It was good to finally have some time to really catch up with Lavender. After all, she had been here in Atlantis for a lot longer than Dean had been, even though he had seen her back home in that same amount of time. It was confusing, yeah, but he was getting more used to it. Just had to think of this place as home, not home as home.
"I guess I'm just still getting used to it," Dean said. "Especially the part where I can do magic any time and not really worry about Muggles, considering people here know I'm a wizard and such."
As soon as the shop person set the slice of cake down on the table between the two of them, Dean reached for it. Yes, they were supposed to be sharing, but he wanted the first bite.
Lavender listened as Dean spoke and she understood the uneasiness he was feeling. “I completely understand,” she replied. “It was a little strange for me at first too. Katie, Alicia, Emliia, all of them have been great but I still felt lonely. I didn’t know how I could be useful here, plus the magic.” Lavender laughed a little. “It helped seeing the strange things in Atlantis first hand. Doing magic doesn’t seem so strange in comparison. It’s nice though,” she added. “Being able to be yourself here.”
Lavender was happy that she and Dean were able to meet up. Knowing full well how she felt when she first arrived, she wanted to make sure her friend was having an easy time transition. Of course it didn’t help that not long after Dean arrived, Lavender was kidnapped and held hostage for a few days. Things didn’t feel completely normal, but days like today, she hardly thought about what happened. Lavender smiled as the shop person presented the slice of cake, she didn’t even think and went straight for the first bite, same as Dean.
“Guess we’re both hungry,” she giggled. “Go on, you first.”
"Sorry," he said, ducking his head slightly. "I should probably let you go first after everything you've been through." Dean nudged the plate back toward her. "You're doing all right now, yeah?" He had had his own experiences with that kind of trouble and - whatever you wanted to call it. Back when he had been on the run from snatchers and then snatched up.
Lavender bit her lip. She knew that Dean was just looking out for her, but she didn’t want anyone thinking that she was helpless and needing some kind of special treatment. “It’s fine.” She replied. “I don’t mind at all.” Lavender sighed, but smiled. “I’m doing better. As much as I hate saying this, but I feel like I was better equipped to handle this, not that I’ve been able to completely shrug it off, but it helps knowing that I’m strong enough to get through it, like the last time.” She paused. “I know this sort of life doesn’t exactly bring up good memories for us, but are you okay?”
Dean had been doing a pretty good job in his (former) life of pushing any bad memories about that year out of mind. Suppressing them, his therapist would say, you now, if Dean ever actually went and talked to one. "I always thought you were strong enough to handle anything," he pointed out, "especially after what happened." To her. To him. To all of them.
He poked his fork into the cake and took a big bite. "Yeah, I'm fine," he mumbled around it as he ate.
Lavender nodded. He was right, and she knew that Dean had gone through so much too and he was definitely one of the strongest people she knew. She hoped that he’d never have to face anything like what he experienced in the past. Like Dean, Lavender did her best not to think about what had happened. She was forced to face it from time to time because of her mental healing, but she tried to make sure never to dwell on it.
“Good,” she replied. Taking her last bite, she leaned back in her chair and smiled. “That was so good.” She paused. “So what do you want to do next?”
He finished off the cake and nodded too. It was delicious. "Almost as good as my mum's," he said with a shrug. He followed it up with a smile and leaned forward, forearms on the table. "Do you think you could just show me around a bit? I mean, I've done all right but since you've been here longer, you probably know more than I do about everything that's here."
Lavender smile was bright, very pleased with Dean’s request. “Sure!” The truth was it was a nice healthy distraction. Lavender wanted to get her mind off of everything, and he was right. He hadn’t been here for that long, and when Lavender was kidnapped she imagined that he didn’t really take the time to walk around Atlantis. It was only a guess though, but happy all the same to give him a tour. “I’d be happy too. Have you checked out all of the different events they have too? They have karaoke night and open mic night here! Quite often actually. It’d be a really fun group activity!”
With the food already paid for, Lavender put her jacket on. “I’ll show you some of the best places to eat. This one, obviously one of my favorites, but I’ll probably be dragging you and Parvati to Simp Hop too, it has the best Ramen and Kimchi.”
"I saw someone talking about trivia night," Dean said in response to her question about all the different events offered. He stood up and shrugged into his jacket too. "I don't know how that would work though, if we're all from different places. Wouldn't that make it harder to come to a correct answer? What if an answer is correct for us but not for someone else?"
"You know me. I can always eat something." He smiled and touched her elbow for a moment as he turned them both toward the door.
“Oh, trivia night could be fun!” Lavender exclaimed. Then remained silent as she gave Dean’s comment some consideration. “You know, I never actually thought of it that way but you’re totally right. Maybe they’ll give us a hint in the categories or maybe generic question like ‘Who was the lead actor in Titanic?’ Leo DeCaprio’s got to be pretty universal, right?” She laughed at his last comment and playfully wrapped her arm around his. It was nice to have two out of her three best friends here with her. If Seamus showed up, then her life would be perfect.