[log] There Is a Season [closed]

[rubikscomplex]

Characters: Gregory House, Ecks, Hannibal Lecter, Will Graham
Location: Building 47, Building 31, Building 34 and 35, Building 30, Building 29, and Building 326
Date: Day 306 to 310
Summary: House, Hannibal, and Will meet up with Ecks and go on a journey of pianos, maintenance tunnels, and high schools.
Warnings: Typical House and Hannibal-related warnings, otherwise will add as they come up

Comments

Building 47 - Day 306

[rubikscomplex]

[At first glance, all of the rooms in this single-story house (living room, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, and office) seem empty of even the smallest bit of furniture. However, at second glance, the kitchen has a door to an intact basement full of various boxes, although not all of them are full or have anything useful.]

[rubikscomplex]

[House has calmed significantly over the course of the day as their group has made its way away from the Pharmacy and its influence. The psychosomatic pain has disappeared for the most part, fading to the usual aches and infrequent phantom pains he's come to expect since his withdrawal. The craving is back down to a manageable level, as well.

There isn't much in the place apart from some boxes, so House mainly occupies himself with what he already has in his possession. He pulls out a music box and winds it up to let it play.

Those within hearing range will feel a peculiar compulsion to dance with someone special as the slow ballad plays. House doesn't have that kind of person here right now, but he'll keep Hannibal or Will (whomever is closer) in the corner of his eye as he opens his monster truck magazine (with the pornography cover) and pretends to read. Mostly he wants to see what one or the other will do.]

Building 31 - Day 307

[rubikscomplex]

[This house is perhaps most easily recognized by the picket fence, paint worn off and wood exposed, that pushes up out of the snow and encircles the backyard. There's a half-buried doghouse near the main house, large enough for a human to crawl into--which is good, because the front and back doors are locked tight no matter the time of day. If you crawl through the doghouse, a large dog flap is attached to the house at the back, and you can get inside there; of course it's locked at night just like any other entryway. Inside is a standard single-story house consisting of a living room, kitchen, dining room, bathroom (though the shower doesn't work), and bedroom. All drawers and cupboards have been haphazardly opened and most of the furniture has been upended. Two black amorphous blobs have been spraypainted on the fence.]

Buildings 34 and 35 - Day 307

[rubikscomplex]

Building 34
[Most of this house is in ruins--to get to the door requires walking over some rubble of the ruined house, although it seems like someone has moved the worst of it, allowing easier access to the house. The intact door leads to two intact rooms, and therefore it can be used as an overnight shelter. The door opens to a master bedroom with a large mattress and a thick comforter--too thick to carry without trouble, but nice for staying overnight here. The master bedroom is attached to a functioning master bathroom; the most important thing to note here is that it has a working shower with about ten minutes of hot water every day. Some of the tiles in the shower have been shattered and broken away, revealing a metal wall beneath. One nightstand has been broken apart and burned.]

Building 35
[The second floor of this house has collapsed, but it forms a good seal against the elements and the ceiling of the first floor has yet to collapse, so it's still serviceable as an overnight shelter. There is a small kitchen and living room with basic furniture, though no electronics or appliances. Small, finger-sized holes have been cut into the couch cushions. There are some small dents and scuffs on the walls of the kitchen. A small snow fort has been built outside. One of the cabinets is marked with an X made of blue painter's tape. A few splintered remains of a chair have been stuffed into one of the cabinets. On the chair is a note: "Feel free to use as you see fit : )! Be careful of splinters!" There are snails drawn in the margins of the page.]

Building 34

[rubikscomplex]

[House's interest here is mainly waiting for Ecks and claiming the ten precious minutes of hot water for himself for the night. Will and Hannibal can claim the hot water when it rolls around to the morning.

For the moment, he's playing with his Rubik's cube, absently twisting it and solving it. There's very little thought he has to put into this puzzle, so it's more something to do with his hands while he waits.

If Will or Hannibal approach him before Ecks' arrival, he'll very deliberately ignore them until the golem shows up. Or until they actively attempt to engage him in conversation.]

[ecks]

[When Ecks shows up, she looks much the same as she did when he last saw her apart from her hair no longer being braided...and apart from the newer bloodstains over top of the ones she'd more or less washed out after she'd killed Dr. Watson.

