#… cream from Friendly’s (when they were still around) and we’d sit by the curb to wait for the clock tower in town to chime at the hour

[welcome-to-green-hills]

When the Wachowskis go get ice cream, they sit on the curb outside and each member counts all of the assigned color of cars they can find, and whoever gets the most wins the game, much like what Carl and Russel do at the end of Up: "that might sound boring, but I think the boring stuff is the stuff I remember the most."

[tatooedlaura-blog]

Remarkable

The series is as follows :

Mama Scully’s Party …. Morning … Underwears … Maps … Nachos … Foul Ball … Promises … Stay … Phone Calls … Flannel Interruption … Awakening… Friendly Compromises … Scrabble … Apart …  A Long Week … Lightning … Missing You … Interim … Stuff … Waiting … Going … Hands … Unsteady … Fear … Fast … Slow … Regardless … Into the Dark … Light … Surfboards … Curbs … Showers … Borders … Canyons … Soaked … Ice Cream … Never Happened … Deep South … Almost … Blue-Suede Shoes … Unwelcome … Remarkable … Stars … Doorbells … M&Ms … Knees ... Home

___________

Stopping in the Wal-Mart parking lot so Scully could nap, Mulder decided, rationally or irrationally depending on how one looked at the situation, to go shopping, crutching the aisles inside while Scully snored in the car.

Once his journey had wrapped up, he headed back towards the Jeep, well, limped to the Jeep, one hand using a crutch, the other on the cart keeping balance. All was moving slowly but fairly well, until he hit a small, downhill slope then it all went to hell. The cart got away from him mid-limping hop, began rolling forward, and not even attempting to catch it on one crutch, he simply regained his balance and watched the runaway cart careen into the back of their car.

The jolt woke Scully, who sat up quickly and turned her head, trying to figure out what was beating on her temporary bedroom. Spotting Mulder shrugging through the side window, she shook her head and opened her door. “Need some help there, Sparky?”

“Not with the cart pushing anymore but I could use some assistance with the cart emptying.”

Eyeing the bags stacked up, she ventured a finger into the top one, pulling it open to peek inside, “what did you buy? Food?”

“Food. Movies. Socks. Some clean scissors so you can take out my stitches. Soap. More sunscreen. Chapstick.”

“Had your own little adventure, didn’t you?”

With a grin, he began handing her bags, “sure did. Now, help me get this crap in there so we can keep going. I called the rental lady and told her we’d be getting in fairly late so she said she’d leave the key under the mat this evening for us. We just have to call her in the morning to let her know we got there.”

Stuffing bags in nooks and crannies, “did you really need to buy this much stuff?”

“We have had the stuff talk numerous times. Stuff is good.”

“I forgot. Stuff if good.” Hefting the rest in the trunk, she shut the lid, handing Mulder his second crutch, “go get in the car. I’ll deal with the cart.” Eventually, many hours later, it was dark and eventually, Scully had to find a strange house in a strange town. She felt like she was stalking people, driving three miles an hour past each house, squinting at shadowed and faded addresses until they ran out of addresses, “you wrote it down correctly, right?”

“I asked her twice and repeated it back.” Mulder leaned forward, staring out the windshield, “although I swear there’s a driveway in front of us. Looks kind of overgrown but it might be ours.”

Worth a try in her book, she navigated down the bumpy, rutted dirt and sand track until suddenly, there was a little house off to the right, unimposing in stature and color, the windworn grey blending in to the world around it.

Mulder found the numbers by the front door first and bumped her knee, “this is it.”

“Thank God.” Stepping out of the car, she was hit first with the salt smell of the ocean, then the sound of the waves on the beach. Without thinking, she climbed the dune beside the house and reaching he top, without warning, the dune fell away and the ocean opened up before her, a few hundred feet away at most.

“Scully?”

It took until a second call to get her attention and turning around, she remembered he was down there, “oh, hi.”

He smiled, leaning out the window of the car, “good view?”

“The best.” Moving back towards him, “the crutches are going to be fun in the sand.”

“I’ll scoot on my ass if necessary. I just need some help getting into the house.”

She found the key, let them in and unloaded the luggage and bags in the front hall. Mulder did his best to stay out of her way until she finally shut the front door, leaning back against it, “I know I should go look around but I’m exhausted. How are you doing?”

He hadn’t slept in the car, given he was keeping her awake so he was equally tired, “about to fall down.” Pointing up the staircase, “up you go.”

After retrieving only her pajamas pants and Mulder’s, she headed upstairs, finding one large bedroom, one king bed and windows spanning the entire wall facing the ocean. It was beautiful and sparse and perfect and she couldn’t wait to lie down.

Mulder, who had just made it into the room, “want the bathroom first?”

Scully was already pulling her shirt over her head revealing her tank top, her capris dropping next in a puddle as she stepped into her pajama pants, pulling them up in one smooth motion, “nope. Going to sleep.”

