Newton's Second Law of Motion – force equals mass times acceleration. If a body is in equilibrium, there is zero net force by definition (balanced forces may be present nevertheless). In contrast, the second law states that if there is an unbalanced force acting on an object it will result in the object's momentum changing over time.
Scully was perched on the edge of the bed, the straps of her shoes dangling from her fingers, when her gaze caught on the phone on the nightstand. She hadn't checked in with Mulder since she'd arrived in Edinburgh, and she felt a sudden pang at the thought. It seemed silly to want to call — it's not like she had anything she needed to tell him… there was no case, neither of them was in any sort of danger. Well, in theory, anyway. Who knew what Mulder might have gotten up to in her absence. She knew there wouldn't be anything interesting going on at work, based on the exciting evenings of stakeouts at empty warehouses and days filled with background checks and whatever other grunt work Kersh could come up with that was as mind numbingly boring as possible. Still, Mulder made his own trouble more often than not…
She snorted, letting her shoes fall to the floor and glancing at her watch. She didn't need to meet Stella downstairs for another twenty minutes or so. Enough time for a quick call. DC was five hours behind Edinburgh, making it mid-afternoon there now. And, it was Saturday, so there was a good chance he would be home. She slid the phone closer, picked up the receiver, and dialled his number. If she kept it short, the long distance charges hopefully wouldn't be too horrendous.
She felt uncharacteristically nervous — it was just Mulder, after all — but maybe it was the fact that she was sitting here as made up as she'd been in, well, forever. New dress, new underthings, new shoes… She wondered what the look on his face would be if he could see her right now.
The phone rang in her ear. Once. Twice. By the third long trill, she sighed, feeling more disappointed than she would have expected, and she was leaning over to hang up when she heard the connection click and then his voice, familiar and low.
"Hello?" He was out of breath. Maybe he'd had to run to reach the phone or he was just back from a jog.
"Hi," she said brightly, unable to hold back the happiness at hearing his voice. "How are things there? Just thought I'd check in and make sure you weren't getting into too much trouble."
"What? Oh… no, things are good here. Busy."
"Busy? Doing what? Not more fertilizer, is there? Should be glad I took this week off?"
"Huh?" There was a slight pause and some rustling. "No. No, nothing like that. Listen, Scully, do you mind if I call you back in an hour or so? I've got something going on right now that I need to…"
"Uh, actually, I'm heading —"
There were more muffled noises on the other end of the line and then she heard a woman's voice in the background. "Fox, whoever it is, it's not important now. We need to —"
Scully felt a hot stabbing electric shock of betrayal and jealousy arc down her spine to settle spitefully in the pit of her stomach.
"Is Diana there?"
Her voice trembled and she swallowed tightly, feeling hot with embarrassment.
"Yeah, she just stopped by to drop off some notes on a case she wanted my help with. We're heading out right away to interview a possible abductee who claims to have developed clairvoyant abilities after he was returned. It's a bit of a drive though, so we'll probably end up staying overnight and then driving back tomorrow. I can call you in the car once we're on the road, though, if you —"
She'd felt herself getting more and more angry as he'd talked. Of course Diana was there. Of course she conveniently had a case for him to help with that was conveniently far enough away that they'd have to stay overnight. It made her want to scream or throw up or pull her hair or some equally childish and messy version of all three at once.
"You know what, Mulder? Forget it. Forget I called. I'll see you when I get back, okay?" She clenched her fingers around the edge of the mattress as tightly as she could. She could hear Diana's voice again, but it was too quiet this time for her to make out any actual words.
"Good-bye, Mulder."
She thought she heard him say, "Scully, wait —" but she hung up anyway.
Damn him for ruining her evening before it had even started. She shouldn't have called. God, she was an idiot. With a grimace, she bent down and slipped on her shoes, securing each strap over her ankle. When she had finished, she stood up and walked over to the full length mirror on the wall outside of the bathroom door.
She looked good. Her eyes were bright and her cheeks were flushed, with anger mind you, but that didn't matter. It made her look a little wild. Alive. Intense. Smoothing the creases from the bottom of her dress, she stared at her reflection.
She didn't need him. She didn't need anybody.
She walked purposefully into the bathroom and applied a fresh coat of plum coloured lipstick before slipping it into her tiny black purse. With one final glance at her appearance, she flicked off the main light and grabbed her room key from the desk as she passed by on her way to the door. Her gaze passed over the phone as she pushed on the door handle, sending a fresh flood of anger through her.
Damn him.
