I flew beta free on this, so all mistakes are my own. Many thanks to my Daddy, for being a shameless sci fi geek, and to my Mummy, for letting me watch Beauty and the Beast or the Little Mermaid every single day as a four year old. (Yes, Kate's experience and mine are eerily similar.)
Thanks to KyinHi for title help :)
Disclaimer: If I owned Castle, it wouldnt' have mattered that the Nebula 9 set was a crime scene.
It was one of those blissful, on call mornings that hadn't begun with a 5am call to a particularly gruesome crime scene that left unidentified chunks on the soles of everybody's shoes.
Light crept through the window, filling the room with a gentle glow. The sounds of a busy New York street provided a familiar soundtrack to the two born and bred Manhattanites.
Kate slowly allowed the light and sound to lull her into wakefulness. The luxury of being able to simply take her time waking up was a rare one, and she was going to take full advantage of it. The ridiculously soft Egyptian cotton sheets and latex pillows filled with a mystery concoction of awesome certainly helped. She stretched her arms above her head, twisting and stretching, groaning in a way that her Mother had always told her made her sound like a baby dinosaur.
Rolling onto her side, Kate took in the sight of her partner. Sprawled on his stomach, face mashed into the pillow, he looked every inch the manchild she knew him to be. The lines of his face had softened, and she wrinkled her nose when she saw a string of drool trickle out of his open mouth. Kate nudged the bedding down, so the broad expanse of his back was exposed. She gently began to trail her nails down his back, smiling when she saw him react to her touch, even in his sleep.
"Castle," she whispered. Her nails continued their gentle rhythm, softly scratching patterns into his flesh.
"Feels good," Castle mumbled, his tongue still thick with sleep. "Don't stop," he requested, eyes still screwed shut. Kate couldn't help her grin; Castle was adorable when he was still half asleep. She continued her ministrations, pressing gentle kisses along his hairline and cheek. "I'm really glad you didn't lose your hair," She confessed as her fingers tangled in his thick mane.
"Me too," he agreed, his voice becoming clearer as he woke up more fully. Kate took that as a sign to trace her fingers down his side, making sure she stimulated every single ticklish spot she'd spent hours searching for.
Castle's eyes snapped open, and he wasted no time in flipping Kate onto her back, positioning himself so that he hovered above her. "Good morning," he greeted her, leaning down to press his lips to hers.
"Morning," Kate chirped in response, playfully shoving Castle off her.
"No bodies dropped overnight?"
"I guess the murderers in the Twelfth's jurisdiction decided to play nice today," Kate shrugged. "They must've known someone promised me breakfast in bed this morning."
"Surely that comes into affect after I sit through countless hours of torture," Castle whined.
Kate looked at the headboard of the bed, where her Lieutenant Chloe costume was hanging haphazardly off the edge of the frame. She wasn't sure where one of her shoes was, and she suspected her panties were hanging off a lampshade in the corner of the room. She raised her eyebrow at him, daring him to argue.
"Breakfast in bed starts now. Any preferences this morning, milady?" Castle queried in a ridiculously over the top French accent.
"You've got a week to stun and amaze me, so don't start out too big," Kate teased. Castle rolled out of bed, and padded towards the door, naked as the day he came into the world.
"And for the record?" She called to his retreating frame, shamelessly ogling his rear end, "pancakes are a little cliché!"
Kate stretched out across the bed. She was totally getting the better end of the deal.
Kate raised an eyebrow as Castle made his way back into the bedroom. "Kiss the cook? Really, Castle?" She drawled; resisting the urge to roll her eyes over the fact that the only thing her partner felt was appropriate kitchen attire was a cheesy apron.
"If you want the coffee, then yes," Castle responded sassily.
Kate tried her very best to fix him with a Beckett stare. She lasted about three seconds before she cracked a smile, leaning forward from her propped up pillows to press a loud, smacking kiss against his cheek. "Thank you, Castle," she trilled sweetly.
"You comfortable?" He asked seriously. She nodded.
"Is there anything I can get you? A mango picked by a virginal Polynesian handmaiden? Orange juice freshly squeezed by a Eastern European weight lifting champion?"
"The newspaper would be great," Kate informed him good naturedly, refusing to bite at his melodramatic suggestions.
Castle grabbed his iPad, quickly flicking it to the New York Times app and handing it to Kate. "Breakfast won't be long," he announced, making his way back to the kitchen.
She picked up the coffee cup from her bedside table, relishing in her first sip of happiness in a cup. Maybe this breakfast in bed thing wouldn't be so bad. She scrolled through the newspaper headlines, skimming over the death and destruction (she got enough of that at work, thank you) before one article caught her attention. She dumped her coffee mug back onto the bedside table, before frantically reading the entire article.
She was so panicked that completely forgot that the purpose of breakfast in bed was that you were in fact, in bed as she snagged the burgundy button down Castle had been wearing the night before, tossing it on and buttoning it crookedly as she skidded down the hallway, iPad in hand.
"Have you seen this?" she gasped.
