#they're soooo soft and domestic. especially at home

[marc--chilton]

how would house & wilson comfort their pup if she had a nightmare? like when she was still a baby and so small and too young to be able to explain what she was scared of, so she was just giving off ‘scared, please, scared’ energy.

like i can see them having very different approaches to how to calm her down/soothe her. pls tell me your thoughts !!

AOUUUGHHHH LITTLE BABY NIGHTMARE.....

first of all, they have baby monitors. house makes fun of wilson for getting them but keeps the one for their room on his own nightstand. and this is AFTER having gone through the process of actually getting comfortable with the idea of her sleeping in the nursery (which takes house longer than he'd like to admit bc his instincts go a little haywire after the first time he holds her)

the first few times it happens it wakes house from a dead sleep and gets him moving only for him to fall back into bed with a gasp because apparently his body forgot, in its haste, that a pretty significant chunk of leg muscle is gone and We Can't Move Like That Remember?? and he just assumes the worst is happening and he can't get there fast enough and now his fucking leg hurts so he blindly punches wilson in the back to wake him up and check on her

back to the actual question. they DO have different approaches!!

wilson is all sweet words and soft smiles. "aw, you had a bad dream, didn't you, bug?" he coos at her, sleep-ruffled, gently wipes away snot and tears with his own shirt because this is his baby who's so upset, being gross isn't a concern at all. he sits with her until she calms down, holding her so her head is resting on his shoulder, closer to his glands to maximize the effect of the soothing notes in his scent. "you're okay, bug, abba's got you."

house, on the other hand, leans to a more primal route. he'll whisk her from her crib and weave a nest for them in the living room (or his and wilson's bed if wilson lets him) to hole up in. sometimes if it's bad enough house will be on full autopilot during all this, tense from the heartbreaking sound of his pup's whimpers but still purring for her benefit, all the while so dead set on making a custom safe space for them both. he barely actually talks, too, instead relying on instinctual vocalizations. not only is formulating the words for the feelings he's having incredibly difficult at times like that, but the wordless communication is easier understood by pups anyway. it's not a great habit to have -- for either of them really -- because sleeping on the couch destroys house's leg and makes him more irritable at work the next day but it's all secondary to giselle's wellbeing so he does it again and again and again