001

[worksmart]

[Accidental Voice;]

I don't know what the problem is with the carpet, it's got a blood stain trapped in it not a fragment of his soul. Cuddy should tell him she incinerated it, see what he does then. In fact, why wasn't it incinerated?

Foreman? Foreman.Great. I shouldn't have switched my damn service. Can you hear me now? No, obviously not,

Comments

[days go by, still i think of you]

[worksmart]

Chase's progress is slower that he might have expected, not having planned on being clotheslined by House's cane before having to walk halfway across the city. Vaguely he wonders if he should affect a sympathy limp - after all, Cameron gets off on cripples, doesn't she.

Even here, the thought turns his stomach. It's a particular, rollercoaster flip reserved for thinking about Cameron and House. Together.

The place really isn't that big. Armed with the map he located after finally giving in and opening up one of the guides, it's easy enough to mark out a route of sideways and capillaries off the main streets that let him walk in something approximating a straight line towards two on the clock face. This 'time's running out' metaphor his mind seems to be hung up on? It's not subtle.

It's detailed, though. Every so often he stops to stare at a storefront or street sign and wonder where exactly he's getting all this from. He's never been a world builder. He stretches a hand out to brush fingertips over grainy stone, and rubs them

[days go by, still i think of you]

[worksmart]

Sooner or later it will occur to him that he is a beggar, here. Homeless, penniless, not even a change of clothes on hand. He's been working on not resenting having to downsize the skiing holidays since his inheritance was summarily severed, but this is something else entirely. He's never had to start from scratch.

So he takes the bag, heats the kettle, rifles her cupboards without asking and sets out two mugs. So far, so mechanical.

As he waits for the water to boil, though, he finds himself stealing backward glances. It's not subtle, and so eventually he turns, leaning back against the counter to watch her. "Cameron-"

He's cut himself off almost before starting, because there isn't a way to phrase this. There's just movement, unexpectedly quick, and he's resting one hand on her shoulder, the other pressing two fingers firmly to the pulse at her throat. He doesn't drop his gaze as he times it, thinking how warm her skin is. Wondering if his hand will come away with fragments of her scent

[days go by, still i think of you]

[as_damaged]

Well, watched pots never boil. She's aware of his eyes and tries not to react, watching his hands, his actions, instead of meeting his gaze. This isn't so bad. It's just common City courtesy, generosity; Cameron knows she doesn't have to feel strange, that her motives are only suspect if she lets them seem that way. She stayed with House, and no one thought it odd