Title: The Day-To-Day Of Life Author: shawntaw Rating: G Disclaimer: Not mine. CC and 1013 own them. I'm making no money. As is apparent when I pay the bills every two weeks.. Oh, and I don't own Miracle Gro either. Spoilers: None really although this obviously takes place pre-Teena's death. FEEDBACK PLEASE!!! at shawntaw@hotmail.com Summary: Our duo catching up on Life in between road trips. Note: Bear with me, working on small, mundane scenes in the life of our heroes is helping me to overcome Writer's Block. I hope it's good... ****************************************************** Mulder stood in his apartment complex's laundry room, getting ready to stuff a week's worth of dirty clothes into a 1970's washing machine. Start the water running. Dump in the soap. Cram the clothes in. *Oh, hey. Will that goo we ran into last week come out of my socks?* The aging machine cuh-clunked to one side as it worked, bumping into the wall in a rhythmic dance. He shrugged, threw the detergent into the now empty battered plastic laundry basket, and left the room. ****************************************************** Scully blew the errant strand of hair out of her eyes and, pushing up the sleeves of her sweatshirt, resumed her circular scrubbing of the bathtub. The radio blared classical music in the background, a triumphant tune that egged her on in her chore. She squirted more solution in the tub and vigorously attacked any sign of mildew. "BumbumBUBUbumbubumbumbummmmm...bumbum..." She semi-sang along to the music as she worked. Scully coughed. Her ponytail bobbed and more wisps of hair came loose. She sighed. *Maybe it's time for a break from all the chemicals..* She stood and stepped out of the tub, stripping off her bright yellow rubber gloves, and headed out to the kitchen in search of lunch. ****************************************************** Mulder scooped out the dead fish and eyeballed it disgustedly. He'd only been gone three days. *Why'd I choose fish? Fish have no staying power.* He held the tiny, smelly corpse out at arm's length, tail-fin dangling off the spoon, as he hurriedly carried it to his bathroom so that it could be flushed to its final resting place. After doing the deed, he went back and fed the survivors. ******************************************************* *junk...junk...no, I don't want another credit card...bill....bill....bill...overdue bill...geez, another one...Bill?...junk...junk...* Scully sat cross-legged on her couch, pile of mail beside her, neat sorted stacks on the coffee table in front of her and the trashcan to the other side with the shredder perched atop it. "Bzzzzz!!!" Several credit card offers and other solicitions were made into so much confetti and Scully wistfully wished she could do the same to the bills. Speaking of Bills... She opened her brother's letter with anticipation. He hardly ever wrote and when he did it usually meant something big. A promotion. A new baby. She wondered what he had to say.... ******************************************************** Mulder pushed the button on his answering machine and decided while he listened to the messages that had been left while he was out of town that he'd balance his checkbook. "Beep!" "Hey man! You outta town again? When you get back, call! We've got some juicy stuff for ya!" *Call the guys* Mulder mentally noted as he added the figures together. "Beep!" "Fox? Fox, it's your mother. I was just calling to say hello. Call when you can." *Mom made her weekly perfunctory call* Mulder noted, wincing as the balance in his checking account got smaller and smaller. "Beep!" "Marty, I just wanted to call and let you know that we're having a special this week...first two minutes are free," a throatly voice purred, "We miss you." *Hmmmm...* Mulder's eyebrow lifted at that message as he finished his balancing act with a flourish of his pen. He looked at the figure he had left, raised his eyes to the stack of mail still to be sorted jumbled on his coffee table and bit his lip. It was gonna be close. ********************************************************************* * **** Her plants were drooping. Scully skittered around the apartment, watering here...snipping here. *A little Miracle Gro and you'll be good as new* She snipped quite a bit of brown off one small vine and gave it a dose of slow-releasing plant food. She liked to have living things in the apartment, but wasn't willing to take a risk quite as big as fish. Plants were much easier. And it was less emotionally traumatizing to replace them when they died. Her stomach growled...loudly. Scully stopped her plant-doctoring and went to her frig. Nothing. She'd eaten the last of the salad fixings for lunch. Scully had two options: Go shopping or order in. She picked up the phone. ********************************************************************* * **** Mulder's phone rang. He pushed himself out of the frig and went to answer it. He'd finally been forced to scrub out the refrigerator when the smell almost knocked him over when he opened it. Leftovers left so long that the smell had permeated the actual appliance. Mulder set the sponge down and picked up the phone. "Hello?" "Mulder, its me. Have you eaten yet?" "No, I haven't. Why?" He was smiling. "Well, if your frig looks like my frig - and I know it does Mulder because when do you shop? - then I was thinking you might have to order out for dinner tonight. I already ordered pizza and thought I'd offer to share." "Hey, free food! I'll be right there." He could hear the grin in her voice. "Good, because I ordered half the pizza with your favorite toppings." "Sure of yourself, aren't you?" "You said it yourself. You won't turn down free food." "Ah, you know me too well, Scully." This earned him a small laugh. "See you soon, Mulder." "Be right there, Scully." As he headed toward the bedroom to freshen up, Mulder thought how such a small thing could make him so happy. A simple, mundane thing. Pizza. Pizza with Scully. No threats. No danger. Just a he and just a she. Eating. Talking. Mulder grinned. Mundane is good. ********************************************************************* * ******* Okeedokee, my effort to break free of the chains of Writer's Block. PLEASE FEEDBACK and tell me what you think!:)