Non-damaging samples are a good compromise; she lets him get away with not eating but won't take him up on the offer to count growth rings in his humerus. Life is matter of give and take. Either way, it's a wealth of data added to her little flash-drive of scans, and that puts her in a good mood. Or maybe it's just the company that puts her in a good mood.

The thing is that even when he's bad company, Mulder is familiar and solid and reassuring; a constant that has let her weather the storms of their work and her life outside it alike. She is more glad to have him here than she knows how to put into words, and doesn't have to put into words to convey.

At the end of the day, he takes her home to-- well, honestly, pretty much what she expected of him. She can't help but laugh.

"Mulder, you don't even--" Not even a card table. Good Lord. "We're taking you shopping tomorrow."