Cuddy woke up to find herself alone on House's couch. Lying still for a moment, she gave herself a moment to fully wake up. Silently she thanked House for giving her pants instead of shorts. She was lying on her stomach and the oversized shirt she was wearing had ridden up. She could tell that her heated flesh was stuck to the leather beneath her. She lay there unmoving, not ready for the pain that would follow her removal.
It was then that she realized why she had woken. Coming from the kitchen, she distinctively heard small high-pitched crying. Curiosity peeked; Cuddy quickly lifted herself off the couch, with a painful rip. Groaning softly, she rubbed a hand against the red flesh on her stomach.
As she silently padded towards the kitchen, Cuddy rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She felt rested, but not particularly any better. Stepping into the brightly lit kitchen, Cuddy forgot all about her sore throat and achy muscles. She glanced down at House, sitting on the tiled floor, and beamed.
House saw the adoring look on Cuddy's face and groaned. "This isn't what it looks like," he defended. As if to protest, the small grey and white kitten that was sitting on House's good thigh cried out and nuzzled against his hand. As if the kitten could understand, House scowled down at it.
Cuddy laughed, as the kitten looked up at House with big curious eyes. It meowed again, obviously still hungry. Sitting down in front of House, Cuddy dipped her finger into the bowl of milk and offered it to the kitten. Smiling as it began to lap the milk from her fingertips, she asked House, "Where'd she come from?"
House glared at their obvious bonding. "Traitor," he accused the kitten. Rubbing his index finger down the kitten's spine, he said, "I found her out by the dumpster, when I was taking the garbage out. It looked like she was all by herself."
Cuddy smiled warmly, as House once again dipped his fingers into the milk and offered them to their new friend. "I don't know which is more surprising, the fact that you're feeding your new baby or that you actually have milk to feed it with."
House's scowl moved from the kitten's direction to Cuddy. "First of all," he said, dramatically, "Wilson left the milk. Second, I am only feeding the kitten for very selfish and corrupt reasons." As if to illustrate his point, he set the kitten down on the floor a little ways away from the bowl of milk. Gesturing for Cuddy to watch, they observed the poor little thing walking sideways and trying to navigate the direction of the bowl.
After the kitten missed for the third time, Cuddy scooped her up into her hand and continued to feed her by hand. "Poor thing," she murmured, as she rubbed the back of its neck and behind it's ears. She glared at House, for being so mean.
House smiled to himself at the look on her face. "Oh cuddles, just like you this little fuzz ball is only here because it's damaged and pathetic. When you two stop being laughable, I'm kicking you both out." He began to rise off the floor, but paused in pain.
Having a much easier time with her caring emotions than her supposed savior, Cuddy quickly moved to help him to his feet. "Where are your pills?" she asked, neutrally. He felt in his pocket, than remembered. "They're on the coffee table."
House waited for a moment, until the worst of the pain passed. The tiny kitten was still on the ground, looking up at him pathetically. "Oh come on, then. Let's go see if she found them." Grabbing his cane off the counter, House led the jumping ball of fur towards Cuddy and, hopefully, his pills.
Cuddy looked around the dimly lit living room. The pills weren't on the coffee table, nor were they on the couch. She checked under both pieces of furniture, wondering if they had fallen. Finally, she found them wedged in the back of the couch behind the cushion.
As she stood up, she saw House and the kitten headed her way. House was yelling at it, but she could tell there was no real malice. Every time he took a step, the small creature bounded after his cane. Even she had to admit that it was comical; every time it attacked, it missed the cane completely.
"Aw you poor thing," she said, sympathetically, as if to House. She then proceeded to pick up the confused kitten, smirking at him as she bent over. "Oh here's your pills jackass," she added, dropping the bottle into his waiting hand.
"Cute cuddles, real cute. Just remember that later, when you're whining." Imitating her earlier please, he went on, "Hoouuse I don't feel good." He sat down on the couch and popped two pills. Trying to act indifferent, he waited nervously to see what she would do. He could tell she was starting to feel a little better, but he wasn't ready for her to leave. He felt himself relax considerably when she and the kitten sat down next to him.
Cuddy smirked at him. She had noticed the way his eyes had changed. He didn't want her to leave and she had no intentions of going just yet. It was nice spending time with him like this. While she didn't have to be as defensive, he still kept her alert and intrigued. Their banter had always enthralled her. She loved that she could usually go head to head with him. Usually, he outdid her, but every once in a while she pulled something over on him.
