One of my readers commented that Erik and Lenore can't seem to agree on anything and that she'd hate to see the fight over curtains, china, furniture, etc. So naturally I had to do a one shot about them doing that sort of thing now.

You're going to have assume for this one shot that they're engaged. (just like you should have assumed in the adoption one shot that they were married)


"So, Erik, which do you like better? Target's rubber duck theme, or Walmart's rubber duck theme?" Lenore inquired as they stood in the aisle of Walmart.

"I've already told you, we're not theming the bathroom," Erik grumbled. "Especially not with ducks."

"But Erik, I want ducks!" Lenore whined.

"I refuse to have rubber ducks on my shower curtain, woman!"

"Well, I refuse to have a black shower curtain, man!" she shouted back. "And I'm not having a blood-red one either! It's entirely too depressing!"

"We are not theming the bathroom, so there's no point in telling me what you won't have," Erik snapped.

"Fine, we'll come back to this later," Lenore said. "Let's go pick out new paint for the bedroom."

"Whatever for?"

"Because we can't have a black bedroom," Lenore explained, dragging him along with her.

"I don't see any reason why we can't."

"Let's do the bedroom in pastel blue. We could even sponge little white clouds on the walls," Lenore proposed.

"The only acceptable colors for the master bedroom are black and blood-red. Everyone knows that," Erik argued.

"Or sea-foam green might be nice..."

"Are you even listening to me, woman?"

"No, not really. You don't seem to want to listen to my suggestions, so why should I listen to yours?" Lenore replied. "We'll have to make sure we can get some nice lacy curtains to match the paint. We can't have the curtains clashing with the walls."

"We don't have windows, ma chérie. What's the point in getting curtains?" Erik tried to point out.

"Hi, can I help you this evening?" the clerk in the paint section asked.

"Yes, we're thinking of redoing the master bedroom, either in light blues or light greens," Lenore responded. She would have preferred to come out in the daytime, like normal people, but Erik insisted that they wait until night, seeing as how Walmart was open twenty four hours a day.

The clerk began selecting sample cards, then stopped when he saw Erik's menacing glare. "Maybe you should come back during the day," the clerk suggested nervously. "The day crew knows more about paint then I do, I'm just here in case people come in to buy an extra can of whatever color they've got."

"Thank you. We're sorry to have wasted your time," Erik said curtly before turning on his heel and walking away.

Lenore heaved a sigh and followed him. "Stop being so difficult. We need to have a gift registry for the wedding, and if you won't pick anything out, we're going to get very little in the way of gifts."

"I don't understand why we have to invite everyone you've ever met," Erik complained.

"I didn't invite everyone. It just seems like that because you don't have any family and friends," she shot back. "I'm just thankful that Patrick agreed to be a groomsman. Otherwise I couldn't have a bridesmaid."

"All you truly need is the maid of honor, and even that necessity is debatable."

"Of course I need a maid of honor, and bridesmaids. It's a girl thing. In some ways I wish you'd asked Hiroshi to be a groomsman too, so I could have another bridesmaid," Lenore muttered.

"I doubt mademoiselle Devlin would have taken kindly to Hiroshi," Erik said.

"Well, I guess we'll never know…Anyway, I guess chinaware is next," Lenore proclaimed. After looking over the selection, Lenore decided to put in her two cents and prepared to listen to Erik complain about what she liked and try to tell her what he liked was better and why. "The moonlight tranquility set is nice, let's go with that."

"I agree with you on that," Erik said, shocking Lenore. "Solid black would be a bit overwhelming, but the moonlight tranquility balances the black with the floral white pattern. It seems you're not completely lacking in taste."

"Jerk. Well, at least we agree on something. Now let's pick linens to go with the dishes."

"You women are obsessed with matching everything…we'll never have company, what does it matter?"

"Hm, I like the grapes," Lenore decided moments later.

"No, the burgundy is better," Erik contradicted.

"You only like it because it's a dark color."

"The burgundy would go better with the dishes."

"Well, I guess that's true enough. Though the ivory would be best," Lenore admitted.

"I will not have that much white on my table," Erik protested.

"You are so difficult! It's the best choice to match the dishes!"

"I'm not difficult, I'm just particular about my décor," Erik informed her.

"You know what? Forget it! We're not going to agree on anything except the damn dishes. Let's just go back home. That way I can find a million other things we're going to need. Next time I'll come by myself and pick everything out for the registry without your approval," Lenore grumbled, heading for the entrance in a huff.

"I've already filled out the registry myself," Erik mumbled so that she wouldn't hear him. No sense in hurting her feelings, or letting her know that he realized before they even decided to make a gift registry that she had no taste whatsoever.