From: RhiaRamsay Date: 29 Feb 2000 12:12:14 GMT Subject: New: Reasons Of The Heart (1/1) Title: Reasons Of The Heart Author: Elizabeth L. Iacono Rating: PG Category: Vignette, Romance Keywords: Mulder/Scully Romance Spoilers: None Summary: "The heart has its reasons, whereof reason knows nothing." I have been dying to write a third person POV of Mulder and Scully's relationship, and I finally think I've come up with something that works, rather than the other ones that ended up in my garbage pail. Please tell me what you think at RhiaRamsay@aol.com Yes, this was based on Jedi Shipper's recent and really great fic 'Manolos'. Please don't shoot me, it was just really incredible and inspiring. Archive: Gossamer and Spookys, and anywhere else too. Disclaimer: Mulder and Scully are not mine, you know that. I do own Jordan Katz and David O'Neal. Reasons Of The Heart Elizabeth L. Iacono Sometimes I find my job quite aggravating. I'm sure I'm not the only person who thinks this but there's just some days that screaming 'I, Jordan Katz, quit!' at the boss has such a great temptation. Of course, I need said job to fund my way through a masters degree so storming out like that isn't the best option. That's why I work in this salon, applying and painting nails. It's not that stressful of a job which is good, because I get enough stress from school, and it lets me use some artistic talents. It's the people that come in here which really get to me. Too often it's little old ladies who choose the most hideous shade of orange for their nails. Even worse in my opinion are these vacuous teenagers getting these two-inch long tips put on that they can't even open a soda can with. There's the occasion that I get a good customer, who has a sense of style and is actually nice. One that stands out in my mind foremost is Dana Scully. She's been coming in here for a few years now to get her nails done. I usually end up taking care of her, and she always asks for the same nearly flesh toned color. I suppose it's because of her job, she's an FBI agent and I guess it wouldn't look too professional if she showed up to work wearing black nailpolish. Me, on the other hand, they expect that from. Dana's good to talk to also, she's one of the few people who stops by here that's actually got a brain. See, when you've been doing someone's nails for a few years you get a chance to talk to them and you learn things about them. Believe me, this girl is smart. Aside from being an FBI agent Dana's also a doctor. You've got to be smart to pull that off. I've heard from her stories about her family, though more often than not her stories relate to work. I haven't heard anything about a boyfriend yet, the only man she's ever mentioned is her partner from work, Mulder. Going by what she's said the guy seems a little nuts, but the look on her face says that she's got some serious feelings for him. I should know, the same look crosses my face when I think of my own boyfriend. Dana was usually a creature of habit, stopping in once every two weeks when the situation allowed and getting the same pale colored nail polish. Which is why the sudden appointment she made one afternoon really puzzled me. In the few years I've known her she's never done that. There was an occasion though, because as soon as she walks over to my table she puts a bag down on it and says "I need a color that'll match with this dress." I was most certainly surprised, but I managed to hold it in as I looked to the massive rack of polishes behind me, then back to her. "Let me see the dress, and I'll see what we have." Dana pulled a corner of the dress out of the bag and I leaned closer to get a better look. It was a deep green color in a glistening material, most likely silk. Nice, I thought. "Can you find anything to go with that?" she asked me. I looked up at her, smirked, and waved a hand back at the rack. "There's got to be something in there, don't worry." I swiveled my chair around to see the polished. "Hmm," I mused out loud. "The dress is dark green, so unless you want to resemble a Christmas tree we'll stay away from the reds. I'm guessing you don't want anything too bright," I asked, looking back at her. "Yeah," Dana said, nodding as she spoke. "How about this," I murmured as I pulled a light gold colored polish off the rack and swiveled back to face Dana. Dana pulled the dress out of the bag again and I held the bottle of polish next to it to compare the two. "Looks like a match," Dana agreed. "Let's get to it then," I smiled, pulling out the bottle of nailpolish remover. As I got to work on her hands I began to talk, like I usually did. "So you got a special occasion tonight?" I asked Dana smiled, this dreamy sort of smile (usually only seen when she's talking about Mulder) and said "Well, it's sort of a private matter. But...it's something that I've wanted for a long time. I know some people in my family are going to be a little upset by it, but it's something I have to do for myself, because I know it's right." I laughed a little. "Oh, I can relate to that," I said, and it was too true. For a long time I haven't done what my family wanted. My parents were the ones who didn't want me to go to college, oh no. Instead they wanted me to marry a nice Jewish doctor and be a stay at home socialite. Well