Title: Dim All the Lights
By: angstytimelord
Pairing: Tenth Doctor/Fox Mulder
Fandom: Doctor Who/The X-Files
Rating: PG-13
Table: VRD challenge - Orange, 5_prompts
Prompt: Orange lights in a café
Disclaimer: This is entirely a product of my imagination, and I make no profit from it. I do not own the Tenth Doctor or Fox Mulder, unfortunately. Please do not sue.

***

"This is a lovely place, isn't it?" the Doctor sighed as he leaned back in his chair and looked over at the man sitting across the table from him. Mulder met his gaze steadily, a smile curving his lips. "Is the lighting and the romantic setting part of your seduction technique?"

"I wasn't aware that I had to seduce you." Mulder laughed softly, his gaze never leaving the Time Lord's face. "I thought it was you who seduced me, considering that I'm having a hard time keeping my eyes and my hands off you."

"This is odd for you, isn't it, Fox?" the Doctor asked, his voice soft. "I know that you're not used to being with a man. You've told me that. I don't want to make you feel uncomfortable. If you'd rather we were more private about our relationship, just say so."

Mulder shook his head, looking around the café they were in. The soft orange lights cast a golden glow over their surroundings, and there were only a few people scattered here and there about the place, none of them paying any attention to the two of them.

"I don't mind people seeing us together," he told the Doctor, shaking his head. "I'm not in the FBI any more, and my personal life is my own. I can do what I want -- and that includes being with who I want to be with. I don't have to feel like I should hid any more."

"Did you feel like that when you were in the FBI?" the Doctor asked, his tone curious. "I know that you were probably watched closely -- but surely your work didn't dictate who you could be with. They didn't have that much control over your personal life, did they?"

Mulder smiled wryly, sighing as he leaned back in his chair. "Most people who work for the FBI aren't as closely watched as I was. But remember, I was 'Spooky' Mulder -- the crazy guy who was always seeing UFOs and little green men."

"And now, you're in a relationship with one of those proverbial little green men," the Doctor said with a laugh. "I wonder what your former colleagues would think of that? They'd probably decide that you were mentally unbalanced and back away from you."

The look on Mulder's face was, if anything, even more wry than his smile. "They already thought that. It was the preferred way of looking at me for most people in the Bureau for a long time. I never lost that label the entire time I was working there."

The Doctor nodded, sighing softly and wishing that there was some way he could turn back time and change all of that. But if he did, then the man sitting across from him now wouldn't be the same person. If he changed the past, there was no guarantee that the two of them would ever meet.

No, it was better to leave things as they were. Maybe Mulder was somewhat damaged by the ostracism he'd lived with through a good deal of his life, but it had also made him a strong person. It had made him the man who the Doctor had fallen in love with.

"Being here brings back some memories," Mulder continued, his gaze roaming around the café. "I used to come here a lot. I always brought a book with me, ordered a latté and read at a corner table. Nobody ever wanted to talk to me then."

"I find that hard to believe," the Doctor said with a teasing glance at the other man. "You're a good-looking man, Fox. I'm sure that there were plenty of people who wanted to talk to you -- they were just put off by the fact that you looked aloof and unapproachable."

"That might be true," Mulder conceded, flinching a little at the Doctor's use of his given name. He hated it, and he usually didn't let people call him by that name -- but there was something about the way his name sounded on the Doctor's lips that didn't grate on his ears.

Why was it that they hadn't slept together yet? He wanted the Doctor, and he knew beyond any shadow of a doubt that the Time Lord wanted him. But yet, here they were, sitting in a café and tossing longing looks at each other.

It was time to stop dancing around each other in a civilized mating game; the two of them should know each other well enough by now to throw all pretense aside. Standing up, Mulder held out his hand to the Doctor, a look of determination on his face.

The Time Lord looked up at him brows raised in question, as though he was wondering just what was going through his mind. Mulder couldn't hold back a smirk at that thought; if the Doctor knew what he was thinking, he would probably blush with embarrassment.

"Come on," he said softly, all the desire that he felt for the Doctor evident in his tone. "I think it's time we stopped beating around the bush and were honest about what we really want to be doing. We've wasted too much time already, haven't we?"

"Indeed we have," the Time Lord answered, his voice soft. He got to his feet, letting Mulder slide an arm around his waist. "But I wanted you to be sure that this is what you want. I didn't want to push you into anything you might not be ready for."

"I've always shied away from relationships," Mulder admitted, sighing softly and shaking his head. "But I know that I want to be with you. And I'm feeling kind of frustrated that I haven't had the balls to do anything about those feelings yet."

"I've been more than a little frustrated, too," the Doctor told him, placing a finger against his lips. "But that's in the past, Fox. We've waited long enough. If you're sure that this is the right time, then I'm not going to argue with you."

Mulder tightened his arm around the Doctor's slender waist as the two of them made their way out of the café, his heart surging in anticipation. The two of them headed for the Tardis with quick, purposeful steps, ready to dim all the lights there in preparation for their romantic evening.

***