unpopcorning Gregory House

[reuben-sandwich.livejournal.com]

nb: he has no recollection of his time here prior to being popcorned


Pop!

House stood very... very still. Moments before he'd been doing...

Actually, he couldn't remember what he'd been doing. He'd been doing... something. And he was pretty sure it had nothing to do with giant popcorn. And he was also pretty sure he hadn't been standing in a room, amongst giant popcorn, a moment ago but now he was. Or maybe he had been standing in a room full of giant popcorn. Except what would he want with giant popcorn? And, come to think of it, who the hell made giant popcorn?

He turned his head to the left and peered, bewildered, at the popcorn that lay scattered to his left, then looked to his right and saw the same thing. This, he decided as he went to take a step forward, had to be a dream. Because being in a room full of giant popcorn made no logical sense, and dreams were definitely not logical. So, any moment now, he was going to wake up in his bed and wonder what the hell---

"Ahhhngh!" he exclaimed quietly, dashing his hand down to his bad leg. He gripped it hard, almost teetering over and trying to steady his balance with his cane. He gritted his teeth and frantically rubbed at his thigh to work the sudden fierce pain that was shooting through it. If this was a dream, it was a very vividly tactile one. And if this was a dream, then why wasn't he waking up from the pain? He drew in a sharp breath and let it out slowly in attempt to breathe through the pain, then forced himself to let go of his leg as he took a stiff step forward. His shoulders hunched and his face a grimace of both pain and bewilderment, he limped his way slowly out of the room and into a long, dark medieval-like corridor made of stone.

He stopped and looked both ways. Okay, now he was really confused.

Comments

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Ian had come to the second floor to check that he'd really seen Ellie Sattler's name there, and/or that she hadn't unpopped just as suddenly as she'd popped.

He arrived at the end of the corridor and saw a man limping on a cane out of the popcorn room.

"Hi there," he called. "Anything I can do for you?"

[reuben-sandwich.livejournal.com]

House was just about to head off towards the left because... well, he couldn't stand here for the rest of his life. Especially while he was in so much pain. He needed to wake the hell up from this dream, too, and fast. But just as he took a limped step, he heard someone call out from the right.

He looked sharply towards the voice and eyed the man suspiciously, if not cautiously. "Yeah," House said after a moment of sizing the guy up. "Mind telling me where I am?"

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

Ian started to answer, then hesitated. "Do you mean where you are in the building, or where you are in the more general sense? If you came from in there -" he pointed to the room at the other end of the hall, "- you could mean either."

[reuben-sandwich.livejournal.com]

House glanced over his shoulder at the room where he'd just come from, then back at the guy.

"How about we go with both," House replied impatiently. "Save us both the chitchat."

[ian-ma1co1m.livejournal.com]

He shrugged.

"In the larger sense, you're at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. That's in Scotland. This is the hallway to the Popcorn Room - that's the room I just pointed to. Ring any bells?"

[drlisacuddy.livejournal.com]

There wasn't a buttery smell, but the popcorn had been appearing at random as of late and Cuddy had almost become used to the sight and sound. It was just one of the many odd things Hogwarts had been churning out over her months here, but the consolation was, she was seldom surprised anymore. There had been a popping sound, and it wasn't too far away so whatever would come next was really anyone's guess.

Seeing House, though, that was a bit of a surprise. Limping through the corridor, heavily leaning on his cane and looking .. perplexed. Out of his element, confused, and drawn inward in pain.

Her steps quickened down the corridors and Cuddy came to his side. Her fingers moved to reach, to band around his arm.

"Are you okay?"

[ostianespionage.livejournal.com]

Matthew tended to wander past the Popcorn Room occasionally, to see if anyone interesting had returned. This was the first time it had been someone he recognized firsthand, though. "Oh, hey. Haven't seen you in a while." The thief grinned. "It was Doctor... Castle, right?" He knew damn well it was House, but Matthew never could resist what he viewed as an easy target.