So this one is kind of like Better. It's a little House/Chase heart to heart, and a new metaphor that I made up. Is it any good? I don't know, for real. I had something else in mind when I started it, but I sort of zoned out and was thinking about something else and started typing another idea entirely. I like it though. Review and tell me if my subconcious is totally off.
Under My Shell
"Who are you, House? Who are you? I've worked with you for years… and I don't know what's under your shell."
"You really do want to know." House said it as a statement, not a question. He knew what the answer was. He just didn't know how to tell Chase that. He deserved to know. They had been living together for a long time, dating for longer. House didn't feel like remembering how long. It was a while though. But House didn't want to answer because for the first time in a very long while, House had something- well, a lot to lose. And very little to gain. In fact, nothing to gain.
"Well, the whole idea of a shell is a metaphor, really." House said after a pause. He was not going to answer this question directly. "But it's the wrong metaphor. People assume I'm like a crab, a turtle, a cactus. I have a hard, prickly outside and a soft inside. The right metaphor is more like…" House trailed off, for once at a loss. "The first thing that comes to mind is a scab. I'm a scab; I itch and all that you get for scratching me is an open wound. Again. Over and over. I beg to be scratched, and then I'm bleeding all over again. There's nothing down there. You know how hard it is to not itch scabs. Especially when scabs manage to itch themselves."
Chase looked at him sadly. Was this it, House wondered? "Wilson's like your Neosporin," Chase told him, slowly. "He's always there, he works wonders. But he can be rubbed off so easily. All it takes is one little scratch before the Neosporin is gone and has to be applied again."
House stared at Chase. He hadn't realized that they were so close, so alike. He himself had just been about to bring up Wilson as Neosporin. But he had another one. Better.
"You." House said simply. "Are the Hello Kitty band aid that keeps the Neosporin on and the scratching fingers away."
Chase smiled, the tears still in his eyes. "I love you, House."
"Love you too, Hello Kitty."