He'd been acting weird, that was a word often carelessly used to describe him, but she meant it as someone that had dealt with every Mulder-mood swing under the sun. They solved their last case without a hitch, she'd even agreed to a few more points than she usual did, so she knew that couldn't have been it. He honestly seemed sad, but she had no idea why. She'd asked if he was okay twice now and he just nodded, which only served to fuel her concerned. In her opinion, a quiet Mulder was never a good sign.
"Scully?" He asked pensively, his tone sounding like he regretted saying anything before her name had even fully left his mouth.
"Yeah?" She replied sweetly, hoping he'd just tell her so she could try to help him get out of this funk. A few years ago she'd probably tell herself that his emotions were her business, but now she didn't bother playing that game. Mulder was her business.
"Nevermind," he lamented, shaking his head.
The car was dead silent for a few moments as she waited for him to speak again. It didn't come. "What were you going to say?" she prompted. "You seem dejected."
He just kept his eyes glued to the road as his thumb stroked the pleather of the steering wheel. "Nevermind. It's not important."
"Mulder-"
He interrupted her before she could continue, "And I know you'll just tell me I'm being innapropriate."
Another moment of silence passed as she digested his words. Inappropriate? Her questioning had been rooted in concern before, but curiosity was slowly starting to take over. "You can't just say that without telling me."
"It's stupid," he stated, trying desperately to end the conversation.
"If it's upsetting you then it's not stupid, Mulder. Jus-"
She stopped as he let out a long exhalation of resignation. Then, he sat up in his seat as if preparing himself for what he was going to say. Her heart started racing, and only continued at the words that left his mouth. "Scully, do you think I'm attractive?"
Of all the things she was expecting him to say, that was most certainly not it. Her mouth gaped open a little bit in shock as she stumbled for how to possibly answer a question like that without making a fool of herself. Of course, he took that moment to look over at her and took her 'fish out of water' look as a sign of the worst.
"I shouldn't have asked you. Just forget it," he pled.
She quickly tried to formulate something to say so he wouldn't continue to misconstrue her. She was just in shock that someone as attractive as Mulder would ever need to ask a question like that. He wasn't the type to ask just to trick her into saying she was attracted to him which meant that he was seriously feeling self-conscious, something she wasn't used to seeing in her partner - the same partner who had women swooning over him practically everywhere he went. "Why?" Not the most eloquent utterance, but it was safe.
"I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."
"You didn't make me uncomfortable. I'm just surprised, that's all," she answered, untucking some hair from behind her ears in the hopes it would cover the blush blossoming on her cheeks.
"I just-," he started. "I dunno." He shrugged again and shifted in his seat uncomfortably.
"Do you not find yourself attractive?" she asked, trying to gauge the playing field.
He made a vocal utterance that was equivalent to "Ahdunno," and she felt her confusion only grow. He doesn't know? Everyday she worked next to a Playgirl cover come to life and he didn't even know?
He was right. It was inappropriate to ask, but not as inappropriate as it was for her to answer.
"If you tell me why you're asking and if it has something to do with your melancholy attitude, I'll answer," she leveraged.
She saw him peek over at her from his periphery before gnawing on his lip. "You'll think I'm ridiculous."
"Wouldn't be the first time," she teased, internally rejoicing when a small smile played on his lips.
"You remember how that kid liked to draw pictures?" he asked.
There'd been a small boy named Harrison that they'd had to interview a few times throughout the case and he was never seen without a stick of graphite in his hands. "Yeah, he was pretty good for a ten year old."
"Yeah. Exactly," Mulder frowned.
Realization dawned on her and he was right, she did find him ridiculous. "Wait. Are you telling me you're in this mood because a prepubescent boy drew an unflattering picture of you?"
He let out a little laugh-sigh at her tone and explained, "It always happens. When people draw me, it's just like a walking nose with weird lips underneath."
She couldn't help but look down at the lips in question and think about how many times she's fantasized about how the full, bottom one would feel in between hers. They were one of her favorite attributes of his. She recognized that his nose was a little larger than average, but not outrageously so. It was defined, and she loved it. She loved all the parts of his face because together they made the man she enjoyed looking at more than anything else.
"I like your lips," she reassured boldly. Before he had a chance to look over at her she quickly stumbled to add, "And your nose." He looked at her with an unreadable expression in his eyes and she felt a compulsive need to continue explaining. "I just can't believe you're asking me."
"Why?" he asked.
"Because you're obviously attractive, Mulder," she stated clinically, hoping that he wouldn't pick up on how nervous she was.
"Obviously?" he repeated.
"There's no way that you don't recognize that you're physically quite, um, pleasing to the eye. Surely you've noticed the effect you've had on women we encounter on cases." She was amazed she could even talk anymore with her foot so far in her mouth.
"What about you?"
"What about me?"
"You're a woman I encounter on cases," he stated, baiting her.
She knew he wanted her to say he affected her in particular, but she wasn't going to play along. "I didn't think you were one to fish for a compliment, Mulder," she joked, playing with the cuticles on her nail beds.
"Not fishing, just asking my resident scientist for her scientific opinion." She could already tell his mood was improved and she didn't know if it was from the reassurance that he wasn't ugly or from the confirmation he now had that she specifically finds him attractive.
"Well, Mulder, my scientific opinion is that no one should develop critiques of themselves from the drawings of children. I mean, he drew me too and my chest was as flat as a board in his picture. I'm not going to sulk about it," she sighed, looking ahead at the road in hopes it made her look like her heart wasn't racing a mile a minute.
"Hmm," he mused aloud. "Well now I know not to trust the kid's vision. He clearly has a hard time noticing the 'obvious'," he smirked, using her own words as an innuendo against her.
She laughed lightly and decided to let that one slide since his spirits had improved so much. "Okay, Mulder."