cigarettes && frankincense

There was absolutely no small talk and he remembered instantly he had liked that about Emerson.  While she did ask after him, it was still straight-forward.  “I’m well, thank you.  I accepted an artistic director position here in Seattle, so it’s a little more tied down than I’ve grown used to, but it may have its benefits once I’m settled.  How are you, Emerson?  It’s been a long time.” 

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There was only cutting to the chase. In the past, Emerson had listened to so many spiels out of nothing but politeness, but now she had the luxury of informing people that her time was expensive. And it was, truly. Time was the one thing she could never get back. If her show was on a brief hiatus, she could only do quick projects. 

“Some would like the stability, though,” she pointed out. She braced her knuckles against her leg to pop them for a moment and rested her chin on her hand. “I’ve been fine. I’ve been working on a project, but I’m not supposed to talk about it until everything’s been said and done.” 

“No need to thank me, it is always a pleasure to get to spend time with you.” Jackie leaned forward when she saw her head in her hand, her eyebrow furrowing in concern. She always cared about her friends, so if she sensed something wrong she instantly wanted to help. 

But of course she didn’t want to press, so she thought about how she was. There was always a deeper answer but she didn’t want to bother people with her own problems. “Oh I am doing wonderfully, I mean how can I not be? I’m out with you right now. But work is going well, I’ve been thinking of new choreography to go with new music. So many of them spark a ton of inspiration.” 

“But you know me I can always ramble. How are you though? I hope this isn’t the first moment you’ve had to relax. Having time to breathe is so important.” 

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It felt so nice to actually sit and talk to someone who wasn’t in front of a camera or on set with her. Emerson had to rack her brain to think of the latest time other than present in order to conjure up the experience. Talking to Jackie -- even for work purposes -- had always been pleasant, but talking to her outside of it was even better.

“We need to get together more often than a blue moon,” she agreed with a smile.  

She listened intently to her friend as she spoke, letting her chin prop on her fist. “Have you found a lot of shows around here? I know a few stage productions in need of a choreographer,” she suggested. Listening to anyone talk about a subject they were passionate about was one of her favorite things. It was one of the reasons she loved joint interviews as much as she did. 

“This is the first break I’ve gotten in God knows how long. I’ve been filming a couple of projects at the same time and one of them is on hold because one of the mains had to drop out due to a family emergency. Production can’t continue until that character’s been recast,” she admitted. 

For: @seattlehqs-starters​​ Where: Norwood’s Restaurant

It was early evening at Norwood’s, shortly before the dinner rush was about to start. One of her bartenders had called out sick, so Harper decided to get behind the bar and send the other one on a break before the crowds started showing up. Turning to the nearest person who appeared to be waiting, she gave them a warm smile. “What can I get you to drink?” she asked.

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Hiatuses meant Emerson could actually breathe. She was able to take longer than a few hours at a time and relax. It also meant she could eat whatever she wanted every once in a while and not feel like she couldn’t fit into whatever wardrobe had in mind for her character. 

Norwood’s was a place she had never been before and so far, everything looked impeccable. 

“Can I get a soda water with lime, please?” she requested.

“Labs are hunting dogs?” Eden raised an eyebrow “I thought they were a mix between couch potato and love.” How could they be hunting dogs? Labs were practically smiling and wagging their tail all day. Smiling, she tilted her head to the side observing the cuteness of the puppy. “You’re very lucky then. Grew up with all that cuteness around you…”

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“They’re retrievers,” she pointed out. Duck hunting seemed to be their forte, or at least, her cousins had said so. Emerson had never gone hunting herself, but she knew the stories and ate the meat nonetheless. “Like Rottweilers were originally bred to herd cattle, dachshunds were bred to hunt badgers.” 

Lucky also wasn’t the word Emerson would have used to describe her upbringing, but that little tidbit was kept to herself.

Location: Aquamarine

Filming had been strenuous. Avoiding the paparazzi had been an extreme sport. One of the mains had dropped out rather unceremoniously due to a family emergency and it left everyone scrambling to find someone else. Emerson herself had exhausted every avenue she could think of. 

Considering said main had been her character’s love interest, she had a vested interest in finding someone new. Production was stalled to re-film the new scenes. The only upside was being home more and being able to have something resembling a social life.

“Thanks for hanging out with me. I finally have time to breathe,” she commented, her head dropping onto her fist. Seeing Jackie was always a perk and Emerson had lost track of when was the last time the two had hung out. “How have you been?”

“I’ve heard a male Lab is like having a boyfriend but better in the loyalty department.” Eden chuckled. Part of the reason she hadn’t gotten herself a dog when she moved to America was the fact that she lived alone and wasn’t home for many hours so she didn’t want to leave the poor thing alone for most of the day. “Wow” Eden smiled “you really know your stuff about dogs. I’d have no idea about that.”

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“Labs are so much fun, but they’re in so much need of exercise because they’re hunting dogs,” she commented. Emerson was grateful she could bring Chaos with her most of the time, not for the first time. During the times she wasn’t filming, she could bond with him in her trailer. “My family’s worked with animals all my life, so I had to be pretty informed.”

CLOSED STARTER - @emersonxmonroe​ LOCATION - Sweet Seaduction

“Tell me the truth, Em. Do I look like a dumbass in this suit?” He was here on a date and it was a second date at that so he really was trying to not look like a tool but he just wasn’t sure. While Felix was off socializing with some friends, he’d spotted Emerson and grabbed her attention. “Why am I nervous?” He loosened his tie a little bit and looked around, hoping to fucking god he wasn’t going to see Isabella here after their run in not long ago. He didn’t need to see the ex who broke his heart on Valentine’s Day while he was on a date with someone else.