She looks around the room as she enters, noting the others if she can see them -- she remembers spending a night here, early on, with entirely too many people. Bad things had happened then.]

Hello Doctor House.

[rubikscomplex]

[House looks up when the door opens. He sees it's Ecks and a part of him relaxes. On track for this now, at least. He picks himself up slowly, tossing the Rubik's cube on his pack, and meets her halfway across the room.]

You have the keycards?

[Hello, Ecks. House doesn't plan on being overly friendly with her under Hannibal and Will's watchful gazes. She's a weakness, pure and simple, even if she's one who can and does commit murder on his behalf.]

[ecks]

[She sets her duffel bag down immediately inside the door, not liking to have her hand occupied by it when there are strangers in the room. There's a weapon in there, yes, but the shovel she carries on her back is more quickly accessible anyhow. Her eyes follow the Rubik's cube curiously, but only for a moment.]

I still have both keycards. Do you have an SD card to put the programs on for copying? The machine does not copy programs from tablets.

[At least her natural tone lends itself to sounding businesslike, just as though she weren't feeling simultaneously thrilled to see him and pessimistic about these people for whom he is pretending to be injured.]

Buildings 34 - Night 307 cw: Post coital snuggling and pillow talk

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Their physical activity exhausted for the night, and hours yet to go before the hot water re-set, the heavy comforter was a heaven sent source of warmth while their sweaty bodies cooled. Will had come back to himself, settled back into his own head as he lay, sprawled against Hannibal, using the older man's chest as a pillow. It had taken some time and would be understandable if Hannibal believed he'd gone to sleep.

He certainly should have been exhausted to the point of sleep. Ahem.

But no. Will lay there quietly, fingers twining and untwining through his friend's chest chair in a pensive manner. Eventually his voice broke the silence of the room. ]

How do you find yourself adapting to all this?

Building 30 - Day 308

[rubikscomplex]

[A school that has begun to fall apart, bisecting the building. The only way to enter it is through the center, making it a bit difficult to properly search. There's a snowman outside with a sign in its hand reading "Z.D. <3 J.H". The school consists of two floors, both of which have scattered Ⓧs drawn on the boards in the classrooms.

Most importantly, the elementary school contains a music room with a working piano.]

[rubikscomplex]

[House's real purpose for being here is the piano. He'll do a post with some songs, but for the moment, he's here to play for himself. He lets the others go searching where they will, but anyone walking near the music room will hear the piano playing something or other.

In these moments, House can ignore the pain that stretching his arms brings, all of the anxiety, just lets himself get lost in the notes, swaying. Vicodin had been the escape he turned to after his leg, but music... music had been the first refuge in his life.

He plays the last note of the song and pauses for a moment, letting the quiet act as a rest, the beat before the next melody.]

[tablewithoutpity]

[Hannibal pads silently through the hall, his feet touching the floor without a sound, like a tiger's paws on the jungle floor. He listens to the music, his head canted slightly, a faint smile on his lips. When he comes to the door to the music room, that smile spreads, and he leans against the frame, taking in the scene, fascinated not merely by what House is playing but also by the way he is playing, by the way he holds himself, his body relaxed in a way Hannibal has not previously witnessed. Interesting.

When the last note fades, he speaks softly.]

Beautiful.

[rubikscomplex]

[House tenses for just a moment at the voice, pulling up mental walls he'd let down as he turns on the bench to look at the other man.]

Yeah. Guess the spiders're keeping it in tune after filling it with fake blood.

[His hands dance idly over the keys as he turns back.]

I'm taking it the cultured art professor costume comes complete with piano skills? Gimme another ten minutes, and you can play whatever you want.

[ecks]

[The school is nothing new for Ecks; she's been through this building any number of times now. She's been uneasy since she joined the group -- uneasy about these people Doctor House is traveling with but doesn't seem to trust, and uneasy about whatever comes next. It would be hard, though, for someone who didn't know her to spot that she's feeling any particular way about anything at all; her voice and her demeanor are, for lack of a better word, robotic.

While they're here, she takes the opportunity to rifle through drawers and shelves in the classrooms. If one catches her at it she'll just pause long enough to look up and see who's there before going back to what she was doing.

