first in line

there are no small roles; only actresses who aren't good enough for big ones

[piperknox]

abigailhanlon​:

Laughing softly at the description of Don, she gave a curt nod of her heard. “He’s a great guy. It was great, pancakes are always great, but that place stepped it up a notch. I almost wanted to order the entire menu, before deciding that my bank account probably wouldn’t like that.” She joked, scrunching her nose up as she did so – something she tended to do when she was kidding around with someone who didn’t know her too well. Over acting in her personal life, always seemed better than letting someone think she was being serious when she wasn’t.

Smiling as Piper seemed to stumble over the words, Abigail had to admit it was pretty cute. And made her feel more at ease when she eventually said something that could come off the wrong way. Sometimes she felt she should have someone script her day to day life, purely to avoid stumbling over something basic. “And actual fun should be what life is all about.” She quipped before shaking her head at the question. “I’m open to anything, my favourite tends to be the reunion scene because there’s a decent balance of cuteness and angst when Danny acts so different from what she knows. But I’m totally down for anything, if there’s something you’d prefer?”

**

At least Abigail was cool about Piper being such a mess. Being an understudy was a tough balance. She imagined it would be like being on...whatever the lesser sports team were called. You had to be ready to play in The Big Game at any moment, but also be cool with never getting a shot. And she was. But part of being ready was also maintaining good chemistry with the other actors, and Abigail definitely made that a bit easier.

“Uh,” she found her script, whipping it out of her suitcase with a fanfare of socks and at least one bra. “Got it. Okay, yeah. Reunion?” She nodded, flipping through the script to basically the back. There wasn’t after the reunion--”You’re the One That I Want” and the hand-jive one, and then curtain call. “I mean, that’s like...a good place to start. Everything after that is easier.” At least, less intensive. Most of the rest of the show was her being a jerk, and acting like a jerk wasn’t exactly Meryl Streep levels of hard. “You wanna do the whole entrance? Or pick up from tell me about it, stud?” She was definitely not a Sandy, but she did her best impression, arm up, trying to pose sexy, chewing fake gum. She held it for a second, and then dropped her arm, reverting back to her normal Piper-y self.

[piperknox]

abigailhanlon​:

“Then you’re a better person than me, because I would.” She joked, scrunching her face up slightly as she did so. “Oh there was this place with the perfect pancakes in the last town, that I only found out about the day we left – forever one of my greatest regrets.” Hyperbolic yes, but she imagined everyone on the tour had that one place they’d wanted to try, but hadn’t got around to. As much as she loved to explore new towns, mostly all she wanted to do on their time off was sleep. “That’s the kind of positive energy the world needs, and who doesn’t love cupcakes?”

Nodding at the question, she offered Piper a soft smile. “I think the more people who show up the better it’ll be. I’m sure people would love to see you there.” Maybe she couldn’t say it with certainty, but she was willing to bet she was right. Getting to know each other, would make things go so much easier for them as time went on. “Lines.” She nodded. “But only if you’re sure you wouldn’t rather be doing something else. I wouldn’t want to take someone away from their plans for their day off. Or even… Not-plans, if you just wanted to enjoy the day catching up on sleep.”

Piper snorted, popping another bite of donut into her mouth. “I dunno about that. I’m just an easily guilted one. If I took your donuts and turned you away, I’d hear my own voice in my head shaming me for doing it, so it’s easier just to avoid it.” Abigail’s description of the pancake place jogged her memory a little, at least. “I heard about that place! Don--you know, the dancer one, not the other Don--he told me about it, but I didn’t go. Was it really good? I’ll have to be better about going out and finding these places. Including our future cupcake place.”

Well, if she wanted her to go, she’d go. Piper wasn’t usually anti-social. Just bad at remembering to leave her room. “Alright. I’m game. Let’s do lines and then party. Or--wait.” She bit the inside of her cheeks, realizing what she’d said. “Run lines. Not do lines. Wow, Pipes.” She shook her head at herself. “No, it’s really good. I was just gonna watch Guy Fieri and be a lazy butt. Running lines and going to a pool party sounds, like, actually fun.” She turned to rummage in her bag. The script was in there somewhere. She knew her lines--of course--but it was nice to have it in front of her just so they knew where they were. “Is there anything you wanted to run specifically?”

[piperknox]

abigailhanlon​:

“Oh I would.” She laughed, with a shrug. “Free donuts are free donuts, can’t attach strings to them.” A horrible joke, but then again, nobody had ever called her funny. It’s why she preferred sticking to a script, because most of her jokes were more akin to dad jokes than hilarious. Nodding at the words, she felt a smile tug at the corner of her mouth. “Aren’t they? I’m not going to lie – I’m going to be so upset when we have to leave this town, because finding that shop? One of my highlights so far.” Hyperbolic yes, but they were pretty great in my mind.

Nodding slowly at the answer, she decided not to question it. It wasn’t really her place to press for any information, she’d mostly asked because it seemed the go-to polite conversation aside from the weather. “Yeah, I was.” She’d debated it, then decided they were all entitled to a little fun. “It could be a fun thing for everyone, and it’s been forever since I’ve had a good old fashioned pool party. I think we’ve all earned a good time. Do you think you’ll head down for a little bit?”

