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.

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[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.

It seemed he’d touched a nerve of some kind though, which was interesting. Cade could well remember the jokey ‘flirting’ that had gone on between them during their last meeting and how House had wavered between joking back and looking suspicious or somewhat bewildered.

“Xeno what now?” Cade asked, ignoring House’s last comment for the moment and quirked an eyebrow. “You should know better than to use such big words around a lowly nurse,” he said and then paused for a moment. “As for gay porn…I didn’t say that was my bag. Interesting that you jumped to that conclusion though but…hey, each man’s bag to his own.”

Cade knew that deliberately baiting House was probably a bad move but he just couldn’t help himself. The man intrigued him…interested him…in a way no one else had before. And if banter and baiting were the only ways he could learn more about House, then that was what Cade was going to do.

[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 therefore led me to the conclusion that it probably is."

[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 like.

More 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.

He then blinked, though, when Cade said about the drink being nothing more unless he wanted it to be. Whoa, what? If Cade wasn't joking, and from the look on Cade's face it seemed very likely he wasn't, then House had his confirmation right there that Cade was either bisexual or gay.

He ran his tongue across his top lip as he threw a glance towards the door that led out to the balcony, then back at Cade.

House gave him a cynical look. "Wow. Bold move. I like bold." He paused, his expression sobering to something more suspicious again. "What makes you think I'm your type? Have a thing for older men, or do you just feel sorry for me because I'm a poor, bitter cripple?"

[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?”

[dr_gregoryhouse]

"So, you're caring by nature, except towards crippled doctors. I think I detect a little stench of discrimination," House said sarcastically.

He then looked away contemplatively. The smartest thing to do would probably be to tell Cade to go and find some guy his own age, hit on them, take them out for a drink. He was with Wilson, after all. What the hell would Wilson make of him going out for a drink with Cade?

On the other hand, it was just a drink, nothing more. Cade was the one who made the slip up about the 'unless you want it to be more' thing. House had absolutely no intention of fooling around behind Wilson's back. But now he more or less had confirmation that Cade was in fact either gay or bisexual - easy going, too - House couldn't help being attracted to the idea of finding out how Cade dealt with that.

But again, what would happen if Wilson found out? House hadn't been forthcoming about the last time he went to the bar with Cade, so it could come across like he was doing something behind Wilson's back. He lifted his hand and rubbed his jaw. Maybe if he asked Wilson to come along with him? But that would then mean Cade possibly figuring out he and Wilson were together and House wasn't comfortable enough to come out to anybody about his relationship yet.

He realised he'd fallen silent as he mulled all those thoughts over in his mind. He turned his eyes back to Cade and straightened his shoulders. Wow, this was a harder decision than he thought it would be.

"I'll meet you at the same bar after work," he said, turning away from Cade to look down at his desk. He limped the couple of steps back to his chair, glancing at Cade wryly. "Don't think you're going to get lucky, either, because you're not. You can consult your gay porn stash - oh, sorry, medical journals for that kind of gratification."

[caden_walker]

“Just because I don’t feel sorry for you doesn’t mean I don’t care at all. And it’s hardly discrimination,” Cade pointed out, probably needlessly because he was fairly certain House had only said that to have something sarcastic to say. He couldn’t tell at all from House’s expression what he was thinking during the silence that lapsed between them.

Considering House’s general attitude towards him, Cade was betting on a negative reply. He was therefore very surprised by what House eventually did say.

Cade raised his eyebrows and then smirked a little, giving House a salute. “Loud and clear, chief,” he said. “What time is your after work? Because my after work isn’t necessarily your after work.”

[dr_gregoryhouse]

Moving in front of his chair, though not sitting down, House once again looked across at the door that led out to the balcony, peering right across to Wilson's door. He couldn't make himself anywhere near as enthusiastic as Cade - he really wasn't sure he'd made a wise decision by agreeing to go out for a drink with Cade. So uncertain was he that he almost felt a sudden compulsion to tell Cade that he was with someone, just to make it perfectly clear that this really was strictly a drink. Nothing more.

He couldn't bring himself to say it, though, because it was none of Cade's business for a start. Plus, he knew he was only going for a drink, so there was no need to feel at all guilty. Also, explaining he was with someone meant the possibility of Cade asking him who the lucky woman was - as much as Cade might've been understanding towards same sex couples, House just didn't feel comfortable revealing that detail about himself.

He scratched his head. "Five," he said, a little distractedly. He took his seat and reached for his magazine, glancing up at Cade. "I'll be there by five thirty. If I have to wait more than five minutes for you, don't be surprised if you find yourself stood up."

[caden_walker]

“Gotcha. Five thirty, I’ll be there,” Cade said. He had noticed that House had looked out at the balcony - towards Wilson’s office. Cade didn’t think much of it though, other than House might be wondering where Wilson was as well.

It wasn’t until then that Cade remembered that he didn’t have a car any more. Which made things…difficult, to say the least. Cade had too much pride, however, to say anything. He’d get the bus and just hope he got there on time.

“Well, I’ll leave you to your…reading,” Cade said, backing up towards the door until he was close enough to open it.

[dr_gregoryhouse]

Flipping the magazine open, House kept his eyes trained on Cade the whole time he backed up towards the door. "Research, actually," he corrected. He looked down and found the magazine open at the page about killer babies on the loose, which he held up at Cade for him to see. "You never know when one of these is going to turn up in the paediatric ward. Forewarned is forearmed."

He dropped the magazine back to his lap and leaned forward for his glasses. He gave Cade one last look before turning his attention down to his magazine, sliding his glasses onto his face. He held the magazine up as though dismissing Cade from his presence.

"Take it you got your car fixed, then," he said just before Cade had a chance to leave his office.