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_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."