Note: We've finally made it to the date! But don't worry, this story is nowhere near done yet. ;)

Please enjoy!

They plunged into infinite darkness. Dozens of impressions threatened to drown them as they blinked their eyes a couple times, trying ineffectively to adjust to the lack of light. The delicious smell of food hung in the air like a luxurious promise. The clutter of silverware, the friendly murmur of conversations and the pleasant laugh of a group of girls filled the warm room. Beckett and Castle tried to get a mental image of their surroundings, guessing the size of the room and the number of tables from the sounds around them.

Michael tucked on Castle's hand to steer him through the rows of tables they only suspected were there. Beckett estimated that there had to be about 30 people in the room. With cautious little steps she followed Castle through the black.

Michael stopped abruptly and only then announced "We're here." Beckett bumped into Castle's side and he chuckled. "Not so fast, detective. I know you're very eager to get your hands on me, but we'll get to that later."
She knew that he was smiling and probably wriggling his eyebrows, although she couldn't see it. He in turn knew that she had rolled her eyes at him in response. Not only did they not need words, apparently they also didn't even need to look at each other to communicate. He gave her hand a light squeeze, simply because he could.

Michael guided Castle's other hand to what felt like the back of a chair and Castle carefully tried to sit down. He missed the center of the chair by some inches, so that he slumped slightly to one side. Beckett felt awkward holding his hand when he was sitting and she was standing, but he stroked his thumb across the back of her hand and suddenly it didn't feel so awkward anymore.

"Kate?" Michael asked and she felt him touching her shoulder. She let go of Castle's hand and turned to where she thought Michael was standing. He touched along her arm to take her hand and she made a step to the right, the image in her head telling her that's where they were going. "That's the wrong table, Miss Kate" Michael informed her and she blushed. Suddenly she was glad for the darkness.

When they were both comfortably seated and Michael arrived with their first course, they were faced with the first real problems of their temporary blindness. Beckett could feel the knives and forks that were aligned beside her plate, but she didn't even know what they were being served, so how was she supposed to eat it?

"What's the surprise menu?" she asked Castle across the blackness of the table. "Well, duh. It's obviously a surprise!"
"But how am I going to eat a surprise?"

"I'll tell you where it is" Michael chimed in.
"And how do you know where it is?" Beckett asked.
"I learned it" Michael answered simply. "I'm going to describe the location of the food on your plate using a clock analogy. I heard that you are working with the police, Miss Kate, so you should be accustomed to that method."

Beckett took her fork and tried to picture the hidden plate in front of her as a clock. "This is going to be so much fun!" Castle said joyfully.
"Yeah right. I'm just glad I don't have to clean up the mess I'm going to make."
"Oh I'd be happy to clean you up afterwards, detective."
She glared at the darkness in front of her. "I may not be able to see you, Castle, but that doesn't mean I can't kill you!"

Michael interrupted their skirmish. "The first course shouldn't make a mess, Miss Kate. It's merely a salad. You've got slices of tomatoes at ten o'clock, cucumbers at six, carrots at 3 and so on. Just try it out." Beckett poked around at where she suspected was ten o'clock until she felt she'd hit something.

"I got a carrot!" Castle exclaimed victoriously. "This is sooo cool!"
"Too bad you can't tweet about it. By the way, I'm really impressed. How come you gave up your iPhone without breaking down, Castle?"
"For you, detective, I'd give up anything. Except maybe that new laser tag gear I bought last week…"
Because she didn't know exactly where he was she just shot out her leg underneath the table. "Ouch! That was my shin!" he cried and she smiled self-satisfied.

When she took her next bite she felt something smearing her cheek. "Do we have napkins here somewhere?"
"To the right of your plate" Michael said, reminding them of his presence.
"Could we get something to drink, Michael?" Castle wanted to know.
"Drinks are already in front of you, sir."
"Huh." He felt around the table. "Where?"
"Two o'clock, above your plate, sir."
"Oh, right. Thanks" He lifted the glass to his lips and sipped, spurting immediately. "What is this stuff?"
Beckett laughed shortly, and it ringed wonderfully in his ears. "It's a surprise, Ricky."
He wanted so badly to see her face just then. The 'dark restaurant' idea may have been fun, but it deprived him of the opportunity to study her face, or watch her eyes light up with laughter like he was sure they just had.
"It's our 'Enigma' drink. If you guess all of the ingredients correctly, you will be served an additional dessert" Michael's voice came from their side.
"Extra dessert?" Castle repeated and Beckett chuckled lightly because she knew exactly what his face looked like.

Although it was usually him watching her, she knew most of the expressions his face could produce. Although she would never admit it, not even if her life depended on it, she liked watching him. He was certainly nice to look at and his face had so many facets, ranging from childish and goofy to honest and serious, that it fascinated her. He had an excellent poker face, too, but she was a trained detective after all.

