From: ephemeral@ephemeralfic.org
Date: Wed, 22 Mar 2000 04:46:11 -0600
Subject: Outside by 
Source: direct

Reply To: jellybean5000@hotmail.com


Outside
by Shandee
jellybean5000@hotmail.com

Summary: There's something about the outside...
Rating: R
Category: MSR
Spoilers: Tiny Triangle
Archive: Freely.
Notes: Okay, this is kind of an odd story. See, it's kind of like... uh.... 
how to describe this... Mulder and Scully have been together for a while, 
but making out is a s far as it goes. No sex... yet. Oks? Oks. I'm sorry to 
all those who were looking forward to reading 150 Cars. I had writers' block 
for nearly two weeks and just now, another idea hit me. Tinks, I know 
you're hating me most right now, and I accept that. It's okay! Here, ito na 
lang iyo. I dedicate this to you instead.

My LubeeToots, this is for you, too.

Cammie, this is especially dedicated to you. I'm really sorry for all that 
has happened, talaga. Please, please, please, don't take it personally.

Oh. And hey, I am not in any way advertising Seven Eleven. I'm just being 
store-wise. I don't suppose any of you have heard of Peso Wise, have you? 
I didn't think so. I thought I'd use a common one for the good of those 
who... are really cute.

And I don't know much about the geography in Scully's neighborhood so...

*****

The store was empty except for the old man behind the counter and Scully. 
Of course, at twelve AM, most ordinary people were asleep, except for t
hose who're getting laid and ran out of 'protection'. That definitely would 
have called for a late night visit to Seven Eleven. But she doubted that 
people were ever there for the same purpose she was: and that was to buy 
herself some Coke.

Not a six-pack, not even a twelve pack to save her these useless trips. She 
just wanted one can.

She woke up in the middle of the night with a parched throat. Water was 
flat. Juice was too saturated. Coffee was boring. Milk... well, milk 
reminded her of something which she decided she'd rather not think of. It 
was too unimportant an occasion to drink wine. She needed something... 
Coke-y. out of sheer desperation, she drove to the nearest Seven Eleven. 
She didn't usually do this: waste precious gas on one measly can of junk-
food-drink. But then, she'd blame it on the sleeplessness. 

Scully wasn't in a hurry, though. The lure of the interesting things the 
store sold right now was more tempting than her empty bed and empty home. 
Oh, excuse me. She reminded herself that it wasn't a 'home' unless there 
was love. And love was something her house was lacking.

It wasn't that she wasn't loved, or she didn't feel loved-- God knows she 
did-- but it was just that nothing felt loved or loveable in her house. It 
was just... there. 

Which is why she decided to go out.

Seven Eleven never really had anything that appealed that much to Scully. 
When she passed by it when she was driving, it was just another store for 
her. If she went in on cases of extreme emergency (especially those 
involving her partner, a lot of bandages and a town which lacked a pharmacy), 
it was just another store. But now that she was getting a better look at 
it... she decided that all it was, was just another store.

"Ma'am?" the man behind the counter with a frightening resemblance to 
Colonel Sanders politely croaked at her. "May I help you?"

Shaking her head from beside the refrigerator containing the soft drinks, 
she smiled politely at the old man. "No, I can help myself, thank you." 

The man looked up at the clock on the wall. "Well, my shift is almost 
up. There's young woman coming in after me. I'll go get her right now. Are 
you sure you won't be needing anything?"

Aah! The Coke cans were a the bottom. But this old man was obviously too 
tired to do anything, he'd probably better get going home and sleep. "No, 
I'll wait for the next shift." She said.

Colonel Sanders nodded and headed for the backroom.

Scully sighed. Guess she'd have to wait ten minutes until she got her Coke. 
But it was worth it.

She couldn't just stare at the coldstuff for another hour. She wandered 
around the store, fingering the little stickers of Pokemon the store 
sold, whatever *those* were, and the ragged edges packets of junk food all 
lined up, waiting to be bought. 

TING!

The little bells at the top of the door tinkled and Scully jumped from the 
rack of children's things, surprised. She swiveled around on her heel 
and... well, well, well.

"Mulder? What are you doing here?"

He looked just as startled to see her. "Scully?"