Or, for just a little while later in their time at the school, she can be found in one of the kindergarten classrooms, her duffel bag open beside her to reveal that it's absolutely crammed full of stuffed animals (plus a hatchet nestled among them that bears ominous brown stains). She's found a carpet with pictures of animals on it, and is setting up her animals to sit on top of their counterparts wherever she can find a match.]

Building 29 - Day 308

[rubikscomplex]

[A small shed outside the school, going inside reveals sports equipment is being stored in here. There are hurdles, various sports balls, giant mats, and the like. There's nothing that could be used as a weapon, though, unless you're going to try to hurl a basketball at someone's head.]

[rubikscomplex]

[Once everyone is back in the shed for the night, House holds up a red SD card. He puts on his best auctioneer-cum-ringmaster impression.]

Gather 'round, boys. Gather 'round. I got a trade deal on the table.

For tonight only, I present to you access to the Shadownet. What, you may ask, is this magnificent program? It's a text-only network that's hidden from the Admin. Some people use it to communicate privately or with Winter, one of our little AIs. Don't got it? Can't see what the rest of the folks are saying.

I'll take opening bids. Don't be shy now.

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ And here, Will had a conundrum.

In his pocket, he had what he knew was the top bid; the Vicodin. The problem was he couldn't determine which was the better course of action.

Trade the pills for an app that could make his (and Hannibal's) life easier and risk the entire group losing House as a resource? Or give up on the app and keep House sober for the foreseeable future. A route that was also better for House's health.

So rather than jumping into the fray, Will drifted back, arms crossing over his chest in the tell that indicated he was feeling uncertain or anxious about something on his mind. The truth was, his imagination was running through both scenarios; in full technicolor glory. ]

[rubikscomplex]

[House purses his lips.]

No takers? None at all? Exclusive, all access pass to the hidden network and we don't even get crickets?

For Will

[rubikscomplex]

[After the cat fight with Watson, House gives Will about twenty minutes to sulk while he explains things to Ecks. Then, the doctor pushes himself up, limps over to the stack of thick exercise mats and grabs a couple. He drags those over to wherever Will has settled and, without comment or preamble, begins to set the mats up in a fort around the younger man.]

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Will had eventually retreated to a far corner, where he'd sat down and drawn his knees up to his chest, hiding his face against his legs. While he was not unused to his mental landscape being a cacophony of chaos upon which he felt like a small boat pitching too far from shore, this was the first time he'd felt that spiraling sensation since arriving here.

There had been a certain level of mental stability he'd enjoyed in the days after he'd had the 'can't live with him, can't live without him' discussion with Bedelia. When he'd begun to put a plan into place that deviated from Jack's at a couple of key turns, leading up to the moment on the cliff's edge. Even waking up to Norfinbury, Will had felt focused, part of that coming from teething against House and then the experiments they had been running since catching up with one another.

Further stability had come in the form of Hannibal, but as was often the case, Hannibal was a dual edged sword. He offered both stability and uncertainty as Will watched his dear friend and tried to gauge how the psychiatrist was settling into their situation. And of course the changes between their personal circumstances, though Will felt a level of peace and serenity ... a rightness on that front. He was more leery of how long Hannibal would tolerate their captivity and in what forms he may choose to lash out if that preternatural self-control slipped it's leash.

Part of Will recognized that this uncertainty was probably part of what played into the blow up with Watson, but it was only part. Trying to wrangle his thoughts was suddenly like trying to make order out of dead leaves, swirling on a cold winter wind. Complicated by the low level ache he felt in his limbs, core and head. Both the mental, emotional and now physical sense of wrongness threatened to stir up memories of when his mind had been burning within his own skull.

Was he just losing the tentative control he'd enjoyed in the aftermath of going over the cliff, or was his mind on fire again? Will found himself vacillating wildly; the haphazardly patched teacup, smashed across the ice into shards so fine, he couldn't even find a single one to pick up.

So entrenched was he into the cacophony of chaos in his mind, that it took the drag and thump of almost four gym mats to puncture his panic and draw him back to reality. Even then, when he looked up, Will narrowed his eyes a couple of times at House, as if he were trying to ensure that each time he brought the man's face into focus, it was the same. ]

Are you building me a pillow fort or creating a bomb blast shield to protect the rest of you?

