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[rubikscomplex]

Go-us away-icus

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letter, left by the acta diruna;

[hotspurred]

To the freaking janitor of Jersey,

In answer to your posed questions: there are no limits to how oft or much it can be used, save for its wielder yielding to strain; it cannot act upon the same target as another instance in any way. The attempt feels fruitless opposed to merely ineffectual. As such, I judge it impossible to combine or enhance with its own like.

May knowing serve our greater purpose,
Sir Galahad

[rubikscomplex]

[Well. Color House amused. Also pleased. He'll be using you again, Sir Galahad.]

Post Strix Attack - Letter

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ A sheet of papyrus is shoved under the door of House's room. Will has already tapped Mary to help spread some ideas, so House gets the call up for information spreading.

Avoid being sociable for the win. ]

Notes from the street.

Can confirm that the natives have no knowledge or experience of the deadly bird attack our Complex suffered. When I inquired if they had seen or heard anything they looked at me as if I'd fallen and hit my head.

Additionally, when I described the creatures, the natives appeared to be ignorant of any knowledge of them. Again, I got more than a few looks that suggested my sanity was in question.

This was something localized to us.

W.Graham.

PS: This papyrus is expensive. Use it for any return messages.

[rubikscomplex]

[A day later--he's not going down to Will's room and back up unless he has to, and it's easier just to do it in the morning when he's heading out, anyway--the papyrus is returned with House's large, messy writing scratched on it. There's also a little drawing of an owl on a motor cycle. ]

Library says they're Strix (Boeus, Origins of Birds). Depending on the story, they're descended from a chick who pissed off Aphrodite and Artemis (Boeus) or they're descended from harpies (Ovid, Fasti). Known for screaming like banshees and sucking babies blood in the cradle.

-GH

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ When the paper is returned, there is no message on it. Will had gotten House's message and hiked himself down to the library to do some reading, but didn't feel a need to write about it.

House was a smart man, he'd figure out.

Especially since the owl was now sporting a pair of reading glasses and had a book set out across the handlebars in front of him. ]

[rubikscomplex]

[Thanks for the paper, Will. And the additions to his owl. He'll be keeping all this.]

a few days after their "introduction"

[wallofbriggs]

[Delivered to the clinic, with no name for the recipient or the sender, will be two sheets of parchment.

On the first is a drawing of the compound with the notes they'd discussed plus several other suggestions.

The second one has a drawing of a covered pully design.

Both of them have a scale measurement on them considering they're drawn large enough that even someone without his reading glasses can make them out.]

[rubikscomplex]

[The most irritating thing about this is that she remembered he needs reading glasses, and he's mildly charmed by that.

...

Maybe he'll take her up on that offer of training. Just so he can get more of a read on her. For his schemes. His nefarious schemes.]

[ action ]

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

Will had booze and a guilty conscience. The former was carried along in an attempt to address the latter.

He had been saving up his small share of the clear brandy being made by the distillery for awhile now. It was a stash he used at night to help him get to sleep, but after wrestling with his conscience, he picked up the container, along with a couple of clean mugs and headed down the hallway.

He owed House an apology.

Perhaps not for having yelled at him after the fact, but for dragging the man across rough ground in the first place. It had been done without thought, and Will recognized that it had been a bad decision.

Stopping just outside the door, he took a couple of breaths and tried to sort his words, before eventually reaching up and knocking awkwardly on the door frame.

"House?"

[rubikscomplex]

The tentative knock and call of his name is interesting, particularly as House recognizes the voice. He's sitting in his parlor, charcoal in hand as he works on sketching out a Rube Goldberg-style contraption to light a candle on a thin piece of wood.

"It's open," the doctor calls loudly. "I'm not getting up."

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

Standing by the door, Will considered turning right around and heading back to his room. House could be a miserable ass, Will could be a rude jerk, everybody was happy.

The thought actually made the ex-profiler chuff in wry amusement. Because really, why should everybody be happy?

Pushing open the door, he stepped in as if he belonged, closing the door behind him and then holding up the bottle and glasses.

"If you think I'm any good at apologies, you are an idiot," he said, referencing a conversation from a few days ago. "But I regret and apologize." House knew what for. "And I bring apology alcohol, that you can drink most of and make me suffer until next month's ration."

He knows enough about House to understand that while the man did pull some very ugly pranks, he tended to stick towards minor inconveniences and frustrations to get his point across.

[rubikscomplex]

House just stares at Will for a moment, calculating whether it's a good idea to get drunk with this man. But screw it. Good liquor is good liquor. And if Will wants to hand over his portion of the goods, House isn't going to complain. He lifts his good leg and uses his foot push out the one other little wooden chair he has at the table.

"I assume this means I get to make you watch me drink your apology alcohol." He sets aside his charcoal and drawing and uses a nearby cloth to wipe off his hands.

"So, why exactly are you apologizing?" He knows what for. Why is a more interesting question.

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

Taking the seat, Will set the container and the cups down on the table, pushing all of it towards House. He could decide whether or not he would share, or genuinely make Will watch him drink his alcohol.

"I shouldn't have dragged you down that ... literal goat path. I'd like to say it was just an oversight, but there was part of me that wanted to make you see."

