#skinman first
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1. Skinner
I wanted to do the color wheel challenge with some x files characters. Here we go!
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so i really love whenever you call mulder & scully best friends. wanna talk about your top 5 favorite moments of their friendship?
DO I EVER
1/ little green men
they have a secret code. they have their own language.
when mulder gets to his desk that morning, the photo of samantha is tipped over, and he knows that this means to meet scully at the watergate. which, first of all, is unbelievably dorky. these two work in the same building. these two have cell phones.
but they have been split up and reassigned and it is not a phase you guys it is the end of the world!!!!
when he arrives in the parking garage, he asks what she wants, and she responds, "to know that you're alright."
they have a secret code and their own language and for nothing more than to check in.
(shoutout to the depression hair era, they are so funny for both getting bangs the moment they were separated. that's how you know things are really bad for the girlies.)
when he sinks down to the floor and tells her the george hale story, she crouches down next to him, listens, tells him not to give up.
you can tell that it makes her uneasy to see him defeated, to see him doubting himself and what he believes in. she's almost trying to convince him of aliens in that moment, telling him that he's seen so much and reminding him of samantha. trying to spark something in him.
they have a secret code, they have their own language, and when he leaves town, he buys the plane ticket under a name that only she will recognize. she cracks his computer password in three tries.
earlier, after skinner questions scully, he tells CSM that she's telling the truth, she really doesn't know where mulder is. "because if she knew, she wouldn't be so worried about him."
they aren't as hard to decipher as they want to believe.
PAUSE!!!!! this is the cuntiest thing he's ever done. the sunglasses, the denim, the boots, the dangerous lack of exit strategy...anyway
she interprets his clues, she follows without obligation, they go back together. hand in his hair, not giving up, just like she started the episode.
in the end, they have nothing. the hail mary trip resulted in empty tables and silent tape recordings.
one thing i didn't notice until i rewatched this one the other day is that it's not when he says "i still have you" that she takes his hand.
it's when he switches the tape from the record of his failed excursion to his actual assignment, hours of listening to slimy men talk about strippers.
she listens with him for a moment before shaking her head, and squeezing his hand. she does understand that this isn't what he wants to be doing, and that it's disheartening.
2/ tooms
i could list every season one episode here. i could do a whole other post just about season one. i could do a whole other post just about season one, and include every episode. but i guess i will settle for this one.
this is my favorite season, and this is my favorite MSR.
him waving the pine tree air freshener in her face when she said he smells 😭😭😭
squeeze was all about the choice between climbing the ladder and the "out there" but "good" work of the basement, with all of the ridicule and consequence that come with it.
its sequel episode is about the aftermath of that decision, what it means to choose the side of the victim, to stop reaching for personal success.
(this shot is so beautiful, her face through CSM's smoke)
tooms opens with scully in a negative performance review, skinner (in his very first scene!! we love you skinman) going over her reports, CSM lurking in the corner.
the two share a look, then warn scully against having too much of an open mind, telling her that it is her "responsibility to see that these cases are by the book"
"by the book" becomes the theme of the episode, with the phrase repeating multiple times throughout.
this isn't the first time that the show has explored this topic, with young at heart also centering a debate of “by the book” protocol, what it really means, and who it really serves. ending with this final dialogue:
SCULLY: Mulder, I know what you did wasn't by the book.
MULDER: Tells you a lot about the book, doesn't it?
“by the book” isn’t an easy order to follow when you have a partner who doesn’t believe in it, and you aren’t sure you do either.
it’s not an easy order to follow, for the navy captain’s daughter who worships authority.
she does try though, and she's initially frustrated with mulder's behavior in the case. she tells him that he "sounded so....." at the trial, and she's reluctant to pursue his methods without approval from the bureau.
ultimately, when she comes to bring mulder something to eat on his unauthorized stakeout, she tells him that what he's doing is not proper surveillance protocol, and he good-naturedly accuses her of peddling "the book."
she responds, "this is not about doing it by the book, this is about you not having slept for three days." and tells him that he is inevitably going to get hurt.
to her, it's not about following the rules or pressure from the bureau or respecting authority, it's about making sure he's okay.
when she tells him to go home, that she'll take over the stakeout, he smiles and shakes his head (it's almost the same look that he gives her years later in redux ii, when she tells him to lay it all on her. just less tears.)
and i know that we tend to focus on the next part of this scene, but this line stands out to me too, as he declines because he doesn't want her to get "in trouble."
he doesn't want her to break the rules or disobey authority, and he still believes she'll be head of the bureau someday.
it kinda makes me teary, this stupefied look on his face at her response. when she looks at him unflinching and says, "mulder, i wouldn't put myself on the line for anybody but you."
they are so kind to each other. they really don't care about official reprimands in files or welfare protocols; they each just want the other to get some rest, to have a bright future.
he relents, allows her to take over, on the condition that she calls "if anything happens. immediately. i'll be here." and suggests she catch the sports talk radio show
she bends down to give him one last smile and eye roll as she exits the car
and makes a joke to herself while walking back to her own. best best best friends.
3/ tempus fugit
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR SPECIALAGENTDANAKATHERINESCULLYYYYY
what better way to celebrate life than annoying the hell out of your best friend on her birthday?
the way he clearly gave the waiters her name and this snowball and sparkler and sang "special agent dana katherine scully" while they all sang "happy birthday dana" is one of his most embarrassingly extra moments and it never fails to make me laugh
she rolls her eyes at him, but the way she stares when he's not looking says so much. they both know why this year gets sparklers and song when last year didn't. they both know there might not be a next year.
he's literally never been more irritatingly overjoyed lmao. and he brought presents! ("oh, you've got to be kidding me" "just something that reminded me of you")
he said "i didn't know it was your birthday, scully!" with a wrapped gift in his pocket, always prepared with a smile and a cover story
he does this same thing in memento mori, after getting the call to come to the hospital, when his first words of the episode are "i stole these from some guy with a broken leg down the hall. he won't be able to catch me." about the flowers we watched him come through the front doors holding
he clearly puts thought into these gestures, but everything is so fragile. neither of them are comfortable with what too much sincerity would mean, how limited it all is.
but they find little ways to give to each other anyway, they hang out in bars and roll their eyes and discuss the meaning behind a keychain.
if this is the last birthday, maybe it's worth a little vulnerability (and annoying song and dance), that he did it up right.
4/ one breath
another Mulder Gift™️ entry. god, the sweetness here is just overwhelming. he is so strange and tries so hard.
this whole scene is one of my favorites of the series, but i love this little moment so much.
it's so inadequate, in the end. to see someone that you thought you'd lost, your most important person, who was gone for so long, and have nothing more to give them than a shitty VHS sports tape.
but what else can you do? he's so quiet and self-conscious in this moment. he raced to the top of mountains and stood on broken cable cars and choked a man and wore her necklace around his neck for months and wept on the floor. he had the strength of her beliefs, and he prayed. he held her hand by her bedside after they pulled the plug.
so much goes unsaid between them, because how can you say it in words? how can you do anything but smile and buy something stupid at the gift shop?
she makes a joke while he smiles at the floor, but it's not a joke, not really. he's there and he's giving her whatever he can and he's cracking jokes, and she knew there was a reason to live. that's it right there.
5/ detour
GO, GIRL!
this is a best friends episode. this is a "we survived that hospital and we refuse to spend our one wild and precious life at the annual FBI teamwork seminar, if you need us, we'll be lost in the forest" episode.
look at her trying not to laugh while he's making sarcastic comments at her in the backseat. can you imagine carpooling with these two? they are forever passing notes and whispering behind backs.
she is not making it to the teamwork seminar. she is not getting her wine and cheese, either. she is looking for mothmen in western florida.
they think they're so much better than that communication exercise, just to make vague innuendo in a motel room.
they tell each other all about native species and how ticks can halt their metabolism and the livestock that was killed in a town 30 years ago. she teases him about his filing system.
neither of them tire of bashing the hell out of that teamwork seminar.
they talk about death. about searching for meaning in life. about which flintstones character they relate to the most. they swap dirty jokes.
she fusses over his grave injury (a dislocated shoulder) and holds him. sings to him so that he'll know she's still there.
a few years down the road, she'll sing that same song to their baby, on one of her last days with him. she'll sing to him about this night, about his dad, about her favorite memories.
sitting there together in that forest in florida, they have already started to carry the weight of near-misses. of lost time, of almosts, of purposeful disease.
they have come a long way and taken on a lot, in the years since the parked car outside tooms' house and the garage at the watergate.
but they have yet to be separated longer than 90 days. they have yet to lose a child. they have yet to plan funerals and prison breaks.
there's something about that time, that ability to just sit in the woods and talk about everything, looking for mothmen, that is so precious and so special.
and when she tells him that night that she had struggled to find meaning, that's where it is.
#thank you for this#dream assignment#they ARE best friends#and it's my favorite#msr#asks#little green men#tooms#tempus fugit#one breath#detour#kae meta
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X-Files Collector's Edition: It's a Funny, Funny World in MSR Land
Not all is doom and gloom for Mulder and Scully; in fact, things can get downright knee-slapping. Scully catching Mulder in all his quirks (in his office on holiday, Bigfoot compilation tapes, and cranberry bog spiders) and Mulder seeing Scully unguarded (loopy or caught out on eating all the office chocolates) are fics worth reading.
Loose chronological order below~
@mldrgrl's (Ao3) Wise Up
""Scully opened her eyes and stared blankly at the woman standing above her. She sat up slowly with the nurse’s help and then Mulder crouched down and put a hand on her knee. Her right cheek was puffed up, full of cotton swabs that poked out of the corner of his mouth. The size of her pupils caught him off guard, so dilated her eyes almost looked black.
“Muller,” Scully murmured. “My mowf ish mishing.”
“Your mouth is missing?""
Set sometime after the Skinman name drop and the Lazarus Bowl movie disaster, Mulder takes care of a loopy Scully after her wisdom tooth removal surgery-- many hilarious moments are had, including "who's Queequeg?", prodding her mouth constantly, and Mulder trying to just get Scully to bed.
Jamie Greco's Truth or Dare
""...Now, who goes first?"
"I do."
"Why?"
"Beauty before age."
"Ouch.""
Scully is a taskmaster to Mulder during their Truth or Dare game while on a stakeout.
Juliettt's Verdict
""She swivelled in her chair to meet Mulder's eyes. He gazed at her for a moment and then lifted his eyebrows and nodded slightly. She flashed him a smile and turned back to the agent standing hopefully in the hallway.
"Okay, Halle. Come on in."
A wide grin broke over the agent's face and he swung the door open.
The next few moments were a flurry of activity as men and women dressed in suits poured into the room and took up positions around the small television set up on the light table.""