It was too dark to see anything more than a few shadows, “even when you strip in front of me, I miss everything because I can’t see it.”

She didn’t care at this point and as she crashed face first into the pillow, “just come to bed, Mulder.”

Those were very good words.

And he did.

&&&&&&&&&

She woke up to find them in a fairly compromising tangle. Mulder had kicked the pillows to the floor, his leg feeling well enough not to need elevation and instead needing to be thrown over Scully’s right calf, his hand following suit up her shirt, finger hooked in the front clasp of the bra she hadn’t taken off the night before. Extracting herself carefully, she slid the thin blanket from the bed, wrapping it around her shoulders before wandering off in the cool morning, pre-dawn gray, shuffling over the worn floorboards, throw rugs rough under her feet. Creeping down the stairs, she stepped around the bags, making it down the short hall then stopping in the small kitchen. There was two-person table with solid chairs and mismatched cushions, a coffee maker and a toaster, a fridge and a sink. From there, she spied a plaid couch, a small television with DVD player, a low bookshelf with a few games and books on it, a few squashy chairs and a wall of windows, one of which was actually a sliding door that led to the deck.

Slouching in that direction, blanket pulled a little tighter, she stepped outside, her entire body smiling at the wide deck she found, a small rack for wet towels in one corner, a picnic table beside that and wide, wicker-woven lounges large enough to accommodate two with ease.

She felt the pull of the ocean as she stood there, needing to dip her feet, wash away the drive in the salty waves but she waited, sensing it wouldn’t be right without Mulder beside her. Settling herself on the steps, she contemplated nothing, dwelled on nothing, worried over nothing as she let her mind empty, her inner demons staying behind closed doors, her everyday doubts remaining at bay.

She could stay here forever.

Enjoying her alone time, she couldn’t help but suddenly feel eyes on her. Looking behind, she found the empty downstairs rooms. Still feeling it, she glanced up and smiled, finding Mulder standing at the window, the glass pushed up, the screen following suit as he leaned over, dropping a ‘morning’ from a height too far away for her heart to be truly happy.

Tossing a ‘morning’ back up to him, “you should come down and sit with me.”

“Miss me already?”

Her honesty warmed her, “yeah. Do you need any help?”

“Nope. Be there in a minute.” Good to his word and without propelling himself down the stairs accidently, he swung his way out to her, awkwardly but eventually wiggling in beside her, “have you looked around already or did you just aim straight for the deck?”

“I took the ten-cent tour and I love it.” Pressing her shoulder to his, suddenly needing tactile contact, proof that he was here with her in what could very well be a dream, “I have loved every place we’ve been, Mulder, but this feels most like a place I’d stay forever.”

“Got a thing for unremarkable houses. I’ll have to remember that.”

Her need for contact continued to surprise her, her hand reaching under his arm to find a place to rest on his knee, “I wonder though if it’s not so much the house as the fact that for almost five weeks, we’ve been living in hotel rooms constantly surrounded and now we’re alone, on our own, far enough away that I can’t see anyone or anything but you and the ocean.”

“Would you like me to leave you alone for awhile?” It wasn’t said with any kind of malice or annoyance but simple acceptance, an understanding of his partner after so many years, “I can go back inside, find some food?”

Squeezing his leg, “I don’t want you to go anywhere. I am having a very happy moment and sharing it with you makes it even happier.”

Mulder first shifted his bootcast to a better position, then casually moved his arm to drape over her shoulder, rubbing small circles on her tanned joint in a half-hug before dropping down to her side, hand now firmly grasping her hip bone, “I think this would be nice to do every morning with you.”

Her answer came in the form of her head resting back on his upper arm, enjoying the rest of the sunrise in silence.

Once the sun had cleared the horizon, he nudged her head up with his cheek. After lifting it, turning towards him automatically, expecting a question, she instead found a set of lips against hers, warm, soft and undemanding. It wasn’t the public make-out session he’d threatened but instead, familiarity amplified, inviting and relaxed.

She returned the kiss, her lips parting only slightly before a smile got the better of her and as was their habit, when one smiled, the other followed suit. Pulling back a few inches, Mulder grinned even wider, “ready for some breakfast?”

Her smile grew, “very ready. Did you buy me any greasy tacos?”

“Yeah, well, had I bought you greasy tacos at Wal-Mart, they would have been a solidified nightmare by now and probably teeming with salmonella so just accept the granola bars I bought and move along.”

“Do they have chocolate chips in them?”

“Please. Like I’d want to deal with the unhinged individual you become without chocolate chips in your granola bars.”

Standing, she helped him up, passing him his crutches, “come on, gimpy, let’s go see what kind of trouble we can get into in someplace called Kill Devil Hill.”

“The name was made for us.”

“It was indeed.”