"Can't be interested in a hickey that's not there," House said, battling with a sense of paranoia creeping through the back of his mind. He knew there was nothing to be paranoid about--there was no damn hickey--and he hated that Foreman, just with a smug, casual comment, could override the certainty of that fact and make him doubt himself. He almost couldn't enjoy the way Foreman searched his coat for his things--not just a check for his keys, House noticed--but was sporting a satisfied grin as Foreman threw his coat at him. House caught hold of it, had to set his cane down to turn it the right way before shrugging it on.

He considered Foreman's question as he buttoned the coat, wondering what he was going to do with the fellows without a case. Give them pointless tasks. Send them to fetch his lunch. "Research," he answered, reaching for his cane again. He wasn't exactly thrilled to be up, still relatively drowsy, and leaving for work, all before nine o'clock, but there wasn't much use staying here, since Foreman probably wouldn't let him very far out of his sight. Not to mention that he could use a shower and fresh clothes. He kept a spare set in the bottom drawer of his desk for emergencies. This was close enough to an emergency.

As he walked slowly toward the door, trying to think of pointless tasks to assign to the fellows, he remembered that Terzi was starting today. Suddenly the day already seemed more interesting, and House turned to Foreman as he reached the door. "Or we could all play an icebreaker game and get to know the newest member of the team," House said, curious to see if the subject still pushed Foreman's buttons, got the same reaction as last night.