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]

"No, I can't imagine it would," Danny said sympathetically.

[drfeelbad]

"Wilson and I have a complicated relationship," House said.

[london_spy]

"Define complicated. There are so many sorts of complicated. There's 'I'm secretly jealous of them' complicated, or 'I'd die for them but sometimes their laugh makes me want to throw myself off a ledge' complicated, or... 'We got pissed and fucked once, but never talked about it' complicated," Danny said, listing them off as though they were all very normal.

"Maybe it's my personal favourite, 'we're exceptionally close but I found his furry pornography and now I can't look at him without thinking about yiffing'."

[drfeelbad]

"... I don't think you made that last one up," House said, avoiding thinking about the answer to the question.

[london_spy]

Danny sipped his drink and shrugged.

"Point is, there are different levels of complex and they all require different levels of handling."

[drfeelbad]

"All right," House said after a moment. "This complexity is that Wilson was my only friend for a very long time, and then he refused to lie to the police for me and I refused to talk to him for two years." And also I might be in love with him. But House definitely didn't say that.

[london_spy]

"You were, or you felt, betrayed- But now he's dying and you feel like that anger might have been misplaced- Or that in retrospect the time lost was worth more to you in the end than the satisfaction of 'punishing' him," Danny replied, nodding a little. "I can see why that would weigh on you. I have- I have moments I'm not proud of with Alex that I can't undo now. I can't tell him I was a dick about something, I can't go back and make use of time that slipped past while he was here. It eats at you- But here's the thing. He's not gone yet. You've got a timer, you know exactly how much time's left- You get to decide how that time's spent, Greg."

[drfeelbad]

"... thanks, doc," said House. "Shouldn't we wait until I can lay on a couch for this?"

[london_spy]

"I'm just parroting the sort of shit I've had said to me," Danny shrugged. "If you want I can tell you about that furry porn instead."

[drfeelbad]

"It might be more therapeutic," House said, and took a giant bite of his burger.

[london_spy]

"Depends on how you feel about bears fucking wolves," Danny shrugged, starting to pick at his own food.

[drfeelbad]

"Strangely enough... I've never thought about it," House said. "But hey, now I will, so thanks for that." He chuckled.

[london_spy]

"You're welcome- Or I'm sorry, depending on how that works out for you," Danny laughed.

[drfeelbad]

"Well it's already been a weird week," House said with a little snort. Between Wilson showing up and Fin's drunken night.

[london_spy]

"Yeah," Danny agreed thoughtfully. "You've got a lot going on I suppose. ...Was your mate alright when you got him inside? Didn't see him get slipped anything, but you can't always tell."

[drfeelbad]

"Yeah, Fin was fine, slept it off..." House sighed a little. "He's not usually like that. He was upset about something. Justifiably upset."

[london_spy]

"I wasn't judging," Danny assured him with a small shrug.

[drfeelbad]

"I would have," House said. "He was a fucking mess."

[london_spy]

"At least he was out in public where someone could step in. I've made far worse mistakes in the privacy of my home," Danny said quietly, looking just a bit ashamed of himself and rubbing his jaw. "Hell of a bruise he was sporting though," he noted.

[drfeelbad]

"Yeah, that was... part of the reason he was upset," House said. Then paused, remembering that Danny knew Hex and not wanting him to jump to any conclusions. He wished he could tell him the truth, but finally he settled on, "Someone broke in to his flat. Everything's fine now though."

[london_spy]

"So he does have a stalker," Danny replied. "I sussed that out but he wouldn't confirm. Suppose he's worried people will tell the paps."

"For whatever it's worth, I'm just glad he didn't wind up back at some blokes flat. You're a good man getting him home, Greg. He's lucky to have you."

[drfeelbad]

"He had me because you texted me," House pointed out.

[london_spy]

"Well, I'm such a hero," Danny snorted. "It's- It was what it was. I've been an idiot in the past. I can't undo that, but I can stop others going through that hell, I guess. Or I can try."

[drfeelbad]

House looked at him for a second and said, "I'm guessing a really big idiot, based on your current calculations about how much you have to make up for."

[london_spy]

"If I told you, I don't believe you'd have any kind words left for me," Danny said softly.