She repeated her question, and took three long strides, as did he, before 
they were standing face to face. Or, rather, face to sternum, in Scully's 
case. "I was just picking up some stuff." He said, much too nonchalantly.

"But you don't live in this neighborhood." She reasoned. His face 
looked panicked for three half-seconds, then relaxed. He shrugged at 
her helplessly. Scully was amused, but not that amused. Her analytical 
mind sorted through the little shreds of information that he threw at her. 

"You won't tell me what you're doing here?" she cocked an eyebrow at him. 
He shrugged again and took a tiny step back. "I already told you."

She frowned at him. "No you didn't." he opened his mouth to speak, but she 
laid two fingers on his lips. They were soft and pliant, but Scully refused 
to think about that. For now. "You were... driving around, presumably over to 
my apartment, but decided to take another route. You passed by this store 
and saw my car outside. Am I right?" she removed her fingers and squashed 
the desire to replace them with her own lips. He shrugged again. Obviously, 
he wasn't going to allow her victory without a fight. "Maybe,"

It was enough.

She stepped back and strode back to the ref, not looking back at him. 
"I'm looking for Coke." She answered his unvocalized question. "Other than 
me, what else are you looking for?"

He was all of a sudden slouched right beside her, checking out the dozens 
and dozens of cans and bottles behind the clear glass of the cooler. 
"By answering that question, I'd be admitting to a fault. I don't got no 
fault."

Ah, so Mr. Personality saw her audacity as a challenge... very well, then. 
She'd tail him up on that, just because she was in a good mood and the guy 
she was supposed to buy her Coke from wasn't there, yet.

"Whatever you say, Mulder." She said, opening the refrigerator and withdrawing
 three cans of her Coke. The cans sent a pinching frigidity to the nerves 
on Scully's wrists, but she'd survived a lot more than *that* to keep her 
from screaming out. She marched purposefully to the counter to wait for 
the counter-guy.

She propped chin on her elbow and bent at the waist. Her arms were still 
wet from the can's condensation and a little chilly, and the air-conditioning
 did little to abate the effect. No matter. She untied the blue cardigan from
 around her waist and shrugged it on. 

From behind her, she could hear Mulder fussing about with all the foil-
packed-and-sealed-for-your-enjoyment food like Ruffles, Doritos and Lay's. 
The noise was unbearable. But before she could turn around to say something, 
he was beside her with an armload of fattening junk food. 

"Someone's planning a flab party." She commented under her breath. "Didn't 
your mom ever teach you that if you eat too much you get *fat*?"

He placed his giant pile of food right in front of her. "I'm not eating all 
of this." 

"Oh yeah? She parried back. "Planning to steal from the rich and give to 
the poor?"

"Langly, Frohike and Byers don't look to good in tights."

"Am I the Princess with the Chastity Belt?"

He stared at her straight in the eye for a second. "You mean you haven't--"

She knew what he was thinking before he said anything. "No, silly. I was just
 kidding."

Suddenly, footsteps were heard from behind the personnel door. Both of 
them looked up and were greeted by a dark-haired teenage girl, tying a green
 apron with the store's logo around her waist. "Hey." Her voice wasn't as high
 as other teenage girls, and she wasn't wearing as much make-up as an 
ordinary teenage girl, either. She looked like a scholar or something. "Can 
I help you two?"

"Just buying." Mulder said. "Ring 'em up."

She gave him a half smile and reached for the top of his pile. "Will do. 
Boy, you two must be hungry." She said with a smirk. Her double meaning 
wasn't lost on Scully. He began running the bar codes through the little 
window on the counter.

Four Ding-Dongs, Four Ho-Hos, a bag of Doritos, a small can of dip, two bags 
of chocolate-chip cookies, three bottles of cherry Gatorade, a can of 
Pringles, a bag or two Fritos. My god, the man's a pig.

"That'll be... nine dollars and seventy two cents, please." Mulder handed 
her the money. She took the money from him and looked expectantly at 
the register. Nothing happened. Frustrated, she began tapping irritably at 
the keys. "Damn machine..." she muttered as the drawer flew open. She stuffed
 the money inside and ripped Mulder's receipt out of the slot from which 
it jutted out. She handed it to him, and he accepted it with a nod. 

