HIGGS, terence. (higgles) wrote in reduxpitch, @ 2016-05-19 16:24:00 |
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Entry tags: | !thread, character: phillipa flint, character: terence higgs, location: diagon alley |
who ? pippa flint and terence higgs
when ? thursday evening, after 5
where ? pippa's flat
what ? dinner!
status ? complete!
It had been a busy week for Higgs, both with work and with the amount of meet-ups he had organised with all of his lady friends. Thanks to The Prophet, Higgs did still rather affectionately consider all of them his girlfriends, because it was amusing. Well, apart from Alicia, who was definitely his wife. Which was also in part the reason Higgs had asked to see Pippa. Not the only one, though, especially since it hadn’t been that long since Pippa had been ill and Higgs did want to make sure she was doing alright.
Higgs had promised to cook Pippa dinner, which meant that once Pippa had let him in, Higgs had headed straight for the kitchen, unpacking the things required to make a bolognese. It was a simple enough dish that also didn’t require a great deal of time or effort, which meant that they could talk whilst it was cooking. Locating a chopping board, Higgs started to chop up the peppers as he gave Pippa a smile. “So how are you feeling?” He asked hoping that the answer was ‘well’ or ‘better’ or any sort of positive descriptions.
--
It felt strange to be in her apartment. Phillipa had exclusively been staying at the cottage since she'd gotten out of St. Mungo's, but she couldn't very well have anyone over there. Being at home with Terence felt normal, though. He was as familiar with her home as she was, and of course he was always a welcome sight in general.
"I'm feeling a bit better," she replied, leaning in the doorway and watching him chop for a moment before letting her gaze rise up to meet his, and she offered him a soft smile. "Good days and bad, slowly but surely, all that rot. "
--
“Good,” Higgs grinned at her words. “We’ll make you strong and healthy yet,” he informed her determinedly, reaching to pick up another pepper as if that was the quickest way to ensure Pippa’s health. Then again, it was vegetables, and they were known to make people healthier. Wasn’t much else he could do, really, so at least cooking for her made Higgs feel less helpless in the situation.
Moving around the kitchen to fetch a bowl for the peppers and set a pan on the oven ready for when the vegetables were, Higgs kept glancing over at Pippa. “You do look better,” he commented honestly. “Have you been working?” Higgs asked with a small frown. He genuinely wasn’t sure if she had been, since Witch Weekly wasn’t quite Higgs’ favourite reading material, but then, she did write so presumably that didn’t mean she had to constantly go into work and waste her energy instead of recovering.
--
"Anything looks better than wasting away in a hospital bed," Phillipa said dryly, but she appreciated him saying as much. Some days she didn't feel better at all, so any noticeable change was helpful to hear.
"I've been working, but from home." She shrugged a shoulder and moved into the kitchen to go the the fridge and get out a bottle of wine, pouring a glass for each of them. "There's no real reason for me to have to go in."
--
Well, she certainly wasn’t wrong there. Higgs had visited Pippa in the hospital and it hadn’t been easy to just watch her lie there, unable to help. It had made him wonder what it had been like for her and Gemma, visiting him last summer in the ICU. Probably not great, was the most obvious answer he had settled on.
“Is that good?” Higgs asked when she said that she had been working from home because it wasn’t necessary to go in. “I mean, it’s clearly good since it allows you to get rest, but are you bored?” It seemed likely that she might be. Maybe Higgs needed to try to visit more often. With work and Alicia (and the rest of his girlfriends), Higgs felt that he wasn’t spending as much time with Pippa as he would like, but then, he also wasn’t too sure she would tolerate him trying to help constantly.
--
"It is," Phillipa conceded, leaning against the counter and taking a sip of her wine. Maybe the Healer had told her not to drink until she was a bit better, but he wasn't there to stop her and she hadn't had any wine for weeks.
"I get bored sometimes," she said after a moment, pursing her lips. "I'm glad not to have to go in because I don't want to deal with the people looking at me. All the people there, they've been so awkward any time something about me has been in the papers, and I don't want to deal with them." She sighed, shaking her head. "I sleep a lot, and there's usually a Healer around who is probably getting sick of me."
--
“Don’t be silly,” Higgs told her, not doing a great job at hiding his smile as he looked down at the vegetables he was chopping. “No one would ever be able to get sick of you,” he assured her, glancing up with a smirk. Higgs did actually think that Pippa was great and that it would be rather hard to get sick of her company, but he was hardly going to pretend that he couldn’t imagine someone getting fed up with a Pippa who wasn’t feeling well and was forced into taking things slowly to recover better.
Moving all the now chopped vegetables over to the pan, Higgs lit the fire, dropping them in before fetching the mince. “I have an admission to make,” he said glancing over his shoulder at Pippa. “I may not have asked to see you just because I miss your lovely company,” Higgs admitted. Sure, it was a large part of why he had asked if Pippa would like him to cook for her, but Higgs also kind of needed a Pippa-esque input into his current relationship problems. Which Higgs did feel bad about, since he didn’t want to burden Pippa, but he also logically knew that it was unlikely that his friend would see it as a burden.
