"I won't be kissing his arse. Or anything else. Trust me," he replies, adding a tired shake of his head to accent his growing frustration. Any other time than now, he'd might be inclined to banter. "If Chase and I had a problem, I wouldn't be coming to you. You're not his keeper, and I'm pretty sure I'm a grown up. But thanks, for your concern."

Amory is an intractable nuisance, House. Now he's moved on to disturbing the peace of your desk, lifting a newspaper off a pile of medical documents and settling himself on one of the adjacent chairs. Why do you even have chairs, anyway?

"I can make appointments," he answers, (pretending) reading the paper as he speaks. "That doesn't mean I'll get what I need."