RP: Awkward

[tt_lavender]

Date: 3 March 2002
Characters: Lavender Brown, Dempster Wiggleswade
Setting: The Unicorn and Fox, Settlement 1
Content: PG?
Status: Public: Closed

The Command Centre reminded Lavender of the Ministry of Magic. Certainly not the building itself, which had been built less than a year ago and couldn't even compare to the age and grandeur of the Ministry, but the atmosphere. Somehow, it seemed to make the place feel older and more serious; no matter where or when they were, security personnel were cut from the same cloth. Of course, there was a certain amount of sheepishness going around the office these days following the love potion incident. It meant that there wasn't much eye contact going on between certain people, which Lavender could deal with right now as she accessed the computer system to run a search.

It was just the teeniest, tiniest abuse of power. At least, that was what Lavender was telling herself. And technically she was searching for a datapad, not a person, which alleviated any guilt she might have felt. Mostly, though, she was tired of feeling awkward about going to work and the possibility that she might have to do a shift with a certain someone. So she was going to try to do something about it. After all, she couldn't really make things worse, could she?

Which was why when she finished her shift, showered and re-dressed into something a little less practical - a black and white striped sundress - Lavender headed to the Unicorn and Fox. As she entered, she pushed herself onto tiptoes to look around, but she didn't just search with her eyes. She knew his scent almost instinctively; she could find him if she was blindfolded in a crowded room. A soft, frustrated sigh escaped her. The downside of all those werewolf scars.

Luckily, Dempster was by the bar, which made things easier. But as she approached, Lavender realised that she hadn't quite planned this far ahead. Finding him? Yes. Talking to him? Not so much. She bit her lip, heart racing a mile a minute as she leant against the bar. "Demp?" she ventured, not sure what to say next.

Comments

[tt_dempster]

Demp had made his way to the U&F after work, having avoided the World's End lately because he tended to know everyone in the room. Not that Demp was someone to avoid those he knew, but it seemed everyone was a bit less open these days, and rightfully so if you asked him. He couldn't believe he'd fallen for a love potion. An amateur one at that. And with a co-worker. A young, beautiful, talented co-worker. Co-worker, and young, being the keywords, of course. So he was settling in with a shot of whiskey and a local form of beer that was a little sweet - like a lambec, back home - when he heard a familiar voice say his name tentatively. He set the shot down and turned, "Ms. Brown?"

Keeping things as formal as possible, indicated the seat next to him, "Please, have a seat, would you like to join me? I was getting a drink after that double, there's only so much a light sleeping potion can do after all," he then turned back to his shot and took it, chasing with the sweet ale.

[tt_lavender]

"Yeah, I would," Lavender said, taking a seat as Dempster took his shot. "And you are allowed to call me Lavender." She watched him drink, frowning slightly, then ordered herself half a pint of one of the locally-brewed lagers.

"Sleeping potion?" she ventured, turning back to him. "Are you okay? Or just working a lot of doubles?" She'd worked a fair few doubles of late herself. While some people took time off to try and repair relationships in the aftermath, there were just as many who threw themselves into work. Lavender had always been rather single-minded and had personally taken the work-as-much-as-she-could route.

[tt_dempster]

Demp gave her a small smile, "Mostly doubles, since the original incident at the Portal, Kingsley knows I'm the least likely to have an obligations, so I don't mind doing it." That kept the story short, he figured, no need to go into the no family, no loved ones saga, right?

When she ordered, Demp gave a bright smile to the bartender and asked that Lavender's drinks be put on his tab. He turned to her, more apology on his face, "It's the least I can do," he looked her up and down trying not to remember the way she'd felt under him. It had been years since he'd touched a woman like that and to see her sitting in front of him now, he needed to remind himself more and more that it was the love potion acting, not the two of them.

[tt_lavender]

"Hey," Lavender chided gently, "I meant what I said in that message the other day. You don't need to apologise or anything." She blew out a breath, shaking her head. "Some people love sending messages with the datapads, but even after all these months, I don't find it as intimate as actually talking to someone face-to-face." She pursed her lips. Possibly the wrong choice of word there.

"I wanted to talk to you," she admitted, looking up at him carefully and trying not to think of the way he'd looked at her that week, a way no one had ever looked at her before. "Except now that I'm here, I've forgotten what I was going to say." She chuckled softly. "I think I just wanted to make sure that you're okay. I don't want you to feel like you have to apologise every time you see me, after all."

[tt_dempster]

Dempster sighed good-naturedly. "Alright, Lavender," he emphasized his use of her first name, "Last apology uttered, I swear," he smiled. "Thank you for seeking me out but can I ask how?" This time when he looked her up and down it was out of curiosity. "I'm usually easy enough to find, either on duty or at the World's End. This week I've tried to make myself a bit scarce."

By way of explanation, he continued, "I figure you're one half a pair and even after sending my note, I worried there might be awkwardness outside of work...?" Demp couldn't help it, it bit his bottom lip in embarrassment, sounding like a fourth year wasn't in his nature, as a matter of fact it had been roughly thirty years since he had been - and thus behaved like - a fourth year.

