Despite the fact that both Higgs and Siobhan worked shift work, it wasn’t very often that they got the same day off. Today, though, was one of those days where they did and Siobhan had offered Higgs to accompany her to a garden centre, which he had gladly agreed to. Or, well, he had agreed to. Higgs wasn’t all that sure how glad he was about it, since he was starting to become suspicious of people seemingly thinking he knew anything about gardening. Though, perhaps it wasn’t really that. The more likely version seemed rather that people (Siobhan and Higgs’ dad) just knew he was a pretty good person to carry gardening things. Still, Higgs didn’t actually mind, not when it meant he got to spend time with Siobhan.
This was now their second garden centre that day and Higgs wasn’t quite sure in what it differed from the first one but Siobhan had assured him it did. “What is it exactly that you’re looking for?” Higgs asked as they walked through an aisle filled with pots of tiny trees. “Is it a tiny tree?” He asked. “Because I’ve found some.” There really were a lot of tiny trees. Higgs presumed they’d grown into proper trees. That was about the as far as his gardening-knowledge extended. “You only brought me to carry things, didn’t you?” Higgs joked, reaching out to take Siobhan’s hand so he could drag her down another aisle that had weird duck baths. There did not appear to be any sort of system in how things were arranged.
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Siobhan was eager to get started with her gardening and make use of all the space that she and Max had. It would help with her relationship with food, she was sure, so finding a way to enjoy gardening was a good thing. Anything that might sway her food habits towards the positive was something she intended to give a go. Higgs's presence was because she liked his presence but also because he likely was very good at carrying heavy things. Being a person of smaller stature, she thought she could make good use of Higgs's much more physically capable broadness.
She laughed. "No," she said. "It's not a tiny tree." She didn't know much about gardening either, but she figured she could find something simple to start with. The previous store hadn't quite lived up to her expectations. "I was thinking some herbs and maybe some flowers," she said. "Start small." She grinned at his accusation, then bit her lower lip. "Maybe it's one of the reasons," she told him. "Though I must say just liking your company is much more the main reason." She followed him down the next aisle grinning at the strange baths. "Well, that's interesting," she commented, shaking her head. "Do you think we need a duck bath?"
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Higgs nodded when Siobhan explained how she wanted herbs and maybe flowers, those were much easier than little trees, if only because Higgs felt they came with more commonsensical instruction manuals. How they were going to pick whatever the right flowers were, he had no idea. “I don’t think you need a duck bath,” Higgs advised seriously. “I don’t fancy seeing Max’s expression if we get back with a duck bath.” Not that Max and Siobhan’s garden wasn’t big enough for a duck bath, but even so. They didn’t have ducks.
“What sort of flower are you after?” Higgs asked taking another turn towards, hopefully, the section with the flowers. “And do you want seeds or pots?” As Higgs asked that it struck him that maybe he had actually learned some things when gardening with his dad. Even if he was mostly there to be a manual labourer.
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She laughed. "No, you're probably right. Max would likely give us the face of disappointment and 'what on earth possessed you to buy that' that he usually does." It amused her a little, she had to admit, but there was no point in getting a duck bath with no ducks and she didn't think she should arrive at home with a duck bath and ducks when she'd gone out with the intention of getting flowers and herbs.
"Well, Kip suggested a large pot to grow several types of herbs in since they apparently can grow together, so maybe a pot for the herbs or some sort of herb garden type situation. I think they even have that sort of thing for a window sill. As for flowers, I suppose it's probably best to see what is in season and might actually grow this time of year." She didn't want to end up choosing something that was not going to bloom at all. "Do you have a flower you're partial to?" she asked.
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Higgs could imagine the face Siobhan was describing well enough to laugh at her joke. It was almost tempting to get a duck bath just for that, but they could probably manage to get Max to make a disappointed face once they came home with pots and pots of gardening things anyway, because Higgs strongly suspected him and Siobhan were going to over-shop. “Kip does make very good suggestions,” Higgs nodded when Siobhan explained about the herbs and getting a large pot. They could definitely achieve that. “Maybe we need to get you some books on gardening, too,” Higgs said teasingly, though it probably was quite a good idea.
“Do I have a flower I’m partial to?” Higgs repeated giving Siobhan a look. He wasn’t sure anyone had ever asked him that, nor was Higgs convinced he really had an answer to it. “I like daffodils, I suppose.” Which was true enough, but Higgs wasn’t sure whether he necessarily had a flower he’d pick over others. “What’s your favourite flower?” Because Siobhan was more likely to have one, Higgs figured.
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"He does," she nodded. "We had a nice chat at the dinner party the other day," she explained. "He speaks very highly of you," she added with a smile. Siobhan quite liked Kip. He was friendly and she enjoyed having the conversation she had with him. "We talked about him coming over to help with gardening. I think I've made myself a new friend." She hoped so, at least. She thought it was important to try to be friendly with Higgs's friends. The mention of books on gardening had her nodding. "Not a bad idea."
The look he gave her made her laugh. "Daffodils are pretty," she said. "Very unusual looking flowers. I like flowers that are unusual as well. Peonies, for example. I think they look like little cabbages. I also like Dahlias. They're harder to describe, but quite lovely."
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Higgs smiled when Siobhan said that Kip spoke highly of him, the feeling was certainly mutual. “We’ve been friends for a really long time now,” Higgs explained. “Kip was the best man at my wedding,” he added since that was probably quite illustrative of how good of friends they were. It did also make Higgs grin wider when Siobhan added that she thought she might’ve made a new friend. “Kip’s a great friend to have,” Higgs advised knowledgeably.
Daffodils were pretty but it was Siobhan’s comment about how she liked unusual flowers that made Higgs chuckle. “Such particular tastes,” Higgs teased, but did also lean in to press a soft kiss against Siobhan’s cheek. “You’re quite lovely, too,” he informed her, just because he could.