"The first snow of the season!"
Castle bounds dramatically into the park, arms flung wide and face turned up toward the sky. Beckett shrugs at the nannies curiously regarding them, flashes a what can you do? smile before he comes back to tug on her gloved hand, leading her towards the empty fountain in the center of the park. The fine layer of snow on the ground crunches under their feet as they walk, a dreamy sigh escaping him as he turns toward her.
"Isn't it gorgeous?"
Her lip twitches. "I told you, Castle. You see pretty, I see dangerous conditions and contaminated crime scenes. I'm just–"
"Humoring me on the way to lunch, right right." He kicks a pile of snow and lets go of her hand to lean down and scoop it up, forming a perfectly smooth ball between his palms.
"Castle, if you try to put that down my shirt, I swear to god..."
"I'm making a little snowman!" He protests indignantly, mashing the snowball onto the ledge of the fountain and leaning down to pick up another smaller pile. He glances at her as he shapes the snow in his hands, corners of his lips turning up as his eyes trail down her body. "But it would be such a shame if all your clothes got wet and we had to go back to your place and get you out of them…"
He sobers as his gaze reaches her face again, the glare enough to make him turn his eyes down to the ball in his hands.
"Right. Well, snowman is good too," he says hastily, placing the smaller sphere on top of the first and scooping up his last pile, making the head before snapping a twig from a nearby tree to give it arms. He squints, scrutinizing it for a moment before doing one last pat down and stepping back.
"You should make one too!" He turns towards her excitedly, his eyes appearing even bluer against the blur of the snow around them and she has to tamp down the urge to kiss him even as she regards him skeptically.
"It's cold."
"You're wearing gloves. You wouldn't want this little guy to be lonely, would you? Come on Beckett, have a heart."
She rolls her eyes but bends down to gather up some snow, assembles a smaller and slightly less shapely counterpart for Castle's snowman. Taking the twig he hands her, she bends down to draw faces on each of them, making two snowy smiles before snapping the stick in half and giving her creation arms. She straightens to find him grinning at her and shrugs, shoves her hands into her coat pockets.
"They're not lonely," she explains, biting her lip and smiling back at him for a moment before she tilts her head back, letting the falling snow land on her upturned face.
"What are you doing?" He laughs, and she sticks her tongue out at the sky.
"Trying to catch snowflakes." It comes out garbled, her tongue still sticking out of her mouth, and she hears him laugh again before his cold hands are on either side of her face and he's drawing her down and kissing her. The warm slant of his mouth over hers combined with the snow on her lips creates a tingling feeling and she hums, brings her hands out of her pockets to curl lightly around his sides.
He pulls back and she opens her eyes to find him grinning still, snowy lashes inches from hers.
"I think you caught a Castle instead," he says and she laughs, wraps her gloved hands around his bare ones to draw them down from her face before leaning in to press another brief kiss to his lips.
"And maybe I'll keep him." She tugs him towards the street. "Now let's get food, I'm starving."
"Will you make a quick snow angel with me before we leave?"
"Don't push it," she warns, but she's smiling when she looks back at him and she can feel the boyish expression on his face softening her just like the white blanket quietly softening the harsh edges of the city around them. "But there's always snowfall number two."