Who! Seth and Therese
Where! Seth's House
What! They Chat
When! Today?




Seth had been sitting on a bench outside of Mungo’s for upwards of an hour now watching people come and go. He had almost left several times but in the end he always talked himself into staying. It was important that he talk to Therese, but he couldn’t bring himself to actually go inside to track her down. It would be inconsiderate to both her and the patients for him to distract her while she was working.

Well that was half the reason anyways.

With all the idle time he had on his hands, he had plenty of time to imagine all the ways this could pan out. Such a volatile situation. The conversation could go great, problems could be solved. Or, more likely, it would blow up in his face. Say the wrong thing and make everything worse. The smart thing to do would be to walk away and just let Michal handle it.

Except he wasn’t at all. He told him, and then the conversation was done. And he didn’t give any indication that he was going to talk to her. And nothing Seth said seemed to change his mind. Soon it would be too late, and Michal was going to regret it.

Finally spotting her he stood up, rushing to catch up with her. He felt guilty knowing she was probably exhausted from a long day at Mungo’s but this was the only time he could catch her. “Therese!” He called when she didn’t slow down. “Do you have a moment?”

Mungo’s was, as it had been for the past month and a half, a mad house. Therese didn’t know how much longer she would be able to take the nearly day long shifts, especially with how mentally draining it was that a cure still had not been found. With the last outbreak patients’ fevers were breaking...if it didn’t kill them, and this time around it was simply holding strong and making the pain and suffering last even longer. She’d never been one to put herself out on the line of defense, but she was good at what she did, even if she’d been in her own office for so long. Their hard work was paying off, it was saving lives.

Except Matilda’s. Even if their mended friendship had lasted a few days, Therese had such sadness in her chest about her death. There was so much time lost being petty, there were the other woman’s children to think about, it...was yet another friend from Hogwarts that she’d lost. Thinking of Evan and Caradoc, it brought back memories of Remy and how that was the last time in her life that she’d been really, truly happy---well, she had started to find that place again, but---

Her head shot up at the sound of her name and she looked toward the voice as she finished tying up her hair. Therese’s eyes widened at the sight of Seth as he was the last person she was expecting to call out to her. A feeling of dread hit her hard and she closed the space between them. Was something wrong with...?

“Is everything all right?” Therese asked, frowning in concern.

She knew she said she wanted to hex Michal’s face off, but if anything had happened to him...

Seth frowned at the question. What a horrid question, that was usually followed by a equally awful answer. At least that seemed to be his experience with it recently. “Everything is fine,” he breathed without any heart behind the answer. It felt like a lie. It was a lie. He really wanted to say was ‘I don’t know, is it?’, but that could come off as rude even if he was genuinely concerned.

He floundered for a moment looking around. This wasn’t the place to have this conversation but he was at a loss for where would be better. A cafe or restaurant would be just as bad. Running his hand through his hair he tried to settle his thoughts. He had what he was going to say not even five minutes ago, and now the words had vanished.

“Would you come take a look at Leanne?” He asked quickly before he even realized what he was saying. This was not why he had come here. Completely unrelated but now that Therese, a fully qualified healer, was standing right in front of him everything else seemed less important. He felt dumb for not thinking of it before. “She has a bit of a fever, and I--” Seth stole a glance at the building behind Therese. “I’m worried but I can’t bring her to Mungo’s. ---Because I don’t think its bad enough to warrant it considering...” he tacked the last bit on the end.

She blinked, having gotten herself ready to hear the worst news. Not that--no, it was bad that Seth’s daughter had a fever. The younger patients were always the hardest to deal with. She could understand Seth’s wariness about bringing Leanne to the hospital; she knew about his sister-in-law and that would put anyone on edge. She couldn’t blame him for wanting to find another route. Therese let out a breath and nodded, “Yes, of course.”

It wasn’t until she was walking up the steps to Seth’s front porch that she was seized with the fear that Michal was there, that this was some sort of elaborate set up that was going to end poorly. It---no, that wasn’t it, even if a tiny (not so tiny) part of her did wish he was at the house. It pained her to think about him, though, so Therese took on a hard expression and followed Seth into his house with bated breath.

“Has she been feeling ill for long?” she asked, slinging her bag over her other shoulder.

