A Place for Me (Open)

[Dawn Meade]

(Because I haven't used Dawn since 2008.)

A lot had changed for Dawn in the last year. When she had come to town with Gretchen's pack, she had been a fragile, scattered girl with severe headaches and memory loss. But now that she had received proper treatment for her condition, and was taking the memory-enhancing potion regularly, the headaches were mostly gone and her memory had improved dramatically. She still suffered the shaking fits--Madame Pomfrey called them seizures--but they were not connected to her headaches or memory loss. Apparently it was just something she would have to live with, although she was taking a potion that was supposed to make them less severe.

After she had finally remembered the night that she had been turned into a werewolf, along with her friend Ashura, Dawn had left Gretchen's pack. Rochelle and her human mate, Sully, had formed a new pack, and she had decided to join with them, even though she was grateful to Zander's pack for taking her in when she was ill.

Slowly but surely, she was easing into the outside world again. Hogsmeade was getting more comfortable for her and she wasn't quite so skittish of all the other people that walked the streets. Sometimes, like now, she even went out alone. She had gone to pick up some supplies that Rochelle thought they would need. Since the streets weren't too crowded, she was able to walk with confidence toward the little store.

[Trace Wang]

Trace walked down the street to get supplies for his new restaurant. He was busy making plans in his head that he didn't see the girl he ran into. Quickly he reached out and caught her before she fell to hard. He gently pulled her back up, towering over her like he usually did. Setting her on her own feet he grinned through his sunglasses, "Sorry about that, when I start planning it gets bad."

[Dawn Meade]

It probably didn't help that Dawn was already a tiny little thing. Most people were taller than Dawn, but as she looked up at the man who had knocked into her and who had caught her before she fell, she wondered at first if she had run into a tree, rather than a man. But no, it was a man, just a very tall one. It made him seem rather intimidating, but he had kind eyes.

"It's OK," she replied in her quiet voice. "I was at fault, too, I wasn't looking where I was going."

Of course, she wondered how on earth she possibly could have missed this man, since he was so very tall. But as she walked, sometimes her gaze was distracted by the other things around her. She had regained her natural curiosity about the world around her.

"Thank you for catching me," she added, blushing.

[Trace Wang]

Trace smiled as he held his hand out to her, "No problem at all, by the way, my name is Trace Wang. Pleasure to meet you." As tiny as she was he found that she was rather pretty. He smiled, all thoughts of his restaurant, currently out of the window.

[Dawn Meade]

Dawn was still a little fuzzy on the habits and customs of regular humans, but she remembered that Rochelle had taught her than when a person held a hand out to her like that, she was supposed to take it. She took the man's large hand in her tiny one and shook it lightly, as Rochelle had taught her.

"My name is Dawn," she replied shyly, looking up at him. There once would have been a time, not that long ago, in fact, when she would have been too afraid to speak to him. But she was growing stronger every day, and was becoming closer to the spirited young girl she had once been.

[Trace Wang]

Trace smiled softly, some would call it a little bit flirtatiously, "Beautiful name for a beautiful girl." He resisted the urge to kiss her hand, after all he had just met her.

[Dawn Meade]

Dawn blushed again. It had been a long time since anyone told her she was pretty. Karl had said it once, but her brain had been far too addled at that point to really understand or believe him. And anyway, his heart belonged to Chloe. Most of the people she saw on a regular basis were werewolves like her, and although she was getting stronger, they still sort of treated her like a frail little girl. Here was someone who just saw her as a pretty girl, and it felt rather nice.

"Thank you," she said shyly. "It is very kind of you."

Flirting and small talk were really quite alien concepts for her, and she was at a loss for what else to say. But strangely, she didn't want to leave just yet. "Are you new in town?" she asked at last, hoping that would be an appropriate question to ask.

[Trace Wang]

Trace looked around and nodded, "Yes, I just opened a new shop down the street. This town needs a little culture shock from across the world." As much as he looked British, he still had his Chinese accent.

[Dawn Meade]

For Dawn, pretty much every time she left the house was a culture shock, since she had been removed from the rest of the world for so long. But of course, she didn't quite know what that meant and would not have known to use that term to describe the overwhelmed feeling she got every time she began to mingle with the other humans.

She did notice that he talked a little differently from what she was used to hearing. Back at home, Rochelle talked with slight French accent, and Sully talked with a Scottish accent. She had also heard other accents, such as Gretchen's German one and Quinn's English accent. Her own accent was sort of a combination of these, all the different accents she had become used to hearing. But she was a British girl by birth, so that was perhaps the strongest.

"What is culture shock?" she asked innocently. "Across the world from where? What kind of shop is it?"

She giggled then, realizing she was probably asking too many questions. She was inquisitive by nature, but for too long that part of her had been suppressed. It had been hard to concentrate on much of anything when her head always hurt. "I am sorry. I ask to many questions."