--
"That is untrue," Phillipa said with a snort, rolling her eyes. Fair, she got along well with the Healer - as well as one could - but she wouldn't blame him if he was sick of her. She certainly wasn't always thrilled to have him around, either.
She tilted her head when he mentioned a confession, steeling herself with a sip of wine. Though she would have believed he just wanted to spend time with her, an ulterior motive didn't shock her either. "And why did you want to see me, then?"
--
Higgs paused slightly at her question. He hadn’t really thought of how to--well, actually, that was probably a lie. Higgs might not have thought of what it was he wanted to ask, but he had considered that whatever it might be, he couldn’t really ask Pippa anything unless he explained the situation first. “I can’t really explain it without explaining the whole thing,” he admitted. There was a reason why Higgs hadn’t told either Pippa or Gemma why he and Alicia had actually split up, or rather how the break-up had come about.
“It’s to do with Alicia,” because of course it was. “And I want to tell you, but you have to promise that you’ll hear me out fully,” he instructed, chucking the meat in with the now frying vegetables. Higgs really had never thought that the information was important (thought, he logically knew that his best friends might disagree, Marcus certainly had), but he couldn’t exactly tell Pippa why he was struggling with Alicia’s wish to be friends with Weasley if he didn’t give Pippa the full context.
--
Phillipa gave a hum of agreement to what he said at first, then pursed her lips when he mentioned it was about Alicia. When it came to his marriage, she didn't really insert herself. Sure, she'd meddled so far as sitting with Alicia at Terence's request, and had threatened to kiss her, but otherwise she took a step back. She trusted him to know what he was doing and what he wanted, and she sure as hell didn't know anything about being married.
"I promise I'll keep my mouth shut until you're done talking," she obliged, pulling the wine bottle back out in case she needed a refill at some point during whatever he was about to tell her. "So go on."
--
“Right,” Higgs nodded when Pippa encouraged him to carry on. He didn’t start straight away, instead pouring two cans of tinned tomato into the pan, stirring it perhaps a bit longer than actually necessary before finally putting a lid on it to let it simmer. “So obviously you know that Alicia and I broke up three years ago,” at least that detail was pretty well known to everyone. “And I am very happy that we’re attempting to fix our marriage,” he added since that was a rather important element to stress.
Getting a mug from the drying rack, Higgs rather unceremoniously filled it with the wine Pippa had put on the table, before taking a rather large swig of it. “When we were together, Alicia wasn’t happy. I--” wasn’t a very good husband and didn’t notice “Was away a lot, it was hard for her,” that at least Higgs did know to be true. He wished he had realised sooner, noticed, done something about it but at least they were now trying again, from a hopefully better standpoint. “Our marriage wasn't heading anywhere good, I don’t think,” Higgs admitted. That was mostly true, inasmuch as he recognised that now. Back then it hadn’t quite felt like that (at all). There was more to it. Like how Higgs had planned to leave the army for Alicia, but that seemed useless to mention, it added nothing to the story. “And she was lonely,” which again, Higgs wished he had realised earlier. “So she slept with someone else,” Higgs finally said half through an exhale, before raising his hand. “Now, that isn’t actually the problem,” he told Pippa, not taking the risk of giving her time to speak.
“We broke up, and she began dating him. They’re friends. Were friends? And then when I came back that sort of--didn’t work out,” Higgs wasn’t sure how else to explain it. It had been slightly more dramatic than that, but was there really a point of giving Pippa his understanding of the blow-by-blow account? “But now they want to be friends,” Higgs said finally getting to the bit he did want to talk about. “And I feel awful because he is her friend but--” Well. It wasn’t unreasonable for Higgs not to want his wife spending time with her ex, right? Except Higgs still felt like it was, like he should just be a better, more trusting person (despite being proven wrong once already).
“Now you can speak,” he added after a moment.
--
Phillipa took a slow sip of wine as he started speaking, folding her arms across her stomach and watching him. Of course she'd known about them breaking up, though she'd never pushed for details because if it was something she should know, Terence was sure to tell her - like he was doing. She arched an eyebrow when he mentioned Alicia sleeping with someone else, and then the other at his insistence that that wasn't the problem. Her lips pursed, but she didn't say anything - not until he said she could.
"But... but what, Terence? But... you aren't sure how you feel about that? Don't want that to happen? Don't trust them to just be friends?" She gestured with her arm as though to indicate all the possibilities, and the paused to take another sip of her wine. "But what?"
--
But all those things, really. This was why Higgs had come to Pippa. It wasn’t that he needed advice (though, he had no doubt that Pippa would offer excellent advice, she always did) but because he had known that she’d say all the things he was thinking. There was a reason why Pippa was one of Higgs’ favourite people. Not that it made it any easier for him to answer, instead, Higgs’ fist tightened as he pushed his knuckles into the table, thinking of what might be the best to say and then deciding that Pippa was very unlikely to judge him for whatever he said.
“I don’t want to be someone who tells their wife what they can and cannot do,” Higgs said quietly and rather calmly but his eyes were directed towards the table rather than Pippa. There wasn’t a solution to how he felt, at least Higgs was rather sure, since he had tried to figure out what it might be. He really didn’t want to be the one to tell Alicia she couldn’t be friends with someone because it made Higgs uncomfortable, but he also couldn’t pretend that it didn’t.
