[log] fuck [closed]

[devoutish]

Characters: Alfie Solomons, Emily Kaldwin, Gregory House, John Watson, Royce Melborn, Tifa Lockhart
Location: building 120 and building 101
Date: evening of 190 to morning of 192
Summary: when you see "House" and "Royce" in the same log you know it's gonna be a party
Warnings: ear removal

Catch-all for EVERYTHING - death, murder, torture, yelling, etc. Top-level and tag as you see fit.

Comments

[bywolves]

[ Royce sighs heavily at House trying to defend himself. Really, he should've brought his broom with him, but oh well. The rod doesn't come down immediately, but it's loosened, but the point is that House goes to fight back, which puts Royce on edge. He's calm, yes, but he remembers the last time they fought, and he's not looking to walk away from this with a concussion again.

He doubts it'll happen, because Alfie is here and watching his back (which he appreciates, more than he thought he would), but - still. Royce will not underestimate House.

Royce moves closer, pleased at the panic - he's going to move in close enough to try and shove House right into the bathtub. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie's eyes go to the bar. He doesn't like how loose that is now. He reaches up, trying to pry Houses's fingers off of it.]

Settle down and cooperate, mate; it'll be easier for you.

[Then, to Royce, he adds in Elvish:]

No kill. Emily is here. No--

[He casts around for the word for "torture", but he doesn't know it. He knows it in Yiddish, but he hasn't taught it to Royce. He has taught him "hurt", though, so he finishes with that:]

No bad hurt.

[The "no" is in Elvish, and the rest in Yiddish. If House understands, all he'll get is the "bad hurt" part, and not the fact that Alfie is telling Royce not to do it. That's just fine with him. He isn't here to reassure House.]

[rubikscomplex]

[Between Alfie prying and Royce's shove, House trips into the tub, his head knocking against the wall before he goes fully down with a grunt. The doctor scrambles to regain his feet and makes it to a crouch, just staring up at the other men. He has no idea what they're saying, but nothing about it can be good.]

Fuck off.

[There's no confident swagger in his tone, just snapped terror.]

[bywolves]

[ No kill. He's got plenty of reasons why he won't kill House, so he doesn't argue. He makes an agreeable sound at that, but - what, no torture? No bad hurt. Royce watches House go down with an unimpressed look, and then looks at Alfie, annoyed. ]

Yes bad hurt. [ A mix of Elvish and Yiddish, again. It's... very weird to hear Elvish coming out of Alfie's mouth, and Royce quietly ignores the little pang of hurt he feels at knowing he doesn't know nearly enough of his own damn language to properly speak. A beat, and then: ] Fingers.

[ He's at least going to threaten to take those. ] No kill. Hurt.

[ It's hard to have a conversation when he's only really learned a few words. He looks back at House. In English: ] Shut up.

[devoutish]

Emily.

[If she weren't here, his answer would be very different. But he doesn't want her to hear a man screaming in pain, or to see the aftermath of a torture session.]

[rubikscomplex]

[And there's the leash. Hearing that name, House can make an educated guess on what they're talking about. A part of him can't help it, though, as scared as he is. He's always been terrible at holding his tongue, except around his father.]

Woof, woof, little doggie.

[bywolves]

[ There's the leash, and House references it, and Royce makes a snarling sort of sound, ignoring Alfie and turning back on House, grabbing him by the collar to shove him down into the tub with his sharpened letter opener pressed right underneath House's earlobe. He puts enough pressure to let House know that he can and will take the ear off if he needs to. ]

What did I just tell you?

[devoutish]

[And Alfie just follows him all the way into the room and quietly shuts the door behind him, making himself one more barrier between House and escape. He plans to stop Royce if he thinks he's going too far, but beyond that, this is Royce's fight. Royce is the one being baited. Alfie is here to watch.]

[rubikscomplex]

[House can't help wincing where he is in the tub. He likes his ear. He doesn't want to lose his ear "Reservoir Dogs" style. But not responding, doing as he's been told, isn't an option, either. He casts about for a compromise, and his eyes fall on Alfie.

