Castle took a long sip from his ceramic mug, sighing contently when the warmth of the sweet liquid pooled into his stomach and spread through his veins. Leaning back into his chair, cradling his coffee in both of his hands, he glanced over at Beckett.
"So much better than that 'monkey pee in battery acid' concoction you guys used to serve," he told her, a teasing lilt to his tone.
"So you keep telling me," she replied absently. She had one elbow propped on the desk, her hand cradling her head, as the other clutched a handful of papers in front of her. With a heavy sigh, she let go of the sheaf of papers and curled a finger around the handle of her own mug to pull it closer to her. When she saw it was empty, she bit her bottom lip and sat a moment.
Castle looked over, noticed her lost expression, and placed his mug on the desk. Leaning forward, he asked in a low tone, "Are you okay?"
With the barest hint of a smile on her face, she casually leaned forward and savored the way his eyes widened fractionally and he seemingly stopped breathing. Without breaking eye contact, she slowly reached over and nabbed his abandoned cup of coffee. Placing the cool ceramic to her lips, she took a long sip, swallowed, and murmured her approval.
Castle swallowed hard, his eyes unable to remove themselves away from her own. He was also pretty sure he wasn't breathing.
"Thanks, Rick," Beckett drawled. She placed the mug back into his hands and stood. Grabbing her empty one, she walked away swiftly. Her smile widened as she heard him gasping for breath a few seconds later.
"Wha-uh..." Castle trailed off. He blinked once, hard. "Huh."
The sounds of synchronized footsteps made Castle inwardly cringe. Before he could turn around to greet the two, Esposito was already talking.
"Yo, she just drank from your mug." Esposito sidled over to his side, Ryan smirking beside him.
Castle looked down, and cocked a brow. "So?"
"So? That means she likes you man," Ryan chimed in, as Esposito nodded in agreement.
Castle smiled in amusement and shook his head. "Guys, we're just partners."
"She didn't even wipe it down first," Ryan replied.
"Partners-schmartners, bro, she totally swapped spit with you," Esposito added, crossing his arms over his chest as Ryan mimicked his pose beside him.
Castle looked from one man to the other, then back at his mug again. He furrowed his brow and pursed his lips, before looking back up again with a questioning look on his face.
"Yup," Ryan said. "Sharing is caring."
"She digs you."
Laughing somewhat nervously, Castle placed the cup down on Beckett's desk and stood up. The two men took a step back to make room for Castle's towering figure, but neither made any effort to school their matching, pleased expressions. This only caused Castle to frown thoughtfully.
"Look-"
They simultaneously looked at one another, back at him, and perked a brow in question.
"This isn't that big a deal...Is it?" He looked back and forth between Ryan and Esposito, searching their faces for answers.
"Put it like this, Writer Man," Esposito started, placing a hand on Castle's right shoulder.
Ryan placed his hand on Castle's left shoulder. "She practically kissed you."
Castle couldn't stop the small intake of breath, but he quickly covered it with a cough.
The steady tattoo of Beckett's heels confidently striding their way made the two younger men disperse in different directions as Castle stood alone, dumbfounded.
"Close your mouth, Castle," she demanded teasingly. She nearly glided into her chair, before looking up at him. "You'll catch flies."
With a schooled expression, aside from the crease in his brow, Castle sat down heavily in his chair and glanced from his mug to Beckett, then gingerly touched his lips.
"Huh."
END.
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