[Trace Wang]

Trace grinned crookedly, "Not at all, a girl who asks a question is a fool for five minutes, one who doesn't is a fool forever. Besides I like questions. Culture shock is being exposed to a different culture that you're not used to but suddenly being exposed to. I was born in China, my parents were apparently British but the woman who adopted me, now she's my mother. My restaurant is Chinese based, as it should be since that is my home." He thought for a moment before gesturing back from where he came, "Would you like to come with me to see my restaurant?"

[Dawn Meade]

Dawn had no idea where China was, and the only reference she had was that it wasn't here and it wasn't France. She was afraid that he would think her dumb if she asked him whether China was near France. But his comment came back to her; he had such an interesting way of putting things.

"I was born here, or so I'm told. But I lived for a while in France. Is China near France?"

She hoped he didn't think she was stupid. It wasn't her fault that she had been isolated for so long and from such a young age. She had barely started at Hogwarts when she was bitten, and she had very little memory from before that, even after she got her memories back. This was not uncommon for young children who had been turned; if they were not reunited with their human families right away, they might never remember them at all.

But she did know what a restaurant was. Her friend Chloe worked in one, and she had gone to see her one day where she worked. It was really a nice place; where people brought food to you and other people sat nearby and ate their own food. It was a place to gather and to eat.

"Yes," she said. "I would like to see your restaurant."

[Trace Wang]

Trace smiled softly when she asked where China was. He looked around and found some slush, he picked up a stick and slowly drew a very rough map, "This is England, where we are," he pointed to England then he pointed to France, "This is your France," then he moved the stick all the way across the map to the third largest country then circled it, "This, this is my China. It's huge and vastly populated. People speak an entirely different language there."

Trace then stood and held out his arm to her, "Shall we head to my restaurant then?"

[Dawn Meade]

His drawing helped a little bit. She realized he must have come from very far away to be here. It was strange how people moved around so much. When Gretchen had moved them here from France, she hadn't understood why they were leaving. She liked France, what she saw of it. Mostly all she had been able to experience was the food... lots of bread and cheese. Chinese food, she thought, must be quite different, and she was now curious to try it.

"You must think I am so dumb," she said, blushing. "For a long time, I was very sick, and I was kept inside a lot. I didn't get to do things like other people did. I'm only just now starting to get better, and I am able to go out on my own."

There were so many things that she had longed to experience, and many others that she didn't even know had existed. In that moment, she was angry with Gretchen and Buck for keeping her locked away like some kind of freak. There had been a treatment for what she had, and they had denied it to her, not letting her get better. It was like they wanted her to stay sick, to need them so completely.

Shyly, she took his arm. She probably should have been more hesitant to go off with a complete stranger like this, but she could tell by his eyes and by his scent that he was trustworthy.

"Do you miss China?" she asked as they began to walk.

[Trace Wang]

Trace smiled softly as she took his arm. He started walking her towards his restaurant, "No, just a little bit uneducated. Of course we all are," he thought for a minute about his home land, "China was my home. Of course I miss it, my mother is still back there. Or at least the woman that adopted me." He had a moment where he lost his easy smile, and thought about his mother. Then he turned and looked at her with a smile, all traces of his sorrow vanished.

[Dawn Meade]

Dawn couldn't help but feel embarrassed, like her lack of knowledge meant that she had somehow missed out on things. For 8 years, she had really been a prisoner, although she wouldn't have thought of it that way at the time. But Buck had taken her in, he was the one who had bitten her, and he had originally left her for dead. It was only later, when he found out she was at the hospital and that they had messed up her treatment, that he went to get her out. Between what the hospital had done to her and the bad memory charm that Buck had put on her, Dawn had been as functional as a block of cheese. It was lucky for her that Madam Pomfrey was able to reverse most of the damage... but in the meantime, she had lost 8 years of her life, that she could never get back. She had been a girl when she was turned, and now she was a young woman... but she had missed that in-between time. It was disorienting at times, realizing how much had changed.

"I wish to learn more," she said. "Before, there was no point in learning, because I would forget right away. I am better now. Please, tell me about China."

[Trace Wang]

Trace smiled, "China is a huge country people could be able to fit about ten of the UK islands inside China's borders and there would still be room for other countries." He always got animated when it came to his country, "China is rich in culture, while Britain has okay culture spreading around China is an example for," his voice changed to his Chinese accent, "As you'll see in my restaurant we Chinese are big on bright colors, mainly red and golds." As they continued to his restaurant he continued talking about China, their parades and holidays, their religion, Buddhism, which he sometimes practiced.

[Dawn Meade]

Dawn listened to the man talk with great interest. When she had been in France, she had not been able to see very much of the country. Now that she was in England again, she hadn't seen very much of it, either. It made her wonder what China looked like, and how it compared to England and France. Not just the culture, but the weather, too. Were there different kinds of plants there? Were there mountains or green fields? Did they have oceans, like she had seen in a picture in a book? Was there snow and rain, just like here?

"It sounds very fascinating," Dawn said. "I wish I could see it some time."

[Trace Wang]

Trace grinned happily, no one lately had asked him how China was. "Are there any other quesitons that you would like answered?"