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Post by Adrienne Kelly on Jul 28, 2013 23:38:08 GMT -5
Adrienne tilted her head at Lydia, and it dawned on her why, exactly, there was a Sean at the front asking for her. "Oh my. Do you have a date?" She was smiling, almost teasing as she asked it. It was early, but she supposed that's what you did when you worked graveyard shifts. That, and the idea of a date over scones and tea sounded awfully quaint.
"You look fine. But hold on." She went to her locker, in the room just behind the staff lounge, and pulled out a small bag of make up (one that she never carried until she met a certain healer here). She came back, making no move to go stall the blonde guy out front. Hopefully, someone else would cover reception for a few minutes. "He looks patient. I doubt he's going anywhere."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on May 20, 2015 22:01:25 GMT -5
Lydia felt the tell-tale rush of heat creep up her neck and ears, so that her half-hearted protest of "It's not a date" was very obviously a lie. Biting down on her lower lip, she sighed. "OK, yeah, I guess it kind of is. But don't make a big deal out of it, please.... I think I may have managed to find the only guy in London who's more damaged than I am."
Yes, she could tell that Sean was damaged, and maybe that was why they were so compatible. She still didn't quite understand why he was damaged, but that was something that would come in time. The important thing was that they somehow seemed to fit together... like two wrongs that somehow made a right. Maybe they could heal each other.
"Does he look eager? Wait, no, don't answer that. Stupid question. How was he dressed? Is this sweater nice enough?"
Oh, for Salazar's Sake. She was starting to sound like a crazy woman. But Adrienne knew her well enough to know how rare and special this moment was for Lydia. The last date she'd been on was... well, never. And Sean was already starting to mean more to her than she wanted to admit. She didn't want to get attached, knowing how people in her life had a tendency to leave, but... well, she couldn't help it. Even knowing the dangerous nature of his job and the rising tensions in the wizarding world somehow couldn't stop her from hoping that maybe, just maybe, this one would be sticking around.
"Thanks, Adrienne. Seriously. I don't know what I'd do without you right now..."
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Post by Adrienne Kelly on Jan 13, 2016 0:54:19 GMT -5
Adrienne's eyebrow went up as Lydia met her with a ton of questions about the guy she was meeting. "Right... definitely not a date," she teased, but chose not to answer any of those questions. There was no reason to. She'd never met an MLE officer that looked eager, but she also wasn't going to say that the guy was definitely out there fidgeting. She would see how he was dressed momentarily, and, well... all right.
"The sweater is fine. It's 8:15 in the morning, I doubt you're going to La Repas Cher, you'll be fine. Ooh, where are you going? Actually, no, don't tell me. You look like a hot mess, so there's that. Get out there." She winked at Lydia. "And I really want details next time I see you."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Jan 19, 2016 23:27:31 GMT -5
Lydia's blush deepened. This was all very unusual for her, having a date after work, or really at all, and there was no point in trying to pretend that it wasn't kind of a big deal. Try as she might to pretend that she was OK all on her own, the truth was obvious to anyone who knew her, and that was that she had been alone too long, with too heavy a burden resting on her shoulders. She needed to get out, to have fun, to be a young woman and enjoy the company of a man.
Maybe Sean wasn't the "fun" type, but somehow he made her smile. He made her feel pretty and interesting and not so dull and depressing. She didn't know where this was going exactly, but the point was to take a step outside of her comfort zone and see what happened.
She stared for a moment at her reflection, feeling something strange and elusive creep into her heart--hope. For the first time since her family died, she was starting to feel like she was coming out of the shadows, like maybe life still held something good for her.
"I think we're just going to Joe's," she said "Just... coffee and pastries, I guess. It's not a big deal. Except..." She smiled shyly and admitted, "...Except that I really like him."
She very nearly giggled, but caught herself just in time. "I promise, I'll tell you all about it. Later. I shouldn't keep him waiting anymore... Thanks for your help."
Somehow, she managed to compose herself by the time she walked into the lobby, where Sean was waiting. "Hey," she said, "Sorry I kept you waiting. Have you been here long?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Jan 24, 2016 16:29:42 GMT -5
Sean waved away the concern. "I've only been a couple of minutes, and I know how hospital hours work." Yes, a shift might end at 8, but if anything was happening, or a patient was brought in at 7:59, a doctor stayed until it was taken care of. He wasn't too concerned about a couple of minutes.
