September 2003
Juliette, Georgia
10:00 p.m.
There was an odd feeling of calm to pairing socks, seeing them piling up beside the other clothes, everything organized into neat stacks.
Scully smiled as she remembered helping her mother fold clothes when she was younger, loving the feel of them when they were warm from the dryer, or even helping to take them from a clothesline. Sheets were always her favorite, lifting her side up as high as she could, her mother smiling as she held tight to the other end. The sound of the snap of the fabric, the perfect fold, meeting in the middle to hand it off to her mother… she loved it all.
Socks were saved for her to do on her own, large piles of them from the whole family, left to her to sort like a puzzle. She liked being able to differentiate between them, giving the right socks to the right people, proud that she never got it wrong.
As an adult, she found that same pride in the tidiness of her own home; the dishes always washed and put away in their place, the pictures hung to her taste, her clothes always organized, going through them often and getting rid of any taking up unwanted space.
Space, she thought with a snort. That's definitely something we are lacking these days.
Folding one of Mulder's t-shirts, she placed it on top of his pile. One of her shirts was next and she placed it on her own pile with a sigh. Turning around, she looked at the dryer in front of her and saw it still had twenty minutes left before the cycle would be complete. Looking around at the empty laundromat, she sighed again.
Fanning herself, she lifted her long hair off of her sweaty neck. The weight of it made her think again of cutting it short like she'd had it in the past. Instead, she took the rubber band from her wrist and tied it up into a messy bun, a few pieces falling down and brushing her face. As it did, she sighed at the dark brown, nearly black color of it.
She'd had it dyed for months now, but she was still taken aback by it when her thoughts were elsewhere and it suddenly fell into her view. She did not mind it, but it was a drastic difference from her normal red.
The door to the laundromat opened and Mulder walked in with a plastic bag in each hand.. Even in khaki shorts, a black tank top, and flip flops, she could see he was just as warm as she was, beads of perspiration dotting his forehead.
"God, it's like walking through numerous layers of warm wet paper towels. I'm sweating like crazy."
"It's not much cooler in here," she said with a gesture toward the dryers. "Thankfully it's the last load."
"Should I get the bags from the car?" he asked, setting the plastic bags down on the counter beside the piles of folded clothes.
"Nah. Might as well wait until those are done and folded." He nodded and jumped up to sit next to the bags, smiling at her as he did. She let out a deep breath as she glanced at the dryer timer again.
Eighteen minutes until they would pack up and head away from this small town, all of their clothes clean, for a while at least.
It had been nearly a year and a half since they had been on the run, staying in countless motels, trailers, tents, the car itself, and even once a teepee, which they had both found highly offensive, especially after seeing the decor. But it had been cold and the place warm, so they had stayed for a night before leaving the next morning
In that time, a system had been created. They had bought large plastic totes and kept everything they needed inside of them: sleeping bags, pillows, extra blankets, two tents, tarps, camping cooking supplies, some food- but not much as they did not want to attract any unwanted animals.
They also had two duffel bags which held all of the clothes they owned, rotating them by need and season.
As it was the tailend of a very warm summer, the warmer clothes had been stored in one of the totes, not needed for a few more months. The two duffel bags were now full of shorts, tank tops, shirts, and even a few sundresses, the breeze welcome as it cooled her everywhere.
The bags also held their simple toiletries inside plastic zippered bags. It was organized and fit just so in the car, allowing them to grab whatever was needed quickly. Every item was replaceable and held no sentimental value, easily able to be left behind if the situation called for it.
Clothes were worn until only one outfit remained, the dirty clothes placed in trash bags. All laundry was done at one time, visiting laundromats late at night, or any motel with on-site laundry service. The clean clothes were then put back into the duffel bags, the trash bags slipped into the totes, ready to be refilled.
It was a system that worked well, keeping them away from crowds of people, Mulder remaining safe and relatively unseen.
Sighing again, she shook her head and glanced at the bags he had brought in with him.
"So, what have you got there?" she asked with a smile, one of the bags smelling of something delicious and causing her stomach to growl.
"Well," he said, opening the bag and removing take out containers, handing one to her. "The Whistle Stop Café is open late tonight for a summer barbecue-"
"Is it?" she said, looking at her food cautiously and he laughed.
"Pork, not human," he assured her with another chuckle. "Someone in front of me made that joke and the woman serving food gave him such a look, I knew better than to make the same mistake."
"Can't really blame people when it's heavily implied in the Fried Green Tomatoes movie and in the book… well…" She raised her eyebrows and opened the container, sniffing the delicious aroma of barbecued pork, her mouth watering.