“A few days? She’s been really cranky for a while now though.” As terrible the of a thought as it was, it wasn’t far fetched that she might have had the fever for longer and Seth just didn’t notice. “Brandon was sick, and I was watching him for a while. But his fever wasn’t that bad. I didn’t even think about--”

He turned around to face Therese. She had to know that he paid attention to his daughter. Everything he was saying, it made him sound like he was a terrible dad. He wasn’t the best, but he could be worse. His reassurances died on his lips when he caught sight of Therese’s face as she glanced about the room. “He’s not here,” He said shrugging of his jacket and throwing it on the back of the couch. “Michal that is. I may be an arse, but--”

“Mr. Wadcock?” An elderly lady interrupted coming down the stairs. “You are back early. I just got Leanne down for a nap.”

“Ah change of plans, Mrs. Brockwell. Thanks for watching her on such a short notice, but I should be home the rest of the day. Your husband will yell at me for stealing you away again.”

“Don’t listen to his nonsense. Gerald is just jealous.” She looked between him and Therese before patting his cheek. “You behave now. I’ll be by tomorrow with a pie.”

“You are going to make me fat,” Seth called after her before she managed to shut the door on her way out. Rubbing the back of his neck he turned his attention back to Therese. “My neighbor. She watches Leanne for me when I’m in a pinch.” He led her into the kitchen and put a kettle on. He was wary about waking Leanne so soon as she hadn’t been sleeping well lately but he had brought Therese over for that very reason. “I didn’t think she would be asleep already. Sorry, this is such an inconvenience.”

Therese felt her face heat up at the mention of Michal, but she kept an air of quiet observation. Well, that obviously meant that Seth knew about the situation, or at least the fact that they weren’t speaking to each other. Or was it that he wasn’t speaking to her? No, no, she most certainly wasn’t speaking to him, now, so---They may as well be broken up, truthfully, but Therese would not accept being dumped without a single word. So---she had a bit of acceptance still to deal with, that much was obvious.

She smiled at the elderly woman, but ducked her eyes at the playful comment. The last thing she needed was for people to start whispering about her and Seth, because that--she couldn’t even think of it. Therese bristled slightly, but once again kept her expression nearly unreadable. While she was glad that Leanne was resting, this still left her in an awkward position. But---it was becoming clear that Seth had ulterior motives to inviting her over, and Therese could at least appreciate the effort.

“I can brew up a special pepper-up potion we use at the hospital,” she offered, dropping her bag onto the chair. Therese could at least leave him with that, as she was not going to initiate any conversation he might want to have. “It won’t send her bouncing off the walls, and it lasts a bit longer.”

“That would be extremely helpful. I just worry she got that virus and I’m going to check on her and suddenly it will be worse.” Seth admitted pulling cups from the cupboard. How it came to be might not have been ideal circumstances, but now, Leanne was the center of his life and he couldn’t imagine where he would be now if it weren’t for her. Certainly not as well off, she was the reason he even bothered trying to get his act together.

“Look, Leanne is really sick, but that’s not the only reason I wanted to talk to you. And since she is asleep, well--” Seth had always been terrible at gracefully changing topics, or making it appear as it just naturally came up in conversation. Direct, to the point, perhaps a bit brash, that is what he was know for. He still had no idea what to say. He felt he was breaking some sort of trust of Michal’s even talking to her but, he liked to think they had become sort of friends too.

He placed a cup of tea in front of her, and nudged over the sugar. “How are you fairing?”

Therese kept her gaze on the tea, avoiding the sugar for a moment. She would consider Seth a friend, yes, but the situation she was currently in with his bestfriend was delicate and still, unfortunately, very much up in the air. She also liked to think that she knew Michal well, and she reached for the small spoon in the cup of sugar. “I don’t think he’d appreciate us talking about him.”

Even if it really was all she wanted to do. It was this ridiculous need to simply vent at how frustrated and angry she was, and the anger turned into guilt, because maybe she’d done something wrong, and then guilt transformed into sadness, and behind the sadness reared the ugly head of annoyance and frustration once more. It was a vicious cycle she was slowly managing her way out of, but with her long, tiring days at the hospital, it was easy for her mind to move in circles.

But. It was kind of him to ask, to seek her out. Therese couldn’t be too cold to Seth when he was prompting her with the only question she’d wanted Michal to ask. She let out a breath.

“I’m doing all right.” Therese paused, then added as an admittance, “I could be better.”

Seth rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly. “Well, he does a fair amount of things I don’t appreciate, so I’m sure it will even out in the end.”

He stirred his tea, glad she was being honest enough to admit things could be better. He wasn’t use to being on this side of things. Usually it was Henry or Michal trying to pry information out of him, or make him feel better. Usually when he didn’t want to hear it all. Mostly when he just wanted to stay angry.

