From: EPurSeMouve@goplay.com Date: Mon, 20 Apr 1998 20:45:12 -0700 Subject: *NEW* Just Wondering (1/1) TITLE: Just Wondering AUTHOR: EPurSeMouve CATEGORY: S R H RATING: PG-13 SPOILERS: Minor ones for all up to Season 4. Goes anywhere in XF mythology. KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully romance. SUMMARY: A video store clerk and her curiosity are intrigued by an unusual customer. DISCLAIMER: This story contains characters spawned by The X-Files, a show copyrighted by CC and 1013 Productions. The other cultural icons mentioned belong to their respective creators, but the actual plot and text are mine. DISTRIBUTION: Please forward to A.T.X.C. Archive anywhere you like, but let me know (just because I like knowing where my stories are) and keep my name with it. AUTHOR'S NOTE: I wrote this for a friend of mine as a Christmas present a few months back, then dug it out and rewrote it while ramming my head against a brick wall called "Soap and Eggs IV". This is a retreat back to the humor stories of my past - I needed the angst break, and this epic is a particular favorite of mine. Dedicated to Nicky Sallade, Videoscope Goddess and Scream Queen. Thanks for the hugs, horseplay, and horror films. Comments to EPurSeMouve@goplay.com - if only to order me back to work on "Soap and Eggs IV". I'd love to hear from you - and if I don't, then how am I to know if you read... Just Wondering By EPurSeMouve "Persons attempting to find a motive in this narrative will be prosecuted, persons attempting to find a moral in it will be banished, persons attempting to find a plot in it will be shot." -Samuel Clemens (Mark Twain) On January 11, 1991, Blockbuster Video, then controlling 13% of the video renting market, announced that it would no longer stock NC-17 or "adult" films in its stores. Now, it and other large chains dominate the rental industry, keeping small mom-and-pop stores from reaching the mainstream market. Some of those smaller stores go bankrupt. Some move to less competitive areas. And some hold their ground, stocking laser disks, foreign films often passed over by the big chains, and other "films" that can send you into cardiac arrest. One of those stores is Laserscape, on San Camino and El Antonio Avenues in Alexandria, Virginia. And that's where I work, for half the salary, half the hours, and twice the fun of a large chain. Couldn't be happier. You meet some odd people, sure, but the world's full of odd people. And we employees are no odder than the customers - we all give and take in a little ostracized section of society that takes care of itself. I know most of the customers by name, and I'm busy learning the names of the others. They all know mine. It's truly a great job. But I often wonder about the people who come in, eyes to the ground, and move directly to the back room that I'm not supposed to know about. We get some couples going there, sure. But the "shy singles" are the ones who worry me. They come up to the counter with the codes of the movies they want written down, staring at the counter as if they're afraid of my reaction to their choices. Most of the time, they seem embarrassed at the whole situation. When I first started the job, I found myself thinking "Have fun jerking off!" as they left. But now I'm just sorry for them. I have to wonder if they just don't want to get a date, or if they have so little self-confidence that they don't try. Maybe they've tried to have a social life, but were so badly hurt that they withdrew from society altogether. Maybe they're trying to take all meaning out of the act of sex. Maybe they just like getting off on movies. But I don't pretend to understand. How can I? It isn't something that sixteen-year-old blondes can really know a lot about. They can wonder about it, though. I mean, there's this one guy who comes in sometimes. Originally, one of the shy ones, and a regular renter of films like "Italian Stallion" and "Mommy's Panty Boy." In at 8:00 and out by 8:10, with eyes firmly affixed to black formica. But from what I could tell, he wasn't the type that an intelligent woman would walk away from - on any occasion. Good body. Intelligent puppy-dog eyes. Floppy boyish hair, cute even when badly styled. And a helluva name. Yup - one didn't think of Fox Mulder as the type of man who'd need celluloid comfort on a cold night. Of course, it wasn't my business to ask why or anything - it's an unwritten rule that you don't say a lot to the "adult" video renters. Just process the rentals, throw them in a bag, and smile cheerfully when you tell them to "have a nice day!" But with this guy, my mind would be going a mile a minute the whole time, trying to figure out why the hell he was there. My co-worker Daria was curious about him too, though it was more of an intellectual curiosity (mine was more inspired by the puppy-dog eyes). And when we were working the same shift and the store wasn't busy, we'd do what every video store clerk does when curious about a customer. Look at his account on the computer. His address was listed in Alexandria - an apartment - which meant that he probably worked for the government. Like everyone else in the area. But it wasn't an especially classy part of town either - I even remember hearing something about a woman