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sigritandtheelves · 9 months

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All Along, Like Fire (Part 7)

FINAL PART!

Mature | 3.4k words | MSR, AU

—

October 13, 1995

Mulder sat alone in his apartment, head in his hands, staring at the floor and thinking. Diana was gone—her things gone, most of the furniture, even the crock pot his mother gave them for their wedding. He wanted to believe that all of this wasn’t his fault, but he felt like a failure for the way their marriage had ended. And for the decisions he’d been forced to make because of it. At his feet was a lone cardboard box of photocopies, the most important documents he was able to salvage. It was the all he had left of the X-Files.

His clothes were also boxed up, along with his books, his trophies, his diplomas and knickknacks. Tomorrow morning, a moving truck would arrive, and he would say goodbye to this place forever. He wasn’t sorry. Just sad, a little ashamed. He’d let Diana make a fool of him here, let her seduce truths out of him while he was blindly manipulated for years. He’d planned to sulk alone until it was time to load the truck, but a knock on the door startled him. He opened it to three familiar faces.

“Well well well,” Frohike said. “If it isn’t the spooky birthday boy on Friday the 13th.” The little man shoved a bottle of Jack Daniels into Mulder’s chest and pushed into the apartment.

“Happy Birthday, man.” This from Langly who toted three pizzas, which he tossed onto the coffee table. Byers echoed the sentiment, carrying a mysterious white box under his arm.

“What are you guys doing here?” Mulder asked, not unkindly.

“Couldn’t let you sit alone on your birthday, could we? We’ve got a lot to celebrate.”

“We do?”

Frohike was digging around in the kitchen cabinet for glasses, but they were almost all packed away. He settled for a quartet of coffee mugs and plastic novelty cups. “Yes! Imminent divorce and new beginnings! Fighting the good fight!” He carried the dishes in and passed them around.

“We’re gonna miss you, Mulder,” Byers said. “But we all agree this is a good step. You can do some really good work this way.”

“Then why do I feel so crappy?” Mulder poured shots of the Jack Daniels into the mismatched cups.

“When’s the last time you saw Scully?” Langley asked, flipping open the first pizza and digging in for a slice.

“Last week.” Mulder frowned.

“Well, there’s your answer. Cheers.” Frohike knocked mugs with Mulder and threw back a shot. “All in good time, my man.”

Mulder downed his shot with a wince and reached for a slice of pizza. “What’s in the box?”

Langley waggled his eyebrows. “Goodies,” he said.

“Open it up,” Byers tapped the lid of the unmarked container.

Inside were several gadgets, one of which looked like a large gray brick, and at least two bulky phones with fat antennas.

Byers explained, “Those are hacked satellite phones that will connect from anywhere. They’re essentially untraceable and should hold their battery for several days between charges. Good for off-grid work.”

Langley was too excited to wait for him to ask about the brick. “And this one’s a hacked satellite modem. You’ll have internet no matter how remote you are. New tech, definitely not consumer hardware.”

“So you can stay in touch,” Byers added.

At the bottom of the box was a new laptop, which Mulder was sure had a range of nonstandard additions and upgrades.

“And we’re gonna come out to visit,” Frohike said. “Soon. Maybe this winter if that’s okay.” If Mulder didn’t know better, he’d think the man was choking up. He was touched, and another wave of sadness washed over him.

“Thanks guys,” he said, voice thick.

—

San Diego, CA

The warm California air made Scully think of her childhood—fond memories with Melissa on base housing, sticky summers when freckles appeared on all the Scully children’s noses. She drove up in front of a small house that was so like the one in which she’d spent those years. She double checked the address against the one on her paper; it was right, though she couldn’t imagine this unassuming abode as the site of any secret research. There was a small garden out front, wind chimes hanging from the porch roof. She breathed in deeply. There was no reason not to go in now except the terrifying thundering of her heart and the sense that there was no going back after this. She opened the driver’s side door and got out.

On the porch, she was greeted by two unsmiling men—not hired muscle, she thought. Maybe doctors in plainclothes to blend in with the suburban atmosphere. They wore khakis and polo shirts and the looked around, suspicious, before letting her in. Beyond the foyer, the inside of the house couldn’t be any more different than its outside. It was sterile, white, and filled with beeping machines and medical equipment.

“This way,” one of the men said. He led her up the stairs to the second floor landing, where a woman in scrubs was backing out of a room, closing the door behind her. The man led Scully to the left, to an open bedroom door that was just as sterile, just as white as the downstairs. Here, though, a crib sat in the corner—also white—with a mobile of farm animals hanging over it. In the center of the room stood Diana Fowley. Scully’s eyes ping-ponged between the crib and the woman she didn’t trust at all.

“Agent Scully,” Diana said.

“Not anymore.”

The other woman’s mouth twitched into a smile. “Right, of course.”

“Where is she?” Scully’s heart was pounding, and she wouldn’t allow herself to think about what—or who—was behind the other doors of this nightmare suburban experiment.

“In the crib,” Diana said, stepping aside to let Scully see. “She’s sleeping.”

Scully took three steps closer. She couldn’t breathe. As she approached, she saw a tiny figure in a onesie covered in stars, little fingers curled into fists on either side of her auburn head. “Oh my god,” she whispered.

The child looked perfect. She moved her lips into a subtle dreamy frown, and her long lashes lay against pink cheeks. Scully bent over to lay a hand on the baby’s chest, to feel the movement of her steady breathing and the tiny flutter of her heart.

“You can pick her up,” Diana said. “She’s yours now.”

Tears were blurring Scully’s vision. She tried to blink them away, but one slid down her cheek. She swiped it quickly. “And she’s well now? She won’t get sick?”

“She’s healthy,” Diana confirmed. “But she’s chipped. Like you are.”

A brief wave of anger flared through Scully, but she swallowed it down. She knew what she’d bargained for. She’d accepted the price. She brushed a finger against the baby’s cheek, and the child turned into it, as though seeking out comfort. “Does she have a name?”

“The nurses were calling her Emily, so that’s the name we put on the paperwork. You could change it, but that might take some time.”

Scully shook her head. “No,” she said. “No, I like Emily.” She couldn’t imagine giving up a single minute with this baby for the sake of another hoop she’d have to jump through. She swallowed hard against the lump in her throat, then reached both hands into the crib to scoop the child up. Emily wrinkled her little nose and let out a whimper, but didn’t wake. Scully held the baby against her chest, buried her nose in the impossibly soft skin of her neck, her downy head.

“Hello Emily,” she said, and closed her eyes against the enormity of it.

—

Traveling with an infant was a new experience for Scully, and not easy while alone. She was terrified that the baby would stop breathing in the back seat while they drove, that she’d be too hot, too cold, too hungry. But little Emily seemed happy enough, and slept for much of the first day’s drive. Scully had bought a pack-and-play, formula, bottles, and diaper packages in two sizes. Instant motherhood was even more frightening than leaving the job she’d worked so hard to prove herself in.

At a rest stop in Santa Rosa to change the baby and get some caffeine, Scully discovered something hard buried in the package of clothes Diana had sent with her. It was a small cryo-package containing three vials. One was clearly blood: Emily’s, she thought, dated July of this year. Before she’d been cured. Another was mysteriously green and unlabeled. The third looked familiar, an amber liquid she’d seen before. It was labeled Purity - 3.9506. A dated code: the current iteration of the vaccine. She almost didn’t notice the note tucked below the package:

To get you started.

- DF

Scully wanted to hate Diana, but she found herself unable to conjure the same fury she’d felt last year. This was a gift that Diana taken great risks to provide. Whatever bargain she’d made to keep herself safe, it was clear that the woman was still ensnared by the Syndicate’s poisoned grasp. Scully allowed herself to feel grateful to her, despite everything she’d done. Scully placed the vials back in the chamber and made a note to store them with her own recovered ova. Emily had woken up when the car stopped moving, and was beginning to fuss. Scully shoved the clean onesie into the diaper bag and unbuckled the baby, hushing softly to her and humming.

“Shh, it’s okay,” she murmured.

Scully was unaccustomed to the number of strangers’ smiles that greeted them. An elderly couple stopped to coo over the chubby infant, to remark how like her mother she was. Scully’s smile was tight-lipped and nervous. They weren’t wrong—the child did look like her. She had the same blue eyes, the same fair coloring. She tucked Emily’s warm little body against her chest and nuzzled her head.

“Let’s get you some food, hmm?”

By the third and final day of driving, fear had turned overwhelmingly to love. When the baby woke in the morning light, she greeted Scully with a wide, two-toothed grin. She sat up in her pack-and-play and pushed at the mesh sides.

“Good morning!” Scully laughed and felt a flood of warmth accompany her own smile. The little girl babbled a steady “yah yah yah.”

They had six more hours on the road, and then a whole new life ahead of them.

—

Lummi Island, WA

October 20, 1995

Beyond the mainland, the salt air reminded Mulder of chill mornings on the Vineyard. He could go fishing here, or watch the sunrise from a boat, every day if he wanted. Though the coastline and the island were different from the ones where he’d grown up, the place felt like home. The closer he drew to his final destination, the more the melancholy that had clung to him in the last two weeks melted away. He was nervous, but it felt more like excitement than anxiety now. He fiddled with the radio—there wasn’t much signal to pick up on the island, but he needed something to fidget with. The anticipation was almost unbearable.

He rounded a grove of trees and finally caught sight of the little house up a short driveway: blue clapboard, a tiny porch, a brown shingled roof over the cozy two-story cottage. He pulled up alongside a white fence—honest-to-god picket—and climbed out, stretching his limbs with a massive heave of his chest outward.

This was it. This was home, now.

The front door of the house opened, and he felt his heart stutter, then swell. There she was. There they both were. Dana Scully walked toward him with an impossibly cute baby on her hip, smiling broadly in jeans and a woolen sweater.

Mulder couldn’t help the grin that broke out over his face. He pushed through the waist-high gate and walked up onto the porch.

“There are my girls,” he said.

Scully blushed. “You made it.”

“I did,” he said as he reached them. He leaned down to kiss the woman he’d ached for over two long weeks. Her lips were soft and sweet, and her eyes dropped closed at the contact. He cupped her cheek, curled his other hand at her waist, and felt the pull of her middle toward his. “I missed you,” he said into her mouth.

Scully breathed deeply, eyes still closed for a moment, and nodded. Then he turned his attention to the baby.

“And you must be Emily.” The infant eyed him curiously and reached a finger out to touch his nose. “Hi baby.” She pulled the hand back and tucked two fingers into her wet mouth. Mulder booped her own nose in return, which earned him a shy half-smile as she tucked her head against Scully’s neck. “She looks just like you said. Just as perfect.” Mulder palmed the baby’s downy head, where blonde hair was growing in soft and fair. The little girl didn’t pull back or object, just watched him with something like awe.

“She’s been really good,” Scully explained. “I think she’s only cried twice since I brought her here. I mean she fusses, but…” Scully shrugged.

Mulder tickled the baby’s belly, and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a tiny stuffed fox about the size of his hand, and Emily’s eyes went wide. “You like him? That’s Mr. Fox.” He handed over the toy, which Emily grasped with both hands. “He’s like me.”

Emily pressed her little fingers into the fox’s button eyes, her tiny fingernails scritching at the plastic. Then she brought the fox’s head toward her mouth and bit down on the pointy nose.

Scully laughed. “She likes it.”

Mulder bent to kiss the top of the child’s head, then added another to Scully’s head for good measure. “Let’s go inside, hmm? I can’t wait to see how it looks in person.”

—

Later that night they lay facing each other on her bed—their bed now, Scully realized, and the thought made her heart beat faster. They were tucked under quilts and printed flannel sheets against the autumn chill. Emily slept in the second tiny bedroom next door, warm and safe with a mobile of colorful planets and her little fox beside her.

Scully felt the momentousness of this night, now that it was just them, now that they were really together. She found herself watching Mulder for doubts, for guilt, for regret. She held her own small sorrows: leaving her mother, leaving her job. But she feared most that Mulder would come to resent her for the loss of their work in D.C., their resources, their allies inside, as it were.

Mulder pursed his lips in a frown. “What are you thinking?” he asked.

Everything, everything. Her mind was spinning: What if we fail? What if we lose her? What if they take back the bargain and come for us all in the night? What if you never forgive me? But Scully just shook her head. It felt like too much to talk about now. “It’s nothing. It’s okay.”

She knew he wouldn’t believe her, and he didn’t. He moved his face closer to hers on the pillow. “It’s not nothing.”

Scully’s fingers fidgeted under the blanket. She heaved a deep sigh, and decided not to begin their new life by hiding things, by keeping anything bottled up. “I know we have a plan,” she said. “I know we’re not giving up and that our work will just be different here, but… it’s pretty enormous change—all of this. You must have doubts. I just don’t want you to… regret this. Because of me.”

Mulder was quiet for a long moment, his brow furrowed in thought. “I understand why you might think that,” he said finally. “I know that in a lot of ways, this feels crazy.”

It did, Scully conceded. Two months ago, they woke up in their separate city apartments and put on suits to go to work for the government. Mulder was married to another woman. Now they were on a remote island off the west coast, with a baby for god’s sake, planning a resistance to a global colonization in secret. Their lives couldn’t be more different.

Mulder reached an arm across the space between them and took hold of her hand under the blanket. “It’s hard for me to explain why, but this feels right.” She could barely make out his features in the dim light, but she sensed how serious his face was, how intense his look. “Scully, all of this started for me, because my family lost a little girl, and it ripped us apart. I lost her. I lost my family. I needed something to fill that emptiness, and I did it with work, which I thought might help me find her again. I wanted so badly to fix what happened to us.”

Scully nodded. She felt her chin wobble at the profundity in the pause between his words.

“But the same evil that took my sister also gave me another little girl. And it gave me you.” He squeezed her hand. “I still need to know what happened to Samantha after my father used her as a bargaining chip. And I will find out. That hasn’t changed.” He swallowed hard, and Scully wanted very badly to lean over and kiss comfort into him. “But this,” he motioned between them, “is a real chance at family, and that’s something I never thought I could have again, not even with Diana. I don’t know what kind of father I might make, if that’s even what you want from me. I didn’t have a good role model. But… I want us to try.”

Tears were dripping down Scully’s nose now into the flannel pillowcase, and she found it hard to speak. She sniffed. Nodded. Bent her forehead to touch his. “I want that too,” she managed to say. “And I want… Emily to think of you as her father. If that’s okay, I mean. If you want it.” She shook her head at her nervous rambling. “I just know you’d be a really good dad.”

Mulder nuzzled her nose with his own , unmindful of the damp. Then he tipped his chin to kiss her lips, sliding his arm around her middle and pulling her toward him. They held each other tight in the near-dark. “Yeah,” he croaked, and Scully realized he was on the verge of tears, too. “I want that.”

Her head fit perfectly, tucked under his chin. Her face pressed against his t-shirt where she could feel his heart beating, and she pressed a kiss there. She pushed one knee between his and breathed deep, letting the smell of him, of them together, fill her with warmth and need. God, she loved him so much. It was like she’d been holding her breath her whole life, and now she was gulping in oxygen. She knew, then, that they would make this work.

“Well,” Mulder said, his tone lighter now, “if I am any good at it, we’ve got all those little frozen uber-Scullys in storage. Maybe we’ll just make a whole tribe, huh?” His hand was on her waist, and he slipped it between them to poke her belly.

