[Nb: idea for a story, where you take the episode as scripted, but have *one* character playing straight man (so to speak) trying to follow his lines, and the *other* getting silly, and interrupting him, and drawing the plot off track further and further, and teasing and seducing and so on, and see how long it takes before 'Sleepless' for instance ends up in a honeymoon suite in Niagara Falls instead of in the Bronx Station.]

***

Krycek (angry, striding, pointing--all in all, confrontational): "I paid off your cab--yeah--I don't appreciate being ditched like someone's bad date." He reaches Mulder, then pulls up short as Mulder starts walking away toward the car. Krycek follows.

Mulder: "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings, hot stuff." He looks over his shoulder, winks.

Krycek looks startled, then slips back into character, radiating irritable, but also "genuinely bewildered" disbelief: "Where do get off copping this *attitude*? ...I mean, you don't even know the first thing about me."

Mulder (giving him a pointed look): "Exactly." Then he grins, waggles his brows. "But we could rectify that, couldn't we, peaches?"

Annoyed, Krycek slows, falling slightly behind, forcing Mulder to turn and face him. "Mulder," he hisses in exasperation, drawing close, then pausing to look surreptitiously around, "this is *not* in the script. Cut it out." He clears his throat, goes on in a more normal voice: "You know, back at the Academy, some of the guys used to make fun of you."

Mulder (sarcastically): "Oh stop it, now you're going to hurt *my* feelings." And then he bends over, covering his face with his hands. He appears to be sobbing.

Kryeck: "*Some* of us followed your work...Mulder! Pay attention!" Clears throat again, continues with a nervous stammer, looking around all the while, as if he expects someone to slide out of the shadows and say 'cut'. "Be-believed in what you were doing because we knew that there was more out there than they were telling us--*damn* it, Mulder, stop that...I *know* you're not crying...Mulder?"

Mulder (in a heap on the ground): "Oh, Krycek, it's so hard, Krycek, you don't know, everyone always mocking you--me, I mean--mocking, mocking, mock--"

Krycek: "Shut *up*! I'm not...I'm not mocking you, okay? Mulder...Mulder..." He nears, kneels down next to the other agent. "This is way too soon for this, you know." He sighs, pats Mulder's shoulder awkwardly. "You're a wreck, aren't you, baby. Easy, easy..." He sighs, continues to himself, "I don't know how they expect you to get through this entire script." Poor fucked up bastard, he thinks. But very cute...

***

To be continued *some* day...