It was a beautiful spring day, perfect. All along the Potomac government employees ambled by, attempting to appear relaxed, striving to grasp the day and keep it. Many found this impossible, their lunch breaks over, they had to return to their offices and feign public service.

Two such government employees, Fox Mulder and Dana Scully sat on a weathered bench, watching the cherry blossoms sway in the gentle breeze. Neither one of them could bring themselves to move, even to throw away the vestiges of their lunches.

"You have a report to do," The redhead pointed out, glancing idly at the man seated beside her. There was a gentle smile on his face, his hands clasped behind his head.

Mulder sighed and rolled his head from side to side. "Ah, but then I'd have to go inside." He unlocked his hands and nudged her with an elbow, wiping his hands on the front of his slacks.

They were relaxed, completely unwound. It had been months since either of them had been able to shut their mind's off long enough to relax.

She was in an off mood, favoring a pink blouse over her usual white one. It complimented the flowering trees around them, making her hair seem as if it was catching the sun purposefully, highlighting it. Mulder was bland in his suit, his white shirt looking entirely too starched, his pants incredibly crumpled.

He was the picture of impending Friday; he looked like he was willing the weekend to come and it was only Tuesday. Lately, the two of them had been letting things slide by. The relentlessness that they both possessed had subsided, just a bit; they were beginning to act like normal people, like rational people and it scared them. Each wondered, without asking the other, if they might actually pass for normal, beyond casual observation.

But neither of them wanted to try anything in that moment. They wanted to sit and watch people.

Scully toyed with the straw of her Diet Pepsi, pondering into it. She felt something other than anxious for once and she didn't quite know what to make of it. The depths of her beverage offered her nothing but bubbles so she resigned to sipping it slowly.

Mulder looked out toward the water. "It's gonna be too hot to sit out here in a few weeks." He'd since crossed his legs at the ankle and began twisting them back and forth. The motion caught and held her attention.

Her tongue left her straw, allowing her a brief moment to speak. "Yes, it will."

Summer, summer was on its way to D.C. with it's oppressive heat and swamp moisture. But for now, it was spring, and there were cool breezes and starry nights and enough pollen to make the whole city sneeze.

He kept his eyes on her as she kept her eyes on his legs. She looked fresh and new and rested, a true spring beauty. She wore spring well. The weariness was gone from around her eyes and the weight of the world they seemed to constantly carry seemed to have slinked off somewhere.

"You look good today Scully," he said, tilting his head to the side. She turned to look at him and smile a tiny, little bit and gathered up her trash. Disposing of the refuse, she leaned over and kissed the top of his head. With that, she turned and walked back in the direction of the federal building.

And he listened to her heels click away, cherry blossom petals lingering softly in her hair.