Title: Bathwater
Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono
Rating: PG
Category: Vignette, Romance
Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance
Spoilers: all things
Summary: "You know, you could have absolutely
any woman in the world you want...and
yet you're right here with me, standing
there with my toothbrush in your mouth."
This takes place somewhere in between all things and
Requiem. The relationship is established, but it's
still a new relationship. I hope that still all
right, given all the post-Existence stories that
are out there right now.
Archiving: I'll send to Gossamer and Spookys,
Touchstone, Legacy, Ephemeral can all have it,
along with certain people who I've given advance
permission to (you know who you are). Anyone else,
please e-mail me to ask first.
Disclaimer: It's fairly obvious by now that they're
not mine. If they were, I wouldn't have a $3500
budget to find a new car. The quote below isn't
mine either.
Feedback: is adored and treasured at RhiaRamsay@aol.com
Bathwater
Elizabeth L. Iacono
'But I still love to wash in your old bathwater
Love to think that you couldn't love another
Share a toothbrush
You're my kind of man'
By the time she realized it, it was already
too late.
"Mulder, what the hell are you doing?"
Fox Mulder whipped around to stand in the center
of the bathroom, clad only in his boxers with the
offending item dangling out of his mouth. "Huh?"
he mumbled, his mouth full and his eyebrows crawling
towards his hairline.
Dana Scully glared at him, her hands propped on
hips covered by one of the tops to the infamous satin
pajamas, and not much else. "Why the hell are you
using my toothbrush?"
Mulder leaned over the sink and spat the
minty-fresh foam from his mouth. "Because I left
mine back at my place," he sighed, shmearing a hand
across his mouth to clean up any offending traces
of foam.
Scully, with a practiced exasperated roll of
the eyes, walked into the bathroom. She stopped
barely six inches away from him and started her
spiel. "Do you even know how unsanitary that is?
What types of bacteria are breeding in there on
your tongue alone?"
"You weren't complaining before when said tongue
was in your mouth," Mulder shot back, leaning back
against the sink and crossing his arms over his bare
chest, the toothbrush still clutched in his fist.
"That's not the point," Scully gritted out
through clenched teeth, not being dissuaded from
her original point. She started to pace around the
bathroom, her bare feet slapping against the tile.
Suddenly, without any apparent rhyme or reason,
she collapsed onto the toilet bowl. Luckily Mulder
had put the seat and the cover down before or she
would have ended up with a rather wet ass. The
concern swept over Mulder's face. "Scully? You okay?"
She nodded absently, staring at a point on the
wall. And then she spoke. "You know, you could
have absolutely any woman in the world you want.
You just turn on that charm of yours and they'll be
falling at your feet. And yet you're right here with
me, standing there with my toothbrush in your mouth."
Mulder paused, collecting the thoughts that
resulted from her unexpected statement. Moments
later, he seemed to come to a decision, and walked
over to where Scully was still seated on the toilet.
He gently framed her face in his hands and tilted her
face up until her gaze met his. "Well...I tried to
tell you this the other day, but you tuned me out and
fell asleep on my shoulder," he paused for a smirk
that elicited a small grin from her, "that all the
choices we make in life lead us to this very moment.
That one wrong turn on that road and we might not be
standing here today. I think...I am very glad
that we followed this road; that this is exactly
where we are supposed to be."
The press of lip against lip took him by surprise,
but it was sweet, soft, and just about perfect.
When Scully pulled her lips from his Mulder saw
that she had gotten to her feet and her hands were
nestled comfortably on his shoulders. "Thank you,"
she sighed softly. "I guess I just needed my
insecurities reassured."
"You think I don't have my own insecurities?"
He let out an almost disbelieving laugh. "You don't
know how many times I've imagined that I'm not good
enough for you. You deserve someone a hell of a
lot more stable, with a job that doesn't put him
in danger more times than either of us can count."
"But I don't want a man like that," Scully
retorted, smiling up at him, a rare flash of teeth
glinting in the bathroom light. "I want you. And
I know you want me. So what does that make us?"
"Two very fucked up people?" Mulder smirked.
The smirk changed into an exaggerated pout thanks
to the well placed smack on his shoulder. "Okay,
seriously? I think that makes us happy."
"God, I love you," Scully murmured, and stretched
up to capture his lips once more. After a few moments
of getting lost in each other's mouths, Scully pulled
away suddenly. Mulder wasn't ready to leave the kiss
when Scully was, and his mouth chased after hers when
she pulled back. "But that still doesn't mean you
can use my toothbrush."
Oy...
"Come on, Scully," he whined, although he knew
from the moment he put that toothbrush in his mouth
that he would be walking into trouble.
"No. You can get your own and there's a nice
little spot there next to mine where you can put
it," she insisted.
"How about I stick it in the medicine cabinet
instead? That way if your mom, or Skinner, or the
Gunmen stop over, they won't get suspicious at the
sight that there could possibly be someone else
staying nights here."
"That's more than just a little paranoid."
"But you love me anyway..."
That's all folks! Just a little, very
pointless...whatever this is. :-)