Chapter Two - Dr. Wilson, Teddy Bear.
House, of course completely refused to give sensible presents to Wilson. He knew that Wilson would still favour the eye-searingly ugly ties he bought for himself even if he did give him a nice tie. So he chose useless, silly gifts that would probably make Wilson laugh or blush with embarrassment. It was a bonus if the gift would get Wilson to do both at the same time.
He had eventually graduated to giving stuffed animal toys as presents. They were always different and they were getting larger and more obscure every year. Wilson sometimes had to do a bit of research in order to find out what the animal was and he couldn't help but be impressed at how House had managed to find a rare marsupial or a strange looking reptile. The toy usually stayed in his office for a day or so before Wilson gave it away to one of the children on the Oncology ward. He would then have a big, daft grin on his face for the rest of the day as a result. But House would never discuss it with Wilson, even though making fun of him for it was extremely tempting. Instead House remained secretly pleased that he was the one responsible for Wilson's good mood.
House normally left Wilson's birthday presents on his office desk for him to find, but that year he had decided to hand it over personally. House walked into Wilson's office and stood with the present held out in front of him so that Wilson could reach out and grab the badly wrapped item.
"Here. Take it." House said gruffly. House generally hated moments like these and did his best to avoid them. He found the whole experience awkward, having to pretend that he cared what the recipient thought of the gift. But this instance was definitely an exception. He was curious to see Wilson's reaction; what he would say when he saw the gift.
"Sit down first." Wilson responded. He was immediately puzzled and amused at House's already atypical behaviour. He noticed that House didn't make any attempt to move from where he was standing, so he pointed at the empty chair opposite his desk as if House was a naughty child who was about to be admonished. House took a step forward, putting the gift down on the desk before quietly acquiescing. Wilson unravelled the layers of newspaper that had been used to wrap the gift to uncover a small, cinnamon coloured teddy bear. It wore a white coat and even had a stethoscope around its neck. Wilson simply shook his head in complete amazement.
"I think I've surpassed myself!" House said smugly as if he had never doubted Wilson's reaction.
"So...you saw the teddy bear in the store and thought it would make a nice gift?" Wilson suggested hopefully as he studied the bear carefully and saw that it had 'Dr. Wilson' embroidered on the pocket of the coat. "Or does it look like me? Is it meant to be me?!" Wilson asked despite his better judgement. He scrunched up his face as he spoke, not really wanting to know the twisted thought process behind House's choice of gift.
"It looks just like you." House answered, enjoying the baffled expression on Wilson's face. "I can't tell the difference." House added for good measure.
"Well, it is cute." Wilson retorted as he tried not to smile. He held up the bear's left paw and waved it in House's direction. House rolled his eyes and made a face in mock disgust.
"If you think I'm going to stay here, listen to you say that and expect me to agree with you, you're sadly mistaken." House quickly stood up and headed for the door.
House was about to walk out of Wilson's office when Wilson called out, "House."
"Yeah?" House replied as he turned around to face Wilson once more.
"Thanks. This one is definitely staying here." Wilson said before he put the teddy bear in pride of place, sitting on a stack of journals behind his desk, next to his beloved trophies.
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tbc
A/N: The teddy bear is in one of the season 4 promo photographs. I wanted to include it in my fic and give it a back-story.
The things I have to do for fic research sometimes; staring at that photo with House and smiley Wilson was such a chore(!)