A/N: So oldmoviewatcher gave me this idea and I thought it was super fitting for these two...thank you!
X Files doesn't belong to me.
"Mulder," Scully came up to her partner and ran her hand over his tie, a disapproving look in her eyes. He secretly loved it when she'd straighten his collar or run her hand through his hair, or briefly touch his cheek when he was extra tired. Her touch was usually so soothing and he never got enough of it, but now she was just looking at him like he had made a very bad choice.
"What did I do, Scully?"
"Where'd you get this tie?"
"Um...honestly, I can't remember. Probably a thrift store."
She sighed. "It's ugly."
"What? It doesn't compliment my eyes or whatever it is women like?"
"Mulder, neon green with brown checks...what made you think that was a good idea?"
"Scully, I can't believe you're criticizing me on my fashion choices, I thought you'd look at more than just the outside. I think I look ravishing," he joked, chuckling for a moment. She only rolled her eyes.
"I do look at more than just the outside, and I know that you're wonderful no matter what you wear, but these colors just bother me...I suppose it could work, if you had brown pants instead of khaki...and with a white shirt instead of blue..." she shook her head and stepped away. "Never mind. It's just been bothering me."
"Scully, if you don't like my clothes, why don't you shop for me?" he said, still joking, but she glanced at him with an equally playful look in her eyes.
"Why don't we go shopping together?"
Mulder hesitated. "Ha ha, sure. That'll be the day..."
"No, Mulder. Let's do it sometime. I've gone over to your place several times for movie marathons and whatnot."
"You enjoyed those!"
"And who's to say you won't enjoy shopping with me? I'm not joking, Mulder, why don't we? This weekend." Scully was still smirking, but she seemed genuine.
"Alright, Scully, I guess I could, but promise not to torture me too much?"
She laughed. "You really think I'd torture you, Mulder? It'll be fun."
"I'm suspicious, Scully..."
She peered at him over her glasses. "Bright and early Saturday morning, Mulder, I'll pick you up..."
Scully didn't say anything more of their little shopping spree plans for the rest of the week, so Mulder hopped she forgot about them. He loved every moment he spent with her, but shopping was never something he had liked.
But despite his hopes, a tiny redhead stood in the doorway of his apartment at ten in the morning that Saturday, a smug little smile on her lips. He was still half-asleep. "Come on, Mulder," she sing-songed. She looked much more casual than he was used to seeing her.
"You're the worst, Scully," he yawned, buttoning the last button on his shirt.
"I do it out of love," she joked.
"You do it because you think it's funny to see me suffer."
"Oh, get over it, Mulder." she replied as they got in the car. "We'll just go to that big mall downtown, okay? I'll buy you lunch, too."
"Bribing me, now? Scully, it is too early for this."
"When is not early in Mulder-time?"
"Hmmm...maybe noon?"
Scully gave him a look and he chuckled. "I get up earlier than that," he assured her.
"Sure you do. You know, even I sleep in sometimes. One time I was just so comfy in my bed I didn't get up until almost twelve." He smirked.
"I knew you were like the rest of us."
When they arrived at the mall, the first store they stepped into was a men's department store, where the saleswoman asked if they needed any help. "No, thank you, we're just looking," Scully said, but the woman ignored her and shot Mulder a flirty look.
"Are you, sure, sir?" The woman was pretty, brunette, leggy. Scully had to fight not to sigh.
"I-I'm sure." Mulder replied. The woman, Charlene according to her name tag, nodded and turned away. He chuckled at Scully's annoyed look. "Don't worry," he assured her. "Not my type. Now what are we looking for? Ties?"
Scully held up a moss-green tie. "What do you think of this?"
"It's okay," he shrugged. She held it up to his shirt. "Do you like it?"
"I do like it," she replied, hanging it around his neck. He looked down and realized she was standing on her tiptoes to get at almost eye-level with him. "It's a good color for you...it compliments your eyes." He caught her gaze, which lingered for a moment longer than normal until she pursed her lips and looked away.
"How much does it cost?"
"Twenty seven dollars."
