RP: Out for a run

[tt_lavender.insanejournal.com]

Date: October 25, 2001
Characters: Lavender Brown, OPEN
Setting: Settlement 1, daytime
Content: G
Status: Public: Open

Travelling back in time through a magical portal was the perfect chance for a fresh start. The main problem, at least so far as Lavender could see, was that she didn't particularly want a fresh start. She was grateful for the opportunity to be saved from the rather bleak outlook of a nuclear winter, no doubt about that, but she liked where she was. It hadn't been the easiest of paths, but she'd felt more fulfilled than she'd dared imagine she would.

She wasn't the most obvious candidate for a Hit Witch. In fact, once the war had finished and she'd had a chance to recover from her injuries, she'd taken a nice little job in a nice little florist. Only it had turned out to be nice and... boring. So she'd started competing in duelling competitions in her spare time until one of the judges, a retired Hit Wizard himself, had pulled her aside after the awards were handed out and asked her whether she really saw herself arranging flowers ten years in the future. A month later, she was starting training with the Magical Law Enforcement Patrol where she remained for a year before stepping things up and moving to the Hit Wizards. Until now.

Despite knowing it would have been foolish to turn down this opportunity, it was still a massive thing to wrap her head around. No matter where (or when) she was, things were going to be different, and this expedition into the past was probably the best place to be if she wanted anything resembling a secure future. Even if it meant she felt like a glorified security guard. Or a tour guide; she'd spent the last three weeks since her arrival escorting newcomers from Settlement One to Settlement Two. When she wasn't on shift, she had been studiously avoiding doing much unpacking. With the tropical surroundings and strangely sterile newly-built houses, it had all been so surreal that she hadn't needed to fully comprehend the reality of the situation until yesterday when she'd escorted her parents to their new home in Settlement Two. She'd ended her shift there, opting to spend the night with them before returning to her own place in Settlement One in the morning.

As Lavender finished tying her running shoes, her datapad gave a beep and she nearly lost all sense of balance. One thing she definitely wasn't used to was electronics bleeping at her. She smiled as she saw a message from her dad. He was checking whether she'd made it home okay, but it seemed as though he hadn't quite figured out how to switch off capital letters when he typed. She wrote a quick response, using one finger to type out the letters. Lavender didn't take her eyes off the screen until it told her that it had definitely sent the message. It was going to take a while until she trusted it or even worked out everything that it could do.

Making sure her water bottle was filled, she gave a last survey of her reflection, futile as she knew it was. When she went running, she inevitably got hot and sweaty and in this climate it was a miracle she wasn't completely gross-looking before she'd even started. It was one of her top five reasons why running was evil. But it was the best workout she'd found and infinitely more interesting than trudging away in a gym. And marginally better than unpacking the trunk that was still stuffed with most of her worldly possessions.

She secured the house, then set off, reminding herself that she didn't have to go too far or run for too long. To the market and back would probably be just enough to make her feel accomplished for today.

Comments

[tt_adrian.insanejournal.com]

Adrian was sitting on his porch, having a cigarette and digging in the dark earth - something about getting his hands dirty calmed him and made his work here seem less daunting - when a young woman came running up the path, seemingly headed towards him.

Cocking his head and dragging on his smoke, he watched her as she made her way up to the duplex's other half. Ah, his neighbor. And she was a cute little blond, too, maybe this life wouldn't be so bad, he couldn't help but think with a small smile to himself.

"Hello, neighbor," he let his voice carry just a bit, rather than be that creepy guy watching without letting the subject know. Adrian stood and stamped out his cigarette, brushing off his hands as he made his way across their driveway, one extended in a wave of greeting.

[tt_lavender.insanejournal.com]

Developing a mantra of 'running is evil' had pushed Lavender on for the last half of her run; she'd felt a genuine rush of relief when she saw her house. In her opinion, anyone who said they actually enjoyed running was probably lying. She slowed down on her approach, muscles insisting that she take it a little easier and happy to obey.

She paused when she heard someone call out, mostly out of surprised. Oh. She finally had a neighbour. She must have missed the moving in part. Taking a drink of what was left of her water, she processed that. If only she could have looked a little more presentable right this second.

"Hi," she said with what she hoped was a cheery smile. "I didn't realise anyone had moved in next door yet. I'm Lavender."

[tt_adrian.insanejournal.com]

Adrian smiled, hoping to come off as friendly - not something he was particularly natural at - and headed toward her. "I came in a couple of days ago, around dusk, doesn't surprise me we hadn't met yet. You certainly seem settled in, though," he chuckled at her disheveled appearance and reached out to offer his hand. "Adrian Pucey, I'm a Potionsmaster and working on herbology and cataloging here, so you'll probably see me digging up my yard every so often," he explained, "I won't touch yours if you prefer though," he added, hoping she wasn't a total neat freak or anything.

[tt_lavender.insanejournal.com]

"It's nice to meet you," Lavender said, switching her water bottle to her other hand so that she could shake his. She smiled wryly. "I wouldn't say particularly settled in. But I've been here about three weeks. I'm working security."