Scully set down her three Cokes. Linda rang them up, all though she 
was obviously trying hard to contain her rage against the machine. "One 
fifty." She muttered Scully rummaged around in her pocket until she pulled 
out some money. She pushed her money on the counter towards the angry 
teenager who angrily thew the coins into the already-open register drawer. 
The receipt was already out and Linda sighed in relief. "Good Lord." 

Scully'd never worked in a store before. She had no idea what the hell 
was wrong.

Mulder had already taken out a paper bag and stuffed his food into it. 
Seeing that Scully had none, he motioned for her to put hers inside while 
the register-girl rudely swore at the machine.

Ignoring her, the two of them made their way outside.

"Geez, what a bitch," Mulder muttered into Scully's ear, a little too close 
for comfort. 

"Who, the girl? Linda?" she asked, making her way to her car. Mulder 
followed closely behind. He shook his head. "The damned register," he 
murmured, a little further than before, but still too close for Scully to 
become accustomed to it.

She fished around her pocket again for her keys, and stuck the one for her 
car in the keyhole. She twisted it around and she heard the lock click.
 "Shouldn't you be going home now, Mulder." She tugged the driver's door 
open and tried to get her Coke out of Mulder's paper bag. He restrained 
her.

"Wanna go on a picnic, Scully?"  

Oh. Now I get it.

"Is that why you bought all this food?" she said, turning to face him hands 
on her hips. He nodded like a boy trying to get his mom to buy him ice cream 
ten minutes prior to dinner.

Well, let's see. She was just going to drink her Coke, anyway. Not much 
fat gained, there. And besides, going back to her *house* didn't seem like 
such a considerable option at the moment. 

Shrugging, she grinned a little and shut the door. She twisted the key 
again. "Sure. Okay. But only on one condition..."

His eyes looked expectant.

"We use your car. After this impromptu getaway, you have to take me back here 
to pick up my car. Deal?" she took the jeys from the hole and held them up 
to him. He took the keys from her, just lightly brushing her fingers with 
his. It was enough to make her shudder.

"Deal." He mumbled back, and lead her to his car.

*****

It was the most beautiful place she had ever seen.

A twenty-minute drive from Scully's neighborhood, Mulder had found a 
spectacular site. It was a small spot in the park near her building, a 
small plateau which overlooked the city. And the city looked wonderful at 
one AM. The building lights were almost all turned off, the streetlights 
all were, though. There were few cars, and the ones that were looked like 
little ants. The city wasn't shining, but much to Scully's delight, it was glowing.

Not glowing in the way that blinded anyone, and also not glowing too light 
for anyone to not see. The city had a good magnitude then. She was pleased.

Mulder had apparently had this in mind <"Looks like you'd got this whole 
thing planned," she'd mused. He'd just nodded shyly>. So there she was, 
watching the glowing city, sitting on a large, red-checkered blanket under 
the shade of the huge, nameless tree beside the blanket, leaning against 
her best friend's shoulder, munching on Ho-Hos and sipping Coke, wishing 
life could always be that simple. The car was parked just to her right.

"Hey," her leaning post murmured huskily. He pointed towards a tall building
 which sat next to Scully's apartment, about two stories higher. "Look at 
that. See the second to the top floor?" she peered at the building more 
closely, then nodded. "Check out the last apartment to the left."

She did just that. 

Oh, my.

Her sight wasn't that clear, all the food must've been going to her head, 
but she could clearly make out the silhouettes of two people, kissing. But 
upon closer inspection, she saw that both people.... were men.

Her girlish laughter was hard to cover up.

Mulder turned to look at her and eyed her suspiciously. "You're against 
gay relationships?" his voice sounded a bit distant.

She dabbed at the corners of her eyes a little, and leaned against his 
arm again. "Of course not. It's just that I've never witnessed any... to 
this degree, anyway."

An arm came to rest on her shoulders, holding her to him. A slight tremor 
ran through her, and it had little to do with the almost frosty atmosphere 
they kept having recently. The fact that all she was wearing was an almost
 oversized blue shirt with the words 'IT'S REALLY BLUE OUT HERE' written in 
a girly cursive out in the front had little to do with her involuntary 
shiver.