When he speaks, it's in Russian. Something that will probably bring Royce up short because he doesn't know what's being said.]

If he takes off my ear, I'm screaming bloody murder. Good luck explaining things to the little mouse.

[bywolves]

[ What. How many languages does this guy know, seriously? Royce stares at House, annoyed. ]

I assume you know what he's saying, Solomons. [ Royce says, without taking his eyes off House. The letter opener digs a little further into the meat of House's ear, not enough to cut, but enough to be uncomfortable. This is an old routine for Royce, he knows exactly how far he can go. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie's impassive expression doesn't change, but he does translate.]

He'll scream if you cut the ear off.

[He assumes Royce will know the issue he'll have with that.]

[rubikscomplex]

[House is going to force Alfie into an active role in this. It's the small bit of control he has left in this situation. He continues in Russian.]

Tell him to get off of me.

[bywolves]

I can soundproof this room easily enough. [ Royce says quietly. ] I have packing tape to cover his mouth.

[ He's very, very annoyed that House has found this loophole. ]

[devoutish]

What would we do with him after?

[He's considering it! Uh-oh.]

[rubikscomplex]

You think you can leave me in the room alone with him to go get it? I'll scream if YOU leave.

[Jesus Christ. House has no idea how he's actually going to get out of this.]

[bywolves]

We wouldn't let him bleed to death. [ Royce says, softer. He's still icy. ] Death is too easy. It didn't work, the first time. It wouldn't work now, either.

[ Royce watches House for a moment with his glowing eyes, thinking this through. ] Nothing I say to you is going to stick, is it, House? You can't punish someone who wants to be punished.

[devoutish]

Look at his eyes. He doesn't want this.

[Alfie raises his eyebrows.]

But he just can't stop himself, can he?

[To Royce:]

He doesn't want me to leave you alone with him.

[rubikscomplex]

Don't talk about me like I'm not here, Solomons.

[bywolves]

Of course he doesn't want you to leave him alone with me. [ Royce says, bringing the letter opener around to tap it against House's cheek gently, once, twice. ] He thinks you're my leash, Solomons.

He thinks I'm asking your permission to do this.

[devoutish]

And now he wants us to stop talking about him like he's not here.

[So of course Alfie is just going to keep doing just that. He's not even looking at House - just Royce.]

[rubikscomplex]

[Well, while you boys are chatting...

House gauges his chances and brings a hand up to try to grab Royce's wrist for the hand holding the letter opener and yank him down. It's not going to get him very far with Alfie right there, if he can't untangle himself quickly, but he can try. There's desperation fueling him.]

[bywolves]

[ Dammit. House yanks Royce down, and Royce grunts as he stumbles into the tub. He's not going to go down without any fight, obviously - they thud down, and Royce is totally going to aim to break his fall with House's head. Maybe if he thuds House into the faucet he won't have to listen to House bait him. ]

[devoutish]

[Alfie moves quickly, grabbing for Royce's arm to pull him back up. In Elvish:]

All right, Ahval?

[rubikscomplex]

[House has the sense to jerk his head to the side. The faucet catches the side of his head, though, and cuts along it. He hisses for the pain, but lets himself go down further, angle...

He kicks up upward hard, not particularly caring if it's Alfie or Royce that he catches.]

[bywolves]

[ Royce catches about half of that kick to the side even as Alfie's pulling him up, and lets out an annoyed grunt of a sound. He braces himself against Alfie for about one second, getting out a quick, angry Elvish: ] Fine, Merea --

[ Before climbing back into the tub and sitting on House. ]

Hold his legs. [ Which comes out in a confusing mess of three different languages, because Royce is distracted by trying to pin House in the tub, slapping one gloved hand over House's mouth tightly and getting the letter opener back up to just take that earlobe. Off it goes. If the girls haven't heard the commotion by now, he'll eat his cloak. ]