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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 25, 2012 18:31:31 GMT -5
"No."
No, it wouldn't be a problem at all. It was a quick answer, and he again felt like an awkward school boy. When had he forgotten how to flirt? Or had he just never known at all? He laughed and tried to make light of it before, but it was painfully clear now that Lydia was not joking. She was honestly flirting with him, and he quite liked it.
Swallowing and wishing he wasn't such a cad, he repeated himself. "there's absolutely no problem with that, Lydia."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Jan 26, 2012 1:34:42 GMT -5
Lydia felt her face flush once again at Sean's reaction. She was hardly a temptress, but the way he turned shy and seemed to be unable to speak made her feel like one. It was a powerful feeling, and she liked it. Oh, Merlin, she was starting to fall for him.
And was that really such a bad thing?
"Good," she said with a smile. "Because if I'm honest, I can't wait to get you alone. To talk, of course..."
Lydia couldn't even believe the things that were coming out of her mouth. Who knew it was so easy to flirt? Of course, even if she could get him alone, she wasn't planning on anything inappropriate. They were in a public place, and although she'd once heard rumors that one of her fellow healers, Tristan Collins, regularly made trips to the supply closet with female staff members, Lydia certainly wasn't the type to do anything like that. She just wanted to sit down somewhere comfortable with him and talk some more. And if they flirted a little, too, well, so much the better.
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 6, 2012 13:09:19 GMT -5
Sean was still a red blooded male, though, and when she mentioned wanting to get him alone, the last thing on his mind was talking. But he was a good guy, too, and he nodded when she corrected herself, a tinge coming to his own cheeks at where his thoughts went. And Merlin, she was beautiful with her cheeks flushed like that. He stood there like an idiot for just a moment, so many things he wanted to say to her just resting on his tongue, but he couldn't do it. It would have been too much and too overwhelming for both of them.
She was dangerous, he realized. He trusted her so innately that he felt like he could tell her anything. More than that, it did not escape his notice that he hadnt had a single vision or anything around her. She quieted his mind, and he was eternally grateful for the peace she seemed to bring to him.
It was a rush of thoughts and emotion that fell on him as he followed her, letting her lead the way to the staff lounge. Trying to keep things light and his own thoughts inside his head, he teased her, "Do you bring all the guys who visit you to the staff lounge?"
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Feb 9, 2012 22:44:04 GMT -5
Lydia's heart was pounding in her chest as she led him to the staff lounge. She silently prayed that it would be empty, for a little while at least, because she really did want to be alone with him. She had no idea what she intended to do once she got there, but that hardly seemed to matter.
The truth of the matter was, no, she did not bring anyone into the staff lounge. Other staff members did... Maia stopped in to visit every so often, and so did Lindsay's husband. Jordan's wife Caroline used to stop in, but that had been happening less frequently lately. And before the Hogsmeade attack, Kieran had often been visited by his fiancee, Ivy. But no one had ever visited Lydia. No one would begrudge her a visit now, she was sure. But that didn't mean she wanted everyone to know about it, either.
"You're the first," she confirmed with a smile, looking over her shoulder at him.
They arrived at the lounge, and Lydia was pleased to see that it was empty. Even better, the coffee pot was full, which meant that someone had just made a fresh pot.
"Sit down, and I'll get us some coffee," she told him, nodding to the sofa.
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 18, 2012 3:37:30 GMT -5
That confirmation did a funny thing to Sean. For a second, it made him stop breathing. Then, it made him feel something along the lines of proud, and finally, most importantly, it made him feel incredibly protective of her. That last one, he couldn't explain. He wished he could change things, that he could bring her family back for her. He wanted to know what she was like as a little girl, before tragedy struck.
