most_unwanted | [Voice]

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[Voice]

[There's a quiet crunching sound before Mulder speaks up, sounding thoughtful.]

Show of metaphorical hands. Or antennae, whichever you're partial to: Who here has been kidnapped for a special one-on-one date with our captors? I'd like to arrange an off-journal meeting to speak about your personal experiences if anyone happens to have some free time. It shouldn't take long, just a few minutes. I'll be hanging around the shops in town most of the day, I've got some... supplies I've been meaning to find. [Still looking for a basketball, woe and alas.] We can always head elsewhere from there, though.

I understand that it's a sensitive topic for most people, and it's all right if you'd rather not talk about it. Or if you'd rather be anonymous, just slip a note under my door detailing anything you can remember about the experience itself. Anything at all, before, during, after. Your answers will be kept in confidence. I'm in Community Building 7, Floor 2, Room 10.

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[This fact makes Robert happy. Though he can't really tell it, yet.

The joke goes over his head too, derp. But he does smile anxiously.]

Yes... I, er, h-have no prior engagements myself.

... Please, l-lead the way...

[Which Mulder is pretty used to, his buddies having their own set of social quirks. He smiles encouragingly.]

All right then. Let's head out.

[Off to C7 and his place they go.]

[~~They're off to see the wizard, the wonderful wizard of social failure~ o/`~~

Robert carefully follows Mulder, his own hydroponics material bundled obsessively in his arms, like he was carrying a baby instead of a pump, tubing and wiring.

He really appreciates Mulder accepting his presence like this. It's gratifying.]

[Mulder carries along all of his stuff, just as glad to not be spending another afternoon alone. A guy could go crazy from too much isolation. So he heads along and leads the way in and along toward to his apartment.]

Home sweet home.

[Indeed. Robert knows that all too well.

Robert follows Mulder closely, looking curiously at everything along the way - he has been to this community building before, to visit Helios and Giles, but he has never been on this floor.]

And this is... your apartment, Mr. Mulder?

You've got it. If you ever need to stop by for anything, feel free to.

[He feels like Robert is one of those who he could trust, and wouldn't mind being interrupted by for anything.]

[As he leads the way in, it's clear Mulder has been doing a lot of work- he has files set around all over the place, on almost all the surfaces. It's a pretty average apartment aside from that. His aquarium and its sole goldfish occupant are off in one corner. In another corner hangs a fake UFO that he'd acquired when someone had played an April Fools' prank on him- he thought it was pretty cool so he'd kept it.]

I am... m-much obliged. Thank you, Mr. Mulder...

[In the meantime, Robert takes the opportunity to look around the apartment. That poor goldfish does look lonely - but the files scattered all over the place grab Robert's attention first. It really reminds him of Helios and definitely makes him want to organize them.]

... Ah, are th-those the files you mentioned?

The very same infamous files, you've got it. I guess you can see I wasn't exaggerating about hardly taking time off work.

[Mulder goes to move a couple of the piles off the chairs at least.]

Hardly an i-issue, of course. I... I am similar in that regard.

[With the addition of Robert obsessively organizing all the files afterward - and he has few things that are physical papers, anyway.

Then, when Mulder approaches the piles on the chairs - as if on cue, Robert begins to organize one of the stacks on a nearby chair, going through it with a ridiculously-thorough air mixed with mingling distate for paper files.]

[He's got to work with what he has, after all, and at the moment it's all been paper and folders. Still, Mulder hopes it won't take them too long to organize. After all, he hasn't been here long enough to accumulate anything like the entirety of the X-Files back home. Now that would have been a project, since it started long before he'd gotten there.]

I guess it must be our way of coping. At least it has been for me, in the past, searching for answers which might not even exist...

[Robert continues to organize as he speaks. Doing so, he probably ends up broadcasting all those little quirks to Mulder - the specific way in which he handles paper, making sure it doesn't bend or make crinkling noises, and with that slight discomfort reminiscent of someone holding an exotic animal pelt.]

Y-yes, I... I do tend to be much the same way. It is... unsatisfying to not scientifically explore the world...

Though... I m-must confess the lack of logic here has been... disquieting, at times.

[Yeah, Mulder notices, and picks up on the little quirks. He's always been pretty good at noticing details about people, he's always had that psychologist side to him.]

I have to agree. It's rare that they follow any logic, at least not that we can readily figure out. It's still disturbingly like home for me.

[Robert is a veritable cornucopia of that sort of thing.

As he works, he organizes the papers in a very particular fashion, almost without realizing it.]

I... I must wonder what the eventual outcome was intended to be.

But one can... n-never tell, with the Malnosso. Or... or so it seems.

There's a lot that I'd like to know, but since they're not willing to answer... we'll have to keep looking for the answers in other ways. That's why I'm gathering and compiling as much information as I possibly can, to find some pattern or something useful...

[Mulder notices that the work is going a lot quicker with the help, something he's glad to see.]

Any information that you can gather is an asset, here... a-and it is one of the few things I can... assist with.

[It's reassuring, even if it's paper-relate. Something repetitive, structured... like the motion equivalent of white noise.]

I still wish the Malnosso would... cooperate with us.

They won't... which is why we have to get creative with ways of figuring things out. I'm used to going up against people who won't play fair.

[It's nice to have someone around to talk while sorting all of this stuff, Mulder is finding... he'd be doing this alone otherwise.]

You would... not even entertain the p-possibility of anything otherwise? [Robert might be more hopeful than he lets on. If Molly will ever talk to him...

... And, really, Robert appreciates the company too. If he wasn't with Mulder, he'd probably be home alone right now.]

Well, I don't know... it's not the first time I've dealt with people like this, so I'd be wary of giving them the benefit of the doubt. For the most part. I'm open to still... trying any possibilities, though...

[Just not to getting his hopes up about anything.]

[Robert continues to organize the stacks of files, which are rapidly decreasing in size.]

I... am likewise open to the possibility.

Though, perhaps, it is... facetious to think they would be h-helpful...

[But they're scientists. They're the only real scientific community in the area. As terrifying and as rage-inducing as their methods are, Robert misses being a part of the process of science.]

[They're making quick work of things, Mulder is glad about this.]

You can't be too careful. An old... I guess you could call him an associate, of mine, once spoke these words- 'trust no one'. [The man's dying words, from what he'd been told.] I suppose it's extreme to go that far, but you still want to be careful of people. Especially people in a position that the Malnosso are in.

That is true, but at this point I wonder what would be... m-much worse than what they have already done.

[Does Robert sound like he's speaking a little more easily now? He's gradually getting more comfortable with Mulder - even though this is a face-to-face situation.]

... At any rate, I do not think we can get anywhere without at least an... attempt to reach out, in this regard. Though I certainly understand the a-arguments to the contrary.

[Mulder does notice there's a difference, something he's glad to see.]

I won't deny that we at least could use an ally or two over there. Someone on the inside could be our ticket to finally changing things.

That... is what I hope.

[The last few papers on Robert's side are shuffled into what looks like a cohesive unit, and he stands up a little shakily.]

... Ah... w-well, it looks as though I have finished...

[Almost shyly:] Shall I assist with you as well, Mr. Mulder?

[He's not making excuses to stay or anything, nope.]

[And Mulder doesn't seem to mind at all.]

Go for it. You know, I might have some coffee or something if you'd like to stay a little longer once we're done...

[Robert takes his place next to Mulder instead, sorting out the files that he has left to organize.]

I... would be most obliged, Mr. Mulder.

[It feels good to be wanted around. Robert actually has friends. Sometimes he still can't get over that.]

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