Diagnostics got a case Monday afternoon though it was complete by late Wednesday evening. House went home tiredly and collapsed onto the couch with a sigh watching a little TV before going to take a shower. While brushing his teeth, he caught sight of the necklace in the mirror. He'd forgotten he was wearing it and was suddenly reminded of the injunction to wear the leather collar here in the house. He debated whether he would or not while he finished but was too tired to contemplate any real defiance. He wished Marius had called tonight, missed Sidney's massage and a soak in the hot tub. Wanting some reminder that it was all real, he went through his duffle bag for the collar and put it on, then collapsed into bed to sleep.
House woke to a pounding on his apartment door. Cursing, he stumbled out of bed grabbed his cane and headed to the door. "The damn building better be on fire!" he growled as he got nearer.
"House! Are you all right? It's nearly one in the afternoon, we've been trying to call you all morning," came Wilson's voice. House panicked suddenly, realizing he was still wearing the leather collar. Wilson would let himself in, no matter what House said unless he opened the door but he didn't know if he had time to switch out for the necklace.
"All right, keep your pants on, I'm coming," he growled, taking the collar off and stuffing it behind a couch cushion before opening the door. Wilson breathed a sigh of relief and came into the apartment.
"Are you all right?" Wilson asked worriedly, looking him over for any sign of illness or hangover, puzzled at not seeing any overt signs.
"I'm fine," House groused, heading toward the kitchen to make some coffee. "I just overslept. Maybe because I've been up for nearly three days."
"It's just not like you not to answer your phone," Wilson said with relief.
"Funny that sounds just like me," House snarked.
"What's that mark on your neck?" Wilson asked and House suddenly stilled, dropping the coffee cup on the floor, swearing as the glass broke all around his bare feet. "Stand still," Wilson ordered, going to the closet to get a broom and dustpan to clean up the mess and House's slippers against any smaller shards. House used a spoon to try to see his neck. The collar had left an imprint where he'd been laying on it.
Wilson returned and quickly swept up the mess and proceeded to make coffee. "Let me see that mark on your neck."
"It's nothing, just laid on something," House growled, batting away his hands.
"It looks like a belt imprint," Wilson said then gasped out in alarm. "Oh my god, House, who's doing this to you? Tell me you're not in with some crazy group like that guy who like to be choked with the broken jaw?" Wilson demanded, grabbing House's chin to get a look at the marks which were already fading away. "It doesn't look deep."
"Hands off, Wilson," House said, stiff arming him back a step. "I said I just laid on something. Nobody's choking me. Seriously. Back off. Get me my coffee," he demanded sitting down on the couch where the collar was stashed.
Wilson went and got his coffee for him and sat down with one of his own. "Well, we were just worried about you is all. Your cell phone goes straight to voicemail and you weren't answering your landline. Once it got to lunchtime without hearing from you, I had to come and check on you."
"Thanks. My cell's right here," he said picking the phone up from the coffee table and flipping it open. "Dead. Must have forgot to charge it over the last couple of days."
"You were pretty deeply asleep then," Wilson said. "Are you taking the day off? The rest of it anyway?"
"No. The autopsy results were due back today on the last patient we lost. Let me get dressed and I'll ride back with you," House answered, getting up and disappearing into the bedroom. He quickly dug out the necklace and put it on under his clothes, grabbed his backpack and went to work with Wilson, who had contacted Cuddy and the team while he was getting ready, passing on the news that House was all right.
Once at work, he plugged his phone in and checked to see if Marius had called, finding that he had. He closed the door to the conference room and dialed his number.
"Hello?"
"It's House. Sorry I missed your call. I forgot to charge my cell phone."
"Is this a common occurrence that I need to address or a true accident?" Marius asked in a serious tone.
"No, it was an accident. I usually have the cell charged all the time, cause that's how my team reaches me," House explained.
"I am coming over to your place tonight," Marius stated, "and I'll spend the night there with you. I'll pick you at the clinic doors at 6pm."
"O - kay. Um, you should know in advance, I'm not much of a cleaner and I don't have any groceries in the house," House said with a touch of embarrassment.
"I'll consider myself warned," Marius said with a chuckle. "We'll order something in then. See you at six."
House spent the day reading through the autopsy results with the team, finally finding the reading that would have let them diagnose the patient in time. It was an obscure test, but that didn't help much since they dealt with obscure things so often. At five-thirty, he sent them all home and went down to the lobby to find Marius' jaguar waiting for him.
A few minutes later they pulled up to House's door and parked. House got his mail and unlocked the door letting Marius in while turning in a couple of lights.
"Ah, I knew you were a musician," Marius said, seeing the piano and guitars. "Now, first things first."
"Cell phone's fully charged," House said holding up the phone.
"All right, second things first," Marius prompted at the blank look on House's face. "Put the collar on." Marius commanded taking a seat on the couch.
"Okay. But you have to lean forward," House said coming over to the couch. Marius frowned but leaned forward, letting House slip the collar out from the cushions. "Wilson came here and woke me up this morning. I haven't figured out how to explain it to him yet, so I stuffed it in the couch before he let himself in."
