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[ If nothing else it's more efficient to have less layers between them, and more around them; it makes sense, but as she settles on the chilled sheets, she can't entirely suppress the shiver that ripples through her. It shouldn't take too long to warm up, but as he climbs into the bed she inches toward him instinctively. ]

It does feel a little warmer to the touch,

[ She runs a hand over the allegedly-magic blanket, while another hand burrows into the thick fur of one of his tails where it drapes over her. But there's no mistaking that he's the main source of warmth right now, and it's such a relief having him here, a sentiment she doesn't exactly mean to share but which he can probably feel anyway.

Everything is cast in soft, flickering shadows, and it should probably feel more awkward than it does. ]

At least we're indoors, [ she sighs. Usually they aren't so lucky when they're caught in the cold. ]

I'll take this over a car any day. Or a field. Or the middle of the woods. Here -

[ He moves closer, putting an arm around her and pulling her toward his chest. The goal, he tells himself, is avoiding snake hypothermia. He's deliberately not thinking about the way he can feel her scales beneath the smooth fabric of her top, or the scent of her hair, or the -

Not thinking about any of it, hardly letting himself register feeling it. Without realizing it, he's managed to cut off some of his feelings from the connection between them, the sense of comfort that comes of touching her. ]

Indian Guide training. I have body heat to spare; we need to use it. At least until the blanket warms up.

Mmn. No more trips to the woods.

[ They do tend to go horribly, after all. This, though, it's nice; she can tell herself it's only nice because she's craving warmth and he has it to offer in abundance. Or that it's sensible that Synchrony feels rewarding, biologically, since it's apparently a necessary process for beings on this planet.

Part of her dimly thinks she ought to protest, or make more effort to hold herself apart, but drowsily she just leans into him and tries not to feel weird about not feeling weird about it.

She mumbles something suspiciously like two people in a sleeping bag and heaves a relaxed sigh. ]

Exactly.

[ Two people in a sleeping bag, one with four arms. This is completely reasonable, basic first aid - and given just how cool she is to the touch, it's clearly necessary. Her head tucks easily beneath his furry chin, several of his tails flopping over her hips.

Or where her hips would be, anyway. At some point, it's all tail. ]

So. How about them Yankees?

[ It's like an unhinged riddle: what has six arms, two legs, ten tails--?

If he wasn't here, she doesn't know what she'd have done. There isn't anyone else she'd want to invite over like this, not even considering the lure of his built-in blankets. Sharing a bed is, okay, exceedingly unusual and definitely breaks protocol, but she's fallen asleep beside him in cars, on planes, in strange little towns across the country; in the woods, in quarantine rooms, in the snow. This is really as close to familiar as anything here can get, isn't it? ]

Hmn. If I paid more attention to sports I could tell you what to bet on.

[ When he goes home. However that works. ]

Are you comfortable enough? It's kind of heavy, I know--

[ Perhaps tellingly, though, she makes no effort to actually move her coils off him. If not for cuddles, why is made of warm? ]

[ --and two heads intent on forgetting just what it is. ]

You're ruining my get-rich-quick scams here, Scully.

[ Part of him wants to know, but really, isn't the fun of baseball seeing the game played? Hearing that the Cleveland Indians are going to take the pennant next year just isn't the same, particularly when Scully's tepid interest would mean the whole thing ended up garbled anyway.

On the other hand, if the Knicks finally won the championship, he'd gladly wait to see it with bated breath. ]

It's fine. Kind of comfortable, actually. [ He has no idea what a weighted blanket is, but it turns out he likes it. ] I wonder if this is how mice feel when pythons suffocate them.

[ The last couple of years have, in fairness, been a bit busy; she'll have to pick up a sports stats book next time she's planning to travel through time, space, and dimensions. Live and learn, eh.

She huffs an easy laugh; it's not so hard to pretend they're just on a case or something. A cow through the hotel wall, a freak snowstorm, trapped in an old house. It's easier tucked against him, not looking up at his face. ]

Probably not; besides, I'm venomous, not a constrictor.

Are you sure? Because this is a little constricting.

[ Not that constricting, though, judging by the amusement in his voice. Without thinking, his paw ends up at her wrist, one of the extra ones, rough finger pads moving over her skin. ]

Have you tried biting anything since you got here? Sounds like you could moonlight in pest control if the scientist thing doesn't work out.

I took samples, for the lab.

[ Which sidesteps the question of whether she's bitten anyone. There are conversations they don't need to have, after all. ]

It's like anything else with these transformations-- [ read: chemically, an aphrodisiac; ] and I'd expect mildly hallucinogenic. [ She yawns, not moving her bulk off him; if anything the coziness lulls her into wrapping the tip of her tail loosely around his ankle. ] Structurally it's similar to an ergotamine derivative.

As in ergot poisoning? It might be more than mildly hallucinogenic.

[ His partner could cause an entire witch hunt. That's the kind of news a man loves to hear.

That she hasn't answered the real question hasn't escaped him - but then, neither has the way she's let her tail slide neatly around his leg. It's a trade-off of sorts, a reminder of everything he can't know mixed up with a kind of lazy affection that's all his.

She's getting warmer, her body no longer chilled. He should probably move away from her, at least enough to make this look vaguely professional.