He held all of this in, instead managing a light chuckle when she told him to sit. "You do the doctor thing well.... taking care of everybody." He let her get the coffee, while he sat at one end of the sofa in the room, purposely not taking one of the open chairs. But one day... he wanted to do something for her that showed other people could and would take care of her, too. He just hoped someone picked up where he would inevitably leave off. What he didn't realize was that his future was rewriting itself that very moment.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Mar 1, 2012 1:44:57 GMT -5
Lydia poured two cups of coffee for them, smiling softly to herself. It was almost second nature by now to take care of other people. Even the idea of having someone take care of her seemed like a foreign concept... she was a doctor. She needed to feel that she could take care of everyone.
"You take your coffee black, right?" she said, coming around to hand him one of the cups. "You're like me. When you work the night shift, you don't really want anything getting in the way of the caffeine."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Mar 30, 2012 0:30:11 GMT -5
"Yes, black, please."
When she described why she took it black, and compared herself to him, he realized she was absolutely right. When he wanted to be awake, he took the caffeine as strong as possible. He had to, he thought. And she needed to stay awake because it was her job. Why did he put himself through it. On the outside chance that he'd have a helpful vision to help him with his job? His brother didn't have this ability, and he managed his jb just fine.
He didn't want to beak the moment they had going, but he had so many hquestions that he suddenly wanted to run by her. For the moment, though, he thanked her for the coffee and took a sip to test the temperature.
'Tell her,' a voice whispered in the back of his mind, and he forced his gaze up to hers, just enchanted for a moment by the haunted look in her eyes.
Instead, he decided to find out how else he could be harmful to himself. "What else keeps you going on a night shift, Lydia."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Apr 4, 2012 11:05:44 GMT -5
Lydia gave him a sideways glance. In many ways, they were a lot alike. They had difficult, high pressure jobs, they often worked nights, and they both probably had trouble sleeping because of the strangeness of their schedules and the pressures of their jobs. But there were a lot of things about Sean that she didn't quite understand. There was a darkness about him, a sadness that she couldn't quite account for. From what she understood, he had a pretty good life with a loving family. So whatever it was that troubled him was something else... something that came from inside him. It made him something of a mystery to her, and although solving mysteries was really more his area than hers, it still intrigued her greatly. She wanted to understand him the way he now understood her. But she was also willing to accept that it might take a while.
"Actually, we try to make the night shift fun whenever we can. When it's slow, we play games... wizard chess, exploding snap... even the occasional poker game. Or we play practical jokes on each other. Or we just take turns having two-hour naps. Whatever we can do to break up the tension and monotony. Something tells me you and your brother are pretty good at those kinds of things, too."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 30, 2012 19:38:53 GMT -5
Sean laughed out loud at that. "Dan and I are very good at breaking up tension. Mostly under the category of practical jokes." He wanted to add that Daniel, especially, was a jokester, but he taught Sean everything he knew, too, and Sean remembered a handful of good ones he pulled on his brother. Rubbing his eyes, he chuckled at some distant memory.
"Sometimes, I really miss the days when that's what we put all of our effort into. If I ever have a kid, I'm going to make sure they have all the fun they can." He didn't see tht in his future at all, but on the outside, improbable chance...
"Are you any good at Poker? You seem way too.... Kind to have a good poker face. I mean that in a good way, too."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on May 23, 2012 1:45:13 GMT -5
"My brothers were jokers," Lydia said sadly. "It's funny, they used to drive me crazy when they were alive with their pranks and practical jokes and their spying. And now I find it's the thing I miss most about them. I round a corner and still sometimes hope that they'll be hiding behind it with a water balloon, ready to ambush me."
On the other hand, those memories were good to hold on to. She could close her eyes and remember when that was the biggest concern in her life. It hadn't been that simple in a long time, and, like Sean, she ached for it, even when it made her smile.
