a tiny snippet from my ’zine submission
Guys, this story has been on my mind all week since I submitted it last weekend and I can’t WAIT for you all to read the whole thing, whether it’s in the fanzine or here. I’m thinking of continuing it if it gets interest/feedback, because I have several ideas, just didn’t have enough time to get all of them down on virtual paper for this particular submission. :)
tagging @today-in-fic and my peeps @baronessblixen & @viceversawrites
Mulder stares down at the floor, flicking his thumbs back and forth against each other. Dr. Tucker is right, of course. He is obsessed with work. He doesn’t like going home to his apartment. There’s nothing (read: no one) there waiting for him, no food in the fridge, no motivation to leave work on time. Takeout tastes the same at five o’clock as it does at eight o’clock, really. Tastes the same in his office as it does on his couch. (And besides, the Chinese place he really likes is closer to the office, anyway. If he eats it at work, it doesn’t get cold on the way home.)
So today (which is Thursday, March 12, for the record)--just for Dr. Tucker--he leaves the office promptly at 4:08.
Mulder walks to Metro Center, jogs up the stairs to catch the Red Line. He doesn’t have to wait long for a train; they come more often this time of day, during and approaching rush hour. Another benefit, he’s sure, to leaving work at a “normal” time, though the thought of this makes him roll his eyes.
He has a special talent for predicting exactly where the train is going to stop, which means he’s always able to position himself close to the doors. A handful of commuters exits the train before he steps on board and takes a seat on the opposite side.
It’s a different crowd at four-something in the afternoon; mostly government workers, he surmises, based on the amount of suits he sees. He’s used to the early evening crowd, young couples and college students going out after work or class, because he usually isn’t leaving work until seven. Maybe seven-thirty, maybe eight.
That’s when he looks up and sees her for the first time.
