tomorrow, the shoulder ([info]atlashrugged) wrote in [info]house_cameron,
@ 2005-09-05 01:55:00
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Current mood:excited
Current music:cat being a bitch

Fic: Alien Tears; for [info]scullyseviltwin
Leslie, I know this is late, but perfection takes time.  And, so I don't know why this took so long.  First, a card, if only to prove how artistically inclined I am not.  Try to enjoy your story.  Don't pay too much attention to the subject matter.

«»

Alien Tears

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Rating: R (language?)

Feedback: Okay.

Random: Happy Birthday.  I know you love words.  Here are a bunch of them.  They’re all yours.

Summary: Outcasts always mourn.

«»

You hate cliché.  They turn the most significant events into banal two sentence conversations that last shorter than the average commercial.  And that’s how you remember it because you couldn’t prevent it from happening, but you can blame society for deeming it so fucking acceptable.

It was ordinary right before; you’d both been eating takeout at your apartment.  You noticed, you did, that Wilson was a little pale, a little sweaty.  But he was eating Thai food, after all.  You made fun of his tie and insulted his wife in short order; formalities were such a bore.  He responded, pointing out the amount of sex that you weren’t having, and how Cameron could change that fact, provided you stopped being an asshole.  That’s when he rubbed a hand up and down the cuff of his arm, seeming a bit confused.  You would’ve commented, except you had a mouthful of domestic beer.  But when his hand moved from his arm and went to his chest you knew exactly what was happening.  He slid sideways out of his chair while his heart, which had withstood three loveless marriages and your friendship, began to fail him.  You were at his side before his shoulders made contact with the floor. 

“Greg?” he said, as he grimaced.

He tried to loosen his necktie, but his panicked fingers wouldn’t cooperate.  You tugged at the collar of his shirt and he clutched your forearms.  All of the sudden he stilled and his eyes closed, like someone had flipped a switch, turning James Wilson off indefinitely.  You shook him and his eyes fluttered open.  Women were always jealous of his eyelashes.

“Wilson, don’t,” you sputtered.  You were never comfortable with the intimacy of using a person’s first name, which implied a state of need, and in the end left you feeling weak.  “Please,” you hissed.  “Look at me.”

The way Wilson’s eyes regarded you, almost a sleepy betrayal, caused your airway to tighten and fear to settle around your heart like a vise.  You loomed over Wilson’s crumpled form like a gargoyle projects from the side of a structure, grotesque but undoubtedly human.  You didn’t get scared, but you tore into the pockets of his pants and cursed sensible slacks as you searched for his cell phone: Julie’s version of a leash.  You quickly called an ambulance and when you were finished dropped the phone just as fast.

You leaned close, searching for expelled breath, hoping for a miracle, and resisted the urge to turn martyr for him when you didn’t find either one.  You gently tilted back Wilson’s head and knew it was the last thing you could do for him.  You pinched his nose and pressed your lips to his.  You swear to this day that his lips pressed back, and just as firm, but then again, you never said you loved him.

«»

The funeral was three days later.  You weren’t invited but showed up regardless. 

His coffin was brushed steel; even in death he couldn’t get away from the hospital.  You don’t remember the forecast including anything about rain, but you didn’t cry and it must’ve been another person’s tears that fell one at a time onto the shoulder of his tasteful jacket.  You stared down at him, everything in place, and you didn’t need contact from other human beings, but you discreetly tousled his hair because no one should be buried with a haircut like his.  He was laid to rest with your yoyo in his side pocket; you were sick of the damn thing, anyway.  And you only let Cuddy wrap her arms around you because you wanted to feel her breasts pressed against your chest. 

«»

You took a vacation because you didn’t feel like arguing. 

Cameron came over on your first day off and picked up your laundry.  You let her because it’s a woman’s job, and you told her as much.  She stayed only because she brought DVDs and said she’d cook you dinner.  You hadn’t muttered a word all day, which didn’t make her angry, but when you watched Die Hard, she said she thought Alan Rickman was sexy and you laughed.  She got irritated, decided to take it upon herself to defend the actor's honor, and pinched your side.  It was harder than you thought and made your eyes water.  When they didn’t stop watering, you figured it was allergies.  You stifled a sob or two because of what a tragedy it was for a woman to find Alan Rickman sexy.  You held her until she fell asleep because she was upset over Wilson’s death.  It was her sweater to which you were allergic.  That’s why you woke up the next morning with puffy bloodshot eyes and a raw throat.  She changed into a different sweater, but they must’ve been made of the same material, because you were allergic to that one, too.