"You look rather refreshed for such a long night," he added, a smile on his lips while he wondered if it was too forward to tell her she looked quite pretty. It was just breakfast, and that was more important to him that to make that distinction than it probably was for her. Sean knew this couldn't go anywhere, and that wasn't his defeatist mind talking. He knew how this ended, and he knew it ended soon. It wouldn't be right of him to get too attached to Lydia, or to allow her to get too attached, if that was how she was leaning. He'd be long gone, another person on her list of losses. He couldn't do that to her.
And yet, here they were, and Sean was extending his hand to take hers and lead her out of the hospital.
The thing was, even as sleep deprived as Sean was, when her hand touched his, absolutely nothing happened. It was quiet, his mind was quiet, and no visions came. It couldn't escape his notice that this girl quieted his demons.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Feb 19, 2016 23:51:45 GMT -5
Whatever his burdens were, Lydia didn't mind. She knew he had his own baggage, but she couldn't imagine it to be something insurmountable. Besides, she didn't know where this was going yet, or it she even wanted it to go anywhere at all. She liked Sean, and he made her smile more than anyone else she knew. He made her feel pretty and desirable and fun. It almost scared her a little, since usually she felt like none of those things. She had tried to close her heart up for so long, to just go through the motions of living. She thought she was protecting herself. But what she had really been doing was shutting herself off from life. Thanks to Sean, she was starting to live again.
What could be wrong with that? Surely her family wouldn't have wanted her to live such an empty, lonely life. And whatever happened with Sean, she was sure this could only be good for her. They could take this slow, just get to know each other... there was no rush. She didn't even want to over-analyze any of it... she just wanted to enjoy being with a cute, nice guy.
"Thanks. Normally I'm kind of a mess at the end of a shift, but this one wasn't too bad. And--I admit, I had a little help cleaning up afterward," she added with a shy smile.
She put her hand in his, and she found that she liked the way it felt. She felt... protected. Safe.
"You look pretty tired... Do you normally drink coffee at the end of a night shift, or do you switch to something decaf so you can sleep? Joe's place has lots of good options."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Feb 24, 2016 2:19:43 GMT -5
"I have a hard time believing you ever look like a mess." She looked real to him, some kind of anchor into the real world with eyes that suggested she had her own problems. He knew about her family, of course, but there was something beautiful about the dark circles the night shift left under her eyes and the way her smile was lazy and tired after being awake for so long.
For Sean, there was a rush to the situation. He decided already that he wasn't going to be able to back off completely- he didn't want to. And if that was the case, he didn't have a lot of time to leave an impression on her.
He was a horrible human for willingly putting her through another loss in her life.
"Oh... no, I stick to the caffeine. I have so much of it any more that I don't think it affects me," he lied.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Mar 22, 2016 21:56:12 GMT -5
Lydia blushed, thinking of all the times she ended up splattered with blood and other bodily fluids while in the course of her job. It was sweet of him to say, but yes, there were definitely times when she looked like a mess. Even on the nights she didn't get splattered, there were many nights when the work kept her so busy that she looked like she'd just come back from a battle with Death eaters.
"Thanks. But you haven't seen me after working a busy shift in the magical maladies and infectious diseases ward," she teased.
She suspected he had most likely seen his own fair share of catastrophic incidents and wound up covered in unspeakable things himself. It was the nature of their jobs, both of them, trying to restore order to chaotic situations, trying to fix things that had gone wrong. She already knew he was passionate about his job, and probably wouldn't flinch at a little blood.
"Ah, you're like me, then," she replied. "Coffee is life--I can drink it any time of day and it won't affect my sleep. Of course, as a healer, I am supposed to discourage such unhealthy habits... but personally, I don't want to be a hypocrite."
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 3, 2016 0:58:06 GMT -5
Sean found himself chuckling at her response, and had it not been so early in the morning, and the streets so quiet, he might have actually laughed. "That's fair. That sounds like it might be a frightful sight."
When they arrived at Joe's, Sean pulled the door open, standing to the side and allowing her in first, while he followed closely behind. They came up in line together, though there was only one person ahead of them. He really did need to stop pulling these all nighters... and it was probably time to visit his dad again and see if there were any leads or developments he'd found. Thoughts for another time... right now, he wanted to be focused on the girl in front of him.
When she came up to the counter, he motioned to the redheaded woman behind it that they were together.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Apr 5, 2016 21:10:35 GMT -5
"We could probably compare horror stories some time," she teased. "I imagine you've been through some pretty messy things yourself in your job. These are the things no one tells you about when you're taking your OWLs and trying to decide what you want to do for a living, you know? The real, glamorous stuff."
