they sleep in the same bed, share meals, spend most of their time together doing research and working on other cases—but do they talk? really talk? about the tension and the awkwardness and the way she still flinches whenever he touches her even with warning? or about the fact that no matter how hard he tries, mulder can't help but linger in her space?

it's torture, it's being locked in the basement office with him, it's watching through a glass door as diana takes his hand and smiles. it's mulder's voice saying words she cannot erase from her memory, fibreglass stuck in her capillaries.

long days of silence followed by even longer sleepless nights. scully refuses to give in and move to the guest room so whenever the dreams get to her, she's stuck in the bathroom relearning how to breathe.

despite everything, though, he's still mulder. she watches him—sunflower seeds, shitty movies, shittier jokes, a spark of warmth in his eyes—and sees him again, not a mask of apathy, and the part that misses him begins urging her back into his orbit.

neither of them ever consciously makes the decision to slowly tear down their walls and yet it happens day by day, week by week. old habits seeping through the cracks.

the first time she wears one of his sweatshirts it takes her two hours to notice and then she cannot bring herself to take it off—she's cold, that's all, she tells herself (he never asks, she never tells). mulder's hand lands on her lower back more and more frequently, and she stops flinching, allowing him to touch, to lead, to shield her from prying eyes like he's always done. he's her partner, unwavering and determined and soft.

he never forgot how she likes her coffee, that she reads the newspaper out of order, that she needs a glass of wine and a long, hot bath at least twice a week. patient and attentive and the friend she's been aching for.

it scares her shitless whenever he manages to make her laugh, the sound having become oddly foreign to her own ears. scully's afraid of the air vibrating in her lungs and the lightness in her head, the way she can forget about everything for a moment. the anger doesn't disappear but it makes space for familiar fondness and the warmth radiating off of him whenever she stands too close to him which is more often than not.

eventually, they talk. awkwardly, slowly, with her voice raised and his eyes trained on her as he listens to every word. there are apologies spoken for things she's already forgiven him for but she needs to hear them anyway. the first time she seeks out his embrace they both cry; something breaks open and finally gets a chance to heal.

Mister and Missus Spooky...

from floor planning to interior design this is a nightmare. sloppy. horrible. not thought through. no thought put into it at all except "make it look rich" probably.

i will give you some examples because i cannot overstate HOW deeply fucked up this house's design is.

and mind you, that house EXISTS. i found it. and yes, it's rich people shit. have a picture and the "property details" that made me feel like i was having a stroke while reading them.

so if anyone has like 3 million on hand here's something to buy.

now the horrible inside:

i'm trying to create a floor plan for my arcadia fic and honestly this is beyond depressing. no wonder they wanted to get out of there asap