1. Infections and Swimsuits
Chase was sitting in the deserted group office, chewing on the end of his pen gingerly. He was working on a crossword puzzle as golden-orange light streamed into the room through the blinds. Half of the puzzle was filled in with black ink, but he wasn't really interested in it.
His mind wandered freely among fluffy wave-caps of crystal blue waters. A sunset bled into the horizon as the sea spray licked at his face, cooling the beginnings of a sunburn. Lying on a surfboard as the waves rocked him always soothed his nerves when he was young, quelling any fire burning in his gullet. When he finally closed his eyes and laid the side of his face on the cool waxed surface of his board, he began to hear a far off whirring. Then, suddenly, a jet ski pulled up beside him and an arm reaches down to splash water onto his face. He jolted back, falling off into the warm pacific liquid that burned his lungs slightly from his surprised gasp of water. When he broke the water to confront his assailant, but the face he was met with was not at all what he expected.
It was a smirking House.
"You look like a drowned rat. Why did you jump in like that?" he joked sarcastically. Chase grabbed onto his board and glared at his boss.
"What the hell was that for? I could have drowned!" Chase lashed out halfheartedly. House rolled his eyes and shifted slightly in his seat.
"You're an Aussie, you're practically a dolphin. Why would I think you couldn't swim?" He held a thoughtful expression for a moment before his brow crumpled in a near unnoticeable fashion and he looked down to Chase. "You're fine though right?"
Chase's blush darkened, feeling very nervous under his mentor's concerned gaze. He suddenly noticed the intense ice blue eyes that chilled him even in the warm glow of the setting sun. Averting his gaze, his eyes slid down House's chest and appreciating the grayed forest of hair growing there. Although House was disabled, he was nicely toned without any noticeable excess body fat, which Chase appreciated nicely. When his gaze strayed to the older man's black and white swim shorts, he suddenly became aware of his obvious ogling. He blushed brightly and looked away.
"U-uhh... I..." he stuttered, feeling his heartbeat quicken and his throat tighten. A deep, rumbling chuckle sounded behind him, setting his cheeks aflame once again. House leaned down and softly gripped one of Chase's wrist, making the younger man turn.
"Come on, it's about to get dark. We should get on back to land." he said in a mock-serious tone, a smile twinkling in his eyes. "Wouldn't want the Wombat to get sick."
Their eyes locked together with a subtle intensity that left Chase tingling all over and his wrist electrified. Silently, House's eyes asked him for his trust, for some sign of reciprocation of his affections. Chase's breathing hitched and he smiled radiantly.
"All right." he finally responded, turning fully and pulling himself up behind House on the white jet ski. They both got situated before looking off at the sunset, four-inch high sun sending ribbons of orange crème into the lightly purpling sky. After a sweet and comfortable moment of appreciating the skyline, House turned to stare into Chase's ocean-blue irises that were soon half-lidded. They slowly inched toward each other until their lips softly brushed, sending electrical currents through both of them. After pulling apart, Chase blushed shyly and House smirked devilishly.
"C'mon, Wombat. Let's go." House chuckled over his shoulder with a hunger swimming in his eyes. As they zoomed off to a no doubt exciting night, Chase held fast to his knight on white jet ski.
"Chase? Cha~se? CHASE!" House's yell shattered Chase's fantasy and expelled him into reality. He flinched and dropped his pen and crossword booklet that had miraculously remained in his hands during his momentary nap. When he looked up at his boss, he was praying to god that he didn't say anything in his sleep as he often did.
"Yeah?" he yawned, his jaw stretching uncomfortably. House raised an eyebrow for a moment before he saw the rest of the team walking swiftly toward the room. The eyebrow returned to it's original position and he turned to the door as they entered the room. Thirteen opened her mouth right before getting cut off by House.
"Let me guess, our patient just had cardiac arrest and horrible white count?" House asked, grinning impishly. The three fellows gaped, looking like fish out of water. Chase chuckled quietly in the corner as he mused to himself in his mind. The others would never connect the dots as fast as House, they all knew that, yet they still became surprised whenever their boss showed them up. But not Chase, he kept up with House, just a step behind at the most. Intellectually, he was a level below his superior but he remained amazed with how large that level was. Taub was the one to break the stunned silence.
"Y-yeah... How did you-"
"It's an infection! Like I said before, but no one listened!" House whined, throwing a hand dramatically to his forehead. "Why hath thou forsaken me God with such ignorant ducklings?" Chase rolled his eyes and chose to spare his colleagues.
"The infection appears to be attacking his heart and the arteries. Since we thought he had cancer earlier, his immune system was screwed because of the radiation. That allowed the virus to rampage through the body, but since it is attacking his heart first, it should be easier to figure out which virus it is." he announced with a practiced nonchalance, bending over to retrieve his book and pen from the floor. Everyone shifted their attention to the young Australian, lessened looks of surprise targeted him where he sat.
Chase controlled his urge to sigh in exasperation. Why did everyone have to assume that he wasn't clever? He had been working in the hospital for over six years, more than five of them under House's reign of tyranny, and yet they thought him the dunce of the team. He removed himself from his fuming as House loudly cleared his throat.
"Well now that the painstakingly obvious has been stated," A disappointed glare was shot at the three stooges standing by the door. "Go and figure out which infection he has!" he shooed them away then turned to Chase. "You, go home."
"What?" Chase exclaimed, surprised by his sudden dismissal. His mind went straight back to his dream, thus reintroducing his worries of his sleep-talking. Hell, he didn't even know what it meant, what would House get out of it.
"You look like the walking dead and you were sleeping in an back-breaking chair. You need sleep. I won't have you screwing up because the only thing you get out of your beauty sleep is you looks instead of rest." he paused for a moment, a faraway look in his eyes preceding a mischievous grin. "Gotta go, Wilson has food."
Chase was confused by so many things right at that moment. His dream of his boss coming to his rescue while his dream-self ogled him, the fact that he showed a slight amount of concern toward him, and the fact that he knew magically when Wilson had food for him to mooch. But what confused and scared Chase most of all was how his eyes were glued to his boss' denim covered ass as he limped quickly away. And all he could think about was a tight black and white swimsuit.