Remembering Mulder...
Frohike sat on the couch that Friday night, the night after Mulder's funeral. He had a bottle of rum in his hand and was taking big swigs from it in effort to dull the pain that losing one of his best friends made.
He sighed and stared moodily at a photo of Mulder he had. "Ah! Done it!" Another voice said triumphantly from the other end of the room. "What is It, Langly?" Frohike asked. "You finally learnt to spell your name?" He asked his colleague. "Whatever, Tiny. You'll be pleased to know I've just completed the last level. Welcome to the coronation of King Mulder. May we all remember him," Langly said. Frohike nodded. He had to admit, that was a touching gesture in remembrance of their friend. Sure, it wasn't a great one, but it was the best Langly could do, and he knew he was trying.
"What are you doing to remember Mulder, Frohike?" Langly asked. Frohike sighed again. "Remember when we met him at that convention?" He asked. "He wouldn't buy my cables. A man of distinction, he was," he replied as he took another swig of his rum. "That's because they were crap," Langly pointed out. "Which is why you don't make em anymore, right?" He asked with a smirk.
"Neither do you, Hippy Boy," Frohike shot back. "Oh yeah? At least mine didn't have poor quality. It did exactly what I said it would do on the tin," Langly replied. "Yeah, it really did overheat and burn a hotel down, didn't it?" Frohike asked with a smirk. Langly glared at him. "That was a one time thing, Shorty," he countered back.
"Guys, please, let's not argue. Not tonight," Byers' voice interrupted them. He looked tired and his suit looked scruffy. He looked like he couldn't sleep. "OK. Sorry, Byers," Frohike said, and drank some more of his rum. "Don't drink too much of that," Byers warned. "We need someone to go and put the papers on the ship," he said. "Yeah, yeah," Frohike said a little absent mindedly.
Byers walked up behind Langly. "King Mulder," he said with a small smile. Langly grinned. "Yep. All hail the King Mulder. May we never forget," Langly said with a hand on his heart. "So, what are you doing to remember Mulder, Byers?" Langly asked.
Byers thought for a moment. "I remember when we met Mulder. His ideas were so far out, it was incredible the theories he would come with," he said. Langly nodded. "Yeah. He was a far out dude all right," he agreed. "So," Byers said with a cough as he cleared his throat. "I've made a photo frame for him. We can put it next to Langly's computer, if that's all right with you, Langly?" Byers asked. He held up a small frame, which had the letter 'X' written in each corner, and the phrase, 'I want to Believe' that Byers had cut each letter from a newspaper. He the finished the look buy drawing a little doodle of a UFO in the bottom side of the frame.
"Wow. Looks good, Byers. Sure. Frohike, pass us the photo of Mulder over there. We're gonna put in this frame," Langly called to Frohike. Frohike grunted, before getting up and passing them the photo they had of Mulder. "Thanks," Byers said as he took the photo from Frohike. Frohike gave him a mock salute before drunkenly sitting back down on the couch.
Byers placed the photo in the frame and sat it on the desk next to Langly, with a satisfied grin on his face. Byers then realized there was something missing. "Frohike, how are you going to remember him?" He asked the older Lone Gunman.
After a moment, Frohike picked up something that looked like a figurine of an alien, the classic kind with big eyes and grey faces. "I always think of Mulder when I look at this," he explained, before getting up again and passing it to Byers, who chuckled despite himself. "Nice one, Frohike," Langly said who was also grinning. "It's definitely something Mulder would like," Byers added. He then placed it next to the photo. "There we go," he said. "A Mulder shrine," he said happily.
Langly and Frohike nodded. "Rest in Peace, buddy," Frohike said softly, and they all glanced at Mulder's photo. Langly ended the moment by clearing his throat. "Here's hoping he's in a better place," he said.