He doesn't move. ]

[ It's what she's been trying to make him understand, except she refuses to actually explain it. Under any circumstances it's unreasonable for him to criticize her sex life--but doing so while they share a much deeper, easier intimacy she doesn't confer on anyone else... just seems petty.

The literal sort of sleeping with someone requires more trust than the euphemistic, for her. ]

Similar, but not identical. More like something that could be used recreationally. I suspect there's a tendency towards characteristics that promote pleasurable synchrony during transformations. Difficult to research, though.

It doesn't have to be. All you need is some venom and a test subject.

[ Consider, though: if they've always had this level of intimacy, it feels peculiarly mundane now. Mulder's used to being special. ]

And you've already got the venom. Why don't we test it on me?

[ In the darkness, there might be a way to hide the bemused, awkward nature of her brief silence... except it rings as clear in the bond between them as though spoken aloud. So much for her gentle phrasing. ]

Mulder-- everything here like that, it's almost always an aphrodisiac.

[ No getting high without getting hot under the collar. ]

I had an inkling, Scully.

[ The beautiful thing about that self-same bond is the fact that she can feel his brain rolling his eyeballs. ]

I'm talking about a lab test here. Controlled setting, controlled amount of venom. You have colleagues who could administer the dose and monitor my status, right?

[ Not that he'd be opposed to her doing it, but there's no denying that that would become a complicating factor in the results. ]

Alternatively, you could advertise a double-blind study and select random applicants, but that sounds like a lot of overhead when I'm guessing they don't have peer-reviewed journals here.

[ There's an answering flare of something best described as Mulder, why before she manages to carefully not think too hard on it; thank God she's good at compartmentalization. ]

I appreciate your devotion to science, Mulder, but I'm not sure it's the best use of your time and talents. We know what it does well enough, there isn't much application for it.

[ And sitting alone in the lab, hallucinating and horny, doesn't sound like much fun.

There are probably other snakes who'd take a nibble, she imagines, if he's just looking for a good time. ]

And mold's just mold until Salk discovers penicillin.

[ Maybe there's a value beyond it makes sex weird. But Mulder, why reads a little more like Mulder, no when he feels it. Time to change his tack. ]

Does your transformation have any other special features I should know about? While we're on the subject.

Other than four arms and half a ton of muscle?

[ Most of what you get, she thinks, is what you see. ]

My sense of smell... or taste? It's a little of both, and very sensitive. Goes along with the tongue, I guess. And... I'm drawn to warmth, probably because I don't thermoregulate like a mammal ought to. I never need to come up for air swimming, but like this it's... well, just different. The pressure doesn't bother me either.

[ she pauses, idly carding fingers through the long fur of his tail. ]

At this point it's strange to think how accustomed I've gotten to it.

[ she picks up her head a little, though nestled against him like this it isn't enough to see his face. ]

How about you?

[ All things she's mentioned, or that he's observed. He's still envious of the swimming ability, but the rest, he's not sorry to miss out on. ]

More transformations. It turns out, if you don't mind your women hairy, I'm not half bad looking.

[ That one takes her a minute to parse, a faint flutter of puzzled consideration. ]

You... turned into a woman? While you were already a fox?

[ that's new and unexpected.

~~And not at all intriguing. Obviously.~~ ]

What can I say? I had to know.

[ Something just a little smug passes through his skin to hers; catching Scully off-guard is always satisfying. ]

There are a few other options, as far as transforming goes, but changing my sex was definitely the most interesting one.

I haven't really known many people with rubies, I'd never heard of that.

[ The ability is surprising, his curiosity... well, less so. Wouldn't anyone be curious?

Somehow asking for more information-- or, heaven forbid, a demonstration-- feels prurient. Maybe someday, in the well- lit, impersonal safety of the lab. For science. Not for prurient curiosity. ]

There was one month when I was-- something different. A sort of dragon, and then I was able to be... fully that. It wasn't like normal, I don't know if I could manage it again.

It might be limited to this form. I wouldn't know - I've been a fox every month so far. Noctium has a perverse sense of humor.

[ But considering they're under a blanket that only works if you're touching someone else, they already knew that. ]

Fully a dragon? You mean, without human consciousness?

I mean physically-- initially it was similar to this form, except four-legged. Recognizably human from the waist up.

[ more or less. The reptilian eyes, at this point, are nearly as familiar as her own. ]

I didn't feel totally myself, but it was more like- not that changing took away my sense of self, more like something let me change further. It wasn't just me-- a lot of people had new, uncomfortable transformations. Like being possessed.

What did it feel like? Losing control, or gaining it?

[ A clarity of purpose, or ever-increasing chaos? Mulder doesn't envy Scully the experience, really, but the opportunity to understand their situation a little more - that, he'd gladly take.

He's stroking her inner wrist without much thought as he asks. They're already wrapped up in each other - well, him, wrapped up in her, specifically - but the desire to touch her is both latent and inescapable. ]

Foreign.

[ there's no other way to explain it. That was part of the horror for her-- Scully wants iron clad control at all times, the idea of something taking the reins of her body is abhorrent. ]

Being driven to distraction by fear and anger that wasn't my own. Like I was just matter for something else to shape and use. I've seen people take that form since and it's like any of the others, but... I haven't, and I'm willing to admit I hope I don't.

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