She laughed through her tears, nodding. “Yeah, maybe we will.”

And then he was kissing her and she was kissing him back and it was getting too hot under the blankets for all these pajamas. They were hungry for each other. He touched her like she was the only thing he’d ever wanted, like this was the only thing that mattered. They made love in tear-streaked desperation: clutching, dizzy love—though they were quiet and mindful not to wake the baby (their baby) with too much noise. After, when they’d slept an hour or so, he woke her gently with more kisses. This time their lovemaking was slow and gentle and reverent—like they had the rest of their lives.

— END —

A/N: I had many ideas about what their big plan was to save the world, how they’d build a network of allies through the Hosteens (and the Lummi people that they are so close to now), because who better to help them survive colonization than the people who have already survived it? But this ending also felt right and I think I’m happy with it. Thank you so so so much to everyone who has read and left hearts and kudos and comments. This was supposed to be a one-off little thing. It’s no novel, but it’s more than I’ve been able to write in a while.

#a thing i wrote #xf fanfic #msr #au #all along like fire #part 7 #FINAL PART!#it's done y'all

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scullysexual · 4 months

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You're Never Just Anything To Me

@today-in-fic | ao3

A look into Mulder and Scully's relationship starting from Millennium going all the way up to Requiem.

Based on this post.

Prologue: The Unnatural.

The phone rings just as he gets through the front door. He takes his baseball jersey off, tossing it onto the back of the chair before reaching over to grab the phone before it can go to the answering machine.

“Hello?” Mulder answers.

“Hi, it’s me,” says Scully sounding uncharacteristically shy.

Mulder grins, sitting himself down on the couch and leaning back. He imagines her sitting by the phone, watching the clock and counting down the minutes it takes for him to drive from her apartment to his own, waiting for the right moment to call him.

“Hey, is everything okay?” he asks.

“It’s fine. I, uh…just wanted to say that I really enjoyed tonight.”

Mulder smiles, feeling the warmth spread through him at the memory of their evening.

“And I also wanted to say that I forgive you.”

Mulder leans forward, holding the phone tightly to his ear.

“I didn’t intend on missing you’re actual birthday, Scully,” Mulder says. The guilt of doing so still lingers even five months later. “I just…lost track of the days. I know it’s no excuse, I just…You know how I get.”

There’s a pause before she says quietly, “I do…”

“And then there was that undercover case and you seemed so pissed off at me.” Scully scoffs though she disguises it pretty well with a laugh. “Rightfully so,” Mulder adds quickly. “And then we just got hit with X-File after X-File and…your birthday card still sits on my mantle piece. I felt guilty every time I looked at it.”

“Is this how you came up with tonight?” she asks.

“Sort of. I’ve been wanting to do something for a while, to make up for my poor planning.” He pauses for a second. “Did it work?”

“It did,” Scully answers. Mulder grins from ear to ear. “And it also got me thinking about other things,”

Mulder’s ears prick up. “Oh yeah?”

“About your…offer.”

Mulder’s stomach twists waiting, his heart beating wildly against his chest as he waits silently.

“My answer is yes.”

He swallows, unsure if he’s heard correctly.

“Scully…”

“But—”

Mulder waits once more, clutching the phone.

“We take it slow. I don’t want to rush into anything. I don’t want to screw anything up.”

“Of course,” he says finally letting a out a breath. “Of course, we can go as slow as you want.” He can’t stop the smile from spreading across his face. “Scully, I…” He wants to say he loves her but does that count as too fast? “I promise I won’t miss another birthday again. Or anniversary, or anything like that.”

Scully laughs through the receiver. She, too, sounds lighter, like she’s free of everything holding her down.

Mulder starts looking around for his calendar and then realises he doesn’t own a calendar.

“I’ll buy a calendar,” he says. “Give me some dates and I’ll write them down in big letters. I promise I won’t forget anything ever again.”

“Okay,” Scully answers, the hint of laughter still in her voice.

“I won’t let you down,” he says, suddenly needing her to know. “I’ll treat you right and we’ll go at your pace.”

“Okay,” she says again and he can hear the belief in her voice. “I’m going to go to sleep now. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

Right, tomorrow was Monday, a new work week.

“Yeah. Yes, you will.”

“Goodnight, Mulder.”

“Goodnight, Scully.”

The dial tone sounds and Mulder leans back against the couch, phone still stuck to his ear. He felt different, lighter, an entire weight taken off his shoulders.

#the x-files #the x files #txf fic #xfiles fanfiction #soss #season 7 #the unnatural #scullysexualwrites

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thesokovianaccords · 7 months

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(press you to) the pages of my heart

four: "come here. let me fix it."

a steggy friends to lovers au (also on ao3)

They were going to be late. Even for them.

(Though Steve would swear up and down it wasn’t his fault. Peggy would swear that he was lying.)

“It’s basically the same costume, anyway. How are you still not ready?”

“I had to send Tony an angry voice note first,” Steve shouted from his bedroom. “Really, it’s his fault we’ll be late.”

Peggy tapped their new and improved badges against the kitchen table. “Pepper’s a natural redhead. It makes more sense for them to be Mulder and Scully. Also, I somehow managed to make new badges, find realistic neuralyzers, and fix my costume before you tied your tie.”

“Well, I got into an in-depth debate with both of them over who deserved a quote-unquote ‘couple’s costume.’ That ate up some time.” Steve walked out into the living room, his eye roll audible across the apartment. “They both had lots of unsolicited opinions, so you’re welcome for sparing you from that.”

“My hero,” Peggy scoffed, grabbing their drinks and dropping next to Steve on the sofa, as he tied his shoes. “Hopefully the party will still be going when we get there.”

Steve sent her an incredulous look, and they both laughed. “Yes, right, fine. It was impossible to even think that with a straight face.”

“Sometimes I still feel hungover from their 4th of July party.”

“Ah yes, the Steve Rogers Birthday Bash, T-M,” Peggy said, holding up her hands in brackets to showcase the trademark with the aplomb it deserved. And because he always glared at her when she did it.

“Yeah, yeah, hilarious. So funny. I’m dying of laughter.” Steve pushed himself to his feet and pulled Peggy up to hers too. “Are you ready, Agent P?”

“What are you saying, Agent S? Don’t I pass muster?”

He gave her a once-over so quick she might have been insulted, if the warm weight of his gaze hadn’t pinned her in place for those few seconds. Her breath caught for an embarrassing moment as his eyes returned to hers. “You look beautiful. And deadly. Perfect, as always—except your tie is crooked.”

“It is not.” Peggy had no idea whether that was true—Steve’s compliments had thrown her for a loop, and recalibrating herself to focus on what he was actually saying was taking longer than it normally did.

He set their glasses on the coffee table and pulled her to their entryway. “Would I lie to you?”

“Yes,” she retorted, but unfortunately her tie was, in fact, listing to one side. “I swear I had it sorted—it must have gotten bored waiting for you to be ready too and decided to relax.”

Steve snorted as she loosened the knot and began to loop the fabric over itself again, but no retort came. He just watched her hands in the mirror as she pulled the long end of the tie through and tightened the knot. But once again, it hung slightly off to the side, and she groaned at her reflection. “These things are bloody impossible. I don’t know how you wear them every day.”

“It just means I have a lot of practice. Come here,” he said, dropping his hands to her shoulders and spinning her around. “Let me fix it.”

Peggy considered the possibility, with Steve’s knuckles brushing against her neck as he re-knotted her black tie, that she was dreaming. Or that she had taken complete leave of her senses. She and Steve were so often in sync—and naturally so, without any conscious thought behind it—that when they weren’t, when they seemed to be in the midst of wildly diverging experiences of the same event, Peggy felt unmoored. Speechless, even. How else could she explain Steve’s efficiency, his apparent immoveabiity, while she was left breathless at the sweep of his hands across her collar? And how was she meant to deal with this new reality, the one where she and her best friend were horribly, perhaps permanently, out of sync, and one wrong word or move could tear everything down?

Steve, oblivious to Peggy’s personal crisis, stepped back and placed his hands on her shoulders again. “There,” he said, a soft smile on his face. “Perfect. As always.”

Peggy placed a hand over the knot and cleared her throat. “As are you, Steve,” she said, relieved her voice stayed steady. “Now, let’s go save the universe. With tequila shots, preferably.”

He laughed and ran his hands down her arms, before taking a single step back. “Yes, ma’am.”

#saturdaystorkclub #steggy #steggy fic #steggyfanevents #steggy au #(press you to) the pages of my heart #thought it was time that I finally participated in one of these!#so here we go - a halloween themed friends to lovers ficlet #and they were roommates #featuring a bit of yearning and assumed unrequited pining #bc ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ that's why #I cannot emphasise enough that this is unbetaed and I am getting back into the writing groove #so thank you in advance for your grace and forgiveness lmao

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atths--twice · 7 months

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October 31, 2023

It's Halloween! And also the birthday of a very special little girl.

October 29, 2023

“Oh, these look amazing, Violet,” Scully said as she looked at the costumes their neighbor Violet had been furiously sewing to have them finished before Halloween. “I can’t thank you enough for helping us out. I am not a seamstress by any means.”

“Not to fabric perhaps,” Violet said with a smile. “But you are a doctor who has stitched skin and that is very impressive.”

“I’ll remember that when I chastise myself for not being able to work a sewing machine,” Scully laughed and Violet joined with a chuckle of her own. “Rachel will love these little patches you’ve added to Jacob’s costume and this Dorothy dress for Elizabeth is too perfect. Such a better feel than the costumes in the store.”

“And not a fire hazard,” Violet added and Scully nodded, her eyes wide.

“And I love the star tulle overlay on Faith’s dress. I know she’ll be scrambling to try it on and test out how it spins, as soon as she comes inside,” Scully said and Violet hummed in appreciation.

They had all come over to Violet and Denis’s house after dinner, to both take a walk and pick up the costumes Violet had been working on for a few weeks. Mulder was outside with Faith and Denis, looking for the wooden animals Denis had carved years ago and had scattered throughout the yard, so Faith could greet them and see how they were doing. Bella ran along beside them, sniffing for rabbits that were too clever to be out and waiting to be chased by an often clumsy black dog.

“You all will be the best looking group, I’m sure of it. You might run into others dressed similarly, but not as well done as you,” Violet said and Scully agreed. “Oh… and I made a little something extra for Faith.”

“You did? That was kind of you, but you didn’t have to go to any extra trouble.”

“Oh, it wasn’t any trouble at all. I enjoyed doing it. I don’t have much that fills my days and I definitely don’t have little ones here to spoil, or too close by, so I was happy to do it. Besides, it’s her birthday gift. Well, it’s… part of it, because we do have something else for her, so it’s just because I can.” She nodded at Scully matter of factly and Scully laughed.

“I’m sure that whatever it is, she will love it. Plus whatever else you got her.”

“It’s-”

“Hi, Miss Violet,” Faith said as the door squeaked open and she walked inside, followed by the men. “Mister Denis put new animals in the yard, Mama. A purple porcupine and a red wolf. They are very pretty.”

“You’ll have to show me when we leave,” Scully said, placing a hand on Faith’s head and smoothing her hair back. “Do you want to see your costume, my love? Miss Violet did such a good job sewing it for you.”

“Yes!” Faith exclaimed, clapping her hands and jumping up and down.

Violet laughed and nodded, picking the pink dress out of the pile of costumes and showing it to Faith. Her mouth dropped open as she stepped forward to touch it.

“It’s beautiful,” Faith whispered, running her finger over the gold and silver stars on the tulle. “It’s so pretty. I love it. It’s like a… magic fairy princess queen dress. I love it. Can I wear it right now?”

“Of course,” Violet said, smiling at her and Scully took Faith into the bathroom to try on the dress.

“I LOVE IT!!” Faith yelled, spinning back into the room a few minutes later, her arms above her head. “It’s so spinny! Watch me, Daddy!”

She spun around and around, all of the adults watching her and smiling. When she stopped, she wobbled slightly, her eyes needing a second to focus.

“So, I take it you like it then?” Denis asked teasingly and she nodded, spinning around again.

“You forgot part of the costume,” Violet said and Faith stopped spinning, dizzy and a little out of breath. “You need your wand and crown, Miss Faith.”

Faith ran over to Violet and let her place the silver crown made from felt, which fit perfectly, onto her head. She then handed Faith the silver star wand that she had made from sequined material.

“There. Now you’re ready,” Violet said and Faith grinned as she looked at her, holding the wand and waving it slowly.

“Are you a good witch or a bad witch?” Faith asked in a lilted voice and they all laughed as she spun around again, waving her wand in the air.

When she had quieted and stopped spinning, Violet told her she had an extra surprise for her.

“What is it?” Faith asked, setting her wand down and smiling at Violet.

“I’ll go get it. Stay right there.”

“Okay,” Faith said, looking at Scully. “Miss Violet has a surprise for me. I wonder what it is.”

“I guess we’ll find out in a minute,” Scully said, curious herself what it could be.

“Okay,” Violet said, coming into the room with something on a hanger that was covered by a white plastic bag. “Because I don’t want anything to happen to your beautiful dress before Halloween, I thought you might like a different costume to wear to school tomorrow. I know you like these because we’ve talked about them before. So…” Violet took the bag off the hanger and Faith and Scully both gasped.

It was a mermaid costume with a shiny teal and pink ombre long sleeved top. It blended into a long shiny skirt with scalloped scales in shades of pastel blues and pinks. The tail was made of the same material, but it fell in full folds, assuring the spinny effect Faith would love.

“It’s so pretty,” Faith whispered, coming closer to touch it. “It’s shiny, but not like a light. Like… like happiness.”

“Happiness?” Violet asked, looking at Scully who shrugged, not understanding what exactly she meant.

“Yeah,” Faith nodded. “Like how you feel when you’re happy.” She smiled and nodded again. “It makes me feel happy and shiny.”

“Well,” Violet said, taking it from the hanger. “I don’t think any praise will ever compare to that, Miss Faith. Would you like to try it on?”

And she did, coming out and spinning once again, the tail of the costume flying out around her knees. It landed just above her ankles, the perfect length for her to avoid tripping.

“I can wear the mermaid costume to school tomorrow?” Faith asked as they left, thanking Violet again and waving goodbye as they walked down the driveway.

“You sure can, baby,” Mulder said, lifting her up and putting her onto his shoulders. “You’re going to be a beautiful mermaid.”

“Yes, I will,” Faith said, calling goodbye and blowing kisses to Jafadine, the life-sized giraffe that stood in Violet and Denis’s yard, and Mulder laughed.

_____________

October 31st

“You’re sure this will wash off easily?” Mulder asked as Scully began to apply silver face makeup onto him, to transform him into the Tin Man.

She stood between his legs as he sat on the closed toilet seat in the upstairs bathroom at Skinner and Rachel’s house, carefully spreading the makeup evenly.

“Well, if it doesn’t, then we’re both in trouble, aren’t we?” she asked, stepping back to look at him and then glance at herself in the mirror, her own face painted green.

“I think you look good,” he stated, grabbing onto the backs of her thighs and pulling her a little closer to him.

“Absolutely not,” she said, leaning back and shifting out of his grasp as Faith and the twins ran down the hallway, laughing about something.

“Absolutely not about what?” he asked, looking up with innocent eyes, but she was not falling for that this time.