«»

You kept no more than one friend at a time, anything more was too taxing, and that’s why you started spending time with Cameron.  She talked to you a lot and you listened because there was no such thing as ‘Must See T.V’ anymore.  You learned things about her.  She lost her virginity at eighteen behind a Ferris wheel, though you didn’t make a joke of it at the time, deciding to wait until later. You found out other things about her.  The weight of her left breast, for example, and when she goes down on you she has a hard time staying down, often leaving bite marks next to your navel and crescent shaped scratches decorating your flanks.  The first thing you did when you woke one morning and discovered she slept without underwear was to part her thighs like a ripe fruit.  You had woken up hard and, judging by the fact that when she came she nearly pulled a Tyson and bit off your earlobe, you’re certain she was in agreement.  Also, her middle name is Marie.

She’s moving in with you now because it’s less of a hassle when your friends live with you.  You met her parents because they happened to be in town at the time and you gave them both seats at you dinner table because her father is, for sure, a very big man.  Three years later she’ll give birth to your child.  He will not be spoiled if you hug him every chance you get because it won’t be difficult to love a son named James.



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[info]lyricalviolet
2005-09-05 06:24 am UTC (link)
Really great...I like the set up of this story...nicely done

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[info]sight
2005-09-05 06:33 am UTC (link)
*points to icon* >_>

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[info]xpaper_jamesx
2005-09-05 06:42 am UTC (link)
...

i cried.

WOW.

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[info]katiegsr
2005-09-05 07:04 am UTC (link)
that was beautiful *goes away blubbering*

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[info]folieaduexx
2005-09-05 07:17 am UTC (link)

Sniff, that was awesome! I love your work so much, haha.

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[info]yiukrane
2005-09-05 09:03 am UTC (link)
Wow, that was wonderful!

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[info]teenwitch77
2005-09-05 09:24 am UTC (link)
That was beautiful. I also cried. Love the self-denial.

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[info]sailtonorway
2005-09-05 09:49 am UTC (link)
holy SHIT. I hate character death, but this was executed well and it wasn't too angsty, just right. *adding to memories*

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[info]of_a_tapestry
2005-09-05 10:38 am UTC (link)
You swear to this day that his lips pressed back, and just as firm, but then again, you never said you loved him.

He will not be spoiled if you hug him every chance you get because it won’t be difficult to love a son named James.


*&^% ... nice.

i want to read your book when it's finished.
(i know you're writing one)


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[info]myshka23
2005-09-05 12:54 pm UTC (link)
freaking amazing. Loved it *sniffles*

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[info]alwaysexcused
2005-09-05 02:11 pm UTC (link)
*gulp*

NO words. Wow. Absolutely amazing!

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[info]craving_house
2005-09-05 02:12 pm UTC (link)
I loved this. I can't believe you killed Wilson, but it was still really good.

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[info]starhawk2005
2005-09-05 02:29 pm UTC (link)
He responded, pointing out the amount of sex that you weren’t having, and how Cameron could change that fact, provided you stopped being an asshole

*giggle* Wilson is love.

Awwww....Wilson died! And Cam as a Wilson-replacement. Hmmm...

Different, but cool! ;)

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[info]house_luvr
2005-09-05 02:31 pm UTC (link)
Sad, sad, sad, but in the end he could still love. Love this short story! BTW - Happy Birthday! (Belated) I'm on vacation, but managed to get to a puter this morning.

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[info]scullyseviltwin
2005-09-05 04:34 pm UTC (link)
That was literally heart breaking. I simply love your diction and your set up and the way you find a way to seamlessly slip into the intimacy that Cameron and House have... it was perfect. And thank you. Really.

It was fantastic and I love it.

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[info]heirofloki
2005-09-05 09:23 pm UTC (link)
Heartbreaking, and I loved it. But you know why I loved it? Second person, baby! You don't see that everyday. Oh well, and also because you're a fan-fucking-tastic writer and you make me wanna hide away my keyboard (LOL).

No, but really, this is great stuff.

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[info]van_canucks
2005-09-05 10:31 pm UTC (link)
holy fuck.

that was so bloody good. i don't know if i want to cry or take a drink. maybe i'll just settle for watching some house on dvd.
but man, that was really good.

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[info]van_canucks
2005-09-05 10:34 pm UTC (link)
oh yeah i forgot to add... i do find alan rickman oddly attractive. i love him in harry potter, but there i just find him more creepy than anything else. i really loved him in Love Actually even though he was a jackass there.

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[info]pandora_poet
2005-09-05 11:03 pm UTC (link)
*sputters*

Sooo good. So evil! Killing Wilson ... but the House/Cam ... I am so conflicted ....

