"Then you can tell me about work - everything that won't violate HIPAA." Because as it is, it sounds suspiciously like they'll talk about him for a while, and then she'll disappear until it's convenient to ask him about himself again. If they're going to do this, then he wants some of Scully, too, to be allowed back into the privacy of her life.

(Maybe he should have suggested they get a dog, back when they were still together. He hadn't liked the idea, because he hadn't really liked Queequeg, and on some level, he knows that it'd probably be like other couples having a kid to try and save a marriage. But maybe it would have made a difference. Maybe some long-legged, non-cannibalistic creature who'd go on runs with him would have given them both enough purpose that they could live in the same house.)

"When you want to," he adds after a moment, because we can check in, once in a while isn't a continuing conversation. He's imagining something besides what he's likely to receive - for all he knows, checking in means awkwardly conversing every three months, not every four. "Or when you give in and get a dog, and you need a sitter."