“If you get up to any funny business, I’ll have to reapply this makeup and it took a long time to get it right. It’s finally dry now and I do not want to start over.”

“Mmm, why is it so sexy hearing that while your face is so green?” he asked, looping his arms around her waist.

“Mulder,” she warned, shaking her head.

“One kiss. I promise I’ll be good. I won’t even mess up your makeup.”

“Yours will merge with mine and it will be a mess.”

“We don’t create messes when we merge, only beauty,” he said as Faith shouted for Jacob and he laughed hysterically.

“Mulder,” Scully laughed, her arms going around his neck, unable to resist him.

“One kiss.”

“One. Gentle and easy. I’m serious.”

“Tin Man’s honor,” he said, holding up one hand and then placing it over his heart. “Or may I be struck down by rust.” She laughed again and he grinned up at her, silver paint on half his face. He pursed his lips and she began to lower her head to meet them when a loud scoff sounded at the bathroom door.

“Jesus Christ, you two. You’re supposed to be getting ready,” Skinner said gruffly and they both turned their heads to look at him. He sighed loudly and Scully grinned.

“We are.”

“Bullshit. Stop all that,” he said, gesturing to their current positions. “Get ready. We’re on a schedule.”

“Walter?” Rachel called from down the hall. “Can you bring the kids in here? I’m nearly done and you still need to get ready too.”

“Yes, hon. I’m on my way,” he called back, turning to look in her direction. Looking back at them, he raised his eyebrows and then walked away, calling for Elizabeth and Jacob.

“Ohhh... Dad got mad,” Mulder whispered and Scully chuckled as she quickly kissed him and then stepped back. “Hey! That’s not fair. I wasn’t ready.”

“Tough shit. We gotta get a move on.”

“Mama, can I get ready now?” Faith asked, walking into the bathroom wearing her mermaid costume and a purple sash with Birthday Girl written in rainbow letters. “Oh, Daddy! You look silly.” She giggled as she came closer, stepping between them as Scully continued putting the silver makeup on him. “Does it feel funny?”

“No. It’s just kinda cold,” he replied.

“Shh. No talking,” Scully said. “Or you’ll get creases. I’m nearly done.”

A few minutes later, Faith giggling as she sang the Tin Man’s song, tapping out the beat on Mulder’s legs, Scully was finished.

“There. Now let it dry for a bit and then get your costume on,” she said, wiping her hands on the paper towels she had brought into the bathroom. “Your turn, my love.” She smiled at Faith and she grinned.

“I’m very excited,” Faith said and Scully laughed as Mulder stood up to look at his reflection in the mirror.

“Well,” he said, turning his head from left to right. “It looks odd on its own, but once I’ve got the costume on, it will work. Thanks, love.” He put his hand out and Scully high fived him before he left the room.

“Let’s get you up here on the counter. I’ll curl your hair and then we’ll put a little bit of makeup on you.”

“But not like yours or daddy’s, right?” Faith asked, looking at Scully in the mirror, her eyes slightly worried.

“No, love,” Scully laughed, testing the curling iron she had plugged in earlier. “Not like ours. Just a little bit of blush and maybe mascara and then we’ll put on your dress.”

“Okay, Mama. I’m ready.”

________________

Thirty minutes later, everyone was downstairs, laughing and commenting on how they all looked.

“Unco Fox,” Jacob laughed, tapping Mulder’s leg. “Wobot.”

“No,” Faith said, shaking her head. “He’s a tin man, Jakey. He’s made of silver tin. It will be rusty if he doesn’t use his oil can.”

Mulder stopped walking and made squeaking sounds which caused Faith and Jacob to giggle.

“Oilllll caaaaan,” he said through clenched teeth.

Faith and Jacob laughed as they took turns using the small can that came with his costume to pretend to oil him up.

“Oh… oh, thank you. I can move again,” he said, moving his jaw and opening and closing his mouth. He rotated his arms and then stuck his hands out to both of them. Shaking their hands simultaneously, he crossed them back and forth, causing them to laugh again.

Scully turned her attention from them to Skinner and had to fight back laughter of her own.

They had planned their Wizard of Oz costumes nearly two months ago, discussing who would be which character. When the decisions were final, Skinner had grumbled a bit, but Scully had also seen the smile tugging at his lips.

She had known who he would be, but seeing him in his costume as the Cowardly Lion was nearly too much.

“Okay!” Rachel shouted with a smile, adjusting the strings on the bonnet of her Lullaby League ballerina costume. “We’re going to take some pictures in the backyard and then we’ll head out to go trick-or-treating. We all look so good. I absolutely love these costumes. This was such a great idea. Let me get the phone set up out there.”

They all trooped out to the backyard, grabbing the props for their costumes on the way. Bella, who had been brought along as Mulder, Scully, and Faith would be spending the night, ran up to give them all some licks, her tail wagging excitedly. She was placed inside the house for a moment so she would not be in the way as everyone then got together for the picture.

Mulder, the Tin Man, stood beside Scully, the Wicked Witch of the West, with Faith, Glinda the Good Witch, in front of them. Skinner, the Cowardly Lion, had Elizabeth, Dorothy Gale, and Jacob, the Scarecrow, in front of him. Vivian, Rachel’s mother, who had arrived only minutes before, stood next to him. She was dressed as the tornado that had brought Dorothy to Oz, complete with the images Dorothy had seen inside the tornado stuck to her outfit.

Scully smiled as she looked at all of them, even as she felt an unexpected lump forming in her throat. She felt Mulder place his hand on the small of her back and she nodded, letting out a deep breath.

“Good?” he asked in a whisper and she nodded again.

“Okay!” Rachel shouted, smoothing her pink ballerina costume. “We’ve got ten seconds. Get ready!” She pushed the timer and rushed over, squeezing in between her mom and Skinner. “Everyone say Pizza!”

“Pizza!” they all shouted and the phone flashed down from ten to one, snapping a burst of photos.

“Let me check it, but I’m sure we got a good one in the bunch,” Rachel said, walking toward the phone.

A few more pictures were taken and then they all left the house with their assortment of props, coffee tumblers full of wine, and Bella in tow.

Many families were already out, the children shouting and running from house to house. Scully smiled as Faith and the twins walked up the first driveway, calling out trick or treat before the door was even open.

People stopped them as they continued through the neighborhood, telling them how much they loved their costumes.

When the twins began to slow down and lose interest, they walked back to the house, Faith dancing and spinning ahead of them.

Not bothering to change out of their costumes as they still had one last celebration to attend to, they gathered in the dining room.

The pink ombré cake that had been placed onto the table after dinner was lit with a golden number five candle and the lights were turned out.

Happy birthday was sung to Faith, her blue eyes shining in the light of the flame, as she looked at each of them in turn, in her sparkly pink Glinda dress and silver crown, and she grinned.

#the x files #family #family life the story beyond the series #halloween #halloween birthday #friends and family #family life #msr #happy #love #domestic life #domestic fluff #trick or treating #group costume #fun and happiness

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astridncs · 2 years

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A Forgotten Birthday, Or So He Thought

Fictober 2022 — Day 13: “Are you busy tonight?” (from this list); tagging @today-in-fic @xffictober2022 ; also on AO3

~sorry for the late upload/s~

“Hey, Scully, are you busy tonight?”

Scully looked up from what she was reading, “No, why?” she answered.

“I was thinking, maybe, you wanna come over?” Mulder asked.

Scully tilted her head, as if contemplating deeply before answering, “Sure, I’d love to.” A smile graced her own face when she saw Mulder’s face light up.

“Alright! Want me to pick you up?”

“Nah, I’ll just drive later.”

“Okay, I can’t wait.”

Scully laughed, “Me too.”

Mulder was glad that she said yes, although a bit bummed out that she seemed to have forgotten what day it was, not that it really mattered…but still.

Little did he know, Scully has already had something planned days prior.

She knew Mulder wasn’t the type to really celebrate his birthday, but years of being together has both of them celebrating it (and hers). It all started with simple greeting cards to cupcakes, then to small gifts; her own Apollo 11 keychain still kept safely in her nightstand drawer.

For Mulder’s birthday, she got him something special, something small that she hoped he’d like.

continue on AO3

#xffictober2022 #xf fictober 2022 #todayinfic #fictober event #fictober 2022 #txf #the x-files #mulder and scully #happy birthday mulder #astridncs #skepticsculls

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storybycorey · 1 year

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I posted 1,530 times in 2022

59 posts created (4%)

1,471 posts reblogged (96%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@ellivia

@baronessblixen

@neednottoneed

@viceversawrites

@gladlybeyondanyxperience

I tagged 1,498 of my posts in 2022

Only 2% of my posts had no tags

#fan art - 50 posts

#yeah - 9 posts

#dude - 8 posts

#srsly - 8 posts

#sigh - 8 posts

#yup - 7 posts

#you know who - 6 posts

#oof - 6 posts

#😍 - 6 posts

#my art - 6 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#then one of us probably makes a dumb joke & we pack up & say see ya at work tomorrow pal & pretend it never happened for several more years

My Top Posts in 2022:

Tagged by @msrafterdark -thanks for remembering I used to be a writer!!

Rules: List the first lines of the last ten (10) stories you published. Look to see any patterns you notice yourself, and see if anyone else notices any.

Forbidden Adventure: Mulder drags her bag from the overhead bin and plops it onto her seat.

When the Lights are On (pt 3): A piece of you’s inside me, Mulder, she thinks, at least a dozen times a day.

Here Be Monsters (pt 2): She hates how much she wants him.

When the Lights are Off (pt 1): It’s not the chill that wakes her, late in her bed on a Thursday night.

The Fox Mulder Phonetic Alphabet: She brings her lunch from home most days.

Stay: She’s the practical one, always has been.

Something That's Not Soup: She grew up loving the water, could spend an entire morning exploring in goggles and a snorkel, fingers turned pruny and hair a saltwater mess that would make her mother groan.

Inevitable Things: He’s waiting for you.

There've Been Good Things, Too: Dark green leather.

Sparta, Tennessee: There’s something she never realized would happen once she and Mulder finally crossed that line: That she’d be aroused.

Once Upon a Time in a Basement: Her head lolls on her neck in that wonderful way heads sometimes do after consuming the perfect amount of wine.

This makes me miss writing, going back and remembering all these fics! These are some of my very favorites!

Observations/Patterns: Almost all of these are written from Scully's POV. I never introduce my characters, I just start right out using pronouns with the assumption my readers all know who I'm talking about.

33 notes - Posted January 28, 2022

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42 notes - Posted February 25, 2022

Hey guys, not txf-related, but I entered a self-portrait contest and would love it if you'd vote for my piece!!

Vote!

43 notes - Posted May 18, 2022

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55 notes - Posted April 10, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I turned 50 two days ago. FIFTY. Every year on my birthday I do a piece of art, and this was my painting this year. There have been some hard years in these five decades, some very hard ones, but there have also been a lot of really wonderful years. Here's to more of those in the future!

56 notes - Posted May 27, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#yeah it was a slow year for me #cool that my self portrait made number one with a whopping 56 notes!#I remember when my fic was all of my top postings #this is fun though!

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mistsofavalon13 · 1 year

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I posted 2,327 times in 2022

159 posts created (7%)

2,168 posts reblogged (93%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@fullyerecteggplant

@idlebirdsparagon

@spodrick

@enthusiastic-french-toast

I tagged 1,298 of my posts in 2022

Only 44% of my posts had no tags

#our flag means death - 359 posts

#stranger things - 130 posts

#videos - 68 posts

#star trek - 65 posts

#ghost files - 29 posts

#hannibal - 28 posts

#ofmd - 27 posts

#mcr - 25 posts

#iwtv - 25 posts

#steddie - 25 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#i believe in aliens don’t get me wrong but stuff like ancient aliens and reptilians and stuff? cmon baby don’t listen to them you’re better!

My Top Posts in 2022:

i love the fact that the alien in nope looked like a flying saucer and that it fed by using what was essentially a tractor beam. it gives us the idea that in their universe, stuff like cattle mutilation has a very simple reason - a larger animal ate it. and then when it unfurls, it looks like a weather balloon! i didn’t realize that until later, but i remember thinking that the way it moved looked like some kind of balloon. the implication that these aliens have been to earth before and have been interpreted completely wrong is chilling but also so fucking cool

2,741 notes - Posted July 23, 2022

can’t wait to not watch the mario movie, and instead watch the version that will definitely be released on youtube where someone cuts every instance of chris pratt’s voice

4,493 notes - Posted October 7, 2022

ghost files proves that shane and ryan are the ultimate paranormal investigators because their show asks a very important question: what if mulder and scully were both stupid

9,493 notes - Posted September 25, 2022

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9,596 notes - Posted September 6, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

the parallels between how poc are treated and how animals are treated in nope (2022) was perfect. one of the first scenes in the movie is when oj is on set for a commercial, and i was immediately as uncomfortable as he was. when he introduces himself to the white actress, she looks scared of him because his name is oj. she sees a black man with that name and can’t hide her inner thoughts. then the pa guy is confused as to where the “older one” is, clearly giving the message that he doesn’t trust oj to be a competent person. the pa sees him as an untrained boy, and doesn’t listen when oj tried to tell him not to look in the horse’s eyes. then when em explains the story of the first moving picture, we see that the black jockey and the horse aren’t even on the same level. people talk about the horse, but they don’t know anything about the man riding it.

then, there’s jupe and the gordy the chimp. jupe was a child star in a western comedy, and the poster itself gave me the wrong feeling. jupe and the unnamed black child actor he starred with were so clearly being used as a spectacle. it made me think of blazing saddles, how the idea of a black sheriff is absurd and funny. however, blazing saddles uses that as commentary and as a way to send a message, while in nope, we see that jupe was the victim of a film industry that tokenized him. then, with the chimpanzee, we see that same tokenization. a sitcom of a white family that includes an asian child and a chimp. it’s clear that both are meant to be equally funny; an asian kid is just as absurd as a chimp in human clothes and a birthday hat.

then, when we see him try to use the alien to create the same spectacle he was a part of in his youth, he realizes far too late that he’s made a mistake. that you can’t rely on an animal. his wife makes a comment about how working with trained animals is unpredictable, and we see in his eyes that he knows what’s about to happen. he put his trust in the behavior of a wild animal and now he’s paying the price and feeling the same fear he felt as a child.