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“Trust me, you look good,” Emerson assured him. She turned to help him loosen his tie, hooking her finger into the knot and adjusting it so it straightened. “I’m not about to lie to you.”  At the very least, paparazzi weren’t onboard; the last thing she needed was someone snapping pictures of this particular scene.  “Because it’s a new experience. Trust me, you look great.”

Closed Starter: @emersonxmonroe​

Serena was a nervous wreck about leaving Winnie alone with a babysitter for the first time. Normally, if she had to have someone watch their daughter they would choose a close friend or family member. Yet tonight this was not the case. She and Jamie both had very carefully picked someone Serena worked with to be with their daughter. Someone who she worked with and knew ASL. Serena knew she was fine yet it still didn’t make her worry less. As the boat pulled away from the dock, Serena was hit with a wave of worry again. “ Do you think I should call and check in one more time? Or am I being to crazy? “ She asked Emerson with a hesitant laugh.

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“I don’t think you’re being too crazy, but I do think you need to have a little faith,” Emerson commented, leaning against the rails of the deck. For the first time ever, she had hired a dog-sitter, though it hadn’t taken a lot of convincing to have someone sit with Chaos for a few hours. He was still a ridiculously cute puppy who simply wanted to cuddle the whole time. However, he was still too young to be left to his own devices for too long. He had slept in her trailer the entire time she had been on set today, but her assistant had walked him. “She’s good.”

who: closed | @emersonxmonroe when: sunday afternoon where: kingfish grille

Davion had never met a professional contact he couldn’t keep.  Especially if that contact was talented and hot.  It was only natural he harnessed all his resources, especially settling down in Seattle as he was.  Anyone who was nearby was fair game.  A moderately in-depth search  revealed him sharing a city with Emerson Monroe.  Their time at Yale hadn’t completely overlapped, but they had worked together in enough workshops and master classes that he definitely remembered her.  As it turned out, he also had a role in mind she would be completely perfect for in his new adaptation of Look Back in Anger.  He just had to convince her of that, and he was more than sure he could manage it over lunch.  His people and her people did their thing, and lunch was officially commencing in ten minutes.  All he had left to do was wait. 

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Lunch meetings often ran a little longer than necessary, but Emerson had years’ worth of practice. They were often orchestrated by her team, but this was more of a favor to an old acquaintance than an official meeting.

She’d taken a break for her project for this, if necessary. It’d be a gigantic gamble, but she’d do it. 

“Alright, Davion, let’s see what you’ve got,” Emerson commented as she took a seat in her chair and scooted it in. “How are you?”

CLOSED STARTER - @emersonxmonroe​ LOCATION - kingfish grille

Chrissy popped another bite of salmon into her mouth as she sat across from Emerson and hummed happily at the taste of fresh seafood. “I know it sounds like a bad life decision and truthfully it probably was but we were both freshly single and using each other as rebounds. Most intense sex I’ve ever had. I felt like a grizzly bear emerging from hibernation in a whirlwind of sexual fury.” Chrissy laughed and set her fork down as she reminisced on some of her past rendezvous. It had been a bit of a dry spell lately admittedly but Chrissy was starting to think about maybe dating someone for real again. “If you ask me, a good rebound with an old co-star is not a bad way to go about mending a broken heart. But now that a lot of time has passed I can see why that was maybe a less than ideal choice.” Chrissy admitted to Emerson with a low chuckle.

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Emerson sucked her teeth in disapproval. “Yes, but backsliding can also result in really fucking bad heartbreak, Chrissy,” she admonished. It wasn’t time to act like a big sister figure, but the words often slipped off her tongue without her noticing. She took a long sip of her ice water and shook her head. “Then again, my love life really leaves a lot to be desired, so I can’t say shit.”

“Oh really?” Niko smiled at his intuition somehow knowing the dog’s name without meaning to. He watched the puppy running around and couldn’t help but think about how much he would love to have one. “I’m a pilot so I’m basically always traveling which isn’t really conducive to owning a dog. Maybe I could get a cat or something more self-sufficient.” He shrugged but the idea would stick around for a while. “When I was a kid we had all kinds of animals. Cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, goats. Grew up on a lot of land so we had the space for anything we wanted really. I’d like to go back to that life someday.”

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“I mean, a cat might not be a good idea either, depending on how often you go places,” she commented, though it had taken her this long to actually commit to a pet. She didn’t often, instead preferring the solitude, but in all honesty, she missed the companionship. “I grew up with horses. I’m not hating being out of that, though. Are you a commercial pilot?”

Lately Lennon was questioning his own existence. It was the kind of mood he was supposed to reflect on, to text his therapist, to ask for a session in the very near future. But so far he hadn’t reached out. Not to his therapist, nor to anyone else. There were a lot of things going on in his head, and he wasn’t sure he was ready to try and sort through them all. For now it almost seemed more beneficial to leave it a mess. Less stressful when he knew it was all in there and jumbled up. Once he unraveled each thread of said mess, he’d have to really focus on each individual bit of stress, and it was too much for him to handle.

He’d been spending a lot of time outside. Going out was good for him, the fresh air was nice. He was chewing on the straw of some iced tea drink he’d picked up on his way to the park, both legs crossed underneath him. He was pretty deep in thought, genuinely unaware of his surroundings until he noticed the puppy in front of him. Lennon smiled faintly, watching for a bit, turning to look at Emerson when he realized she was speaking. He watched her lips, and nodded, finally removing the straw from his mouth so he could respond. “I’m a firm believer in nurture over nature when it comes to animals.”

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It seemed as though animals were a rather large part of her family’s fame. Emerson knew how to raise them and by the time Chaos was two years old, he would be a well-behaved citizen. She already had him learning to sit and stay. He knew his name. 

“It’s really often poor leadership skills. The alpha theory was disproved a long time ago, but people still use it. Not only that, but they use it improperly.”