Emery Sutherland

“That’s great! Unless you’ve got a doppleganger running around, it looks like you’ve snagged Cyrus for the evening. I hope he’s treating you well or I’ll have to get back at him somehow. Feed him all his least favorites,” he said with an easy grin. “I love the Valentine’s Ball. It’s a great place to meet people, and its fun to see what happens when the submissives are in control. Plus the food is great.”

“I certainly don’t have a doppelganger! At least, not that I know of.” Emery blushed at the comment of her having ‘snagged’ Cyrus. “I asked him, and he was kind enough to agree to come with me. He’s been very good to me, so you can continue to feed him all his favorites.” She doubted that Cyrus was the sort of man to ever treat any date that he had in any poor fashion. “Well, it can be fun, I’m sure. It’s a little terrifying if you’re brand new to a place and you don’t know a great many people. If the Duke of Maine had declined, I would’ve had only really... you to ask. I don’t know many people well enough that I’m comfortable asking them. And if not you, then I would’ve just had to come alone.”

“I realize, but I will never understand those people, I can handle maybe a cappuccino if they use a lot of chocolate but still it doesn’t taste half as good as hot chocolate.” He smiled. “I work for the Air Force, I normally do search and rescue most of the time from stormy seas, basically dangerous places in general. I tried to take a few bars of chocolate with me however I always end up giving it away for someone that needs  it more, like a kid who almost drowned or got lost for a few days.” As much as he loved chocolate he knew the kids in those situations could use something sweet and good on their lives. “So everytime I return I just eat every chocolate I can find.” He chuckled. “I would say that not everyone would be able to look good even as chocolate, you would be the exception.” He said with a sweet smile to her.

“If I have coffee, you know that I’m struggling that day. It can’t taste anything like coffee. It has to taste like dessert in a cup. However, I agree, hot chocolates are best. Now, the real question is, come summer time would you agree with me when it comes to chocolate shakes?” Emery asked curiously, as she was a bit of a chocolate shake addict during the warmer months. Listening to him explain what he did for work brought a look of awe to her face. “That’s really... incredible. How long have you been part of the Air Force? And, I must say, that’s very kind of you to give away your chocolate to others like you do. Next time you go off for work, you absolutely must let me gift you with extra chocolate, in hopes that there will still be some left over for you at the end.” She admired anyone who did a job that was selfless, and his was incredibly selfless. He did dangerous work, and seemed to care for those who were in need. It always made her incredibly happy to know that there were other people like this in the world. Emery found herself blushing once again at his comment. “I don’t know what good it would be if I were chocolate, though. I suppose I wouldn’t last very long. There’s always concern with either melting, or being eaten.”

Asa chuckled, amused by the other’s polished manners and worries. “Regardless, a second introduction can’t hurt. I’m not the best with names, so I”ll be frank and admit if you told me I’ve forgotten,” he admitted with a shrug. “So there’s absolutely no need to apologize Emery– my name’s Asa, and I work in property development. Not quite as noble as nursing, but it pays the bills and I make my own hours, for the most part.”

“You’re absolutely right, it doesn’t hurt at all!” Emery agreed with a smile, and she didn’t mind if for some reason he had forgotten her name. Their interaction had been brief, and in the middle of a party full of plenty of people. She wouldn’t expect anyone to remember her from such a short encounter. “Well, it’s a pleasure to meet you, Asa. And nonsense. Property development is noble. People need properties, yes? So, you’re helping them make it in the world in one way or another. I don’t believe we can really judge your profession and my profession side-by-side, though. They’re so very different. Does your work keep you terribly busy? Or are you able to set your own schedule?”

“If you’ve been working a lot lately, then you definitely deserve a break. How fortunate that the weather is cooperating so you can really relax for a bit.”

Isabeau sipped her tea. “Enjoying the weather and people watching for me. I’d usually be in my office, but I’m trying to do this sort of thing a bit more. Taking breaks, I mean.”

“Do you have a specialty?”

“That was my sentiment exactly. So, I wasn’t about to argue when they told me that I was free to take a longer lunch than usual.” Emery explained as she looked up toward the sky with a bright smile on her face. “And I truly am so very lucky that the weather is so nice today for it.”