Agents from the upper floors swarm the basement to catch the OJ Simpson trial verdict. Even Skinner joins.
Dawn/sunrise83 (Ao3, Gossamer) Trivia Pursuits (Ao3)
""You know? Mulder, this has been missing for two years. It's the best one I've ever had; I turned my apartment upside down looking for it. The one I replaced it with cost twice as much and works half as well."
"Sorry, Scully. I intended to give it back, but I kept forgetting."
"What were you doing with it in the first place?"
"Remember when I broke my arm falling from that fire escape?""
Mulder is bored on a stakeout and Truths or Dares (without the Dare) Scully into confessing an embarrassing Skinner dream. But she gets extra delight from finding out he'd been beaten up by Winnie the Pooh. Much sad and sappy anecdotes are shared as well.
Pattie's
President's Day Ambush
""The best thing about this day in the office was that Scully wouldn't be shaking her head wondering why he was going through all those "outrageous claims and delusional, hysterical people mesmerized by science fiction." He thought after all these years and everything she had seen even under the microscope she would stop the remarks. Especially her "concern" that he was obsessed with "things that could easily be explained possibly by science, and if not in the present, some day when science became even more advanced." Finally, some time to be there and do what he had missed doing these past few months. Sometimes, he even did this on Saturdays.""
Scully drags Mulder out of the office, refusing to let himself sniggle out of his mandated holiday.
Mulder's Penance
""I have been regressed by a controversial therapist, bound and gagged, subjected to horrible experiments in Tunguska, taken to the far corners of the Earth and even slugged by someone who looked amazingly like my partner during a wild ride in the Bermuda Triangle, transported to the past.
Why is it that right now, as I shampoo the carpet of my car for the twentieth time, I feel I am truly in Hell itself?""
Mulder forgot to escort Scully to a wedding, and so gets obligated to a kid's birthday party instead. Much food poisoning and misery has both of them running for the hills.
Vice Verses 01
""Let's see how many vices I have. And since I have nothing else to do since Scully is visiting her brother and sister-in-law, and nothing new has crossed my desk, I may as well take stock. I'm sure Scully has taken them all into account and memorized them in that beautifully packaged brain of hers anyway. I'd better get this down on paper. Just to see what I can dig up. Might come in handy for my New Year's Resolutions.""
Mulder decides to write his quirks down. This will not end well.
Vice Verses Encountered
""Maybe she won't find it. She has the file. Good. She shoves the file drawer closed and she's turning to walk toward me with that case file. She's on her way and... Something just fell out of that folder, and I recognize it. I stand and begin to walk over to her... "I'll get that, Scully!" She can't see it. She can't. I have my pride.
"Relax. I'll get it. If you've got a headache, you sure don't need to bend down and make it worse." She's smiling and I am now dreading her reading that piece of paper.""
Scully tortures Mulder over his list for a bit until he threatens her with the dirt he has on her.
Skinner Meets Vice Verses
""Well, this was just too good to pass up, and the occasion called for a sit down. So, Skinner read away sitting in Mulder's chair.
"Good thing I don't answer to that cigarette smoking buzzard," he thought. "Mulder actually admitting his vices? Sure MUST have been a slow day."
As he read the heading, he started to chuckle.""
A bored Skinman and an incriminating list by Mulder are two combinations that poor old Spooky could only hope was a nightmare.
CSM Reads Vice Verses
""At this time of night, no one would be here. Besides, he knew that Fox Mulder and Dana Scully were both at home. It was time to see what the dear boy and his partner had been up to lately, without Skinner's help this time. That would prove somewhat harmful to Skinner later, but then it was business as usual for the Cigarette Smoking Man, as he had become known to Mulder and Scully.
He had no problem unlocking the office door. Again, "Access". The desk had actually been dusted! "Don't tell me you're getting domestic on me, boy. Maybe the cleaning staff took the opportunity since your desk is clear." Usually, there were files, pencils, 'post-it' notes and sunflower seed shells scattered over the top of the desk.""
The ultimate indignity, even if CSM won't do anything with Mulder's professions of inadequacies.
The Day Mulder Put Bill in His Place
""Boys? Are you being good?" I shouted, trying so hard not to giggle and wet myself.
"Yeah!" they shouted in unison.
Mulder added, "Just giving your brother a history lesson."
"Creative history!" Bill called back.""
AU-- Mulder and Scully have a family, the support of the FBI, and friends for Thanksgiving... and that, of course, isn't enough for big brother Bill. All ends swimmingly between the two guys.
veryygirlfriendfoxmulder/sohmer's Unnamed Florida Man fic (Alt.)
""Mulder shakes his head, snorting. “You mean to tell me that there are multiple men in Florida performing the same bizarre crimes? That the man who tried to rob the brother’s CVS with a water nozzle is a different person from the one who killed their husband with a squirrel?""
Mulder in convinced in the entity that is Florida Man. Scully remains unconvinced and incredulous.
@spookyscullies's (WBM) Scully finds one of Mulder's "tapes"
""The way his eyes had twinkled and the quick spread of his grin when she mentioned the loss of her keys made her suspicious.
His closing statement on the subject was “it’s our next X File, Scully”, to which she replied only with a playful glare.
Nevertheless, here she was, fifteen minutes later, absolutely clueless to where her keys may have gone. Another realm? Maybe in Mulder’s world, but scientifically impossible in her own. They had to be here somewhere, but where?""
Mulder's tapes are more egregious than Scully thought-- it's a Bigfoot dance video.
Cornerofmadness's Just Another Night in a Cemetery
""I’m not digging up a grave, Mulder,” she protested. “And what does this have to do with disappearing pigs?”
“They can project their spirit self as a pig to drain others until they have managed the entire self-cannibalism.” He dug a river rock the size of her fist out of his pocket and handed it to her. “Here. I’ll dig. You keep the light on the grave.”
He made it sound so easy but it wasn’t of course. It took him well over an hour of back-breaking work to move the soft earth off the vault only there wasn’t one. Whoever this was had opted for a more green burial, just a coffin in earth and that meant no embalming. By now she should be able to smell the person but she couldn’t. The sounds of chewing had stopped but that only made her more nervous.""
Scully is, once again, surprised that Mulder deduced that magical pigs are a sign of a German, shroud-eating vampire. He gives her the honor or stuffing a rock in its mouth.
The Meet Up
""Do you know why Mulder called us here?” Frohike asked as he and the rest of the Lone Gunmen caught up with Dana in the hallway to Mulder’s apartment.
“Alien invasion?” Langly’s eyes glinted. “Wendigos in Central Park? The Green-clawed beast in Evansville?”
“It could be the Grassman in Gallipolis,” Frohike added.
Dana didn’t know how they kept all that nonsense in their heads or more importantly why. She guessed it was like medical school and memorizing all the muscles of the body. Only it was a lot more useless than knowing the origin and insertions of the sternocleidomastoid. Mulder and the Gunmen would argue that point.
“I’m more interested in why we had to pick up a bucket of hot wings and Doritos.” Beyers hefted a grocery bag.""
Scully and TLG are invited impromptu-style to Mulder's for breadsticks and football. They all shrug and join good-naturedly.
@starbuck09256's (Ao3) Trick or treat?
""Mulder steps beside me and his glowing flashlight shines into a distant hallway that he surely doesn’t intend for us to go down. But then he grins that grin, the one that turns my rational and reasonable senses to mush and causes me to follow him into the darkness and search out its’ secrets.
“Mulder, this doesn’t look structurally sound, at all” but his back is facing me and he turns and makes that face the one that dares me to back down and I can’t I can’t not go after him, not follow him.""
Scully is both amused and very NOT amused by Mulder's hijinks in a faux haunted house. Both are horrified that the rat was real.
syn's Halloween Confection (Gossamer)
""Yes, I do have a confession, Mulder," said Scully, logging off her computer and looking up.
Mulder crossed his arms over his chest with a smirk. "I'll bet you do."
"I confess that last night I made an amazing discovery."
"What? That Special Dark isn't as bad as you remembered it to be?"
"No, Mulder. Last night, as I worked late in the office, I discovered that aliens *do* exist," she said calmly.
Mulder blinked. "Excuse me?""
The missing chocolate is definitely not Scully's fault; in fact, she was witness to little outer space creatures fly in under her nose and steal them. Mulder listens to her proclaim her innocence with increasing amusement.
Ten's (Gossamer) Scully Gets Fed Up With Being the Ditch Witch
""Well?"
"Well..." He shrugged, turning off the heater, pulling his suit jacket and trenchcoat back on as she began angrily zinging it back and forth on the chain, "How do you feel about seeing what sort of meals they do here?"
Scully let go of her sign of faith. "Good idea." She came up beside him and took her other hand out of her pocket as he opened the door. Click!
"HEY!" Mulder jerked his arm away - well, as far as he could get. They were handcuffed together.
Her smile was triumphant, cat-like. "Not this time, Mulder.""
Sometime S3-4 Scully is NOT getting left behind by Mulder-- she straight up cuffs herself to him, forcing him to meet Marita with a plus one. She keeps them both interlocked through his mission; but, unfortunately for them both, she loses the key when the guns are pulled out to prevent the duo from breaking and entering a building. Skinner doesn't even want to know.
S3-4/INTP given tip by Marita/ISTJ cuffs herself to him to prevent ditch/break into building still cuffed/his badge caught bullet/ENTJ unamused to bail them from prison/ISTJ sneaked evidence into blouse/not ditching-- Gossamer | Story: "Scully Gets Fed Up With Being the Ditch Witch" by Ten
myssbrokethefall's Unnamed Cranberry Bog Spiders
""She rolls her eyes, flicks a few more spiders off her, toddler-marches out of there after him with her dignity mostly intact, thanks the farmers for their time, takes their cranberry-jelly samples that they were given by the farmers who ... weren’t sure what the polite thing was, and lets Mulder explain emphatically to her in the car about how this lead is a dead end and it has NOTHING to do with the spiders, it’s just, he’s tired of being jerked around by these know-nothing sources, Scully, why do they want to keep the truth from him UGH WHAT IS IN MY HAIR oh it’s a leaf UGGHHH LET’S JUST GO STRAIGHT TO THE AIRPORT SCULLY, EVEN THOUGH OUR FLIGHT ISN’T TIL 7:30, I’VE HAD IT WITH THIS CASE.""
Mulder NOPES out of a case involving cranberry bog spiders; and misses the bog monster while at the ren faire with Scully.
Ebonbird's
Cooking With Mulder 01 - Nuking With Mulder
""Cool, hunh?" Mulder said, proud of the look of disgust on her face.
"This is so, so---"
"Evocative of a fatter, less-culturally aware America?"
