Date Night
Season 6 | MSR |Fluff | AO3
Prompt: Set after the Unnatural, Mulder and Scully pick an out-of-the-way restaurant for date night, thinking no one will see them. Someone sees them.
Note: Thank you @laurencem for the wonderful prompt and for being so patient with my delay in posting, you truly are the Maggiest of Scully's. Big thanks to @thursdayinspace for Beta reading.
Tagging: @today-in-fic @xf-fic-fix
‘Didn’t your Mother ever tell you to go play outside?’
Those words seemed to mock Scully, as she looked around their empty basement office. It was only a few minutes past 9, but it seemed unnatural to beat Mulder into work.
Truth be told, she was disappointed he wasn’t here, and was feeling silly about missing him after only a day’s absence. It hadn’t even been a week since their relationship progressed to the physical level, and already on their first night apart Scully was having withdrawals.
Dopamine and oxytocin, Scully repeated to herself as a mantra, willing the butterflies in her stomach to calm down at the prospect of finally seeing him.
Mulder’s voice interrupted her meditation, and her smile was immediate.
“Looks like you really need this today,” he said, holding a tray with two coffees and a paper bag with mysterious baked goods.
As she took her coffee cup, Mulder cleared his throat and motioned his eyes for her to look down at her disposable cup before she took her sip. ‘Date Saturday?’ was written in black sharpie, and regardless of how juvenile it was, Scully loved it.
“So,” Mulder asked, nudging Scully with his shoulder as she took a sip of her coffee.
“I was just wondering whether the Barista made the note for me or for you,” Scully quipped, delighting in Mulder’s look of mock indignation.
“Seriously, Mulder, we have to be careful going out in the city, we can’t even go to the grocery store without running into another Agent,” Scully said, feeling like a buzzkill when she saw the dejected look on Mulder’s face.
“You’re right Scully, it was a stupid idea-”
“Why don’t we go out to eat in Bethesda? There’s a cute Italian place not far from my mom’s, no one from the bureau is going to see us there and we can go back to my place and watch a movie afterwards,” Scully suggested, eliciting a bright grin from Mulder, unable to hide his eagerness.
Leaning down to place a kiss on the crown of her head, Mulder mumbled, “This is why you’re the brains of the operation Scully.”
“So what’s in the bag Mulder,” Scully asked, eying the bakery treats.
“Two blueberry scones-”
“Is one of those for me,” Scully asked coyly, fiddling with Mulder’s tie.
“Take them both,” Mulder replied, seeming to have momentarily lost use of his basic motor functions.
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Mulder’s distinctive knock alerted Scully to the fact he was early, but there was a lot to be said for his enthusiasm. It was a new experience, being on the receiving side of Fox Mulder’s singular focus, but Scully definitely appreciated how much effort he had been putting in. Mulder looked adorably unsure as Scully opened the door, shifting his weight from side to side and fiddling with a plastic bag as if he was half expecting her to turn him away once she saw him. He followed her into the apartment, with a bumbled apology about being early, which Scully silenced by stepping up onto her tippy toes and pulling his shoulders down for a kiss.
The kiss was brief, but it seemed to act as a balm and removed the nervous tension that Mulder had walked in with.
Scully made an exaggerated show of eying Mulder up and down; he looked like he stepped out of a J.Crew catalog with a blue sweater over a buttoned down shirt and dark jeans.
“You look good Mulder,” Scully with a playful leer that she could tell he loved.
“Well, I didn’t think a baseball jersey would be acceptable for tonight’s date, so I had to find an alternate outfit.”
Scully smiled at the reference to their impromptu batting practice; the feeling of being in his arms was addictive, and she had spent more nights this week with them wrapped around her than without.
“What’s that,” Scully asked, at the plastic shopping bag dangling from Mulder’s hand.
“Oh, I got it for later,’ Mulder proudly announced, handing it over for Scully to inspect.
The bag contained a bag of microwave popcorn, red vines, candy, and a VHS tape.
Taking out the tape to look at the cover, Scully spotted Humphrey Boggart and Lauren Bacall.
“The Big Sleep, nice choice Mulder.”
