The tongue withdrew slowly and was replaced by a low husky voice. "Wake up,
Snickerdoodle."
So it was Alex after all. Mulder held back his instinctive smile and
pretended to still be asleep, just to see how far his sometime lover would
go.
Warm moist breath drifted across his neck, before a pair of surprisingly
soft lips brushed the skin along his jaw. Alex smelled of peanuts, coffee,
and exhaustion, as if he'd been on an airplane for many hours, and Mulder
had to remind himself not to ask. Alex would tell him what he wanted Mulder
to know, and whether it was true or not would be immaterial... to Alex
anyway.
There was also an overlying scent that Mulder amused himself by trying to
place, while Alex continued to kiss his neck. It was faintly perfumey, but
not like a floral or citrus fragrance, just a bit soft and waxy and... If
a scent could be powdery, that's how Mulder would have described it. It
reminded him vaguely of his mother, which made him uncomfortable, since
there was also a set of sharp teeth worrying the skin just above his T-shirt
collar.
"I know you're awake, Mulder. I can hear your brain working." A brush of
silk on Mulder's arm accompanied the husky voice in his ear, and he opened
his eyes slowly...
And let out a sound that was not a girly-squeal at all. It was a manly
exclamation of surprise, Mulder told himself firmly.
"What the— Uh, Alex?" Mulder rubbed his eyes, blinked hard several times,
and took another look at his lover.
"I needed a disguise to sneak in, so I went by my place first. They're
watching your building again. I assume you've swept for bugs recently?"
Mulder nodded absently, still staring and trying to think of something to
say. Finally he said the first thing to come to mind. "I thought you'd
look sluttier in drag."
Alex smiled with burgundy slicked lips and smoothed back a tendril of long
black hair. He moved from his unladylike crouch and sat in a chair,
demurely crossing legs covered in heavy black tights. Plucking at the
charcoal pinstriped wool skirt draped over his knees, he asked, "You've
actually thought about it and formed an opinion?"
"When I went to your apartment that first time, I, umm...I saw the red shoes
in your closet."
"Ah...you snooped and found these?" Alex lifted one foot high enough for
Mulder to see over the coffee table.
"Yeah, that would be them." Sitting upright and swinging his own sock-clad
feet to the floor, Mulder took in the charcoal wool blazer and high-necked
white silk blouse, shook his head, and smiled. "If not for the shoes, which
give off a heavy fuck-me vibe, you could be a lawyer or a business person
or... Scully."
"That's not very funny, Fox-don't-call-me-that." But Alex looked more
amused than insulted. "I was going more for the high-priced call girl who
doesn't look like a hooker look, but I guess you couldn't afford one of
those...so if anyone asks, tell them I'm your stockbroker."
"A stockbroker who makes house calls? What great service."
"I'm dedicated to customer satisfaction." With a flutter of eyelashes that
hardly needed mascara, Alex flicked his tongue delicately across his lower
lip.
"Oh you are, are you? Well, why don't you stand up and walk across the room
for me?"
"Where do you want me to go?" Alex asked as he stood up.
"Doesn't matter. Just walk to the dining room table and back. I want to
see how you move in those spikes."
Alex's eyes sparkled with mischief as he took a deep breath that pushed his
chest out and sucked his stomach in. He turned like a contestant in a
beauty pageant and took several steps, shorter than his natural stride, but
oddly graceful just the same, into the dining room. He walked back across
the living room, arms hanging almost motionless at his sides and hips
swaying slightly. He did a slow pivot in front of Mulder's desk, giving the
entranced man on the sofa a good view of the effect of high heels on an
already stellar backside.
Mulder let out the breath he hadn't meant to be holding and said, "Umm,
could you do that again? Especially that turn at the end." Alex did so and
this time when he made the pivot, Mulder remarked, "You must have spent a
lot of time watching fashion models work. You've got the moves down."
"Maybe I worked the runways of Paris and Milan for a season or two."
"Did you?" Mulder asked, not believing it for a minute.
"No, I'm just a quick study," Alex replied with a smirk. "Besides, we don't
all have a collection like yours to entertain us when we're lonely."
"Since you've been gone, I've been kinda lonely. Why don't you come over
here and entertain me?"
"Can I take off the drag first? Some of it itches."
