on the prowl...

[caden_walker]

Who: Cade, House (closed)
Where: House's office
What: Cade is prowling around and finds House.
When: Monday 22nd May. Afternoon.

Complete.

Comments

[dr_gregoryhouse]

With no cases and no clinic, House didn't have much to do. Well, he did - there was a pile of mail that Cameron had opened for him to go through, charts to do, a dictation from his last case which he still hadn't done.

He ignored all of that in favour of sitting back in his chair, feet propped up on his desk and his reading glasses on, perusing the latest supermarket tabloid, Weekly World News, he'd picked up from the newspaper stand downstairs. On the front cover was a loud, large headline declaring, "TRUCKER ABDUCTED - RETURNS WITH ALIEN PROSTATE!"He licked his thumb and slowly turned the page to a new article about how killer babies were on the loose, when he heard his office door open. He glanced up, peering over the top of his glasses to see who it was, and raised his brows as Cade walked in. Definitely the last person in the world he expected to see right now. He still wasn't sure what to make of that night he'd taken Cade home. He certainly still hadn't told Wilson about it, either

[caden_walker]

“Not right now,” Cade replied, his smile widening as he took a step into the office and let the door swing itself closed at his back. “I was actually looking for Dr Wilson but it seems he’s as good as you when it comes to making himself scarce.”

Looking down, Cade took in House’s reading matter and his expression grew even more amused. “Are you reading that for entertainment or educational purposes?” Cade asked, raising an eyebrow.

[dr_gregoryhouse]

At the mention of Wilson, House threw a glance towards the door that led out to the balcony, then back at Cade. The question, why are you looking for him? was on the tip of House's tongue, but held it back. Cade could've been looking for Wilson for any number of reasons, job-related reasons included. House couldn't help being suspicious of Cade, though, especially after the last time he was in Cade's company. He could still remember how Cade had jokingly mentioned a good night kiss. How he'd stepped closer as if trying to put forth a challenge, which made House wonder if Cade really had been joking at all.

"He does weird things like work," he said. He rolled his eyes dramatically before taking his glasses off. "Don't ask me why."

He then looked down at the magazine when Cade asked why he was reading a supermarket tabloid. "Educational." He turned his gaze back up to Cade, giving him a mock serious look. "I like to know what's going on in the world."

[caden_walker]

Cade nodded, also affecting a serious expression. “It is very important to know what the aliens are up to. You never know when or where they’ll strike next. They do seem to target the south though, so maybe we’re safe….”

Not able to keep up the pretence any longer, Cade broke into a wide grin as he walked over to House’s desk. He glanced down at the tabloid again and crossed his arms casually over his chest before looking at House again.

“Of course, had I known you had an interest in prostates, alien or otherwise, I might have been able to lend you some magazines. The purely…educational ones, of course.” Cade tilted his head and smirked slightly.

[dr_gregoryhouse]

House didn't smile back when Cade smiled, and he resumed wariness as Cade approached his desk. He got that Cade was a friendly guy - over-friendly, as far as House was concerned. Friendly and deliberately shallow. He just wasn't sure why Cade was being friendly to him. House made it clear to everyone how unfriendly he was and most people had enough common sense to stay out of his way. Not Cade, though. That was either because Cade was one of those perpetual optimists who threw friendliness at anyone in order to maintain the whole goofy, happy-go-lucky thing, or because Cade was for some reason interested in

[caden_walker]

Cade slowly lost his smile when House didn’t reply or change expression for a short while. He squinted a little and tapped the fingers of one hand against his arm, trying to work out what House was thinking by his expression - and that was not an easy task

[dr_gregoryhouse]

House looked up sharply at Cade. "Yeah, well, it's not my bag," he snapped.

The sharp expression on his face eased as he realised that getting self-defensive probably looked like he was hiding something. Which he wasn't - not regarding gay porn, anyway. Gay porn had never been an interest of his. Or... at least... well, since being with Wilson, he'd never really thought about things like gay porn. Except for when he and Wilson were watching porn in the hotel room in Atlantic City.

He returned his attention to his magazine. It bothered him that Cade was being so inquisitive, trying to bait him. For what? He glanced up at Cade again, suspiciously, before he reached up and took his glasses off.

"There are only two types of written media to do with prostates," he continued. "Medical journals and magazines, and gay porn. Unless you like to read up on new studies on prostate cancer, I doubt medical journals are your thing, whether you're an oncological nurse or not. You also didn't say gay porn wasn't your bag. Method of probability

[caden_walker]

Keeping his expression neutral, Cade just studied House for some time without saying anything. He had noted the way House had first snapped at him, which seemed to indicate House was either homophobic - and that didn’t seem to be the case - or hiding something.

“Okay, you got me, gay porn is my bag,” Cade drawled, smiling again. “And it’s a huge…huge bag. I’d even go so far as to say…massive,” he continued, deliberately making his tone suggestive.

“Or…then again,” Cade said, suddenly swapping tracks, “maybe medical journals are my thing. What? You think there aren’t any nurses who read medical journals or books?” Cade snapped his fingers, “Right, of course not. We’re just here to wipe patient’s asses. How silly of me.”