She nodded, perfectly understanding of that. "I bet you like getting your hands dirty. My dad's a herbologist, too. I'm used to it." Lavender glanced at her own area of garden space. "I'm planning a vegetable patch," she admitted. "Haven't quite got around to sorting it out yet, though."

[tt_adrian.insanejournal.com]

"You're three weeks ahead of a lot of us," Adrian conceded. "Security?" He nodded, "Yeah, makes sense you guys'd be here before the rest of us, have you had a chance to check out much of the land?" He couldn't help himself; the thought of so much new vegetation and so much new opportunity for experiment. His mother used to joke that she was surprised he hadn't come out a Ravenclaw, and in moments like this he couldn't help but think there was some truth to the thought.

"Yeah? Is he planning to come here with you?" It was a sore subject, but also seemed to be the general ice breaker in the new community.

"If you'd like any help, I'm a bit of a green thumb, even if I do tend to grow things just chop them up." He wasn't as good as professional herbologists, certainly, but he'd always been into it because of his chosen profession, and they were neighbors after all.

[tt_lavender.insanejournal.com]

"Three weeks in which I've become an expert at avoiding unpacking my belongings." She grinned. "It's practically a hobby." A little more soberly, Lavender nodded. "I'm a Hit Wizard. Or at least I was on the other side. I've mostly been going back and forth between the settlements escorting the new arrivals. So I think I'm getting a pretty good lay of the land, you know? But I haven't been out exploring any further than the usual route."

Lavender took a drink of water. "He's here. With my mum. But they're in Settlement Two." She paused carefully. "Are you here alone?"

Growing up, the most common response to "Where's Dad?" was "In the garden" and so Lavender knew what it was like to have the desire to potter around and dig things up. She enjoyed it a bit herself, actually, and some of her fondest childhood memories involved being out in the garden at home. "Sure. And feel free to have a poke around before I start digging stuff up. It'll probably be a couple of weeks before I get around to that."

[tt_adrian.insanejournal.com]

Adrian chuckled a little at her joke, "At least you brought things with you to unpack," his eyebrows raised. "One the other side, I like that," he nodded.

"Well, if you'd ever like a tag along, I don't really run but I walk a lot," he joked pathetically before adding, "But I'd love to see the land through someone who actually knows it at this point."

"Oh, that's nice," his eyes wandered the land, feeling more comfortable inside his own head than thinking about family reunions that he was pretty sure he'd never have, but everyone else would. He nodded, "Yes, as is the usual," he said with a cheeky smile, making a nonchalant joke of it, but he brightened significantly when Lavender said he could poke around her garden. "I'd really like that," and he thought maybe he might do more than poking around, andh elp her get it set up if she kept working the hours she seemed to.

[tt_lavender.insanejournal.com]

"To be honest, I hate running," Lavender said conspiratorially with just a bit of a smirk. "Walking is probably a better way to explore, anyway. So maybe I'll take you up on that. I can keep strange animals at bay."

Just because she felt a little unsatisfied by what she was currently doing with security duty didn't mean that Lavender didn't want to see other people happy. Apparently he liked the idea of having a little more garden to explore; it made her feel kind of nice that she could offer that, even if it was just a small gesture. "Good. Who knows? Maybe you'll find something interesting."

[tt_adrian.insanejournal.com]

"Oh I'll need you for that, I can best the fiercest willow tree, but dueling wild animals was never my strength," he laughed.

"If I do I'll have to name it after you," he offered. "How is the security going? It all seems pretty calm... Pretty..." Adrian struggled for a word, "Suburban, actually."

"Do you explore every day? I work pretty odd hours but for now make my own schedule, we could go out anytime you like." Realizing what that may sound like, he added, "I mean, go out exploring," and shook his head laughing at how awkward he seemed these days. New situation, new people, he couldn't just hide out in his lab and stay to himself here, he supposed.

[tt_lavender.insanejournal.com]

Lavender tried to hold back a laugh. "Good," she said, teasing, "because fierce willow trees are my weakness."

She shrugged. "Yeah, it's all pretty mundane. I feel like I'm basically going back and forth between the settlements watching the world go by from the front of one of the car thingies. I don't think it's going to be the most action-packed job, but time will tell." Everyone who was coming through the portal had been vetted for criminal pasts, but that didn't mean they wouldn't do something in the future. If there was anything Lavender had discovered over the past few years, it was that people were capable of doing just about anything.

"Sometimes. I get a bit bored just doing nothing at home. Tell you what, why don't you send me a message on the datapad sometime? I'm pretty flexible."

[tt_adrian.insanejournal.com]

Adrian nodded with a smile, "Yeah, I think that would be nice. And thanks for the offer," Adrian looked back at his work, the dirt on the ground and his datapad waiting for an update.

"Well," he started, obviously hesitant, "I should get back to this, time of day really matters around here, but I'll message you soon?" He smiled at her again, a little bit crooked and a little bit shy.

Nodding almost to himself this time, he turned and headed back to his work, happy to have Lavender as a neighbor, even if she was as much of a stranger as everyone else around here.