“I’m sorry,” he said sincerely. “You don’t have to talk about it, least of all to me. I doubt I’d be any help, I’ve been know to be tactless in delicate situations.” Seth drew circles on the counter with his finger as he spoke. “And I didn’t bring you here to make excuses for Michal, honestly I don’t have any.” Seth chose his words carefully. He really thought Michal was being a bit of a prick but he was still his best friend. He would be angry enough with Seth for this conversation alone, he didn’t need the added factor of him taking her side.

Sipping his tea he chanced a glance at Therese. She probably didn’t want to hear any of this. “I just thought you should know that he does care. I’ve known him a long time, and the way he is with you. I haven’t seen that before. So this, well, I doubt he knows how to deal with it. I know I wouldn’t. I’m not saying he is right, just-- just don’t write him off yet?”

She knew what he was trying to do. Therese worked to help people fix themselves and their lives. How she approached situations was to help lead her patients to solutions that they both could believe were the right course of action. But right now, however, she didn’t think that this was the right way to go. Seth was sitting across the table telling her not to write Michal off yet, to basically not give up hope on this as if she were at home for him to return. Therese couldn’t deny that the nights were much lonelier, but she hadn’t dropped everything in her life to mope and be miserable.

She knew what he was trying to say, but a part of her didn’t want to hear it. She didn’t want to play the victim in all of this, it wasn’t----what had happened was both of their faults and neither of their faults at the same time. It was easy to take on the blame and to place it upon him, but----Therese shook her head. If she hadn’t figured out where her mind was with it all, other than flaring bouts of wanting to punch him in the face, then she couldn’t simply settle on the idea of ‘well, maybe...’

“I know what you’re trying to do and I appreciate it, but---” Therese began, trying not to sound as sharp as she wanted to. The things he was saying were so nice to hear but---painful. She couldn’t hear anymore of it. She stood, shaking her head and slinging her bag over her shoulder, “If we figure it out, then we figure it out. I don’t want to feel as if I’m patiently waiting for him to---I just don’t want to feel like I’m stuck.”

Which she did, and she knew it wasn’t a good way to feel and she should listen to her instinct and go talk to him herself, but she had some pride, too, more pride than she’d ever had because of the heartaches she’d suffered in the past. She couldn’t be the one to make the first move, it wouldn’t make sense. “I think I should go.”

Seth’s heart dropped as Therese picked up her bag. She was leaving. Not that Seth could really blame her as he clearly overstepped his bounds, but she hadn’t even looked at Leanne. It was a noble thing to do, to put another person’s problems before his own, but here recently nobility was taking a toll on him. He needed to stop trying to fix things he had no hand in and focus on his own.

Except his problems were his, and for some reason that made it so much more difficult to deal with. Ask for help on the behalf of Michal or Henry, no problem. Admit he needed something for himself, well that was a different set of rules altogether. “I’m sorry,” he said rapidly catching Therese by the crook of her elbow. “I am really sorry and you have every right to leave, but I wasn’t using my daughter as a ploy to get you here.” The second she stopped moving Seth let go of her arm, pulling his hand back quickly realizing the brash move he made. That had gotten him in trouble multiple times.

“I won’t say another word. I shouldn’t have brought it up in the first place, I thought it would help, I was wrong. Can you just make sure she isn’t--- that she won’t--- I need to know she is okay.” He spoke so quickly as he pleaded with her it was questionable that it was understandable. “Please. After that you can leave and I won’t bother you again, I swear.”

Therese severely didn’t appreciate being grabbed, and she fought back an indignant sound as she listened to Seth. It wasn’t--him, but she’d been rough housed enough to have developed an easily triggered defense mechanism and...Merlin, she was a mess. She was a mess in so many senses of the word, but she couldn’t let her issues take over her life. Not right now, anyway.

“Of course,” she said, lips pressed into a fine line. Therese did know that Seth didn’t have any foul intentions, but with how sensitive, strange, and fresh this new wound was, she herself still hadn’t the faintest idea of how to deal with it. She couldn’t let out all of her frustrations on him, it would do no one any good. She let out a breath, “I’ll brew that potion for when she wakes up, a week’s worth.”

And after that she would brew herself her own mixture of drinks that would be more adept at curing a headache than she was by herself. Therese made her way to the counter, not bothering to wait and ask for permission to begin the potion.