Therapy [new one-shot]

[kidsnurse]

 
THERAPY

Title:  Therapy

Characters:  House, Wilson

Rating:  PG

Genre:  Friendship, Angst

Summary:  House conducts an impromptu therapy session for Wilson-and ends up participating himself.

Wilson opens the door to his hotel room with a sigh of resignation.  He’s lived here for close to two years now, and nothing ever changes.  The room’s always clean

Comments

[nightdog_barks]

I like this, and I very much like the closing of the circle with the pizza. It's great to see that loose end from the show become a vehicle of insight for both of them.

[kidsnurse]

as i told med_anomaly, this piece was an inadvertent experiment. i'd intended for it to be angsty fluff, and much, much shorter; house had other ideas--he's solely responsible for the route travelled from start to conclusion. it was a fascinating process.

Comment. (Dr. Fantabulous)

[anonymous]

Well, there's a nice Christmas present ;)
The "pizza with a friend" bit- love it. If they could 'bring Wilson back' like that on House, I, for one, would be pretty happy with it!
Happy Holidays!

Re: Comment. (Dr. Fantabulous)

[kidsnurse]

'bring Wilson back' like that on House

that'd make me ecstatic too. let's ask santa claus!

happiest of holidays to you, as well!

[angelfirenze]

I'm wondering if this takes place during something I missed or not, but this was lovely. I liked the way you wrote House talking about his past, even if it feels foreign to me. I wonder if what he was talking about might have been something he tried to please Stacy or if he did it in college to distance himself from his childhood. Either way, it's something I never thought about and I'm going to have to ponder it some more. You're really good at doing stuff like that, ever since the 'Devil' trilogy. *sighs*

I do wonder, though, if you ever got my comment for your post about reviews at the Pit of Voles. *curious*

[kidsnurse]

sweetie, you have a need for backstory when writing--and apparently when reading as well! i, on the other hand, view backstory as a useful plot device [when it can add something to the story] or as something best left to the reader's imagination [when it's simply hinted at]. so i've no answers for you on this particular piece; feel free to ponder away! ;)

yup; got your comment; glad the essay pleased you!

[angelfirenze]

Huh. You're right, actually. It's not just for House, either. I love backstory for ANGEL, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Firefly/Serenity, Harry Potter, and even minor fandoms like Constantine.

I wonder why I never realized that...

[kidsnurse]

I love backstory
I wonder why I never realized that...

here--in my opinion--is why. you spend your life seeking answers to largely unanswerable questions. and, being an unusually bright young woman, you sense that the more information you can amass about any given situation, the better are your odds for actually reaching those answers.

and since the answers aren't--currently--forthcoming in Real Life, the ability to find--or create--those answers in Fan Life lends you a much-needed sense of control, so that you can continue to seek the elusive RL answers. as i said, just my opinion, and i'm not even certain it'll make sense to you--so take it for what it's worth to you, m'dear!

[angelcat2865]

A lovely story. It always makes my day to read one of your stories. Love how you define and repair their relationship at the same time.

[kidsnurse]

you define and repair their relationship

what a great way to put it! glad the story made your day; your comment certainly brightens mine! :)

[dragonwrangler]

Aw, I love it! Poor Wilson-- that first scene made me think of the shot where he's just sitting on the end of the bed in his hotel room in season three alone and cut off. Liked how Wilson is trying to convince himself that this is what he wants-- tells himself he’s beginning to relax. He’s getting good at this; he almost believes it...he’s alone, and happy about it. And love this description of House-- House, who somehow sucks all the air out of every space he ever inhabits, has arrived-with a bang, and without a key House may suck the air out of the room, but that's when Wilson really comes alive. Wonder if some of Wilson's reluctance to have House there is because he knows House is going to force him to look at himself, shattering the illusion Wilson was working on before House arrived.

Nice touch too having House admit that Wilson is his conscious, and that he relies on that. (...you’re not gonna try and talk me out of it?...Kinda counting on you to try) For two people who really are emotionally closed off, they do open up to

[kidsnurse]

if some of Wilson's reluctance to have House there is because he knows House is going to force him to look at himself, shattering the illusion

yup. that's built into the subconscious 'job description' that wilson has for house. if house didn't force wilson to 'look in the mirror,' i think wilson would be every bit as baffled and disappointed as house was when wilson didn't argue with house's plan for handling his newbies.

letting Wilson know how much his words mean to House and how much House values their friendship

i believe, too, that wilson was shocked--actually shocked--that house not only remembered wilson's Miserable Speech, but that house had so utterly taken those words to heart. as well, the discovery of how unintentionally cruel those words sound clearly bothers wilson; maybe he'll learn something from having heard them from house. we can hope!

glad the story could provide a quick break. and i'm looking forward to the question[s]!

[dragonwrangler]

That's what makes their Circle work so well and what also makes them so wonderfully vulnerable- they know unconsciously what they need from one another and are adrift when one blocks the other out (and sometimes they're both adrift when that happens.)

the discovery of how unintentionally cruel those words sound clearly bothers wilson I wish the writers would explore that more on the show. Wilson has got to have realized that at some point but he sometimes sounds a bit like a broken record, but then again it's made me see Wilson as unconsciously not wanting to look too closely at how he might have failed House and just digging at House, even when he knows House has already heard all this before. Wilson would never intentionally hurt House, but even Wilson isn't immune to the human instinct to lash out-- he's just more subtle about it (and has probably convinced himself it's for the greater good at this point in their friendship.) House isn't budging, Wilson isn't either, and they just end up beating the argument into the ground.