New Fic: What You Need: The Fifth One

[namaste]

Title: What You Need: The Fifth One
Author: Namaste
Summary: "So where do you buy these things? Do they have cane stores?" -- John Henry Giles, "DNR" Stories of how House came by his canes over the years, told through a series of short fics. PG. This one is about 420 words. Part five of thirteen.



The fifth one is dark and slender. House worries it won't hold his weight when he first sees it in the rack, but he likes the way it blends into the display's background. When he picks it up, it's even lighter than he expects.

A card hanging from the handle claims it's reinforced with some high tech polymer that mountain climbers use, and promises it's both light and sturdy. House places it on the floor, and despite the size and weight, it hits the linoleum with a solid sound and feel.

He looks down the aisle, to make sure there's no one watching before he puts a little weight on it. It holds steady and he leans on it a little harder.

House checks the price on the tag, and nearly puts it back in the display. A hundred bucks is more than he wants to spend on a cane. He hadn't come here looking for a cane at all. He's only in the drug store because at 2 a.m., it's the nearest place to his apartment that's still open and sells cold beer.

They've changed the layout of the place since the last time he was there, and House had to walk past the small stock of canes to get to the beer coolers. He saw the skinny one out of the corner of his eye, and stopped to look at it on his way back.

He holds it up. Forget mountaineering. This is like a fighter jet, this is stealth technology. The dark material seems to blend into the denim of his jeans and he has a momentary thought that maybe something this small and dark will be harder to see -- and easier for strangers to ignore.

House knows he can't hide from everyone. Every step he takes makes it clear that he's a cripple, even if people never noticed the cane they'd see the way his body angles to one side. But it would be nice to think that every once in a while, maybe they wouldn't see it. Even just for a moment.

He puts the cane on the floor again. It feels good under his hand, steady beneath his arm and shoulder. He takes a step forward, then another and another. He walks back to the display. He tucks his old cane under his left arm, grabs the beer in his left hand, places the new cane on the floor and heads to the cash register.

The sixth one is a bit ...

Comments

[avidreadergirl.livejournal.com]

I really love this series! Are you going to let us know how he gets the antique vintner's cane or the silver handled dress cane from all in?

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. The next cane will be a familiar one, actually.

[hibernia1.livejournal.com]

Great one once again, I totally understand that House'd love for people NOT to notice the cane, as it seems when you walk around with a cane you might as well hold a sign saying "Hey! Please ask me some personal questions about my leg in a loud voice!". Thanks for sharing, I love this series.

[cindy-lou-who8.livejournal.com]

Ditto :)

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

You're welcome. I don't think House minds people paying attention to him ... just not because of the cane.

[phinnia.livejournal.com]

This is like a fighter jet, this is stealth technology.

That is such a very House-thought. <3

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I figured if House was going to spend his own money on a cane, it'd be one that was high tech.

[pwcorgigirl.livejournal.com]

That little hope that "every once in a while, maybe they wouldn't see it" is wonderful.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. It likely won't happen, but I can't blame him for the hope.

[deelaundry.livejournal.com]

Stealth technology is exactly what House would want. Excellent!

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thanks. I figure House always likes the really cool stuff.

[blackmare-9.livejournal.com]

Finally reading these now that I'm back at my own computer. Wonderful stuff.

A little typo at "hundreds."

Off to read the next one now.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Welcome back. And thanks. (Thanks also for pointing out the extraneous "s.")

[angelcat2865.livejournal.com]

Well Done!

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thank you!

[poeia.livejournal.com]

The only time House likes people to see the cane is when he's using it to keep them from getting too near him. Stealth is just his style the rest of the time.

Of course, House must not have been living in NJ at the time. You can't buy beer in drugstores or convenience stores or supermarkets or... there.
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=690121

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Well dangit, another odd New Jersey law. (You can't pump your own gas, there's no tax on clothing, and you can't buy beer except at a liquor store and not after 10 p.m.? Weird.) I modeled this after one of the local drug stores here which actually does have its cane supply near the beer coolers. The two things at the back of the store are, of course, the pharmacy counter and the beer coolers.

[poeia.livejournal.com]

For a few years my parents rented a place in Cape May for a couple of weeks so the grandchildren would come. (The were delighted to have my sister, brother-in-law and me stay too, but that's not why they rented it.)

One year I took the car into town and asked if anyone needed me to pick up anything on the way back. Yes, beer. As I'm not a drinker, that's when I learned that you had to go to a liquor store for that. I did know about the odd way they license restaurants.

But that was many, many (many) years ago. I had to check if the law had changed before commenting.

[joe-pike-junior.livejournal.com]

Forget mountaineering. This is like a fighter jet, this is stealth technology.
Ha, very House.

I like the thought, subtly or not-so-subtly put, that House doesn't like to stand out absolutely everywhere he goes.

[namasteyoga.livejournal.com]

Thank you. I do think that House picks and chooses the times he wants to be noticed.