Fic: In Search of Aurora Borealis
Author: Kristina. Go me.
Archive: Sure
Fandom: Baseball/St. Louis Cardinals
Pairing: Mark Mulder/David Eckstein
Rating: PG…oh, PG-13 for a couple of naughty words.
Feedback: Yes, please
Disclaimer: I don’t own either one of these guys. I guarantee that if I did, I’d never leave my apartment.
Summary: Mark Mulder searches for the Northern Lights… and more. Okay, that was a lame summary.



It was a typical Tuesday night in Toronto. The night was warm, about 69 degrees (well, 21 Celsius). The natives were heading home after watching their hapless Blue Jays, who maybe weren’t quite so hapless this season, lose to the visiting Cardinals.
Mark Mulder leaned against the rails lining the balcony just outside his hotel room and sighed, as he looked skyward. His buddy’s little girl – who calls him “Uncle Mark” - had heard he was going to Canada for a few days and asked him to look for Aurora Borealis.
“Who’s that,” he’d asked, thinking maybe Aurora Borealis was maybe Canada’s answer to Britney Spears or something like that. Science was never one of his strong suits.
“You’re silly, Uncle Mark,” Kaileigh said, between giggles. “You know, the Northern Lights? If it’s warm enough, you can see them right over Toronto. That’s what Mrs. Shivadecker said anyway. So yeah, do you think you could look for ‘em and take a picture for me?”
“Yeah, sure. I’ll see what I can do.”
Kaileigh threw her arms around her surrogate uncle’s neck and squealed. “Thank you, Uncle Mark! And then maybe you can introduce me to David Eckstein? He’s just too cute!”

So here he was, on this warm Canadian night, looking for the lights in the sky and letting his mind wander.
He was having a pretty good year – about on par with his years as a member of Oakland’s Big Three. He was enjoying playing on a winning team packed to the gills with talented players. He really liked his new teammates. Some of them are kind of weird (don’t get him started on Jeff Suppan), but they’re a good bunch of guys for the most part.
But still, he was kind of lonely. Of all the things he had – money, success, admiration, his health and his youth – the one thing he didn’t have was love.
And it was that one thing he didn’t have that he wanted the most.
He hadn’t dated anyone since last August, when Barry Zito dumped him after a six-month relationship because he wanted to “go back to girls for awhile, I think. Not that you’re uncool or anything but you don’t have tits, dude.”
Ha. Dumped because he didn’t have boobs. Great.
So he played the field for a while. Most of the guys he’d flirted with thought he was after a one-night stand. He was after a long-term deal. Finally relegating himself to the fact that everyone thought he was a cad, he reluctantly gave up his pursuit of lasting love.

Needing something to drink, Mark shrugged and turned to go back into his room. Aurora can wait, he said to himself, because I’m thirsty.
Just as he stepped back in, the front door opened. His roommate, David Eckstein, entered the room.
”Hey, can I get a hand here,” he asked, juggling about six bottles of water and an ice bucket full of ice.
“Oh sure, let me get that.” Mark grabbed the bucket. “You want this anywhere?”
”Just down somewhere,” David said, letting the bottles spill out of his arms and onto the bed. “You know, I always get a bucket of ice whenever I stay at a hotel, and I never know why. I don’t need it. I don’t use it. It’s just, oh, ice bucket! That’s for ice. I need to use that; I’m paying for it, right? Or the team’s paying for it. At any rate, I always get it for no reason at all. The cleaning people must hate that.”
Mark chuckles. “Could be superstition.”
“Yeah, that might be it.” David brandished one of the bottles of water. “I figured you might be thirsty.”
“Thanks, Dave.” Mark reached for his wallet. “How much do I owe you?”
David shrugged. “It’s on me.” He screwed the cap off his bottle and sipped. “What’re you up to?”
“Oh, trying to find Aurora Borealis.”
David’s brow furrowed. “Aurora Borealis? Who’s she?”
Mark chuckled. Apparently, science was not one of David’s strong suits either. “No, the Northern Lights. Kaileigh wants me to take a picture of ‘em for her. I just have to find them first.”
“Oh. Hey, mind if I come out and look with you? I’m not doing much of anything else right now.”
“Sure.” And out to the balcony they went.

