milliways_bar | (no subject)

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Beckett is running.

To work out, mostly, but also to clear her head.

(There's a lot in there that needs clearing.)

She's outside, dressed just enough to stay warm and trying to make her way back to the bar before it gets too dark and she's forced to dodge demon bunnies or whatever else lurks out in the shadows. By the time she returns, she's made good time, and stops to do a few finishing stretches, hoisting her foot up onto the railing and trying to touch her nose to her leg.

She's got headphones in, so she may not hear you if you approach quietly. And we don't advise sneaking up on her, either.

[ tiny tag: rick castle ]

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"What, like a drifter with a hook for a hand? I've got your back. I'm impervious to urban legends." He's not as familiar with Milliways territory like she is, but the prospect of mortal peril is a welcome distraction from what they're not saying to each other. He'll go with it.

"Demon bunnies, actually."

Beckett realizes how ridiculous it sounds even as it comes out, and her expression changes to reflect that fact. Either way, she'll be watching carefully as they set off back towards the bar. The change in temperature alone is reason enough to walk a little faster, and the lack of space between them may partly be due to a desire to beat the chill.

The lights of the bar shine like a welcoming beacon as they clear the trees, and Beckett stops just in front of the back door, turning to face him.

"There's probably a door waiting for you inside to take you back to - well, whatever street you were on before."

Demon bunnies. He mulls this over. And she calls this a vacation spot?

At least the bar's someplace familiar. He folds his trousers over his arm and nods. "I should probably change. There's not a cab in the city that'll pick me up while I'm wearing swim trunks and Armani loafers. Well, maybe, but they'll probably try to take me back to Bellevue."

He turns back to her, offering a tame version of his standard grin. "Well, thanks for the swim. 'You coming into the precinct tomorrow?"

Beckett shrugs one shoulder, a casual move that belies the knot twisting deep down in the pit of her stomach.

"If you feel like rinsing the salt off, you're more than welcome to use the shower in the room I've got upstairs. Though I wouldn't blame you if you just wanted to get back out there."

Her grin appears, crooked and genuine.

"You know I will be."

"Thanks, but I think I'll just splash some water on my face. You've had enough of me for today." Then he squints, smirks, trying to make light of the situation. "Or have you?"

Her eyebrow springs upward again. He's tossed out the bait, and now it's her job to raise the stakes. Mixed metaphors notwithstanding.

"Obviously, Castle. It was my plan all along," Beckett murmurs, stepping in until her sneakered feet bump into his leather-clad ones.

"To lure you up to my room under the pretense of generosity so I could have my racy - "

(her hands find the lapels of his jacket, curling around the expensive fabric and trailing down, knuckles brushing against his bare chest)

"- raunchy - "

(she bites her lower lip to draw his attention there, turns her head to finish the rest of the sentence in his right ear)

"- way with you."

Castle notices two things right off the bat: one, there's a lot less distance between them now and, two, it's probably because she's occupying it. It's a game. She's having fun with him. 'Still doesn't erase the fact that his stomach just got a whole lot warmer or that hard-of-hearing senior citizens two blocks away can probably hear him gulp down the biggest breath he's ever taken.

He tilts his head, registering with her eyes, then grins.

"You're a very bad person, detective."

"No, Castle."

Slowly, she releases her grip on his jacket, palms patting down the lapels to smooth out any unintentionally-made wrinkles. There really isn't anything like the look Castle gets on his face when she catches him off-guard, and right now, she's reveling in the sight of it. Having risen up on tiptoe to whisper to him, she rocks back down onto her feet, cheeks visibly flushed.

"I'm the best."

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