12,492 notes - Posted July 23, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

#tumblr2022 #year in review #my 2022 tumblr year in review #your tumblr year in review

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swinging-stars-from-satellites · 2 years

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thinking about how Fox Mulder, 36 years old, still a little high on Not losing the love of his life to cancer, was ready to drop anything and everything to give her her little girl, would have given his own life to protect Emily, would have done anything for her and for Scully to give them the life they deserve (bc lost little girls aren't made to be loved, but this one was, and that's what matters); that man was fully prepared to break generational cycles and become the best father he could be to Scully's little girl if she let him, he was ready to court Scully the old fashioned way, ask her out to dinner ("your mom can watch Em, Scully, or i can call the Gunmen-" "I'll call Mom"), bring her flowers when she's not dying (the yellow ones Emily can't stop staring at), kiss her under the front light of her apartment building, ask her to marry him and probably cry when she said yes, be the best husband and father he could; probably even quit the FBI for them, if that's what it took, because Scully and Emily were the most important thing in his mind, even beyond his own losses or mission — he was ready, maybe even hoping, for all that

thinking about Dana Scully, M.D., 32 years old and a little surprised to see another birthday on the horizon, so scared of becoming a mother, the very thing she longed for; terrified that she would do something wrong, terrified that she would lose that little girl who had lost so much, scared of what would happen if she left. she was ready and willing and GRATEFUL but she was also SCARED, because this was a miracle in a way but also a mountain to climb, she's devastated by the circumstances and implications thereof, angry and sad to see a little girl who was created with no intention of anyone loving her, but she was so ready to be Emily's mother, and she would have willingly let Mulder come alongside her in that. she was scared also of what he would think, of losing him by leaving to care for her daughter (her daughter), of letting him in if he wasn't sure about it, but she would have seen him with Emily a few more times and her heart would break and melt a little more (because she knows his history with lost little girls and they've found this one, together, and there's some kind of redemption for both of them in that) and she would let herself love him: first, as a father to Emily, then, more carefully, as everything he is to her; she would let him love her — again, first and easiest in how he loved Emily and then slower in how he cared for her (the time she got so tired trying to juggle office work and a brunch with her mom and seeing her brother while he was in town and trying to juggle daycare pickups that she put Em to bed and then cried on the phone, he was there in record time with a dumb movie and the Navajo blanket from the back of his couch that she's always found oddly comforting) and she WOULD let him court her, she would have let him drag her on dates (and discover that Emily and the Gunmen did, in fact, get on like wildfire), she would put the bright yellow flowers he brought in a place of honor on the table, she would let him kiss her in front of her building and then she would take his face in her hands and she would kiss him again, longer, because she is alive and she's waited too long, and when he asked her to marry him, asked if he could be her husband and Emily's father, for real, she was at a point that she would have cried and scared him a little bit, but she was ready to say yes. she was ready.

#waxing poetic about this today ladies #the little emily au that lives in my head #Lu rambles #txf #the x files #txf s5 #dana scully #fox mulder #emily sim #does this count as fanfic? I'm counting it #Lu writes #txf fanfic #mulder and scully #mulder x scully #msr #little stream of consciousness fics

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alexa-crowe · 2 years

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Enigmatic

From the Free-For-All Prompt List: The prompter asked for Mulder and Scully moving into the Unremarkable House after being on the run; Scully starts working at Our Lady of Sorrows and is viewed as the mysterious new doctor (not without attracting a few admirers) and one day, Mulder shows up, rendering the pair as infamous water cooler gossip. @today-in-fic

The house, at the least, is well-insulated. It may creak and groan under the force of the relatively unchallenged wind that sweeps across the fields surrounding it, but it’s insulated. Her name is also on the deed: one Dana Katherine Scully owns this house and a few acres of land surrounding it. They don’t have much more than some lamps and a rather distasteful purple comforter in the way of personalization, but they prefer to look at it as a glass half full sort of situation.

“At least we have a comforter at all,” Mulder points out, hands on his hips as he surveys the bedroom.

“We can buy a new one,” Scully argues, eyebrow arched.

“Now, why would we do that? It’s not like I can go with you to pick everything out. I think we should keep it. It’s got personality. Look at the curlicues!”

“Mulder...”

He spreads the comforter across the bed and flops down on it, reaching out his hand. “C’mon, Scully. It’s charming. Live a little.”

He beckons her over and she goes with a sigh as if she truly disapproves, laying down next to Mulder on her side. “Alright, but only because I love you.”

“That’s funny, ‘cause I love you, too,” he replies, rolling over to face Scully with a grin.

“I guess we’re in agreement.”

“I love you and our creaky house in rural Virginia. Say hi to your mom for me tomorrow.”

She nuzzles him with a contented smile, entwining their fingers. “I will.”

—

“I start on Monday,” Scully announces with a grin, approaching Mulder from behind to embrace him among the sounds of a busy kitchen.

“I knew you’d get it, Scully. What’d I tell you? Your late residency didn’t stop you, did it?”

She scrunches her nose up and presses it into his back for a moment in short-lived humility. “You were right, Mulder. Don’t let that go to your head, though.”

“Too late, you already said it. To reach non-egotistical Mulder you’ll need to wait three business days.”

She can hear the smile in his voice as she giggles. “How was your day, Mr. Egotistical?” Scully hums in contentment and closes her eyes.

“It was good. I missed Mrs. Egotistical but that’s nothing new. You know what they say: if you love her, you gotta let her go.”

“...to work, Mulder.”

“Woe is me, etcetera, etcetera. I like to look at my woman, what can I say?”

Scully laughs softly as he starts to sway his hips, and she moves with him. “Said woman is rather hungry, Mulder. Is that chicken marsala?”

“It is, indeed.”

—

“I’ve become quite the popular figure at work,” she announces, twirling spaghetti around her fork.

“Of course you have. You’re the most brilliant doctor they’ve ever seen.” Mulder eats his own bowl of spaghetti unphased.

“Dr. Hubbard asked me out, Mulder. I guess he likes that I’m an enigma.” Scully shifts her gaze away from Mulder as he looks up at her, bewildered. “Oh, don’t look at me like that. I obviously declined his offer. I like my rugged, stay-at-home partner far too much to accept.” She grasps his hand with a smile and brings his fingers to her lips.

Mulder hums. “I forgot what it’s like to feel jealousy. Dr. Hubbard is only thirteen years late to shoot his shot.”

“That he is. But I suspect there will be more offers over the years. I don’t relish learning which of my coworkers refuse to take no for an answer.”

Mulder snorts and shakes his head. “I’ll come out of hiding and beat him up if that happens. Scum like that deserve it.”

“No need, Mulder. I’ll beat them up myself with you in mind.”

—

“Tomorrow’s your birthday,” Mulder says, looking at her over his book.

She looks at him over hers. “It is. Are you planning anything special now that you’re a free man?”

“Maybe. It’s a surprise.” They share a smile.

“Well, I think that surprise should include some shrimp scampi,” Scully says, looking down at her book.

“Duly noted. One shrimp scampi surprise coming right up, madam.”

“I’m coming home early tomorrow, like usual—three o’clock.”

“Sounds good.”

“Don’t burn down the house.”

“I promise: No house burning will occur on the premises.”

—

Now that he owns a car again, Mulder finds that his fantasies of traveling the world and staying out until all hours of the night pale in comparison to the more simple pleasures of his life. He couldn’t stop smiling the first time he went grocery shopping with Scully; they even got to hold hands in public in a romantic sense for the very first time.

Mulder’s known her for about a decade and a half, now; they know each crevice and intricacy of the other. It took concerted effort on his part to plan Scully’s surprise in a manner that didn’t raise her hackles enough to investigate—she never was one to overlook changes in other people’s behavior. So, now, walking into Our Lady, he’s battling a megawatt grin at the success of his plan.

“I can take you, sir,” one of the front desk receptionists says.

Mulder speeds up his pace until he’s standing in front of him. “Hi, I’m here for my two-thirty appointment with Dr. Scully?”

“Mark Parrack?”

“Yep, that’s me.”

The receptionist nods as he inputs Mulder’s arrival. “Alright, Mr. Parrack. Dr. Scully’s office is the fourth one down on the second floor to the left.”

“Thank you.”

—

The door to Scully’s office is closed and locked, which throws a bit of a wrench in his plan to surprise her in her office. “Oh, Dr. Scully’s just finishing up with one of her patients, but she usually leaves her door unlocked when she has consultation appointments.” Mulder startles and looks to his right, taking in the figure of Dr. Gasteau. He fights the urge to nod in recognition as she tucks a stray lock of her hair behind her ear. “She’s been complaining about the faulty lock for a couple days. Come on, my office is the one right next to hers, and they have adjoining doors.”

Gasteau unlocks her own door and leads Mulder through, opening the adjoining door for him. “I’m sure Dr. Scully will be in shortly!”

He smiles and nods. “Thanks for your help.”

“Of course.”

—

Mulder only has to wait a few minutes before the sound of Scully unlocking the door bleed through, so he quickly leans back in her chair and puts his feet up on the desk, crossing his ankles. She opens the door and, immediately, she stops in her tracks.

“Surprise, honey. Happy birthday!” Mulder stands up and pulls her into the office by her hands.

“Mulder... How?” Her eyes are wide and her eyebrow is arched dramatically.

“I’m your two-thirty. You’ve been talking about how you want me to get out more so I thought we’d have a night on the town doing normal people things. I’ve got us hair appointments—you’ve been talking about a trim and how I look like a dog—” Scully smiles at that, cheeks slowly turning pink. “—and I have an appointment for you to get a manicure and a pedicure. Then we can go home and you can relax while I make that shrimp scampi you requested, and the rest is up to you. Though I will say that the bed is freshly laundered.”

She closes her eyes and looks down, bashful. “Mulder...” she says in the way she always does when he showers her with affection in public.

“You can get me back in October. There’s supposed to be a meteor shower on my birthday this year.”

Scully giggles—giggles!—before standing on her toes to press a gentle kiss to his lips. “We better get going if we’re going to make those hair appointments, then.”

She packs her things away and sheds her lab coat for her winter one before picking up her briefcase in one hand and taking his in the other. Her coworkers stare at them as they leave, whispering and talking behind their hands at the sight of the enigmatic Dr. Scully exiting the hospital with her beau.

At the halfway point between their cars, Mulder slips his hand from hers and slides it around her waist, tugging her along to his car. “My treat. I’ll be your chauffeur for the night and I’ll drop you off to grab your car before we head home for dinner.”

Scully nods. “I’ll be the talk of the hospital tomorrow,” she says, a little smirk on her lips.

“Good. Now everyone knows that Dr. Dana Katherine Scully is very much taken.”

She smiles wider and leans her head against him. “And now I’m slightly less of an enigma. They’ll probably start inviting me to things again just so they can mine information about you.”

“Thank you for the boost to my ego.”

She laughs and nudges him to the side with her body. “Shut up, Mulder. I’m celebrating my birthday.”

#txf #fanfiction #mine #this was so much fun to write

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boldlyvoid · 3 years

Text

Million Dollar Man | Chapter Five

18+

summary: Spencer's therapist recommended he branch out and meet new people who don't want to talk about his work... she didn't expect him to sign up for a Sugar Daddy website.

Content warnings: sugar daddy!spencer, age gaps (14 years), daddy kink, blow jobs, handcuffs, thigh fucking, public sex, exhibitionism, edging, vibrators, dirty talk, dom spencer

word count: 4.6K

a/n: updates on Wednesdays and Saturdays

Chapter Five | Masterlist

He’s ripped from a peaceful slumber by his work phone ringing on the night table. Y/N asleep on his chest, he tries to reach for it without waking her, successfully he answers with a groggy whisper, “hello?”

“Morning sleepy head?” Emily laughs, “it’s 10 am, Reid, why are you whispering?”

“I’m with my girlfriend, she’s still asleep,” he realizes he’s never told the team flat out that he was seeing someone, they all guessed but none of them had really asked.

“Oh,” Emily seems just as shocked that he said it. “We have a local case, I need you here for the geo profile and then you can go back to your mandated break.”

“I’ll be in, in 30,” he replies before hanging up.

“Can I come?” She whispers against him, obviously awake from all the commotion.

“Sure,” he shrugs, “if you don’t mind seeing and hearing about whatever horrific thing happened this time.”

“I don’t,” she sits up and stretches, “come on Mulder, we’ve got a case to crack.”

He laughs, “sure thing Scully.”

—

He’s nervous in the elevator on the way up to the BAU, Y/N on the other hand is so excited she’s practically vibrating. She’s dressed for the part, with her little visitor's badge and Spencer’s hand held tightly in her own, she basically drags him towards the bullpen when the doors open.

“Spence!” Luke calls for him, Tara and Matt turn around with big smiles to see him. “Who’s this?”

“Uh,” Spencer swallows sharply, “this is my girlfriend, Y/N this is Luke, Matt and Tara.”

She lets go of his hand to shake theirs, he watches as they all smile and introduce themselves to her, causing the rest of the team to notice the new person in the room and rush over. They have a lot of questions, they’re all very surprised she’s as young as he was when he started at the bureau and that he’s actually bringing her around.

When he finds out what’s going on, he’s really glad he brought her in. There’s been a few bomb threats in D.C, one of which is the building across from Y/N’s apartment. They’re trying to keep hysteria to a minimum, he knows he wouldn’t have been able to tell her if he didn’t bring her, he also knows he would have broken protocol to get her out of there.

She sits at his desk while he works, looking through all his things for a while before Spencer hears a familiar voice in the bullpen. Penelope was called in for backup, making eye contact with Y/N as soon as she walked in and cheering. “Oh! You’re here!”

Spencer leaves the briefing room, abandoning the geo-profile to introduce Penelope to the girl she helped him find, he runs down the stairs and wraps his arms around her.

“Spencer,” she relaxes into his embrace and holds him close, “I’ve missed you so much.”

When Spencer pulls away, the smile on his face is remarkable, “Penelope, this is Y/N,” he says her name and Penelope automatically knows who she is.

He told her right after he bought her whole Wishlist, Penelope has known about her the longest and yet she’s never been able to meet her. She turns to Y/N with a smile, “are you a hugger?”

Y/N stands and wraps her arms around her, “I think I owe you a very big thank you,” she whispers in Penelope’s ear.

“For what?”

“Teaching grandpa over here how to use the internet,” she teases him, “and for your helpful tips, he was the nicest one I met on there.”

“You’re very welcome,” Penelope pulls back with another smile, holding Y/N’s face in her hands, “and thank you.”

Y/N pulls her into another hug and now everyone is watching, Spencer knows he’s going to be bombarded with questions eventually but for now, Y/N is going with Penelope to her office and Spencer has a map to look at while he stresses himself out.

Matt, Tara and Emily head to the scene to join JJ, Rossi and Will, leaving Luke with Spencer in the briefing room.

“Can I ask?”

Spencer nods, “go ahead.”

“How did you meet her? Was she one of your students?”

He doesn’t know how to answer, not because he’s ashamed of it or of her, rather because he doesn’t know if she’ll want people to really know. “Penelope helped me get online to meet people, I made an account on a sugar daddy website thinking it would be easier to pay someone who doesn’t know me to hang out rather than try and make a new friend.”

“That’s smart,” Luke nods along as he listens. “She seems really cool.”

“She’s the best,” he smiles. “She’s really smart and talented, she’s an author actually, her books coming out in January.”

“I’ll have to get a copy,” Luke smiles right back.

“Her publisher and I have actually planned a big birthday party slash final draft party, if you and the team want to come and have drinks and get to know her more, that would be really nice,” Spencer offers, knowing it’s about time they all celebrated something together.

“I’d love to come, and I’ll bring Penelope,” Luke’s just as excited as he is.

“I’m a little surprised you didn’t know already, being with Penelope and everything?”

He shrugs, “we don’t talk about work or really gossip about the team now that she’s not working here, it makes her a little sad that she left but she’s doing a lot better just coming in occasionally.”

“I didn’t think I’d like my months off at first, either, but now I’m also debating leaving,” he knows it's a lie. He’s already written his letter of recognition, he’s just waiting for the go-ahead from Y/N that they’re moving to California.

“16 years is a really long time to be doing this job,” he agrees, “I’m sure if you wanted to leave the bureau would offer you your full retirement package early, given everything you’ve been through for this country.”

