Title: Sleeping Beauty
Author: shawntaw
Rating: G
Spoilers: None.
Disclaimers: They showed up at my doorstep this morning with luggage, so now 
they're mine.  Live with
it.:P (Oh, not really, CC, calm down.)

FOR A CHALLENGE.  SEE NOTES AT END.

Summary: Comfortable silence.  A decision gently made.  The awakening of 
true love.  *sappy, ain't it?*

Please feedback at shawntaw@hotmail.com.  Thank you.

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    He was growing weary, she could tell by the slump of his shoulders under 
the rumpled cotton of his dress shirt as he leaned forward from his position 
on the couch to pull another manilla file folder toward him.
    Scully let the folder in her hands droop as he reached up suddenly and 
pinched the bridge of his nose.  She wondered where his reading glasses 
were, the ones she saw so infrequently.  Her question was quickly answered 
when he stretched to grab his suit coat off the arm of the couch and removed 
his glasses from the inside pocket.  With only a moment's hesitation and a 
sidelong glance at her - she had learned he was a little bashful about his 
glasses unless he forgot he had them on - he placed them on his face and 
opened the file to continue his reading.  She contained her sigh of 
appreciation, put down her own folder and decided to go for more hot tea.
    Standing with their two now-cold mugs in hand, she smiled slightly at 
him when he looked up.  Seeing where she was heading off too, Mulder said 
nothing but returned immediately to the case at hand.  She could see his 
expression change as he was instantly sucked back into the construction of 
this latest profile.  She thanked God that this case had nothing to do with 
little children or aliens and headed to the kitchen.
    Scully loved this silence.  This comfortable, peaceful quiet the two of 
them were able to achieve at times was a balm to her.  She could feel it 
smooth over some of the chaos in the other parts of their lives.  She let 
the feeling wash over her as she listened to the little domestic sounds of 
her apartment in the utter quiet.  The clink of the mugs, the muted sound of 
the teapot filling with tap water.  In the living room, she could hear the 
rustle of papers and folders and Mulder occasionally "hm"-ing to himself.  
Sometimes, when he was especially hot on a lead or an idea, he would whisper 
a few words out loud to the empty room. A minute or so later, she decided he 
must be very engrossed in a file, because there hadn't been any muttering 
from him for awhile.
    She was listening to the whir of her refrigerator and the tick of the 
clock with her eyes closed when the whistle of her teakettle caused her to 
jump slightly.  Breathlessly shaking her head at her own skittishness, she 
went about the task of making their mugs of tea and then carried them back 
out to the living room.  It was there that she found him asleep.
    Scully felt stopped in her tracks sometimes by the utter beauty of him 
and this was one of those  times.  Often it hit her when he was being 
particularly passionate about one of his crazy ideas.  She could be angry 
with him; she could be verbally sparring with him over his apparent insanity 
and still...and still...a part of her would be staring at his sparking eyes, 
his expressive hands, his defiant stance even as he stood in her personal 
space, stooping over her.  She often wondered how he did that, how he got so 
close and so in her face without making her feel he was using his stature to 
intimidate her.
    She watched him now in careless slumber and felt swept away once again.  
His head was thrown back against the back of the couch, hair tousled and 
mouth slack.  His glasses had slipped a little down the bridge of his 
prominent nose and the effect was that of a college student who - with the 
folders strewn on the coffee table in front of him - looked like he'd been 
cramming for an exam too far into the wee hours of night.
    The tacky tie around his neck was loosened and crooked.  His cotton 
dress shirt was wrinkled, the arms rolled up sloppily to reveal the golden 
tan of Mulder's forearms.  Scully let her eyes drift down to the elegance of 
his hands.  His hands were so much a part of how he communicated with the 
world.  Over the years he'd touched her arm to ask if she was alright. He'd 
stroked her face to say he was sorry.  He'd held out his hands, fingers 
splayed or pointing - gesturing wildly, to make a point. However, at this 
moment, those hands lay limp - one against his thigh, the other on the couch 
cushion.  A spilled folder lay at his feet.
    Scully noticed one of his shoes were untied and for some reason it made 
her want to laugh as she followed his leg up and up. She noted how his knees 
were folded in front of her coffee table.  His longs legs were splayed apart 
in abandon and for the first time she wondered if he had been cramped 
sitting at her coffee table.  Because he was so adept at making her feel his 
equal, she sometimes forgot how he towered over her in stature.
    She carefully placed the steaming mugs on the edge of the small table 
and crept closer, wondering how he would react if she awoke him as the 
prince awoke Sleeping Beauty.  Her lips curled in amusement as she moved 
closer.
    Scully paused.  Did she dare step over his knee to stand between his 
legs and lean over to deliver that much anticipated first kiss?
    Thinking back on the years they'd shared, she decided to risk it.  She 
remembered the looks he'd given her over the years.  She thought on the 
touches, the shared confidences.  Scully looked over his slumbering form and 
leaned to gaze at his face.  From here she could see the day's stubble 
dotting his angular jaw.  The beauty mark - "Mole!" he had once corrected 
her in horror when she'd had the audacity to state this aloud - on his cheek 
tempted her almost beyond her control.
    It was his eyelashes that finally did her in. Long and sweeping, they 
rested on his cheek and gave him a look of innocence and youth.  Scully 
edged forward, ready to change their relationship forever.  She thought for 
a moment that perhaps he wouldn't even wake up.  Perhaps he would never know 
how beloved he was to her.
    A soft, chaste kiss on his full bottom lip first and then more firmly, 
her mouth pressed to his.  Even with her eyes closed, she knew when he began 
to awaken. His lips parted and tilted in a small smile as he gently kissed 
her back.  She revelled in the warmth of his breath mingling with hers until 
a small gasp issued from him and he pulled back slightly.
    *I've awakened the Prince* she thought crazily as she opened her eyes to 
meet his blinking, hazel-eyed expression of confusion tempered by a small 
dose of pleased delight.

    "Scully?" he whispered.


    She just kissed him again and smiled against his lips as she felt his 
arms encircle her.

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Note:  I combined my two favorites.  Voyeurism and the first kiss. Did I say 
that outloud?? *ahem*

*LOL*


Feedback at shawntaw@hotmail.com



For the Fandomonium challenge:

We've all got a little voyeurism in us. That's why with this challenge we 
are going to explore how Scully (or another character) sees Mulder.

Your challenge, should you choose to accept it, is to write a fic with the 
following elements:

    * Scully or Other POV (i.e. Scully/other as the voyeur)
    * can have Mulder doing anything (eating seeds, reading over a casefile, 
changing clothes, mowing the lawn, washing dishes, surfing the net, pumping 
gas etc. etc.)
    * pure description (i.e. little or no dialogue)
    * It must be a new fic