“I remember you liked Bogie,” Mulder said with a proud smile that earned him a longer kiss from Scully. Mulder was sweet, and Scully wondered if he was just a little dense when it came to dating. Didn’t he know the subtext of a woman inviting him up to ‘watch a movie’ or ‘have coffee’ was code for sex? Clearly, he was a little rusty on the finer points of dating, subtlety has never been his strong suit, Scully mused as she put her shoes on and got ready to leave. The transition from friends to lovers had been a relatively easy move so far, but Scully had noticed Mulder had been letting her lead the way. This was a shift from their professional dynamic, but he seemed to be genuinely happy traveling at whatever pace Scully was comfortable at, willing to take whatever she offered with a grateful heart. Scully knew without a shadow of a doubt that if they just watched the movie and she sent Mulder home afterwards, they’d still have a nice time and he’d be satisfied. Fortunately for him, Scully had shaved her legs and had no intention of this date ending without them both naked and satiated.
The drive to Bethesda was relatively fast; Mulder and Scully sang terribly to 80s ballads from the classic rock station, making each other laugh with misheard lyrics and falsettos. They both agreed that their karaoke duets could be a powerful form of persuasion to interrogate criminals- they probably wouldn’t even get to the chorus of Don’t Stop Belivin’ before a suspect would crumble and confess.
Mulder wasn’t familiar with Bethesda, but it felt special that Scully was taking him to a place that was normally reserved for her friends and family. The restaurant was off the main street, and the parking lot in the back was already getting full. Scully reached out for Mulder’s hand as they walked into the front of the restaurant, the smell of garlic and melted cheese wafting through the air as soon as they opened the door. Luigi’s was a family run Italian restaurant that had been a Bethesda staple for years. Despite the lack of bright signage, the restaurant was starting to fill up with locals waiting for take out or looking for a table.
Mulder confidently strolled up to the hostess table. “I have a reservation for two under Fox Mulder and Dr Scully,” he said with a smile, as the waitress showed them to their booth in a quiet corner, under a mural of the Italian countryside, complete with a candle in an old chianti bottle. Mulder squished in next to Scully on the same side of the booth as her, jostling her while he made himself comfortable.
“What was that about,” Scully asked in a loud whisper.
“What?”
“You booked the table with both our names,” Scully asked with an amused smile and a perplexed crinkle on her forehead.
“Oh, I’m dating a doctor now! I’d be crazy not to mention it when booking. We got a prime table on a Saturday night, Scully,” Mulder said enthusiastically.
“Well, I’m glad my med school training could be so convenient for your dinner reservations, Mulder,” she said with a laugh.
“Well that, and the autopsies,” he said with a faux serious nod.
Of all the men she’d dated, Mulder seemed to be the only one who actually acknowledged her medical degree—even if it was to just exploit it to get a table at a restaurant. Unable to stop herself, she pulled at his sweater to get his attention and pulled him in for a hard kiss before she shoved him out of the booth.
“Now move to the other side of the table so I don’t get a sore neck talking to you all night.”
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Their dinner was like a well choreographed dance, a well practiced routine between two people who shared more meals together than apart. They split dishes, Scully ordered glasses of wine for them both, and they got lost in their own little world of conversation and laughter. So lost in their own little world that both of them had failed to notice the waitress hovering by their table with the check. With an embarrassed laugh they both apologized, and Mulder placed cash to cover their meals and the tip. After excusing himself, Mulder headed to the bathroom, getting ready to head back to Scully’s and continue their evening.
Mulder was feeling a little tipsy and he wondered whether it was from the wine or just the thoughts of what he wanted to do with Scully. His perpetual state of semi-arousal in her presence had only gotten worse now he knew what it was like to kiss her and taste her. Splashing water on his face, Mulder groaned at his crazed inner thoughts. He was acting more like a lecherous teenager rather than a grown man, he needed to get a hold of himself. Mulder’s internal self-censure came to an abrupt halt as he exited the bathroom and heard a familiar voice call out ‘Fox.’ His body stopped in its tracks, and Mulder blinked his eyes as he tried to reconcile the sight of Maggie Scully before him while he was having impure thoughts about her daughter. The lag was noticeable and Maggie gave a laugh at Mulder’s surprise, pulling him in for a hug.
“Mrs Scully, sorry I was in my own world. It’s nice to see you, you look lovely,” Mulder said, bending down to give her a kiss on the cheek. She was wearing a dark blue dress, with her hair curled. Mulder wasn’t sure what the occasion brought her here, but he found himself glad for the coincidence.
“What are you doing all the way out here,” Maggie asked with a smirk that seemed to say she knew more than she was letting on.
“I’m just having dinner with a… friend,” Mulder said awkwardly, unsure as to whether Scully wanted to disclose the new status of their relationship so soon.
“Well tell your friend, that shade of lipstick looks nice on you,” Maggie said, getting a tissue and wiping off the lipstick from where Scully had kissed him on the cheek earlier.
Mulder felt himself flush and looked down awkwardly at his feet; perhaps he really was experiencing some pubescent regression, he wondered.
