happy birthday to me

[misanthrope_md]

House could remember his twenty-fifth birthday very well. Or at least, the earlier part of the evening - it started to get a little fuzzy past the part where he'd done a line of coke off of an exotic dancer's stomach. He'd had some good friends in med school, the kinds of friends that take you to strip clubs on your birthday and slip a couple of

Comments

[polly_okeefe]

At the end of my shift behind the IPD desk, I decided to go down to the kitchen to have a bite and perhaps help Briony for a little while, to make up for unceremoniously ditching her to the kitchen work. I didn't see her around, but I did see this grizzled gentleman glowering at his sandwich. As I made my own, I noticed him talking briefly with the Doctor, and giving him a look which reminded me a lot of Jaye.

I frowned at that. Could this be Jaye Tyler's father? No. No other family resemblance.

As I brought my sandwich to the table, I nodded and smiled at the Doctor as he left. The man remained. And, in spite of my better judgement, I decided to try to be friendly.

"Can I get you anything?" I asked.

[misanthrope_md]

House looked up, then glanced over her shoulder, then back at her. "I didn't realize this place came with a wait staff," he said.

[polly_okeefe]

My lips tightened at that remark. If he wasn't related to Jaye Tyler, I might have to get the woman to meet this guy. If it didn't cause some critical mass reaction, that is.

"No," I said, firmly. "Not anymore, anyway. I was just asking. Because I was getting myself something. Thought I'd offer to save you a trip."

[misanthrope_md]

"Most of the time the trip's the best part," House said. Rimshot. "But no, I've just about finished my mystery lunch meat."

[polly_okeefe]

I nodded, and turned away to get my drink. "What's the mystery?" I added over my shoulder. "It's probably boar." Then I came back and settled into eating my sandwich.

It seemed a decent truce.

[misanthrope_md]

"Then the mystery is why the hell I'm eating boar as opposed to genetically modified farm fed pig like God intended."

[polly_okeefe]

But then looks could be deceiving.

I looked at him over the rim of my cup. "I don't recall a genetics lab being part of the island inventory. And aren't the few pigs we have here pets?" I shrugged. "There's more boars out there, and they're ornery."

[misanthrope_md]

"I was being facetious," House said bluntly. "The answer to that particular mystery is the same as most other inconveniences, which is that I'm still stuck here after almost four years. In other words, I'd rather be buying my ham at Blimpie."

[polly_okeefe]

I give a low whistle. "Four years. Wow. You must be one of the first. Did you come here with Captain Reynolds?"

[misanthrope_md]

House just looked at her blankly. "I have no idea who that is. But no, I don't know of anyone who's been here longer, really. If you think this place sucks now, you should have been here before there were any buildings."

[polly_okeefe]

"You haven't met the captain of the Serenity?" I asked. "He's been here about as long. I thought he was the oldest, until now." I shuddered. "I can't imagine the island without any buildings. I guess I'm lucky to be a latecomer, but you'll forgive me if I don't feel lucky that way."

[misanthrope_md]

"Oh what, the crashed ship on the beach? Yeah, showed up at about the same time. Whole bunch of us wandering around not knowing what the hell was going on for a while there. And then there was a hurricane. God I hate this place."

[polly_okeefe]

I'm not sure what I expected when I entered into this conversation, but I didn't expect this. Was this man opening up to me? But on this Island, almost everybody was fighting a hard battle.

I almost said, 'I know how you feel', but I fortunately cut that short. Four years versus eight months? No comparison. The statement was an invitation for me to be on the losing end of a one-sided shouting match. Instead, I said, "I can't imagine how that feels. I suppose if I wait three and a half years, I might. But at least there have been _some_ improvements, I guess."

I looked up at him. "I'm Polly, by the way. Polly O'Keefe."

[misanthrope_md]

It wasn't exactly any secret that House hated it here. Hell, it had been part of his campaign speech once upon a time, and that was when he'd actually been kind of happy.

"Greg House," he said flatly. He'd polished off his sandwich. "And you can get me another cup of coffee if you're still feeling charitable."

[polly_okeefe]

I was. "Sure," I said. "How do you take it? Black?"

[misanthrope_md]

"Yes, black. And tasting like shit, but that's kind of a given." He tapped his fingers idly on the side of his cane leaning against the table and said, "You're awfully perky, Polly." Though to be fair, that was mostly relative. Anyone would be mary freaking sunshine next to him at the moment.