But, he did pull Manuel along for advice so he should probably take it. "Jennie might enjoy some outfits to relax in." He began to glance through the options, trying to gauge her size; which he realized was a very dangerous thing.

"If you are going to buy her clothes, pick something without buttons or badly placed patterns. Perhaps just a simple sweater would suffice. But buy it too large and you give the wrong impression. Buy it too small or ugly and she will say nothing but stuff it in her drawer, never to be seen again." As simple as chocolates were, Manuel was begining to think that it was Bishop's only way out. "Well what do you know in terms of buying things for yourself? What do you enjoy that perhaps she would enjoy too?" And for this, he was not talking about Jennie.

"She's getting chocolate. Good, expensive, still chocolate." He thumbed through gifts for Jennie a bit more. He wanted something soft and fluffy to aid her lounging experiences. It had to be good because he imagined it was likely the last thing he'd be getting her. "What about this outfit? They even have it in chocolate." He said with a laugh, though it was the color and not the food, of course.

"Good for jogging," Manuel waved it off dismissively. "Poor for accenting physical qualities that you'd normally want to see. Velour has a way of bringing out the worse in women and I've seen very few who can pull it off well." If there was anything that Manuel knew aside from wine, it was clothes. Only he was being exceptionally lazy helping Bishop in his selections. "A hoodie only would be a better choice, if you are picking something with a sweater like appeal."

Bishop was about to the point of ignoring the unhelpful company. Not out of spite or frustration but because he felt he had found something worth getting her or at least the appropriate type of thing to get her. "I can't imagine she wouldn't look good in this. It's supposed to be for her to relax in, regardless. It feels nice."

Manuel stopped and felt the fabric. "It is nice. Except it was designed for someone with Lillian's height. Not Jennie's. She is much shorter than this and the fabric is too thin. She'll freeze to death."

"Look, it's not a fucking snow suit. It's house clothes and she's getting it." Bishop rounded up that outfit along with another set that she might enjoy. "I'll get Lil some chocolates at the confectioners shop on the way out." He wasn't exactly upset, just finished. He knew what he thought she'd like and Manuel was coming with the intent of being difficult, probably from all the agitated people around. He understood that it wasn't so much his choice.

Manuel was about to point out that maybe Bishop should get something that Jennie would like and not what he liked when Bishop cut him off and he knew exactly why. "Very well," he said, resolving not to do this again this week. Not until the shopping crowds had died down. "I may need to stop there myself. I have two boxes of chocolates I need to get for Zanne and Amara." Hypocrite much? He'd say so.

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"There is an invisible wall between me, you and those,"

This is not only an awesome line and so -very- Manuel, I may have to steal it for my own personal use.