After checking in on Marius the next morning, Lucius sent House to work in his office for the morning. House put up some protest but finally left, telling Marius he would be back at lunchtime while shooting a glare in Lucius' direction. After he was gone, both Marius and Lucius chuckled.
"How are you this morning, Marius?" Lucius asked as he drew up a chair close to the bedside.
"So very sore and tired. My head aches as much as the broken bones do," Marius responded wearily.
"Mm. The head injury had us more concerned than all the rest of your injuries. Do you feel confused? How is your vision?" Lucius asked, noting to himself to question Dr. Chase about Marius' progress.
"No, I'm not confused, I can remember yesterday and the accident. Nothing is blurry. It just aches. Sidney put a rolled up warmed blanket under my neck and shoulders overnight. That helped."
"Sounds as though it is more strained muscles from the force of the accident then but I'll be sure and check with Dr. Chase and Dr. Foreman," Lucius responded, leaning forward to push the nurse call button.
A nurse answered over the intercom and responded to Lucius' summons in a couple of minutes.
"I have some pain reliever and muscle relaxer that was ordered by Dr. Chase last night, Mr. Airsid," she said, nodding in greeting to Lucius as she stepped alongside the bed and injected the medication into the IV port. Lucius remained silent while she checked Marius' vitals and asked him some test questions for his head injury, which Marius was able to answer without difficulty.
"I wonder if we might get a warmed blanket," Lucius asked politely when she was finished. "It helped to ease the strained muscles last night."
"Sure, I'll bring one back in a few minutes."
Within ten minutes, she was back with a blanket. Lucius thanked her and took it from her, placing it carefully under Marius' head and shoulders, taking care to wrap it around his neck as much as possible. He chuckled when Marius sighed with relief and within minutes had returned to sleep. Lucius settled in and pulled a book from his satchel to wait for Marius to waken again.
House plopped down at his desk and grabbed his ball, beginning to bounce it against the wall, catching it with his cane. He knew that Marius would mostly be sleeping today and Lucius would stay at his side, but he wanted to do the same. Marius had watched over him when he'd needed it and he wanted to repay the favor. To show him that he cared. He heard the conference room door open and saw Chase coming in.
"Hey," Chase called out. "Let me grab us both some coffee and we can go over Marius' chart."
Barely a minute later, House had his red mug full of fresh coffee as Chase turned a chair and sat on it backwards with his own coffee while House scanned through last night's notes on the chart.
"His pupils are equal this morning and he's fully oriented though still complaining of a severe headache. Not surprising or unexpected. I left orders for meds for him and muscle relaxers since I think that could be contributing to the headache. Sidney used a heated blanket to cradle his neck and shoulders last night and that provided a lot of relief to him."
"Probably is muscle strain and tension. He got thrown around in the accident pretty good," House agreed, relieved to see the head injury improving. "Thanks. I appreciate it."
"He's a great guy. Done a lot for you and helped me too. I'm glad to help him back. I thought I'd find you there not up here," Chase remarked.
"I stopped in when we got here but Lucius insisted I come up here to my office and work this morning," House grumbled.
Chase nodded. "I'm going down to do some clinic hours. You want me to sign in for your hours?"
House chuckled. "No, Cuddy had mercy and took me off clinic while Marius is under our care. Go forth and work on your own deficit."
Chase put the chair back and took his coffee cup, passing Wilson in the doorway as he headed down to the clinic.
"Hey, House. How is Marius?" Wilson asked as he came in and sat down.
"Doing better. Looks like he's escaped any lasting issues from a head injury, no memory loss or anything," House answered.
"So. That other man, is that Marius' master? The one you were supposed to meet when you got arrested?"
"Yeah, that's him. His name is Lucius Rushcroft."
"With Marius in the hospital, how… I mean how often did you spend time with him? Will it affect your uh, relationship with him?" Wilson said, fumbling around trying to find the right words.
"Well, yeah, of course it will affect it. He won't be able to do the same things, especially while his leg heals. Though I think he'll be able to come up with some other ways to do things."
"How is it now with Lucius here? Between you and Marius, I mean."
"It's good, different. More intense. Lucius is staying in Marius' house and will definitely stay there while he is recuperating. He's really, really different than Marius. Hard to imagine how Marius turned out the way he did under Lucius' care all these years."
"How long has he been with Lucius?" Wilson asked, curious to know how long these types of relationships could last.
"Twelve years, I think they said."
"Twelve years? And even though Marius has his own, uh, subs? He still considers Lucius his Dom?"
"Yep. They call themselves a clan and have a hierarchy, so Lucius is over Marius and all of his subs too, including me. Marius told me from the beginning that their style is for life."
"And you were okay with that?" Wilson asked incredulously. "Have you lost your mind? You joined him for life? And now it's not just Marius but Lucius too?"