Spencer nods, “don’t let this job take your spark, you’re very wonderful, Luke, and I’d hate to see you lose it for the greater good.”

“My greater good is just down the hall,” he smirks, “I make the world a better place for the woman I love, she’s the reason I get up every day and come to work because I can’t wait to get home to her safely.”

Luke has always loved Penelope, it’s been very obvious, and yet she didn’t want really anything to do with him until Derek advised her to be nice. She was so busy thinking about all her other babies leaving the nest after Derek that she didn’t take the time to consider bringing in Luke to the nest for warmth and love as well.

“When are you asking her to marry you?”

Luke turns bashful, a slight blush on his cheeks as he stares at the table, “Christmas, it’s her favourite time of the year.”

“Have you talked to Derek?” Spencer only worries slightly, after what happened with Kevin he doesn’t want to see it happen to Luke.

“Nope, I’ve talked to her brothers though, we’re going to California again this year for Christmas and they all said they’d love to have me in the family,” Luke smiles, “the Garcias are my favourite.”

Spencer isn’t normally a hugger but he walks around the table and wraps Luke up, “I’m asking Y/N in a week.”

“No way?”

He nods, “she’s the greatest good I’m ever going to get.”

“Amen, brother.”

—

Penelope’s job was incredible, she was in awe as she watched her tap away at her keyboard and answer a million and one questions. She reminded her of Ned from Kim Possible and she knew if she said that to anyone she’d give away just how young she is.

She’s gotten a lot of looks, she knows people are talking about it and yet she doesn’t really care. There isn’t any malice behind the stares and the whispers, they all seem genuinely surprised that Spencer has a girlfriend over the fact she’s in her 20’s.

There’s a single dull moment and she turns to Y/N, “can I please have the juicy details, please,” she begs and it makes her feel giddy.

She’s never really had any girlfriends like this, and she certainly didn’t have anyone to tell about Spencer. “He’s the love of my life, I’m completely serious.”

Penelope squealed, “that’s all I’ve ever wanted for him, ugh this is so exciting! Are you guys serious? How long has it been?”

She nods, “not long, uh he got me this necklace a week or two ago and we’ve been moving pretty slow for his sake. In the last 10 months he’s become my bestie and I’ve convinced him to move in and he sleeps in my bed now and I love waking up beside him… he’s a real gentleman.”

“That’s good, he’s never been able to take the scenic route in life… I know you’re only here cause he trusts you and if he trusts you that means you know everything and if you know ever—“

“Yeah,” she cuts her off, “I know about all of it and everyone who’s hurt him and how he’s hurt himself but what’s more important is that it doesn’t phase me, he’s just a person trying to deal with the life he’s been given, we all are.”

Penelope wraps her up in a gentle hug, “he’s always needed someone like you.”

It makes her heartbreak just a tiny bit thinking about how as long he didn’t have anyone. Sure, he was surrounded by his friends at work and loved enough that they all brought him back home but he was never cared for the way she would have done it. There’s a weird maternal instinct that comes over her with Spencer and she knows exactly why, all she knows is she wants to love him and care for him for the rest of his life.

If she lives to be 100, she hopes he lives to be 116, because there isn’t a day she wants to spend on this earth where Spencer Reid isn’t alive and beside her.

She’s not going to cry in Penelope’s arms after just meeting her so she pulls back with a smile, “but what kind of juicy details are we talking? Cause I can’t embarrass him too bad…”

Penelope’s laugh is evil as she rubs her hands together, “a little birdie whose name rhymes with shmerek said he knows how to use that mouth for more than just talking…”

It makes her laugh almost a little too hard and she starts to feel her face heat up, she simply nods, “yeah, we haven’t gone all the way but from what’s happened so far, I can agree.”

Penelope turns in her rolling chair and laughs, “ugh that’s so great, I’m glad you’re having a good time— I mean I always thought Spencer would be good in bed after all the chats we’ve had about kinks and shit, he’s really educated, obviously, but I always knew that it would translate from paper to real-life very easily.”

“Oh totally,” she nods feverishly, “we talked about that before actually, virginity is simply a construct used to control women and make them feel pure or dirty, to feel like they can take something from a woman and yet virgins are so sexual and in tune with their needs and wants that they typically are good or at least know what to do from whatever porn they’ve consumed when it comes down to it. How the more in tune with someone's sexuality that they are the better they are in bed because they apply what they want to their partner and almost get off more on the fact someone is enjoying them than the fact they’re being pleasured.”

Penelope shakes her head with a loving smile, “you listen when he talks, you love every part of him and you’re beautiful… he really hit the jackpot.”

She brushes it off with a laugh, “I got pretty lucky with him too.”

Her phone rings before she can agree, answering with a cheerful tone, Spencer is on the other end, “do you have my beautiful girlfriend with you still?”

“Present,” she answers for herself, “are you still here, dad-Spence?”

She bites her lip and closes her eyes, fuck.

“Yeah, uh, I am, we think we got the actual building with the bomb, they’ve sent the team down there to clear it and check it out.”

“I’ll head back to the bullpen, then,” she stands and heads to the door, not wanting to face Penelope after almost calling him daddy right in front of her.

“Hey,” she calls to Y/N, “don’t be embarrassed. I get it, believe me, I’ve answered some calls in here with the dirtiest remarks to the completely wrong people. But, I’ll see you later?”

She smiles, “yeah, I’d love to see you again.”

In the bullpen, Spencer’s by his desk all alone. His teams cleared out and now it was just the office staff wandering around. She wraps her arms around his waist and rests her head on his back, “ready to go home?”

“Uh, not yet…” he turns to look at her, “I don’t want to bring you back to D.C unless the case is closed.” He looks nervous and she understands it perfectly.

“Okie Dokie, she smiles, leaning in for a hug to get close to his ear, “can we fuck in a storage closet to pass the time?”

He laughs but he takes her hand and he pretends to take her on a tour, he leads her down the hall and towards the filing room where he knows no one will be. “No one has really used this room in ages, since we went digital, and Penelope had all this stuff put online anyway.”

“So you can bend me over that table and rail me next time we come back?”

“Or?” She hears his playful tone and smirks to herself, letting him manhandle her hands behind her back as he bends her over a table, “I could fuck these big beautiful thighs of yours?”

“So only you can get off? Please,” She scoffs at him, wanting to piss him off to see where it gets her, wiggling her ass back against him as she does so.

He unbuttons her pants and drags them down her legs to leave her in just her thong, taking a handful of her ass and squeezing before laying a hard slap against her, she gasps at the feeling but also at the fact it was so loud.

“They’re going to hear you?!” She whispers with a disappointed tone.

“Isn’t that what you said you wanted? You wanted everyone to know only daddy can take care of you?” He uses her own words against her and she whines. “That’s what I thought.”

“No, but seriously,” she turns her head to look at him, “check my pocket.”

He does exactly that, finding one of her little bullet vibes in the front pocket of her jeans, “you planned this?”

“I knew we’d be having some kind of sex somewhere in this building,” she smirks. “Also my safe word is red but keep going.”

“Alrighty, then,” she can hear the smirk on his face as he thinks it over.

He takes his handcuffs out of his back pocket and cuffs her, “you know, it’s public indecency looking like this in here, technically it’s a federal offence and it’s my duty as a federal officer to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

She swallows sharply, pushing back against his groin and gasping when her bare asscheek meets the cold metal of his gun in his holster. Sometimes she forgot he was a real FBI agent, sometimes it didn’t feel real to her because he was just her nerdy boyfriend and he never had any of his "cop props" with him… suddenly they weren’t just accessories to her anymore, he was actually a cop who just bent her over a table and cuffed her and now he’s going to fuck her "big beautiful thighs" as he called them.

“What’s the sentence, agent?” She plays along because damn he’s hot like this.

He presses his chest to her back as he leans in close to her ear, “It’s doctor, and you know that.”

He turns on the vibrator and rests it inside her underwear, right against her clit at the lowest setting, her thighs twitch at the feeling and all she wishes is that she had something to hold on to.

She whines again when she hears his belt buckle dangle and his zipper open, he grips his cock at the base and drags the head between her cheeks before slipping between her things with a sigh, “and it’s taking my time, you’re just going to have to, rather impatiently, deal with it.”

“Yes, doctor,” she closes her eyes and waits for the feeling of his cock between her legs but he doesn’t push in.

He places his feet on either side of hers so that she can't open her legs any further and finally, finally breaches her thighs. He groans at the drag of his cock against her skin as the vibrations from her panties continue to make her legs quake. She lets out a shaky breath and reaches for his shirt as he presses against her once more. Grabbing his tie instead, she pulls on it and he gasps for air.

“Sorry,” she mumbles with a smirk, not sorry at all for slightly choking him as she continues to hold his tie.

He swats her hands away from his tie and grips the cuffs to separate her hands, pushing them further up her back until it’s almost uncomfortable. The most uncomfortable thing about this was the fact he wasn’t inside of her, she felt so empty as she clenched around nothing. The stimulation on her clit was nice, the feeling of him taking her from behind is ungodly and yet he’s not in her. It’s the worst punishment in the whole world.

It was nowhere near enough to get her off and he knew that she wanted so much more that she wasn’t going to get, whining as he kept his thrusts at the same slow pace. It was agonizing, she squeezed her legs together more to tease him but he ended up liking it. There was nothing she could do for more, she was just going to have to let him take her, and that thought was what brought her closer.

“Please?” She begged, sounding just as desperate as she thought she would and not giving a single fuck.

“Please what?” He snaps his hips against her just a bit harder with each thrust.

She gasps again before biting her lip to hold back a moan, “finish in my mouth?” She begs once more, “please?”

He pulls off of her and yanks her off the table, turning her around, she drops to her knees without being told and opens her mouth immediately. He grips her by her hair and guides her towards his cock, slipping it past her lips and right down her throat.

He groans at the feeling, she closes her eyes for a moment to enjoy the feeling of his heavy cock in her mouth. Taking him more forcefully than ever before, he’s too caught up in the moment to realize he might be a little too rough but she also doesn’t mind. Breathing through her nose to stay calm she takes him as far as she can, pressing her nose to his pubes he can feel how hot her breath is as she struggles to breathe.

“Such a good girl,” he pulls her off so she can breathe for a moment, “you want my cum so bad don’t you?”

“Yes please, daddy,” she replies with a rasp in her voice that makes it obvious where he’s been.

She takes him in her mouth once more, sucking earnestly to get him closer and closer to the edge. He’s whining, pulling her hair and doing everything in his power not to thrust against her face, even though she’s okay with it.

She knows when he’s close because his cock always twitches in the same spot, it’s a tell-tale sign that he’s going to cum in a second. She applies more suction, running her tongue along the underside before taking him all the way once more just in time for him to cum right down her throat with each swallow.

He’s not quiet, anyone walking past the door will hear him panting and gasping, muttering good girl under his breath, he’s more fucked out by this blow job than she’s ever made him before. She can’t help but smirk as he pulls away and leaves her there on her knees, covered in spit and drool and unable to wipe her own mouth due to the fact she’s still fucking handcuffed.

She rests against his shoe, pressing the vibrator against her clit a little more, she twitches at how good it feels but it’s still not enough to get her off, and a part of her doesn’t want to.

He pulls her up to her feet and sits her down on the table he was just pretending to fuck her against. He attempts to spread her legs and get between them but she stops him, “leave the vibe where it is and let’s just go home?”

“You want to walk out of this building with a vibrator in your panties, and say goodbye to my co-workers and friends knowing you could cum anytime?”

She smirks, “yes, but I won't cum cause this pathetic toy isn’t as good at you.”

He clicks the button to turn it up a speed and she gasps, pushing against the feeling and moaning into it, “I’d like to see you try that.”

—

He takes her on the rest of the “tour” with that vibrator in her panties, she’s getting more and more flustered the more they look around. Eventually, he shows her the library, getting her alone in the back corner where he can talk to her without the risk of people knowing what’s going on.

“I can’t,” she whines as he presses her against the shelves, “please?”

“Please what?”

“Turn it off, daddy, I can’t take it anymore,” she grips his suit jacket tightly as she looks up at him with the eyes he can’t say no to.

“Mmm,” he hums, reaching into her pants to free her from the stimulation, she relaxes finally. “What do you think you deserve now?”

“Don’t wanna cum till we’re at home,” she whispers, “but you’ll have to make it quick because we have a flight to catch at 8.”

“Fuck,” he whispers like he forgot. “I hope we can get back into the apartment in time.”

“Why?”

“The bomb was in the basement of the building beside yours,” he admits and the whole facade fades, “that’s why I’m not taking you home yet.”

“That’s why you wanted to fuck me,” she whispers with a giggle. “You could have at least told me this was a ‘you almost died’ rush for you.”

“I didn’t want to say it like that,” he admits and a depression washes through his blood, he feels the low settle as he drops, “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” she takes his face in her hands and makes him look her in the eyes, “I love you, I’m glad we’re both safe. Everything in there is replaceable, you and me aren’t. This is a really good thing, Spencer.”

He nods, doing what she’s told him so many times she wants him to do, telling her his thoughts so that he’s no longer haunted alone, “when I told my friend Derek about you, he said dating a younger woman means I’ll never have to worry about you dying of old age before me. That’s one of his fears being the same age as Savannah, but I’ve lost so many people I never even thought about getting old with you I’ve just wanted to keep this version of you safe and with me forever.”

“Penelope said she always wished you’d find someone like me, and my only thought was If I live to be 100, I hope you live to be 116 because there isn’t a day I want to spend on this earth where Spencer Reid isn’t alive and beside me,” he whispers with a smile, “but now I’m thinking if you live to be 100, I don’t want to go past 84.”

“You can’t say that,” he whispers, tears bubbling in his eyes, “what if I die tomorrow? I need to know you’re going to be fine and not end your wonderful existence because I’m not here anymore. You’re too wonderful to put all your worth on me.”

She doesn’t want to cry, she already looks like she’s been fucked and now she’s a mess, she pulls him into a kiss so he’ll stop talking and they can just be together, it was hard enough for her thinking he was going to die eventually, let alone him hypothesizing dying tomorrow.

She rests her forehead against his, “we always do this.”

“What?”

“It’s like orgasms open the emotions or something,” she snuffles which turns into a laugh, “do you think our kids are going to find it weird that you’re so much older than me?”

Everything takes him for a loop, “uh,” he struggles to find the words, pulling back and looking at her as her face drops, “I um—

“You don’t want kids anymore?” She looks genuinely saddened and he doesn’t know how to answer.

“I do,” he nods, “just—“

“Not with me?” She puts the words in his mouth.

“With you, just not yet,” he holds her by the shoulders, “I need more time with you before we have a kid, I need to love life and be in a good place and somewhere where I can focus all my attention on them, and I can’t yet.”

“I want a baby by 30,” she whispers before pressing her lips together awkwardly, “46 isn’t too old to be a dad, I’ve seen men become fathers at 80.”

He laughs as the anxiety leaves him, “a little California surfer baby wouldn’t be too bad.”

“Well, we fuck like rabbits, we might get there sooner than you planned,” she nudges him, “you’re a wonderful boyfriend, and if you don’t mind, I’d like for you to stay my boyfriend for a little longer? I’m not ready to be a wife or a mom and change my name when I just got it put on a published book.”