shooting her husband at that very address (different apartment number, though). Lots of late charges. Lots and lots of late charges. There was an extended memo saying: "Customer seriously injured on regular basis - call Fairfax Mercy Hospital to remind about returns." Although he mainly rented the more kinky variety of adult entertainment, mixed with some classic sci-fi and horror, there were also some odder titles on his account. "Woodstock: The Movie". "Purple Rain". One of those alien autopsy videos, "Dead Alien: Truth or Humbug?" And as we watched the list of rentals grow weirder and weirder, we started to get worried about this guy. After all, what kind of sane person believes in aliens? Not to mention Prince? So I made up my mind to talk to him, to figure out the mystery in Armani, and my opportunity came about six months after I first laid eyes upon him. It was a boring late night, when the store was desolate and I was logging him and "The Sperminator" out. And, summoning a great deal of courage, I forced myself to utter a fairly chatty question: "So, Mr. Mulder, what do you do for a living?" He looked at me, startled, though he had been watching me work all this time. Apparently "not quite there", as the saying goes. But he recovered quickly, and reached inside his coat to flash an identification badge at me. "I'm an agent with the FBI." I raise an eyebrow at that. "Oh. What division?" When you've taken the J. Edgar Hoover Building tour enough times, you know that 25% of the "agents" are mainly paid to sit on their butts and push paper. If he was anything else, I wouldn't question it, but I was on a quest for knowledge about this guy. "Violent Crimes," he replied, after a slight pause. I wondered if that was the whole truth. So I was going to inquire more, but his pants rang. And he pulled out a cell phone and hit the 'on' switch, cutting off our absolutely lovely conversation. Miffed, I began printing out the receipt and making change sulkily, pouting as only a natural blonde can. But I also eavesdropped on the phone conversation, as only a nosy teenager can. "Mulder," he said as a greeting, then began mumbling in response to what the other person was saying, speaking faster as the other end of the line buzzed in response: "Yeah, I heard about the guy...Yeah, I know, Scully, it was close that time... Don't worry, Scully, I'm fine - everything worked out okay... he didn't even have a really good shot at me... I know that you were concerned... Scully, it's mutual - I wouldn't want anything to happen to you, either... Of course it's deeper than that... WHAT?" I jumped when he yelled that last part, though he didn't notice - he just stared at the phone with shock written all over his face. And, after a few tense seconds, joy as well. "Scully, I love you, too... I always have... You're my everything - I always wanted you to know that - ever since we met - all I thought about while we were talking that first day was how madly in love with you I had instantly fallen... You too? That's so great... I've always wanted to tell you that - to be alone with you. You have no idea how often I'll sit on my couch and remember our first case - being able to touch your.." That's when he noticed that there was a minor - me - listening to all of this. Calming down a bit, he resumed his conversation: "Look, why don't I come over to your place - we can talk about this a bit..." He grinned directly at me, causing my heart to beat a little more. "Hey, I can bring some movies, if you want. But I really need to see you... Touch you... Kiss you... Wow, Agent Scully, I'm impressed. I don't even think that's legal in this state... I should go - I'm only twenty minutes away - I'll see you in fifteen ... Love you, Scully. Truly." He hung up the phone. And there was only one thing for me to say: "Congratulations." The deadpan face that I had admired for the past six months lit up with joy. "Thank you." He looked at a loss for words. "I can't believe she really...." He didn't finish the sentence, instead looking off into space with a dreamy expression. "Do you still want the movie?" I asked. He looked at me with a funny expression on his face. "Um, I don't know... What's a really romantic movie? Something appropriate for... all this?" I began listing my favorites. "'Lone Star', 'Tank Girl', 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer', 'Dead Alive', 'Working Girl', 'Clerks', 'Boxing Helena', 'T.A.'s', 'Mortal Kombat'... Any of those?" He looked at me with an odd expression on his face - why, I have no idea - and asked me for "Sleepless in Seattle" and "Pretty Woman." He still took out "The Sperminator", though - I'm not sure I want to know why. After only a few extra minutes of rigmarole, he went speeding off into the darkness - but before he left, he asked me to add the name Dana Scully to his account as an alternate user. Now when Daria and I look at the account, there are a lot more documentaries and Nova episodes being rented out, along with classic Audrey Hepburn movies. We've got bets going on when they'll start renting baby care videos. There are also a lot of triple-X classics under their new joint account, but we just don't ask. However, we sure do wonder. Comments to EPurSeMouve@goplay.com Thank you for reading.