Disclaimer- House and the rest of the characters don't belong to me.
AN- Wrote this a few weeks ago while wandering what House first thought of his team when he first hired them.
Take a Break
Chase is the first through the door. He doesn't even hesitate as he makes his way over to the coffee and begins to make a fresh pot. House watches from his own office as the Australian taps his fingers impatiently against the counter top and waits. A couple of minutes later, the coffee is done and Chase is smiling as he pours a fresh cup and sits at the table.
House cocks his head to one side as Foreman enters and heads straight over to the coffee pot. Foreman sniffs the pot and glances over at Chase. For a moment, House thinks that Foreman is going to ask something, but one look at Chase tells him that neither will say a word. Neither need to, they've worked with each other long enough to know that asking stupid questions is not a way to attempt to bond. Chase's face clearly says, 'Yes, I did, just now' in answer to Foreman's 'Did you just…' look. Foreman gets his coffee and sits opposite Chase, who has started to look for the paper so he can do the crossword.
Cameron enters some five minutes later. House isn't exactly sure since he's being thoroughly entertained by watching Chase search in vain for his paper. House knows that Chase only wants it for the crossword which House did earlier that morning out of sheer boredom. The newspaper lies open on House's desk, out of sight, buried under heaps of paperwork that House never does. Foreman, House can see, is getting clearly ticked off as Chase moves all the files and folders and piles it up in front of him. Just as Foreman is about to snap at Chase, Cameron appears in House's line of vision, frowning at them both. The doors are closed, but House can still hear the conversation that follows:
"What are you doing?" – Cameron, confused and still holding the door open.
"Have you seen the paper?" – Chase, still searching and not really paying attention to her.
"Er, no," Cameron replies slowly.
House imagines that she is still frowning, since he can't see her face from where he's now hiding. From the doorway, she has a clear view of where he was standing and he didn't want them to know he was there. He can hear footsteps and more paper rustling.
"Well, it was here this morning." Chase sounds like he has something in his mouth. House thinks that he probably has and stays out of view in case Cameron's still at the door, although she's probably now moved to the desk to see if the paper is there instead.
"Maybe House took it," Foreman suggests. He's still annoyed, House notes with amusement.
"And what would he want with the paper?" Chase asks, and it still sounds like his mouth is full.
House can hear more footsteps, and the door jiggles but doesn't move. He smirks to himself, glad that he remembered to lock that door, although he isn't sure about the other.
"What the hell?" – Chase, he must have dropped whatever he was chewing on because his voice comes through loud and clear to House.
"What's wrong?" – Cameron, a little annoyed by Chase's childish behaviour.
House imagines that Foreman is currently rolling his eyes and sipping on his coffee. Slowly, House starts to count, and he only makes it to four before Foreman speaks up with "Why don't you try the other door?"
Chase is probably throwing a glare Foreman's way, House thinks, while Cameron is rolling her eyes at the two of them.
House grabs his mug from his desk and quickly makes his way out the only other exit. He doesn't want to wait around to see if he did lock the other door. He grins at Foreman though the window and hops over the wall, wandering what Wilson's doing on his coffee break. Foreman rolls his eyes and goes back to his coffee. A few minutes later there's a loud curse from House's office.
Wilson doesn't even look up from the magazine he's reading as House makes sure to lock the door behind him.
End