About an Idiot
"Castle's an idiot," Ryan announced once he and Esposito were well away from the streetlight-golden sidewalk in front of the station, heading on foot in the direction of their apartments.
Esposito glanced at him obliquely. "I know, man. We agreed on that last year, remember?"
His joke earned just a shake of the head from his partner. "I'm serious. He really blew it with Beckett this time."
"Nah, she'll give him another chance," Esposito assured him with a shrug, casting his gaze out a couple blocks ahead of them and across the street, where a nightclub was just opening, a bovine line of girls at the entrance. "She always does."
Ryan considered that for a moment. They had been around the unlikely duo long enough to know they were never so at odds that the fragile balance of their back-and-forth couldn't be realigned. But then Demming had shown up. "What if he doesn't try again?"
"Then we'll lose that bet we have going with Montgomery." Esposito cracked a carefree grin that made Ryan feel a little better - except,
"I already lost twenty bucks to Lanie."
Esposito resisted a laugh. "Sorry, bro, but I told you, you were gonna lose that one - especially after Demming. No way Castle would make a move once Beckett got a boyfriend," he reasoned, shoulder bumping against Ryan's, as natural as breathing.
"Yeah, yeah." Ryan flapped his hand dismissively. "I know that now."
"You just got cocky," Esposito teased, full lips twisting into a smirk.
"I prefer the word 'optimistic,'" was Ryan's rejoining huff. "Plus, I figure Castle's gotta be the one to break the ice after all this time; I just bet too early."
Esposito double-took with eyebrows raised. "Were you at the precinct tonight? Beckett was about to spill her guts when Castle's ex showed up."
"Well, no one predicted that. I still can't believe he moved on so fast," Ryan commented, looking to Esposito for agreement - as if the latter wouldn't notice he was skirting the topic of Beckett's near-confession.
Esposito just scoffed. "He didn't 'move on,'" he argued, air quotes and all. "He's just sick of waiting for Beckett to take a hint."
The tone Esposito was suddenly using prompted Ryan's frown. "Beckett's been waiting, too -"
"No," Esposito interjected, his long strides taking them around the corner of the block. "Beckett started dating weeks ago; she barely even gave him a chance."
"Wait a minute." Ryan halted in the middle of the pavement, facing Esposito, who pulled to a standstill, as well. "You're taking Castle's side on this?"
"What? His side?"
"You think it's Beckett's fault they're not together," Ryan reiterated, furrowed brow depicting his sense of having been affronted - which was only on behalf of his colleague, of course.
"I think Castle made the right call about not pushing her," Esposito corrected as his ill-concealed glare turned to something more resigned. "You gotta take it slow with people like her."
"Whadda you mean, 'People like her?'" Based on the range of emotions Esposito probably didn't know was flickering across his face, Ryan guessed he was drawing from personal experience on this one, - perhaps an experience very relevant to them both - but he wasn't about to call him on it.
Sighing and continuing toward home, with Ryan following suit as any partner should, Esposito made sure his next words were soft. "People who know you're into them but still hide it if they're into you. Castle prob'ly can't tell how she feels, and he doesn't wanna screw up what they have."
Narrow-eyed, Ryan opened his mouth to respond, but Esposito cut in, "And it doesn't help that she's with somebody else, either. Definitely puts up a 'don't go there' sign."
It was a moment before Ryan replied, observing Esposito's subjectivity through the thick, Manhattan air. "So, you're saying Castle's scared - and jealous, and Beckett shoulda manned up and told him while she had the chance?"
"Who knows what could happen in three months," Esposito muttered, and they finally reached his building, stopping near the billow of steam that puffed out of a manhole in the street.
"Huh." Ryan shoved his hands in his pockets and watched as Esposito pulled out his keys. "I still think Castle's gotta say something. People like Beckett don't really think people like him take this stuff seriously." The arc in his voice was either mockery or implication. "How does she know he's not just playing with her?"
Esposito paused in the half-shadow of his stoop, aware of his skin itching where Ryan's shrewd eyes grazed him; he was a detective, after all. "So . . . what? Some big speech would do it?" he questioned slowly. Was he the only one hearing two conversations, here?
"Eh." Ryan lifted a shoulder in noncommitment. "A kiss'd work, too."
Esposito fidgeted underneath his button-down. "Ya think?"
Ryan's expression was unreadable - entirely on purpose - as he evidentially declared, "It'd convince me."
Esposito's keychain went crashing to the ground, jangling louder, somehow, than all the horns and sirens and chattering canaille of New York City. For several thrombic beats, Esposito stood gawping at Ryan, a night-obscured blush rising from his neck to his hairline, but he did eventually manage to clear his throat and bend down to retrieve the fallen object. "You should tell him that," he suggested on an odd pitch while straightening.
Ryan clenched his jaw and, at long last, acknowledged their shared stubbornness. "Somebody should."
Looking anywhere but at Ryan, Esposito reached shakily for the lock. "So, you - uh - Jenny's waiting up, right?"
"Huh-uh." How much doublespeak was it gonna take? "Girl's night."
"Oh . . ."
"It's not too late."
Esposito froze at the dual meaning he heard - imagined, his mind cautioned - in the words. What was he supposed to say?
"Oh, c'mon, Espo," Ryan begged when his partner remained silent. Frustration had him throwing out his arms and taking a step closer to the door - to Esposito. "Just - don't be an idiot."