"Girly." Scully supplied, as she jumped down to the floor with an incriminating package in her hand. "What are you doing with five cartons of pink coconut covered marshmallow puffs in your cupboard?"
"Would you believe getting in touch with my feminine side?"
Scully snorted.""
Scully is horrified that Mulder thinks dessert is a microwaved Hostess dessert... but even more so that it tastes too delicious.
Cooking With Mulder 02 - Trifling Hero
""Whining a most masculine and understated whine, Mulder banged his heel against the coffee table edge until he shucked the remaining shoe off and away from him. Like its fellow, it fell to the rug with a dull thud (which was more like a sharp thwap, actually).
Mulder, content to wiggle all ten of his toes, sat there for several long moments, wiggling his toes.
As he sat, he realized that he could sit like that, wiggling and or wriggling his toes, for a very long time.""
Mulder wants Scully to admire his cool and casual couch slouch so much he invites her over. She brings ice cream to aid their culinary Poptarts.
Linda61's Buzz
""Walking towards Mulder's apartment, number 42, she suddenly heard a horrible, frightening scream. And that scream came from Mulder's apartment. Doors flew open, heads popped out, wondering what was going on. Some rude remarks were made by his long suffering neighbors.
"Oh no, not again", someone muttered, rolling their eyes. And then the doors slammed closed again.""
Scully races to Mulder's apartment after she hears his scream-- neighbors are highly unimpressed.
AUs
Ten's
A Chip Off the Old Fox
""I hurry for the door and undo the locks and open it to reveal that Mulder looks even worse in the flesh. "Hi," he manages quietly, shuffling past me, his head nearly slumped against his chest.
Langly is staring at his red-rimmed eyes and hair that is sticking out like the Statue of Liberty's crown. "...what happened - you get robbed? Or jumped by Scully as you headed out the front door, wanting a different kind of stick-up?"
Mulder stares at him vaguely, as if trying to place him, then a light goes on in his brain. "Danny's teething again."
"So you didn't get much sleep last night?" I ask.
"Tuesday," Mulder says with all seriousness. "I'm pretty sure I got ten minutes solid sleep on Tuesday. That was good."
Today's Friday.""
Mulder and Scully are new parents in the throes of their son's first round of teething. TLG greatly pity zombie Mulder during their guy game night; but are accidentally roped into sitter care after Scully drops the baby for an emergency.
The Joys of Boys
""THUD! THUMP! SLAM!
Of course, who needed an alarm clock with six boys in the house? And by the sound of things, they were all up and out of the game room and sitting room. In the kitchen... Which was right below the main bedroom.
He could only see the back of his wife's head, but he could hear her eyes snap open.""
Mulder is babysitting his rambunctious kids and nephews solo-- and gets injured because he's accident prone. Scully's panic dissipates when she's told that the boys are holding an unused diaper to his head as a "band aid."
Enjoy!
#txf#xf fanfic#x-files#fic#Collector's Edition#mine#It's a Funny Funny World in MSR Land#Pattie#sohmer#veryygirlfriendfoxmulder#spookyscullies#Cornerofmadness#Jamie Greco#starbuck09256#mldrgrl#syn#Ten#myssbrokethefall#Ebonbird#Linda61
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fasten your seatbelts folks we're goin 88 mph cuz the stuff from this here flea market trip is mostly treasures from the past!
first thing i got was THIS. Corgi Supermobile from 1979!!!
in my excitement i didn't even notice the fists were missing till i got home lol. but i looked it up to make sure an it's actually pretty common with these i guess. i also didn't know there was this bigger version till i saw it,it's around 5 inches long. i only knew about the regular Hot Wheels-sized one. an it's an even more special find considering this year is Big Blue's 85th anniversary❤
next we got a Star Wars Command Chewie. he looks like he's made of chocolate. frickin LOVE Star Wars Command,they're Star Wars army men. i have a whole collection of em that i get from the flea market lol. they're always a win.
got this lil Woody cuz why not. he's so small.
A FRICKIN 1978 KENNER X-WING LUKE!!!!!!!! i mean. i couldn't believe it. YEAH!
this very nice chrome-y George Clooney Batman! he's so nice to look at an he's in really good condition too.
he originally came in a two-pack with Bane titled 'Brain vs. Brawn' an when i was a kid i'd look at it an be like "why'd they misspell Bane as Brawn" i dunno lol
then i found this guy an i was like 'oh neat zombie guy' cuz i like finding that kinda stuff randomly,but then he had '© 1990 DC KENNER' stamped on his butt so i definitely got im
i thought he's probably from the Swamp Thing line,i looked it up an he is indeed Skinman from the Swamp Thing cartoon. which i should've known but i've only watched a couple episodes so i either didn't see im or don't remember im lol. he also has glow-in-the-dark eyes! Gotta get me a Swamp Thing sometime..
an last but not least i got another 1983 Kenner Ewok! it's Logray an of course he's missin his headgear an obviously accessories but vintage Star Wars figs are always a win! i also love Ewoks.
#superman#batman#luke skywalker#chewbacca#logray#woody#swamp thing#dc#star wars#toy story#disney#george clooney#batman and robin#toys#action figures#collectibles#toy collector#toy community#vintage toys#70s#80s#90s#toyblr#thrifting#food mention#food#food tw#tw food#food cw#cw food
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44 & 45 for the X-Files asks!
44. When did you first start watching The X-Files?
1999, between season 6 and 7. I caught the end of a rerun of Humbug one night while channel surfing and was instantly hooked. I spent the summer hunting down and recording every episode I could find, though it took a couple years to fully catch up and watch everything (it was a different era, guys). I even bought some bootleg tapes and merch from a canadian friend I made in the official forums (I'll never forget you, Diane V! I still have my Barbies in their box!)
45. Why did you first start watching The X-Files?
Well for starters I was a horny and repressed teenager and MSR was the perfect mix of both of those so I guess it really resonated lol. I loved the science and mystery and humor and horror and EVERYTHING. Moody fog. Beautiful people being smart at each other. Skinman. Knicks tshirt. Inject the series straight into my veins, plzkthnx.
Also the fandom was and continues to be one of the best groups of people ever 😊
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aaah anasazi
every night before bed, do you check to make sure krycex isn't standing fully clothed in your shower waiting to kill you? cause maybe you should.
my memory for mytharc is quite bad! i know "things happen" but cannot remember when or in what order, so these episodes have been a wild ride. when you watch the mytharc episodes in a row, agent mulder becomes this moderately unhinged guy who never stops to take a nap unless someone shoots him. so when mulder starts acting extremely unhinged at the beginning of anasazi, it briefly feels like a natural progression rather than a wtf did they do to mulder moment, and i legit screeched when mulder hauled off and punched the skinman IN THE HALLS of the F. B. I. (hoover spinning in his grave gif)
fortunately, scully is here to save the day. she shoots mulder and makes him take a nap. this admittedly would not have been my choice but i can't knock it, scully holds literally everything together in this episode, and nearly gets killed in the process, while mulder goes on a lsd-induced tear.
one thing that struck me during this episode is how CSM lies, either directly or by omission, almost every time he opens his mouth. it's incredible.
the usual suspension of belief is required. why didn't the government burn the bodies in the train car in the first place? why do decades of top secret digitized files fit on a single data tape? the most important thing is special agent mulder popping into a buried train car and finding a mountain of alien corpses is CREEPY AND COOL AS HELL and i assure you 1995 viewership lost its collective mind waiting for the show to resume season 3.
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bastard man strikes again
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skinner showing off to the Other Gov Agents: your investigation is closed!!!!
skinner when he's alone with m&s: yo you made copies right? ;) ;)
#clearly he's realized that m&s wont trust him in a year#and will certainly ditch him in a hole#and he wants to get on their good side#skinman is cool now you heard it here first#xf rewatch
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A.D. Skinner, Babysitter
COWRITTEN WITH @monikafilefan
Desperate for a date night, Mulder and Scully ask the one man they can trust to babysit their daughter. Eager to help, Skinner agrees despite his inexperience with children. How does he handle a night alone with a child who was a perfect mix of his two most rambunctious agents?
fluff | family | 5.7k | ao3
He'd served in 'Nam. He'd been an Assistant Director at the FBI for several decades. He'd been in charge of the X-Files division, which had achieved legendary status according to the newbie whispers in the halls of the Hoover Building. Yet Walter Skinner was certain this was the most anxious he had ever been for an assignment.
"Could you babysit Katherine this Friday?"
He knew Katie, adored her, but babysitting wasn't in his repertoire.
It wasn't that he didn't like kids, he just didn't have a lot of experience with them. When he was with Sharon, it was apparent they both had reservations about starting a family together. Then when Arlene finally made a move after years of back-and-forth, they just had so much they wanted to do, so much life left to live, and a kid just never seemed to factor in. He didn't have a large family, neither did she, so he just never spent much time interacting with kids.
And Mulder and Scully's daughter was a little… strange. Strange in a wonderful way that he loved, but strange nonetheless. Her first word was "boo" and she toddled around with Mulder's were-monster action figure for a whole year after that. Her favorite snack was yogurt with bee pollen until Mulder introduced her to hull-free sunflower seeds. Skinner didn't want to think about what kind of mess that had made. He'd even watched her pull a full-grown lizard out of her diaper during her second birthday party, much to her mother's horror and her father's amusement. Then again, what else could you expect from a baby born on Halloween with Mulder and Scully as parents? He could only imagine the shenanigans that took place on a daily basis in that home.
He'd arrived early, and was just standing in the living room as his favorite former agents scrambled around the house, still in the process of getting ready for their date. Scully had mentioned on the phone that they usually used a teenager who volunteered at her hospital, but it'd been months since she went to college and they desperately needed a Katie-free night to themselves.
Skinner hesitantly agreed.
He'd visited plenty of times over the years — hell, he'd helped Scully procure the place back in '05 — so he made himself at home. Skinner stared at the framed family photos perched front and center above Mulder and Scully's fireplace as his mind replayed fond memories of the last six years. Photos of loved ones, some he presumed were a part of Scully's family, a few of himself, one of Doggett and Reyes — or more accurately, Uncle John and Aunt Monica.
Skinner sighed. His heart went out to Mulder. His family and his closest friends were dead, all he had was Scully, and the few people who he couldn't quite shake.
The last photo, propped up by a snowglobe, brought a smile to his face. A young man with Mulder's floppy hair and Scully's bright eyes was smiling while holding Katie as a baby, a young man Skinner himself had once held twenty-something years ago. He then realized he was wrong; Mulder had made a family for himself, and it was just as unconventional as he was.