As she began to pick at her lunch, she listened to the other woman speak, and nodded along. “It sounds like you’re very dedicated to your work. What is it that you do, if you don’t mind my asking?”

“Is a pleasure to meet you Emery.” He said smiling back at the beautiful girl. He chuckled at her words. “I have that same love, I don’t understand why people drink coffee when they can order a hot chocolate.” He said. “I just returned from my base and I spend a few weeks without any sweets and that was driving my crazy.” Gervais looked at her. “That would only make you more stunning.” He grabbed the half of the dessert and took a bite.

Emery’s face lit up at the fact that the man seated before her understood her passion for chocolate. “There aren’t as many of us, you do realize, as there are coffee lovers. Some people are positively addicted to the caffeine, but I love the taste of hot chocolate. Especially when it’s made from real chocolate. There’s nothing like it.” She always felt so cozy, calm, and happy whenever she drank one of her favorite hot chocolates. “From your base? Oh?” Emery asked curiously. “That must have been absolute torture for you, to have to abstain from any sweets. Is there any way to sneak one? Or perhaps have someone send you some? Or were they banned entirely?” Emery met his gaze and felt herself blush at his compliment. Her cheeks turning a soft shade of pink as she broke his gaze and looked out the window with a small smile on her face. “I don’t know how stunning someone could be if they turned completely into chocolate, Sir.” She teased softy, her gaze flicking from the window, to him, and then down to her cup of hot chocolate before taking a sip.

Julia laughed again, smiling warmly, “I was one in a week-long game with my oldest nephew. He was about eleven at the time and is very competitive.” she mused, thinking back on it rather fondly. She sipped her water before getting back to business though and she let out a breath, a grin immediately breaking out as she shook her head, “I started making some, but they’re not that great? So some help would be wonderful. What tools do you have? Because other than the cards and just trying to read the whole chapters over and over…I’m kinda stuck.”

The idea of a week-long Monopoly game caused Emery to let out a giggle. “Oh my goodness, I can only imagine. And who won in the end? You or your nephew? I imagine after a week’s length that whoever lost was feeling quite the sting.” Emery pondered the other woman’s question. “Well, flash cards are always great for anything that requires memorizing terminology, or names, or facts pertaining to something. I find that re-reading chapters and copying notes down from them regarding other information tends to help it stick. Otherwise, just study the best you can. Ask questions where you can, as well. Try not to stress over it too much. If there’s one thing I learned when I went through nursing school, it’s that we’re not going to know everything. Fun fact, though, all the information we need is usually easily accessible, and we have the doctors to lean on. I did very well in school, but I dedicated everything to school. No distractions, I don’t necessarily recommend that technique however. It was that very fact that led me to being very single now.” She held out her hands toward the other female, “Let me see those note cards so I can see if I can improve on them and give you some pointers.”

Javan had to grin at that statement as he held up his own canape. “Considering this is where you found me, I’m clearly the last person who’s going to judge in a circumstance like that. But always better to eat with a friendly face. Are you enjoying the Ball so far?”

Seeing the canapé he held up, Emery couldn’t help but laugh. “Well, if you’re not going to judge, I’m certainly not going to judge you either, Sir.” She took a bite of the dessert she’d chosen before sighing in content. His question made her nod. “Yes, I’m enjoying this so far! It’s very well done, the decorations and everything are just incredible. What about you? Are you enjoying it as well?”

“It’s quite unusual for February,” she agreed. “But it’s nice, to not be cooped up inside.”

Isabeau shook her hand with a firm grip. “Isabeau Roul. It’s nice to meet you, Emery. Are you on break, or simply enjoying the weather?” Isabeau smiled again. “Feel free to tell me to mind my own business too, if you would rather have a quiet lunch.” 

“I completely agree! It’s impossible not to want to take advantage of a rare day like this when it comes around.”

With a bright smile on her face she said, “It’s lovely to meet you, too.” As she began to pick at her food, she laughed softly at how the woman across from her tried to make her feel at ease. “I think you’ll find that I sometimes talk too much, Miss. However, I don’t mind answering your question. I’m on my lunch break. I work at the hospital not far from here as a nurse. They’ve been nice enough to let me get a long lunch because I’ve been pulling a lot of hours lately. I think they’re taking pity on me. What about yourself?”