O.o

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[info]acrimonius
2005-09-06 12:25 am UTC (link)
.. ;_;

That was great.

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[info]ultimate_cin
2005-09-06 02:41 am UTC (link)
Wow...that was beautiful. I'm bookmarking this. :)

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[info]baggers
2005-09-06 08:08 am UTC (link)
I've used this emoticon (whoa, that word feels so retro) exactly once, and it was in a mocking way. But I will use it now in all seriousness.

;_;

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[info]anamin
2005-09-06 04:56 pm UTC (link)
You bastard, you killed Wilson! But what a way to go. And you made me cry, not really, but I really wanted to. Good story.

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[info]katakombs
2005-09-07 06:20 pm UTC (link)
Some fic are well written but feel like they're from a different show. You write well, and the characters are spot on.

This is amazing. Sometimes I read your stuff and I wonder why I even bother writing.

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[info]cowgirl_cj
2005-09-07 11:04 pm UTC (link)
Oh my God, that was just...incredible. Everything was just so great. House's denials and rationalizations were just amazing, and I loved the end. Very well done.

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[info]sgr11
2005-10-07 07:41 am UTC (link)
Wow... just catching up on some reading... I've been swamped and I'm loving fanfics, and I just I love this... this story was just amazing... it just read so beautifully... wow, it was stunning, that's all I can say...

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[info]xanya
2005-10-07 08:26 am UTC (link)
Wow... like... why am I such a masochist? It hurts to read fics like this but I love them SO DAMN MUCH. Well, obviously I've gushed about your writing before but this was just as fantastic as any of the other fics, so more gushing is in store: FANTASTIC! It's really hard to pull of second person, so you get extra points for that. Even though I'm House/Cameron and I interpreted this as House/Wilson, I still thought that the House/Cameron was really... nice? You know, like, it was something that would help House, and I was convinced that he really did love Wilson, which is extremely odd for me. Okay, that was confusing, but the gist of it is that you wrote his feelings beautifully ambiguously with a healthy dose of self-denial. Great! So, I'm going to go and cry now...

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[info]lea724
2006-02-22 04:47 am UTC (link)
Oh, wow, that last paragraph is *amazing*! Love it.

Here from this link.

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[info]maddyriddle
2006-04-28 07:12 am UTC (link)
I love it.
You made me cry.

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[info]bana76
2006-07-31 05:42 am UTC (link)
I was linked to here.
I haven't watched more than 3-4 episodes of House, but this was so beautiful that I just had to comment! Wow.

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[info]dragynflies
2006-07-31 05:39 pm UTC (link)
I just found this through someone's memories and it was freaking amazing and so House and so perfect.

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Great reference to Alan...
[info]diagnosticmad
2006-09-03 11:05 pm UTC (link)
Yeah that was cool when you mentioned Alan...that was so sad about Wilson I almost cried...great piece...I am so glad its been nominated and I had a chance to read it.

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[info]weirdlittlemeg
2006-09-11 12:54 am UTC (link)
The part with the yo-yo broke me down lol yup i cried...i loved this, btw

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[info]mysidewayshalo
2006-09-17 06:19 am UTC (link)
OMG! That was great! Made me choke up

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[info]mikki13
2006-10-10 06:20 pm UTC (link)
This was absolutely excellent. I love, love how House made sensible excuses for each of his feelings, but you knew exactly how he felt. I love how you didn't come right out and say what was happening between House and Cameron, but fed us little tidbits so that we understood. This was very subtle, and very good. Great work!

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[info]dil_deal
2006-10-11 10:59 am UTC (link)
Oh, GOD!
That was beautiful, and heartbreaking.

"She’s moving in with you now because it’s less of a hassle when your friends live with you. You met her parents because they happened to be in town at the time and you gave them both seats at you dinner table because her father is, for sure, a very big man."
I adore these few lines, very touching.

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[info]princess_dexter
2006-10-19 03:11 pm UTC (link)
Amazing. Just such wonderful simplicity and such perfect, in-character observations for House to make. I love the point you made about having one friend at a time, and...yes. Just wow.

Fantastic writing. Well done.

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Wow
[info]missnyah
2007-01-03 06:58 pm UTC (link)
When Wilson died I think you had me almost as off balance as House. I liked very much how House's later relationship with Cameron was not romanticized but he had to keep making excuses to keep it that way. My favorite parts were:

"There's no such thing as Must See T.V. anymore."
"Also, her middle name is Marie."
"It won't be difficult to love a son named James."
That last one was my favorite.

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