From: laural9@yahoo.com   
      
   TITLE: The Pot   
   AUTHOR: laural9   
   E-MAIL:laural9@yahoo.com   
   DISTRIBUTION: Gossamer and Ephemeral, all others    
   please ask via email first.   
   SPOILERS: Not that I can think of.   
   RATINGS: PG-13 (Some mild language and sexual    
   innuendoes :)   
   CLASSIFICATION: S, H   
   KEYWORDS: none   
   CHARACTERS: M, S, SK, LGM   
   SUMMARY: Even something as simple as friends    
   getting together to play poker is never    
   simple... when the pot gets full.   
      
   AUTHOR'S NOTES: Scully surprised me in this    
   story. I guess she just needed a night to enjoy.    
   My apologies if it looks like I had no Beta for    
   this story. I tried hard to proof myself but    
   ya'll nose hows it is, dontcha? Hope you enjoy,    
   anyway! Oh, and yes, I spell Langley the way it    
   first appeared, with the 'e'.   
      
   DISCLAIMER: Fox Mulder, Dana Scully, Walter    
   Skinner, Byers, Langley, and Frohike are    
   characters created by Chris Carter. They remain    
   his copyrighted property, the property of 1013    
   Productions and the property of FOX Television,    
   a unit of 20th Century Fox, Inc. No infringement    
   of any copyright is intended.   
      
      
   ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~   
   Skinner's apartment   
   Saturday, 7:23 PM    
      
      
   Skinner opened the door to Mulder and Scully.    
   "Enter."   
      
   "Now, that's just freaky when you do it at    
   home," Mulder said, as he let Scully walk in    
   first.   
      
   Skinner stared at him for a second. "Please...    
   enter."   
      
   "That's much better."   
      
   "Mulder!" Frohike called from kitchen. "Rinds?"   
      
   "Got'em, buddy!" he said, holding up the bag.   
      
   Scully smiled as Skinner took the wine and beer    
   she'd brought. "Thanks."   
      
   "Ice bucket's all ready."   
      
   From the kitchen came the sound of a blender.    
   "Can I help?" she asked.   
      
   "You can get the chips out from the corner    
   cabinet," he motioned.   
      
   She dropped her bag next to her seat at the    
   poker table and found the rack of chips right    
   where they'd been the last time Poker Night had    
   been at Skinner's place.    
      
   "My turn to bring the cards, Scully," Mulder    
   called as he walked out of the kitchen, carrying    
   his beer and bag of sunflower seeds.   
      
   "I remember," she said, sorting out the chips to    
   all six places.   
      
   "Whad'ja bring this time? UFOs?" Langley asked,    
   taking a sip of his giant margarita as he sat    
   down.   
      
   "Better," he said, holding up the deck.    
   "Aliens." Mulder took one of the cards, placed    
   it between his hands and held it for a few    
   seconds, then leaned toward Langley and    
   uncovered it.   
      
   "Whoa! Nice!" Langley said.   
      
   Frohike looked over his shoulder. "What?" He saw    
   the card. "Hot damn!"   
      
   Scully looked over at them, and Mulder started    
   shaking the card back and forth. "What's so    
   interesting?" she asked.   
      
   Mulder held the card up for her to see.   
      
   She looked at it then at him. "What? It's a    
   gray, right?"   
      
   Mulder smiled. "Right." He put the card back in    
   the deck and sat down.   
      
   Skinner set bowls of chips and pretzels and the    
   pork rinds on the table along the wall beside    
   the poker table. Mulder ripped open his seeds    
   and set the bag next to his chips. Everyone's    
   drink went to the drink-holder spots and they    
   got ready to play.   
      
   "One-eyed Jacks, and black threes are wild,"    
   Mulder said, as he shuffled.   
      
   "Oh, God, not first game," Frohike complained.   
      
   "Unless played with the suicide King," Mulder    
   continued, ignoring him and sending the first    
   card to Scully on his left. "Two pair of deuces    
   and an eight is the Hawaiian Goddess hand and    
   beats everything except the royal flush."   
      
