Scully's drive home was a quiet one, it was later than usual and the sun had already begun to set. She hoped Mulder was not too upset for her running late. Pulling up the long drive she sat in her car for a moment, taking in the quietness of her surroundings, thinking more about Rebecca and the carelessness she seemed to have developed, it concerned her that the tumor was progressively getting worse and that might have accounted for her actions a few hours ago. Getting out of her car, Scully made her way to the house, smelling the sweet summer air and relishing that she was able to step away from it all at this house. Opening the door she smelt the slight burn of candles and something cooking, she smiled when she saw Mulder in the kitchen, chopping away at the counter.
"Well something smells good." He wasn't surprised to see her but startled nonetheless. "What's the occasion?" she was suspicious, it was true over the years and time spent at home he had figured out how to cook but it was a rare occasion when candles were involved.
"Hey Scully, Oh I just felt like cooking." He turned from his task and smiled at her and she still eyeballed him suspiciously. "Go get changed and I'll pour you a glass of wine." Mulder resumed his task and Scully stared at his back for a moment before turning on her heels and made her way up the stairs to change.
It wasn't often enough that she was doted on by Mulder, more the reason it was extremely suspicious feeling. Scully had appreciated that Mulder didn't spend all his time doing nothing at the house and if she got a house-'husband' out of it then it was an extremely good thing, especially on her long days. Stripping herself of work, Scully made her way to the bathroom and washed her face, brushed out her hair and pulled it back into a pony tail. There was nothing like a freshly scrubbed face after a long day at work. She looked at herself in the mirror and smiled, happy that she and Mulder did find their happiness and a sense of normalcy after the darkness they had endured in their lives. She smelled dinner in return making her stomach growl and made her way back downstairs, flipping the light switches as she left. Reaching the bottom of the stairs and glancing at the table, noticing it was set and sure enough a glass of wine ready for drinking.
"I hope you are hungry. Must have been my manly appetite telling me to eat some real food," he laughed as she made her way to the table.
"It looks wonderful." Scully was very taken aback at the table spread. "…are you trying to seduce me, Mulder?" she smiled at him, bringing the wine glass to her lips and sipping away.
"Is it working?" always quick with the witty response. Scully blinked in his response, clearly not impressed at the moment but more still extremely suspicious and hoping he was feeling alright. "…we've got rack of lamb ala Mulder, grilled asparagus and a warm spinach and cranberry salad." Mulder was very proud of himself, but kept the fact that dessert was a secret. Scully was very impressed, though she eyed him curiously. Setting her glass down and sitting back in her seat, she watched as he filled their plates with the delicious looking meal.
"Mulder, come on, what's going on? You are truly starting to worry me?" she was honest; she didn't know what had gotten into him.
"Can't I make a delicious meal without you being suspicious of me?" he laughed that she was so concerned but he just wanted to reaffirm his affection towards her, he didn't know how else to do it but after the way Rebecca had touched him, again for how simple it was he knew he had to reassure himself and her that there was nothing that could tear them apart. "…Scully I will confess a little something…" she knew it, there was something he was hiding and she feared it and he saw the fear and anger in her eyes.
"I knew it…" she stated simply and swallowed, preparing for the worst. She grabbed her wine glass and drank the rest of it down quickly. She sat there staring at him, her jaw clenched in preparation for what was to come.
"Scully, it's not that bad, at least I hope it's not—I uhh—today when I had a session with Becky—" he wasn't sure how to tell her anything, Rebecca wasn't that bad but it felt worse than what it was, but he had the need to tell her anyways. "…I am very worried about her; I let her lean on me for support, literally. We walked down the halls and made our way to the courtyard in the middle of the hospital." He took a deep breath before he continued. "We did a few brain teasers and she got them all correct however when we came to last one, she knew it but stormed off, like she had gotten upset over the question, her skin was flushed and she was breathing heavy…after we were finished she did the same movement, pretending to be 'in need of support' but she was trying to seduce yours truly, rubbing my arm and her fingers lingering. Her stare was dark, she was a different person…" that didn't sound so bad now that he got it out in the open.