“I’ll change mine to yours,” he replies like it's nothing, “or keep yours and we’ll hyphenate the kid's names.”

“It’s plural now?” She teases him once more.

“Whatever you want, I’ll give it to you,” he assures her, “forever.”

“You’d pluck a star from the sky for me wouldn’t you, Doctor Y/L/N?”

He laughs at how it sounds but he kinda likes it. Her word choice is even funnier to him, however, because he’s actually gone out of his way to pluck a star for her. She has no idea, but her last present is a big one.

She struggled to get her own name on a book for so long, now there’s a star named after her, in the sky for everyone to see for the rest of time.

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Sugar daddy fic

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misslilli · 2 years

Text

I hope you guys had a very merry Christmas (or a tolerable one, at least <3)

Felix Felicis

MSR. AU. E. | tagging @today-in-fic | read on AO3

Chapter 66 - Saturdays At The Beach House

[ DS ]

"Hey, D, now that we're all here, wasn't there something you wanted to ask the boys?" I look up from the finger games Felix and I have been playing after he crawled into my lap, announcing he was bored with the adult conversation at the breakfast table and would like to be entertained. At first, I'm a bit confused at what Holly's hinting at.

"Huh? … Ooh, yeah, you're right." She knows I've chickened out of this conversation a couple of times and with the boys's full attention on me, it's now or never.

"I'm uhm… having a small birthday party on the 23rd, just friends and family and I'd love it if you guys could come…?" Felix blinks up at me, a toothy grin lighting up his face and he claps his hands together.

"We're friends and family?? Awesome!" And with a hushed whisper he adds "Is your Captain-Dad going to be there too?" Apparently, my Dad already has a new little fan.

"Yeees…" I cast an anxious glance over at Mulder, who still hasn't said anything - I'm not so sure he's a big fan of meeting my Dad and the rest of the family so soon.

"Then no.," he replies with a serious expression, ducking out of Holly's reach, fist ready to punch his arm, just in time. "I'm kidding! Jesus. Of course we'll be there."

Holly pats him on the back with a sympathetic smile. "Better get it over with sooner rather than later, the Captain's pretty scary, let me tell you!"

"Holly! No he isn't!" I glare at her briefly before turning back to Mulder, who shifts in his seat. "He really isn't."

"One summer, he caught me disrespecting my mother, slamming doors and storming off and everything, and gave me such a stern talking to, I almost cried." Sarah starts off reminiscing, resting her face on her hand with a far-away look before I can shut her up.

"Remember that one time when we snuck out of the house in the middle of the night to get d-" Alex catches herself just in time, with a sideways glance at Felix. "Drink juice boxes in the treehouse? That was a great ride home to our parents, let me tell you. We were grounded for a week afterwards."

"But!" Holly holds up a finger, please let this be a good story, they're making my Dad look like a raging lunatic. "He also took us out on that sailboat of his, just us girls, what was its name? Catalina? Cordelia?"

"Concordia." I help her memory out, smiling wistfully. "He taught us how to sail on that one. Until my brother sank it one summer, him and his idiot friends."

"Ha, I totally forgot about your brother, oh sweet Mulder boys, you're going to love him." Felix, who has been following the conversation intently, is completely oblivious to Sarah's sarcasm but he has caught sight of my anxious face reappearing and takes it between his sticky palms.

"Don't worry, Dana, we'll be on our best behavior and so cute and charming, they can't be mean to us! Right Dad?"

"Well, I can do best behavior and charming, I'll leave the cute to you, that's your forte!"

They're both pretty cute, actually, and if anyone dares to be mean to them, that night or on any other occasion, they have another thing coming. I'm 99,9 percent sure my family will like them just as much as I do.

"So Felix, what do you want to do today instead of ice-skating?" Felix tilts his head from side to side at my question.

"Read books. No, play MarioKart. No, watch TV. No wait, play board games! Or look at more pictures! More stories of you guys? I don't know…!"

"Tell you what little man, take your dirty plate into the kitchen and I'll challenge you to a MarioKart race! But I have to warn you, I'm really good!" Holly's offer has him scrambling off my lap and beeline-ing into the kitchen with his plate in the blink of an eye. Just as quickly, he's back and tugging her over to the couch impatiently.

"Rainbow Race! We need to do Rainbow Race first! That's the best one!"

“Guys wait up, we want to play too! Come on Alex, last one on the couch has to race with BabyMario!”

“Uh… What just happened?” Mulder glances around the suddenly empty seats at the table, still littered with dirty plates and half-empty coffee cups. They made Felix clean up alright but conveniently “forgot” to do their part.

“We got stuck with the cleanup, that’s what happened… Thanks guys!” They can’t or don’t want to hear me over squabbling who gets which character but I’m also glad for the chance of some alone time.

“I really hope their stories didn’t scare you off too much!” Busy placing the coffee cups into the dishwasher so neatly, I won't have to rearrange them after he's done, Mulder only shrugs his shoulders and flashes me a grin.

“Didn’t you hear, we’ll be cute and charming, they won’t stand a chance! … Seriously, though, I'm a big boy and I don't scare easily."

Dishwasher door out of the way, he closes the distance between us to trap me against the kitchen counter, between his arms, with a twinkle in his eyes. "Now, I think there should be a reward for being stuck with cleanup…” My scalp tingles under the fingers he slides into my hair, to tilt my face upwards for a few gentle reward-kisses that leave me a little lightheaded and weak in the knees.

Barefoot, our height difference manifests itself a twinge in my neck and probably his too, without breaking contact he lifts me onto the counter - far enough back to be appropriate but close enough to sneak his hands underneath the back of my hoodie.

My mind flashes back to last night, after everyone was asleep, when this exact position escalated pretty quickly into a hurried escape to the privacy of my fogged up shower.

"Keep it PG over there, will you?," Holly tosses over her shoulder from her spot on the couch, effectively pulling me out of my memory and back into reality.

"Yeah, hands where we can see them!"

"Can you get us some water from the fridge?"

"And some snacks would be nice, Dad, please!"

How in the hell did we get roped into parenting four kids so quickly?

"Look Dana, I drew you a picture!" After the game, we've managed to keep Felix occupied for a while with paper and pencils to draw a picture he now proudly presents to me. I tilt my head to the side to try and guess what he put on the paper.

"Is it a … dog?" Giggling, he shakes his head. "A… dragon?"

"Nooo, silly, it's a dinosaur, it has scales on the back, see? A Triceratops! Do you like it?" Only with a big imagination is that a dinosaur, but I don't tell him that, of course.

"I love it, thank you! It'll look great on the wall of my office with the others, you wanna come hang it up with me?"

Eyes wide, he steps into my office and gasps when he sees the bookshelves. "Oooh… That's where you keep your picture books! Can you read me one? Please?" For the life of me, I can't say no to that sweet face, bottom lip sticking out in the cutest pout.

"Sure, go ahead and pick one while I hang up your painting." I tape the "dinosaur" onto the wall with all the other pictures kids have drawn for me over the school year and turn back to have my copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpillar" shoved into my face.

"This one! It's my favorite!"

We return to the living room to find the others have settled comfortably into the ends of the couch and the armchairs, noses buried into their current books. Squinting over from my spot in the remaining armchair with Felix curled up on my lap, I discover that Mulder's moved on from "Reading people like a book" to "The 5 Love Languages". Huh, I wonder what that's about.

"In the light of the moon, a little egg lay on a leaf." Felix knows the book by heart by now and can read along with me. "One Sunday morning, the warm sun came up and - pop! - out of the egg came a tiny and very hungry butterfly."

"Daaanaaa, caterpillar! Not butterfly!" He giggles at my mishap and my fake gasp.

"Oh you're right, a very hungry caterpillar. Good thing you're paying attention! On Monday, he ate through one apple. But he was still hungry. Sounds kind of familiar, huh?"

"Mh-hmmm." With a big yawn, he snuggles a little closer, poking his finger through the holes in the book to count off what the caterpillar eats. "Two pears … three plums … four … strawberries…"

By the time we get to the slice of watermelon, he's fast asleep, missing the caterpillar turning into a butterfly in the end.

————

[ Felix ]

Life at the Beach House is pretty neat, I gotta say.

When I want a book read to me, I get a book read to me.

When I ask for snacks, I get snacks - apples cut up precisely the way I like them. They taste better that way.

When I'm bored and would like to play a board game, they dig up Monopoly and I giggle at Dana getting a little mad I take Park Place and Boardwalk and end up collecting all of her money.

When I want to see a documentary, we watch polar bears in the arctic with me in my rightful place between Dad and Dana on the couch.

When I ask for pizza for dinner, we get it delivered to eat around the couch table on the floor.

When it's dark outside and cold inside, we light the fireplace in the living room.

When it's time for bed, I claim I'm not tired at all and they believe me, letting me stay up a while longer.

But then, it's really time for bed and the memories from last night start creeping in again. I crawl into Dad's lap wordlessly, arms looped around his neck tightly, breathing in his Dad-smell that always makes me feel so safe.

"What's wrong, baby?," he asks quietly, giving me his familiar back rubs that've calmed me ever since I was little.

"Dad? I don't want to sleep alone tonight. What if the nightmares come back? Can I sleep with you guys, just one more night? Please?" I'm right on the verge of tears and I hope they don't think this is only a clever ruse to get what I want. I also know that I should probably ask Dana too, it's her bed after all, so I lift my head to look over at her. "Please?"

"Alright… just for tonight." She's the absolute best, I knew it all along! From the very first day, when she took care of my skinned knee, I knew she'd always have my back when I needed it!

Dad carries me upstairs and while all three of us brush our teeth in a too small bathroom, he gives me a stern look in the mirror.

"Just for tonight. Don't think you'll be setting a precedent here!" I have no idea what he's talking about and I really don't care, I'm not sleeping alone tonight!

"Mhm, no president, I promise!"

Crawling into bed right in the middle, I'm faced with a new conundrum - a new word I just learned last week - who do I snuggle up to? And who gets to tell me a bedtime story?

It's a pretty awesome conundrum to have, I think, and I'm so thankful, I don't even make a face at their kiss goodnight. Dad's quiet voice as he tells me the kind of odd story of a fox and a little fox and their rainbow puts me right to sleep, did they ever find their rainbow?

#xf #the x files #xf fanfic #msr #felix felicis

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baronessblixen · 2 years

Note

It’s her birthday, so Mulder wants to make it special for her. He takes her skiing in Colorado. Scully is touched, even though she hasn’t skied in years. She knows that Mulder, growing up with a rich dad, went skiing during winter. She also can’t wait to see how he looks on the slides.

Mulder insists on taking his video camera with them. He films her everywhere. In the airport, in the plane, in the store where they try the shoes. Scully rolls her eyes all the time but she’s smiling too. « You won’t make fun of me, right ? » Mulder smiles behind his camera : « Scully, have you seen me on skis ? My dad was desperate by the number of times he had to pick up my ass from the ground when I was a kid. »

On the third day, Mulder, for some reason, takes interest in taping a squirrel they encounter near the hotel. Scully watches in almost despair as he kneels by the animal, a poor imitation of a wildlife filmmaker. « You replaced me with a squirrel ? » Scully asks in mock indignation when he stands up. Mulder just smiles, kissing her softly. « Come on, Scully. It’s like, a smaller version of your cute self. » She smiles back at him. « YOU look cute too, filming a random squirrel. » They go back to the hotel hand in hand.

So cute! I bet he does look cute filming that squirrel 😁

Thank you so much for sending this in ❤

#lovely anons #askbox fic #this is adorable #they deserve vacations together

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scullysexual · 2 years

Text

30 Ways To Say "I Love You" (15/30)

30 Days of Fic: June Addition.

DAY FIFTEEN: "Go back to sleep." (prompt 41)

day 15 | season 8 | wc; 717 | ao3 | @today-in-fic | previous fic

Get Out of the Car.

Your very much awake when you hear William fussing from his cot. Three days old, there’s not a lot he does other than piss, shit, and eat. He cries a lot, too, all the time and loudly.

Scully shifts beside you. Maybe it was instinctual; Will hadn’t been loud this time after all.

Still, there was no point in her waking up if you were already up. You still her with a hand combing through her hair, it settles her, she falls back down into deep sleep. In a few hours she’ll be doing this all by herself anyway. You push that thought away immediately- it makes you uncomfortable.

William is waiting for you, eyes wide as he stares up at you with tons of familiarity. That makes you feel uncomfortable as well, has your insides twisting painfully. You left it too long, you let Will grow attached to you.

You’ve grown attached to him as well. William’s weight in your arms as familiar as your own self. When you put him down, you feel as though something is missing, that something is wrong. You recall feeling something similar when Scully wasn’t standing next to you.

You grab the milk bottle from the fridge and take the two of you over to the couch. Will’s lips claim the bottle in seconds and you can’t help but smile, you yourself are always hungry, a trait Will also seems to share.

You grow sombre at that; try not to think of other traits he will share. Will he develop a taste for sunflower seeds? Maybe tell spooky stories he definitely should not know at his age at camp? Question why at every request because he believes nothing should be done without a reason and knowing that reason. Will he be reckless? You can answer that in seconds; yes. He may be part Scully but she can be pretty reckless too sometimes.

You try not to imagine him growing up. Trips to the park, beach, holiday resorts. Birthdays and Christmases and spoiling him rotten because William is their only child so why shouldn’t he be spoiled? You try not to think of more children, of a house in a safe, small town away from monsters and danger and lies, of playing baseball on a Sunday, and Scully’s voice calling everyone in for dinner. A life, you think that’s what they call it- a real life. Finally getting out of that car.

“Mulder?” you hear Scully call, a panicked cry.

You don’t even realise you’re crying until you try to speak, your voice feeling like a clogged toilet drain.

“In here.” You try to make your voice sound as normal as possible. “We’re okay, go back to sleep.”

Instead you hear footsteps padding towards you. Scully stands before you, looking exhausted.

“What are you doing?” she asks.

“I was awake, Will was hungry…”

“He’s asleep again now,” she tells you.

You look down to find that he is, lips loosely holding the bottle still in his mouth. You pull it away and adjust the baby, your arms beginning to ache. Scully notices.

“I can take him,” she says, reaching out.

“No,” you cry a bit too harshly. The ache is pleasant, grounds you in the present. Without it, you’re scared you’ll float away.

“Okay,” she says. She sits down next to you. “Are you okay, though?” Her arms come around you, helping you support William. You sink into her embrace, a cloud of vulnerability shrouding you.

“I don’t want you to leave.”

She hushes you, a familiar debate this has become.

“Not without you. There’s nothing for us here,” you add. You think of that house with those kids in that town.

“My mother is here,” she says gently.

“Then we’ll bring her, too. Please, Scully…” You’re crying again. “Let’s get out of the car.”

You hear her breath hitch, a memory of the same words she said to you once. You got out that car and you hated it but only because she wasn’t there with you.

“You’re not leaving yet,” she says in response, having recovered from his admission for a normal life. “Let’s stay where we are and worry about leaving later.”

You close your eyes, step out into the sunlight, and close the car door behind you.

#the x-files #the x files #txf fic #xfiles fanfiction #30 days of fic #30 ways to say i love you #i love you prompts #season 8 #xf8 #scullysexualwrites

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silhouetteofacedar · 3 years

Text

Fox Mulder, Closet Romantic Ch. 6: The Slowest Cooker

Previous Chapter - AO3 - MSR, rated E

It’s Friday, April 17th, and they’re eating lunch in the Hoover building’s cafeteria. They eat lunch together almost every day now, Mulder realizes. They’re practically joined at the hip.