A part of him that was just frustrated enough to want House to do some of his own damn legwork ... pun regretfully intended.

"I set up an impossible set of circumstances, then got angry with you when you reacted to those circumstances."

[action]

[luckythief]

"Okay, but what I really want is you telling me that I will get some fierce badass battlescars from this."

Ezekiel strolls into the clinic and flops down on one of the stretchers, working to get the top of his tunic out of the way to reveal the various injuries from his near-disastrous encounter with the creepazoid zombie Bambis. Just your regular check-up to make sure you, well, didn't literally die from a stupid scratch.

He sits, cross-legged, giving House one of his patented shit-eating grins.

"Summer's almost here. And I bet the next party is just around the corner? I need something to show off!"

[rubikscomplex]

Why is he the only one in the Clinic? House has specifically told Methos he doesn't want to be. But he's grinding medications and here is Ezekiel and... well, okay. The kid is annoying, but he's useful.

"You're gonna get some scars that look like you got your ass handed to you." He rolls his eyes. "Show off your brain if you wanna be sexy."

[luckythief]

"Spoken like a true someone who doesn't have cool battle scars. And I didn't get my ass handed to me, mate. I heroically committed myself to teamwork and distracted the ravaging beasts, giving Sunny an opening to dropkick big mamma. I should get a medal!"

But he glances down at the scratches, frowning as if to reassess them. They would look cool rather than pathetic, right? House is certainly just cramping his style.

"If anyone would bother to watch, that is."

[rubikscomplex]

"Poor you. No one paying attention during your big moment." House huffs, but does set aside his work to take a look at Ezekiel's healing wounds. "Your big moment should've been when you went to go talk to that asshole patron of yours." Talking of people not watching.

For Olivier

[rubikscomplex]

[Outside of the Complex, there's no screaming, there's no shutters slamming, no voices of the dead whispering. At least not unless he heads over to that damn bridge. But the Baths of Titus? They're quiet. In so much as any public building is going to be quiet. It's late, close to closing time, and there aren't many people still there. Non in the bath he's secluded himself in. House is lounging in one of the hot baths, just letting his aching muscles soak, when he hears the telltale clack of wooden sandals over to the heated floor.

The doctor opens one eye and glances over to see Olivier making her way through the bathhouse. He calls out to her.]

Hey, Major General, heading my way?

[House still doesn't know quite what to make of that scene in the infirmary, but he knows that they're still on for sex, and that's... really all that matters. Probably.

Maybe.]

[wallofbriggs]

I wasn't but...

[Wasn't heading for anything except a quiet soak after a long day, one where she could ignore anyone else that might be around. Having someone she doesn't mind dealing with around would help to deter any potential idiots. Hopefully.

She takes a moment to slip into the bath and then under the water. Resurfacing, she wrings most of the water out of her hair before leaning back to relax.]

[rubikscomplex]

[House is excellent at annoying other people into leaving. He watches Olivier with undisguised interest before glancing around to see who else might still be here. There are a few stragglers, but most of them look to be natives and either lost in their own world or outright asleep.

He pushes off from the ledge he's sitting on and floats over. Suggesting that they go back to the Complex for a quickie probably isn't going to go over well when she just got here, so he'll just improvise with some teasing. House isn't a major exhibitionist, but there's certainly a rush in doing something explicit in a public place.]

Think we could get away with it if we play a little?

[wallofbriggs]

[House is excellent at being annoying, but as she's well aware of it, he's easy enough to deal with. His question is unexpected as hell, however, so it looks like she can still be surprised by the man.]

As far as I know, neither one of us can breathe underwater.

Continuation for Olivier

[rubikscomplex]

((Continued from here!))

[It's getting harder to focus with her riding him, but House heard a challenge in there.

He's aware that if he goes too rough, he'll leave marks and get yelled at for that. But if she's urging him on, that means she approves of a little bit rougher, at least. House sits up, sliding one hand around her back so that he can use Olivier as a grip and haul himself halfway up. He keeps one hand on her breast, pressing down and massaging with more vigor. He brings his mouth to her other breast, teeth going to her nipple this time and biting down. It's already red. No one's going to notice a mark there.

Probably.]

[wallofbriggs]

[The shift in his position hits the perfect combination to pull that gasp from her he wanted.

She hides a smile against his hair. It was about time. She'd fully expected him to be an ass, but he'd been playing by the rules. Amusing that he'd gone along with it because he wanted to or she scared him, but ultimately boring.]

[rubikscomplex]

[The gasp is nice. And since it's nice and she's not complaining, House is going to press his luck. He's not particularly afraid of her. He just wants to get off, and he doesn't have a good enough gauge on her to know where she'll pick up her things and leave out of spite. When she's gasping for it, though? Yeah, there's pretty far.

His mouth wanders from her nipple, and he lets the rough stubble of his beard run over it before he bites down again, this time as he's nuzzling up toward her collar bone.]

[wallofbriggs]

[There could be an argument over beard rash counting as a mark or not except she doesn't care. She tightens around him settling her movements into a steady motion of tight and deep.

With a tip of her head, she meets his lips and draws one between her teeth. Bites, like marks, go both ways.]