"Let me try. I'm good at this" she said and reached for her glass. She leaned down to sniff and had to grimace. "It's awful!" she called out. "I'm not going to drink that!"
"But our extra dessert depends on it!" Castle pleaded and it sounded like his life depended on it, too. "Nikki Heat would do it" he added casually.
"No, Nikki Heat would…excuse my language, Michael, but...Nikki Heat would shove this crap down your throat, Castle."
"Spoilsport…" he grumbled and that put her over the edge.
"Fine, writer boy! We both guess. If you win, you get my extra. If I win, I get your extra and your regular dessert."
"Deal!" he said and searched for his glass. "On three. One, Two, Three."

They both took a sip of the liquid and tried to avoid swallowing or spitting for as long as possible. Finally Kate forced the gruesome drink down.
"Gah!" she heard Castle choke.
"Okay. Everyone says one ingredient at a time. I start" she declared. "Pineapple juice."
"Correct" Michael confirmed.
"Chocolate syrup" Castle proposed and shuddered.
"Yep."
"The chocolate is pretty gross. Lemon juice."
"All in there" Michael confirmed once again.
"Uhhm. I'd say wine."
"What kind of wine?" Michael wanted to know.
"I don't know, red wine?" Castle guessed.
"Which grape variety?" Michael asked again.
"A Piemonte Nebbiolo" Kate chipped in.
"What?" Castle asked incredulously. Michael laughed softly. "The lady wins. I'll be back later with your main course and the desserts for Miss Kate."

"How could you taste that?" Castle queried.
"Well wouldn't you like to know, Mr. Castle?" she quipped and the sensuality in her voice made him squirm in his chair. "Now, what are you going to do to get your dessert back?" she flirted and brushed a foot against his leg. His breath caught for a second at her bold move and the blood started to drain from his head to lower body parts.
"What do you want me to do, Kate?" he picked up her banter. Her foot swept to the inside of his leg and moved upwards. He was suddenly really glad for the darkness of the room. "Non lo so. Dimmi che vuoi fare tu" she answered in Italian. He didn't understand a word but he couldn't care less. "I didn't know you speak Italian, signorina Beckett."
"Makes you want me, right?" she said and lowered her voice to an enticingly secretive whisper. "Vorrei sentire le tue labbra che mi sfiorano."

He cleared his throat to make sure he still had a voice before he spoke. "That was the sexiest thing I ever heard."
"It would be even sexier if you knew what it meant" she responded and removed her foot from his leg. "What?" he asked, his voice shaky and breathless. "No more playing footsie because I can't speak Italian? I can learn it you know" he offered. "You can teach me" he added insinuatingly.
"Our food is coming, Castle" she said steadily and it amazed her once again how quickly she could switch gears.

How she knew about the food was beyond him, but only seconds after she said it, Michael spoke up.

"Your surprise meal, ladies and gents. Fish at five o'clock. The rest is up to you to find out. Oh, right. If you want to wash away the traces of that awful beverage we made you drink, there's water in the middle of the table. Be careful when you pour it, please. I'll be bringing wine very soon, but first I'll let you guess the fish."
"It's grilled salmon, I can smell it from over here already" Beckett said, unaffected.
"My, you have an excellent nose, Miss Kate. I'll be bringing a Pinot Noir then."

"I didn't know you had such an excellent scent" Castle said and it sounded as if he was pouting.
"Maybe you don't know me as well as you think, Castle. But I always thought one would serve white wine with fish."
Castle sighed heavily. "Well at least for once I know something you don't, detective. Generally, white wine is served with fish. It can be served with salmon, too. It wouldn't be wrong, but lately the trend is geared towards complementing salmon, especially grilled salmon, with light red wines."
"Well."
"Well? That's all you've got to say?"
"Yes" she said and didn't quite succeed in keeping her smile out of her voice. "Now: Buon appetito."
"Hm" he answered, still sulking. Deciding to neutralize the aftertaste of the drink he reached blindly for the water on the table and suddenly brushed against Beckett's hand. She must have had the same idea.
"Oh, sorry" she said and withdrew her hand, but the flutter in her voice gave her away. Their nerves and senses had been alert all night, the combination of the darkness and each other's presence making their defenses crumble. Something as innocent as the touch of their hands made their hearts gallop in their chests and their skin heat. Lost in the blackness of the room they didn't have to hide their current condition, but it was still too early for Beckett to simply admit to Castle how much he affected her. She was glad when Michael returned with the wine and they could eat for a while, having found an excuse for their silence and an opportunity to calm down.

A/N: Wow. This was hard to write, but I hope it turned out all right. Please let me know whether you like it. Reviews make my day!

PS: Whoever translates the Italian first gets extra cookies :D