The day had been good so far. Mulder had eaten breakfast with Scully, and they even shared a long walk around the entire ship interior.
Talking had come more easily now and Scully, like always, enjoyed his ghost-ship stories. Things were going good- things were even more enjoyable today.
But then, then there was that picture again. Scully tried her best not to look at it, but she couldn't help it. She felt like the picture had eyes, that it was watching her. That it was waiting.
Like every other time, after they had walked far enough away from the painting, the feeling evaporated. Although sometimes, as crazy as it sounded, she felt that the painting was calling her. That it was beckoning for her presence. There was something eerie about the painting, that's for sure.
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
The morning soon slipped into afternoon, and too quickly at that. Scully was feeling even more relaxed, even with the lack of sleep she had the night before, she felt rested and light. And even though she hated admitting it to herself, she loved the banter and in-between meanings that went on with her and Mulder today.
They had continued their walk out of the ship and onto the deck. It was full of people; children, adults, seniors, just everyone. They passed different games of sorts while they walked in unison.
Scully let out a giggle at a ping pong match between a father and son, the son couldn't have been any older then six. He kept losing the ball. Mulder looked to see where her laughter was being brought from, he smiled himself.
They continued to walk when Scully heard her name being called. At first it didn't register, she wasn't used to being called Dana. She turned around, Mulder turning to see where she was going, when her friends came up to them.
"Hey Dana! Whatcha been up to today? Ready for another match?" Margie smiled. Dana smiled back but shook her head, "today me and Fox are touring the ship," she said flaunting the matter, proud of what they were doing.
"Oh? I don't think we've met Fox…" Margie smiled up at Mulder. Dana grinned, "Fox this is Don, Rick, and Margie… this is Fox." Everyone nodded and shook hands.
"Why don't you two join us tonight for dinner?" Rick offered nicely. Mulder nodded with a smile, "sounds good." The two groups agreed to dinner then split off in opposite directions.
"They seemed very nice," Mulder looked down at Scully with a warm smile, she looked up at him, "they are."
XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX
And just as before, the afternoon slipped away quickly. They had spent their whole day walking and almost frolicking, Scully was glad. It had been awhile since the two of them had been able to just be together. And whenever they were together things seemed to feel just right.
Mulder walked with her to the rooms but stood in front of her before she went into her room.
"I really enjoyed today, Dana. I hope you did too."
A smile formed sheepishly over Scully's lips, "It's not over yet," she playfully remarked. Mulder shook his head with a smile, "come over to my room when you're ready."
Scully nodded and once Mulder stepped out of her way, she entered her room.
What to wear… hmm… I should wear something for Mulder- I mean, not for Mulder but to impress him a little… Scully thought to herself. I want to look nice for him, there's no harm in that… is there…
A half hour later Scully finally had dressed into something she hoped would catch Mulder's attention. She walked out of her room, leaving a mess of clothes scattered throughout the bathroom and bedroom, then walked the whole two feet over to Mulder's room.
"Who is it?" Mulder called teasingly.
"Mulder…" Scully pouted from outside the door. Mulder smiled as he got up and opened the door, "Oh, it's you."
"Expecting someone else?" Scully wondered. Mulder shook his head. He dashed back in his room to get his coat, but couldn't find it. Scully walked into the room as he searched in his bathroom.
"Wow Mulder, you really need to clean up in here," she said before remembering her room was just as bad.
Mulder called from the bathroom, "Oh, like yours is any better."
Scully walked out of his room when she realized he had found his coat. The two began to walk over to the dinning hall together.
"You know Scully, you look really nice," Mulder commented keeping his head down.
Scully smiled, "so do you."
TBC