House glared at Wilson. "Yes, I joined him for life. Kind of like getting married 'til death do we part of course, you wouldn't know anything about that with three divorces under your belt," he snapped.
"That's not the same thing at all!" Wilson retorted angrily, standing up over the desk and rubbing the back of his neck. "You're not talking about a marriage or even a live-in like you and Stacy, you're talking about a deviant lifestyle."
"Deviant?" House asked sharply. "So you think I'm a deviant now?"
"Not you, no, but Marius and Lucius? Definitely."
"Get out!" House growled. "And don't come back until you can stop being so self-righteous and judgmental."
"I'm not being self-righteous! Most of society would consider this a deviant lifestyle!"
"Most of society thinks cheating on your wife makes you a dirt bag! Get out!" House yelled, getting to his feet and coming around his desk to stand in Wilson's personal space. "Truth is, you're just jealous I don't need you as much as I did anymore. Jealousy doesn't do anything good for you, Wilson. Now for the last time, get out."
Wilson huffed angrily and left House's office, pulling the glass door closed hard enough to shake the whole wall and moments later House heard Wilson's office door slam with a bang.
House sighed and settled back down in his desk chair, fiddling with his cane. He knew Wilson was jealous but Wilson had let him down before, kicking him out of the apartment to hook back up with Sam. Wilson wanted to be needed, had always wanted to be the one to take care of everyone, putting so much of himself into it that he eventually snapped and blew up the relationship. His and Wilson's friendship had lasted longer than any other relationship Wilson had ever had. Longer than either of them had ever had, he realized. He was going to have to seek out help to work out their differences and dearly wished Marius was well enough to be the arbitrator but he wouldn't be for two to three weeks at least. He'd have to ask Lucius to help.
House grimaced at the thought of asking Lucius since he didn't know him as well but then again, Lucius was only peripherally involved. Maybe that would let him be as objective as possible. Plus, Lucius was the clan leader, he could answer any questions Wilson might have about the clan without having to check with someone else, like House himself would. Maybe if Lucius handled the situation well with Wilson, House could let himself trust Lucius more than he did. Relieved to have a plan in mind, he turned on his computer and went through his backlogged emails then did a bit of his paperwork.
Lunchtime arrived at long last. House closed up his office and headed back to the ICU to find Marius laying with his eyes half open, listening to Lucius reading a book aloud. Lucius nodded in acknowledgement but didn't stop reading and House took a seat and listened. Lucius had a smooth, hypnotic tone of voice that was very calming and House found his anxiety soothed by the time Lucius finished reading the chapter and the lunch cart arrived.
House stood up and took it upon himself to help set up Marius' tray and help him eat. Lucius put the book back into his bag and watched, pleased with House's actions and care.
"How was your morning?" Lucius asked.
"Eh. I did get some work done, which ought to surprise Cuddy to no end," House answered. "I even filled out a few pieces of paperwork and signed them. Just a few, wouldn't want her to have an attack of apoplexy over it," he added, drawing a chuckle from Lucius.
House kept up a light chatter until Marius had finished eating and dozed off again then turned to Lucius with a serious look on his face.
"Is something wrong?" Lucius asked, concerned that there might have been a change for the worse in Marius' condition.
"Yes, but it's not about Marius," House answered, looking down at his feet.
Lucius remained silent, waiting patiently for House to find his words.
"Wilson and I had an argument this morning, about what being part of the clan means. Wilson doesn't like it at all. I'm not thinking of leaving it," House said firmly, looking up at Lucius to be sure his message got through. Lucius nodded and gestured for him to continue.
"I've been friends with Wilson for a long time. In fact, my friendship with Wilson is the longest relationship I've ever had. I don't want to lose him, now that I'm with the clan, if it's at all possible. So, I was wondering if… you'd be willing to… to sit down with him, with both of us, and answer his questions. If I can get him to agree to it that is," House added flatly, unsure whether he would be able to do that.
"What is the basis of Wilson's objection?" Lucius asked.
"He called it a deviant lifestyle but I really think he's jealous. Wilson needs to be needed, it's part of his identity. I've been pretty needy throughout our whole friendship, even wore him out a time or two. Now that I've got other support and don't need him so much, he's showing more and more disapproval about Marius and you."
"Is Wilson bisexual?"
House barked out a laugh. "If you observed just his idiosyncrasies you'd think he was gay but he's a skirt chaser."
"You and I both know that means nothing. What do you think?"
"I think… I think he's gay actually. None of his marriages lasted more than a few years and they ended because of cheating on one or both sides. The one relationship that really seemed to work for his benefit was a female version of me. She died," House added quickly before Lucius could ask.
Lucius nodded and left it alone although he could tell there was a lot of unresolved issues wrapped up around that relationship. It would come out in time, if Wilson would agree to talk with them.