“Well it’s all new,” Mulder said by way of an explanation, his insecurity seeping through.
“I’m glad Fox, it’s about time you two figured it out,” Maggie said with an exasperated laugh.
“Officialy, we’re still doing the figuring out thing, but we’re making progress.”
“Good to hear. Perhaps you shouldn’t mention to Dana that we ran into each other,” said Maggie vaguely, and only then did it occur to him that perhaps Maggie was on a date of her own.
“Have a good night Fox,” Maggie waved as she headed into the ladies bathroom, leaving Mulder bewildered in the hall.
Before Mulder could make his way back over to their table, he felt someone grab his arm and pull him towards the side exit. Muscle memory recognized the feel of Scully’s touch immediately and his body went along with the covert exit without asking any questions.
Once they were outside, Scully burst into laughter shaking her head, and Mulder wondered if she had spotted Maggie and thought they’d managed to evade her.
“Mulder, you’ll never guess who I saw waiting for a table by the front of the restaurant?”
Ready to burst her bubble, Mulder went to speak when Scully stopped him.
“It was Skinner! I couldn’t see who he was with, but as soon as I spotted him I employed evasive maneuvers. I don’t think he saw us.”
Mulder stood stunned, unable to make sense of what had just happened, needing Scully to clarify again that their boss, Walter Skinner, had in fact been seated at the same restaurant they had just dined at.
Mulder was quiet on the car ride back, unsure whether this was all a crazy coincidence or the result of a fever dream, but he knew that he would not be able to get the answers by himself.
Before he could speak, Scully’s voice spoke up and he could hear she sounded a little unsure, confused by what brought on his silence.
“Mulder, I don’t think it would have been the worst thing in the world if Skinner found out about us.”
“No, Scully, it’s not that. There’s something weird going on and I don’t know what to make of it.”
“Okay,” Scully said, her voice the same neutral tone prepared to dissect any nature of paranormal phenomena.
“I ran into your mother tonight, coming out of the bathroom. Right before you grabbed me”
“So?”
“I think she was on a date.”
The implication hung in the air. Maggie Scully on a date, at the same time and place as Walter Skinner.
“Well that could mean anything...” Scully rationalized, her voice sounding unconvinced.
“Skinner lives in Arlington doesn’t he,” Mulder stated, the significance not lost on Scully.
“Ritter.”
Said like a curse word, Mulder immediately took Scully’s meaning.
“I guess your Mom and Skinner have probably spent a fair bit of time together in hospitals because of us,” Mulder smiled, trying to make light of the situation while Scully chewed on her bottom lip.
Resting his hand on hers, Mulder felt her squeeze her fingers around him as she held his hand, and the mood started to improve again.
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Scully sat on the other side of the couch, pretending to watch the movie but her mind was swirling with thoughts of her mother and her boss. Was it really such a bad thing that these two people she cared about were spending time together? It wasn’t the pairing that was bothering her as much as finding out this way. Perhaps it was time to take her mom out to brunch and ask, especially as it seemed that she had already worked out things had changed with her and Mulder.
Looking out of her peripheral vision, Scully could see Mulder’s eyes fixed on her, not even attempting to look at the movie on the TV. Chewing a red vine while he watched, Scully dared to glance over to look at him and happened to catch the amusement in his eyes.
“Scully, if Skinner becomes your new stepdad can we get out of budget meetings?”
Thwamp.
Scully managed to hit Mulder square in the face much to her satisfaction. Before she could take aim again Mulder had pinned her down on the couch, trying to disarm her of the second throw pillow.
Both of them were laughing as Scully managed to adjust her position, ready to use her legs to push him off the couch. Just as she was about to make her move, Mulder kissed her on the neck getting her favorite spot, and her body immediately responded, caving in to his touch.
“No fair, you cheat.”
“All's fair in love and war, Scully,” Mulder said, placing his mouth on hers as Scully wriggled her body to cradle his body between her legs.
Breaking their kiss, Scully lightly pushed on Mulder’s chest and let out a dramatic sigh.
“What’s wrong?”
“I’m traumatized,” she said dramatically, throwing her head back onto the couch.
“My poor Scully. Why don’t I find a way to take your mind off it,” Mulder soothed, placing kisses on her neck and making his way down her chest.
“What did you have in mind,” she asked, her hands on his shoulders, pushing him to where she wanted him to be in a not so subtle hint.
Scully’s breath caught the moment Mulder slid her dress up and exposed her panties. He placed a kiss on her center and looked up at her with a cocksure smile.
“I’m sure I can think of something…”