Except in the fun way.

Today is different, though. Because today she invites him over for dinner.

Scully’s devouring a caesar salad, and Mulder’s heart is warmed by the evidence of her returning appetite. Five months ago, she was dying of cancer, and now she’s here stealing the occasional potato chip from the bag he got from the vending machine. He doesn’t mind; she could take his entire sandwich from him right now, and he’d happily watch her eat it.

“Do you want to come over for dinner tomorrow?” she asks, covering her mouth with her hand as she chews. “My mother got me a crockpot for my birthday and I’m thinking of giving it a test drive.”

His heart leaps, and he wants to shout yes, but instead he asks “What about Mark?”

She gives him one of her patented Scully looks. “I’m allowed to have friends, Mulder. And I still owe you for going to the bar with me that one time, remember?” She takes another bite of salad. “Also, he’s working.”

“Ah,” Mulder says knowingly. “Sure; what’s on the menu?”

“Pork roast,” she replies. “My mom’s recipe. The leftovers make great pulled-pork sandwiches.”

“Anything you’d like me to bring?”

Scully shrugs. “Red wine would go nicely, but I’ll be testing you at the door to make sure you’re not Eddie Van Blundht,” she says dryly.

“You gonna check me for evidence of a tail, Scully?” he says in a low tone, leaning in so they’re not overheard.

“Keep that up and I’m rescinding my invite and keeping all the leftovers to myself,” she replies, picking a wilted bit of romaine out of her salad.

It’s not a date, he reminds himself. Just friends sharing dinner.

Regardless, he takes a shower and puts on one of his nicer sweaters before heading to her place.

He knocks on her door at 6:30 sharp, a bottle of Pinot Noir in hand. His palm is a little sweaty, and he grips the wine tightly to avoid dropping it.

“It’s open,” he hears her call out.

He opens the door and is hit by the savory aroma of meat and herbs. His mouth waters instantly. When he turns and sees her in the kitchen, it waters for a different reason entirely.

Scully’s reaching into the cupboard above the sink, her soft green sweater riding up to expose a ribbon of creamy skin. He wants to wrap his arms around her waist, kiss her neck, tell her to forget dinner because he’s got something else on his mind.

Instead he just says “Hey”.

“Hi,” she greets him, bringing down two salad plates and setting them on the table. “Do you want to hear the good news first or the bad?”

Mulder blinks. “Uh,” he says brilliantly. That goddamn little sweater-

“The good news is that I’ve had the crockpot running for about six hours, and nothing’s caught fire,” she says, leaning against the countertop.

He nods. “And the bad news is…”

“I started the roast at almost half noon,” Scully admits. “I had to go to the grocery store first and that took longer than expected. So the meat won’t be done until eight-thirty.”

“That’s fine,” Mulder says, hoping his stomach doesn’t rumble loudly enough for her to hear. “Oh, and I brought Pinot Noir,” he says, reading the label.

---

They eat the salad she prepared; it’s spinach and apple with vinaigrette, and Mulder has to admit it’s pretty tasty.

“You’re a good hostess, Scully,” Mulder says as she pours him a glass of Prosecco. “Maggie should be proud.”

“Please note the size of crockpot she gifted me,” Scully replies, gesturing to the slow-cooker on the counter. “She fully intends for me to feed a crowd, not just you. I have a long way to go.” She sits across from him and takes a sip of her wine. “But this is a start.”

“Can I make a confession?” he asks.

Scully nods.

“I… I don’t drink much wine. So I have no idea if the one I brought is any good. I told the store clerk I was having pork for dinner and he recommended that one,” Mulder says, cocking his head toward the bottle on the counter.

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Scully assures him. “I’m not a wine snob by any means. I’m kind of surprised you’re not one, actually, considering your background.”

Mulder shrugs. “I don’t drink much, aside from the occasional beer. But this is good,” he says, lifting his glass.

———

The Prosecco is… very good.

“How long until the meat’s done?” Mulder asks, resting his head on his hand.

“Half hour,” Scully replies, downing the last sip of her wine. “I’m sorry, Mulder. Do you want some cheese and crackers to tide you over?”

“M’good,” he says lazily, stifling a burp. He’s feeling warm and soft inside, and the wine’s put him in a charitable mood. “How are things with Mark?”

“Things are good… things are fine,” Scully says, then sighs. “He’s… god, he’s so nice.”

“Nice is good, right?” Mulder asks, toying with his empty wine glass. “People like nice.”

Scully narrows her eyes at him. “Are you feeling okay, Mulder?”

“We’re not talking about me,” he says, slumping in his chair and stretching his long legs out under the table. “We’re talking about Mark. Mark Eidolanterns.”

“Einolander,” Scully corrects him. “And yes, nice is good, generally,” she continues. “But sometimes I wish he weren’t so nice. I don’t know,” she says, exhaling. “I need more wine if I’m going to talk about this,” she says with a huff of laughter.

“Hey, we got it,” Mulder says. “Dinner’s almost ready anyway. Let’s try the mystery Pinot I brought.”

---

The pot roast is done cooking and they’re definitely a little drunk.

“Whew… I’m feeling this,” Mulder says, holding the bottle up too close to his face as he attempts to read the label. “It’s been so long, I forgot that wine does this to me.”

“Higher alcohol content,” Scully says. “And you’re a lightweight.”

“That your medical opinion, Dr. Scully?” he asks.

“Yes,” she mumbles, slicing a piece off of the roast and dumping it unceremoniously onto his plate. “Tada,” she says, pushing it across the table to him. “Meat.”

“I can see that,” he remarks. He takes another sip of wine. “Wine’s good,” he assures her, even though she’s already on her second glass of the red.

“Can’t say the same for the roast,” she admits, chewing. “I skimped on the salt and in hindsight that was a bad idea.”

Mulder shovels a piece into his mouth. “Tastes good to me,” he assures her. “But I’ve only had wine and salad since lunchtime so at this point I’d eat anything. I’d eat you,” he adds, pointing his fork in her direction.

“Pass that idea along to Mark,” she sighs, then covers her mouth. “I didn’t say that,” she says, face red.

“You did,” Mulder crows, too tipsy to feel jealous. “You did and I heard you.” He takes another draw from his glass. “The store guy was right, this is good with pork.”

“You’re going to have an incredible hangover tomorrow,” Scully says, chewing meditatively. “Wine’s a bitch.”

“You should swear more,” Mulder says. “It’s endearing.”

Scully shakes her head. “I can’t believe how drunk you are,” she says, almost fondly.

“I’m not that drunk,” he insists. Just in love with you.

Scully smiles. “No sober man has ever said that.”

---

“There’s no spark,” she blurts out.

They’d taken the rest of of the wine to the couch and are slumped on opposite ends, goblets in hand.

“No spark?” Mulder echoes. It was an admission he wasn’t expecting. He angles his body towards hers, careful not to spill his glass.

“With Mark. I like him, I really do. He’s kind, intelligent, a devoted father, and quite attractive; and yet…” She gestures loosely to her body with the hand not holding her wine. “Nothing.” She takes another sip. “I can’t shake the idea that I should be feeling more. And the fact that he hasn’t kissed me yet... I understand wanting to move slowly and let things grow with time, but not even a single kiss?”

“Th-that did strike me as odd,” Mulder stumbles. “You have nice lips.”

“I do,” Scully agrees, seemingly unfazed by the comment. “I should be kissed.” She drains her glass and holds it out to him.

Mulder pours out the last of the bottle into her glass. “Maybe if… maybe if you kissed, you’d find the spark.”

Scully shakes her head. “No. No, it does’t work that way. At least not for me. I don’t want to force chemistry that’s not there,” she explains. “It should come naturally, feel like it does with-”

Mulder waits expectantly for her to finish her sentence. “With?” he prompts.

Her face is flushed with wine, and she licks her lips. “Mulder, tell me honestly; do you think I’m settling?”

The room suddenly feels too warm, and he takes a nervous gulp of wine that does nothing to calm his body. “Scully, I- I’m the wrong person to ask.”

“You’re my closest friend,” she says softly, eyes cast downward. “Who else would I ask?”

She has a point. “Your mother-” he begins.

“She set me up with him in the first place,” Scully reminds him. “Clearly she’d be no help.”

“What do you want, Scully? If you’re honest with yourself.” He raises his glass. “In vino veritas, or whatever,” he says, taking another drink.

“I don’t know,” she says. “I always do this. I find a man I want to impress or gain the approval of, then resent the authority I let them have over me. This cycle of… of compliance and defiance is exhausting.”

He can tell she’s tipsy, and yet at the same time she’s strangely lucid. He’s never gotten to experience this particular kind of vulnerability with her before, and it gives him a thrill. He can feel the warmth of her body permeating him from across the sofa, her bright hair like a wood stove fire on a winter night. He wants to wrap her entire body around him like a blanket and have a long sleep.

“Yup, I’m drunk,” he declares, and throws back the last of his glass.

#my fic #txf fic #xfiles #msr #fox mulder closet romantic #fmcr #DRUNK AGENTS WITH POT ROAST #i don't drink so i did a lot of research for this okay like a LOT #the next two chapters are gonna be WILD aaa

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atths--twice · 1 year

Text

Chapter Four

Time to pick out a Christmas tree...

“So, I’ve been thinking about your birthday advent calendar and I have questions,” Fox said as they left the diner and walked to the tree lot to pick out her Christmas tree.

“Is that right?” she asked, looking at him with a smile.

“It is. Whoa!” he said, grabbing her arm and moving her out of the way of a man on his cell phone, not paying attention to his surroundings. “Hey man, watch where you’re walking!”

“Fuck you,” he yelled, flipping him off over his shoulder.

“Oh right, we must have forgotten that the world revolves around you, asshole!” Dana yelled, as the man turned around, staring at her.

“Excuse me?” he asked, walking back toward them as she pulled her arm free from Fox’s grasp, stepping closer to the man.

“You nearly ran into me as you stared at your phone. You weren’t paying attention. Don’t act like you’re not in the wrong here. You need to watch where you’re going.”

Fox looked from the man to Dana, his hands in fists, waiting to see how the situation would be resolved. The man stood before her, phone in hand, his jaw clenched, but Dana did not back down. He sighed and glanced at Fox, before looking back at Dana.

“You’re right. I… I apologize.” He nodded and turned around, sliding his phone into his pocket as he walked away.

“Well,” Dana said, looking at Fox in surprise. “That went better than I imagined.”

“Me too,” Fox said, unclenching his fists and letting out a deep breath.

“Were you ready to fight him?” she teased, turning back and continuing toward the tree lot.

“I… well, if I had needed to, I… hmm, it’s weird, but I don’t normally behave that way. I can’t remember the last time I was in a fistfight.”

“Yet you were ready to fight him?” She smiled at him and he nodded, his expression serious.

“He nearly ran into you, then came toward you the way he did, I’d say that’s worth breaking my fighting streak.” She stopped walking and stared at him, tilting her head to the side. “But you handled it without any help and if I’m being completely honest, it was rather… sexy.” Her eyes widened and he froze, worried he had spoken too candidly.

“Well,” she said, licking her lips and trying to hold back a smile. “Thank you for being willing to break your streak.” He let out a sigh and smiled, relieved that she had not taken offense. “Christmas tree?”

“Yeah. Christmas tree.”

“And what did you want to know about Ivy’s birthday advent calendar? You said you had questions?”

Even more relieved, he chuckled softly and nodded his head, falling into step beside her. When she slid her hand into the crook of his arm, he glanced down in surprise.

“Just in case anyone else isn’t paying attention,” she said, looking up at him from the corner of her eye, a smirk on her lips.

“Good idea,” he agreed, looking away so she did not see the giddy grin on his face.

____________

“So, what size and type of tree? Do you have a preference?” he asked and Dana sighed, touching one of the trees with her gloved fingers.

“Nothing too big as we will have to carry it and I don’t have a lot of space, but also nothing too small as I don’t want it to be skimpy.”

“Understandable.”

“Hey there! You folks looking for a tree today?” A ruddy cheeked man asked them with a huge grin.

“We are. But not entirely sure what we want,” Dana said, smiling back at him, Fox unable to stop his own smile at her use of we.

“Well, we got some new trees in today, let me show them to you.” Dana nodded as she caught Fox’s eye and followed the man. He nodded and followed behind her.

Pines, spruces, and firs, were viewed and discussed, Dana smelling the branches with a happy sigh.

“I think a Douglas fir,” she said, nodding as she smiled, holding the branch and stroking the needles. “It seems most like Christmas to me.”

“I getcha,” the man said with a smile. “You want that one?”

“Oh, no. I need something smaller. Maybe like… four feet?”

“Hmm,” he hummed as he rubbed his chin, glancing at Fox. “Your husband will be towering over it unless you’re putting it on a table or something. I’d suggest maybe a five foot, that way if you had it on a table, it would be about midway for the two of you.”

“Oh, I’m not-”

“We’re not-”

They spoke over each other, both of them flustered and quickly glancing at and then away from the other. She looked down and the man chuckled.

“Sorry. Didn’t mean to imply anything.”

“Just friends,” Fox said, looking at Dana and sighing. “But maybe a five foot would be good? Unless you did want to place it on something? I think it would be a good height for your place.” She looked up and met his eyes. He smiled and nodded and she exhaled a breath.

“Okay. Let’s see what you have in that height.”

“You got it,” the man nodded and motioned for them to follow him.

Fox allowed Dana to go first, squeezing her elbow gently as she passed, speaking without words. She smiled softly at him and he smiled back.

Ten minutes later, they had the tree picked out and were waiting for it to be wrapped up to bring to Dana’s apartment. The tree lot offered delivery, but Dana had politely declined.

“You sure?” Fox asked as they waited.

“Yeah. I don’t need strange men in my home, or knowing where I live. Can’t be too careful.” She shrugged and walked toward the tent where they were flocking trees.

Fox froze as he stared at her, feeling horrible that she even had that thought, as he had not even considered it for a second. Suddenly he remembered a story his sister had told him years ago, about a man following her off the train one night and the panic she had felt. She had tried not to show it, but she had been terrified. It turned out that he had actually been hurrying to meet his wife and kids who were waiting at the car, happy and excited to see him. But the panic she had felt still made her wary of her surroundings.

“I’m sorry,” he said, stepping close to Dana, shaking his head as he looked at her. “I didn’t even think of that being a problem. I should have thought.”

“It’s okay,” she said with a smile.

“It’s not,” he replied, shaking his head again. “It didn’t even cross my mind.”

“No, it wouldn’t have,” she said softly. “It’s different for women. We’re always on the alert. Like I said, we can’t be too careful.”

“That’s really fucked up,” he whispered and she nodded.

“It really is.” She touched his arm and smiled. “But when we know someone is safe, we cherish that, believe me.”

He leaned forward and pulled her into a hug, surprising both of them. She gasped and then made what sounded like a half laugh half sob sound, her arms wrapping around his waist gently.

“I’m so sorry.”

“It’s-”

“It’s not okay,” he whispered, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. “It shouldn’t be that way.”

