014. Peace

Acres

Wilson lay on his side in the bed, his head propped up on one hand, and watched the man lying next to him. House was asleep, sprawled on his back with one hand resting on his stomach and the other lying limp in the bed. The sheets were bunched around his waist and he looked utterly peaceful.

Wilson could count on one hand the numbers of times he'd seen House looking truly peaceful since the infarction. While House could often lose many the signs of stress and pain when he was asleep, there were always hints remaining of what he endured during the day. But now…now he looked like he was at peace with the world for once.

As he watched the hand lying on House's stomach twitched slightly and the man's eyes slowly opened to reveal a blue made muzzy by sleep and contentment.

"Hey," House said, his voice gravelly with sleep.

"Hey," Wilson said softly in return.

"Watcha doin'?" House asked, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice and eyes as he woke up a little more.

Wilson let a slow smile grow on his face. "Acres and acres and it's all mine," he said with a laugh.

One of House's eyebrows shot up at that and he blinked. "Last time I looked I wasn't the fat lady in a circus."

"What?" Wilson said, his train of thought, which had been leaning towards taking advantage of the fact that House was awake, completely and utterly derailed.

House smirked and shifted slightly, bringing one hand up behind his head. Throughout all of this he had not once lost that contented look. "You used a punch line to a joke that I definitely don't fit."

"I did? I didn't even know it was part of a joke," he replied.

House snickered. "A man gets a room in an inn; it was hard to get because there is a Faire going on and the innkeeper warns him that there are some Faire performers staying there, including a newlywed husband and wife. He settles down for the night, when he hears a tremendous ruckus to his right; it's a whole troupe of musicians practicing and it's an hour before they shut up. Then there's another ruckus to the left; it's a dancer and her drummer practicing and they take an hour. Then there's a ruckus across the hall, and this time it's a dancing bear and it's an hour before they settle down. Finally it's after midnight and he falls asleep, when the worst noise of all starts upstairs; it sounds like an entire acrobatic team is up there practicing. Infuriated, he runs up the stairs and pounds on the door---no response. He knocks harder and the door falls open. There he sees a midget jumping up and down like a rubber ball with glee. Just beginning to take off her wedding gown is his new wife, the biggest fat lady the man has ever seen. Oblivious to everything else, the midget is shouting at the top of his lungs..."

Wilson automatically filled in the punch line and started laughing. He flopped down onto his back and scrubbed his face with one hand.

"You know, I was just trying to express how happy I was without you making some pithy comment," he said wryly.

House sobered slightly and rolled on his side. He seemed to consider matters for a moment then he smiled, a rare happy smile.

"Life's good," he said simply.

Wilson beamed then his smile turned slightly wicked. "Even if you are the fat lady in a circus."