"Skinner?" Mulder slapped a welcoming hand to his back and smirked. "You good? Well-rested and ready to be tested?" he joked.
"You two have given me decades of practice in that arena." Skinner rolled his eyes. "A mini Mulder, I can handle."
"Ah Skinman, I knew you had it in ya."
"Mulder, don't scare off the first sitter we've had in six months," Scully scolded while sliding her very small feet into very pointy heels. "Please make sure she's sleeping by eight. She's been excited all day for this, so I hope she's not too wired during bedtime."
An irrational sense of pride started to bloom in his chest at her words. "Katie was excited for me to babysit?" he asked.
Mulder rushed past him, yanking at his tie, presumably noticing the blood red stain. "It was cute until she threw up from how excited she was," he snorted. "Nothing like rinsing curdled milk and spaghetti sauce off dress shoes."
Skinner cringed, glancing down at the white sweatshirt he'd worn. "Lovely."
"Kids are full of surprises, Skinner," Scully teased. "Especially Mulder's."
"Hey," Mulder chuckled, sliding the cleaner yet gaudier tie around his neck before pressing a kiss into the crown of Scully's head. "She's only half mine."
"Uncle Skinner! Uncle Skinner," a young voice screamed, followed by tiny footsteps bounding down wooden stairs.
He turned just in time to feel a forty-pound child slam against him, a pair of tiny arms circling his left leg. He looked down and saw a heap of curly, auburn hair burrowing deep into his side. A pair of big green eyes and rosy cheeks beamed up at him as her chin prodded his hip, and he nearly melted right then and there.
"Well hello there, Katie girl," he boomed, bending down and swooping the little one into his arms.
They'd had a learning curve trying to think of how to introduce him to the girl since he first met her as a newborn in the hospital. Mulder and Scully still had a bad habit of calling him 'Skinner' even though he'd insisted for years 'Walter' was fine, and he definitely wasn't going to have a toddler call him by his last name. Both Mulder and Scully's parents were gone, which caused Mulder to jokingly ask if he'd be 'Grandpa', much to his personal chagrin. After more deliberation, he was now Uncle Skinner, and it was one of the best titles he'd ever had.
"Uh, whatcha wearing Katie?" he asked, rubbing his hands along her side and feeling a weird furry texture.
"Yes, Mulder. What's our child wearing?" Scully asked in a tone that told him this was not the first time the conversation had been brought up.
"She really likes Werewolf of London," Mulder stated in lieu of explanation, clearly finding it more amusing than his wife.
"Rawr!" the little girl growled next to him, baring her baby teeth.
"Katherine, don't bite Uncle Skinner," Scully chastised preemptively. Then, turning to him with a pursed smile explained, "Yes. Our child is going through a werewolf phase. Other six-year-olds at her school live in their Elsa costumes, but Katie prefers her fursuit."
"Better than Mulder's ghillie suit," Skinner murmured. He didn't know what an Elsa was, but it looked like their offspring was taking after Mulder.
"I wanna show you somethin' in my room!" she declared, gently pulling on the fabric of his sweatshirt.
"Honey, don't pull," Scully reminded lightly while trying to fasten an earring. "And we need Uncle Skinner for a few more minutes, okay?"
"But he's here for me," Katie argued softly, hopping up to wrap her arms around Skinner's neck and rest her wild-haired head against his bald one.
"She has a point," Skinner stated pointedly. "You two need to get your ass-sscessories on… so you can get your butts in gear."
"Nice save," Mulder chuckled, fumbling to get his foot into his puke-less dress shoes.
"She's already had an early dinner, but since she threw most of it up, it's okay if she wants a bigger snack than usual later. She gets one around seven," Scully explained, slipping her coat on.
"We usually watch some T.V. then," Mulder supplemented.
"She's already had her bath, so you don't need to worry about that unless she gets really messy," Scully added, as if that was a rather likely outcome.
Mulder dug around in his pockets for his keys as he explained: "The emergency contacts are on the side of the fridge. We're pretty far out and the fire department's closest, so if anything happens I'd just lie and say a fire was involved so they get here faster."
Skinner chuckled as Scully playfully slapped Mulder on the arm in reprimand, casting Skinner a glance and shaking her head with a smirk.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, Katie and I are going to manage ourselves just fine. Won't we, Katie?" he asked, turning to the little girl.
"Mhm!" she replied before giggling.
"You'll call us if you need anything?" Scully bit her lip and adjusted the band of her purse.
These were two of the most reckless agents he'd ever had to deal with, and seeing them dissolve into anxious worry just reminded him that he was holding their miracle in his arms. It brought a sentimental smile to his age-worn face. "I promise."
Scully nodded and turned to leave, but on second thought quickly scampered over to them so she could press a kiss to her daughter's head. "Have fun with Uncle Skinner, okay?" she murmured, her eyes crinkling with adoration when looking at the girl much like Mulder's were looking at his women.
"Mommy, get yer butt in gear," the girl mimicked in a squeaky voice.
"Good to see the Skinner influence already taking effect," Mulder chuckled, swooping in to kiss the girl's head before turning and playfully kissing Skinner's temple.
"Ack," Skinner shivered and tried not to smirk. "Get outta here you two. Say bye to Mommy and… your dad," he stammered, unable to refer to Fox Mulder as Daddy in any context.
"Bye-bye," Katie squealed with the flap of her hand, bidding adieu to the most nervous parents he'd ever seen.
When the door shut and they were finally alone, Skinner turned to the girl and asked, "You said you have something to show me?"
5:00pm
An outer-spaced themed bedroom. He should have guessed.
He hadn't been upstairs in a long time, but glancing around the room, it was obvious she was in the transition between a nursery and a little girl's room. There was an oddly familiar mobile of stars hanging from the ceiling above her bed, a child height chart etched into the door, a small white desk nestled in the corner with what looked like school work laying underneath fat markers and long yellow pencils. This was where her little mind expanded and her personality grew.
Skinner smiled, spinning in a circle, taking it all in. In the middle of the room was an impromptu beauty salon. A collection of dolls were lined up at the foot of her bed, some with elaborate clips and bows in their wiry hair.
Creepy.
"Let's do our hair…" Katie exclaimed, her enthusiasm faltering as her attention drifted upwards. Her mouth comedically dropped into a small 'o' as she realized her mistake. He chuffed a laugh and sat down carefully next to her. "Um, it's okay!" she said meekly, reaching up and clumsily rubbing the expanse of his bald head to comfort him over his perceived loss.
It was endearing to see the little girl try to spare his feelings over the loss of hair he hadn't had since the eighties.
"We can do our makeup like Mommy!"
"I don't know how to do makeup, sweetie," he apologized, hoping the heart-shaped box under her arm full of pink blushes and glittery glosses would be used on one of her many baby doll's faces instead of his own.
Undeterred, Katie promptly dumped the box of play makeup in a colorful pile between them. Her eager fingers dug through it, spreading each girly item around like spilled skittles.
"This is Daddy's favorite!" she exclaimed with a proud grin, holding up some silver shimmery eyeshadow.
"Is it now?" he chuckled, amused to imagine Mulder in this position.
Skinner obeyed, unable to deny Mulder and Scully's little girl anything, and lowered himself to her feet.
"I'm gonna make you pretty," Katie squealed in delight as her sweaty little hand lifted his chin. "Daddy says Mommy don't need makeup, but she still paints her eyes and wipes creamy goo on her cheeks."
He smiled down at her carefully swirling the spongy brush across the silvery powder. "I'd bet my badge your dad loves your mom either way."
"Shh, Uncle Skinner, no talking," Katie scolded as the eye shadow brush swiped unevenly under his brow and dragged roughly across his temple. Her button nose was scrunched in a familiar way that Skinner recognized instantly as a Scully trait.
"Of course," he said seriously. "Sorry."
"Now make your mouth like this," she instructed, puckering her plump lips into an incredibly adorable pout. And dear God, that was a spitting image of Mulder if he ever saw one. "You can have purple lips and I can have pink."
"Fanks…" he slurred as the cold lip gloss covered every inch of his mouth and tickled his mustache.
As awkward as it may have seemed for a grown man with a bad back and aging goatee to sit cross-legged on the floor as a kindergartner painted him pretty, Skinner felt nothing but love.
6:00pm
"Hey, Katie?" he called out. His mouth still felt sticky with a glossy residue that he couldn't seem to wipe clean. But at least he was spared the glitter, thank God.
"Hmm?" she replied while putting the makeup into random drawers around the room.
"What happened to all of your stuffed animals?" Skinner asked, his eyes scanning all the fluffy creatures. All of them in one way or another were stitched together, each looked like a variant of Frankenstein's monster.
"They needed sur… sur-ger-ree," she explained, stumbling on the word.
"Surgery?" he offered.
"Mhm!" Katie skipped her way over to the giant pile of melded fluff. "My alien stuffy had a hole in her belly so Mommy pa'formed sur-gee-ree. But then Mommy went to work and Daddy did sur-gee-ree on everyone else so alien wouldn't feel sad."
Skinner shook his head. "Somehow that does not surprise me one bit."
"This is Rex, and this is Meister, and this and this is Goop, and these birdies are Rob and Laura. They're married!"
"Rob and Laura, huh," he chuckled. "Of course they're love birds."
As she was showing him her treasures, he glanced up and saw a row of some more family photos on a floating shelf. In one in particular, Mulder had his arm slung around Jackson's shoulders in the front yard, both men's hands shoved inside baseball gloves as Scully held Katie on her hip, the wind ruffling their strands of coppered hair. It was during one of the young man's occasional visits to see his 'new' family that had never stopped loving him. Everyone was smiling.
Everyone was happy.
Wanting to see what he was looking at, Katie stood up on the bed and looked towards the wall. After her dark green eyes scanned the photo to her liking, she tossed Skinner an endearing grin and said, "My Jackson likes my room too!"
The statement made his old heart swell.
He turned and watched as Katie started jumping on her twin-sized bed, the springs creaking underneath the pressure. "Careful there, little monkey. I know your mom's told you what can happen if you jump on the bed, she's had to do a lot of surgery on people who've bumped their heads."
"This is what Mommy and Daddy do when they pray," she blurted, the bulky blankets shifting under her feet.
"What do you mean?"
"After I go to bed, I hear Mommy and Daddy jumping on the bed and she starts talking to God," she innocently explained.
Realization dawned on him and he felt his face color instantly. "Oh," he squeaked. "That's… nice."
While he was still trying to figure out how to navigate the situation, he looked away for a second, only for his attention to snap back at the sound of a thud. Katie no longer was on the bed and it took a muffled groan for him to realize she was on the hardwood floor.
"Katherine!" Skinner rushed around the bed, nearly slipping on the fallen stuffed animals, and knelt at her side. "You okay, Katie? Don't move."