   "Mulder, why does this have to be so    
   complicated?" Scully asked.    
      
   "It's not. It's fun if you get into it. See?    
   Langley's psyched about it."   
      
   Frohike reached for the notes Langley had been    
   furiously scribbling and read them. "Mulder is a    
   dick. Mulder is a know-it-all dick."   
      
   Scully and Byers cracked up, and Mulder    
   continued dealing the cards.   
      
   "What about the ladies?" Skinner asked.   
      
   Mulder looked at him, then over at Scully.    
   "Well, the queen of Hearts is always wild."   
      
   Scully picked up her cards then eyed him from    
   under her eyebrows. The hand played quickly as    
   everyone except Mulder and Skinner folded.    
   Mulder took the small pile of chips as Skinner    
   showed only three jacks, ace high to Mulder's    
   three fives, a four and the queen of Hearts.    
   Again, Scully looked at him from under her    
   eyebrows, before she stood and headed into the    
   kitchen.   
      
   Frohike got up, too, and walked to the TV,    
   turning it on and using the remote to locate a    
   basketball game. "Knicks up by three," he    
   called.   
      
   "Sweet," Mulder said, walking over with a    
   handful of seeds.   
      
   Skinner followed Scully into the kitchen for    
   another beer, finding her struggling to uncork    
   her wine bottle. "Here," he said, taking a    
   dishtowel from the stove and placing it over the    
   corkscrew.    
      
   "Thanks," she said, and started pulling on it    
   again.   
      
   He got the beer he wanted and turned to see she    
   was still struggling. Walking up behind her he    
   reached for the bottle with his left hand and    
   around her to place his hand over hers on the    
   corkscrew. Watching over her shoulder he rocked    
   it back and forth, then pulled gently. With a    
   nice pop the cork came out, and Scully made a    
   small surprised sound.   
      
   Byers walked in just then and saw their close    
   embrace, and just as quickly turned and left    
   again, returning to the card table. "Frohike,"    
   he called, jerking his head when he looked    
   around.   
      
   Langley gulped his margarita as Byers reached    
   into his breast pocket, removing a small    
   notepad.    
      
   Frohike noticed it as he walked up. "First    
   round, huh?" He dug into his own pocket.   
      
   "Alright, gentlemen. Option A," Byers said,    
   poising his pen above the notepad.    
      
   "I say yes," said Langley, laying a ten on the    
   table.   
      
   "I say no," said Frohike, doing the same.   
      
   "Okay, and I say no," Byers placed his ten on    
   theirs and picked them up, slipping them into    
   his right jacket pocket. "Now, option B."   
      
   "I say no," said Langley, laying another ten on    
   the table.   
      
   "Uh, I say no," said Frohike.   
      
   "And I say yes," Byers said enthusiastically,    
   making another mark in the notepad before    
   slipping it back into his breast pocket. Then he    
   placed the second pot into his left-hand jacket    
   pocket, as Scully walked out of the kitchen with    
   two glasses of wine, and Skinner right behind    
   her.   
      
   "Byers?" she asked, holding the glass out to    
   him.   
      
   "Thank you, Scully."   
      
   "You're very welcome. Okay, my turn to deal."    
   She took her place between Mulder's empty chair    
   and Byers, and picked up the alien cards to    
   shuffle them. "Mulder, dear. Come on."   
      
   He turned away from the TV and grabbed the    
   remote. "Yep," he said, as he muted the game and    
   hurried over to the table. Langley looked over    
   at Frohike and raised both eyebrows. Frohike    
   frowned and shook his head slightly.   
      
   "Alright, nothing is wild," she began, settling    
   into her chair. "Because we are playing One In    
   The Hole."   
      
   Skinner leaned over to Mulder. "Hate the game."   
      
   "Love the name," Mulder answered.   
      
   "Hey," Scully scolded them. "First card is face    
   down, don't touch it."   
      
      
   [continued in next message]   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)