"Well, it is pretty entertaining..." Mulder pretended to consider for a
moment, before giving a regal wave of his hand toward the bathroom. "Go
ahead. Make yourself comfortable."
After Mulder watched Alex pick up a soft-side leather briefcase that was
large enough to double as an overnight bag and leave the room, he got up and
went to the kitchen. He took two bottles of iced tea from the refrigerator
and went to the bathroom.
Mulder pushed the half-closed door open with a perfunctory knock, and found
Alex just straightening his jacket on a hanger. Otherwise, he was still
fully dressed. He turned and took the offered bottle of tea with a raised
eyebrow. "How'd you know?"
"You smell like an airplane. Thought you might not want vodka on top of
jetlag. If you have jetlag..." The statement trailed off questioningly, but
Mulder had little hope that Alex would give away any clues to his recent
whereabouts so easily.
"Maybe, but that's all you need to know." Alex took a long drink from the
bottle then set it on the sink. He glanced at Mulder, who was propped in
the doorway, and asked, "So what have you been up to while I was gone?"
While Mulder recounted a few of his recent cases he thought Alex would find
interesting, he watched the disintegration of the classically elegant
"woman" who had entered his apartment. The blouse went neatly onto a hanger
hooked on the shower rod next to the jacket. As soon as the white padded
bra, and the socks that had filled it, were dropped onto the back of the
toilet, Alex turned his back to Mulder and said, "Scratch."
Mulder raked his stubby nails over the plane of Alex's back, paying close
attention to the middle section and his shoulders where the straps had been.
As he scratched, he continued to talk and watch.
The wig and its accoutrements came off next, exposing the nape of Alex's
neck and his own mussed dark hair. Mulder was tempted to press his nose to
the back of Alex's head and sniff him, just absorb his very essence. But he
lost his chance when Alex stepped away with a muttered, "Thanks."
Alex took off the skirt, shook out the wrinkles, then folded it over the
hanger under the unbuttoned jacket, leaving him in nothing but black tights,
underwear, and red high heeled pumps. This made such an intriguing picture,
that Mulder had a hard time keeping his hands to himself, but it wasn't time
for touching yet. He wasn't sure how he knew that, maybe some subtle signal
Alex was sending out. Watching was permitted though, because Alex wasn't
shy about his body since they'd had what Mulder privately referred to as The
Scar Talk. The change in Alex's attitude hadn't been immediate or
complete—he still occasionally got a strange, almost worried look on his
face if Mulder caught him off-guard when he was undressed—but he was more
open now than when they first got together some months ago.
Well, as together as they seem to be... which wasn't much, really. They
both spent most of their time racking up job-related frequent flyer miles.
They also maintained separate residences, because they had agreed from the
beginning that they weren't normal people who could just set up housekeeping
and not draw the wrong kind of attention.
On the rare occasions they were together, they didn't discuss their odd
relationship or talk about their feelings. When they were together, they
just were. Sometimes they had sex, and sometimes they did other things
like watch sports or a movie on television. And one particularly memorable
Saturday afternoon, Alex had taken Mulder to a private shooting range and
tried to help him improve his aim and about a dozen other things that he
thought Mulder was doing wrong. Finally, Alex had thrown up his hands,
muttering that it was a miracle that Mulder had survived this long. Mulder
had felt insulted and almost hurt, until Alex had taken him home and made
love to him for hours until all was forgiven.
Alex stepped out of the red shoes before rolling the tights over the sleek
black briefs that Mulder'd never seen before, and down long hairy legs.
Mulder wondered if he was disappointed that Alex hadn't shaved his legs, but
decided the feeling was merely curiosity about what could have been. He did
miss the shoes and the amazing effect they had on Alex's body, making his
butt seem rounder and perkier, dramatizing the curves of his calves and
ankles, and making him at least four inches taller. Maybe Mulder could get
him to put the shoes on again later.
As Alex took a jar from his bag and started smoothing white cream over his
face, he met Mulder's gaze in the mirror with a puzzled crook of his brow.
Mulder realized that he had stopped talking in the middle of the story he'd
been telling and had been just staring at Alex in silence for a few minutes.
Casting about for something to say, he glanced down the length of Alex's
body and said, "You look okay."
"Yeah well, you won't scare small children, I guess."
"No, that's not— I mean, you're intact and unharmed. Nothing broken,
nothing bruised."
