097. Allergy

Sometimes You Lose

House came storming into Wilson's office and flopped down on the sofa, tapping his cane on the floor sullenly. Wilson looked up from the paperwork he was doing and raised an eyebrow, a tiny smile growing on his face.

"5.8. 5.9. 6.0 from the East German judge. A truly remarkable performance," he murmured, amusement gleaming in his eyes.

A smile flickered across House's face then he promptly scowled again and tapped his cane against the floor even harder.

Wilson put his pen down and rested his arms on his desk.

"Alright, I'll bite," he said, his amusement more open. "What's wrong?"

House slumped even further on the couch and almost pouted as he glared at the floor.

"It was an allergy," he muttered.

Wilson quickly smothered his smile before House could catch him.

"So Foreman was right then," he observed mildly.

The scowl came right on cue and Wilson somehow managed to simply look interested and slightly innocent.

"I thought you'd be pleased," Wilson said when House continued to sulk. "I thought the whole of idea of having Fellows was to ensure they learnt something. You know, became competent doctors."

He knew he was essentially poking a wounded bear but he was fairly confident that House wouldn't do anything too permanent to him.

"You want to go back to sleeping on the sofa?" House said belligerently.

Wilson simply raised an eyebrow. "You'd really cut your own nose off to spite your face?"

"Maybe I like my face spited," House growled.

"Uhuh," Wilson said with patent disbelief. "So what did you lose in the bet?"

House grumbled under his breath and scowled at the floor again.

"He gets to take the lead on our next case," he muttered under his breath.

"What was that?" Wilson asked, not entirely sure he'd heard that correctly.

"I said he gets to take the lead on our next case," House said acidly, enunciating each word with a sour sneer.

Wilson quickly turned his laugh into a cough when House glared at him.

"You were that sure?" he said, his lips quivering with the suppressing laugh.

House grumbled under his breath again and Wilson closed the file on his desk and got to his feet. He grabbed his suit coat and walked around to stand in front of House.

"Come on," he said with a small smile. "I'll take you home and blow your mind. Maybe that'll make it all seem a bit better."

Another smile flickered across House's face and he slowly pushed himself to his feet.

"You never know. It might help," he said as he followed Wilson out of the office.