[tt_lavender]

"Um..." She bit her lip, not particularly wanting to admit to using work resources to track him down. "Let's just call it female intuition." Lavender smirked slightly, unable to help herself. "A woman's allowed some secrets."

Lavender sighed, taking her drink as it was set down in front of her, condensation already appearing on the glass. "Not really half of a pair. I mean, maybe? There's kind of been someone in a casual way, but we're both career types and... and I don't even know what we are right now." Charlie had been so busy setting the Ark to rights that she'd known it wasn't really the best time to try and define their relationship one way or the other. "I've spent a lot of time thinking about you," she said, a little quieter. "Been worried about awkwardness, too. And the one thing I seem to know for sure these days is that I don't want things to be awkward with you."

[tt_dempster]

Demp listened with measured breath as she attempt to explain and his entire person softened when she finished. "I don't want to be anything but comfortable around you, Lavender," he confessed, curious as to when he'd become actually interested in her. She was half his age, not even, but he couldn't deny he admired her and the love potion seemed to have awoken feelings and longings in him he'd long since put behind him. Like finding a young witch gorgeous as she sipped her pint, or remembering what she sounded like when she whimpered his name.

"I've been thinking of you, too," he added, wondering in a moment of insanity if she might be thinking the same things he was.

[tt_lavender]

Lavender bit her lip. "I've heard plenty of stories about what people did under the love potion's influence," she said, looking down at her drink as she spoke. "And they all seem to start face-to-face. But..." The words caught in her throat. "But you came looking for me." She steeled herself against the unexpected emotions that welled in her for a moment and looked up at Dempster, almost wishing that she hadn't come here. Almost. "I've been trying to figure out what that means. Or if it even means anything at all." Right in that moment, she wasn't sure which of those she wanted.

"Please, Demp. Please tell me I'm not the only one who feels confused."

[tt_dempster]

Dempster sighed and took a sip of his beer, "I don't know why I came to you, Lavender, I'm sorry, but I don't have any answers..." He thought for a moment and then said, "I do know that I admired you professionally before that day, and suddenly that morning just couldn't stop thinking of you. Maybe it's because I was at work when I took my shower and got... contaminated... Maybe it's because that's where I know you, and so I attached onto that idea of you and of work, I'm not sure. I'm sorry I can't really help make any sense of it."

She smiled at her, reassuring, "You're not the only one confused though, that's for sure. You don't know much about me, do you?" He waited for her reaction and then said, "I've been alone most of my life. My parents passed almost fifteen years ago and I dated a muggle for a while but that was it for connections in my life. I've not even been one for one night stands, as they are." He shrugged, "I'm confused less because a love potion brought me to a young, beautiful, talented witch whom I already admired, and more because I didn't know I was capable of such actions."

[tt_lavender]

"You admired me?" Lavender asked, unable to keep the confusion and slight awe from her voice. Her self-confidence seemed to tremble under the weight of an unexpected compliment. She wasn't anything special, perhaps only noticeable because of her stature or scars. She laughed softly, shaking her head. "Well, I... I guess magic works in mysterious ways sometimes." Maybe they would never make sense of it. And maybe that was okay, really, because real love didn't necessarily have to make sense either.

Lavender traced her finger slowly around the rim of her glass as she listened to Dempster speak. It felt like she knew him and didn't know him at the same time. Not too long ago, she'd been under the influence and telling him that she loved him. Now, she wondered how he could have so few connections. "I haven't dated much since I joined the Ministry. It was all work and training and trying to get to be a Hit Wizard." Her lips twisted wryly. It was only a potion, but she kind of missed the feeling of being in love. Was the real thing anything like that?

She took a sip of her drink, as if to wash away that thought. Then, she flashed Dempster a grin. "Well," she teased, "from my experience, you seem pretty capable of whatever action you put your mind to."

[tt_dempster]

Demp nodded, "You're driven, talented, and you're very young to have dived so head first into it all." It seemed obvious to him, but he supposed wizards her age might not recognize such attributes as positives. "That it does, Miss Brown," he smiled. "And maybe," he went out on a limb, "Despite the awkwardness, magic may have found us each a new friend in this strange life."

"Can I ask, why did you choose security? A Hit Wizard is a hard life for anyone," he started, but when she made the comment about his recent behavior he sputtered and laughed, stilted as if he didn't know what was so funny but felt he needed to laugh anyway.

[tt_lavender]

"Of course you can ask." Lavender smiled, then took another drink as she tried to decide how best to answer that question. "Boredom is too simple an answer, but..." She sighed. "It was after the war. I guess a lot of stories start that way these days. But I took a job in a florist and I figured that I'd have a nice, normal life. Except that I found that I missed the way I'd felt during the war. So I took up duelling as a hobby."

Her smile turned crooked. "Turned out I'd learnt a lot during the war. And I got talking to a judge one day after a tournament. He'd been a Hit Wizard before he'd retired." Lavender shrugged. "It didn't take long for me to apply to the Ministry. I missed feeling like I was making a difference in people's lives. And I found it again."