Padma Patil (obscurepatil) wrote in theprofslounge, @ 2009-07-10 11:11:00 |
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It was sort of a double-edged sword. You wanted to tell someone something in person, but to get them in person sometimes, you had to write to them. That usually left open all sorts of worries, and Parvati Patil was definitely a worrier. Padma really should have worded her ward to Parvati less bluntly, more open and friendly, but she'd hastily scribbled it down soon after Simon had asked her if she wanted to go to pub night with him. That meant she needed to tell Parvati before Thursday. It was Wednesday. Outside the flat, Padma briskly knocked, though she liked to think of it more as a knock with purpose. A knock that knew what it wanted. Unfortunately, it was a knock that made most people jump and tell Padma that she scared them. Parvati was used to it, though, and expecting it. "It's open!" she called from the kitchen. She was making tea, because if something was wrong with Padma they were going to need tea. As soon as she heard Padma walk in, she started talking. "In the kitchen!" she called. "I'm making tea. Now get in here and tell me what all this is about before I have a heart attack. In the past few hours I've imagined you doing everything from being terminally ill to moving to Shanghai." "Parvati! I told you I wasn't ill," Padma objected, looking horrified. She sat down at one of the dining table's chairs. The moment she saw Parvati, her stomach suddenly bottomed out. Oh, she really wished that rumoured sense between twins was true, that Parvati would just suddenly know what she was about to tell her. "I swear, I'm not ill. I'm not moving to Shanghai or... well, I'm not leaving my house either. I love my house, and I love my job, and I love my family," Padma blustered through ideas that could have sprung forth in Parvati's vivid imagination. She was practically sitting on her hands, though, which meant she had rather big news. "Promise me that you won't be mad at me?" Padma was the worried one now. She hated it when Parvati was upset with her, even for something silly. This was definitely not something silly. "Assuming you're not about to tell me that you've accidentally killed or maimed Adrian, I promise not to be mad at you," Parvati replied, her brow furrowing. What on earth could Padma have done that she would think Parvati would be angry? Even if Padma wasn't moving to Shanghai or dying, this was worrisome. Trying to restrain the urge to shout at her to just spit it out already, Parvati poured two cups of tea and handed one to Padma. Tea solved most problems, and if tea didn't manage it there was still ice cream in the house. "What? No! God, no." This was dragging out way too long, and she could tell in that tiny little twinge in her sister's voice that she was on the verge of telling her so. Wincing, she said, "SimonandIareseeingeachotheragain." It took a moment for Parvati to dissect the quickly produced phrase into something resembling words. Once she did, she immediately thought back to previous conversations with Padma. Oh no, we're just friends! And then it was on to her last conversation with Simon, when she'd given him the very firm warning that he'd better not cause a single tear to fall from Padma's eyes if he wanted to continue living in England. After that, her mind jaunted further backward. She remembered how happy Padma had been with Simon back when the two of them had been happy. However, Parvati also remembered the pain and heartbreak when Simon had pushed Padma away over and over until he'd finally dumped her. That breakup had hurt Padma terribly, not to mention the terrible way he'd treated her in the time leading up to it. Parvati remembered her own hurt, too; Simon had been her friend once, but she'd been pushed out just like everybody else. That had stung in and of itself, and coupled with what he'd done to Padma it did not leave Parvati inclined toward forgiveness. Besides, he'd never asked; as far as Simon Capper was concerned, he'd just done what he had to do, and to hell with everybody else he'd hurt because of it. "I didn't really think that would stay Just Friends for long," Parvati said lightly, turning to dump a bit of sugar in her tea. She would not get angry, and she would not get hurt. As long as Padma was happy, she was happy, she reminded herself. "How long has it been Dating, then?" Padma decided not to comment on the first remark; after all, it really felt more like a loaded statement than observation. She didn't want to fight with Parvati; she just wanted to tell her what was going on. She already thought a week to a week and a half was too long for her to have kept it silent. The fact of the matter was that Padma hadn't really expected such a calm reaction. Insanely, unrealistically sweet, sure; that was a sign that Padma might want to run as far away as she could. This wasn't on that level. "A week? A little over a week? Not very long. I was in France for most of it." Padma wasn't quite sure what to make of Parvati's reaction. Her natural inclination to over-think it until she was convinced that Parvati was secretly plotting Simon's death, and maybe hers too. "I just wanted to be sure before I said anything to anyone. I haven't told anyone. I wanted to tell you first. Mum and dad don't even know yet." "Mm." That was it. Just a noncommittal noise of acknowledgment. So they'd been dating again for a week. That wasn't too long, so Parvati supposed it was a reasonable time frame for telling her about it. She couldn't even really object to Padma going back to Simon, not really. After all, how long had she let Adrian Pucey unintentionally play with her emotions? Parvati knew what it was like to be in love and do obviously stupid things because of it. The difference was, in her eyes, that Adrian had been without her for all of a week before he realized that he needed to make a major apology and fix things. Simon had left Padma for years, and Parvati really couldn't care less about his dramatic and self-loathing reasons for doing so. As far as she could tell, he was a selfish prick who hadn't changed a bit. But she still couldn't say anything about it, so Parvati put on her sweetest smile. "Well, thank you for telling me, Padma. I do appreciate not being left to find out from someone else. And that was really very silly of you to think I'd be angry at you. You haven't done anything wrong. I hope everything works out just as you wish it to." "Thanks, Parvati... I hope so too." Somehow, Padma felt as though she'd disappointed her sister. Oh, maybe not directly, and she had no doubts that Parvati wasn't completely lying to her, but that smile... The smile was the culprit of her fears (along with the formal conversation), and Padma shrank into her seat, reaching for her cup of tea. Then again, she rationed, what had she really expected? That Parvati would leap to her feet and hug her as if she'd just told her she was engaged? Of course not. That would be just as suspicious. "So... erm.. how are things around here?" "Oh, fine!" Parvati blithely replied. She was happy to talk about anything that wasn't Simon Capper, since she really didn't have anything positive to say about the man. "Adrian hasn't been on summer holiday long enough for his boredom to get destructive yet. I did have to talk him out of trying to organize an impromptu summer theater, but that's Adrian for you. I suggested he think about it for next summer with a bit more time to plan; with any luck he will have forgotten about it by them, because I really don't relish the prospect of another few weeks like the Valentine's Day Incident. I think he's decided he's going to build a treehouse instead, which ought to keep him occupied until we leave for our tour of Thailand." "Yeah, see, I might have happened him with Valentine's, but theatre? He's on his own there. He'll likely have forgotten about it like he -- oh! Did he forget about some weird exotic pet already? Because the idea of Adrian with a snake?" Padma shuddered. "I'm getting major Britney Spears vibes from that. I just imagine him walking around your house in that little outfit, and it makes me never, ever want to drop by unannounced." Parvati's face froze in a mask of pure horror. "Don't ever, ever say anything like that ever again," she said firmly. "Never. I'm going to have to pour disinfectant in my ears to get that image out of my mind. And for the record, he's now decided he wants an echidna. It's like a porcupine, but spikier." Padma's imagination fairly ran away with her, and now she was imagining a giant porcupine with about three times the spikes, running around and shooting people with them. Hissing through her teeth, she cringed, "You poor thing. He's not letting this bizarre pet thing drop, is he?" "Oh, no," Parvati sighed. "Of course not. I'll call it a victory if I just avoid having anything especially large, smelly, or carnivorous in my house." |