She opened the door and went through, slamming it shut harder than necessary behind her.
For dinner, they'd selected the rooftop restaurant above the Museum of Scotland, which had come highly recommended by the front desk clerk at the hotel. Despite the view from the windows being astounding, Scully was having a hard time taking her eyes off her dinner companion. Stella was effortlessly radiant in the dress she had purchased that afternoon, and she was wearing a pair of drop diamond earrings that caught the light every time she turned her head. Scully could see the heads turning to watch her as they were escorted to their table, although Stella seemed completely unaware — or utterly unconcerned by — the attention she was drawing.
They shared an order of calamari between them to start, lightly battered rings of squid that were crispy and tender, with glasses of white wine that their waiter assured them would pair perfectly with it. The sun was setting, turning the sky over the city into a watercolour painting of pinks and oranges and yellows.
By the time their main courses had arrived, the lamp posts were sluggishly waking up in the city streets below them. Stella had ordered filet mignon, rare, with a side of oven roasted potatoes and pan-fried green beans with a reduction of balsamic vinegar drizzled over the top. Scully had opted for something lighter, a piece of local salmon poached with lemon and herbs on a bed of fresh greens. Neither of them spoke much during the meal, enjoying the companionable silence, the excellent food and wine, and the beauty of Edinburgh laid out before them.
The waiter attentively returned to the table once it was obvious they had finished with their meals. "Would either you care for tea or coffee? Dessert perhaps?" he asked smoothly, stacking their empty plates together and looking alternately between the two of them.
"Tea, please." Stella raised an eyebrow at Scully. "And we'll take a look at the dessert menu." There was a hint of a wicked smile at the corner of her lips.
Scully quirked an eyebrow back at her in response. She was so full, she couldn't imagine having room for something else.
"And for you?" The waiter cast a polite glance at Scully.
"I'll have tea as well. Thanks."
He vanished for a brief moment with their plates and tableware, and then returned with a small maroon leather folio, which he placed on the table between the two of them. "Here you are. I'll be back with your tea in just a moment. If you would like a recommendation, the praline chocolate cake with dark chocolate ganache is exceptional."
When he'd left, Scully stretched back against her chair with a soft groan as Stella picked up the dessert menu and flipped it open. "I can't believe you want to order dessert."
Stella looked at her over the top of the menu and back down again. "Well, I can't believe that you can possibly claim to be full after eating little more than a salad and an esthetically tiny piece of salmon."
"I don't know." Scully shrugged. "I've always been a light eater. I get faint if I go too long without eating, so it's just easier to eat a small amount more often."
Stella placed the menu flat on the table, turning it so that Scully could read it. "What would you order? What do crave when you're feeling particularly indulgent?"
Scully glanced down the list, seeing a few distinctly Scottish desserts like cranachan along with more traditional fare like sticky toffee pudding, apple pie, and a pear torte with a red wine glaze and candied ginger. They all sounded good, but only one touched on her major weakness. "Chocolate," she said softly. "Especially dark chocolate." She touched the wording for the cake that the waiter had recommended and tapped it once with her finger before turning the menu around and sliding it back towards Stella.
Stella leaned in, almost conspiratorially, and Scully unconsciously mirrored her. Stella spoke quietly, holding Scully's eyes with her own. "And when was the last time you allowed yourself to have a decadent chocolate dessert?" She enunciated each word slowly as though she were tasting them.
"It's been a long time," Scully finally answered, her own words feeling thick, like they had to fight through the intensity of the tension building between them to be heard over the sound of her pulse in her ears.
"Then I think you have room." There was a finality there as Stella closed the menu, her gaze not dropping from Scully's.
Scully could feel the air between them shifting, changing; charged like a gathering storm. It felt exhilarating and terrifying. Stella reached her hand partway across the table with her palm up, and Scully found herself caught up in whatever this was that was passing between them — she reached out and took her hand without a second thought. Scully kept her own eyes firmly locked on Stella's even as the other woman's thumb began lightly stroking the back of her hand. There was a challenge of sorts in their combined gaze, and Scully had never been one to back down. If anything, it made her feel stronger, more assured.
"And, here's your tea."
Scully started, not having even registered the waiter's approach, and let go of Stella's hand so that the waiter could set down the tiny silver pots of already steeping tea. "Have you decided on dessert?" he asked after setting down a cup and saucer in front of each of them and then stepping back.
"Yes, we'll have a slice of the praline chocolate cake, please," Stella replied smoothly, handing him the dessert menu.
