Nightly Muse 1/5 by E. Livingstone
Lisa Reeves
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----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Erin Livingstone <exd...@llano.net>
Subject: Nightly Muse (1/5) by E. Livingstone
Nightly Muse (1/5)
by E. Livingstone
Spoiler: None
Rating: PG
No real M/S romance, but a whole lot of UST.
Classifiation: X, UST
Summary: Mulder and Scully investigate
an artist with an un usual sleeping dissorder.
Disclamer: The characters belong to Fox,
Chris Carter, etc..... not me.
Threre is a picture (JPG) I made to go with
this story, if your interested I would be happy
to send it to you.
I would love some feed back.
Please send to Ee...@aol.com
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Nightly Muse
by E. Livingstone
Part 1
**********************************************1
He felt the warmth of the sun playing against
the bare skin of his back. The sensation woke
him and he lifted his face out of the throw pillow
that he clung to. Pushing himself up off the
small couch, he sat back on his knees and
saw the bright blotches of reds and blues that
crisscrossed his torso and arms. Looking towards
the nearby studio, he saw the freshly painted
canvas. The woman's face painted on it seemed
to be staring back at him, her eyes looking right
through him. Dropping his head into his paint
covered hands he just kept saying, "Not again."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Fox Mulder sat with his feet up on his desk turning
the small piece of paper he held over and over. He
was deep in thought as his partner entered their
small basement office. She studied him for a moment,
trying to decipher what he was thinking, but gave up.
Realizing that with him, it was anybody's guess.
"So?"
He looked up, "What?"
"You've got something on your mind. So....are you
going to tell me?"
"How do you feel about art, Scully?"
"This isn't going to be another discussion on the
artistic quality of Playboy's photographs is it?"
"Actually I was going to ask if you wanted to go
to an art gallery with me." He held up the invitation,
"exclusive invite to a hot new artist's one man show."
She eyed him suspiciously, "Why?"
"Don't look at me like that... maybe I just would
like to spend an evening of culture out with my
lovely partner."
"If my choices of your intentions are either you're
up to something, or you want to go on a date with
me, which one do you think I'm going to choose?"
She asked raising an eyebrow at him.
He got up from his desk and moved closer to her,
close enough that he was invading her space.
With a mischievous grin he asked, "Which would
you like, to choose?"
Any clever remark she planned on, left her as
she stood before him, trying not to notice that
the temperature of the office seamed to jump
about 20 degrees.
His smile widened as saw her flush slightly.
Lifting the invitation, he handed it to her. She
took it and saw that it was a standard invitation,
except at the bottom someone had hand written
'I need your help'. It was signed by the artist of
the show that was opening that night.
"What do you think he wants?"
"I have no idea. But I'd like to find out... so...
you coming?"
"An evening of culture with you.... I wouldn't
miss it."
"What do people wear to something like this?"
"Probably safest to wear something black."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They entered the art gallery, moving into a
large group of people that had already gathered.
Scully was trying to see the paintings that
were being exhibited but her lack of height
was making it next to impossible. Mulder on
the other hand was trying to find the artist, he
had spotted his picture displayed at the door
and he was scanning the room looking for him.
As they fought there way through the crowd
Scully became separated from Mulder and
every time she thought she had found him
again, it turned out to be a waiter. He had
ignored her advice and worn his standard
white shirt, loud tie combination. Unfortunately
his outfit was almost identical to the ones worn
by the wait staff. After declining the fourth glass
of champagne that had been offered to her, Scully
wove through the crowd and came face to face
with an enormous painting of a woman.The colors
were vibrant, dramatic and very powerful. The
woman had flaming red hair and framing a round
face, but it was her eyes that Scully were drawn
to--bright green eyes that seemed to be looking
into Scully's very soul. From behind her, a tall man
approached, drinking the last of his champagne
and looking rather board.
"Do you like it?" he asked.
"It's stunning...I feel...."
"Oh, God...please don't tell me that it
speaks to you.."
She turned, looking at him startled at
his rudeness.