“You know,” David said, “downtown Toronto doesn’t really look that much different from other big cities.” He paused to chuckle. “When I was a rookie some guy told me that no matter where you went in Canada it always smelled like maple syrup.”
Mark laughed. “No kidding? You didn’t fall for that, did you?”
”No, of course not, that’s stupid. We came here once and I told him I didn’t smell the syrup, and you know what he told me? He said, ‘Well, we’re not in Montreal. You can only smell it in French Canadian cities.’” David shook his head. “What a moron. I don’t even remember who it was.”
Mark looked over at his teammate and smiled. Maybe it was the city lights, maybe it was some “light from within,” as Barry would say, or maybe it was because he was terribly lonely…but he was starting to think Kaileigh was right about the whole “he’s too cute!” thing.
But it would never work. Well, probably never. David seems like a nice enough guy. Hard worker, lots of energy. Plus there’s the whole “he’s too cute!” factor. They’d gotten to know each other fairly well – they’ve been roommates on every single road trip so far. Well, okay, except for the one in Kansas City, but that was only because Larry Walker was growing tired of John Mabry’s snoring and insisted on a new roommate. And as it turned out, he much preferred Mabry’s snoring to David’s insomniac tendencies.
But David talks a mile a minute and rarely sits still. Mark figures himself to be more laid-back.
Oh, and he’s too short. Mark knew this was a trifling thought, but also did not care. Just another reason to not get too into the guy, to prepare his heart for its inevitable breaking.
Sighing, Mark leaned in against the wrought iron bars again. God forbid he should turn into one of those emo guys Barry listened to all the time, but damn if he didn’t feel like that lately.

“You ok?” David’s voice shook Mark from his fog.
“Yeah, I think so.”
David scrunched up his face. “Are you sure about that? Like, you know you can tell me anything.” He chuckled. “It’s this interleague stuff, isn’t it? I’m not too keen on it either. Except sometimes it’s funny watching AL pitchers try to bat.”
“That’s not it.” Mark leaned his head against the railing, liking the feel of the cool metal against his warm skin. “Do you ever get lonely, Dave?”
“Oh, sure, all the time.” David folded his arms atop the banister, resting his chin on top of them. “I try not to dwell on it, though. If I do, I start acting less like David Eckstein and more like Conor Oberst. And trust me, nobody wants that.”
Mark laughed. “I guess all I want is something long-term. You know? Like I want a relationship that lasts for a while.” He sighed again. “Trouble is, lots of guys think I’m only after a one-night stand. But I’ve never been interested in one of those, and I’ve never been able to get people to understand that.” He shook his head. “Why do people think that?”
David shrugged. “Probably because they’re morons.”
Mark laughed shortly. “Well, if that’s all it is!”
“No, I’m serious,” David protested, but he was smiling as well. “Seems to me that if a guy thinks all you’re interested in is a one-night shot, then that’s all he’s interested in. Meanwhile, he’s missing out on a great thing with a great guy. If that’s not the sign of a total dipshit, I don’t know what is.”
Mark wasn’t sure, but he thought he’d just heard David tell him he was a great guy. He shot a look at his roommate, who was biting his lower lip.

“So why did you and Barry split up,” David asked, after a moment.
Mark sighed. “He wanted to go back to girls. Said to me he thought I was cool but I just didn’t have tits.”
David gasped. “He did not.”
“He did.” Mark rested his forehead against the iron bars again. “That really stung. I mean, I would’ve done anything for the guy. But I drew the line at gender reassignment.”
“You didn’t deserve that,” David said softly.
“You’re telling me,” Mark answered. “He could’ve lied, even. And now that I think about it more, I think I don’t just want someone that’s in for the long haul. I want someone who’ll love me for who I am. Not, oh, ‘I love you, but I’d love you more if you just did this.’ None of that crap.”
“I don’t know if it’ll help,” David said, “but Adam Kennedy dumped me because he thought I was too short. And I was like, what am I supposed to do, suddenly sprout about six inches?”
Mark smiled. You don’t know it, Dave, Mark thought to himself, but that helps me more than you think it does.
“Hey, look.” David pointed to a spot over Mark’s head.
Mark turned his head and gasped. There it was – Aurora Borealis. A thick band of green light wobbled through the night sky, turning blue and even red in spots.
“It’s amazing,” he sighed, reaching into his pocket for his camera phone.
”Sure is.”

Mark snapped his picture, put his phone back in his pocket, and just stared. He’s never seen anything like it. The chances of ever seeing anything like it again were quite slim. And at least he had a friend to-
“I hope this isn’t being too forward,” David said quietly, slipping an arm around Mark’s waist.
“Not at all.” A little surprising, yes, but not too forward. He wrapped his arm around David, pulling him closer.
“You know that guy you were talking about before?” David looked up at Mark. “The guy that loves you for who you are, who’s in it for the long run?” He smiled. “I think I’d like to be that guy. I mean, if that’s okay. If it’s not, I totally understand. I mean, I don’t-“
Mark didn’t allow him to finish that thought, instead capturing his lips in a soft kiss. His fingers trailed down David’s jawbone, taking in every angle.
“I can’t wait to introduce you to Kaileigh,” Mark said, after they had broken the kiss. “She thinks you’re too cute.”
David laughed softly. “And you?”
“Well, yeah, I do too. Say, it’s getting chilly out here; want to go lay down?”
“Yeah, I think so.” And they walked back inside, arms circling each others’ waists, eager to see what would develop.
Mark felt an overwhelming sense of accomplishment – he’d found, in a single evening, Aurora Borealis and a reason not to be lonely anymore.