[log] Fresh Poison Each Week [closed]

[rubikscomplex]

Characters: House, Wilson, Hannibal, Will, Ecks
Location: Building 317
Date: Morning 356
Summary: Post-event recovery
Warnings: Hannibal-related warnings, plus event-related: fingernail horror, toothloss, cannibalism, vomiting, forced feeding, PTSD, mental instability, hallucinations, are possible to come up.

[Judging from the outside, this was definitely a house, but going inside, it seems to have been converted into something like an infirmary. There are a lot of metal tables neatly arranged in the living room and kitchen, and the bedroom has a mattress lightly-stained with blood: it seems like someone at least tried to clean the thing up as best they could, and even flipped it over so the cleaner side is on top. The toilet and shower still work: the shower even has hot water. Makeshift shelves have been attached to one of the walls.]

Comments

cw: gore, hallucinations, mental illness, Will's brain is attrocious

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Music would probably be good for everybody, even Hannibal who could appreciate the piano music.

One again, Will was left thinking that if he had his shit even remotely together he'd thank House for the offer, but say he'd wait for the recordings. Sit up, brush himself off, double check on House and then they could both stop hogging the bathroom.

Except Hobbs was sitting in the tub, down at eye level and grinning fiendishly at him. Dolarhyde was standing over top of him, the blood from the abdominal wound Will inflicted was falling in a steady trickle, falling on the back of his neck and oozing thickly down the length of his spine. It was everything Will could do not to squirm and try to rub away the phantom sensation.

He didn't dare close his eyes, for fear of what waited for him behind the lids, so he had his forehead against House's collarbone, eyes locked on a button on the doctor's coat.

This was reality, not Hobbs and not Dolarhyde. The smell of tension did not obliterate the familiar scent of House and combined they were still more powerful than the stench of blood and opened bowel.

Clearing his throat, Will considered his options and went with the classics. ]

Beatles. Going to go with the original boy band sensation.

cw: gore, hallucinations, mental illness, Will's brain is atrocious

[rubikscomplex]

[House breathes in deep the scent of Will's hair. The ex-profiler has a habit of keeping himself rather meticulously clean, which is nice given their current conditions. The doctor mentally sorts through his catalog before choosing something apropos, something for Will's vivid imagination to grasp. He pulls Will just a little closer and sings softly, breath ghosting over the younger man's ear in warm puffs.]

Picture yourself in a boat on a river
with tangerine trees and marmalade skies.
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly:
a girl with kaleidoscope eyes.

Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
and she's gone...

Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Ah...

[He sings the whole way through the rest of the song, hoping the words paint a new picture in Will's mind, as well as his own. One that's bright, colorful, strange, but absent any of the horrors in the worlds they know, here or at home.]

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ House's deep baritone, even when sung softly, had the capacity to slice through the cacophony of noise that was a near constant companion for Will. Being able to feel the rumble of his voice offered a additional tactile anchor in these circumstances as well.

Though Will was almost viscerally afraid of closing his eyes, as House's voice continued to paint much brighter, if slightly nonsensical pictures, Will took a deep breath and whispered. ]

I'm trusting you.

[ With those words, he let his eyes close and put his faith in House's choice of song and voice to keep the terrible images at bay. ]

Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers

[The meadows that surrounded his little house in Wolf Trap, the way they looked in the spring time, full of wild flowers. At least one dog ending up with a bee sting on their nose; they would never learn.]

That grow so incredibly high
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore
Waiting to take you away
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you're gone

[How far he could drift away from it all, when he sat at his desk and worked on a season's worth of flies. The one time when memories of working on them with his father, chased away the echos of whatever nightmare case Jack had sent him on.]

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
Picture yourself on a train in a station
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes

[Those mornings, when the sun rose over the river and so many colors -a kaleidoscope of colors- from the trees, the leaves, the water itself and even the fish within, would be so brilliant. Even the darkest of the monsters couldn't dim the beauty of nature around him.]

Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds

[ Will could hear the wind down as House's voice began to reach the end of the song. He had to let go, had to sit up and both of them had to head back out. The music from the tablet would help, even if it lacked the warmth and the feel of the music moving through his cheek where it rested against House.

But Will was a selfish creature and he stayed in place until the last soft baritone rumble began to fade. ]

[rubikscomplex]

[House just breathes for a moment when he finishes the song. Music had always been one of his safe places, an escape. The damn "Lavender's Blue" song that had played off and on in his head at one point, interspersed with static and "long live the Prophet," had tarnished that. But the feeling wasn't gone. It had kept him and Strange sane, at least, when they'd been in the tower. He'd fought back against Kid the Cultist with music until he couldn't. And music is one of his first connections to Will from that fateful encounter.]

One song. I'll find more of my Beatles stuff in Strange's playlist.

[Time to go back to the real world to a degree. He doesn't want Will's more pleasant reality collapsing. But they need to pull apart, reestablish the order that says neither Gregory House, nor Will Graham, particularly like people touching them. That is true. House can't stand most people putting their hands on him. Will, though? He's okay.

He starts to untangle himself from the embrace, sitting back and offering the other man a smirk.]

Also, this is super gay. No homo.

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Will remembered the conversation they'd had about music and the role it played in both House's life and his psyche. He wanted to think that his friend got something out of singing, at least as much as it had helped sooth and center the ex-profiler.

When the song wound down, and House mentioned finding more on his play list, Will slowly began to gather himself and work to accept that it was time to unwind from the brief cocoon they had woven around themselves. As the doctor began to disentangle himself, there was a brief clench of Will's hands into House's coat, before he released the older man and helped draw apart.

He laughed, softly, in response to the smirk and shook his head. ]

Tsk. [ He scolded, though it was obvious he was playing. ] Keep yourself open to the moment, dude.

[ The words left his mouth, that odd mimicry he sometimes did, but as the last word rolled off his tongue, Will looked a bit apologetic. ]

Right. For future reference I don't believe I should ever utter the word 'dude' again.

[rubikscomplex]

[House's brows rise at the 'dude,' but then his smirk widens to one of his rare, genuine smiles.]

Nah, you're definitely more a 'bro' kinda guy.

[The doctor stands and steps aside, offering a hand down to Will to pull the other man up. He offers his friend a wink.]

It's the shaggy hair thing.

[Nothing's really been fixed about the situation with Hannibal, but at least House can say he's not alone in the knowledge of what's going on. That's... something.]

cw: mention of suicide

[ex_this_ismydesign36]

[ Unfortunately, for both of them, when it came to fixing things with Hannibal, it usually involved the nuclear options.

Such as a duet dive off a cliff or Will leaving and taking Hannibal with him. The first had ended up reversed when they ended up here in Norfinbury and the second ...

He wanted to stay.

The smile earned House one of Will's quick, warmly amused looks, before he took House's hand and got up to his feet. At the crack about his hair, Will reached up to ruffle his fingers through his hair, prepared to argue the point, only to feel it's length. ]

Suppose it might be time to put a knife to good use. [ He acknowledged, almost crossing his eyes to peer at the overhang of his own bangs. Such a simple, mundane thing in the wake of conflict and comfort, but it was right. It was how they did things, and it worked. ]

[rubikscomplex]

Why don't we go with my scissors and have the bf do up your coif like he wants it? I like the MacGyver-ing with the knife idea, but I think we can do a little better than that.

[He turns to open the bathroom door again, but pauses. House doesn't look around, but his voice goes softer.]

Thank you. For listening.

[To what he said? To his panic? To the music? All of the above. The doctor doesn't wait for the ex-profiler to respond. He twists the handle and heads out. Time to find his tablet and put on some tunes.]