"Sorry...but if I hear one more of these
pretentious....they don't care what it
says, just who's names on the bottom
of it."
"Well if it makes you feel better, I like it
and I could careless about who painted it."
"Yes, actually it does, but it's a bit of a
double edged sword I'm afraid. You see,
that name on the bottom of the painting,
it's mine."
"Your the artist?'
"Kale Smith." Turning, he grabbed two
glasses of champagne off a waiters tray
as he passed by, handing one to Scully
and asking, "And you are?"
"Special Agent Dana Scully", She pulled
the invitation out of her jacket pocket
handing it to him, "You asked for our help."
"The FBI...Yes.... I'm glad you could come,
unfortunately I'm required to mingle, at least
for a little while. Could you give me a few
minutes and I'll explain everything."
"I'll just look at your work, while I wait."
Mulder had finally made his way through
the crowd to find her standing with the
man he had been searching for. As he
was about to speak, the man turned,
holding up his almost empty glass and
said, "Oh great, I could use a refill. I'll be
right over there." he pointed across the
room and walked away.
Scully looked at down, trying not to laugh.
He just glared at her.
"It's not funny. Do you know how many
people have asked me if there are any
more hors d'oeuvres?"
"I told you to wear black." She laughed
Mulder looked at the painting of the red
headed woman in front of him.
"Relative?" He asked Scully.
"Not that I know of."
Lacing her arm through his, "Come on, our
mysterious artist is going to be awhile, so
why don't we get some of that culture you
promised me."
They walked through the gallery together,
looking at the paintings. All the pictures
had the same woman in them, same red
hair, same green eyes. Mostly close-ups
of her face. They were, as she had said
earlier, stunning. In some paintings the
woman's eyes held a sense of devastating
sadness, some showed fear. Yet in others
she seemed to be glowing with utter joy and
there were a few where she seemed to be
expressing all the emotions simultaneously.
"Strange use of angles, don't you think?"
Mulder asked his partner.
She nodded in agreement. The artists use
of perspective in the full body paintings made
her look distorted, like having to sit in the far
corner of the first row at the movies. But even
odder was how some of the paintings seemed
to be divided in wide vertical stripes.
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"Sorry...," he apologized as he ushered them
in to a small back office about a half an hour
later. And with a grin, he looked a Mulder,
"and I'm still waiting on that drink, by the way."
"Funny..." Mulder, mumbled under his breath.
There were a couple chairs, a small desk and
a few paintings stacked against the wall, but
other than that the room was empty. Kale held
out a hand to offer the chairs to them and they
accepted.
"So tell us exactly why we are here, Mr. Smith."
Mulder asked.
"Kale, please." He replied as he sat on the desk.
"I heard that you handle...shall we say...
unusual cases."
That's an understatement, thought Scully to
herself. Mulder turned and gave her a strange
look, as if reading her thoughts.
"We handle unexplained phenomena."
"Well, I've got one for you," He jumped down off
the desk and picked up one of the paintings in the
corner of the room, showing it to them. It was of a
seascape, crashing waves, setting sun, the kind
you would see in most any Motel 6. Both Mulder
and Scully looked at him blankly, wondering where
he was going with this. "I painted this eight months
ago...this is how I painted eight month ago."
Scully finally spoke, "I'm afraid I don't understand....
you changed your painting style... and...."
"You don't get it... this is how I paint...not
bold colorful strokes...not dramatic angles...I paint
like this." He said pointing to the seascape.
" I had a little art studio, I'd go paint once in a
while, to relax. Six months ago I woke up and
was painting like that." He pointed toward the
gallery beyond the door.
It was Mulder's turn, "Well, that is odd, but...."
No...your still not getting it, " He ran a hand
through his hair, frustrated. Setting down the
painting and picking up another one of the woman.
"I literally woke up six months ago to this. I have
no memory of painting it. I don't remember painting
any of the ones filling the gallery."
"Are you trying to tell us that you painted them in
your sleep?"
"That's what I had come to believe.....I guess
I still do." He was staring intensely at the
painting. "Every night, it's like she haunts
me...I wake up and she's there, looking back
at me from my own canvas."