.

Piper shook her head. “No, no, no, I wouldn’t take your donuts,” she assured Abigail, like it was the most important promise she’d ever make. She couldn’t tell if it was mock seriousness or real seriousness or something in between. “They’re really good. I’m sad that I didn’t know about  this place sooner!” She was doing her best not to completely gouge herself on donuts. “Though there’s places in every town, right? Maybe the next one will have a cupcake shop or something.”

Her plan had been to stay in her room and continue her pantsless marathon of Food Network, truthfully, but a pool party might be nice too. “I dunno. Maybe. If you want me to?” She wasn’t sure where that last part came from, but it felt right. It’d be good to spend time with Abigail, right? To make sure their vibe was good? “Uh, after lines, though. You said you wanted to do that too.”

[piperknox]

abigailhanlon​:

Subconsciously stepping back once the door was shut, part of her was hit with a sudden guilt, suddenly worried she’d intruded on Piper’s downtime. Of course, she knew there was always a chance the other would be busy, but maybe she hadn’t stressed enough Piper could say no – even if her only plan for the day was to watch Netflix. Travelling for shows, meant they all got to take a ‘them’ day every so often to relax. Laughing at Piper’s words as the door was opened once more, she tilted her head putting on her best proud smile. “A girl after my own heart. Donuts make everything better, and there’s this amazing place down the street – I thought it was wise to make the best of it while we could. We all deserve a little treat.”

Walking into the room, she walked over to the nearest flat surface she could find and put the box down on it. “I wasn’t interrupting something was I? Because I can leave the donuts and let you get back to.. whatever it was.” It seemed best to check, after all days off weren’t the most frequent things. “I heard some people are heading down to the pool later and having a mini party, which means I’m willing to bet most people are sleeping right now so they don’t have to later.”

Piper took as subtle a look around her room as she could. It looked like a hotel room--her shit partially unpacked and strewn about. Nothing horrible. She let out a breath, and then turned her attention back to Abigail now that she was sure she was in the clear. “I’m not a total monster,” she answered with a smile. “I’m not going to take your donuts and kick you out.” She did take a donut, though, rip it in half, and take a bite. “Fuck, that’s really good. You know how to pick ‘em.”

She took another bite and gestured to the TV. “No, it’s totally fine. I was just--” She didn’t want to admit that she was watching Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives instead of doing something cool like most theater people, but there wasn’t an easy lie sitting around either. Her book was still packed, she had no scripts. “Uh, reading on my phone. The news, and stuff.” Because people who read the news always refer to it as and stuff. Genius. “Were you gonna go to the pool?” she asked.

[piperknox]

abigailhanlon​:

Stopping by her newest obsession – the cupcake bakery in the town they were currently performing at, Abigail ordered one of every kind there was. It had been a spur of the moment decision, so she hadn’t stopped to ask Piper what flavour she’d want. It wasn’t as if the leftovers would go to waste, the rest of the cast was bound to offer to help finish them off. Thanking the shop assistant as they handed her the bag, Abigail made her way back to the hotel, walking past her room and heading straight for Piper’s. She and Jamie had spent weeks rehearsing at that point, she was certain she had the chemistry down with them – what she wasn’t sure about was Piper. They knew each other, but Jamie had never had to miss a show yet, which meant she’d never performed with Piper. It wasn’t the most common thing, but she had it in her mind the wise thing to do was practice with your romantic opposite’s understudy – just in case they did have to go on at the last minute. Nobody wanted to see a Sandy and Danny that felt off.

Knocking on Piper’s door, she smiled as she saw it opening holding up the bag. “I come bearing gifts! Are you busy? There’s no show tonight and I apparently don’t want to take the afternoon off… I was wondering if you wanted to run lines? Make sure we have them down.” Which sounded better than saying ‘make sure we can make a believable couple’ @piperknox​

Most days, there wasn’t really anything to stop Piper from lounging around in her underwear in her hotel room watching HGTV or the Food Network until her afternoon practice. In fact, there was precisely nothing stopping her from lounging around in her underwear in her hotel room watching HGTV or the Food Network until her afternoon practice, which was why she spent so much time doing it. The disciplined plan to rehearse every day so she could get an actual role instead of understudy had long since gone out the window. These days, it was just her, a well-worn pair of boyshorts, and Guy Fieri. Well...not like that.

That was, up until there was an unexpected knock on her door. She popped it open to see a bag of donuts, and knew immediately that this was going to be a disruption, to say the least. “Uh, hi, yes. I mean, no. I’m not busy. I’m just...gimme a second.” She closed the door and scrambled to tug on leggings. No need to run likes bare-ass, right? She flung the door back open, hoping Abigail wasn’t annoyed. She’d been nothing but nice and friendly and unflappingly professional so far--basically, the ideal star of a show like this. Piper wanted to stay on her good side. “Yes. Lines. And yes to donuts,” she said, glancing at the bag again. “I really do appreciate a good bribe. Come on in!”

[perfectday1972]

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