Mulder's Horribly Worn Shoes By Erin Blair 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 you 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 hates breaking in a new pair.  He couldn't put his trust with the other agents' needless  opinions of himself; 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 knows 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 get 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 when a blister forms on your toe." "Aww, you 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 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 most certainly do." ~~ The End