"She touched you? That's it?" Mulder nodded in affirmation and bowed his head a little in shame. "Christ Mulder, that's not even close to what I caught her doing with one of the hospital orderly's after you had left." Scully laughed, topped her wine glass off and grinned at him. "Mulder, I'm not mad, could you blame her for trying," Scully raised her eyebrow at him and smiled again. "She knows your affections won't waver, trust me! However, me catching her in the act—it was probably the best time for me to check her hormone levels. I think something is misfiring in her brain that I'm not even sure how to explain medically."
"You caught her…?" he stared not really sure he heard her right.
"Yeah! On the bathroom counter no less. I heard it first and hesitated but as I stood there thinking it over, my timing couldn't have been any better. She was mortified though." Scully laughed thinking about the scene she witnessed. "Shall we eat then, now that you've expressed your little 'sin' to me, I'm feeling famished."
Eating dinner with small talk in between the two of them feeling tipsier by the minute, as it wasn't often that Scully drank a almost a whole bottle of wine to herself. Her eyelids were heavy and Mulder knew she wasn't going to last much longer, feeling a bit rosy himself after a glass of wine and a couple beers, Mulder still needed to prep dessert and excused himself from the table.
"I'll be right back, I've got one more surprise…" rising from his chair and making his way to the kitchen he pulled out the halved peaches from the fridge and popped out back to throw them on the grill. Perfect summer time dessert, he thought to himself, Scully will be thrilled that something healthy is involved. He smiled and finished grilling the sweet flesh of the peach and went back inside, Scully had cleared the table and was sitting on the sofa, legs curled under herself with her wine in hand. She tried to spy what he had brought in with him as it smelled delicious. Mulder grabbed a bowl and dug in the freezer locating vanilla bean ice cream and scooping a heaping amount into the bowl and slid the peaches in next to it, topping with a little bit of cinnamon, Mulder grabbed two spoons and made his way to the couch with Scully and handed her the bowl.
"This smells amazing…" she slurred out the words, "…you may have outdone yourself this evening, Mulder…" she smiled at him and sat her glass on the side table opting for the spoon and gathering a nice amount of ice cream and peach for one bite. "Oh God…" she closed her eyes and relished the warm and cold in the same bite, the juice from the peach combined with the ice cream was incredible. Mulder sat next to her and grabbed his spoon, helping himself to a bite.
"I'm glad you enjoyed yourself but the night is still young..." he was trying to coax her into staying up with him but she shook her head.
"As wonderful as dinner was and this—wow, the night is very much gone and I've got to get up in 6 or so hours." She frowned at the thought and remembered that Rebecca still needed her to be on her game. After the few days of treatments, Scully still wanted to run another scan on her and see how the tumor was progressing or if anything had changed. The hormone test results did show higher hormones than one would expect to have even post sex, there was something strange going on in that girls brain and she needed to get to the bottom of it.
"Earth to Scully?" Mulder waved his hand in front of her and she smiled.
"Haven't we figured out that I can't do that much wine in one night if you want anything else from me…" she slurred and laughed. Rising from her seat and handing Mulder the bowl, she leaned over him and planted a passionate kiss on him, licking his lips with her tongue, he moaned into her.
"I thought you said you were done for the night…" he whispered into her mouth and wrapped his arms around her hips, urging her to sit on him, forgetting all about the bowl he had dropped on his lap.
"I think you better get that cleaned up and if I'm still awake when you get upstairs, we'll see, there is always morning…." She winked at him and weaseled out of his grasp making her way up the stairs.
Mulder watched her go and couldn't get himself cleaned up fast enough; she always could be a wonderful tease. He was grateful the little incident with Rebecca didn't go too far and laughed that she had picked some other random guy to jump instead of him. Better you than me buddy, I just hope you are single. Mulder's mind was brought to Rebecca momentarily; thinking about what her MRI and PET scan would show tomorrow. He hoped that there was some improvement, for as simple as giving her riddles would be, it's only a temporary fix.
Cleaning himself up, turning off lights and making his way upstairs, Mulder crept up to the bedroom door in hopes of seeing Scully in a minimal state of dress or something sexy for him. However the closer he got, he noticed the lights were extremely dim and pushing the door open slightly he saw her snuggled into her side of the bed and heard her snoring lightly. Wow, yeah she's done for the night, he laughed and undressed himself, making a pile of his clothes as per usual and crawled in next to her, snuggling into her back, well at least she had good intentions, noting she was sleeping partially nude, clad only in underwear. He laughed and dozed off next to her.