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Chapter Two, Characters
"Killian is the best," David said, clapping him on the back proudly. "He's perfect to learn from. We should go through the scenes for Emma, give her a feel for how we do things."
"Sounds delightful," Killian said, with an eager grin.
Emma rolled her eyes.
"Give me a hand with the props, will you, Killian?"
The Irishman gave a little salute to Dave and a quick smile to Emma. Soon they had a bench and table set up in front of a tavern backdrop.
"We'll leave the tavern up for the whole weekend," Mary-Margaret explained. "The other props are easier to hide and bring out as needed."
"Em, you hold the tray and serve the mug to Killian," Dave instructed, handing her the props.
Killian took his place on the bench, grinning wildly at Emma. She sighed and dropped the mug roughly in front of him.
He eyed her. "You just spilled all the blessed rum, Lass."
Dave massaged his temples. "You'd be fired as a barmaid."
"Good."
Mary-Margaret cleared her throat. "Character," she sung sweetly.
Emma sighed and picked the mug up. "Right," she said. She then placed the mug delicately down.
"What about service with a smile?" teased the pirate. "You won't get many doubloons with that sour face."
Dave laughed. "He's right."
Emma growled, picked the mug up again, forced a smile and placed the mug in front of him. "Here is your rum, dear good sir," she said with a sickly sweet voice.
"Thank you, my Lady," he replied, a flirtatious smile aimed at her. He pretended to take a sip. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand. "Let me see more of those pearly teeth and I promise you one hell of a...tip," he said, overly pronouncing the p. He licked his lip as he smiled.
Emma forced a larger smile. "Oh...yay."
Mary-Margaret laughed, Dave did not. "Well, I think there is room for improvement, Emma. Pretty Patience is a charming, talkative girl who knows how to flirt…"
"Wait, wait, wait. My character is named Pretty Patience?"
"Yeah, I kind of left that detail out of the summary sheet on purpose," admitted Mary-Margaret.
Killian chuckled. "I'm Fearsome Frederick the Fierce. Kind of redundant, I know, and I do have a disdain for alliteration, but least, I'm fashionable this time." He grinned as he played with several jeweled rings. He then leaned back on the bench and stuck out his chest.
Emma looked to the heavens. "I...I love my godson to be. I love my godson."
Mary-Margaret laughed.
"Just keep thinking of that," David said, "and try to look more..." He fumbled, waving his hands awkwardly in front of him.
"More what, Dave?" Emma asked impatiently.
KIllian chuckled. "Alluring, perhaps?" he offered, helpfully. "I have faith that you have it in you, Love."
"Listen you two-bit wanna be actor…"
"Emma, he's just trying to help," Dave said. "You have to be in character."
"Pretty Patience," she muttered. She sighed and counted to three. Then she smiled and bent down slightly, leaning her chest over Killian.
"Now, that's more like it," he said, lifting his mug in toast.
She turned her nose up.
"Emma, your characters start off as server and patron," David said, "but you fall in love, so try to act like you like him, ok?"
"It'll have to be an act, that's for sure," she mumbled, giving Killian a mock grin. He returned it with much more generosity.
Dave rubbed his temples again. "Let's move on to scene two." He glanced at Killian. "You can work with her on being alluring and flirty later."
Killian grinned great big. "I look forward to it." Emma glared back.
David set up some candles and candelabras on the floor. The addition of a fake fireplace and a large bear rug made it cozy, but Emma raised her eyebrow.
"You said this was family oriented," she said, turning to Mary-Margaret.
Killian smirked. "We toned it down for the kiddies." He smirked. "It's bear after all, not tiger."
Emma looked at him as he chuckled.
"It's fine, Em," said Mary-Margaret. "I've done these scenes too."
"Although, Dave does seem to water them down even more for his real life leading lady. I believe last time I sat on the floor as she relaxed on a chaise lounge."
"Let's do that! Get a lounge chair!" cried Emma.