"Ah," Marius said with understanding. "Does he let himself in often?"
"He always knocks first unless I'm expecting him," House said as he put the collar on. "When I was an addict I needed him to be able to get in to me no matter what. So he has a key and there's a key on top of the doorframe in the hall. Plus, if I fall, I want someone to get in to me."
There was a knock on the door and Marius handed House money to pay for the food, which he did and brought it back to the coffee table. They ate in relative silence with only a few small talk comments. Finally Marius had House clear the coffee table of the trash and come back to sit down.
"Play something for me. Anything, even if you make it up. Tell me about your team."
House went over to the piano and started playing just doing some slow jazz improv. "Chase has worked for me the longest, seven years now. Foreman is next. He's a neurologist. Very arrogant and oh so determined to prove me wrong. Unfortunately, he's not quite good enough to do that. Then there's Thirteen, not her real name, but that's what I call her. She's a good doctor, but she's dying from Huntington's Chorea. Starting to have symptoms. I want to give her the chance to work as long as she's able as long as she doesn't cop out and quit too soon. But I figure it's hard to live that way too. Last is Taub. He's sort of my comic relief. He could be really good, if I could just jar him out of apathy long enough to try."
"And what does Wilson do at the hospital?" Marius asked as he walked around the apartment, getting a sense of who House was and liking the eclectic, passionate sense he was getting.
"Wilson is department head of oncology, so we have frequent need of his services for micro tumors and obscure blood cancer marker tests. He's currently romancing ex-wife number one for the position of wife number four."
"Do you think it will work second time around?"
"No. She's a manipulative bitch. When she can't squeeze anything else out of him, she'll leave him again."
"You've known him a long time then?"
"Years. We met when I bailed him out of jail. He seemed interesting. I was right, he is interesting."
Marius listened until House finished playing then called him over to the couch. They turned on the TV and Marius asked occasional questions, digging a little deeper into House's relationships with his colleagues. Eventually he led him into the bedroom and told House to sit down on the edge of the bed. When he was seated, Marius slowly removed his clothing while standing unashamedly in front of him, watching for and getting arousal from him.
"Now you do the same for me," Marius said sitting down next to him expectantly. House stood up uncomfortably and faced Marius then slowly undressed. Although still awkward and embarrassed, he was far less shocked and uncomfortable than he had been the first time.
"Stand still," Marius said, getting to his feet and coming over to him. "Put your hands on the back of your neck."
"Why?" House asked suddenly very wary.
"I'm going to touch you this time and your arms won't be in the way there," Marius calmly explained.
"Why? You planning on sex tonight?" House asked breathing a little faster with anxiety as he shifted on his feet.
"No, no sex tonight. Soon. But not tonight. Tonight, you showed me that you've come to trust me enough to give me keys to your apartment and to show me your body visually. Very well done indeed. Now I'm upping the ante. I want you to trust me to touch you. Not just when you're exhausted and strung out, but sober and alert. As your master, there's no part of you I don't have the right to touch and to see, but touch can also be a good thing, as with the massage that you get from Sidney. So put your hands behind your neck."
House clenched his teeth with anxiety but slowly did as he was told, lacing his fingers together and looking up at the ceiling. Marius let that pass for this first time and starting at his shoulders, he slowly trailed his fingertips over House's body, never breaking contact, so House could follow the movement, but neither did he shy away from touching any area. Marius traced the scar's ridges, down to his feet then back up to lift and fondle his balls for just a moment, taking in the length and size of his cock, now starting to stiffen despite House's nervousness, then moving to his back and ass even sliding between his cheeks to stroke at his anus before coming back to the front.
"Well done, you may put your hands down now," Marius said with a smile. "Now you do the same to me," Marius said, moving his hands up to his own neck. House blinked in surprise, licking his lips nervously, but slowly lifted his fingers and checked out Marius delicately with quiet encouragement to be as thorough as his master had been.
"This helps us not only trust but care for each other, noting the skin tone and what is normal. You'll watch for anything off with me just as I will watch for you," Marius explained as House straightened up. "Now, turn off the light and come to bed."
House did so and stiffened when Marius put his hand on his arm under the covers. "Easy. I'm just making contact, nothing more," Marius said not withdrawing his hand but not moving it either. House eventually relaxed and rolled onto his side, letting Marius' hand trail off his arms to his ribs and settle there as he fell asleep.
Thursday House and Wilson went bowling. They bowled as a team until House couldn't bowl anymore then Wilson finished both of their games, with House cheating outrageously on his score sheet, rationalizing that he would have knocked down more pins than Wilson did for him. They went out for pizza and beer then parted ways for the night. House found the apartment now very lonely and empty. He switched into his collar and got into bed to read, but found himself distracted. He kept thinking of watching Marius undress, and suddenly realized the scent of his aftershave was on the sheets. Giving up on the journal he flipped off the night and settled down to sleep, savoring the scent on the pillowcase. God, I'm being such a girl, he groaned to himself.