[rubikscomplex]

It's called a Fortress of Solitude. Especially when you're wearing spandex tights.

[His cane thunks on the floor as he heads over to grab one last mat for the top.]

And you're depressing to look at. Like a kicked puppy. Who's way overthinking things. Stop getting lost in your head, or I'm gonna start throwing crap at you.

Building 326 - Day 310

[rubikscomplex]

[A fairly large building labeled Norfinbury High School. All the windows are blacked out. The lights here work, but you wouldn't know at first--they only turn on when someone is in the hallway or in the room, but lack of attention means it can take anywhere between thirty seconds to a minute before they actually respond. The hallways seem to stretch, the shadows seem to shiver. Each door is decorated with a prophet symbol, and the walls are covered in graffiti honoring the prophet and talking about killing sinners. Sometimes the doors rattle as you pass, or someone knocks on the other side.

A couple of classrooms still look normal enough, except for the black and red prophet tapestries adorning the walls and covering the windows. Still, the desks are in order, there's a board at the front, and they look like you'd expect out of a high school classroom. The front office, too, looks normal, as if it was actually used for administration--though, of course, there's no sign of the computers that must have been there.

The nurse's office, meanwhile, seems to have been converted to a surgical unit. There's long-dried blood everywhere, as if no one ever bothered to clean up. Indeed, footprints can be seen scattered around, implying people just wandered through while the blood was still wet. It looks like some people were even barefoot. The cafeteria has had all its tables attached to the walls, some covering the windows. The chairs are scattered around, some knocked over and some sitting quietly. There's no food to be found here. The library has been emptied of books, and all the shelves turned to face the wall, with eye symbols drawn on their exposed backs. The gymnasium has had its floor cut into, with eye marks carved all over. There are bleachers, but they're stuck closed, so it would be difficult to open them.

As for the rest of the classrooms? They're filled with thick blackness. Going inside causes all the symptoms of suffocation, and any light shone or brought in is immediately swallowed up.]

cw: stabbing, blasphemy

[rubikscomplex]

[House had followed Rhys' directions on the ritual to a T. He doesn't believe in this crap, but if this will prove to Beckett that it has nothing to do with magic, then so be it. They're in the school, and House has pulled off his many coats and ragged T-shirt to reveal the bandage over his heart where they'd removed his Prophet brand, the healing remains of vicious scratches all over his torso, chest, and arms (a match to the ones on Will), and a far too thin form. The belt holding his jeans up is on the last hole.

That's immaterial, though. He's having Ecks record on her tablet with the regular camera, and has propped his own up against a wall with the Eye app on to record with that. Will and Hannibal might well be around, but House hasn't called them over for this specifically.

He runs through the ritualistic chants, tone sarcastic, even if the language is one Ecks can't understand. There's a part of him that's fully expecting to get stabbed, but it's still shocking when it comes. He isn't even to the blood-letting part.

House breaks off mid-chant and gasps in a breath before swearing loudly and curling over, one hand clapping against his side. It feels like someone just stabbed an ice pick through him, and there's blood welling up and sliding between his fingers and down toward his waist.]

[tablewithoutpity]

[Hannibal's attention was elsewhere, but when he hears House's gasp he turns, and upon seeing the other doctor curl over he moves, with a quick smooth grace that is almost preternatural considering his size. He's at House's side in a second, there to help ease him to the ground.]

Where is the first aid kit?

[rubikscomplex]

[House grits his teeth takes short, shallow breaths, eye screwed shut tight.]

Pack. Front pocket. All the medical.

[The pain is overriding some more basic concerns, like letting Hannibal get a good look at his full inventory. Most of it is fine and things he'd let the other doctor know about anyway, but the bottle of acepromazine and a syringe to inject it with would have been hidden a little better and longer. There are a few things in there that might be of more immediate use to Hannibal. Disinfectant spray, hand sanitizer, gauze, adhesive gel that might be used in a pinch to bind small wounds, and a wide variety of band-aids.

House is clutching his left side, just below his ribs. When he pulls his hand away, Hannibal will see a neat, single puncture wound made with what might have actually been an ice pick, or something like it. From House's reaction, it doesn't appear to be immediately fatal. It's bleeding continuously, though, and seems to be rather deep.]