May 1999
Scully had been asked to help on a case requiring a pathologist and a medical expert. She had been gone for two days and Mulder was incredibly bored.
On his way to work, he had stopped at an office supply store and purchased a few bags of large rubber bands, needing something to help with his boredom. Taking his time, he proceeded to make a sizable rubber band ball, nodding as he held it up and admired it. It was truly extraordinary.
Of course, they could never use the rubber bands and ruin his unnecessary desk decoration, nor would they need to really. Setting it on the desk, he turned it, trying to find the best angle to not only display it, but to stop it from rolling off of the desk. He shook his head, fighting with it, before giving up and propping it up between the desk lamp and his nameplate.
Now that that was done, he looked around the room with a sigh, still bored out of his mind. It was too quiet. Too… Scully-less.
He glanced up, staring at the ceiling, thinking about the pencils that used to hang there from the last time Scully had been gone for an extended period of time. They were gone now, of course, but he wanted things back to how they were, before the fire and before they had lost their basement office and all the work he held so dear.
He opened the desk drawers, searching until he found a brand new pack of pencils. With a smile, he took them from the box and lined them up perfectly on the desk. Starting with the one closest to him, he placed it into the sharpener and pushed. When it was sharp enough, he blew away the remaining shavings and laid it onto the desk.
As he was picking up the fifth pencil, the phone rang, startling him and causing him to make a noise he was glad no one but himself would ever hear.
"Mulder," he said, picking up the receiver and holding it to his ear.
"Mulder, it's me." He heard Scully say and he leaned back in his chair with a smile.
"Well, howdy stranger. It's been awhile."
"Mulder, we spoke yesterday afternoon when you called to ask me how the case was going."
"Hmm," he hummed, knowing they had, but not wanting to admit that she was right.
"How are you? Getting a lot done?" she asked, teasing in her tone.
"Of course I am," he scoffed, twirling the pencil around.
"Mm hmm," she hummed and he smiled. "How many pencils are sticking up in the ceiling?"
"None," he replied. "I'm astounded you would assume that would happen, simply because you're not here."
"Just going by what's happened in the past," she said with a small chuckle. "Make sure you get them up there really well so they don't fall on you this time."
"Hilarious, you are," he said with a grin, sticking the pencil in the sharpener, hearing her laughing when it started whirring loudly.
"I knew it."
"Well, technically there aren't any in the ceiling, so you're not exactly correct."
"Yet," she said. "They aren't up there yet."
"Well no, the whole pack isn't sharpened, so…"
"Such an odd man."
"That's what I'm known for," he said, blowing off any remaining pencil shavings, and laying the pencil beside the others. "So, how is the case? Nice out there in… where are you again?"
"Mulder, you know where I am. I'm in Georgia and it's… not terrible."
"Hmm, a resounding endorsement."
"Yeah, well." He heard a crinkling sound and glanced at the clock, discovering that it was 1:30, and she was most likely eating lunch. Christ, where had the morning gone?
To the making of large rubber band balls, he thought, smiling at the sight of it still thankfully sitting on the desk.
"Case is fine, nearly finished. I should be home tomorrow night if all goes well," she said, and he could hear her chewing as did.
"What's on the menu there, Doc? If I'd have realized the time, we could have had a lunch date and eaten together."
"Well, you've obviously been busy with all those pencils you need to sharpen or perhaps videos that aren't yours to watch…" She took a drink of something and he smiled.
"Those videos aren't here anymore."
"Which means you've looked, hoping they would be."
"Miraculously surviving a fire? Those would be some tapes…"
"Oh now, Mulder, that I wouldn't know. Never watched them," she said, chewing again with a small hum.
He chuckled and leaned back in his chair. God, he missed her. He wished she was there, teasing him in person, her eyes cutting to him in that flirtatious way she had been doing since the night he had surprised with a late night baseball lesson; a fire hidden behind those impossibly blue eyes.
"Even if they had survived, Spender would have no doubt thrown them away. Wouldn't want anything around to dirty his squeaky clean persona."
