House and Wilson talked long into the night. Most of the questions House asked were the typical ones Wilson had expected, about things you'd see in the movies or read in books. It was very late before he started asking the really interesting questions.
"Does it have to be human blood?" House asked.
"No, it doesn't have to be human," Wilson answered, reluctant to give more detailed answers unless House really wanted to know.
"But human blood tastes better," House filled in.
"Yeah." Wilson looked away when he agreed.
"How often do you need it? Blood, I mean," House continued.
"Well, usually just once a day is enough. Funny, but the weather seems to affect me. Sometimes in the summer I can go a couple of days, but in the winter it's definitely every day," Wilson said.
"Have you ever had to survive on something other than human blood?" House asked.
"A few times," Wilson confirmed. "I can only stay at one hospital for so many years before people start to question why I'm not getting any older. And then I've had to move on somewhere else. I've been back to med school twice to get caught up, that's usually when it's the hardest."
"Because once you're at a hospital you can get all the blood you need," House surmised.
"It's not difficult. I just arrange with the blood bank to let me have some of the blood that's reached its expiration date for transfusions. I tell them I use it for research and they hand it over," Wilson explained. House nodded again. It made perfect sense. In fact, until he'd seen Wilson drinking it, that was exactly what House had always assumed he used it for.
"And when you can't get it from a blood bank, what do you live on?"
"Animal blood. For a price, there's usually a butcher who will get it for you," Wilson said, grimacing slightly.
"Do you know kung fu?" House asked.
"What? No. Why would you ask that?" Wilson laughed.
"Vampires in movies always know that stuff. So besides not getting any older and not dying, you don't get any super powers? What a rip off," House commented.
"Well, I'm not sure it qualifies as super powers, but my reflexes are certainly improved. I can smell a lot more stuff than I did before, which is sort of funny considering I don't have to breathe anymore," Wilson said.
"Agile and keen sense of smell, I'm so jealous," House retorted. He looked up at the clock and realized it was already 5am. He ran a hand across his face, suddenly exhausted. Wilson noticed and stood up to go home.
"It's late. Why don't you get some sleep? We can talk about this some more tomorrow. I'll be around," Wilson said. House agreed and stood from the couch. As he limped his way toward his bedroom, Wilson made his way to front door.
"Jimmy," House called, and Wilson paused, hand on the door knob. "A couple of weeks ago, I noticed you looking at the scar on my neck. Why?"
Wilson took a deep breath and sighed it out again. He looked at the floor for a minute and then at House. "Do you want the Wilson answer or the vampire answer?"
"Both."
"I was thinking about how good you smelled when you got shot," Wilson said. House paled. "And I was thinking that you were getting a third chance at life. I'm never getting another chance, not at a real life anyway. I was thinking how pissed I'd be if you screwed this chance up too. You can probably guess which answer is which." Wilson walked out the door before giving House a chance to respond. Sometimes that was the only way to get the better of him.
A/N: Okay, my muse kidnapped my fingers today and forced me to write multiple chapters of this story. Now, I've instructed her to kidnap your fingers and force you to type reviews. (She's been authorized to bribe you if necessary!)
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