Flashfic: Four Eyes

[namaste]

Title: Four Eyes
Author: Namaste
Summary: Growing older isn't necessarily a bad thing. House and Wilson friendship. Written for the housefic_meta flashfic challenge to write a complete story of less than 1,000 words. This one is 322 words.
Concrit always welcome.
Sample: "You never do anything normal," Wilson pointed out.
House shrugged, tossed the glasses on his desk. "First time for everything," he said.




Wilson stopped halfway through House's office, stared at him.

House leaned back and waited "Go ahead," he said, "get it over with."

"Get what over with?" Wilson finally moved forward toward the pool of light cast by the desk lamp, noticing how the light reflected off the lenses in the glasses that perched on House's nose.

House took off the glasses, held them between his thumb and index finger. "So I got glasses, so what? Presbyopia typically manifests between the ages of 45 and 50. It's a normal part of the aging process."

"You never do anything normal," Wilson pointed out.

House shrugged, tossed the glasses on his desk. "First time for everything," he said.

Wilson stared at the glasses: wire rims, clear lenses, a simple design. They looked normal. Plain. Functional. Boring. Everything that House wasn't. He shook his head as he thought of House picking them out, probably looking for the cheapest pair in the store -- because House hated spending money on anything that couldn't be construed as "fun."

He sat back, looked up at House, noticed the lines around his eyes, wondered how long he'd been squinting at the words on a page or the lines on the computer before he finally gave in.

"Go ahead," House repeated. "Call me 'Four Eyes.' Tell me I'm an old man. I can take it."

"Too easy," Wilson said.

Old man, he thought. He realized he'd never pictured House as an old man, or even growing older -- never really tried. The few times he did, it was too easy to let his imagination go dark, to go down corridors that ended with self-destruction, with liver failure, with overdose, with a life Wilson would be left alone to mourn.

Now Wilson watched as House picked up the glasses, put them on his face. Old man. Maybe -- just maybe -- the future wouldn't be dark after all.

Wilson nodded, smiled. "They look good on you."

Comments

[chewy-101.livejournal.com]

Aww, awesome! House in glasses is hot, old man or not. (They should let RSL wear his cute glasses on the show, too).

I love how Wilson views this as a blessing that House is still around long enough to grow older. Very sweet!

[nightdog-barks.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is just lovely!

What a beautiful small story. *mems*

[cindy-lou-who8.livejournal.com]

That was perfect. :) Who says you need oh say 15,000 words to develop character/plot/etc? ;)

[topaz-eyes.livejournal.com]

Oh, that is gorgeous. So many levels in less than 500 words.

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is perfect. So many layers and implications in such a small thing.

*mems*

[annalully.livejournal.com]

Do you believe that you made cry over this little story? And smile too... It's absolutely beautiful!

There's something so touching watching someone you love getting old...

*mems*

[worthless-hope.livejournal.com]

So cute! I love how you worked in Wilson's need for House, even just as a friend. Lovely work.

[mer-duff.livejournal.com]

Plot and character development? Check and check!

Beautifully written (which goes without saying, though should always be said), and it felt complete in just 322 words. And so polished in such a short time frame.

It works perfectly in canon as well, with the appearance of the reading glasses.

[arhh.livejournal.com]

Perfection :) That last line says so much in so few words. Thanks for sharing :)

[misanthropicobs.livejournal.com]

Can't say much here - just want to add my vote in favor of all the superlatives everyone else has already said. It's perfect.

[carlanime.livejournal.com]

Oh, this is wonderful. I'm amazed and impressed by how much insight into the characters you conveyed in such a short piece.

[soulcanhope.livejournal.com]

What a cheerful story about House growing older- something the fandom is clearly lacking.
Love!
*mems*

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I'd been thinking of doing something involving House getting his glasses for a while, but couldn't think of where or how to use it. This seemed like the right opportunity.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thank you! But then I liked your 25 words too.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

But there's no sex! Surely it's missing something? Hee. Thanks.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thank you, and thanks for popping up the challenge which gave me an excuse to play with an idea that had been looking for a fic.

[paraoptomistic.livejournal.com]

SQUEEE! Glasses!fic! This glasses-geek loves it!

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I think one of the good things about writing short fic is that it allows for so much to remain unsaid -- which in turn opens up so many opportunities. It seems counterintuitive, but it works.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Aw, thanks. I wasn't really expecting that, but I appreciate the reaction.

[chewy-101.livejournal.com]

Do you think you will do anything like your 100 seasons pieces with series 4 of House? I so loved that last year. I'd be curious what you'd come up with if you included the three new fellows.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I do think that one of Wilson's biggest fears is being left behind ... again.

[worthless-hope.livejournal.com]

Definitely, especially by House. I understand that he loved Amber (and I really saw them going somewhere, even though I hated her, and Wilson changing for her) but I think it'd be harder for him to be left behind by House.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thank you very much. I always wondered why the glasses weren't used more often, but I think I'd just been waiting for the right opportunity to use them myself. And it's fun to see how "big" a short story can be.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. That last line was one that went through a few alterations (even in the short time I spent writing it).

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks very much. I'm sure it's far from perfect, though. Give me a few hours and I'll read it over again and want to re-edit again. The nature of the beast.