Wilson watches House and Cuddy, how they interact.
There's something between them—electricity, something waiting to happen. The two of them could easily have a relationship, but he doesn't think it would last long. They would exhaust each other.
House and Wilson, though, have had a lasting relationship for well over a decade. The attraction is there, as well, but neither of them has dug deep enough to find it. They've stayed in their safe friendship, never pushing past that boundary to find what's underneath.
Wilson thinks something can be done about both those problems.
-O-
Like most of Wilson's ideas, he takes his time working out the kinks, and then finds ways to subtly push it at House.
He makes his move slowly. House and him walk side by side and Wilson steps just that little bit closer, brushing his arm against House's with every step he takes. He never crosses the line into openly flirtatious, but he knows that he has caught House's interest.
He works on Cuddy at the same time. Little things, because if he pushes too hard she'll push him away. He smiles at her more often—a more real version of the charming smile he offers effortlessly to any woman he comes across. He notices her starting to respond, to smile back, maybe even flirt a little.
He feels somebody watching him and, when Cuddy walks away, his eyes lock on House's unreadable blue ones, and he lets his friend see exactly what it is that he is thinking.
He hears a sharp intake of breath, and House walks back to his office. Wilson sees Cuddy give him a speculative glance from down the hall.
He manipulates people—he's always known it, and House never fails to shove it in his face that he's not perfect. He doesn't mind. It's refreshing to not have to be perfect, for once. But he manipulates people, and he's damn good at it, so when he hears Cuddy's heels clicking in time with House's cane in the parking lot, he's not really surprised, and he stops and waits for them to catch up.
-O-
"Your coat…" he trails off, slightly unsure of what to call her, as he takes her jacket from her hands and lays it on the couch
"It's Lisa here," she tells him, smiling warmly at him and shaking her hair to the side. He can see a shadow caressing her throat and disappearing between her breasts, and he's suddenly, strongly aware that, her strength at work aside, she is intensely female.
Wilson smiles. "Lisa," he says. House doesn't say anything. Wilson didn't expect him to.
Without much preamble, for words would be somewhat out of place here, they move to House's bedroom. Wilson leaves the lights half off, and when he turns around again he sees House deftly removing Cuddy's blouse and tossing it to the side.
He moves across the room and helps with Cuddy's skirt, fingers brushing against House's as he does so. House stops and looks straight at him, eyes searching Wilson's for something. Wilson inhales, the sound loud in the still room, as House grasps his right hand in his left, fingers dry and cool. House keeps his right hand on Cuddy's waist, and she watches them without interrupting, fully aware that there is something between House and Wilson, something only their's that even she cannot intrude upon.
Wilson lays his free hand on Cuddy's neck and thinks that, between the three of them, they might be able to make this work.