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Quiet days at the office could get pretty boring. If Mulder was stuck in the office with nothing to do, he had to come up with things to do. Throwing pencils to stick in the ceiling, making monsters out of paper clips, lining up a bunch of case files on the floor to see if he could make any previously unseen connection.
It was the kind of behavior that tended to get weird looks. Although, honestly, most of his behavior tended to get weird looks.
Quiet nights at home were way better than quiet days at the office, but would still get weird looks. Most people, if they strolled into his apartment, would be baffled at how he liked to occupy himself. Watching the same favorite B movies over and over, reading about conspiracies, lining up a bunch of case files on the floor to see if he could make any previously unseen connection…
Right now, he had them lined up on the coffee table instead of the floor, because Scully was using the floor to sort out their overdue paperwork and organize her collection of evidence. She’d been sighing off and on for a while, holding up various x-rays to the light and shaking her head.
Mulder set down another file and tilted his head, studying the two next to each other. “Hey, Scully?”
“Yeah?” she asked, not looking up from her own file. She looked great doing it, adorable when she was focusing. It was really distracting.
“Do you think there could be, um…” Mulder glanced back at his own project to remind himself what he’d meant to say. “Do you think there could be a connection between Plant Faced Man and that diner with the plants that kept turning pink?”
This time, Scully looked up slowly. “You mean the diner in California? On the opposite side of the country from ‘Plant Faced Man’?”
“Yeah.”
“No, Mulder. I don’t think there’s any connection.”
“I mean, they were both connected to plants.”
“Plant Faced Man’s existence was never even proven, Mulder.” Scully waved her x-rays emphatically, as if pointing out that she herself was currently working with actual evidence. “You only caught a glimpse of him, and he may have simply been wearing a mask, or perhaps you just saw a plant in front of him…”
“I told you, Scully. He looked exactly like this.” Mulder held up his drawing, which he’d scribbled in the car right after the sighting.
“Mhm.”
Grinning, Mulder tossed the drawing back down and stretched. “This is some hot date, huh? Totally how most normal couples spend their Saturday night.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s exactly a secret that neither of us is normal.” With a soft huff, Scully put down her x-rays. “I think I’m done obsessing with this, though.”
Mulder made a face. “Where’s the fun in not obsessing?”
“I just mean for tonight. Before I can write the official report, I need to contemplate how I’m going to explain… this.”
“You mean Swirly Bone Man?”
Scully sighed again, but she couldn’t fight the smile creeping onto her face as she stood up. “Yes, Mulder. I mean Swirly Bone Man.”
“Maybe some cuddling will help.” He opened his arms. “Cuddling’s a thing people do on hot dates, right?”
“Well, I admit that I don’t particularly care what other people do on their hot dates.” Still smiling, Scully flopped down next to him on the couch and snuggled close as he wrapped his arms around her. “I love doing this with you. Sorting through our projects and cases, arguing about our conclusions… It’s the best way to spend the night, isn’t it?”
Mulder kissed the top of her head, then gave her a firm squeeze, the kind that she always said helped her relax. “On that, we definitely agree.”