"Actually, though, you'd be surprised. When you get used to hiding your feelings and trying not to break down, it becomes easy to bluff at poker. I'm kind of known as the poker champ... the only time I lose is when we play with the psychiatric ward. Dr. Burkhardt bluffs as easily as he breathes."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Sept 5, 2012 0:16:15 GMT -5
"I'm absolute sh*te and poker. It's terrible." As a Seer (if he was calling himself that finally), he'd hope he could at least have that on his side, but absolutely not. Or maybe it was just that he ever only really played with Dan, and he was a very good bluffer. Or, BSer, as Sean preferred to call it.
He wanted to know what else about her would surprise him, but he refrained from asking in such a direct way. Instead, he strayed to safer topics that wouldn't give him away quite so easily. "What do you do when you're not here? Surely you have a life outside of this." He could talk about her for an endless amount of time, really. When she turned the questions back on him, he'd answer, not realizing how quickly or vaguely, but he found her a much more interesting topic than talking about himself. She took his mind off of things. He felt almost.... lighter with her near.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Jan 4, 2013 16:56:39 GMT -5
Somehow, it didn't surprise her that he was not good at bluffing. She had already figured out that he was carrying a lot of baggage, but he didn't seem to carry his on the inside, the way Lydia did. He carried it squarely on his shoulders like a cloak, and wore it on his face like a mask. She didn't know what his secret was, but she could tell that it was killing him slowly. And just as he wanted to make her smile, she felt a deep thrill inside whenever she was able to do the same for him.
They were both damaged people... but maybe they could heal each other somehow. If only he'd let her.
"Sadly, I don't have much of a life outside of here," she confessed. "I have a small apartment that I share with a cat. Her name is Willow... and maybe I should say she deigns to share the apartment with me."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 6, 2013 20:37:28 GMT -5
"Well.... it is a cat."
He smiled gently at her to show that he was just kidding, playing up the perception that cats walked around like little gods and goddesses. He was starting to lose himself, unsure what to say. He had never been as good with talking to other people as Daniel was. Dan inherited charm from their mother. Sean was gifted with too much logical thinking, like their father. In fact, if it wasn't for his brother, he might have just moved into the Ministry by now and slept under his desk.
He faltered, just for a moment, torn between gently prodding her to talk about herself more, offering something up about himself, and just staring at her in an almost childlike adoration. She did inspire him though... she'd been through something incredibly tragic, and yet, she still had a smile that lit up her whole face. It was beautiful on so many levels.
Gathering his thoughts and trying not to sound like such a creep even in his own head, he took a breath, let it escape as a half sigh, and jumped tracks completely. "Lydia, I don't know what time you get off... and I have to make a stop at the Ministry in the morning, but I would very much like to take you to breakfast."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Jan 17, 2013 23:03:03 GMT -5
Lydia laughed lightly at his comment. It was strange how she seemed to laugh more when she was around him than she had really done in years. "And she does live up to the reputation of the average cat. She thinks it's her place, and I'm just her servant. But then, she does spend more time there, I think."
It was the sad fate of a doctor, even a healer at St. Mungo's, that more time seemed to be spent on the job than at home. It all left her with very little time for a life. So why did it suddenly feel like her life was just starting?
She felt her cheeks grow warm when he asked her to breakfast. He had a way of looking at her that made her feel... beautiful. She couldn't remember the last time she had actually felt beautiful or special or important in any way. But as she looked at him, she could see herself through his eyes. His eyes, which seemed to hide such pain and stress, now seemed calm... even happy. And the thought that she could do that for him took her breath away.
"I'd love that," she said simply.
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 18, 2013 20:11:45 GMT -5
Sean smiled at her response.
No, more correctly, he just smiled at her. He liked her, and the way she laughed at that quiet innocence about her. And, if he could be selfish, he like the way she looked at him, the fact that she seemed to trust him, and, most of all, he liked the way she made him relax and made his mind quiet. Somehow, she was able to stop his visions without knowing it- and he'd spent most of his life trying to learn that very thing.
"I'd quite like it, too," he offered her, taking a sip to finish off the coffee she had given him. He ached to stay, to talk to her, but if he wanted to make it back in time to take her to breakfast, he would going to need to leave her soon.
