From: erinmblair@gmail.com   
      
   TITLE:  Mulder's Horribly Worn Shoes   
   AUTHOR:  Erin Blair   
   E-MAIL: eblair@sonic.net / erinmblair@gmail.com   
   FEEDBACK: Yes, please.   
   DISTRIBUTION: OK to Gossamer, MiJ, Ephemeral,   
   Mulder's Refuge, and MSR Cheerleaders Archive.   
   RATING: PG   
   CATEGORIES: SRHA -- Story, Romance, Humor, Angst.   
   KEYWORDS: Mulder/Scully Romance.   
   SPOILERS: Season Seven.   
   DISCLAIMER: Mulder and Scully doesn't belong to me.   
   SUMMARY: Mulder decides to replace his old shoes, remembering   
   the countless times that his co-workers teased him.   
   NOTES: Special thanks to Lisa for helping me with this story.   
      
   + + + + + + + + + + + + + +   
      
   Mulder decided to buy new shoes in his spare time because   
   his old ones had worn out. He couldn't wear them to work -   
   he always wanted to look his best whenever he saw Scully.   
   All he knew that his cheeks would blush crimson down to the   
   roots of his thick brown hair if he wore his old tatty,   
   sorry looking pair. He didn't want to hear her bubbly laugh   
   as she gave him the once over and spotted the sad things.   
   Not that she would laugh at him - he knew she respected   
   him.   
      
   He imagined what she would say to him, sighing. "Mulder, I   
   think it's time for you to buy new shoes." She wouldn't   
   have said it in a laughing, ha-ha, sort of way; she'd   
   understood why he doesn't want to break in a new pair.   
      
   There wasn't a point for Scully to tell him that his shoes   
   needed to be replaced after he'd already done it anyway,   
   but he hated breaking in a new pair.   
      
   He couldn't put his trust with the other agents' needless   
   opinions of him; they simply weren't as wonderful as his   
   beloved, Scully.   
      
   Unfortunately, he knew he was still the subject of many   
   jokes from his Academy days. The last thing he wanted was   
   colleagues to see him walking and running in a pair of   
   crummy shoes that bothered him.   
      
   No way.   
      
   He walked to shoe store close to the park where he enjoyed   
   his morning jogging and bought a pair of black FBI   
   regulation wingtips. He spent most of the money that he   
   wanted to save for a rainy day, one never knew when upper   
   management beyond Skinner, would have enough of his   
   endless, somewhat controversial, time on the X-Files. So   
   far, Mulder has been lucky to be out of the X-Files only   
   twice in his career but had enough pull in Congress to make   
   certain that Scully and himself kept their jobs for the   
   near future, much to the disdain of other agents.   
      
   He walked back to his apartment and decided to break them   
   in before work. Frowning, he knew that there was a strong   
   chance that he'd get blisters on his feet.   
      
   Mulder decided to walk back and forth from the leather   
   couch to the kitchen repeatedly. Sure enough, the pain had   
   skyrocketed up to his brain. He knew that a blister had   
   developed between the toes on his right foot. He grimaced   
   at the pain while he tried putting weight on it.   
      
   He walked quickly to the couch and took off his new shoes.   
   He inspected the blister and sure enough, he was right in   
   his own diagnosis. He groaned. This was exactly what he'd   
   feared when he was breaking in the shoes. He didn't know   
   what to do. He tried to think of his options, but he knew   
   he couldn't stay home and mope.   
      
   With a grimace on his beautifully etched features, his eyes   
   darkened from the throbbing sensation on his toe. He needed   
   to deal with the pain, but he knew that he needed to ask   
   Scully to come over to help him with his blister. He   
   grabbed the cell phone from his pocket and called her.   
   "Scully?"   
      
   "Mulder?"   
      
   "I need your help."   
      
   "Oh?"   
      
   Mulder detected a long note of concern in her voice and   
   elaborated what happened. He ended his day by telling her:   
   "I need your expertise on foot injuries and the like. I   
   tried breaking in my new wingtips - "   
      
   "Say no more, Mulder. I'll be right over."   
      
   Click.   
      
   He held the phone and staring at it in stunned silence.   
   They'd always ended their calls that way with no "goodbyes"   
   or even a simple, "bye." It simply wasn't the way they'd   
   dealt with their communication skills. Maybe they should   
   have built a tower of furniture together? He laughed   
   bitterly, but he'd caught up with his singular quest to   
   find the mothmen of the forest.   
      
   He patiently waited for Scully to arrive - she'd arrived   
   there precisely an hour later. Scully explained, with a   
   frown, that there was an accident on the highway towards   
   his apartment. "Traffic's a total bitch."   
      
   "Scully!"   
      
   "I'm sorry, Mulder. I wanted so much to be here for you. I   
   know how you get blisters."   
      
   "Aww, you really love me."   
      
   Scully's face flushed, not out of embarrassment, but in a   
   silent knowledge of her innermost desire. She bent down to   
   look at Mulder's blister. "It doesn't appear to be   
   infected. I think I need apply moleskin to it."   
      
   "You don't need to put on a bandage?"   
      
   Scully shook her head. "No, I think moleskin would prevent   
   your toe from rubbing."   
      
   Mulder sighed. "I hope it'll work."   
      
   "It'll work. If not, I'll put a bandage on then." She   
   paused. "Will you please try not to wait so long for shoes?   
   You don't have to hide from me, Mulder. I'll accept you in   
   anything..."   
      
   "Anything?   
      
   Scully nodded. "Absolutely."   
      
   "Really?"   
      
   "And I'll even accept you wearing nothing."   
      
   Mulder's grimace turned into a smile. He looked almost   
   animated after hearing Scully's admission. "Wow, nothing!   
   Scully, you always keep me guessing."   
      
   "But you like that, Mulder, don't you?"   
      
   "I certainly do; I certainly do."   
      
   ~~   
      
   The End   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
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