"Ah. Mmm hmm." Alex picked up a washcloth from the sink and started
removing the cold cream and all traces of cosmetics from his face. "Have
you eaten yet? I haven't had anything since early this morning..."
"What sounds good? I don't have much in the kitchen, but there's always
takeout. That Greek place three blocks over just started delivering last
week."
"That sounds good. Don't forget the kourabiedes. I'm going to take a quick
shower..." He paused and rinsed the cloth with more attention than it
deserved. "...Okay?"
"Of course." Mulder stepped forward and dropped a reassuring kiss on Alex's
shoulder, briefly nuzzling the back of his neck before he walked away.
Alex never ceased to be a puzzle to him. Months ago, the man had thought
nothing of breaking into Mulder's apartment whenever he felt like
it—especially if Mulder was out of town. If he needed a place to get
drunk, or recover from a beating, or just hide out for a while, he felt
perfectly comfortable using Mulder's home, and then taunting him with the
knowledge over the phone or by leaving things behind. But now that they
were in a relationship that implied permission for use of the shower or
telephone or whatever, Alex always asked, either outright or silently by his
attitude.
And yet conversely, Alex thought nothing of taking whatever liberties he
wanted to with Mulder himself. Mulder was very glad of that fact when he
hung up the phone after a frustratingly long wait, and went to make sure the
blinds and curtains were closed tightly. Just as he stepped away from the
windows, two strong arms wrapped around him from behind, and Alex nipped at
his ear, asking eagerly, "What'd you get me?"
Mulder bit back a laugh and lied, "I ordered that calamari thing you really
like."
Mulder could feel Alex's smile against the side of his neck right before he
squeezed Mulder hard around the middle and growled into his ear, "You know,
the last guy who tried to feed me squid ended up looking like one."
"What?" Mulder didn't hold back the laugh this time.
"I don't know, but obviously it didn't sound as scary and threatening as I'd
intended." With a lingering kiss to Mulder's neck, Alex released him and
stepped away.
"I'll try to be scared next time." Mulder turned and saw that Alex had
dressed in worn jeans and a heather grey pullover he'd left unbuttoned at
the neck. His hair was still a little damp, and he was barefoot, a
combination that made Mulder surprisingly hot.
"If the sight of me in a skirt didn't frighten you, I'd think you're pretty
unscareable."
"No, you make a very passable woman." Mulder squinted and did his best
Deliverance hillbilly voice, "You got a purty mouth on you, mister."
"Not as 'purty' as yours, Snick—"
Mulder cut off the silly nickname with a kiss, of which Alex quickly took
control, making Mulder forget all about dinner, movies from the Seventies,
and men in dresses. When he began to forget about breathing too, Mulder
pulled back and gasped, "Welcome home."
"I'm glad to be here," Alex whispered, nipping at his lower lip. "I kinda
missed you. Just a little. At bedtime mostly."
"Does that mean you'll stay the night?" Mulder sighed and tried to capture
Alex's roving mouth with his.
"I wouldn't have gone to this much trouble if I wasn't planning on it."
Mulder moved his hands from Alex's biceps and wrapped his arms around his
back. "Mmm...that's good."
"Very good," Mulder murmured into Alex's open mouth, before slipping his
tongue inside for a leisurely taste. They remained standing in Mulder's
living room, just kissing and holding each other, getting reacquainted, and
back in the groove of being together, until a knock at the door interrupted
them. Mulder reluctantly extricated himself from Alex's arms, annoyed at
the intrusion until he remembered that it was probably just the delivery
person.
For the next hour, which was almost distressing in its domesticity, Mulder
and Alex unpacked the containers of food, filled their plates, and ate in
front of the television. They watched a news program, with only a few
random comments about the food, the state of the world, and how fuckable the
entertainment reporter looked in that outfit, an opinion they both agreed
on.
When Mulder finally handed Alex the package of kourabiedes, Alex grinned
widely and leaned against Mulder's side, rubbing his shoulder against
Mulder's arm until he got the hint and put it around Alex's shoulders.
Settling down to watch an action movie that was just coming on, Alex ate his
cookies and snapped his teeth at Mulder when he tried to take one.
Mulder almost moaned when Alex started licking the powdered sugar off his
fingertips with slow teasing flicks of his tongue. "Alex..."
