Doreen & Bishop

[x-squirrel.livejournal.com]

In the late afternoon Monkey Joe's antics lead to Doreen getting a lesson in chess from Bishop.

Doreen was sitting in one of the windows in one of the common rooms. The sun was coming in bright and warm, and it may have been the animal part of her but the sun always felt really good on her tail. So she curled up with one of the comics she had managed to bring with her.

She was reading Watchmen. Doreen had really, really wanted to go to the movie but hadn’t had the money as of yet. But it was just as good to read the book, when the book was all she had. She loved the book, as evidenced by the wear in the spine. By the fact that it opened just a bit more than it should’ve and the pages were marked. Even though she handled it with love, it was a very well read book.

Monkey Joe on the other hand was exploring the large room, content to do so as long as his ‘big sister’ was reading one of the funny things she read. It was about as lazy as any afternoon of Doreen’s ever got.

Bishop was reluctant to interrupt the newest mansion resident as she read, however after finishing his workout he usually found himself in one of the common rooms and this one today because it's where the chess board had been left from one of his weekly games with Manuel.

Trying to not be intrusive, Bishop stepped over to a table and began to prepare the board quietly. Even playing alone, he had been using chess to help him relax. It could occupy his mind entirely, even if just for moments.

Doreen looked up and then grimaced, dropping her book and making a dive for the board, “No, don’t!” she managed to catch the squirrel before it hit the board, but not before running into the board herself, “Monkey Joe, what’s gotten into you?” she said, managing to hold on to her friend, “I’m sorry,” she said looking up at the guy who had been setting up the chess table. “I don’t know what’s gotten in to him lately.”

Bishop only stepped back as the squirrel and the squirrel/girl threw themselves into the table. He had learned a long time ago that trying to catch everything never turned out well when something like that happened. "I've read about him on the journals. Sounds like he might be more lonely coming here and he's trying to make friends." Not that he would call himself an animal behavior specialist but if the young girl treated her pet like a person, and spoke with it, he could give it the same respect.

“Yeah, well you don’t make friends by jumping down on people,” Doreen said, looking at Monkey Joe more than the really tall guy, “That was bad.” She said to her friend. He may not have spoke a lot of English but Monkey Joe knew the word ‘bad.’ Doreen knew he did.

"How do squirrels make friends?" Once Doreen had a good hold on her pet, Bishop began cleaning up and preparing the chess board again. "Maybe it's not fair to expect him to act like us all the time." The former cop tended to be a little more conscious about culture and society because of how they had affected him in the past.

“By talking to them,” Doreen said simply. Like it was one of those facts that everyone should know. “Either way, they don’t make friends by jumping on everyone. And I know he can’t, but he knows what not to do in a house too.”

Bishop slid into a chair, looking over the chess board. "He's not the only one I have to worry jumping on me in the mansion, at least." He wanted to joke about the topic to spare her pet the scolding. Though he might have deserved it he knew the squirrel was having a hard time adjusting from the journals.

“Oh, who else?” Doreen said, and let Monkey Joe work his way to her shoulder. At least he was comfortable there. “I mean, Monkey Joe was just exploring at first and I was reading my book and then I think he wanted to play with the chess pieces, we had a board back home that belonged to my Dad before he took it back that I’d let him play with.”

"He can play with this one if he'd like." Bishop pushed the chair across from him out with his foot. He hadn't dealt with a young women much since his sister and that was a long time ago. He didn't want to ignore Doreen but he didn't exactly know what to say. He knew children took to him sometimes; Valentina sure had.

“Okay,” Doreen said, sitting down and pulling her legs up until she had them crossed, her tail curling comfortably around her as she put Monkey Joe on the chess board, “He doesn’t really know how to play though.”

"Do you know how to play?" Bishop looked at Doreen as he asked, showing the squirrel the same respect as he would any other person, even if he didn't know if it understood English. "If not I can teach both of you."

“No, I don’t,” Doreen said, looking at him with wide brown eyes, “I can play checkers, but I’d love to learn. And so would Monkey Joe,” Doreen said, though she didn’t know how good the squirrel would be. He tended to horde the pieces like food. It had happened to a bunch of their board games at home before Doreen had caught on and told Monkey Joe that he could do that.

"Then we should get started." Bishop made his first move, smiling across the board to the girl and her pet. He planned to explain his first move and all her possible responses in depth. There wasn't any reason to take pride in winning over someone that couldn't reasonably present a challenge.