that didn't go over too well with me, so I took my scholarship, whatever money I could get out of my bank account and trust fund, and got the hell out of there. Eventually I ended up at American University in Washington D.C., who were the ones who had offered me the full scholarship. It was the same reason I bleached my hair and cut most of it off. What's left of my hair is usually spiked up with pomade. The same reason I wear mostly black clothes with a lot of jewelry, because I like it, it's right for me and I don't give a flying fuck what anyone else, especially my family, says about it. Although, given the fact I haven't spoken to them in seven years they probably wouldn't even know what the hell I was doing. It was the same reason I dated every sort of guy across the spectrum, because people didn't expect me to, but I knew it was right. White, black, Asian, punks, straight edge, skaters, ravers, I dated all of them and more. And it was fun. I learned more about the world from them than my tight-assed and very conservative parents ever taught me. I have to say though that my current boyfriend of over two years (a new record for me) isn't like anyone else I've ever been with, and I know I'm in love with him. His name is David O'Neal, a year older than my twenty-five. He's a businessman, working in those sorts of business companies I really don't know anything about, and (this will probably piss my parents off the most more than anything else) he's Irish-Catholic. Considering most of the men I've dated were wild people, David's so sedate compared to them, a true change for me, but I know I love him. I'm in love with him, and that makes all the difference. I couldn't get much more out of Dana than that on where she was going then, but wherever it was I wished her luck on it. She grinned at me again and swept out the door. It wasn't until a week later that I got a definitive answer as to where she was going. That was when Dana's regular appointment was scheduled. It was a late appointment, so I was the only one left there to close up afterwards. I had her usual nailpolish all set up when she walked in and sat down. There was something different about her though. It took me a minute to figure out that the very nice ring on her left ring finger. "That's a wedding ring, isn't it?" I finally said. I knew I was right when I saw her blushing. "So who's the guy?" I asked, even though I bet I could have made a pretty good guess as to who it was going by things she's said in the past. Dana arched an eyebrow at me. "Well it seems like you already have some idea going by that look on your face," she said wisely. Now it was my turn to blush, but I managed to speak what I was thinking. "Going by some of the things you've said in the past, I would say that it's your partner from the FBI, Mulder," I said, looking down at what I was doing to her hands. Just in case I was wrong I didn't want to be looking her in the eye. Luckily though I was right, because Dana said "You are correct." I looked up and grinned at her. "Why do I get the feeling that it's about time?" I said. Dana laughed. "I was thinking the exact same thing," she said. There was something that was weighing on my mind though. "I thought that FBI partners weren't allowed to get married to each other though," I said. "Technically they can't do anything to you if partners get married or even involved with each other, Jordan," Dana explained. "It's more of an unspoken rule at the FBI, that you shouldn't get involved, but the different agents that are sleeping with each other reads like a shopping list." "I'm guessing that you and Mulder were at the top of that list?" I said, reaching for a nail file. Dana laughed again. It's rare to hear her laugh this much, I guess marriage was working out well for her. "Got that right," she said. "They've been making bets for years as to when we were going to get caught going at it in the office." We spent some time like that, trading stories about our men, the things that Mulder had done and some interesting things David had done too. It was fun, it's been a long time since I've been able to talk to a woman who has more on her brain than how her hair looks that day. We were pulled out of our conversation when I heard the bells on the door jingle and signify that someone was coming in. I stood up in my chair to look over the barrier that separated the nail section from the hair section. Walking into the place was a really good looking man, which was incredibly odd this late in the day. Hell, it was incredibly odd period. The only guys that we ever get in here have boyfriends that arrive right along with them for a day of pampering. "What the hell is a guy doing in here?" I muttered, almost to myself. Dana heard me though, and turned around herself to get a better look. "Oh, my God," she said incredulously, as if she didn't believe what she was seeing. Although I could have sworn I heard a hint of recognition in her voice. "Is that him?" I whispered. "Uh-huh," Dana said. "What the hell is he doing here?" Mulder spotted us then and walked over. "Actually I was bored so I decided to come looking for you," he said, leaning down to kiss Dana. I grinned at that. Dana actually blushed again, to my surprise, although Mulder seemed to get a kick out of it. She