"Owww…" Katie's little lip trembled as she pointed to the red scrape forming across her knee.
"W-what do your parents do when this happens?" he stammered frantically.
"Um, they put a band-aid on it," she whimpered. "The Scooby Doo ones."
"Right, right. Of course." Skinner stood, his back cracking loudly, making Katie snort out a giggle.
The knot in his gut loosened at that. Kids don't giggle if they're seriously hurt, right? God, Scully would shoot him. She'd shot the man she married, for Christ's sake.
"All right little monkey, I'll go find Scooby Doo."
7:00pm
"Hello?" Mulder replied from the cell phone speaker.
"Is everything okay?" Scully's subdued voice called in the background.
Skinner could hear elegant music filter through the phone and pictured their concerned faces. He cringed, feeling a little guilty now.
"Hey, I'm sorry to call and interrupt your evening. Everything's fine. Katie's telling me her bedtime routine involves watching The Twilight Zone. I just wanted to confirm if that's true?"
"Hiiiiii!" Katie yelled towards the phone.
"Hi, Katie Bear," Mulder chuckled.
"Your dad says hi," Skinner relayed, directing his voice towards his feet where the little girl was playing with his socks. She looked up at him and made a dramatic gagging face, squishing the end of her nose as if to avoid smelling his feet.
"Skinner, what's wrong?" Scully asked, presumably having taken the phone from Mulder.
Skinner sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose, regretting his decision to call. "I just wanted to confirm if Katie's allowed to watch The Twilight Zone?"
A second exasperated sigh was her response before adding, "Yes. Mulder's been showing her some 'classics' and she's become infatuated with it, unfortunately. I appreciate you calling to confirm."
"Of course," he replied. "Sorry to interrupt your night, I just didn't want to be responsible for any nightmares."
"Her favorite episode is 'The Eye of the Beholder.' The disc should still be in the player," Mulder added with glee.
"Wait, I want to say goodnight," Scully blurted.
It sounded like they were clamoring over each other to get to the mouthpiece, and he couldn't help but laugh at the thought of his two most rambunctious agents turning into doting parents. It looked good on them.
"It's for you," he told Katie who took his phone excitedly.
"Uncle Skinner can't use a hair tie becau-because his hair is missing!" she exclaimed in excitement, her pearly whites on full display. "But he's still really pretty!"
He chuffed a laugh, blushing as muffled raucous laughter erupted from the other side. After a series of 'I love yous' she ended the call by assuring her parents that she would make sure Uncle Skinner didn't get too scared. "I'll protect him," she assured confidently.
Skinner would take it to his grave, but he hated The Twilight Zone. He watched it when he was a kid and it scared the shit out of him. Even when he was reading Mulder and Scully's case reports over the years, he sometimes got the heebie-jeebies when they exceeded the creep-factor of this godforsaken show.
After they'd settled on the couch and they were about ten minutes into the show, he felt a familiar, irrational sense of unease brew in the pit of his stomach. "This doesn't scare you at all, Katie?" he asked, turning to the girl, a bit hopeful it did.
"Daddy says it's better I see monsters when I feel safe. That way we can talk about them so I'm not scared when I see them for real," she explained slowly, playing with the popcorn they were sharing.
Of course Mulder's preparing his daughter to encounter monsters as a when scenario not an if. But he supposed her parents knew as well as he did that most of the world's monsters were men in plain sight.
"That's very smart of him," Skinner praised. "Your dad's a great man." Then he leaned towards her and whispered, "But don't tell him I said that. It's way more fun to tease him."
Katie smiled at being the recipient of an adult's secret and nodded her head vigorously. An eerie sound on the television caused him to jump slightly and he turned to see a monstrous face wearing a medical uniform.
"Uncle Skinner?" Katie murmured, patting his knee.
"Hm?"
"It's okay if you're scared. We can talk about it so you feel better," the little girl explained.
He wanted to say he wasn't scared, but he enjoyed seeing the girl mimic Mulder and Scully's parenting by repeating things they'd clearly told her before. "What does your dad say when you're scared?"
"He holds my hand and makes me feel safe cause he's so big," she stated, grabbing his hand with her much smaller one — her whole palm only able to wrap around two of his fingers. "Then um, then he," she stammered, getting distracted for a moment.
"He what?" Skinner prompted, trying to keep her on track.
"He'll talk about the monsters. Sometimes they're more scared of us than we are of them," the precocious girl explained. "Like, um, they," she started, pointing a greasy finger towards the screen. "They're scared cause she… cause she looks different, but different isn't bad."
"That's true," he nodded, impressed that Mulder's lesson on monsters was simultaneously teaching her to embrace difference.
"We're all different," she wisely mused, kicking her legs out on the couch, her dainty feet nowhere close to the floor. "That's what Mommy says."
He looked down and caught her staring at his head again with a pensive look, and he made a mental note to tell Mulder to make her watch Star Trek: Next Generation so she could see another bald person.
"Your mom is usually right and your dad knows it. Does he ever get scared?"
"Daddy don't get scared unless Mommy or me get sick or hurt," she replied with a shrug.
Skinner grimaced as he looked at her knobby little knee, adorned with a Velma and Daphne Band-Aid. He knew the kid was perceptive. She hit Mulder's weakness right on the nose. He'd seen that fear in full effect far more than he ever hoped.
"But Mommy always makes him feel better by tellin' him he's being silly," she told him. Then offered, "But Mommy don't get scared so easy. She's a doctor so she makes it all better if we're sick or hurt."
"Your mom's a tough lady, that's for sure," Skinner chuckled as they watched the black and white monster creep across the screen. "Just ask your dad."
8:00pm
After years of thinking Mulder was going to send him into an early grave due to stress, he realized his daughter might just finish the job.
He'd lost her.
Well, she had to be hiding somewhere in the house, but she wasn't answering him and he was starting to panic. He'd turned on the porch light to glance outside, but other than a homemade rocket sitting on a bench, there was nothing out there but acres of land.
"Katie, olly olly oxen free! Please come out, you win," he called, frantically pacing the halls to find the girl.
"What's an oxen," a soft voice questioned from right behind him.
"Holy shit!" Skinner yelped, grabbing his pounding chest as the barely three foot tall girl squealed a laugh. "You're a really good hider, Katie. You scared me."
"You said shit!"
"Well now you said it too, so we'll both be in trouble," he explained with faux worry, clasping his hands together at his waist.
She sucked her lip in between her teeth and nodded pensively. "I won't tattle if you don't," she murmured.
Skinner could tell this wasn't her first bargain and it wouldn't be her last.
"Deal," he agreed. "Where were you? You scared me when I couldn't find you."
"I was following you, but I was on my tippy toes," she explained, pointing to her pink painted toes. She wiggled each one against the hardwood floor and he couldn't hold back a rumbling laugh.
"All right, then, you sneak. Ready to get into your pajamas? It has to be warm being a werewolf," he asked.
The kid was wildly independent. Skinner just stood nearby and supervised as she brushed her hair and teeth before getting changed, running into her bedroom with more energy than a child going to bed should ideally have.
With her blue nightie on, he could see a familiar gold cross dangling on her chest. "Do you need to take that off when you sleep?" he asked, pointing to it.
"I need to pray with it on so he hears," she replied.
"Ah, I see." Skinner found it interesting that she was learning Scully's faith, but with some of Mulder's eccentricities being she was treating a cross like a homing device for a direct line to the big man himself. "I'll give you some privacy while you do that. Call me when you're done, okay?"
"'Kay, you can go in Mommy and Daddy's room and jump on the bed if you wanna," she explained, crawling underneath her sheets.
"Maybe later," he dismissed before taking a step out into the hall, looking at some of the photos on the wall as her sweet muffled voice hit his ears.
"Hello God, it's me Katherine," the mini Judy Blume greeted. "Thank you for letting me have such a fun day. Mommy and Daddy kissed me and loved me, and Uncle Skinner and I had lots and lots of fun."
A small smile tugged on his lips at the innocence of the girl. He had no doubts Scully and Mulder worried every day about ensuring she was safe and happy, and just being her parents was clearly doing exactly that. He'd never met a happier kid. He paced the hall as he listened to her pray for her family, including himself, and some of her little friends at school. Suddenly he realized that he was purposely included in this moment of her young life, that she wanted him to be, and he couldn't tamp down the warmth blossoming in his chest.
Eventually, she wrapped it up by saying: "G'night, God. Sleep tight, don't let the bedbugs bite."
9:00pm
There was a monster in the living room.
She had seen all the movies with Daddy and this sounded like a bad one. If she had to guess it was for sure a wolf beast because of how it was growling. She wanted to close her eyes and hide, but Uncle Skinner was down there and he was a scaredy-cat. Plus she promised Mommy and Daddy that she'd protect him.
Katie slid her feet over her bed until her socks hit the carpet. Reaching on her nightstand, she grabbed the necklace Mommy gave her in her fist and put it over her head before grabbing the pink flashlight Daddy used to make creatures appear on the walls with his fingers.
Gulping quickly, she tippy-toed her way down the hall, sitting on her butt as she scooted down one stair at a time. The monster was getting louder, and she thought her heart was going to explode like her rockets outside.
"Uncle Skinner, I'm here," she whispered into the living room.
She scanned the nightlights around the room to find either the creature or Uncle Skinner, but she wasn't finding anything. Scrunching her brows, she walked closer to the couch, hearing the roaring getting louder. She wished she'd put on her werewolf costume, then maybe the creature wouldn't notice her.
Closing her eyes, she squeezed her cross and focused as hard as she could…
Hi God, It's me, Katherine. Sorry to bother you. I'm scared, but I need to save my uncle cause he gets really, really scared. Can you protect us? Thanks. Sorry to wake you up.
Opening her eyes, she took a confident step forward and turned quickly so that the light was shining on the recliner.
Her mouth fell open in shock.
Uncle Skinner didn't say he could roar! He looked like he was asleep, but she was pretty sure he must be h-hibernatin'. She let out a breath and glanced around the room, grabbing Mommy's colorful blanket from off the couch and crawled up Daddy's recliner to sit by Uncle Skinner. She only managed to cover one of his long legs, but she nestled into his side and turned the flashlight off as she yawned.
She'd keep him safe!
10:00pm
"Is that… Skinner snoring?" Scully giggled as a muffled, rumbling sound came from the other side of the door.
Their keys jingled as they tried to sneak a peek through the window.
"I want to see A.D. Skinner sleeping like a baby," Mulder chuckled, quietly pushing the door open and guiding Scully in with his palm at her back. He flicked on the light and immediately felt his lip pout at the endearing sight in front of him.
Scully gasped lightly before whispering, "Oh, Mulder."
Laying in the recliner was his old boss, one of the most ornery 72 year olds he'd ever met, snoozing soundly while holding his sleeping daughter at his side. Katie looked content and peaceful, despite the snoring happening right next to her.
"Hang on, I need to take a picture," he whispered, tip-toeing close enough to take a couple dozen pictures of the sleeping duo.
Mulder squinted down at Skinner's mouth. "Is that…?"
"Lip gloss?" Scully finished, "Yes."
Yeah, these were frame-worthy photos for sure.
He felt Scully's arms slide under his suit jacket, her head nuzzling his chest, and he suddenly felt the urge to ask Uncle Skinner to babysit again next weekend.
"Mulder," Scully murmured, nodding to the camera.
He spun it around and tenderly pressed his lips to hers as the flash captured the moment forever.
Mulder brought the phone closer to them and he flipped through some of the photos, causing a domino effect of Scully's laughter, followed by Skinner waking up with a jolt.
"Sorry, sir," Scully whispered towards the disoriented man.
"Don't call me, sir," he playfully chastised. He looked around gaining her bearings, and they both witnessed the smile of affection that spread on his face when he noticed the lump lying next to him.
He removed the blanket from himself and tucked it around the sleeping little girl, cocooning her so he could hold her as he stood up, the various creaks and pops making Mulder worry for the future of his own knees.
"I can take her," Mulder offered, holding out his arms as Skinner carefully passed her over. While doing so, Mulder couldn't ignore the distinct purple hue on the older man's lips. He knew that particular shade of Katie's makeup palette was especially difficult to remove.
"Purple looks good on you, sir."
"Very funny, Mulder. I hear you look good in Kiss Me Sweet Silver," he retorted. "Yes, I read the label."
"What can I say, silver brings out my eyes."
"Thank you, Skinner," Scully said, handing him a tissue as a peace offering. "She looks like she had a great time."
Skinner smiled fondly down at little Katie curled up and sleeping soundly, her pouty mouth parted and thick lashes fluttering. "She wasn't the only one."
Scully started rummaging through her wallet and as soon as a bundle of twenties came out, she was stopped by Skinner placing his hand over hers. "Don't you dare," he warned.
"But you did us such a huge favor," she lamented.
"You've done me countless favors over the years," he refuted. With the glance Skinner cast at their sleeping daughter, Mulder had a feeling he meant more than just favors done during their years on the X-Files. "You try to give me any money or if you send me anything through the Venmapp or Casho or whatever the hell they use nowadays and I'll write you up."
Scully slowly set her purse down with an indulgent smile, and Mulder knew his wife was already intending to pay the man back through baked goods.
Mulder and Scully watched as their old boss made his way to the door. His once rigid military posture had curved over time, and was slower than he used to be, though his pride wouldn't show it. The man who had reamed them out so many times over the course of three decades had warmed and softened, a supervisor turned their greatest friend.
Skinner cleared his throat as he slipped on his shoes, and both of the former agents tensed in an involuntary reflex. A muscle memory anticipating a verbal lashing.
Instead, the older man turned around and gruffly stated, "You know… it's not good to be cooped up all the time. Haven't you spent enough time in your life doing that? You two need to get out more, live the years you've lost. You both have my number. I'm usually free in the evenings."
Mulder smiled softly. "Admit it. You just want a free makeover."
Skinner grinned at that and nodded. "Gotta keep the marriage exciting for Arlene. Besides, the girl needs some sane influence in her life."
Scully reached over to tuck a strand of Katie's crimson hair behind her ear and whispered, "Uncle Skinner is welcome anytime."
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Particularly Tall and Probably Hot
msr. au take on season 7. pg-13/m. 1084 words.
First Diana. And now this.
Fox Mulder did not consider himself as a jealous person. When Phoebe cheated on him a dozen times, even when Diana left him and came back and left him again- he never felt jealous; never wondered how whoever they cheated on him with was better than him.
He was hurt, yes, but never jealous. There was a big difference.
But now this guy comes into Scully’s life who, by her actions and facial expressions, he could clearly tell- this was one of her exes.
His name was Ethan Minette. And well, he was as bland and normal as one could be. But he was clearly gazing at Scully; yes, gazing. As if he still liked her and desperately wanted her back. Hell, even Phoebe didn’t look like that last time he saw her six years ago. Then again, she never was that good of an actress- neither was he.
Maybe he was being paranoid. Or maybe, it was payback for what happened with Diana barely a month ago. He wouldn’t put it past her. Women could be cruel; that was something from both Diana and Phoebe, but Scully wasn’t like any of them, was she?
Of course, he never actually expected Scully to tell him all her exes; he didn’t either- and she had gone to the Lone Gunmen to find out that he was once married to Diana. He only knew about Jack Willis and some guy that she indirectly mentioned named Daniel.
Mulder wondered if he should also go to the Lone Gunmen and find out more about this Ethan Minette character. Would Scully think he was nosy?
He turned to look back at Ethan and Scully again. He couldn’t see her face, as it was turned to the side, but he could very clearly see him laughing. To anyone else, it would probably be cute. Adorable even. But he could clearly see that Ethan was laughing too hard at whatever she was talking about for it to be true. Against his better judgment, he walked away- to the Lone Gunmen office.
“Oh hey, Mulder how are you-” Byers said as he opened the door.
“Can you find out who Ethan Minette is?” He said, interrupting Byers.
The Lone Gunmen exchanged worried glances. Mulder was never like that- not even that time when he was working on an urgent case. And also he was acting odd. Like the time Scully asked them to find out who Diana Fowley was.
“Where’s your partner- Scully?” Frohike asked.
“I don’t know.” He lied. “So is that a yes or a no for finding the information?”
Byers raised his eyebrow- or attempted to and ended up raising both of them, and began searching computer files as Mulder became more and more impatient. A good forty-five minutes later, Langly made a ‘whoop’.
“What?” Mulder asked.
“So, why do you want to know about one of Scully’s ex boyfriends?”
Mulder inhaled a sharp breath. So he was right. Ethan Minette was indeed one of Scully’s exes and right now he was probably gazing once more at her. And maybe asking her on a date or something like that guy that Scully was seeing when he was trying to catch the Jersey Devil. Wait- but if she went on a date with a different guy when he was searching for the Jersey Devil, did that mean-?
“Wait, wait, wait- when did they break up?”
“A little while after she started working with the X Files. Apparently according to him, she left him for her job. And maybe a particularly tall and probably hot guy.” Byers said, leaning over Frohike to stare at the computer screen. “What piqued your interest in this guy, Mulder?”
“How do you know exactly what he said?” Mulder asked again, trying to dodge the Lone Gunmen’s suspicious looks and questions.
“Because there’s this recording from a restaurant in D.C., and we hacked into the security camera feed. You still haven’t answered my question, by the way!”
“Yeah, uh, sorry, I have to go, Skinman’s waiting.” He said, rushing out of the office.
“Who do you think the particularly tall and probably hot guy is?” Mulder heard Frohike ask- but he could care less.
This guy- that guy that he had left Scully with at that restaurant that they were in before he came waltzing in- was Scully’s ex. And he had confirmation. Of course, he knew that he probably was before he went to the Lone Gunmen, but it was different from actually knowing.
He had just barely kissed Scully before a terrible bee stung her; how could he hold a fucking candle to someone who probably kissed her a million times- even slept with her?
Mulder sighed, feeling defeated. Maybe he could go back into his messy apartment, collapse on the old, worn couch- and watch some of those tapes that he had brought back from the office. And then he’d probably feel even more defeated than before.
However, when he came back to his apartment, he did not expect to find a very rumpled looking Scully sitting on the couch. When he got closer, he could see that there was his spare key lying on the table.
“Scully, what are you doing here?”
“You left early.”
Mulder had no good response to this.
“You seemed like you were enjoying the company of Mr. What’s-His-Name.” He said as she raised her eyebrow.
“You know, he tried to ask me out again.”
“Of course he did.”
He knew he sounded like a jealous lover. But he couldn’t control himself- he could not, would not let her go back to Ethan. He just wouldn’t.
Scully seemed to have noticed it too, because she said, “Mulder, are you jealous?”
And then for reasons he could not explain- reasons that he’d never be able to explain, he kissed her. Hard. And she, apparently, started kissing back.
He felt like he was floating- like he couldn’t even tell what was happening. He didn’t even know what he was doing. But somehow, at the same time, he did.
When he carried her into his room a long while later; both looking a bit more in love, Scully nuzzled her face into his neck.
“You know, I told him that I had already fallen in love with a particularly tall and probably hot guy.”
Mulder smiled, remembering what the Lone Gunmen said.
“Good. Because this particularly tall and probably hot guy refuses to share you.”
-
tagging @today-in-fic thanks!
#x files#xf fanfic#fanfic#msr#dana scully#fox mulder#ethan minette#mentioned diana fowley#au season 7#i can't write romance for the life of me#but i try
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Favorite First Listens of 2021:
Arctic Monkeys and its affiliates were this year's spectacular discovery
Humbug by Arctic Monkeys // Teatro d'Ira by Måneskin // Everything You've Come to Expect by The Last Shadow Puppets // Submarine by Alex Turner // Suck it and See by Arctic Monkeys // The Age of the Understatement by The Last Shadow Puppets // Tranquility Base Hotel + Casino by Arctic Monkeys // Favourite Worst Nightmare by Arctic Monkeys // AM by Arctic Monkeys
thanks for the tag @imaybeasleep <3
tagging: @arctic-monkcys @dovez-yum @bidet-and-legolas @bluebeatlesgirls @skinmane @harrisonslover @alexturne @belldog
thanks for this year, peeps! it's been more fun because of you!
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A BIG THANK YOU // arctic monkeys 30 day song challenge
i want to do something to mark the fact that i've been active on AM tumblr for ONE MONTH today. i'm very happy to be part of our little fandom. i've been a fan of this band for 15 years and i've never had anyone to share it with before. i am truly grateful to you all.
i'm going to tag some of the people who've helped make this first month completely wonderful. 💖
i'm going to do the arctic monkeys 30 day song challenge to celebrate my 30 days on here and i hope a few of you want to join in on the fun!
also i'm going to do this because i'm bored and procrastinating my writing.
tagging (only if you want or else just view the tag as a thank you and an appreciation 💖)
@arctic-monkcys @elorianna @alex-band-gay-and-the-hurrikane @alexxturner-me-on @i-m-a-leaf-on-the-wind @amturners @couldneverhurtusnow @illistrark @darkfireside @kohifinn @dovez-yum @thejewellersstunts @name------less @renatalopezz @evahcohen @skinmane @too-many-bandz @lovedust4starlust @glorious-blackout @alextturner @alexturnover @thebatphone @alexturnerscoffeepot @lanatural-books @thunder-thiefs @colourofthetrap @rock-n-roll-fantasy @jam-in-e @tightredpants @justadorkk @xovalliegirlxo @theageoftheunderstatement @rollstheriotvan @girlinthepictureframe
and anyone else who'd like to do it with me!
don't know if you've all done this already but i'm interested 💖
i'll tag the posts #amsongchallenge
#amsongchallenge#mp#arctic monkeys#alex turner#matt helders#jamie cook#nick o'malley#arctic monkeys 30 day song challenge#song challenge#i've never done anything like this before but i hope no ones annoyed#i treasure each and every person i interact with on here#wether its through reblogging/liking/following whatever#i love you all#and i love seeing all your tags and comments IT MAKES ME SO HAPPY#I love seeing all your additions and your thoughts and your keyboard explosions!! I LOVE IT#also btw i've started another fic#sorry about it
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Top 5 Skinner is annoyed with Mulder and Scully moments
okay this isn't really like him chewing them out but my top 5 "walter skinner doesn't need this" moments that make me giggle
1/ when mulder crashed the car and went missing in iwtb and skinner had to go pick scully up and he kept trying to calm her down and tell her to breathe and that mulder is fine
and he said "he wouldn't do anything crazy" and scully fully STOPPED to turn over and give him a LOOK
like this
it's lowkey my favorite moment in the movie because you can tell that scully is trying so hard to keep it together and her lip keeps quivering that whole scene until he says that line and she's just like???? i'm trying not to start screaming and your words of wisdom are "mulder wouldn't do anything crazy?????"
he's like girl i'm trying!!!! bless his heart
2/ when he asks mulder who the father of scully's baby is and mulder's just like "lol i dunno ask her" ...HE SUFFERS SO MUCH!!!
skinner was the first person to know about scully's pregnancy and the only person who was there for her for most of it and helping her, and he had made comments about mulder being the father before, so his ass knew. he's just like...so are y'all ready to be serious people or...?
mind you, at this point, skinner was the one who DUG MULDER'S COFFIN OUT OF THE GROUND!!!!!!!! just for him to behave like a deadbeat.
3/ when mulder was in the psych ward (the second time) and skinner was trying to help him and mulder just full-on physically attacked him to pass him a note written in BLOOD...girl WHAT?????
related: a couple years earlier when mulder was in the psych ward the first time for trying to shoot a man in skinner's office in front of him
4/ when mulder was on trial for murder and scully and skinner were like "we're gonna get you the best lawyer" and mulder's suicidal ass was like "lol no i don't want a lawyer skinman can defend me"
he suffers. so. much.
and then he DOES!!! he puts so much time and effort into trying to give mulder a good defense and mulder blocks like half their witnesses and is like i hope they DO give me death row, bitch!
once again can i remind you that skinner has already buried him
(also, that it was around this time that skinner had to tell him about william breaks my heart. but that's another conversation.)
5/ literally the entire episode of zero sum. skinner sold his soul to the devil to not only save scully, but to protect mulder too, and the whole time mulder is just cluelessly following behind like "almost figured out who sold their soul to the devil, boss!"
god it's literally so fucking funny like one of the funniest episodes of the show to me because it's like everyone forgets how good at his job mulder is until it's used against them
a few runner-ups but we could all go for ages:
all of the times that not only mulder and scully, but also clones of samantha, held him at gunpoint when he was just trying to help
the time mulder caught a sewer monster and skinner had to call the DA and ask how to prosecute it
this is an obvious one but the time mulder punched him because he’d been dosed with LSD
the line, "i helped A.D. skinner with his migraines. which he claims are due to you." that one of the baby agents says to mulder in s10
another favorite revival moment of mine is in this when mulder and scully are attacked and can't go home so skinner has to drive out to the woods and give them money
i don't even want to mention the time that mulder accidentally let a serial killer loose and then told skinner it was because of a dream
the reports that he has to read...the reports that he has to read....the reports that he has to read........
lol i just remembered when skinner brought krycek into mulder's office and mulder just SHOT up like a dog and tried to beat the shit out of him WORDLESSLY.
we love you so much skinman!
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arctic monkeys jazz album you heard it here first
(picture cred: @skinmane)
#I’m joking#maybe#alex turner#arctic monkeys#wouldn’t be appalled by a double bass modest mouse bukowski style#jamie cook#nick omalley#matthew helders
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God Only Knows What I’d Be Without You
AO3 link
Rating: Teen & Up
Words: 3,521
Former high school sweethearts Mulder and Scully have a chance encounter almost 20 years later
______________________________________________________________
Sometimes he still thought about her. Not too often, but often enough that he allowed himself to wonder, to ponder all the “what-ifs”. Maybe, if they stayed together, he wouldn’t feel so damn lost.
Being back in the Vineyard was something new enough. D.C. hadn’t worked out, not the way he’d wanted it to, and there was something kind of comforting about the house he grew up in. Still, he felt lost. Imagining where his life would be now if he’d just said something different, or done something different was a constant pastime for him. If he'd just changed one thing, where would he be now?
…
Dana hadn’t been back to Massachusetts in, oh, how long had it been? Two years? Her parents had moved to Florida, Missy to Washington state and her younger brother Charlie had landed some big finance job in New York. Bill and his wife were the only ones who had stayed. He’d called her last month to announce the birth of his third child, a baby girl. She was sorry that she wasn't able to be there sooner, that she couldn’t get away to fly out when the baby was born. Better late than never, she figured as she packed a wrapped baby gift in her suitcase.
…
Mulder was starting to regret that he had grabbed such a small basket. That old adage about never going shopping while hungry was proving true as he continued to stuff more and more frozen dinners into the already full basket. Heading to the front for checkout, he noticed a woman, petite, standing on her tiptoes with arms straining to reach a can of formula. “You need some help?” he offered.
“Mulder?” When the woman turned, smiling awkwardly at him, he was flooded with emotions. Scully. He hadn’t seen her in what, almost twenty years? Had it been that long? It sure didn’t feel like it. He could remember it all like it was yesterday. “Scully!,” he said, a little too loud, “You come here often?” He grimaced at his own horrible joke, but she let out a soft, genuine chuckle anyway. That was him alright. “I’m just here visiting. Bill and Tara just welcomed a new baby last month. I’m the only one in the family who hasn’t met her yet. I hear that she’s adorable though. Well, I know she is. They’ve sent me a ton of pictures and-“ She was rambling. Shut up, Dana, shut up! “Anyway, I was just here to get a few things for them. Baby formula and uh, chocolate, I think it was? But as you can see,” she gestured up at the baby formula. “I can.” He smiled at her and set his basket down before easily reaching up and swiping a tin down from the top shelf. “So, uh, how ya been?” He tried to smile but it didn’t seem right. Had he forgotten how? “Good. I’ve, um, I’ve been good. You?” She was rocking back and forth on her heels, fingers fiddling with the hem of her blouse.
...
When she noticed that the car parked next to hers in the lot had a SETI sticker on the back windshield, and another sticker proudly proclaiming “MY OTHER CAR IS A UFO” on the bumper, she smiled to herself. There was only one person she could think of who would drive something so ridiculous. Just when she turned around, she was met with a familiar face. “Ah, and just when I thought I’d finally escaped you!” “Shut up, Mulder.” She laughed, showing a more genuine smile this time. He could never forget that smile. Taking their second encounter of the day as some sort of sign, she tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and cast her gaze down at the asphalt. She spoke slowly, deliberately. “Mulder, would you like to grab some lunch?”
“Why, Scully, how forward! I thought you’d never ask.”
...
The diner was the same. The plate of fries, the glass of iced tea, the decor, the menus -- even the company he kept today were all the same. He could remember them coming here all the time when they were younger. After sports games, before and after prom, for lunch on weekends, anytime they wanted something to eat, it seemed. “So, Mulder, what brings you back to the Vineyard?” she asked, stuffing a fry into her mouth. He had been expecting her to ask, he just didn’t want to answer. “Just, uh…just visiting. Just wanted to see the house before we sold it.” This was a lie, Scully could tell. Still, though, he would tell her in due time, just like he used to.
Eating lunch with Dana Scully was like some sort of dream. He had wondered what it would be like, almost two decades later, to be with her, spend time together like they used to. She smirked at him from across the table, and he was suddenly struck by a vision of her, of how she was then, being swallowed by an oversized Smiths t-shirt, eyes wide and playful, looking at him from across the booth. She had changed, sure, opting to wear clothes that fit her and had since grown into her babyface. That look, though. He would still do anything for her as if he were the same sweaty-palmed teenager, head over heels in love.
The waiter came over to hand them their checks. "Fox? Dana?" A tall, stocky bald man stood before them, eyes wide in surprise behind his wireframe glasses. "Skinman?" the two said, almost in unison. They had been such frequent customers in the past that they were on a nickname basis with the owner. "I always told you not to call me that! It’s Skinner," he groaned, though any annoyance he felt quickly faded back into a huge grin. "The two of you are still together, right? Mr. and Mrs. Mulder?" Scully surprised everyone by reaching across the table and grabbing Mulder's hand. "That's Mr. and Mrs. Spooky to you." She smiled at Mulder, silently telling him to play along. "Congratulations! How many years has it been?" Mulder took the lead this time. "It'll be fifteen years tomorrow, actually! We got married on Lake Okoboji. She'd always wanted to go. Spent our honeymoon driving around the country to different UFO hotspots. Can you believe Dana is still into all that crap?" He laughed, proud of his lie. Scully glared at him and threw a fry at his head. “Treat your wife right or I’ll charge you double, Mr. Spooky,” Skinner said, winking at Scully.
...
“I have to get back to Bill and Tara soon but--” Scully said, lingering next to the entrance of the diner. “No! Of course! I’m sorry I kept you so long. I’m sure the baby is getting hungry.” She lingered next to him, a bag of groceries in one hand. This was surreal, almost, like some kind of dream sequence. He even smelled the same. “Can I stop by your house first? If that’s okay, I mean. Since you said you were going to sell it and all. I’d just like to see it one last time.”
