Hello there!
morethanamuse here, and welcome to 26 Characters! FF Pen name 'mydesperateheart' is writing this with me... we are taking turns, once a day, every day, alternating letters. So, I wrote this one, and she will write 'B' tomorrow, etc. Got it? :) We're very excited!
We hope you enjoy the first installment!
Disclaimer: We do not own Castle or any of its characters. Etc etc etc. :)
ps- forgot to mention before, there is a little 'Firefly' Easter Egg in here for those of you who are well versed in 'verse. ;)
A is for Available
Hey, you've reached Josh Davidson, I'm not available right now, but if you le—
Kate slammed the phone down in pure, unbridled exasperation. She was glad she used her desk phone, because hitting the 'End' button forcefully just didn't have the same effect as jamming the receiver down onto its cradle. Curling her head down to meet her hand, she pinched the bridge of her nose and exhaled slowly. Not available, she huffed, inwardly. If I had a quarter for every time—
"Hey," His voice, though soft, pulled her out of her thoughts. Slightly startled, she looked up to meet his ice-blue eyes that somehow seemed so warm.
"Hey," she smiled back. It was an exhausted, thinly veiling smile, but a smile nonetheless. "I thought you had gone home," she said letting a questioning tone linger on her last word.
He sighed, looking a little disheveled. "I did. I discovered that despite how tired I am, I couldn't settle down. I guess this case is just keeping me on my toes. Literally. I kept getting up, pacing back and forth around my loft. I knew you'd still be here, so I came back."
"Well that was a lucky guess," she quipped, more lighthearted than before.
"Not really. You didn't even make a move for your coat when you promised me you'd go home and recharge. Hell, you didn't even glance at it." She scrunched up her face a little in a 'you caught me' expression. "Anyway," he continued. "I figured you per-maybe-haps forgot to feed yourself," he smiled teasingly at her and gestured to the bag he was carrying. "So if you aren't too engrossed with what you're doing, and are available, I thought..." He trailed, raising his eyebrows in an unspoken question, lifting the bag a little.
Tonight was supposed to be date night for her and Josh. But considering the cold greeting she got from his voicemail earlier, she took it that he had to cancel. Again. Logically, she knew that it was probably for a good reason, like an emergency life-saving surgery, which in past days would have impressed her. And while she was glad that he was doing something so productively good with his time, she couldn't truthfully say she wasn't annoyed with it. She knew she lived for her job, but it was like that man breathed medicine. Even when at home with him, it was 'this happened at the hospital today,' or 'one of the nurses said the funniest thing...' He rarely bothered to ask what was going with her life, let alone what went on at the precinct. And even if he did have the time, she highly doubted he would hunt her down just to make sure that she had eaten that day. She was so damn tired of it, and she was done. She was so done.
She looked at the writer, who was (adorably, she admitted) looking at her with an expectant expression on his face. She visibly and verbally gave in.
"Oh, you got me, Castle," she smiled. This time his eyebrows lifted in surprise. "It just so happens that I am more available than you think."
I hope you enjoyed! Be kind, please review! Let me know what you think, and if you like this idea. :)
Stay tuned tomorrow (and add us to your alerts) for 'B' from 'mydesperateheart'!
