cutthroatpixie | Fic: Always and Never

Title: Always and Never
Fandom: House MD
Pairing: Amber/Taub
Word Count: 500
Rating: PG-13
Note: Written for

theunknownsoul , who said Amber/Taub. c8 of any kind.

Originally, he'd hated her. He thought she was too competitive, too cut-throat, too bitchy. He didn't like the stunts she pulled to get ahead, until he realised that she might have a point to her madness, until he realised that nature of hers might be used to his advantage, and that playing the game was really not all that bad. Once he got through those initial ill feelings toward her, Taub realised that Amber really was not all that bad.

Once he had reached that conclusion, he began noticing the good things about her. She always so put together, always ready for some intelligent banter. She played well off of House, which was probably something that would help her get the job, but he also felt that she played well off of Taub himself. It started off small, just some snippets of conversation here and there, a misplaced comment or two every now and then. After awhile, the comments became more bold, the banter more continuous, and actual conversations were even formed.

One night, Taub asked her to get a drink with him after work, and she accepted.

Outside of a working environment, outside of the twisted game they were playing, it was even easier to see the positive side of Amber. She had a great sense of humour, a soft laugh, beautiful eyes. When she wasn't working her ass off to manipulate, lie, cheat, and generally do anything else she felt she had to do to get that damn fellowship, she was really quite pleasant. She was still the same person, still competitive, still cut-throat, still bitchy, but she had a playful side.

Taub liked that side of her.

When House gave them all the task of getting Cuddy's panties, Taub had, at first, gone along with Amber's need to single him out and compete against him. It was fun, seeing her fail, seeing her glee when he also failed. He would have been perfectly content to go on like that, trying to one up the other, but Amber had other things in mind.

'You know, if we can't get Cuddy's underwear off, you could always just try and get mine.' She'd smiled a him in a conspiratory sort of way, a mischievous tone to her voice. He'd gone right along with it. They made their way to an empty exam room, and she made it very easy for him to get those panties off of her. It hadn't worked, but it sure had been worth it, and it had opened the door for their odd little relationship to take another turn.

She teased him about how he couldn't stay faithful to his wife. He made comments about how she'd probably sleep with House if she could, just to get the job. They'd scowl, they'd laugh, and they'd go on at work as if anything that went on outside House's office didn't mean anything when they were in it. It was fun, and that was all that mattered then.