Fox

[drfeelbad]

House still couldn't quite believe how the previous day had gone. When he'd gone into Fox's shop for an ingredient for an experiment, he certainly hadn't expected to share a bed with him. Asking him to dinner would have seemed like a slightly more likely outcome, and somehow that had ended up happening after.

Later that evening he went back to Fox's place, dressed nicely (for him) and smelling good.

Comments

[shadows_fall]

"Oh, I don't know about that. I've been remarkably stupid in the past," Fox assured him, hesitating a beat, then leaning in. "Once on a... Let's call it a work trip, I somehow managed to get my drink spiked and nearly got sacrificed to an Eldritch god."

[drfeelbad]

House blinked at him, and then laughed. "Did you really ask me why you're interesting?"

The server brought over their food then, and as they dug in House said, "I would like to hear the whole story, please."

[shadows_fall]

Fox laughed and rubbed his face with one hand between bites. "It's embarrassing, honestly. This whole time we were investigating this village, trying to work out why their crops were flourishing despite the ground being cursed. I'd befriended one of the locals, a woman, she was trying to divorce her husband, but small villages, you know? Turns out she was the bloody ringleader. Thankfully my partner worked it out before they fed me to that thing. Not my finest moment."

[drfeelbad]

"And this was a... work thing?" House clarified.

[shadows_fall]

Fox hesitated again, then nodded. "I was with the WSS."

[drfeelbad]

Harry almost dropped his fork.

"Oh," he said after a moment. "Well I guess that explains the story."

[shadows_fall]

"It's how I wound up cursed. I got assigned to help infiltrate a hate group who have a problem with wizards reproducing with none wizards. ... Unfortunately they worked out what I was," Fox said, offering a tiny shrug, trying to make it sound like no big deal.

[drfeelbad]

"It seems like that was a very unwise assignment to give you in particular," House said with a frown. "Is that sort of utter incompetence why you left?"

[shadows_fall]

"I asked for the assignment," Fox admitted. "And I left because they offered me a very large sum of money to retire early. That, and it was apparent right away that the curse had left me weak, I was already struggling to cast properly. it was only a matter of time before I wouldn't be able to do much of anything."

[drfeelbad]

"... still, I can't say I'm surprised that you were hurt under their watch," House said.

He had problems with authority at the best of times, and the wizard cops were not exception.

[shadows_fall]

"I liked my job," Fox said with a small shrug. "I miss it, to be honest. If I were suddenly healed, I'd go back in a heartbeat, if they'd have me."

[drfeelbad]

"Ah," House said, then plucked a samosa off of the plate between them. "Am I putting my foot in it here?"

[shadows_fall]

"No, I just don't think you could possibly know how good at it I was," Fox said. "I was made for that job, and I know I shouldn't have asked to be on that assignment, but- I think those people might have been involved in the death of my parents. It was personal for me."

[drfeelbad]

House looked at him for a second, and then said genuinely, "I'm very sorry that it worked out like it did."

[shadows_fall]

"It is what it is," Fox shrugged. "At least I lived."

[drfeelbad]

"You did," House agreed. He held up his Diet Coke. "Here's to surviving... even if it sucks to constantly be in pain." Look at all these things they had in common.

[shadows_fall]

Fox offered a sad smile of understanding, then clinked their glasses.

"To surviving," he agreed.

[drfeelbad]

House found himself just looking at him for a moment. Admiring how strong he was, how interesting especially as of this last revelation, how handsome he was, and remembering what he'd looked like last night in his underwear...

He almost blushed, and looked down at his food. "This place seriously has the best butter chicken."

[shadows_fall]

"You have good taste," Fox smiled, warning even more to the other man the more they talked.

"Tell me more about your work," he nudged. "Is it, like, some sort of clinic, or... How does it work?"

[drfeelbad]

"I do," said House, and the way he looked at him suggested he was talking about Fox and not the chicken.

He took another drink of his diet coke and then said, "Yes, a clinic. My space is small, but honestly a lot of what I do is house calls. The only way people know how to find me is word of mouth, really."

[shadows_fall]

If it wasn't for the careful and practiced composure of being a spy, Fox would have blushed. Instead a tiny smile curled the corner of his lips as he pushed his hair back.

Surely that wasn't always your job though. The way you talk about medicine, it's clear you have a deep past with the practice. Were you a surgeon, maybe? Neurologist? Something big, important, hard to accomplish," he guessed.

[drfeelbad]

"Diagnostician," said House. "I solved the puzzles that no one else could." He sounded proud of this. "But after a while the challenges were few and far between, and what I see here, well.... there's always something new."

[shadows_fall]

"I see," Fox said, a bit worried that might be the root of Greg's interest in him. Another puzzle. He hoped that wasn't true though, he was finding he quite liked spending time with the other man.

[drfeelbad]

"I also function a lot better being my own boss," House added.

[shadows_fall]

"I can imagine that," Fox said, looking thoughtful, his head tilting as though analyzing him. "A rebel. ...Shitty childhood?" he guessed. "My money's on daddy not being very nice."

More tricks left over from a past life of having to read people and understand their motives.