The polite and perhaps mundane reply would have been to assure Ashleigh that she needn't to be jealous and that one day, she, too, would have a house of her own. But it also seemed like a rather redundant assurance to make. Higgs was sure that Ashleigh was well aware that she could own property, more aware than he was, anyway, since he didn't quite know what her finances were like. Property in magical world seemed to be cheaper than the Muggle one. This was most likely due to being able to magically enhance even the smallest of spaces. Still, house ownership wasn't something Higgs particularly cared to discuss in detail.
Instead, he concentrated on finding two cups for the coffee and preparing the drinks, frowning only slightly when Ashleigh assured him she was not hungry. Whilst Higgs could have presumed a late lunch or a satisfying breakfast as an excuse for why Ashleigh didn't seem to be hungry at the end of a work day, he also felt that it was one of those things he should just log at the back of his mind and agree. "I won't force you to eat," he said quite bluntly. Her not eating wasn't going to stop Higgs from doing so, even if he would have preferred for her to join him. Putting a mug of coffee in front of Ashleigh, Higgs picked up the ashtray she produced. In all the things he had bought for the house, ashtrays really hadn't been a top priority, so it was actually a rather excellent present. "Thank you," he said with a smile.
"I've been fine," Higgs offered, since as per usual, he had no other answer to give to that question. "How have you been?" He repeated because it hadn't escaped Higgs' attention that Ashleigh had brushed over the question. "Apart from being in a more smoothly going relationship than you expected," he added as an acknowledgement that he was, in fact, paying attention, whether chopping things for dinner or not.