It actually helped to think that somehow he would understand--not just the messy parts, but the scary scenes and the tragic ones--how you could become part of someone else's living nightmare, just playing your role and then fading out, leaving them to deal with the aftermath all alone. And yet, they never really realized how the incident left scars in your heart--memories and unanswered questions that still haunted long after the incident was over.
She let the topic drop as they stood there in line (although a part of her was tempted to see if they could scare off the woman in front of them by talking of blood, guts, and gore), and when it was their turn, she smiled at the familiar redhead. She was, after all, a regular for the morning crowd, and she knew all the baristas, including Joe himself, fairly well.
"I'll have the usual, Colleen... Large coffee with a shot of espresso. And--maybe one of those raspberry scones?"
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Post by Sean Leviner on Apr 6, 2016 10:02:39 GMT -5
Sean could certainly agree with that comment, and he let out a slow breath as she spoke. She was right. When Daniel had decided that he wanted to be in the MLE, and Sean made the same decision a couple of years later, neither one of them had been prepared for it. "Even if they did warn us, it wouldn't have meant anything back then. Too young and idealistic, weren't we?"
They were still young, but they were living in a way that forced them to grow up too quickly, forced them to see a lot of things that would forever be seared in his mind, and probably the same with her. But it said a lot about them that they stuck with it. That they couldn't see carnage and the worst of humanity, and still want to fight to keep it safe and protected.
He let it drop as well, and ordered a regular coffee. "And I'll try one of those scones, too. Colleen, was it?" He pulled out his wallet and nodded towards a small table by the window. "That one look okay?" he asked Lydia.
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Sept 25, 2016 15:52:36 GMT -5
Lydia nodded and followed him over to the table. As they were getting settled, she looked over at Sean. She could so easily fall for him, but the only thing that scared her was the fact that he worked in such a dangerous job. And with all of the chaos in the wizarding world right now, really, there was no such thing as a safe job. She wasn’t sure what she’d do if she let herself fall for him, only to lose him, just as she had lost her family.
“When you’re young, you think you can literally save the world,” Lydia agreed with a smile. “I thought, going into medicine, that I’d be able to save everyone… I never knew it would be so hard. Most days, I feel like I can barely keep myself alive, let alone anyone else.”
Every time she looked in his eyes, however, Lydia found herself falling just a little bit more. And it felt good, even if it was a little scary. She had been alone for so long, but whenever she was with him, she felt… safe. Alive.
How could that be a bad thing?
“You know, other than your job and your relationship with your brother, I feel like I know so little about you. Did you always want to work with the Ministry?”
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Post by Sean Leviner on Oct 16, 2016 20:04:16 GMT -5
Sean was almost holding his breath at her words. She could have been describing him with all of that. When he and Dan really figured out what was going on with him after that first time he'd fainted at King's Cross, Sean was convinced it was a gift, that he'd been trusted to save the whole world, that he could, if he really tried. And now, near the end of it all, he couldn't even save himself.
He forced himself to breathe. "I thought the same thing going into the MLE. It's really hard the first time you realize you aren't some kind of superhero, even with the magic."
He bought himself a minute before answering her question by taking a drink from his coffee, and nodded. "Dan's two years older than me, and he joined pretty much right after graduation. It killed me that I couldn't join with him right that minute, but I followed him as soon as I could. I was definitely the little brother than followed him around like a shadow. Our dad is a curse breaker, so he travels a lot. And Mum's ah..." He glanced around, realizing it wasn't safe here to admit that he was a halfblood. "... stay at home."
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Post by Lydia Kenyon on Mar 11, 2018 15:53:16 GMT -5
Lydia noticed the hesitation when he mentioned his mother, but she didn't think anything of it. It was the 70s, after all, and the whole "housewife" thing was becoming passe, even among wizard families. But Lydia didn't think there was anything wrong with it. She remembered how hard her mother had worked to take care of her and her brothers and sisters. It was a job all on its own. Sure, Sean and Dan were grown now, but that didn't mean there wasn't still a lot of work to do. Lydia understood.
"My mum was a stay-at-home, too. We definitely kept her busy..." A shadow crossed her face, echoing the feeling of sadness and loss that had swept over her. "Anyway, I'm sure your mother is proud of you both."
It was odd how much easier it seemed to talk to him when they were in the hospital. She had already poured out her family tragedy for him, and somehow, now that they were actually out on a date, she couldn't think of a single thing to talk to him about.
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