"I should make that stop at the Ministry soon, then, and check on my brother. When is your shift over?"
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Feb 20, 2013 0:10:23 GMT -5
Lydia glanced over at the clock. One of the things about the overnight shift was that it became sort of a time vortex. She'd been known to lose all track of time in those wee hours or the morning, and the erratic nature of her schedule meant that she had no sort of internal body clock at all.
"I'm done at 8," she replied. This left a little over two hours to check up on her patients and hope that no last-minute emergencies came up in the meantime.
She really didn't want him to leave yet, but she couldn't think of a good reason to stop him other than the simple fact that she enjoyed having him there. But he was going to take her to breakfast, so it wasn't like she wasn't going to spend time with him.
"I really enjoyed talking to you tonight... er, this morning."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 22, 2013 23:57:51 GMT -5
Sean glanced at the clock, too, doing quick mental math. He definitely needed to get out of here soon if he was going to make it back by eight.
"Right. I should go check Daniel. Will you be all right, or did you want to go home and... sleep?" Or shower, or any number of other things that most people wanted to do after being awake all night. She'd said yes to breakfast after all, but he could push it later if she needed.
She stopped him again though when she spoke, and he settled, eyes on hers and a boyish, almost embarrassing smile on his lips. "I enjoyed it, too. I am coming back, Lydia." She made it sound like he was saying goodbye, and that certainly was not his intent.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Feb 25, 2013 23:52:17 GMT -5
Lydia shook her head immediately. "No, if I go home and sleep, I won't wake up until tonight. It's better to go straight to breakfast while I'm still awake." Such was the life of a doctor, especially one who often worked the late shift. She had trained her body to keep strange hours, and while it wasn't ideal, it was what she was used to.
It would, of course, be nice to freshen up a little, but she figured Danny would have some tips for how to do that with the limited staff facilities they had available at the hospital. While Lydia sometimes went home after a shift looking like she'd died a week earlier, Danny somehow always looked fantastic. Or maybe it was just Lydia's perception.
"I know," she said with a little laugh. She felt suddenly nervous, though, realizing that this could probably be considered a date. Was breakfast considered a date?
"I'll see you soon."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jul 5, 2013 21:39:48 GMT -5
"See you soon," Sean echoed, smiling at her one last time before he dropped his coffee cup in the waste bin and forced himself out of the staff lounge, leaving Lydia, regrettably, alone.
He was smiling that hint of a smile all the way down the hall, feeling like the last hour or so had been completely surreal. Maybe it had. Maybe he was still really asleep in Dan's room and dreaming all of this- because he was Sean, who never in his right mind would have had the courage to ask a girl to breakfast.
He checked on Dan, who remained asleep. It was probably a good thing- sleep would do him well, and he was pretty sure his brother would forgive him for not being around when he did wake up. Then, he was off to the Ministry, and it was just after 8 when he managed to get back.
He felt absolutely terrible for being fifteen minutes late, though he couldn't much help it, and was at the desk asking for Lydia before he even fully stopped his gait.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Jul 26, 2013 23:55:10 GMT -5
Being a healer was a job that was almost never really done. Lydia had long since accepted that fact. She never clocked out exactly on time, and was usually late, because she would get involved with one case or another and everything would take longer than it was supposed to. Today was no exception, as a patient came in less than 20 minutes before she was scheduled to clock out and she had to deal with it alone. And of course the case turned out to be a little more complicated than expected, so that by the time Sean was arriving, Lydia was only just finishing up with the patient.
All of this, of course, meant that Lydia had no time whatsoever to change and make herself look presentable. When Adrienne came back to tell her that Sean was here to take her to breakfast, Lydia frowned and stared at her appearance in the mirror. Her hair was pulled back into a limp ponytail and her face was pale, her makeup having worn off hours ago.
"Adrienne... can you stall him for a few minutes? Or help me? I look like dragon's dung."
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