Note from Logan: The next twenty or so chapters are re-posts of old drabbles. I had them up on my tumblr and am working on re-organizing my page. So these are going up here. I apologize for those of you who have this/me on alerts for the upcoming e-mail spam.
Christmas music was playing softly in the loft. A disco of lights from the tree were decorating the ceiling and walls, blinking happily even as snow continued to fall steadily outside.
The loft was empty save for her, standing in the kitchen with the bowl in the crook of her arm. She was mixing the ingredients together, humming along with the songs. She lost all of her self-consciousness when she was alone. Alexis and Martha were off at separate parties, exchanging gifts with friends or enjoying drinks over dinner. Castle was out doing last minute gift shopping having waited until Christmas Eve to get everything together.
Kate had grown tired of wandering around the apartment, watching the lights from the tree and the snow sparkling outside as it settled on the balcony. So she had pulled out the cookbook no one knew she had brought with her when she had moved in and started baking. The third batch of cookies was cooling on racks across the counter and dining room table as she made the frosting, adding a dot of food coloring to the white mixture and watching as it turned a peppermint red.
She was sitting at the table, a knife in one hand and a cookie in the other, frosting the top and ignoring the extra frosting that was beginning to coat her fingertips. She was singing "Let It Snow!" when the door opened.
"Don't encourage the weather, Kate!" he called out, shaking the snow off his coat as he dropped the bags in the doorway.
His cold hands slipped over her shoulders, the cookie in her hands nearly flying out of them as she jumped. "Castle!"
Equally chilly lips peppered kisses along her collarbone. "What?"
"You're freezing!" she said, shoving his face away from her neck.
He wrapped his fingers around her wrist, bringing her fingers up to his lips, drawing her pointer finger into his mouth and licking the frosting off the tips. "Mmm… I like when you're domestic."
"Yeah?" Kate used her free hand to pick up another finger of frosting, smearing it across his lips with a little grin. Then she pulled him down to her level, running her tongue across his lips, tasting the sugar and a taste that was all Castle.
His fingers tangled in her hair, keeping her mouth pressed against his. He only pulled back when they both had run out of breath. "Definitely."
Kate picked up one of her finished cookies and popped it into her mouth. "Glad to hear that. Now you can help me finish frosting these for Santa."
Castle sat in the chair next to her, picking up the knife she had dropped. "Thought you didn't believe in Santa."
"I don't, but I know you'll want to leave cookies and milk out anyway so you can eat them in the morning."
He leaned over, brushing another kiss over her lips. "You know me so well, Detective."
"Get frosting, Castle." She plucked the knife from between his fingers. "And your own knife."
They sat side by side, frosting the cookies shaped like trees and bells and ice skates, Kate's toes running up Castle's shin as he tickled her side between cookies, "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" played around them.