Comments | au_niverse: Wednesday at the Metro

mods_in_space in au_niverse

Wednesday at the Metro

Jun 20, 2007 16:49

If New Tokyo was the glossy surface of Miranda and Siam the seedy underbelly, the Underground was the pulsing heart of the planet. A constant flow of trains, of people, of life, the Metro never slept. Sitting on one of the old benches lining the whitewashed walls, under a flat screen advertisement looping through ads for dermal implants and virtual ( Read more... )

dr. greg house, mouse delmico, joe dick, phedre no delaunay, eurydice, spike, ray kowalski, charlie eppes, gathering

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laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 01:26:01 UTC

Laurie's not drunk anymore, just nursing one hell of a hangover. He'd taken a few pills that morning, vitamins mostly, and then he'd smoked a joint. Anything to get his head to stop pounding like it was.

He can't even remember how many aspirins he'd taken before breakfast or lunch. That's never a good sign.

He stares vapidly at the dirty floor of the train, focusing intently on an old wad of gum. So much so that he doesn't notice his mobile com unit beeping loudly in his pocket.

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 02:29:47 UTC

BEEP. BEEP. BEEEEEP. BEEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEPEEEEEEP.

House, who was sitting to Laurie's left, only one empty seat between them, with his forehead resting tiredly on the top of his cane, suddenly jerked his head up and snapped, "Are you deaf or just determined to drive the rest of us insane?"

laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 02:36:21 UTC

Laurie snapped out of it slowly, staring at the guy for a long moment, as if he'd just said something really deep and meaningful... until he realized he was beeping.

"Fuck," he muttered, pulling the damn electronic device and looking at it for a long moment.

It was has sponsor. It was always his god-damn...

Laurie threw the com device to the floor, right atop the dried up wad of gum, actually, and then stomped on it with his heavy leather boot until it shut up. Never to beep again.

"That better?" he asked the stranger calmly.

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 02:38:36 UTC

House lifted an eyebrow. "I am," he said. "You, on the other hand, have obviously got some issues."

He reached out his cane and pushed the remnants of the beeper underneath the row of seats so that no one - okay, him - tripped on the rubble. He narrowly avoided the gum.

laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 02:44:49 UTC

"Everyone has issues," Laurie replied easily, looking the guy over, his eyes pausing on the cane. "It's what makes us interesting," he said, digging in his pocket for another aspirin.

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 02:56:59 UTC

House's eyes lingered for a second on the aspirin, until he recognized it for what it was. Then he said, "No, everyone is full of shit. Issues are what people who are full of shit whine about."

laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 03:05:41 UTC

Laurie just laughed and swallowed the aspirin dry. "Do I look like I'm complaining about anything? I mean, by your definition, you'd be the one with the issues, seeing as how you felt the need to complain about my beeping. Which I sincerely apologize for, by the way," he said with mock sweetness.

He paused for a moment, and then smirked. "I could buy you a drink to make up for it," he offered.

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 03:43:40 UTC

House had a retort all ready on the tip of his tongue until that last bit. It took a lot to completely catch House off guard, but that managed it. He blinked.

Then he frowned. "Are you a prostitute?"

laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 03:49:11 UTC

"Not the last time I checked. Why, do you think I could be? The extra income wouldn't hurt," Laurie said, pretending to consider it. "I'm no hooker. Nor am I an exotic dancer or a call boy. I'm just a guy with a headache who was heading to the bar. You don't look like your busy, thought I'd offer."

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 04:06:39 UTC

House was having a lot of trouble wrapping his head around this one.

"Because... you're... a masochist?" Why else would someone not only invite a complete stranger out for a drink - but a complete stranger who's being a jackass to you? Unless said complete stranger is really hot or something, which obviously isn't the case.

laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 04:18:13 UTC

"That seems a bit personal for our first drink together, don't you think?" Laurie asked. "Especially since we established that I'm not a hooker. If I were a hooker though, and this was me turning tricks, I'd probably say yes to that. The masochist thing that is," he clarified.

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 04:27:19 UTC

House was still looking at him suspiciously. Maybe he was a thief. Or worse yet, a serial killer. Of course, House only had a few credits in cash on him, and he was down to the very bottom of his bottle of pills. And it wasn't as if the guy would slit his throat in a bar.

"Yeah, okay," he said. "I could use a drink."

And honestly? He wanted to try to work out the guy's motives. He'd feel kind of vindicated if he did turn out to be a murderer.

laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 04:37:38 UTC

"Loretta's?" Laurie suggests, grinning a bit as he held out his hand. "I'm Laurie by the way."

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 04:43:04 UTC

House hesitated, then realized that he'd just agreed to have a drink with the guy, it was pretty stupid for him to be wary of shaking his hand.

"Greg House," he said, and shook.

"And yeah, that's just fine."

laurie_wilson June 21 2007, 04:53:54 UTC

"I'm gay by the way," Laurie blurted, pausing for a moment and blinking at himself for being so, well, verbally challenged. "Uh, what I meant to say was that I'm hitting on you. The reason I asked you for a drink is because I find you attractive. I just thought I should clear that up before we got there. You know, in case you need a chance to change your mind. Though, it's your loss if you do. I made a point of looking in the mirror this morning and it turns out I'm a very attractive man. There were a few years there where it was debatable. Bad skin, bad haircuts, but it seems I've come out on top."

He paused and then added. "And I'm still not a hooker, just in case you were wondering."

feelbad_md June 21 2007, 05:23:30 UTC

House just gaped at him for a second. He was a forty-six year old cripple with a thorn in his side. The only time that people hit on him were when they were impressed with his intellect, or they knew enough about him to see him as some kicked puppy who needed to be fixed - see: Cameron. There was that girl, of course, that smoking seventeen year old girl - but that had to be an authority figure issue, or a rebelling-against-daddy issue. Hell, even if he'd made up the bit about poor impulse control being a symptom of Coccidioidomycosis, she was still sick.

But this? Just some... random attractive guy hitting on him for no apparent reason? There had to be a catch. At the very least, it was a puzzle, and he was bored. And at the most... well, House might usually stick to women, but he wasn't immune to the current fashion of bisexuality, and he'd had his fun, in med school. Before Stacy.

"In that case," House finally said, "I see accepting your offer as a good business decision. I'm running low on funds this month anyway."

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