“No, it shouldn’t,” she whispered back and her hold on him tightened. “But, I do all I can to be vigilant. Which includes personally helping to carry a tree through town.”

He gave a short laugh and she patted his back. He pulled back and kept his eyes on hers. She smiled and blinked a couple of times, before looking down and sighing.

“I hope that wasn’t too forward,” he said, worried he may have overstepped. “I just-”

“It wasn’t.” She raised her eyes to his and smiled slightly, touching his bicep and squeezing. “Thank you.”

“Tree for Dana?” A man called out, looking around.

“Right here!” she shouted, smiling at Fox as she turned around and began to walk to the man, Fox watching her with a deep sigh.

____________

“Well,” she said, slightly out of breath as they set the tree down on the living room floor. “That wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be.” She laughed and he nodded in agreement.

They’d had to stop a few times on their journey to rest and get a better grip on the short rope handles that had been added to the tree wrapping, both of them laughing as they did.

The flights of stairs had also been an adventure. Maneuvering around the tight corners could have been problematic, if it had not been so funny. Good natured ribbing on her end had left him laughing and enjoying her company even further.

“So… do you have a stand?”

“Oh… I don’t know. I mean I do have the fake tree stand, but that won’t work.” She bit her bottom lip and he nodded.

“Looks like we’re heading out again,” he said with a smile.

“Oh, you don’t have to-”

“Can you get the tree in on your own? Tighten it down and secure it? On your own?”

She stared at him and he saw a stubborn set of her jaw that he had not noticed before. She stuck her chin out and he tried not to laugh, knowing she was having an internal debate over how to answer him.

“No, I can’t,” she whispered and he smiled.

“No one can. It’s a two person job. And I’m happy to help. I offered, remember?”

“Yeah.” She nodded and sighed. “I’m sorry. I’m very independent and sometimes it’s hard to let go. Even when it’s a friend offering something as helping with a Christmas tree.” She looked at him and he nodded.

“Completely understandable. Come on my friend Dana, let’s go get that tree stand.”

She laughed and nodded, following him out and locking the door.

___________________

Realizing she needed more than a tree stand, Dana worried her bottom lip as she looked around the large Christmas section of the shop they had chosen, something he noticed she did often. To ease her mind, he stated that since she paid for the tree, he would pay for everything from the shop, not backing down when she tried to argue with him.

They added boxes of lights and a tree skirt, but she stopped him when he started adding decorations for the tree and for the apartment to the cart.

“We have some in our storage unit in the basement, stuff we’ve had for years, so we don’t need-”

“New stuff is always good to add to the old,” he said, selecting ornaments and decorations he thought Ivy might enjoy. “I mean look at this one. It’s a panda on a sled. Am I supposed to walk past that and not buy it? No. It’s coming back with us. And ohhh, this is cute.” He grabbed a chubby snowman holding a sign that said Happy Snow Day. He smiled at her before placing it into the cart as she shook her head and sighed deeply.

As a result of their shopping spree, there were many bags to carry, but thankfully they did not have far to walk. When they arrived, he offered to order some Chinese food and she looked at him, sighed with a nod, and opened a bottle of wine.

They ate, drank some wine and discussed a game plan. He offered to go down to the storage area and get the containers on his own, but she insisted they both should go and make the work quicker. Placing them to the side, waiting until Ivy arrived home on Sunday, they got to work putting the lights on the tree.

“I always felt this part was so boring as a kid. My dad would make us wait until it was perfect before we could even approach the tree. That’s why pre lit artificial trees are nice, but… they don’t look or smell the same as real ones. It’s tough to decide which I like better,” she said, helping him wrap the lights around the tree. He smiled and nodded, completely understanding. “I wish Ivy was here, even though this bit is boring. She would be opening the containers, taking out the decorations, and asking about each one. She loves hearing the story behind all of them and why those are the ones we keep.”

“I’m sure she does,” he said with another smile. “There, I think… that’s it.” He pressed the lights into the tree making sure they looked good and even. “Yeah. It’s good.”

He stepped back and she stood beside him, both of them staring at the tree.

“It looks wonderful.” She smiled and he grinned with a nod. “Thank you.”

“Of course,” he said, bending to pick up the empty boxes from the lights. “Do you want to keep these?”

“No. I’ll never get them back inside the way they were when we opened them.”

“True,” he laughed softly and started breaking them down.

“She’s going to be so happy to- oh… she’s calling. Hang on.” She hurried to the table to get her phone, answering the video call with a huge smile, turning away from the tree. “Hey baby! How are you?”

“Hi, Mommy! I miss you!”

“I miss you too, honey. Are you having fun with Auntie Missy and your cousins?”

“Uh huh.”

“Good, I’m glad you are. I have something to show you. You wanna see?”

“Yes! What is it?”

“Close your eyes.”

“Okay.”

Dana smiled at Fox as she stepped over to the tree and he moved out of the way, setting the now flat boxes on the coffee table, smiling back at her as he did.

“Ready?”

“Yes.”

She flipped the camera around and counted down. “One, two, three! Open your eyes!”

Ivy gasped as she saw the tree, Fox watching her reaction over Dana’s shoulder. She leaned closer to the screen, looking all around with a huge smile.

“It’s beautiful! I love the rainbow lights. They are so bright and happy.”

“I can’t wait for you to see it when you come home. I have the box of decorations right here for us to put on the tree when you’re here again.” She swung to the left and he did not have enough time to jump out of the way.

“Fox!” Ivy yelled and he froze as Dana’s eyes widened.

It was not that him being there was wrong, not on any level, but he knew she kept her life private. He worried it would be awkward, but made a decision to keep it very light.

Stepping closer to the camera, he smiled and waved at her, though he could not see her.

“Hey there, Ivy. How are you?”

“Wait! I’ll be right back!” They heard her running away and he glanced at Dana.

“I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean… I should have moved.”

“It’s my fault,” she said, holding the phone and flipping the camera around again, muting it as she spoke. “It’s not as though there is anything wrong with you for being here. You were here yesterday.”

“It was different.”

“Yes, that’s true. But, it’s okay for me to have you here.”

“Are you trying to convince me or you?” he said quietly and she sighed.

“Both?” she answered softly and honestly and he smiled.

“I can leave the room…” he suggested and she shook her head.

“I don’t want you to do that,” she whispered and shook her head. “Besides, she’s already seen you.”

They stared at one another and she nodded with a sigh. He smiled and moved to stand next to her, the video empty as Ivy was still gone.

“I’m coming!” she yelled and they both laughed softly, Dana unmuting the phone. Ivy ran back into the shot and smiled as she held Pandy up for them to see.

“Hello!” she said in Pandy’s voice and Fox grinned, bowing his head.

“Your Highness,” he said, looking up. “It’s so nice to see you again.”

“Yes, it is nice to see me,” she continued and he laughed. “Can I see the Christmas tree? Ivy said it has rainbow lights.”

“Of course,” Dana said, flipping the camera again and showing her the Christmas tree.

“Ohhhhhh. Ahhhhh. It’s simply splendid!”

Fox smiled and shook his head as he watched her on the screen, holding Pandy very close to it, a paw at her mouth in amazement.

“I can’t wait to see it when I come home. You made it beautiful for the palace. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Dana said, smiling at Fox.

“Ivy, did you get a hold of your mommy? Ohhh, she got a Christmas tree? Look how beautiful! I love those lights, Dane.”

“Shit,” Dana breathed through gritted teeth and he saw her close her eyes briefly. “Thanks Mel.” Sighing again, she turned from him only slightly, and he shifted without question as she flipped the camera around.

“It’s not your fake one is it? I don’t remember it being that big.”

“No, it’s a real one.”

“Really? That’s great. Did Manny or Joe help you get it home?”

“No, it was a friend of mine. Fox.”

“Fox? The… the customer from the diner?”

“Yeah, the writer.” He grinned at Dana even as he watched her cheeks becoming red.

“Well, that’s… that’s…” her sister trailed off as Ivy spoke over her.

“Mommy, I don’t see Fox. Where did he go?”

“He’s here.”

Dana gave him a look of apology as she angled toward him and he saw a woman beside Ivy, who looked similar to Dana, with long, wavy strawberry blonde hair and kind eyes. He smiled and waved, even as he felt her silently sizing him up.

“Hello. Fox Mulder. Nice to meet you.”

“Fox, I painted a picture for you today,” Ivy said with a grin.

“You… you did?” he asked, feeling simultaneously shocked and extremely touched.

“Yes. Auntie Missy, will you hold Pandy? I want to go get my painting.” She shoved the panda into her aunt's hands and ran away once again.

“Yeah, I…” her aunt laughed and shook her head, looking at Fox again. “Melissa Kellman, Dana’s sister. It’s nice to meet you. Or see you, I suppose.”

He laughed and nodded, aware of the way she was still taking him in and flicking her eyes at Dana, asking her silent questions. Choosing to ignore it, he smiled and asked how she was doing.

“We’re good here. Painted today obviously, as you heard Ivy saying. She’s been having fun with my girls, Saffy and Delilah.”

“Oh! Those are great names,” he said with a nod and Melissa stared at him, an unreadable expression on her face.

“Thank you,” she said, her eyes moving to Dana for longer than a beat and he knew something important was exchanged between them.

Thankfully, Ivy came running back into the room, breaking the slightly awkward feeling.

“Here it is! It’s a story, but it’s also a painting.”

“Oh, an illustrated story. That’s one of the best kinds,” he told her and she grinned. “Tell me about it.”

“Okay!”

“Hang on, Ivs. Let me hold the phone and you can set the painting on the table to show him as you tell him.”

“Thank you, Auntie.”

They moved around and the painting was laid down. He smiled at the sight of it, glancing at Dana to find her smiling as well.

“Okay. It’s a story about this cat, her name is Butter,” she said, pointing to a yellow cat in the left hand corner.

“Butter? That’s a unique name for a cat and I absolutely love it,” he said and they heard her giggle.

“This is Butter’s house and her garden where she grows carrots.” She pointed to a square brown house with a door and two windows, a small patch of green beside it, orange lines representing the carrots beneath, drawn in a straight line.

“Carrots? Cats don’t usually eat carrots. Hmm, is Butter possibly growing those for Funny Bunny?”

“You guessed! You got it right!” she giggled again and he smiled.

“That’s nice for Butter to do. They must be good friends.”

“Yup! So this tree is where Funny Bunny lives. He’s inside right now. Butter is going to bring him the carrots soon so she can make him some soup. Funny Bunny has a cold and soup makes him feel better.”

“Well, Butter sounds like a really nice friend.”

“She is. You were a nice friend too and came to help me and Mommy, so I wanted to make a picture for you.” The camera panned over, showing Ivy smiling at them, Pandy in her hands.

Fox smiled, glancing quickly at Dana out of the corner of his eye, knowing her sister could see them.

“Thank you, Ivy. It’s a beautiful picture. Will you bring it home with you so I can put it up on my fridge? I don’t have anything on there now and I think that would be a perfect addition.”

“What’s addition mean?” she asked, tilting her head to the side and he chuckled softly.

“It means to make something more.”

“I don’t get it,” she said with a shrug and he laughed as Dana covered her smile.

“My refrigerator doesn’t have anything on it and if I add your picture, put it where the door is empty, it will be an addition to my refrigerator. Do you understand now?”

She made some faces, moving her mouth from side to side as she tapped her cheek, and Fox shook his head with a smile.

“Yeah. It makes sense now.”

“Good.”

“Ivs, you need to take a bath,” Melissa said, turning the camera around and they could see her, Ivy squishing into the frame. “Let’s say goodnight to your mommy and to Fox, okay?”

“Goodnight, Mommy! I love you! Goodnight, Fox! I’ll save your picture so you can make it an addition.” She waved and blew kisses, waving Pandy’s paw as well.

“Goodnight, my love,” Dana said, waving and smiling. “I love you so much.”

“Bye, Ivy… your Highness, always good to see you.”

“Byeeee!” she said in Pandy’s voice.

“Bye, Mel. Thank you so much for this,” Dana said and Melissa smiled.

“Of course, Dane. Goodnight. Bye, Fox. Nice to meet you.”

“You too. Goodnight.” He waved to her and then the call ended.

“I need a drink,” Dana said with a deep sigh as she put her phone in her pocket. She walked to the table and picked up her glass, swallowing a huge gulp of wine. “Phew… that… God.” Another drink and then she turned to him, opening her mouth to speak, but he beat her to it.

“You talk about me?” he asked with a grin and she stared at him, her cheeks flushing again.

“I… I talk about lots of people.”

“Mmhmm,” he hummed, his smile growing. She drank the last of her wine, setting the glass back down on the table, and he knew he needed to back off. “Your sister seems nice.”

“Huh…” She snorted and he raised his eyebrows at her.

“She’s not?”

“She is. But… I know she’ll be calling later, wanting to know more about you and why you were here and… it’s none of her business, but…” She drew in a deep breath and closed her eyes briefly. “When Ivy’s father left us, Jordan, my sister was my rock. We stayed with her for three months. She helped with Ivy, helped me get back on my feet. She found us an apartment and orchestrated the entire move in, along with my mother, as I was coping with a newborn and a breakup. It was a very stressful time. I know that she’s worried about me and I don’t blame her, considering the past, but I also don’t look forward to her phone call later.”

“I come to the diner, you work there. We’ve recently upped that dynamic to our friendship by folding laundry together, picking out a Christmas tree, and hauling it to your home. That’s it.” He shrugged and she started to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

“If only it were so simple.” She shook her head. “Her husband, Artie, is a lawyer and works at a great firm. They decided together, before the girls were born, that my sister would stay home with them. She’s an amazing mother and homemaker. She homeschools them, like I said, but she also listens to true crime podcasts as she cleans and organizes the house. She’s on the alert and can research people online faster than anyone I know. She can be very intense.”

“Well, if she researches me-”

“When she does,” Dana said with a sigh and he chuckled softly.

“She won’t find anything unusual about me. Oh… ah, except for that cult thing…” He made a face and her eyebrows shot up as her eyes widened.

“What?”

“I’m just joking,” he said, laughing at the look of relief on her face. “She cares about you, it’s nice to have someone like that in your corner.”

“I know. I really shouldn’t complain.” He smiled and she sighed again.

“I should probably get going. Let me help you clean up and then I’ll head out.”

Trash was collected and added to a large bag which he would take out when he left. He asked for her vacuum and vacuumed her floor while she washed the dishes and wiped down the dining room table.

“Thank you for everything today,” she said as he put on his coat. “I really appreciate it.”

“Of course,” he replied, putting his bag over his head and adjusting it across his body. “I had a good time. See you in the morning?”

“Yeah.”

“Okay. Goodnight to you, my friend Dana.” He put out his hand and she chuckled softly as she shook it and rolled her eyes with a smile.

“Goodnight to you, too.”

He smiled and let go of her hand. Picking up the bag of trash, he walked out the door. Glancing up, as he started down the steps, he saw she was leaning against the railing with a soft smile.

“Bye,” she said quietly and he nodded.

“Until tomorrow.” He nodded his head and she sighed.

He heard her door click shut as he began walking down the next flight of stairs and he nodded again, smiling happily, the trash bag swinging in his hand.

#alternate universe #modern setting #the x files #xf fanfic #new in town #new friendship #its a date #shopping for a christmas tree #spending more time together #new friendship growing #msr #diners #phone calls #sharing a meal

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