"Who is this woman you keep painting?"
"I have no idea...I had never seen her before
...until I painted her."
"Well, whereas that is unusual, I'm still not
quite sure why you contacted us. We generally
handle cases where a crime has been committed."
"I'm not sure there hasn't been, " He walked over
and picked up the last painting, "or isn't going to be.
I've heard of people being able to see things before
they happen...Last week I woke to this." He turned
the painting towards them to see the woman laying
sprawled on the ground, her green eyes staring
upwards, lifeless. Her body covered in blood, from
what appeared to be knife wounds.
The door of the office opened abruptly, Kale's
manager peering in.
"Sorry, K. I need you."
"Can it wait, Jake? I'm in the middle of something."
"There is a woman out here writing a check for
$30.000.00, with your name on it. I would think
you could at least say hello."
"Yeah...of course." He turned back to the two
agents, "I'll be right back."
As the door closed Mulder looked over at Scully,
"Did he just say $30,000.00."
"Thinking you may have chosen the wrong profession?"
"Damn right, especially if I didn't even have
to be awake to do it."
"So you believe him?" She asked, then laughed
at the question. "Of course you believe him."
"And you don't." It was a statement. "Why would
he make this up?"
"Publicity....to draw more attention to his work."
"What you think he is going to alert the media.
Artist sleep paints...Muse at eleven." He laughed
at his own joke, as she rolled her eyes. "Sorry,
couldn't resist. Come on Scully, you saw his work,
the guy is good...really good."
"I'm not disputing that Mulder, but there are a
lot of struggling artists who are as good or better
working at the 7-11 to pay their rent."
"The guy just got $30,000.00 dollars for one painting..."
"...and if this story got out he would be getting twice that."
"She's right...." They both turned to see that Kale had
re-entered the room and had heard their disagreement.
"People love a gimmick. The price would most likely
skyrocket if people knew, but that isn't what this is
about. I don't want anyone to know. I haven't even told
my wife, she just thinks I got.... inspired. I don't feel good
about making money off this, I wouldn't have sold any of
these painting if it wasn't for the fact my wife is pregnant
and I needed the money. I thought I could make a little
extra cash, I never expected any of this."
"If we find out what's behind this, it may end your career. "
"I understand that...but if this is some kind of
premonition...if this woman is in some kind of
trouble I can't just sit by and do nothing. There
has to be a reason for all this. I need to know
why this is happening...maybe for both our sakes.
" He went to the desk, pulling out a piece of paper
and started writing on it. " I go back home tonight.
Here is my home address. I don't know how to
convince you to help, but I hope you will. I really
have to get back out there."
After Kale left them, Mulder walked over to the
painting of the woman laying on the floor, covered
in her own blood. As he studied it Scully walked up
behind him.
"You want to help him, don't you?"
He didn't answer.
"Do you really think this is an x-file? " She
asked touching his back lightly.
"He's right....there has to be a reason for all this.
It could be a premonition, maybe possession,
even reincarnation."
Scully let her hand drop, suddenly sorry she asked.
He turned to look her in the eye, there was a
twinge of anger in his voice, " Ok, then what?
Why is this happening to him.....explain it to me."
"I'm not saying there is nothing to this. I just think
this is more of a job for a psychiatrist or a sleep
disorder clinic than the FBI. I don't believe
there is any thing supernatural about this."
"Bet me?" He asked, trying a new approach.
"What?"
"You heard me, I'll bet you this is an x-file."
"Yeah, and the only way to prove it is to take
this case. Subtle, Mulder."
"You chicken?" He taunted, getting low
enough that he could look her in the
eyes.
"Ok...ok," She laughed, pushing him away
"...where are we going and what do I win,
when I prove you wrong."
He gave her an 'in your dreams look' as he read
the paper that Kale had left.
"Looks like we are going the Pacific Northwest,
better pack warm." He could see by the look
on her face she was remembering their other
cases in that part of the county. "Don't worry
Scully, no forest this time. It'll be a trip to the
beach...trust me."
(Continued in part 2)