Mulder's eyes widened in shock. "Twenty seven dollars? For a piece of fabric I'm required to wear to look professional?" he asked, a little too loudly. A few workers gave him looks and he mouthed, 'sorry'.
"Don't you see why I don't like shopping?" he said. Scully ignored the comment and held up a maroon tie and a black jacket. "How much is the jacket?"
"One hundred and fifty dollars," Mulder groaned. "I know, I know. But this is my little gift to you, so don't worry about the prices." Scully said.
They left with the moss green tie, a navy blue jacket and a light blue striped tie to match. They stopped at a few other stores, but didn't find much, so they sat down in the food court with lunch.
"Thank you, Scully," Mulder said, his mouth full. She winced slightly.
"You're very welcome. Did you have a good time?"
"It wasn't so bad, but the prices...I know you told me not to worry, but you didn't need to spend so much money on me, really."
"It's really no problem." she replied.
Next thing she knew, he looked up at her with an "idea" look in his eyes. "Scully," he began. "I wanna get you something."
She shook her head. "No, Mulder-"
"Yes, please? Pleeeease?"
"Why?"
"Because you've gotten me something...I'm just trying to be nice, Scullyyyyy."
"Don't use that whiny tone with me. I suppose we could stop at a few more stores."
Mulder broke into a grin and proceeded to eat the rest of his lunch in a rush, prodding Scully to do the same. She gave him a few sighs but followed him itno a women's department store, where there was luckily no flirty saleswomen. He ignored the more formal clothes and went for the casual attire, rifling through some sweaters. Scully was glad, she needed a few more sweaters. He held up a red sweater and she shook her head.
"Why? It's pretty."
"I don't wear much red."
Mulder looked at her, confused. "Is it red?"
She gave him the same confused look until she remembered his colorblindness. "Mulder," she began softly, "What color is my hair?"
"I know it's red, because just before I met you I read your file. And the guys always talk about how pretty it is...among other things..."
"I've been asked more than once about that, Mulder,"
"About what?"
She imitated a man's voice as she said, "'Does the carpet match the drapes?' People have been asking me that since high school."
"Well, does-"
"Stop there."
"Okay." he smiled sheepishly.
"What color does my hair look to you, though?" she questioned. "I'm curious."
"Brown. But everything else about you is pretty normal, I guess." he held up a light blue sweater that matched the color of the tie she had bought him earlier. "Do you think this would compliment your eyes? I'm not good at this stuff..." looking closer she saw the sweater had floral embroidery around the collar.
"Ehh...I like it, but..."
"But what? I like it, too."
"Do you really think it would look okay?"
"Trust me," he checked the price tag, made a slight face that she noticed but didn't say anything about. "I'm getting it for you."
"Alright," she gave him a look, and he promptly led her to another section. They left with the sweater and a pair of slacks. "I'm sorry it cost so much money," she said as they walked to the car. "Women's clothing prices are really awful."
"Anything for you, Scully."
When she came back to work on Monday, Mulder was fiddling with his moss green tie, working on tying it. "Need some help?" she asked.
"Uhh," he replied, but she began tying it for him anyway. "Where'd you learn to do that?" he asked.
"My uncle showed me when I was a teenager, said it would help me later in life," she smirked. "Well, he was right." she finished tying the tie and straightened his collar. "You look very nice." she planted a friendly kiss on the cheek and went about her job.
"Scully," Mulder said. "You should greet me like that every morning."
"Don't count on it," she replied.
That weekend he came over to her house for dinner. She was wearing the blue sweater. "Did you wear that just because I was coming over?"
"No, actually, it's very comfortable and I've been wearing it a lot recently." He simply smiled at her in response, because her eyes were so blue and beautiful that he wasn't sure he could think of the right words to for them. He must've got something right this time.
A/N: Sorry if it's not what you really had in mind! I've been having some bad writer's block on top of some mental health stuff bothering me, but writing is a good outlet for emotion and whatnot, so like I said, I'm trying to get back into the swing of things. Thanks for the idea!
I've been working on more serious chapters lately...those will hopefully be coming this way soon. Please let me know of any other ideas you guys have.
-Lulamae