House couldn't help but notice the way their bodies gravitated towards each other. He could feel her warmth urging him to move closer. She had sat so close to him that she was practically nestled in the crook of his shoulder. His arm was draped over the back of the couch and begging him to drop to her shoulder. He resisted for the most part. However, when she turned to him with excited eyes and asked what they should call her, he lost the fight.
Cuddy felt his arm fall to her shoulder and smiled. She was truly enjoying this side of him. He rolled his eyes and pulled her into a hug. She was pretty sure it was only so that she would stop gawking at him, but she enjoyed it nonetheless. With their bodies pressed closely together, they both tensed as a small yet possessive growl was uttered. When they looked, the kitten was glaring up at House from Cuddy's lap.
"It already has a name," he said, then glared at the kitten, "However, it won't have a home if it keeps acting like that." He rubbed his finger affectionately under the kitten's chin and along its neck. He could understand its possessive nature over Cuddy, he felt rather possessive himself at times. Although, he couldn't remember ever being pushed to the point of growling, not yet at least.
"If you're done feeling macho can you tell me her name please?" Cuddy asked, teasingly.
House broke his stare down with the feline and replied, "Greybow." Looking at Cuddy seriously, he waited for her reaction.
"What the hell kind of idiotic name is that? Greybow?" She stared at House incredulously. She had expected some long dead rock hero, or some other renegade he could relate to, or something chauvinistic just to piss her off, but not that.
"See how her fur is all striped? But it doesn't have any colors? It's only white and grey… so it's like a rainbow, but not. So, she's Greybow," he explained, seriously.
Cuddy just stared at him for a moment. "And that might actually make sense, except it's not called a colorbow, genius. Explain to me how the term rainbow, which has nothing to do with the colors it contains, turns into 'Greybow' the name solely based on the colors of her coat."
House scoffed at her, but had no real answer. "Shut up, the name stays." He pulled the kitten over to him, and placed it on his chest and began to stroke its back. "Right Greybow?" he asked, talking to it playfully. Greybow stared at House for a moment, then looked over to Cuddy and meowed, as if asking for help.
"I know he's crazy," Cuddy said, reassuringly, "but he has his own sense of charm. Laying her head down against House's shoulder, she curled up and brought a hand up to the kitten. She tensed as she and House's fingers collided against the soft fur. However, she began to relax, as the arm that was still draped around her began to rub against her shoulder softly.
"Take your medicine when you got up?" House asked, sounding a little tired. He could tell Cuddy was beginning to feel like herself again. As glad as he was to be arguing once more, he knew rest was still the best thing for her. The medicine would take more than one afternoon to get her back to one hundred percent.
"No, I didn't," she said, realizing that she was probably ready for more. When she made no move to get up, she felt House nudging her to go take them. "Don't wanna," she said, playfully pouting. He was warm and comfortable and Greybow had begun to purr at all the affection. She wanted to stay there and drift off, once more.
"Come on, you'll only regret it if you don't," House said, sternly. He sat up jarring everyone's comfort. "Take your pills and we can go to bed. Hopefully this time you can actually get some rest." Picking the kitten up towards his face, he scolded, "And you, no more waking up momma or it's back to the dumpster with you."
Cuddy laughed and, reluctantly, pried herself off the couch. Smiling down at both House and Greybow, she grabbed the medicine House had prescribed for her and headed into the kitchen. Taking her pills, she realized she could get used to the way things were.
House waited for Cuddy to come back, before leading her to the bedroom. He saved Greybow the torment of following them to the bedroom, by placing her on his shoulder as he walked. She seemed to like this perch, as well and curiously watched her surroundings change.
House pulled Greybow off his shoulder, while Cuddy slid into his bed. They didn't talk about sharing, but both knew it was going to happen. They had seemed to find a certain amount of comfort with each other that it didn't matter.
Moving in next to Cuddy, House nudged her, until she turned away from him. She smiled, as the kitten's wet nose, bumped against her own. Lifting her neck slightly, she felt House slide his arm under her neck. Greybow burrowed under the covers, until she curled up contentedly against Cuddy's stomach. "Goodnight House," Cuddy said, sleepily. The only response she got was his right arm wrapping around her waist and his hand cupping Greybow against her stomach.