[dr_gregoryhouse]

House rubbed the side of his face impatiently before sitting forward to toss his glass onto his desk. He snapped the magazine shut and slapped that down, too. "That's the reality of your job, yeah," he replied. "You're employed to do the menial things us doctors don't care to do. You're not being paid to believe in the power of your dreams."

He sighed and tried to shake off the feeling of paranoia Cade was rubbing into him with his suggestive remarks. Maybe... maybe if he tried to beat Cade at his game, attempt to throw him for a loop and kept up with him, instead of getting defensive, then maybe Cade would tire of the game and move on. Cade certainly seemed to be getting a thrill out of trying to get a rise out of him.

"Whatever your massive bag is," he continued, bracing his hands on the armrests to push himself up, "you certainly seem interested in sharing it with me." He stood up. "If that's the case, you really shouldn't start anything you can't finish."

[caden_walker]

Cade bristled a little when House insulted his profession but he refused to let it show that it bothered him. When House pushed himself up, Cade stayed where he was, even though there was now less space between them. “I never start anything…well, all right, I never start anything I’m not at least willing to try and finish. Even if I don’t always succeed,” Cade said. “Or am allowed to.”

His eyes flickered down to House’s chest before rising again. He wasn’t quite sure what House was trying to do now but whatever it was failed to make Cade want to back off. Just the opposite in fact.

“Anyway, I’m just a sharing, caring kinda guy. I can’t help it,” he added, meeting House’s eyes. “It’s my nature.”

[dr_gregoryhouse]

House caught Cade's eyes dropping to his chest. He frowned suspiciously. What the hell was that? Cade trying to seek the oneupmanship? Checking him out? Maybe there was something on his shirt - he resisted the urge to look down to see if any remnants of his lunch were displayed in a stain on his shirt. Whatever it was, it made House feel self conscious.

He tried not to let that show, however. He also tried to ignore the possibility that his attempt at throwing Cade for a loop was backfiring. He challengingly held Cade's eyes when they met.

"Must be my lucky day, then," he replied sarcastically. "Hope you're not the type who expects to get what you give. Caring and sharing aren't really my M.O. unless you make it worth my while. I'm hard to impress."

[caden_walker]

“I get that about you,” Cade said and smirked slowly. House’s expression and look in his eyes sent off a warning bell that he was treading too fine a line.

After a moment, Cade’s smile changed to something more openly friendly, dropping the game - if it was a game - between them abruptly. “Listen, I’ll understand if you tell me to get lost but…are you interested in getting another drink with me some time?”

Cade uncrossed his arms and held them open, “No strings attached, I promise.”

[dr_gregoryhouse]

House cocked his head and eyed Cade's smirk warily. He really had no idea what Cade was playing at anymore. Just like the last time he was in Cade's company, House had a strong suspicion that Cade wasn't joking around. Nobody played games like this and persisted with it, not unless they were after something, or wanted to find something out. In Cade's case, House wasn't sure what that something was. And damn his own curiosity because there was a part of him itching to know what Cade wanted.

The wary look on his face dropped to incredulity when Cade asked him out for a drink. Okay... he wasn't expecting that. At all. Why the hell would Cade want another drink with him? No strings attached, he promised? What was that supposed to mean? So much for trying to beat Cade at his own game.

He shifted on the spot, schooling his expression back into one of wariness. "Pretty sure I'm going to regret asking this, but why?"

[caden_walker]

Cade shrugged. “I haven’t been living in Princeton long and I don’t know that many people yet. Maybe I’m just lonely. Or maybe I kind of like you,” he said, his smirk coming back as a kind of defence mechanism.

What he was trying to defend against wasn’t clear, even to Cade himself. Maybe that he’d actually just told the truth - most of it, anyway - even though his tone had suggested those weren’t the real reasons he’d asked.

“Does it really matter why?” Cade went on to ask, raising his eyebrows. “It’s just a drink between two…” Cade waved a hand between them vaguely, “…colleagues. Nothing less or more…unless you want it to be.” Cade nearly bit off his own tongue, having not intended that last bit to come out.

Way to go, man, just dig your own grave right here and now.

[dr_gregoryhouse]

House wasn't amused by Cade's 'maybe I kind of like you'. Not only did he refuse to believe that Cade would like him, he wasn't sure what 'like' meant. Like, or like like? Why would Cade like like him, anyway? There was nothing to likeMore than that, House found himself starting to wonder if this was how Cade talked to Wilson, too. Suggestively, making passes at him, maybe asking him out for drinks. House bristled at that thought. He knew how much of a flirt Wilson could be - the fact that Wilson was gay, or at the very least bisexual, presented the possibility that he'd find Cade attractive. Cade wasn't an ugly, unattractive guy, after all. And he was younger than House. House pursed his lips sourly

[caden_walker]

“Feel sorry for you?” Cade laughed, latching onto that question as the easiest. “Poor kids and crippled animals, maybe. You? Not so much.”

Slipping his hands into the pockets of his scrubs, Cade gave House a considering look. “I don’t have a ‘thing’ for older men,” he said, aware that he was giving House confirmation that he wasn’t straight by not outright denying that he wouldn’t have ‘thing’ for any kind of man. It didn’t seem to matter any more if House knew his sexuality. A small voice in the back of Cade’s mind suggested that maybe he wanted House to know for sure that he wasn’t straight.

“Anyway, as I said, it can just be a drink between two colleagues. No harm, no foul. So what do you say?”