Just finished a five-month project of watching the entire series of Buffy for the first time with friends who told me I had to see it, since I never watched it before. Two things: a.) it's actually amazing. Seriously. Pure Joss Whedon. b.) in season 7, Nathan Fillion is the most creepy bad guy. It was kind of terrifying. At one point I actually shrieked "Nooooooooo! Nathan Fillion, you can't do that!"

Figured I had to return to my roots through Sid here. Fellow musicians, this little one's for you.

In taberna quando sumus

Quid agatur in taberna,
ubi nummus est pincerna,
hoc est opus ut queratur,
sic quid loquar, audiatur.

If you want to know
what happens in the tavern
where money gets you wine,
then listen to my tale.

"Play it again, Sam!" Castle raised his beer in salute, and Sid tipped his hat with a grin, never breaking rhythm as he finished a saucy little tag to whatever old jazz standard he'd just rolled out. "Ladies and gentlemen, my pianist is the finiest in New York. Please laud him as such."

"Hear, hear," called Esposito.

"That was a beautiful example of a Neapolitan properly resolved into a dominant that ended in a deceptive cadence using six to go to a secondary dominant and return to the inverted tonic to end the final cadence. In case you were wondering," Sid informed them.

"I did not understand a word of that, but I thought it was brilliant." Ryan mock-saluted Sid. "Sláinte, sir."

Beckett and Lanie were deep in conversation at their own table, and after several male approaches were rebuffed with raised eyebrows and pointed silence, the guys settled at the bar. Sid broke into ragtime, another skinny-tie bartender polished glasses, and Castle took a long swig from some fantastic new micro the house manager had dug up.

"You know Beckett's a singer, right?"

Castle choked a little on the last of his beer. "Seriously?"

Esposito nodded. "Pretty good, too. Lanie said kinda smoky, old-school lounge and jazz stuff was always her thing. I guess she used to freelance in college."

"Have you ever heard her?"

"We convinced Lanie to let us tag along when they went karaoke-ing once."

Castle gaped. "She did karaoke?"

Esposito grinned. "Two words, man: Dancing Queen."

Castle raised his beer bottle. "Abba, I toast you. For the first and only time in my life."

"Do I look like a juke box, Rick?"

"Humor me, Sid?" Either Castle's pleading eyes, or maybe the bill he un-subtly dropped into the brandy snifter atop the old upright, must have won Sid over; with a roll of his eyes, he shrugged and rubbed his hands together before dropping them back on the keys. "Your funeral, lovesick puppy."

"Come on, I own this place. You could at least pretend to look up to me."

"Eh. No fun in that." With a wry smile, Sid just shook his head and picked out a few chords in D-flat before he broke into As Time Goes By.

Castle tapped the top of the piano happily before turning back to the bar. "Oh, Detective?" Three heads turned to him. "Sorry. Female detective."

He saw Beckett's jaw twitch with amusement as she sat back in her chair, arms folded. "What?"

"Would you do me the honor of this dance?"

"A dance?"

"A celebration of Terpsichorean pleasure."

That earned him a full eyeroll, but to his astonished delight, she stood. "All right. But only because I loved Casablanca."

"Fair enough." She'd always seemed like a classic movie buff.

Taking the hand she offered, he led her onto the little dance floor and pulled her into closed position. Her hand settled gently on his shoulder, her eyes watching him curiously. Getting no objection, he pulled her closer, till her chest was pressed against his and her head rested against his shoulder, moving slowly with the music.

"Castle, is this just an elaborate plan to feel me up?"

Oh. She'd noticed. "Don't be ridiculous. This is hardly elaborate. Besides, we both know you can remove my ears if you think my hands are going somewhere inappropriate."

She chuckled. "As long as you remember that."

They fell silent. Beckett sighed, her body sinking into his a little more. He smiled into her hair, because maybe it wasn't his most elaborate plan, but the payoff was worth it. She was warm and soft and leaning into him, her breathing against his chest steady and even.

And the strangest thing: in spite of Lanie and the bros watching them with raised eyebrows, Kate didn't seem to mind it at all.