x - 0020 [Signs and Wonders]

[call_me_spooky]

We may choose to question, to doubt, the evidence of our senses; but we cannot easily deny them. We interact with the world through our bodies; and so when we find them changed, might not our perception of the world change? Or am I me in some fashion that defies the flesh entirely. I'm not touching the battle of the sexes nonsense with a ten-foot pole, because that kind of conversation never ends well for the males involved... But I'll admit it was interesting to look through different eyes. Seeing the same world from another angle. I don't know that I learned anything, except that I don't like being short, which I really could have guessed.

Still, food for thought. If it's in essence an accident that I am the man I see in the mirror every day, what does that say about the person I believe myself to be? If I'd been born in the body I found myself in the other day (admittedly not without its advantages,) would I be where I am, who I am? Or would my life have followed some other path, impossible to imagine or predict?

I don't think we're meant to learn anything from these curses-- certainly theories abound to explain them, though whether any do, who knows-- but that doesn't mean we can't.

Anyway. In other matters-- has anyone heard from Donna Noble recently? She's been uncharacteristically quiet for a couple of days...

Comments

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[Scully was admiring the neatness of the apartment -- obviously he didn't live alone, or it NEVER would look like this. She turned to give him a confused look.]

Water, please. I don't understand what you mean. We were at the office together right before I got here. I was looking through files for you.

[call_me_spooky]

Time gets weird around here. It took me a while to get used to going from April straight into October.

[Let's leave the year issue out of it for now. He heads off to the kitchen to get her a glass of water. He returns, water in hand, gestures to the couch. He doesn't sit himself.]

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[Scully takes the water and sits, letting the warmth of the apartment sink into her bones.]

So how long have you been here?

[call_me_spooky]

Three and a half months, I guess.

[He shrugs, standing a few steps off from the couch. Something's a little off, and he can't quite put his finger on it. Out of synch. He brushes the feeling off, assumes it's just that he hasn't seen her in months.]

It's...

[He breaks out into a grin, because honestly? he sort of loves this place.]

It's insane, Scully. There's no way out, and every couple of days something indescribably bizarre happens. I live with people from Star Trek. I met Luke Skywalker once.

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[Scully grins, not sure if she believes him, but amused by his characteristic enthusiasm.]

Sounds like your kind of place.

[She sips her water and closes her eyes, feeling a small wave of dizziness. The stress of the day was catching up with her, and she knows sooner or later her sick body is going to rebel. She takes another sip of her water and keeps her breaths steady and measured.]

[call_me_spooky]

Yeah. I mean, sometimes it's a disaster, but...

[He's distracted out of his distraction; the rant breaks, drifts off, and he looks at her. Really looks, at the thousand tiny things that aren't as they should be.]

Hey... you all right?

[His voice softens with concern-- too much, maybe, for just their professional relationship.]

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[It's maddening how he can be so dense sometimes and so perceptive in others. She gives him her best smile.]

I'm fine, Mulder.

[Another sip of water, and then, only in part to distract him-- ]

So tell me more about this place.

[call_me_spooky]

[Mulder loves talking about the City, but whatever is wrong is nagging at him incessantly. It's Scully; he doesn't doubt that for a moment. But something isn't quite right about her. He takes a seat; not too close, not crowding... Not even taking as much liberty as he usually might, because they're partners, even if they're more than partners.]

Seriously, Scully.

[A slight frown touches his lips. She looks- pale.]

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[Scully looks him squarely in the eye, intensely aware of just how close he is.]

I'm fine, Mulder. I'm just a little tired. It's been a big day, and I wasn't exactly dressed for winter weather.

[call_me_spooky]

[Just this once, he'll let her get away with that. Because that's plausible. Because she's here and that's enough to dull his reasoning, just a bit. Because he'd rather focus on that than try to comprehend the space, the tension between them, the worry creasing her brow, the awkwardness that exists even after six years and a thousand strange experiences and, more recently-- well.]

All right.

[He smiles, a little; he doesn't move away again, though.]

I'm not entirely sure I know where to begin.

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[Scully smiles, relieved that he doesn't push her any further, and reaches out to squeeze his hand.]

Why don't you try the beginning.

[call_me_spooky]

[He smiles back; reassured, at least a little.]

Okay. Well, did you see the carousel in the center of the City? It's connected to clockwork, underground. Rumors say it has... something to do with the end of the world, though who knows. Same with the curses. The Deities allegedly cause them, but we don't know why. The City pulls people in from different worlds with no apparent pattern, no apparent reason.

And now you're here.

[Which is kind of a bad thing, but also kind of a good thing, so he presents it as-- a neutral fact.]

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

The deities? As in gods?

[Scully arches an eyebrow, and her tone is clearly disbelieving.]

What about where we're from? You say you've been here three months, but I just left you....

[call_me_spooky]

[He shrugs it off.]

So they call themselves. They... do seem to have a fair amount of control over what goes on, so it's as good a name of any.

[That second question is a little harder to answer...]

Time's weird, here. While you're in the City, time doesn't seem to pass in the real world; and not everyone comes from the same time, much less the same universe.

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[Scully nods with relief. Her mother and her brother would not miss her absence, at least.

And now for the other question that has been bugging her...]

So who is Donna Noble?

[call_me_spooky]

[He is utterly deadpan.]

An English woman who thinks I'm an actor who's lost his mind.

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[Scully arches an eyebrow.]

Well, that's certainly a change from the usual.

[call_me_spooky]

[Mulder smirks.]

Yeah, usually people think I'm an FBI agent who's lost his mind.

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

Not that you've ever given them any reason to.

[Her quiet chuckle turns into a cough -- standing out in the cold had not been good for her.]

Wish I had known to dress for the weather.

[call_me_spooky]

I know, right?

[He shrugs that one off, with a bit of a grin, which fades as she starts to cough. He reaches out reflexively, putting his hand on her shoulder. Though clearly, whatever's wrong, she doesn't want to talk about, so he bites back the obvious prodding.]

We'll get you whatever you need tomorrow.

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

That would probably be a good idea.

[She gives him a smile, unaware of the sudden trickle of blood from her nose.]

[call_me_spooky]

[He nods, but before he can continue-- he notices the blood. And suddenly things make sense, in a horrible, horrible way.]

...You're.. bleeding...

[No, no no no no. No. He's hoping like hell that he's wrong.]

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

[Scully touches her nose and her finger comes away with blood. Shit. She hated these attacks, the reminder of her illness.

But she has to keep it cool, for Mulder's sake, and the sake of her pride.]

I'm fine, Mulder. Do you have a tissue?

[call_me_spooky]

Yeah, just a sec.

[He gives her shoulder a squeeze, and gets up to find one. And to hide the panic on his face, which means (of course,) the complete blankness of his expression. Because he just assumed she had come from the same time as he had; and clearly... Shit. How are you supposed to tell someone that? And, more importantly-- she's sick. And here? There's nothing he can do about it.

All he does is get a box of tissues, and bring it back.]

[specialagentgf.livejournal.com]

Thanks.

[She takes a tissue and quickly cleans up her nose. She notices Mulder's complete lack of expression and sighs inwardly. She hates worrying him.]

Mulder, it's fine. It's just a nosebleed.