milliways_bar | (no subject)

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A man sits at the bar, his dress shoes tucked under the beam of the stool he's currently perched upon. He's got a hell of a shiner and half a mind to believe the rumours now that he's got proof: lefties can throw a punch, and then can do it hard. His black bow tie is undone, lying limply around his neck. He's in deep discussion with Bar:

"No, that thing Hemingway said about drinking. You know what I'm talking about. 'Something something sober, you'd know better if you kept your mouth shut.' Come on, you've gotta' know this --" he leans forward, half imploring.

Bar produces a dry vodka martini and a copy of Bartlett's Familiar Quotations.

Rick Castle takes a sip of the martini and uses the Bartlett's as a coaster. "Succinct," he says, "Hemingway would have liked that."

[ short, declarative tiny tag : rick castle ; kate beckett ]

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He shoves his cheek against his hand and rests his elbow on the bar. "Or a little mood music," he says.

"So tell me," Beckett replies, leaning against the bar as sleepiness starts to set in, "what does the famous Rick Castle listen to to get the creative juices flowing?"

If this were any other woman -- and any other bar not teetering wildly at the edge of the universe -- Castle would take that as an unmistakable cue. Why don't you come back to my apartment and see for yourself? would be the classic rejoinder and, nine times out of ten, Castle would go home with company. It just didn't seem to work here.

"Bob Dylan," he answers, "this last century's greatest lyrical poet." He scrubs his thumbs around the edge of his espresso cup, considering. Beckett looked about ready to fall over. He nudged her gently with his elbow. "Is this the part when you tell me 'you did good today, kid; but don't get cocky'?"

And Beckett wouldn't fall for any of those classic responses, anyway. Not when her feet were crying out for some kind of freedom from her impossibly high heels and her face was itching to get scrubbed clean of any remaining makeup.

"Something like that," she replies, rising from her seat with slight effort. "If my brain wasn't fading fast, anyway."

"Gonna' have to tell me what it's like to run in those," he says, dropping a glance to her impressively tall shoes, "it might come in handy for Nikki Heat later on."

"It's uncomfortable," Beckett confesses, sleepiness making her upfront and honest, "but you push through the pain."

Castle smiles and glances over his shoulder to the stairs. "You gonna' be okay?"

"Well, the door hasn't come back yet," she says, "so I think I'll just get a room for the night."

At the very least, it'll give her somewhere to put up her feet for a few hours.

"Hit it hard again tomorrow?" he asks.

"You know me," she answers, reaching down with one hand to pull off both shoes, letting them dangle from a few fingers.

"Bright and early."

"Bright and early," he repeats. "'Night, detective."

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