Cyberpunk AU start: Max

[drfeelbad]

House didn't visit Input on a regular basis exactly, but often enough that his face was known there. The men and women he'd spent time with he'd seen more than once, and when he arrived tonight and sat down at the bar, the bartender pushed him a Jack Daniels without him having to ask, and mentioned that they were quite busy tonight but he'd seen Isaac recently if he'd like to have a drink with him. "Yes, please tell him I'm here," House had said before taking a sip.

Though before he'd even managed to take a second drink, he heard someone shouting for a doctor.

He almost ignored it. Almost. But instead, he said to the bartender, "I'll be right back," and then slid off the stool, grabbed his cane, and headed in the direction of the shouts.

Comments

[drfeelbad]

"Oh I've got my own supplier," House said. "I'm just out."

He bent over to set down his empty glass, and then when straightening up, winced and rubbed his thigh. He started rooting around in his pocket for something.

"So why are you a ghost?" he asked.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

"If it's serious enough for me to erase my whole life, you really think it's something I share with people I just met?" Max asked, taking a drag off his cigarette.

[drfeelbad]

House shrugged. "Who knows, you're the one who said you're an idiot."

He pulled a flat case out of his pocket, and pulled a thin strip out of it, and place it on his tongue. A very concentrated, already calibrated dose of 4U. The only thing that made his leg stop hurting.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

Max frowned at the words, falling silent and ashing his cigarette into a portable ashtray he kept in his pocket.

[drfeelbad]

"I didn't think so," said House, and slipped the case back into his pocket.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

Max gave him a look, still frowning to himself as he finished his cigarette.

"Do you live here?" he asked finally.

[drfeelbad]

"I live upstairs," House said. "Rent is a steal as a two-for-one deal."

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

"Short commute at least," Max noted. "Plenty of nightlife."

[drfeelbad]

"Yeah I've got a disco ball up there," House snorted.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

Max rolled his eyes a little, but almost looked amused.

[drfeelbad]

"Where the magic happens," House assured him.

He wasn't really sure what to do now. He minded the company less than he might have thought, but it was getting late. "Well uh. You're probably tired. Having almost died and everything."

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

"Don't suppose you have a blanket I could borrow for the night?" Max asked. "...Won't steal it," he added after a beat.

[drfeelbad]

"If you needed a blanket that bad you could have had it," House said. He got to his feet. "Upstairs. I'll be right back."

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

Max nodded, looking around in House's absence. Hospitals, clinics, medical suites... He didn't like them, but they were the nearest thing to a home he felt he had.

[drfeelbad]

House emerged again a few minutes later, and tossed a warm blanket and a pillow at him.

"The couch should be more comfortable than the exam table but not by much," he said.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

"Thank you," Max said, nodding his thanks and getting up to move to the couch. "...Sleep well," he added awkwardly.

[drfeelbad]

House looked as if he were going to say something else, but in the end just nodded and then went back up the stairs.

And despite having been previously fully prepared to have sex that night, subsequently absolutely could not bring himself to jerk off knowing that Max was downstairs. Ugh.

He woke up the next morning and his body was practically screaming for coffee. He rolled out of bed, and then opened the door and yelled down the stairs, "Hey you want coffee?" In part just wanting to know if he was still there.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

Max had woken early, and was wirelessly jacked in, reading the news. He logged out when he head house, head tilting a little as he wandered to see where the man's voice was coming from.

"Please," he said, hesitating a beat, then asking. "Can I use your shower?"

[drfeelbad]

"Sure, come on up," House called, and then move to make coffee.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

"Thanks," Max said once he was upstairs, offering a nod. "I'll be quick," he promised. "...Are there towels you don't want me using, or..."

[drfeelbad]

"There's some clean ones in the cabinet over the sink," House said after a brief glance his way. "I hope you don't mind your coffee black, I don't think I have anything..."

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

"I'm not picky," Max said, which wasn't really true. He liked his coffee with nut milk usually, but he'd take whatever he was offered.

Ducking into the bathroom he got himself washed up, mindful not to take too long. Though he did scrub his shirt in the sink, hoping House wouldn't mind if he left it to dry while he had his coffee.

[drfeelbad]

House actually had real coffee, and he made it in a French press, though of course like everyone else he did have one of those machines, he just thought the coffee was shit.

He poured into two cups, and set one on the counter before sliding onto a stool at the kitchen nook and taking a sip from the other.

The place was small, a one bedroom flat, and it was clean but cluttered. His pride and joy though was an actual piano shoved into one corner of the living room. It had been a bitch to get it up here, too.

[511v3r_h4mm3r]

Max emerged, bare chested but otherwise dressed.

"Shirt's just drying," he explained, glancing around the space curiously, until his gaze settled on the coffee.

[drfeelbad]

House glanced up, and his eyes settled on Max for a moment, before he intentionally looked away. "If you want to use the laundry you're welcome to," he said, and pushed the coffee to him.