Castle looked up from whatever he was beating together in a bowl. "We didn't make the paper, did we?" He demanded. They'd been so careful.
"No," Beckett answered. "Nothing like that."
"Then why are you out of bed?" Castle asked.
"Disney just bought out Lucasfilm," Kate announced dramatically.
"What?" Castle nearly dropped the spoon he was holding.
"For just over four billion dollars. Disney is saying Episode Seven will be out by 2015."
"That's wicked cool," Castle breathed.
Kate gaped at him. "Wicked cool? Castle, this is a disaster!" She ran a hand through her hair. "Its like somebody just grabbed my childhood and tossed it in a blender to see what would happen when it all spilt out. Is Princess Leia a Disney princess now? Are they going to sing when they have lightsabre battles? I just don't understand."
Castle came over and gently grabbed Kate by the shoulders, ceasing her pacing. "You are such a nerd," he teased her affectionately, dropping a kiss on her forehead.
Kate shot Castle a filthy look in response.
"I'm not making fun!" He defended himself quickly. "Its just… you once teased me about all the layers of the Beckett onion. I'm getting to see another one." He kissed her pouted lips. "Now, go back to bed, and finish your coffee. I'll be along in a minute."
Kate raised an eyebrow, but returned back to the room, stripping off Castle's shirt and slipping back into bed. She took a sip of her coffee, feeling slightly ridiculous about her over reaction to what was really quite a trivial thing.
A soft smile spread across her face when Castle entered the room, sans apron. She strongly suspected that his offer to make her breakfast in bed in exchange for seeing one of her Nebula 9 outfits wasn't exactly a sacrifice for him. He'd been spoiling her subtly from the word go, with coffee and a bear claw, and he'd totally made that bet with her so that he could have a reason to treat her like the Queen of Sheba.
He settled a tray on her lap, and her heart melted a little bit when she saw the single red rose he'd carefully laid on the tray. "You don't do much by halves, do you Castle?" She asked affectionately, reaching out to caress his stubbly cheek (she really did have to mention to him how much she loved it when he didn't shave).
"When it comes to you? Nope," he replied, picking up the silverware on the tray. "Now, for today's breakfast I thought we'd try something a little Mediterranean. Grilled figs with honey and ricotta," her informed her, neatly slicing a portion and offering her a mouthful.
Kate raised an eyebrow. "Castle…" she trailed off, gesturing towards proffered fork. He was unmoved, so she leaned forward and accepted the mouthful. She shot him a grin. "It's really good," she told him, her mouth still full. She swallowed and took a sip of coffee. "You know you don't have to go quite this far, right? I'm good with toast."
"I didn't offer you a week of breakfast in bed to pike out with toast," Castle replied, offering another bite. "Besides, the bed will end up all crummy."
Kate let Castle feed her breakfast, whole body singing with warmth at his loving attentions. When she finished, he placed the tray on the floor, moving back onto the bed to lie on his stomach.
"It was my Dad," Kate told him. Castle looked up, but knew not to interject. He was getting to see a new side to Kate, and he knew the best thing he could do was to sit back and listen.
"He's a huge sci fi geek. Doesn't matter what it is," Kate grinned. "You should have seen him when the movie for that cancelled Space Western show came out." Kate leaned back on the pillows, drawing the sheet around her.
"The third Star Wars movie was coming out in cinemas. I was about six years old, and he insisted that I had to watch the other two movies on VHS before I could go and see it with him. I still remember giving him my most disdainful look, and informing him that 'Star Wars was a boy movie'" Kate bit her lip, fondly recalling the memory.
"I'm a lot like my dad, personality wise, but my Mom had managed to have an influence over me in one way. I loved Disney princess movies. So Dad walked away, and thought about it for a little while. He came back, and he played his trump card. He told me there was a princess in Star Wars."
"Of course, once I heard that, I was in. It took about thirty seconds of me watching A New Hope to be completely hooked. So now that Disney owns the rights to Star Wars, I'm a little jumbled up. What if Tim Burton ends up directing and Johnny Depp is Han Solo?" Kate pondered seriously.
"Yeah, but Joss Whedon directs for them now that they own Marvel. A Whedon directed Star Wars would be epic," Castle countered.
"Maybe," Kate agreed.
"Who was your favourite Disney princess?" Castle asked, propping his head on Kate's thigh.
Kate pondered for a second. "Belle," she answered. "She was smart, and she liked to read, and she didn't fall in love the second she saw the Beast. She was his friend first, and loved him for the stuff that mattered, not a pretty face. And she got a library."
"Weren't you like, thirteen when Beauty and the Beast came out?" Castle asked.
"Not important," Kate replied. "We used to watch the older princess movies all the time, and Mom used to take me to see all the new princess movies, regardless of how old I was. She said that she liked them because the princesses never wavered in their identities. She said that they were true to themselves and held out for what they believed in, and that's all she ever wanted me to do. Princess Leia taught me that you could do that, and be badass about it too." Kate tweaked Castle's ear playfully. "Besides, you're never too old for a Disney movie."
Tell me what you think guys! I'll wear a Nebula 9 costume ;)