House

[london_spy]

After getting Fin home, Danny had done the same for himself, getting his homework done at last before calling it a night. House's text was what woke him mid-day. ...Apparently he was getting that lunch after all.

Car still in the shop, Danny took the tube into the city proper, meeting Greg in a diner he'd never been to before.

He spotted House in a booth and went to join him, dumping his bag on the seat beside him as he slid into the booth.

"Rough night?" he quipped.

Comments

[london_spy]

"I'm not an emotional masochist," Danny assured him, rubbing his face and then shrugging. "I just think you should know who you're making nice with, Greg."

[drfeelbad]

"I mean, the way you were talking, I figured you were going to tell me you shot a man in Reno just to watch him die," House said with a shrug, and took a bite of the burger.

[london_spy]

Danny watched him, sharp eyes picking apart things perhaps only he could see. Maybe they were real, perhaps they were imagined, but he dissected them nonetheless.

"You said you'd fuck me," he said, the words blunt but his tone casual. "You said it to comfort me, but you also said it because you're starved. Not for sex, that you get. You're looking for something more. Do you think you'd find it with me, Greg? You're a healer, but you're not a fixer. You said yourself, it's the puzzle not the cure you care about. So it's not that. ...Is it because I look like him, but I'm not in some lush bohemian harem? You do have a type, going off your wilting American friend... Young faced, broken... No, that's not part of the equation just an inevitable trait."

He tilted his head then, considering. "You like sharp. You like a battle too I wager. Not physical, but a good verbal spar- I bet you win far too often though, and they go running. ...Some people can't take that many kicks."

[drfeelbad]

"Jesus christ," said House. "You do this to everyone who says they'd fuck you? I mean, if you throw out enough of that some of it's bound to be right." He didn't say which parts were.

[london_spy]

"Most people I tell to go fuck themselves," Danny replied honestly, holding Greg's gaze a moment, then shrugging a little. "Most people say it though, and that's all they want. To fuck me. I don't get that from you."

[drfeelbad]

"I get that all the time myself," said House. "Everyone just wants me for my body." He was deflecting with a joke because he honestly didn't know how to respond to this. He wasn't even sure what the question was.

[london_spy]

Danny started to eat again, taking a thoughtful bite.

"We'd be an interesting mess," he decided between bites.

[drfeelbad]

"You just want me for my brain," House said. "I bet I'm not as hot as the previous braniac, though. Though which one of us had better social skills? Based on what you've told me I'm thinking he was probably borderline autistic. I'm just an asshole."

[london_spy]

"I don't have a type, if that's what you're getting at. And if I had, Alex would have been the exception. You'd follow the rule. I dated a lot of assholes," Danny shot back easily.

[drfeelbad]

House didn't say anything at first. He was having trouble navigating this. The truth was, he found himself very attracted to Danny, and he didn't really want to introspect about why, or push himself to think about how far it went or what it meant.

"Interesting mess is probably an accurate assessment," he finally said.

[london_spy]

Danny observed him for a moment, not sure where he was even trying to take this. He was still fragile, still healing- But he couldn't pretend he didn't find himself attached to Greg.

He was still a romantic deep down. Maybe he had grown a hard shell, but at his core a romantic was what he'd always be.

[drfeelbad]

When Danny didn't say anything, House was afraid to let the moment just linger. "Things are pretty complicated right now," he said. "With what Fin's going through. And... Wilson."

[london_spy]

"I know," Danny assured him quickly. "I get it- I'm not... I know it's not a good time," he finished awkwardly.

[drfeelbad]

House was quiet for a moment. "And you know that's not bullshit, right? I mean, I - " He stopped himself before he could say more. "It's not bullshit."

[london_spy]

"It's fine," Danny assured him, holding his gaze. "It's all fine."

[drfeelbad]

It was House who looked away, feeling awkward as fuck.

He should make a joke, but all he came up with was, "I mean, I don't know about you, but this happens to me all the time. I can't help that I'm so fucking desirable."

[london_spy]

Danny smiled, letting out a soft laugh before returning his attention to his meal.

[drfeelbad]

House watched him for a moment then said, "Want to go see some horses?"

[london_spy]

"Racing, you mean?" Danny asked, finishing his meal.

[drfeelbad]

"That is exactly what I mean," said House. "You don't have a gambling problem do you?"

[london_spy]

"No, I always preferred drugs. ...Suppose there's room in my life for new vices though," Danny smiled.

[drfeelbad]

"Oh good, in that case we're using your money then," House said with a wink, and pulled out his wallet so he could pay for their meal.

[london_spy]

Danny let out a quiet laugh, then shrugged. "Sure," he agreed, pulling out his own wallet to pay his share.

[drfeelbad]

"I've got it," House said, waving him away. "Consider it a thanks for your white knighting last night."

[london_spy]

"You don't owe me anything for that, I wasn't going to let him leave with that creep," Danny assured him, though he didn't stop Greg from paying. Old habits died hard.