"And that would have done it for him for sure."
"Well, not all of them. There were some that were clean."
"Really?" she scoffed, snorting slightly and he grinned.
"Yeah, some involved bathtubs and showers. Can't get much cleaner than that."
She laughed heartily and he held the phone close to his ear, covering the mouthpiece, and closing his eyes with a smile. He loved when he made her laugh that way, not just a smile or roll of her eyes even when she wanted to smile.
"God, Mulder," she said, laughing softly with a hum.
"So, nothing spooky or odd about the case? Don't need a profiler down there with a penchant for cases with a paranormal bouquet?"
"No," she said, laughing quietly again and he opened his eyes with a smile. "Pretty straightforward. No alien evidence present."
"Might not be looking hard enough. Gettin' lazy without your partner around…"
"Yeah, that's definitely it," she snorted again, as he wrapped the phone cord around his fingers and spun the chair slowly. "Like I said, I'll be home tomorrow night. I have to head back later, discuss more of what I discovered, but I came to my room to eat and relax for a bit. I was up late last night and then early this morning. I thought I'd either take a quick nap or go for a swim and clear my head."
The chair stopped moving, the phone cord lying limp in his hand. He sat up and opened his mouth to speak, but was unable to find the words.
"Mulder? You still there?" she asked and he could hear her smile.
"Ye.. yeah. Sorry. Did you say you were going for a swim?"
"Mmm hmm, I did."
"You… you brought a bathing suit? Did you check out the amenities before you went down there?"
"No. I always pack a bathing suit."
"What?"
"Yeah, you never know when it might be needed. Down time… a desire to cool off or blow off some steam."
"I… I've never seen you swimming while on a case."
"Well, maybe because I don't always do it and I don't let you know when I do."
"You always bring a swimsuit?" he asked, finding it hard to wrap his brain around her doing so. "A one piece or a bikini?"
"I'm sorry? What difference does that make?"
"It doesn't make a difference."
"Then why do you need to know?" she asked, and he could hear that flirtatious fire nearly burning through the phone line.
"I don't need to know. Just… making conversation."
"Mmm hmm," she hummed with a slight chuckle.
He was having trouble speaking again, imagining her in a swimsuit, unable to stop seeing varying colors and styles. Christ, all that perfect porcelain Scully skin on display, it was enough to cause a short circuit in his brain. He needed to stop thinking that way while she was on the phone with him before he got himself into trouble.
"So…" he said, clearing his throat, needing to change the subject. "So you think you'll take a nap then?"
"Hmm," she practically purred and he covered the mouthpiece quickly, hoping she did not hear the slight moan that escaped his lips. "No. I think I'll go for that swim, actually. The pool is indoor so I don't have to worry about getting sunburned."
"Yeah, we don't want that," he said, shaking his head to halt his thoughts from running rampant.
"I'll let you go. I have to be back at the field office in a couple of hours and if I go to the pool now, it will allow me just enough time for a swim and a warm shower afterwards."
Fucking Christ, he thought, drawing in a sharp breath. She was going to be the death of him.
"Okay," he said, keeping his tone as even as possible. "I'll see you in a couple of days."
"Yeah. See you then. Make sure you get those pencils nice and sharp."
"Oh, I will."
"Fantastic. Bye, Mulder."
"Goodbye, Scully." He started to hang up when he heard her saying something he did not catch. "Sorry, I didn't hear you."
"I said, it's black... and it's a two piece. Goodbye, Mulder."
The phone clicked, the line dead before he could say anything in response. He sat with the dial tone ringing in his ear for longer than he would admit, images of her gliding through the water, her strokes clean and precise, the black of her suit a stark contrast against the clear blue of the pool water.
"Christ," he said through gritted teeth, letting out a growling breath.
Slamming the phone down hard, he grabbed all five sharpened pencils and threw them hard, up into the ceiling, where they stuck in so deeply, one day they would need to be pulled out with pliers.