Work Text:
Two hours was what Scully had asked for when she arrived at the house on Saturday morning. Just two hours to finish helping an old colleague at the hospital edit a research paper and then they could follow-through with their plan to take Daggoo to the groomers. Mulder set her up on the office and she locked herself inside the cluttered space, taking a few moments to let her eyes rest on a few of the old articles he had pinned up on his cork boards just for the nostalgia of it.
Two and a half hours later, the paper was edited and emailed and she shut down her computer and packed it up. Standing, she stretched her aching back muscles. She was surprised she got what she asked for. No interruptions and didn’t even hear a peep from the other side of the door.
Scully opened the door to the office and paused in the doorway. Mulder was asleep on the couch, Daggoo tucked into the space between his torso and the back of the couch, head nestled against Mulder’s neck. There was a manila folder on Mulder’s chest and his reading glasses were low on his nose. Very quietly, she crossed the room to her purse and fished her phone out. She captured the moment with the silent press of a button and then put her phone back.
With practiced skill, she leaned over and eased the glasses off Mulder’s face and set them on the table. She slid the folder off Mulder’s chest and tossed it onto the table as well. Daggoo’s ears twitched and he burrowed his face deeper into Mulder’s neck with a sigh. Scully smiled because she couldn’t laugh and also felt a twinge of jealousy. That was once her spot to occupy. She wanted it back.
Carefully, Scully slipped her shoes off and sat down in the space next to Mulder’s hip. There was just enough room for her if she was maneuvered herself in just the right way. She picked up Mulder’s arm and lay down with her head on his shoulder, bringing his arm around her before she swung her legs up to fit alongside his. He stirred a little and his chin came to rest against the top of her head. The shifting caused Daggoo’s ears to twitch again and he huffed in his sleep.
Eyes tired from editing all morning, Scully let them fall shut, telling herself it would just be for a minute. Twenty minutes later, in the midst of a dream about performing a craniofacial reconstruction surgery, suddenly Mulder was kissing her into consciousness and she murmured his name, first in appreciation and then in annoyance. His kisses were too sloppy and too wet and she was too sleepy and slow to tell him to stop. She turned her face away instead and she heard Mulder laugh.
Something cold and wet pressed against Scully’s neck and she yelped and lifted her head. Daggoo was standing on Mulder’s chest, happily licking her face and undeterred by her squirming. She groaned and turned her head back into Mulder’s shoulder to hide her face. He laughed again and finally intervened to push Daggoo back.
“That wasn’t you?” Scully asked, raising her head and pushing her hair out of her face. The dog had burrowed himself back into the space between the couch and Mulder’s side, almost swallowed by the cushions.
“Scully, I know it’s been awhile, but certainly I had better aim than Daggoo.”
“Not always.”
Mulder scoffed in mock offense and then pushed his hand through Scully’s hair, bringing her down to meet his lips in a searing kiss. She whimpered into his mouth and then finally pushed him away, breathless. He smirked at her flushed cheeks.
“You do realize that dog’s tongue was just in my mouth,” she said, trying to wipe the smirk off his face with her haughty tone and cool expression.
“So? That dog’s tongue has been in my mouth more times than I care to admit. You just met his preferred method of waking me up in the morning and he seems to have a penchant for morning breath.”
“I wasn’t even asleep long enough to have morning breath.”
“Doesn’t matter.”
Scully sighed, but her exasperation was fictitious. She was enjoying herself and she wanted Mulder to kiss her again, but he was too busy curling a strand of her hair around his finger and staring at her mouth. She made the move for him, stretching her neck to kiss him softly and he let go of her hair to cup her face. She relaxed back down against him as they continued their kisses, his fingers stroking her neck and hers scratching at his t-shirt to get to his chest.
Mulder turned his body towards her, leg hooking over hers to slide her closer so they wouldn’t fall off the couch. She whimpered as his weight pressed into her and one of his hands found the curve of her backside to pull her thigh up. Suddenly, another tongue was on her cheek and she laughed into Mulder’s mouth, scrunching her face and screwing her eyes shut.
“Daggoo!” Mulder yelled, trying to push the dog away from their faces, but since he still had a hold on Scully, he could only use his elbow as defense and the dog had worked his way under Mulder’s arm.
“Alrightalrightalright,” Scully groaned, disentangling herself from Mulder and rolling off the couch. She snatched up Daggoo, stopping him from trampling Mulder’s chest and further assaulting Mulder’s face with his tongue, and put him on the floor. “We shouldn’t be lazing around anyway and this scruffy mutt needs a bath and a haircut.”
“Daggoo, outside!” Mulder said, pushing himself up from the couch.
Daggoo ran out of the room and returned moments later with his leash in his mouth. He dropped it at Mulder’s feet, tail wagging so furiously his hind end was wiggling right along with it. He barked twice, shifting back and forth on his feet.
“How long did that one take you?” Scully asked.
“About a week,” Mulder said, clipping Daggoo’s leash to his collar.
Scully grabbed her bag and took out her phone to get the address of Scoo-B-Do’s Pet Grooming – not her choice, but Mulder insisted – and the photo she took of Mulder and Daggoo sleeping on the couch popped up when she opened the phone. She lingered on the image, smiling to herself.
“You ready?” Mulder asked. “What are you over there smiling about?”
“Nothing,” Scully said, closing the photo app to pull up her contacts. “Let’s go.”
The End