"You cold?" he murmured into her ear. She shook her head, but he gathered 
her into his arms, anyway. Now, her cheek was pressed into his chest, his in 
her hair, her arms around his waist, his on her back, their legs a mere 
jumble of limbs.

If she'd known any better, she felt as though they were making out 
without making out.

"So," she cleared her throat and snuggled up closer, as if to enjoy just 
a minute more of this special closeness. "Have *you* ever been in a 
gay relationship?"

"Is that really what you think of me?" he murmured into her hair. A little 
part of herself told her that he'd intended to kiss it, but ignored the 
thought. 

"Maybe. I see all the looks you give Frohike."

"It's that obvious?"

She snuggled up closer. "Uhhh.... sometimes I wish you were that easy to 
read," she mumbled, not thinking he would hear. The nose in her hair nuzzled 
a little, but didn't pull back. "You think I'm hard to read?" he muttered. 
She gave him a tiny nod, and shook her third can of coke in her hand. It 
was going to blow up, but what the hell.

"You are. But sometimes, you're easier to read than.... a newspaper 
or something... listen, I was never too good with metaphors..." she picked 
at the tab of her Coke with the tip of the index finger and sighed. 
"Help?" 

Taking the can from her, Mulder care fully examined it; turning it over in 
his hands. After a moment of inspection, he handed it back to her. She looked 
up at him with a questioning look in her eyes. 

"Why shake it and hand it to me?" he asked playfully. "Want it to blow in 
my face, don't you?" he nudged her temple with his lips. "Jerk."

With one flick of her finger, the tab disappeared off the can and went 
flying into the air. A spray of brown carbonated drink spewed into the 
air, drenching the government employees' hair, right to the roots. And 
she laughed. Scully laughed a hearty, full blown, girly, happy laugh. Mulder 
was hopelessly hot.

"Dammit, Scully. Now we're wet." He growled angrily, flipping Scully onto 
her back. He buried his neck into her shoulder. "And it's all your fault."

They didn't miss a beat. In half a second, their lips met in an almost 
angry kiss, her arms around his neck and his hands on her waist. Their 
tongues were doing a now familiar dance and big smiles stretching their lips 
and almost splitting their faces in two. He made a reach for her pants.

"Whoa, Spooky, not so fast." she said against his mouth. His grin faded. But 
she wasn't about to tell hi to *stop*. "Listen to me, Mulder. Are you sure 
you want this here? Outside? Where anyone could walk by and see us? My house 
is lonely. Let's go there."

His grin returned. And they were still kissing. "But then that'd be no fun!" 

"Sure?" she asked again.

He laughed a little. "Sure, I'm sure! Can't you feel me...?" he shifted a 
little and---- dear Lord, there he was. His hardness was persistently 
jutting against her jeaned thigh. She groaned, a little. "Ah, so 
you can feel me." He all but purred.

Mulder's head moved from her mouth to gnaw on her neck. "I can--Christ, 
Mulder, be careful!-- most definitely feel you..." she told him breathlessly.
 "Let the festivities--thatsgoingtoleaveamark--begin."

For the next five minutes, the undressing was punctuated with laughter, 
moans, groans, nibbles, nips, kisses, and a few giggles. Finally, as 
Mulder climbed on top of his lust-riddled, horny partner, he realized that 
this was an open spot and being spotted was definitely something Scully was 
not going to appreciate. He tried to voice his opinion but when she reached 
down and... "Oh, SWEET JESUS, SCULLY! Don't--" stroke "--stop--" stroke 
"--love you--" ... "Scully?"

When he opened his eyes, he saw her looking at him sadly, her hand 
still gripping his dick. "Scully?" his voice broke a little when he saw a 
tear swimming in her eye.

"It's just--" the tear fell, unbidden, and he used his tongue to lap it 
up. "It's the first time you've said that..."

"I've said it before," he argued.

"Yes." She agreed, and began to slowly stroke him again. "But you were 
drugged. And I'm not sure if I can show you how much you mean to me. God, 
I sound like a greeting card." 

His fingertips circled her nipples and a small groan escaped her. "But you 
do show me," he told her. "You show me all the time."

The night was sweet and rough.

~end~

Wow, whata. Feedback: jellybean5000@hotmail.com

That has to be my weirdest fic. Ever.