Ficlet: Not-Staring Contest [1/1] Chase/Cameron

Title: Not-Staring Contest
Author: Perpetual Motion
Fandom: House
Pairing: Chase/Cameron
Summary: He’s trying not to stare.
Rating: PG

Dis: Not mine. I made it all up.

Author’s Notes: Oh, good Lord, het. But I have a very good reason. See the shiny icon? aj_raffles made it special for me way back in December and wanted Chase/Cameron in return. So, Chase/Cameron it should be.



Not-Staring Contest
By Perpetual Motion

He tries not to stare at her. It’s rude, and it’s unprofessional, and while he may have a crush, he’s a grown man who has the ability to keep himself in line. So, he tries not to stare, but sometimes, every once in awhile, Cameron--he can’t think of her as Allison when they’re in the same room, it makes him wonder what it would sound like to say her name aloud--does something that strikes him as so utterly *feminine* that he *has* to stare.

This is one of those times.

They’re just sitting around, waiting for test results, and he’s working a puzzle, and Cameron’s on the computer, and Foreman has disappeared somewhere without saying anything. Chase doesn’t really care where he is, just as long as he’s not grumbling in a corner like a particularly prickly bear. He’s splitting his time between a five letter German word for ‘a man’s attire’ and watching Cameron’s back as she most likely sifts through House’s e-mail. He’s appreciating the line of her back and the way her hair is half down as he chews on the end of his pencil, and then she leans forward a little, and Chase bites down hard on his pencil because her pants have slid down a little, and he can see the edge of her underwear.

And they’re blue. Electric blue. And they’re sheer.

Chase doesn’t know what to do. Is it completely inappropriate to let her know that her underwear is showing? Certainly she can’t be aware of it. Cameron is a hard-core professional. She wouldn’t want her underwear to be showing. But how would he tell her? There’s no international sign for ‘I can see your underwear, just in case you want to adjust your pants’. And besides that, there’s a secondary urge that he’s fighting. He wants to walk up behind her, slide his fingers into her back belt loops, and give her pants a gentle tug while he presses his nose into her hair, and she laughs quietly and presses back against him.

“Stop that,” she’d say, while turning her head halfway so that he can see her smile.

“Not my fault,” and his voice would be affectionate and warm. “Your knickers are showing.” And he’s say ‘knickers’ because it would make her laugh again.

“You’re on the American side of the ocean. They’re underwear.” And she would smile again and flick her hair over her shoulder at his face.

“Knickers,” he would insist, then kiss her on the cheek and slide his hands from her belt loops as he stepped away. “And they’re lovely.” Then, she would blush, and he would smile, and she would touch his hand before turning back to the computer.

“Chase.”

He’s snapped back to reality by Cameron’s voice, and he realizes that he’s chewed the eraser off of his pencil. There are little rubber bits all over his mouth. He manages to mumble a ‘yeah?’ as he takes a drink of water and swishes it around his mouth.

“You okay?” Her eyes are concerned. She raises her eyebrows when he walks over and spits into the trashcan.

“Fine. Fine.” He runs his tongue over his teeth and grimaces at the taste. “I’m trying to find a five letter German word for ‘a man’s attire’.”

“Oh, that’s Anzug. A-n-z-u-g. It’s capitalized.” Cameron smiles, obviously glad that things are okay.

Chase sits back down and scrawls ‘Anzug’ into the space that he hasn’t actually been looking at for the past five minutes. “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” She turns back towards the computer, and Chase notices that her clothes are set to rights again. He goes back to trying not to stare.