“You know you didn’t really need to do that,” Asa responded with a genuine smile, amused by the other’s actions and quick to explain attitude. “No worries though– I’m not the type to let someone fall apart when they’re at a social occasion. I prefer it actually if people don’t overindulge to the point they make fools of themselves, myself included.” Even if for a few years he’d been that person. He’d usually always excused himself to drink in private, however, before many could notice. 

With a smile, Emery said, “I know, but I wanted to do that.” She took the liberty of sliding into a seat across from him with her hot chocolate in hand, now that his new coffee was sorted. “Then it’s a good thing you don’t have to worry about me, but it’s nice to know that there are good people to help watch out for others they might know and keep them from being foolish.” She commented before taking a sip of her hot chocolate. “You know, we didn’t really get much of a chance to talk at that party, and I don’t really know much about you. Did I even introduce myself? I don’t think I did, which is terrible manners for me. I hope you can forgive me for that, Sir. I’m Emery, by the way. What is it you do? You know my profession, but I don’t know yours.”

Jae smiled and nodded. “Of course. If there’s a chance, please introduce us. I’m sure you have more pull than you think,” he said. He’d have been perfectly content to keep talking about Emery and her date for the evening, how things were going. “We should be talking about you in this dress. I hope a lot of people told you how beautiful you look.” He chuckled. “Ah, thank you. I’ll tell my costume designer to incorporate it into next year’s program costume.” 

She laughed but said, “I’ll see what I can do.” Emery couldn’t help but blush at Jae’s comment. She didn’t know if many people had commented on how she looked. Cyrus certainly had, but she sometimes wondered if she might have gone a little extreme with her choice dress. “Oh, I don’t know about all that. In all fairness I don’t think many people know me, so there aren’t really a lot of people to tell me what they think of how I look.” Which was completely fine by her. However, Jae’s comment about future costumes made Emery’s eyes light up. “I would feel like I had the tiniest bit of influence over a costume and that would make me so excited!”

“It’s not an imposition at all. Please, join me.” Isabeau nodded at the empty chair across from her. She hadn’t noticed how busy the cafe had gotten while she’d been lost in thought. “The weather is lovely, isn’t it? No wonder it seems like everyone is here on their lunch.”

When the woman offered for Emery to join, the smile on her face grew so she was beaming. She took the seat across from her and at the question she nodded. “It’s incredible how nice the weather is. You’d expect it to be colder, but then this weather is exactly why everyone wants to be here. I completely agree.” She held her hand out towards the other woman. “I’m Emery, by the way.”

Javan had slipped away to sample the different canapes the staff of the Castlebrac had laid out. While he was in and out of here fairly often, he didn’t always try as much of the food as he would like and this was the perfect opportunity to look out for any new recipes. He was just about to select another one when he heard a familiar voice and turned around with a grin. “Well, I’d say you’re in the right place for it considering the dessert table is next to me.”

His grin was answered with one of her own. Emery’s eyes moved from his face to the table next to him, and she gave a playful gasp. “Well! Would you look at that!” She stepped closer to the table. “It appears that not only have I found a friendly and familiar face, but I’ve found exactly what I was hoping for.” She took one of the options that appeared most appetizing to her and then turned her attention back to him, “Would it be a bad thing if I said that this might be one of the things I was looking forward to the most?”

Julie looked up as she heard the familiar voice and she grinned, putting her pen down for now. “Oh, no it’s totally fine! I just ordered a latte but I was waiting for you before ordering food. But Monopoly is serious business, so again, very okay. Did you actually finish the game? Cause if you did, consider me impressed.” she teased with a laugh. “Well, next week I have exams in physiology and microbiology, and a children’s psych essay, so I just needed help with like flashcards and all? It’s all..kind of jumbling together.”

With a laugh, Emery shook her head, “They were adamant I finish, but we weren’t even halfway done. I did promise to play with them again tomorrow and pick up where we left off. We’ll be at this for some time, and I’m winning.” She listened as the other laid out what was next in her itinerary for school. “You have quite a bit on your plate. Now, I’m a master at flashcards. Did you already make them up, or are you needing someone who can help you make some good ones? I can help you either study, or help you make tools to study. Either way I’m at your disposal!”