"I'm willing to meet with him, with you present and answer any questions he wants to ask. Let me know when he wants to meet and where would be the best place for him to feel secure in asking his questions. Do you want to try to ask him now?"
"In a while. He'll need a little longer to calm down. When are you planning to leave today?"
"Timmy will be here at six tonight. We'll go home then and let Sidney at you for a decent massage tonight."
"I'll go up after his appointments are over at five then," House decided. "I'll sit here with him if you have something you need to do."
"There are some business calls I'd like to make," Lucius said, accepting House's need to be with Marius and think about what he would say to Wilson alone. "Don't hesitate to call if you need me, but I will return around four. And I'll have someone send up a sandwich for you as well."
House nodded and pulled out the medical journal he'd brought with him. He moved his chair so that he would be right in Marius' line of sight and settled in. One of the food services people tapped hesitantly on the door, holding a Styrofoam container and a bottle of water.
"Mr. Rushcroft said to deliver this to you, Dr. House," the young man said, nervously stepping into the room.
"Bring it here," House said, putting the journal aside and taking the container from him. "Take that water and trade it out for soda."
"Mr. Rushcroft said that I had to watch you drink the water," the man answered, red-faced with embarrassment and conflicted about which of the men he was most afraid of.
House rolled his eyes and sighed, snatched the water bottle out of the man's hands and chugged it down in short order. "There. Bring me a soda and report back to your master."
The man was back in a flash with a cola and disappeared, relieved not to have had to endure a lashing by House, who chuckled aloud as the guy fled.
"Between the two of you and Wilson, I'm not going to get very much junk food anymore," he said to Marius as he began to eat his sandwich. "Might have to take Chase in just to have someone to fetch me goodies. Looks like Lucius is capable of intimidating anyone he needs to. No surprise there, really."
At four o'clock, Lucius returned to the ICU. He stood and watched House and Marius for a few minutes. House was reading aloud in a quiet voice and Lucius could see that although the medical journal was beyond Marius' understanding, the tenor of voice that House was using was clearly soothing. He waited a few minutes then stepped into the room.
"Did your lackey report back that I was a good boy and drank my water?" House asked with a smirk as he closed the journal.
"Yes, as a matter of fact he did. I'm quite pleased with you actually."
"What? Why?" House asked, confused. After all, he'd chugged the water down just to make a point, not to actually obey.
"You didn't challenge my authority in front of that young man. He relayed my message that he was to watch you drink the water and you did just that. Well done," Lucius replied, leaning in to cup his hand on House's cheek before sliding his hand down his chest and for a brief embrace. House was surprised to find himself reaching up to grasp Lucius' arm, returning the embrace. As Lucius elegantly sank into a chair, House got to his feet.
"I'd better go check in on the team and I need to talk to Wilson," he muttered. "I'll be back before Timmy gets here."
After dropping off the medical journal at his office and checking in on the team, House steeled himself and made his way to Wilson's office.
"Can we talk?" House said, opening Wilson's door and leaning in.
Wilson sighed and tossed his pen down on the desk. "I think we should," he responded. House came in, closing the door behind him and sat down nervously in one of the guest chairs.
"I'm sorry for calling your friends deviants," Wilson offered first. "It's just so different from the way most people live. I don't know how to think or how to act."
"It's okay. I know how different it is from how most people live," House answered. "But I've never been satisfied with how most people live, so you shouldn't be surprised that I look for something different."
"You do seem better but you keep it such a secret," Wilson said with concern. "It makes me think that something must be going on that puts you in danger, some kind of domestic abuse or Stockholm Syndrome or something. I worry about you, House. I know you don't care but…"
"I do care," House asserted, interrupting the building lecture. "I realized this afternoon that our friendship is the longest relationship that either of us has ever had. I don't want to lose that, lose you. So, I have a proposition for you. Pick a time and a place and you and I will sit down with Lucius. He said he'll answer any questions that you have, any at all. So you'll know all about the clan and maybe won't be so worried. Or maybe feel like you and Marius and Lucius are on the same side, not that you have to square off against them."
Wilson opened his mouth to deny that he felt that way but his denial never got voiced when he saw the serious and worried look on House's face.
"Okay. Um, tomorrow night? At your place?" Wilson suggested.
"Sounds good. Six then? We can order in some food."
"Chinese from that new place on Sixth?" Wilson asked with an excited look in his eyes.
"You know it. I'll even get Lucius to pay instead of using your card. Unless you're missing me using your card," House said in jest, although he paid close attention to Wilson's reaction, to learn just what Wilson was missing.
"You know, I haven't known what to do without all these charges showing up on my account," Wilson joked back. "But since this meeting is for my benefit, go ahead and put it on my card."
"And me without a voice recorder," House joked back. "Wanna' play a match of foosball?"
"Sure," Wilson agreed, getting up and following House to the doctor's lounge where they played a few rowdy games of foosball until it was time for House to leave for home.