Fun Comes in a Variety of Colors
Disclaimer: You know the drill.
"Doctor Cameron checking in," said the brunette woman, readjusting the strap of her bag on her left shoulder as she moved towards the counter to set down a large plate that she had been balancing in her right hand. The receptionist nodded as she clicked something on her computer screen, pausing, and typing the time."You're a bit early, today, doctor," the receptionist said with a smile, the kind of play-acting smile, Doctor Cameron noted mentally, that anyone with any degree of social skill always used and hardly ever meant. Of course, speaking of social skills….
"Doctor Cameron!" A voice rang out over the lobby of Plainsboro Teaching Hospital. She knew that voice only too well.
"Doctor House," Cameron said, mimicking the receptionist's smile as she turned to face her boss. She watched him limp in his characteristic way toward her and then stop halfway. He paused for a second, giving her an inquisitive look. After a dramatic pause, he spoke.
"What? You expect me to come all the way over there? Can't you see I'm crippled?" And with that, he turned around and began to limp towards the clinic. Cameron rushed after him.
"Your office is that way," she said, pointing towards the elevators at the back of the lobby. Without stopping, House smirked and raised his eyebrows, his trademark way of saying, "Yeah, so?" before replying.
"Yes. Don't worry, Cameron, it's only 8 in the morning, I'm not too stoned to remember. Besides, there are signs." He pointed at one such sign with is cane.
"Why are you going to the clinic?" Cameron asked, deciding to ignore House's early-morning antics, of which there were plenty. House shrugged.
"I felt the call of my civic duty," House replied with the air of someone who was sharing a private joke with himself. He continued forward through the glass doors underneath big, white letters that read "CLINIC" and into the waiting room lobby area. Doctor Cameron followed, at a momentary loss of words.
"Um… it's your birthday," Cameron tried, not entirely sure why she had followed House into the clinic and now looking for a reason to cover up. Following House had become a deeply ingrained habit developed by all three of his fellow doctors.
House paused and turned to Cameron again, brows furrowed, an expression of concern on his face.
"Is it your goal to keep telling me things that I already know? Because you're making good timing today."
Cameron rolled her eyes and House's eyes slid down to the plate she was holding in her hand.
"What are those?" said House, nodding at the colorful confections arranged neatly under the plastic wrap.
"I made cookies," Cameron said, motioning to the brightly frosted and sprinkled sugar cookies she had baked freshly just that morning.
House raised an eyebrow but didn't say anything. Cameron continued.
"They're colorful. They're fun. They're for you." Almost immediately, Cameron new that she had wasted the last three sentences.
"By fun, do you mean strip-poker-and-a-bottle-of-vodka-fun, or comes-in-a-variety-of-seventeen-different-colors-fun?"
"Just take them," Cameron said, thrusting the plate at House unceremoniously, beginning to regret the hours of sleep lost for the sake of baking ridiculous cookies for an ungrateful boss. House ignored her.
"There's a new case, the file's upstairs. Chase and Foreman aren't in yet, so you can go ahead and get all fuzzy over it before they get here. Just clean up after you're done, you know, put the tissue box back where you found it and wash your face after. Puffy eyes really don't do you justice." With that, House began to turn on his heel and leave.
"Where are you going?" Cameron shouted loudly at House's back. He looked over his shoulder.
"Going to talk to fun people," he said, jerking his head toward a hung-over looking teen with brightly dyed hair of various colors who was wearing several candy necklaces and a pacifier. House hesitated. "...Well, fun by your standards," he muttered before stalking away.
This may be a Oneshot, but that depends on the feedback...
This little baby is a thing I wrote after a random burst of inspiration. Actually, it was after seeing Martha Stewart on tv making cookies with all sorts of sprinkly decorations on them and insisting on how "fun" they were, thus causing me to wonder about the definition of "fun" in general.