"Excellent choice. I'll be right back with that for you."
The tension momentarily broken, Scully leaned back a little, releasing the build up of air in a careful, controlled breath. It was a strange combination of feeling both relaxed and on edge simultaneously, and she wasn't sure what to make of it.
"Can I ask you something?" Stella said, one finger pressing down on the small knob on the top of her tea pot to keep it from spilling as she poured tea into her cup.
"Sure." Scully reached for her own tea pot, already looking forward to warming her hands around her cup.
"Do you deny yourself pleasure as a means of control or because you feel you don't deserve it?"
Scully nearly dropped the tea pot, the spout making her cup rattle against its matching saucer before she steadied her hand. A flash of anger flared in her chest, a snarling, spitting wild cat coming to life. She'd had more than her fair share of remarks like that from Mulder and she had already told him, on more than one occasion, exactly where he could take his profile of her and shove it, but she hadn't expected it from Stella. Her mouth hanging open slightly, her eyes burning, she was about to respond heatedly when Stella continued.
"I used to think I didn't deserve it. After… after my father died when I was fourteen, I was full of the righteous fury that the young seem to possess in spades. I blamed him for dying. I told my mother I wished she'd died instead of him. I felt like everything I'd known, that I'd trusted would be there, was gone." She added a small spoonful of sugar to her tea and stirred it thoughtfully before looking over at Scully. "I couldn't feel anything but anger. I was numb, going through the motions because I didn't know what else to do. I started drinking alcohol. Drugs. Sex. It worked, for a while, but it was never enough. The feelings those activities generated weren't enough to sustain me when I was alone."
Scully's irritation had dissipated completely. She hadn't expected Stella to be this open with her; she was still a mystery on so many levels. "And now?" Scully asked.
"Afters years of therapy?" Stella smiled wryly. "I've come to the conclusion that life is too fucking short and unpredictable to deny one's self opportunities for happiness. Have the chocolate cake." She raised her teacup towards Scully and took a sip before setting it down again.
Scully considered her words as she added a dollop of milk to her own cup, stirred it, and then blew on the steaming liquid before taking a cautious sip. She set the cup carefully back down on the saucer.
"It's about control," Scully said finally after another long minute had passed. "I like to plan, to set goals for myself. I've always been focused on the future and on what I wanted to achieve. I chose med school both because I wanted to help people but also because it was one of the most difficult degrees to obtain. I chose my speciality because it was the most challenging. I like when people tell me I can't do something because it makes me work harder, wanting to prove them wrong." She toyed with the handle of her tea cup, running one finger tip over the curve and back again, feeling the temperature gradient go from hot to cool to hot as she went from the top and around in the half circle back to the bottom. "When I set my mind to something, I do it. The pay off at the end is worth the small sacrifices you need to make to get there."
She fell silent as the waiter arrived with the dessert Stella had ordered. "Here you are!" He set the plate down in the middle of the table with a flourish. "Enjoy."
The tall, triangular slice of cake had been laid on its side, exposing numerous layers of rich-looking chocolate cake alternating with thin layers of icing and nuts and the whole plate had been drizzled in thin stripes of chocolate sauce. There were two forks on the side, and Stella picked one up and carefully worked it into the top of the slice, which had the additional layer of ganache, picking up a bite-sized piece of cake on the tines. She held it out towards Scully, one hand cupped beneath it in case the piece was to fall.
Scully caught herself holding her breath as she leaned forward to take the bite of cake that Stella had offered. She closed her eyes briefly as the fork slid back out of her mouth, leaving the luscious bloom of bittersweet chocolate in her mouth. "That's… amazing," she said after a moment, opening her eyes as she savoured the lingering flavour left on her tongue.
Stella was watching her, waiting for Scully to finish. "Good?" she asked.
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Scully picked up the other fork and speared a piece of the cake, making sure to get a cross-section that included the ganache, the cake, and the icing. She held it out to Stella in the same way she had offered it to her, and this time it was her turn to watch as Stella's lips closed over the cake as she pulled it off Scully's fork.
"Mmmm… that is amazing." She smiled at Scully and Scully felt a warmth bloom inside of her.
They went back and forth, sharing bites of cake as they drank their tea, and the piece was gone in almost no time at all.
"The last bite is yours," Stella said, extending her fork across the table and Scully took the final morsel into her mouth. "You deserve it."
Merry Christmas and happy holidays, everyone! Josie Lange, thank you for the being the best beta a girl could ask for. Couldn't do it without you!