introduced us then. "Fox Mulder, meet Jordan Katz." "It's good to finally meet you," I said honestly. "Although I warn you that if you're looking for boredom relief here watching her get her nails done I doubt you'll find it," I grinned. Mulder smirked as he pulled up a chair and sat down next to Dana. "It's better than watching a bad sitcom," he said, and Dana shot him a look. I tried not to giggle, these two were already acting like an old married couple, even though I knew they'd only been married for about a week. It was amazing to see them together, it was so obvious how much these two loved each other. That's basically how I spent the rest of Dana's appointment, talking to both of them and getting an idea as to how strange Mulder really was. Although I suppose I shouldn't talk, I've been called strange more than a few times. He was a good person though, and I could see how much he was in love with Dana, and she was in love with him. I spent the drive home that night deep in thought over what I had seen that night. See, a few days before that David had asked me to marry him. I really wanted to say yes, but there were a few things I had to think about first. Mainly, how his family would take the news. I've met them before, they're really nice people and they like me, but I wasn't sure how well they would like their son marrying a girl with family problems and a weird sense of style. Every family wants the best for their kids, and I knew that I wasn't the best out there. But then I thought about what Dana had said the week before about her marriage to Mulder. She said that it was something she had to do for herself because it was right, regardless of what anyone else would think. The same thing applied to me and David, I realized. He asked me to marry him because he loved me, was in love with me, and that was what mattered. It was something that would make us happy, and everyone else would have to accept that. When I got to our apartment David was already asleep, out cold on the bed still in his jeans, though he was shirtless which always turned me on. He really did look cute when he was sleeping, like a little boy who's been outside playing too long. The TV was on, playing a rerun of Eddie Izzard's Dress To Kill comedy show, one of my favorite comedians so I'd seen it countless times before and I'd see it again and enjoy it still. But I had more important things to get to. I pulled off the boots that some of our not so illustrious customers like to call 'hooker boots' and sat on the bed. I laid down and curved my body against his, always loving the way he felt next to me. It must have woken him though, because a minute later he stirred and looked down at me. David smiled at me and said "Hi." Oh, how eloquent he is when he first wakes up. "Hi yourself," I grinned back. "Long day?" I asked. David sighed and ran a hand over his face. "Don't even ask, Jordie. It was horrible. I couldn't wait to get home and just collapse." I hoped what I was about to tell him would make it better. I propped myself up on my elbow. "Oh yeah," I said. "I just wanted to tell you 'yes'." "'Yes' what?" David asked, wrinkling his eyebrow. Oh, he was brilliant too when he was just waking up. I rolled my eyes, although I was smiling. "A couple of days ago you asked me to marry you, and now I'm saying 'yes'. Yes, I will marry you." David propped himself up on both his elbows, pushing his face close to mine. "I though you said you wanted to think about it first," he said. The hope in his eyes though was lighting up. "I did think about it, and I decided that it's right. That I love you, am in love with you and this is right for us," I said, using my free hand to stroke his cheek. David slid his hand into my spiky hair and pulled me so close that our noses were brushing each other. "Good," he grinned at me with that grin that always made me weak in the knees. "I love you too," he whispered, and pulled my mouth down to his. As we rolled around on the bed, I had a fleeting thought that the next time Dana came in to get her nails done I was going to have to tell her that her inadvertent advice really helped me. But as David's tongue began sliding up the side of my neck, most thoughts flew out of my mind aside from how much I loved him. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX The end! I know there really wasn't much Mulder and Scully in this one, but I really wanted to do a third person POV, and I think this is my best attempt yet. And just as I side note I really was watching Eddie Izzard: Dress to Kill show at the time I was writing this. I was laughing so hard I could barely get this typed, he really is funny. XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'True love, it's the greatest thing in the world.' Miracle Max The Princess Bride XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'Men will fight bravely and be heroes, but for a last ditch defense against any odds, get a mother.' Lightbringer High Wizardry XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX 'This is the Fish Patrol in 201. Our flying fish has flown away. In fact, things are so rotten around here that even the pigs won't stay. But we'll fight to the bitter end. Beware The Fish!' Bruno Walton Beware The Fish XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX