milliways_bar | (no subject)

(no subject)

Andres is in the bar sitting in a booth in a corner. His chin is resting in one hand and hes staring out the window. The Complete Works of Shakespeare is sitting near his elbow, unopened, and there is a piece of creased parchment laying on the table in front of him. Frequently he looks away from the window and takes a drink. Occasionally he rubs his forehead as if he as a headache, and even more occasionally, he glances at the parchment and scowls.

Despite this, he is in a decent mood, if slightly worried. Go ahead and visit.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"It wasn't supposed to be a compliment. I'm worried about you, all right?"

He watches Andres for a moment. "I'm getting some breakfast. Want anything?"

"I told you, there's no reason to worry." *Smile* "I am just stressed out at the moment. I'll be fine."

It's actually surprising that he hasn't been drinking more. "And no I'm not hungry, thank you."

Of course there's reason to worry, but arguing is only going to give him even more reason, and so he gets up with a pained sigh and goes to the Bar.

He returns with a Belgian waffle topped with whipped cream and fresh strawberries, a glass of orange juice with a straw, and a bagel split into two halves and spread with cream cheese.

There is enough to share, which he indicates to Andres by way of a pointedly raised eyebrow.

He smiles and shakes his head to say, no thanks. He hadn't seen a waffle before though, and raises his own eyebrow curiously.

Waffles are yummy. And they smell good. Mmmmm.

Castle detaches a quarter of the waffle and pushes it over to Andres on a separate plate. "It's a waffle. Try it. They're delicious."

"Another time perhaps. At least it's not huevos verdes y jamon." He grins.

"No, it's not. I don't like green eggs and ham." He sighs and leaves the waffle quarter where it is, reluctantly digging into his own portion. "When was the last time you did eat something?"

"Last night." *Smile* He lies easily enough, except perhaps, forgetting that he spent the evening with Castle, and did not eat during that time. He isn't exactly thinking straight.

"Which would be sometime yesterday afternoon--at least--because I was with you for most of last night." He folds his arms. He worked for the government. He can put two and two together.

"Come on," he says gently. "You shouldn't go so long without eating. Just have a little bit of waffle. Please?"

"That isn't long. You fret too much. I will eat when I am hungry." He smiles reassuringly, and pushes the plate away.

"So what have you kept yourself busy with, other than worrying needlessly?"

"If you're not going to eat, then you can't get pissed at me for worrying," he warns, before letting the subject drop.

"I haven't had time to keep myself busy with anything," he says, with a hint of dry amusement. "I just saw you about twelve hours ago."

"Well I was worried that you might forget, on occasion, how lucky you were. I asked in order to remind you." *Grin*

His eyes are rolling practically out of his head. "Yeah, yeah."

He takes another bite of waffle. "Mercutio's teaching me how to fence," he says offhandedly. He doesn't mention that he's really bad at it.

"Well that's something that would have been worth mentioning.
*grin*
How's it going so far?" He doesn't have to mention. Andres will ask

"Well, you were asking what I'd been doing since last night. The fencing lessons happened before then." He shrugs. Fun with technicalities.

"It's, uh..." He considers lying. "I'm clumsy as hell. Given that, it's going as well as can be expected."

"So what have you kept yourself busy with, other than worrying needlessly? I provided no delineation of time."
*Shrug*
"Don't worry too much about being clumsy. Keep it up and you will be able to fence and potentially lose the clumsiness." *Smile* "So is Mercutio any good?"

"Well, whatever. I hadn't been doing anything interesting other than fencing before then anyway."

He contemplates, taking a sip of orange juice. "Yeah, of course Mercutio's good. I mean, compared to me, anyone is, but he's been doing it for years."

"How long's he been dead?" *curious*

He blinks. "I don't know. He's been here longer than I have, but I don't know how much longer. Why?"

"I like to know who to watch out for." *Smile* "If he were as old as Gorlim I wouldn't want to face him, but as things seem, a challenge might be fun."

"Oh, for the love of god." He looks pained. "If you have to challenge Mercutio to a duel, please don't kill him. The poor guy's had enough of that already."

"Just for fun, love. I haven't actually sparred with anyone since arriving. I will consider it. Though it is not like I could kill him again." *Smile*

"He'd probably love it, actually. And it'd be fun to watch." He thinks.

"There's a guy I knew before I came here who offered to practice with me if I learned how to fence," he muses, remembering. "Not like that, though."

Andres raises an eyebrow. "Not like what?"

Castle frowns. Like it isn't bad enough when he doesn't get subtlety. "Never mind. Point is, at least I'll have someone with a different style to practice with if I get any good. I don't know if I'll ever really be good enough at it to be worth Paul's while as a sparring partner, though."

Considering that Paul was in a wheelchair just before the last time Castle saw him, this kind of says a lot about Castle's self-confidence.