"I also got mashed potatoes and biscuits. Homemade biscuits that I ate one of on the way over here because they had only just cooled enough to be served when I ordered them. Try one of those first." He handed her one and he nodded encouragingly.
Taking it from him, she took a bite and then moaned as the sweet taste of butter hit her tongue. He nodded again with a smile as she took another bite and he took out utensils and napkins. She pushed herself up to sit beside him, her legs swinging as they ate, the dryer continuing to tumble the last of their clothes, both of them hot, sweaty, and sticky.
As they finished eating, the dryer stopped and while he cleaned up their food and trash, she took out the clothes, walking them to the counter to be folded. He came back in with the duffel bags, setting them on the empty counter, and began helping her fold the clothes.
In no time, they were filling the duffel bags, everything once more arranged and in order. She threw out the dryer sheets she had used and picked up the now empty trash bags, ready to put them back into the totes in the car.
"What's in this bag?" she asked and he nodded at her to open it. When she did, she smiled, finding it full of paperbacks.
"I found a used bookstore and came back to the car, taking out the ones you'd wanted to swap if we found one. I could only find up to "O," but maybe we'll get lucky at the next place and find "P" and "Q.""
"There's a "Q"? I didn't know," she murmured and he nodded as she looked down at the books.
They had stayed at a cabin in March and the sparse amount of books available had led to her reading ones she would normally have passed over. Particularly, a series of detective novels, the titles of each one beginning with a different letter of the alphabet.
Finding that she enjoyed them, when they had been in another town, she had popped into a used bookstore, finding the next in the "alphabet series" by Sue Grafton. She had loved them all, a distraction from their own lives for a little while. It had been some time since she had finished, and even reread the last few, holding onto them to trade in for new ones, and she was happy he had found them.
"Thank you," she said softly, looking at "L" is for Lawless and "M" is for Malice. "I know it's not my usual reading material…"
"Scully, there isn't much that is usual right now." He smiled at her and shrugged. "You enjoy them. I do too. Especially when you read them aloud and we try to figure out the ending." She nodded with a smile and ran her fingers across the titles.
"Thank you," she said again, lifting her head to look at him. He smiled with a nod and picked up one of the duffel bags, kissing her as he did.
"You're welcome," he whispered against her lips, reaching for the next duffel bag.
She put the books back inside the plastic bag and picked up their black canvas backpack. Everything else could be left behind and abandoned at a moment's notice, but not the backpack. It held everything of importance inside of it and was never far from sight.
One last look around, making sure they had everything, they walked out into the muggy and sticky Georgia night. Bags were placed back into the car and then bottles of water were taken from the totes and carried to the front seat.
Mulder turned on the car, blasting the air conditioning as they both sat, the warm air gradually becoming cooler. She closed her eyes as she twisted her head and leaned forward, letting the cool air hit the back of her neck.
"What were we thinking, huh? Coming to the south in the summer? Should have stayed up north," Mulder said with a deep sigh and she smiled.
"It's summer, Mulder. It's hot everywhere."
"Hmm. Not moist hot though. I feel… well… it's not the best situation in my southern region either." She laughed and opened her eyes, looking at him as he raised his eyebrows with a shake of his head.
"How does a cold shower sound?"
"Make it lukewarm, and not a solo one, and you've got yourself a deal," he said with a smile and she tilted her head.
"You're asking me to join you even after you've so eloquently divulged a bad case of swamp ass?" She raised her eyebrows at him, a half smile on her face, and he nodded enthusiastically.
"Absolutely. I'm sure you could do with a…"
"Yes?" she asked, her eyebrows raising higher, waiting to see how big of a hole he would dig himself into.
"Well…" He shrugged and smiled, the one that made her heart race. Innocent and sweet, with an air of mischief hiding behind it. "A nice refreshing shower after standing in that warm laundromat for so long."
"Mmhmm," she hummed, licking her lips and his eyes followed its path across them.
"And if it leads to some sex… well…" He shrugged again and put the car in gear, looking around before he backed up and out of the parking spot, continuing out of the parking lot. "At least we'll get clean as we're being dirty." She laughed and nodded, already anticipating the feel of the water cooling and cleansing her sweaty body, his hands on her wet and slippery skin making her ache with need.
He grinned at her as they pulled up to a stop sign by the Whistle Stop Café. People were still there enjoying the barbecue, music playing and laughter ringing out into the night. They drove past the now closed used bookstore and she smiled, remembering the books waiting to be read. Looking at him, she smiled and he winked as he caught her eye.
"A refreshing shower sounds wonderful."
"And the sex?" he asked, stopping at a light and staring at her, waggling his eyebrows.
"Sounds orgasmic," she said in a low voice and he growled, stepping on the gas as soon as the light was green, hurrying out of town as she laughed happily.