The price of everything…
"So this was Christmas," Nyx mused as she sipped some eggnog.
"And a happy new year," House retorted dryly taking his own glass and sipping from it: "Hey, I can taste this! You're not supposed to be able to taste things in your dreams."
"Says who?" Nyx asked. "I see no reason why you can't eat and drink in your dreams, if they are vivid enough. Or not a dream…"
"Not again," House warned her. "Either I'm dreaming or I'm bonkers and I refuse to entertain the latter option. So, ok, it's just a vivid dream. Sláinte!"
"Fine, if you want it that way," Nyx agreed. "Sláinte, yourself."
"So that's another season over," House observed.
"Well, this was still better than New Year last year," Nyx pointed out.
"If I remember correctly, it wasn't that different," House replied. "I was in infirmary then, too."
"It was your own fault," Nyx reminded him. "And you weren't a patient this year, so it is different. Plus this year you were free."
"Partially free," House corrected. "I'm still tied to home and work. But ok, I agree, this was different."
"And better?" Nyx suggested.
"Yeah, I suppose," House admitted grudgingly. "At least I had company of my own choice."
"Wilson was nice," Nyx agreed. "He didn't even grill you about the gun anymore."
"He couldn't," House smirked. "He knew that I would just have gloated more on his defeat."
"He could have insisted on examining it properly to see for sure it is a prop," Nyx said.
"He had that chance once already," House pointed out. "He didn't take it so now he'll just rather forget it."
"Why were you so adamant against him finding out about the gun?" Nyx wondered. "You could be sure that he wouldn't rat you out to the authorities…"
"Rat me out?" House repeated.
"I've been around quite a few years," Nyx replied repressingly. "But anyway, he wouldn't tell on you, so why not just tell him that you have your Dad's gun when the subject of a gun came up and be done with it?"
"Because that would not have been the end of it," House sighed. "When it comes to my Dad, Wilson never knows when to shut it."
"He didn't say anything about the sabre and surely he figured out where that came from," Nyx insisted.
"He might have, had it not been pointing at his throat when he first saw it," House said. "That kind of thing tends to distract you a bit. And by the time he did figure it out, he didn't know how to bring it up."
"Why not just bring it up?" Nyx asked.
"We're men, we don't just bring 'it' up, whatever 'it' may be, if it's about emotions," House explained. "Wilson may be willing to talk about feelings and he sure wants me to 'open up' and get 'in touch' with my problems, but even he needs to lead up to it somehow."
"And you're not willing to give him any openings," Nyx concluded. "Fair enough, I suppose. So you're just keeping your Dad in your closet and wait for it to explode?"
"Why would it explode?" House wondered. "My Dad is dead and – as Mom said – the war is now over. Whatever issues I had with him are over now and buried with him."
"It's not that easy and you know it, but since you are still in denial, there is no point in going on with this conversation," Nyx sighed. "I'll just have to wait for the closet to open on its own time."
"Don't hold your breath," House scoffed.
"I don't breathe, so that's not a problem," Nyx informed him. "So, you got out of prison and back into medicine. You are now behaving moderately well and only pushing boundaries to their limit and over, when you absolutely see no other way of getting what you need. You even show some respect to Foreman – not enough for him to notice, but enough to keep the board under the illusion that he can handle you."
"No point in giving him more trouble than he can handle right now," House stated. "He seems to be landing himself in hot water all by himself just fine."
"You mean his girlfriend?" Nyx asked. "The married woman. Why is that landing himself in hot water? Surely her marriage is her own look out? If all he wants is an affair then surely a married woman is ideal? Or are you getting all moral on me?"
"No, not really," House answered. "But getting involved with a married woman always brings more trouble with it than the affair is worth."
"How come?" Nyx wanted to know.
"Either she is spicing up her marriage, in which case you may find yourself at the receiving end of a fist," House observed. "Or she is looking for a way out of the marriage – which case may also result in an encounter with a fist, but then you will also receive a tearful lecture about how you ruined her marriage and led her to believe there was something more between you and – unless you're me – you end up feeling like a heel. Or you fall for her harder than you expected and she is the one who has to remind you that it was just an affair. Nothing serious."
"Been there?" Nyx queried.
"No," House stated shortly. "Or not quite. But close enough to know that married women are not a good idea."
"Are you going to do something about it?" Nyx asked.
"Nope," House uttered. "Foreman is no longer on my team. His performance isn't of vital importance to me anymore so he just has to make his own mistakes. Besides, if I learned anything from Taub, it's that it makes no difference how much you try to advice someone not to screw up their lives; they will do it anyway if they are so inclined. Nobody believes there will be consequences until there are."
"True enough," Nyx conceded. "But if you value the performance you get out of your team, why are you so mean to Park? She is rather brilliant and a very hard worker without any added motivation from you, because she has just been raised that way."
"Well, first of all, it amuses me," House started. "Also, if I screw with her I automatically screw with Adams as well. It doesn't work the other way around, cause Park just doesn't care enough about Adams' reactions or opinion. Park is smart and works very hard, so she expects respect for that. What she needs to learn is that you don't always get what you expect, or even what you work for."
"In other words, you don't always get what you want," Nyx concluded. "But I would have thought Adams is the one who needs that lesson more. Park is pretty well grounded on reality."
"She is," House agreed. "But she comes from a culture where respect, face, is the currency. She needs to learn that everywhere else currency is what gets you respect."
"Not everything is up for sale, you know," Nyx admonished him.
"True," House accepted. "But the safest default position is to assume that everything has a price tag. Or at least is conditional in some way."
"But how do you know what the price or condition is?" Nyx asked.
"You don't," House shrugged. "Not until you are expected to pay. And that is what you need to be prepared for: the unexpected price. Because sooner or later you will be expected to pay."