David muttered something unintelligible as he glared at Killian. "No lounge chair. You two lie on the rug…"
"Whoa, whoa whoa…"
"Take it easy, Emma, I'm only asking you to lounge on it, not to...do anything," David said, "because, yes this is a family show."
Killian smirked. "Pity." Emma glared at him. "Just sit on it, Love. I promise not to bite."
"You better not and don't touch me!"
"Emma, he has to touch you. You two embrace, and um...you lie against him."
"David!"
"Em, are you doing this or not?" he asked. "We have a job to do or we don't get paid." Mary-Margaret frowned at her.
Emma sighed. She glared at KIllian but sat on the rug. He eased in beside her, putting his arm around her shoulders. She sat stiffly, her skin feeling like bugs were crawling on her.
David walked over and posed them. "You need to look more... enticing," he said, pulling on Emma. "Can you… move your leg more and lean back…"
Emma closed her eyes and endured the manhandling until she felt a hand on her knee.
She opened her eyes to find Killian extremely close, grinning at her like an idiot.
"It's a romance novel, Love," he said.
She turned red and was about to push him off when he moved his hand. He even backed up a little. "Emma, it's just a job. I promise. I want a check, same as you, same as your friends."
She relaxed slightly.
Killian then moved further away. "Dave, let's take it slower."
"But…"
"You said it yourself, Mate, it's her first time. We don't have to get pornographic on her."
"I was not!" cried David, a vein popping out on his forehead. Mary-Margaret stifled a laugh. Emma laughed too.
"I'll sit over here," the faux pirate said, putting more distance between him and Emma. He stretched out, like he was lounging, but made sure he didn't touch her.
"That's not what the client wants," whined David.
"We have all weekend," KIllian said. He smiled at Emma. "We can ease into it."
She smiled back, appreciatively.
David sighed.
"Plus they don't have to get to this scene right away," said Mary-Margaret. "There's the bar scene, not to mention the solo portrait-like poses."
Killian nodded
Dave put his hands up. "Fine," he said and huffed away.
Mary-Margaret smiled at Emma. "Don't worry, it will be fine."
"I don't want to cause you guys problems. I'm supposed to be helping."
Her friend shook her head. "Hubby gets a little high strung at these things. He'll be fine. I'll go buy him a Cinnabun. It always soothes the savage beast." She winked and followed after her angry mate.
Emma looked at Killian. "Thank you."
He nodded. "Don't mention it."
She took a deep breath and tried to relax.
"It's just a story, Emma, and we're in character."
"Right."
"I know it's hard to believe, but I'm not really a pirate." He winked at her.
She laughed out loud. "You don't say." He laughed back and Emma felt the tension in her stomach ease.
He stood up and helped her stand. "Why don't we sit at the bar?" he suggested, leading her to the bench. "We can make Dave start here."
"I shouldn't cause him this much trouble, he has enough on his hands, trying to make ends meet, not to mention the baby on the way. I'm serious about wanting to help."
"That's good of you, Emma," he said with an honest smile. "Hey, don't worry about it. Besides, chronologically, this part of the book happens first."
"I confess I don't read too many romances."
KIllian laughed. "Neither do I. I just read what Dave makes me."
"Are they all like this, though, with women as submissive sex objects?"
Killian shrugged. "We only work with this one author. It's a gig."
"It's disgusting."
"Maybe. I will say this, Mary-Margaret started off reading every single book, page to page. Now, she only skims them, rolling her eyes and growling."
Emma laughed. "That makes me feel better."
"Don't let it color the whole genre. Actually there are really good authors here. They don't tend to only write romances though. There's this one author, she combines all sorts of themes, even crossing genres. Maybe she's here this weekend. If so, I'll introduce you to her. You'd like her and her stories."
She looked at Killian. "Thank you. I think I'd like that."
He smiled back. "Maybe I have a heart of gold after all, Emma," he said, with a smirk. "Don't judge a book…."
She groaned and put her hand up. "Please, don't."
He laughed.
End of Chapter Two