…
The house was just like she remembered it being. The (now peeling) paint was the same, the furniture, everything. It smelled the same, too, like Mulder. She hadn’t been there since she’d broken up with him. Pushing the memory down, she allowed herself to go deeper into the house. Kitchen, living room, dining room, before stopping at the door to his room. “May I?” she asked. “Sure. It’s the same as it was when I left. My mom left it as it was and I haven’t really been through any of it yet.” He hadn’t been joking. “You still have the magic eye poster?!,” she laughed. She was sure she had spent hours as a teen staring at it as they lazed around in his bed. “This whole room is like a time capsule, huh Scully?” He poked his head in the door and pulled a few sunflower seeds from his pocket. Great, she thought, he still eats those, too. She traced her hands over spines on the bookcase next to his bed, taking note of the dusty magazines and hand-labeled VHS tapes. “Hey, hey! Don’t look too closely at those!” he rushed over to try to pull her away. She picked up one of the tapes — Busty Blondes BJ Bonanza. Classy.
She'd found his keepsake box in his closet and was leafing through notes -- drawings his sister had done, an old class schedule from high school, a photograph of the two of them. They'd looked so young, him with his shaggy hair and giant headphones around his neck, her with her long auburn hair braided in two pigtails with over-sized glasses, Mulder's arm wrapped protectively around her middle. She found another picture with him in a tux and her in a handmade mint green prom dress with an a-line skirt falling a few inches below her knees, both smiling widely with eyes sparkling. Next was a slip of paper with the words, "Call me, Spooky," with a heart and her old home phone number written neatly next to it. She couldn't believe he had kept the note she'd slipped him in the cafeteria in 10th grade. She was about to say something when she heard her phone ring. She glanced at the screen for a moment. “I have to take this, sorry!” she apologized as she hurried out of the room. He could hear her out in the hall.
Hey, Ethan! How are you? I’m doing okay. I’m sorry I forgot to call, I went to the store to pick up some things for Bill and Tara and I ran into someone. Oh, just an old friend. Just, uh, just a girl I went to high school with is all. We got caught up talking and I guess I just got distracted. Yes, yes, sorry. No, no, I love you too. Goodbye.
She walked back into the room, smiling as though nothing had happened. “Sorry, Bill called. He was wondering where I was.” Two lies, he noted. Lying to him and to whoever Ethan was. Mulder flopped onto his bed. “Put some music on, Scully! I’m sure there’s some great stuff in there.” “What are you in the mood for, Mulder? Looks like you’ve got a little Paul Simon, The Cure…The Waitresses? Dear God, Mulder, this room makes me feel old.” She picked up an LP and took out the worn record, remembering how many times they must’ve played Thirteen by Big Star and how many times Mulder had quoted the lyrics to her. “Don’t be silly, Scully! You don’t look a day over…,” he took a moment to count on his fingers, “thirty-five!” he finished, triumphant over figuring out her age. She glared at him as she put the record on to play and he gave her a cheesy fake grin in return. She snorted and affection swelled in his chest, thrilled that he could make her laugh the same as he used to. He had to stop the urge to kiss her. She fell onto the bed next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. He drew a sharp breath before asking, “Scully? Who is Ethan?”
She didn’t seem disturbed that she was caught in a lie, instead opting to remain where she was, still leaned against him. “Oh, you heard? Sorry. He’s my, uh, he’s my boyfriend. We’ve been dating for a couple years now. He actually proposed to me the day before I left.” “Oh, congratulations. When’s the wedding?” He did his best to mask the disappointment he felt. “I didn’t say yes. I didn’t say anything, really. I said I wanted to think about it.”
“You hadn’t thought about it before?”
“No, I guess I hadn’t. We moved in together last fall and things have been…they’re good. They’re, um, they’re really good. I have no reason to say no, but….”
“You have no reason to say yes, either?”
“Something like that.” She smiled sadly. He understood her. The understanding and compassion he showed her then felt unparalleled to anything Ethan or any other man she’d been with had ever shown her. “I just feel like maybe he’s as good as I’m going to get, you know? I’m thirty-five. He’s nice, handsome, has a good job. He loves me. That should be enough.”
“But it isn’t, is it?”
She only shook her head in response.
Scully stood suddenly as if trying to break free from the feeling of discontent. She started rooting through his closet and pulled out a sweatshirt and pulled it on over her clothes. “I remember wearing this when we used to ride our bikes down to the beach. Remember the night we built a fire and ended up falling asleep and how worried my mom was? I was wearing this then, too.” Mulder was surprised to hear that she remembered just as much, if not more, about their time together than he did. Truth be told, in her time with Ethan, time with Jack, time with other men who had left her unfulfilled, she would think back on summers spent with Mulder eating ice cream on the pier or exchanging gifts at Christmastime or going to the prom. Rationally, logically, she knew this was nostalgia and that everything she remembered was tinted with a rosy hue. Statistically speaking, high school relationships don’t last. The odds of finding your soulmate at sixteen are slim to none. If she hadn’t ended things with him then, they would’ve surely broken up for another reason, right? But nothing beats the magic of first love.
“Mulder?” Her voice was soft, quiet. “I wish I could go back and live it all again.”
“Scully?”
“Yeah, Mulder?”
“I love you.”
She buried her face in his chest for a moment and allowed him to hold her. Holy shit, holy shit. Mulder wasn’t sure if he was dreaming or not. “I want to go down to the beach,” she said. “I haven’t been to the beach in years.”
The night air was cool and crisp and the water was calm. Scully hiked up her skirt and waded in the sea, laughing and waving at Mulder as he watched from a blanket a few feet away. She seemed so young still, like the same person she was back then. Mulder watched her and felt young again, too. She came up and laid down next to him and rested her head on his chest. He moved to put his arm around her and rubbed small circles into her shoulder with his thumb. “I don’t know how I’m going to explain this to Bill. I think he still hates you. Remember when you got into a fistfight at Thanksgiving?” She laughed at the memory. “Hey! He threw the first punch, and all I did was defend myself. I stand by that!” “You had that black eye for a month! I couldn’t take you anywhere, Mulder!” She was all smiles and laughter until suddenly her face turned somber.
“Do you think I made a mistake? Nothing feels the same as it did with you. Every other relationship has felt empty.” She remembered how small she felt all those years ago when she told him she was leaving him. Mulder shook his head. “You did what you thought was right at the time. I know what you mean though. I feel like I’ve been searching for it this whole time, whatever it was we had. I think you’re the only person who’s ever really seen me.”
“Mulder?”
“Yeah?”
“Can I kiss you?”
He said nothing and stayed stock still, staring at her with wide eyes. She nodded. “I mean it.” He didn’t answer, only moved in to kiss her first. He was slow, unsure at first. When she reciprocated he allowed himself to go in deeper, to savor it, to allow his hand to rest ever so lightly on her waist. When he finally pulled away, he laughed. “What’s so funny, Mulder?” His laughter was infectious. “Remember our first kiss? When I dragged you out here to watch for UFOs?” She nodded. “I lied about expecting to see UFOs though. I just couldn’t think of a better date than arguing with you about aliens.” “You wouldn’t’ve seen anything anyway," she protested. "You were too busy staring at me.”
“You’re more spectacular than any UFO I’ve ever seen.”
“That’s only because you haven’t seen any.” She playfully punched his arm and he grinned.
“Mulder? I think that-” She was interrupted by her phone ringing. “Ethan?” Mulder asked, disappointment audible. “No, no,” she said, “it’s Bill. I think I need to go. I think that I might do something I’ll regret if I stay.” She rushed to her feet and turned towards the house. It was already dark and she was starting to get herself in trouble. He grabbed at the hem of her skirt. “Scully, wait. I want to say something.” “Mulder, I don’t think—“
“Scully, I love you.”
“Mulder, that isn't true.”
“Yes, Scully, it is! I always have. It’s always been you.”
“That’s not true. You haven’t seen me in almost twenty years, Mulder! You don’t know me anymore. You haven’t known me since I was 17. You haven’t known me since I left. Do you have any idea how much I’ve been through, how much I’ve changed? You don’t, Mulder!” Her voice was soft and shaking, despite the power of her words.
She was right, he couldn’t refute it.
“Why did you come here then, Scully? Just to jerk me around?” His voice was pleading. She sat back down next to him. “No, Mulder. I was happy to see you. I still think about you. But that’s just how brains and memories work. I’m only remembering the good parts. If I still love you, it is only the idea of you as you were then.” She was always so damn rational, always scared to show her emotions, less God forbid someone mistook them as a sign of weakness. That much clearly hadn’t changed. Still, though, she had always been unusually open with him and it seemed that she still was. Some things don’t change, he figured. “You’re the only one I’ve told,” she said.
“About what?”
“About Ethan. I haven’t even told anyone he proposed. I just feel like it’ll be too embarrassing if I turn him down later. My family loves him, my friends love him. Everyone loves him but me.”
“Well, I guess I gotta make it even then, Scully.”
“What do you mean?”
“Back in D.C. I had a girlfriend. A fiancee, actually. Diana. My mother gave me a family heirloom to propose with. She was saving it for Samantha but I guess since she’s not here she figured I was the next best thing. Turns out, she was having an affair with a guy from my work, of all places. Came home early one day and caught them. It’s crazy, you know? I’m way more handsome than that guy. He had some stupid ass haircut and the most punchable face I’d ever seen. Like, what did that guy have that I didn’t? But he had Diana.”
“Mulder, I’m so sorry. I didn’t realize.”
“Don’t apologize, Scully. Better it happened before we tied the knot, right? Plus I was able to get most of my deposits back so all's well that ends well I guess.” He still had that carefree attitude. “Come on, Scully, I’ll take you back to your car. Bill and Tara are waiting.” He took her hand and led her back to the house.
...
“Mulder, thank you for tonight. You’ve given me a lot to think about. I’m sorry about...” She fished her keys out of her purse to unlock her car. “Don’t marry him, Scully. Don’t marry him if you aren’t sure.” “Well, Mulder, there’s nothing he has that you don’t.” She gave him a playful smile and stood on her tiptoes to kiss him on the cheek before getting in her car and driving off, leaving him there, stunned.
He had a lot on his mind as he trotted back to the house. He thought about her, about Diana, about himself, about where he was going. He spent the whole walk home in a daze that was only broken by a blaring car horn and an angry driver yelling at him to watch where the fuck he’s going. He unlocked the front door and made his way to the bedroom where he returned the forgotten record to the sleeve before noticing a slip of paper sticking out where she’d taken the record out hours ago. She’d always done that, marking the place where she’d taken an LP out in an effort to keep things organized. He grabbed at the slip of paper and started to crumple it up before he noticed something written on it.
“Call me, Spooky” in the same neat print and a new phone number with a heart next to it.
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What would be JDs first reaction to seeing the screeture in a trial?
[the mun has appeared]
One of two things could happen: Either she hides herself in a locker/at a corner of the trial grounds OR she has a massive freeze response and just... Relives what she remembers of the moment before she was sent to the fog.
The Skinman is the one thing she wouldn’t really want to go after, but she hadn’t known if it’s existence before meeting it before it... y’know, killed her friend.
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