Dust - Requested by Anonymous - January 8th, 2019
Season 1 - Flirting

He didn't really even have time to dust the cobwebs off his flirting skills before he was trying to use them on Scully. He didn't even take the time to consider the possibility that maybe he shouldn't in the first place.

A suspect they'd apprehended was aggressive, he was angry, he was clearly an idiot. Mulder could think of any justification as to why someone could ever possibly say something so obviously, ludicrously wrong about Scully.

"Ugly fucking bitch."

He'd be lying if he said he wasn't a little rough with the suspect as soon as the man shot the words at Scully like a dart of venom poised at her heart. Mulder was too busy to take out the dart before the poison spread, but now, as they were walking back to their car after handing the perp over, he could see she was infected. That the words ugly, fucking, and bitch were building a temporary home at the forefront of her mind.

His desire to say something, anything, was just so blinding, like looking into a light dead on and seeing the silhouette of the figure imprinted on everything you tried to look at afterwards.. Blink. The downward tug of her lip. Blink. The way she wasn't meeting his eye. Blink. Her little nonverbal responses to him. Blink. The way she tugged self consciously on her skirt. Blink. The subtle way she was trying to catch her side profile in reflective surfaces they passed. Blink. The way she was fixing her hair as if she was trying to hide herself. Blink. He needed to say something.

"I like your shirt," he blurted suddenly. Instantaneously embarrassed that that was the best he could do.

"Thanks," she mumbled, barely even paying him any attention.

No. His flirting skills were covered with dust when it came to girls at random bars with names found on coffee cups, as interchangeable as they were indistinguishable. His flirting skills for women with names like Scully, with eyes that pierced so intently they left scar tissue in their wake, were still new in the package, completely unwrapped, and sitting on the shelf of his mind.. Her desire to maintain a semblance of strict professionalism in their still-new partnership had him biting his tongue and keeping his thoughts to himself.

Had him fumbling over what he could possibly say in this moment to make sure she knew she was irrefutably stunning, distractingly sexy, without resulting in her slapping him.

"Your makeup looks really good. Um-not just today, it always looks really nice," he tried again.

"What are you doing, Mulder?" she asked in exasperation.

"Complimenting you."

"Why?"

She wasn't going to let this go. She'd been avoiding looking at him before, but now that she was he could see hurt manifesting as anger and he was the nearest target. Deciding not to beat around the bush, he stated, "That guy was an asshole. A piece of shit in every sense of the word who clearly has been skipping out on his optometrist appointments."

"What he said didn't bother me, Mulder," she balked, as if it was ridiculous of him to even think she cared. Yet, he hadn't even had to specify what he was referring to.

"You seem a little bothered," he instigated, hoping maybe she'd open up to him. Personal moments with her were rare, her unwavering professionality making him work for them. Details of her privacy were as hard to earn as her trust.

"Well, I can assure you that I am not," she stated confidently, crossing her arms in front of her chest as she stood next to the car.

Maybe they wouldn't take another step towards a personal relationship today, but it wouldn't stop him from trying one last time. "Well that good. It'd make me sad if you didn't recognize your own beauty. I get to enjoy it everyday." He punctuated the bold claim to let her know he was (not) kidding. Letting her have an out from the overt flirtation of his comment by allowing her to consider it a joke.

She took the out with both hands and laughed heartily before rolling her eyes as she slid into the passenger seat. "Thanks, Mulder," she exaggerated, hiding her sincere appreciation behind a joke just like he did. Partners through and through.

He took one glance over and noticed she looked even more beautiful when her cheeks were tinted pink.

Maybe they took a little step after all.