"Oh, I guess I could share." He held up one of the butter cookies for
Mulder to take a bite. Mulder took the cookie, chewed and swallowed quickly
then grabbed Alex's hand and licked the sugar off. He took his time and did
a thorough job of it, grinning when Alex moaned and pulled his hand away.
Mulder was sure they'd move things to the bedroom now, but Alex turned his
attention to the movie and ate another cookie.
The hero of the film had more guns than muscles, but he was laying a pretty
vicious beating on a low-level bad guy when Alex suddenly tilted his head to
look at Mulder and asked, "What changed your mind?"
"About what?" Mulder replied absently, wondering when the main villain was
going to show up and give the hero a real opponent.
"About me. You know, kissing instead of hitting..."
"I don't know... The beginning was that night that you gave me the
information and then kissed me on the cheek. I guess a...umm... a tender
touch can hit harder than a fist sometimes."
"Damn, Mulder, even your metaphors are violent. That's really all it took?"
Mulder ignored the interruption and continued, "That certainly got my
attention, but it wasn't like a lightening bolt that convinced me instantly
of ... the possibilities of you. It was the subsequent phone calls and
visits that really changed my mind about you. It was a gradual process from
wanting to beat you to death to wanting to fuck you to death."
"Lucky me." Alex smirked and rubbed his hand up Mulder's thigh to his
crotch where he teased and petted Mulder to arousal. "So...would you like
to get started on that project now?"
Pretending he wasn't already getting hard under Alex's touch, Mulder glanced
at his watch and said, "Sure, I've got some free time. I don't suppose
you'd wear the shoes again...?"
"No, but you're more than welcome to." Alex stood up and pulled Mulder to
his feet.
"Uhh, I don't think so, but I'll keep it in mind."
"I just bet you will." He tugged Mulder toward the bedroom and offered,
"Come on and see how close you can get tonight."
"I'll try to stop before I actually kill you. I like having you around too
much to do anything to change it."
"You're not gonna get mushy, are you?"
Mulder shuddered theatrically and said, "No. Heaven forbid I should mention
feelings to Mr.-I-Gotta-Be-Drunk-To-Say-I-Love-You."
"Hey! You said you wouldn't throw that up in my face." Alex stopped in his
tracks and crossed his arms over his chest. He gave Mulder that obstinate
look that said he'd stand there until dawn waiting for an apology or
whatever it was he wanted.
They were right outside the bedroom door now, and Mulder gazed longingly
over Alex's shoulder at the bed with its rumpled covers and plump pillows.
He was sincerely sorry he'd brought it up, but for a moment his own stubborn
streak urged him to stand here and make Alex admit his feelings again so
that Mulder would be free to express his own.
He looked at the bed and then he looked back at Alex, whose eyes were
narrowed and his mouth set. He looked back at the bed and sighed.
"What do you want from me, Alex? I'm sorry I said anything. We don't have
to mention it again. Now get your ass in that bedroom before I kick it and
take you where you stand."
Alex grinned slyly and licked his lips as he purred, "So...the tough guy
returns, huh? Much better. Just for that, I may fuck you instead."
Shaking his head, Mulder pushed Alex up against the doorframe with his body
while he grabbed his wrists with his hands. "You are one perverse son of a
bitch, you know that? Why do I put up with you?"
Alex looked at him with innocently wide eyes, and spoke with the air of one
stating the obvious. "Because you love me, Fox." He punctuated the words
with a soft kiss to Mulder's lips.
Mulder rolled his eyes and muttered, "Perverse... Yeah, that's the word for
you. Sickeningly perverse."
"It's better than some that I've heard." Alex shifted his hips against
Mulder's, rubbing their denim-covered erections together. "Now are we gonna
talk all night or what?"
Mulder grinned and stepped back to release Alex. He stripped off his
T-shirt and urged Alex into the bedroom with a firm hand on his back. "Or
what. Haven't you heard that actions speak louder than words?"
"That's why I keep coming back to you," replied Alex as he shut the door
firmly behind them.
The End
Possibilities
by Amy B
Mulder awoke from a light dreamless sleep with a tongue in his ear. He lay
still for a moment and wondered how he knew it was a tongue—it could
conceivably be some other soft, wet thing— and to whom it could be
attached. If it were anyone other than Alex Krycek, this would get very
weird, very fast.