--
"Nor should you," Phillipa said, watching him carefully. Everything about how he was holding himself, from his fist on the table and how he wasn't looking at her, spoke volumes. She was a woman who hated being told what to do, she was aware of that, but she also truly believed no one should have their life dictated by someone else - even if that person was their spouse, especially so perhaps.
"You didn't answer my question," she went on, getting the wine bottle and topping off both her glass and his mug. "So you don't want to tell her what she can and cannot do, but... what?"
--
When she topped up his mugs, Higgs reached out for it, taking a rather large gulp but at least not downing the thing in one go. Putting the mug back down, Higgs finally looked up at Pippa. “But what?” He repeated. “I don’t know, Pippin,” he said honestly, shrugging his shoulder slightly. “I’d like to say I trust her when she says she doesn’t want anything but friendship, hell, I don’t even think she’s lying but--” And there it was again. Maybe Higgs really ought to be more careful with all these ‘but’s he was putting places.
He shook his head, glancing over at the oven almost as if hoping that the food that was simmering would suddenly catch on fire and save him from the conversation he had initiated in the first place. And still wanted to have. “I trusted her last time, too,” Higgs said finally, wondering if perhaps that was where the problem stemmed from. The cheating bit was honestly not even the problem. “I messed up then by not noticing her being unhappy. I guess,” there was another shrug. “I guess I worry I won’t again,” and that didn’t really have anything to do with Alicia wanting to be friends with Weasley. At least Higgs didn’t think it did.
--
Slowly sipping her wine, Phillipa mulled over everything he said. She wasn't exactly one to give relationship advice, perhaps, since she'd never had a proper one to speak of, but she had sense and a bit of an objective perspective to the situation, she supposed. With Terence, she knew it was good to try to make him talk it out himself, to find the actual crux of the problem since he seemed not to have his finger on it, at least so far as he'd said.
"That's just it, isn't it? You trusted her, and she betrayed that. So now there's the concern that might happen again, especially if she's wanting to spend time with the person she went off with before, again. I don't blame you for being concerned." She shrugged, leaning back against the counter a little more. "Not just because of her cheating, but because like you said, you didn't notice before. Do you think she's happy?"
--
It shouldn’t have made Higgs feel better when Pippa said that she wouldn’t blame him for being concerned, but it really did. On some level, Higgs knew the advice he would give someone in his position, but applying it to himself was much more difficult. That’s why he had Pippa. Pippa was great. “I hope so,” Higgs said softly when Pippa asked if he thought Alicia was happy. They were both trying, Higgs knew that, but then he had tried last time, too, and it had all been a little too late. Higgs didn’t want that to happen now, too.
“Do you think there is a solution?” Higgs asked almost hopefully as he looked up at Pippa. Not that he really thought she’d have the magic answer. Didn’t actually think there was one. But perhaps just some sort of direction would do? “Should I just--” He paused. “I don’t know. Pretending I’m not uncomfortable is probably highly stupid,” he said thoughtfully, suspecting he knew the answer without needing to hear it from Pippa.
--
"That would be moronic," Phillipa replied dryly, rolling her eyes. "You can't pretend nothing's wrong, because then she has no way of knowing something is wrong and how should she have known you were uncomfortable if you refused to show it?"
She swirled the wine around in her glass as she considered his question, taking another sip before sighing. "Isn't honesty supposed to be important in relationships? I know it isn't always the easiest path, and it can hurt, but lies don't help anyone in the long run. She wasn't happy, she didn't tell you, you didn't notice on your own, shit happened. So now you don't know what to do about this all bubbling up again." Another sip, longer, as she mulled it over. "Not to be simplistic, but talk to your wife, Terence. The way you said it to me, you're not worried about her cheating, you're worried about you not noticing if she's unhappy. That's a valid concern, as you want her to be happy."
--
Shit happened was probably a rather excellent description of everything that had gone down last time around. But Pippa was right, because of course she was, and Higgs couldn’t just pretend, it would be unfair to both him and Alicia. Talking to Alicia, obviously, was the solution he should be looking at. Then again, he hadn’t really thought of what he could say until Pippa laid it out so frankly. She was right (or he was right? Was this a point he had made?), Higgs wasn’t worried that Alicia would cheat on him, he was worried that he wouldn’t notice if she was so unhappy that she might. Of course, that was partially ridiculous because they weren’t in the same situation as last time.
“You’re always so clever, Pippin,” Higgs told her teasingly. She was and he greatly appreciated it. “I’d just crash and burn without you,” he added with a grin, before giving her a more serious look. “Thank you,” Higgs said honestly. “Talking to you is always helpful,” he commented. It was. Whilst Higgs had never particularly wanted to explain the full situation of what happened when him and Alicia broke up, having Pippa know was almost a relief.
Moving towards the cooker, Higgs got some plates. “Shall we eat? Now that your therapy skills have been sufficiently employed?” He asked with a smile. As much as it was teasing, Higgs did half feel bad about how often he seemed to need Pippa’s advice.