OOM: Beckett's Room

[trigger_man]

 [After this.]

Jack makes a quick pit stop in his room to change into dry clothes, already feeling the burn on his skin as it warms up again.

Heading back out into the hall, he hesitates for a second outside Beckett's door.  After the awkwardness of him falling on top of her--and neither of them moving for a moment--this might not be the best idea.  But then he'd told her he'd be there in a moment, as as much as part of him has misgivings about it, there's part of him that wants to show that whatever that moment outside had been, it was just an aberration; nothing to see here, move along.

Taking a breath, he raps decisively on her door.

Comments

[trigger_man]

"Didn't realize your special recipe was actually for chocolate napalm," Jack says, wry. He blows across the top of his hot chocolate for a moment, sucking air in through his pursed lips to cool his tongue.

"How've you been?" he asks while he waits for his drink to cool and his tongue to stop stinging.

[fanofthegenre]

She smirks, but doesn't attempt a comeback to that one. Any further scalding at this point is beyond her responsibility.

"Good," she admits. "Despite the occasional intervention from top-secret government agencies, or the recently escaped Triple Killer. Oh, did I tell you Castle bought a bar?"

[trigger_man]

"Wait a minute, what's this about a Triple Killer?" Jack asks, forehead creasing.

[fanofthegenre]

"Remember? The guy who liked his blondes in groups of three, and finished things off by tying up Castle and beating Ryan over the head before slipping right through our fingers." Beckett's grip tightens around the mug at the memory of frustration, revisiting it now.

[trigger_man]

"Not about to forget that any time soon," Jack says, his tone and expression a little grim. "You didn't mention the nickname at the time, though. So what's this about Castle buying a bar? He giving up the writing, or just have a new hobby?"

[fanofthegenre]

"Well, now we have a name and a face to attach to it," she mutters, looking down into the contents of her mug for a moment.

"It was an active crime scene up until recently. Let's just say the previous owner vacated the position suddenly."

[trigger_man]

"Was murdered, in other words," Jack says, skipping the euphemisms. "Did Castle's experience with the killer bring on some kind of mid-life crisis?"

[fanofthegenre]

"I think he just couldn't bear to let the place go under after making so many memories there as a writer in his early days," Beckett admits.

Getting to see photos of Castle the younger had definitely been worth it.

[trigger_man]

"How old's the bar?" Jack asks.

[fanofthegenre]

"It's been around since Prohibition-era, at least. Probably longer, judging by the looks of those secret tunnels."

She lifts her mug to her lips to test out the temperature of the cocoa - now perfect for drinking without fear of first-degree burns.

[trigger_man]

Jack's eyebrows shoot up. "Secret tunnels?"

A large part of him is interested because it's just, well, cool. Of course there's another part--the suspicious, paranoid bastard part--that starts wondering about the security implications of that.

[fanofthegenre]

"Which will have to be filled in, of course. But, knowing Castle, he'll probably put that off for about a week or so until he has a chance to explore them all for himself. Now that we're not actively chasing a suspect down there anymore."

She tries to hide a smile, but the look on his face is too priceless.

"You look almost as excited as he was."

[trigger_man]

Jack looks a little sheepish. "Secret tunnels are the kind of thing you read about in Hardy Boys novels as a kid. Kind of hard not to be a little excited."

He takes a sip of his hot chocolate, now that it won't sear his tongue.

"I take it the tunnels were from Prohibition and used for smuggling?"

[fanofthegenre]

She just grins at him, shifting on the couch.

"I didn't say you weren't allowed to be. And, yeah, good guess. Though they were only being used for hiding some pretty valuable bottles of liquor when we discovered them."

[trigger_man]

"Castle inherit those too, when he bought the place?"

[fanofthegenre]

"Are you kidding me? They were evidence," Beckett says.

"He may have gotten to keep one," she adds, before quickly taking a sip of cocoa.

[trigger_man]

"Providing he shared it?" he asks with a slight quirk of the lips.

[fanofthegenre]

"Obviously," she says, winking.

After a moment, she leans back, relaxing further, staring into the flickering flames.

"What about you? Anything new and exciting to share?"

[trigger_man]

Jack shrugs, but the air of indifference doesn't quite come off as natural. Perhaps it's the fact that he doesn't quite meet her eyes as he speaks.

"Not really. Couple days before Christmas outside, and the resort I'm working at is getting pretty busy."

[fanofthegenre]

"Yeah?" She misses the non-look, glancing over toward him after he speaks.

"I get the feeling you're not exactly big on the holidays."

[trigger_man]

"Don't really have much reason to be. A lot of people don't really get into the whole Christmas spirit thing; I'm one of them."

At one time he had, at least somewhat; when he had Kim to celebrate with. But then Christmas is a time for family, and it's been years since he had one.

[fanofthegenre]

"It's okay. I'm not too big on it myself."

She takes another sip of cocoa.

"Probably because I can't remember the last time I didn't work through Christmas."

[trigger_man]

"You don't spend it with your Dad?" Jack asks, looking up at her.

[fanofthegenre]

"We try to make time. There's always a Christmas dinner every year. But the rest of it, it's pretty much work."

She draws a face, shrugging.

"Life of a cop."

[trigger_man]

Jack snorts. "Yeah, I know that."

Some years Christmas felt more like a gauntlet for CTU to run through, to make sure nothing happened.

"Even I got a couple Christmases off, though. Or nearly off."