[For Beckett]

[stormweathered]

The only way that Castle would love the Island more is if during the winter, it had come up with different zones of pure amazingness. As it was, he would take Dr. Seussian appearances. He would take it with snow and with ice, he would take it because it was nice, he did not think it could ever be beat, "...and because, in the end, it's really quite

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[needthepractice]

Beckett might have even found the Seussian rhymes charming at first, though by the time he came around to what felt like the fiftieth clever couplet, she was rolling her eyes and swatting him gently - with a fond look in her eyes nevertheless. It was strange, having this kind of weather on the Island, but it definitely served to remind her of home, and it was with a bittersweet feeling that she had gone on the walk with Castle, linking her arm through his and leaning against him for occasional warmth.

"What's on your mind?" she asked, looking over at him. "And before you ask how I know, it's because you've got that look on your face. The one you get when you're weighing things over."

[stormweathered]

Castle was about to open his mouth to protest, but it was useless when Beckett really did know him like a book (...well, something he'd penned, at least). "It's Alexis," he admitted with a heavy sigh. "And before we get all serious about this, I could just be paranoid father on this one," he warned, so that he could cover all his bases. "Has Alexis seemed a bit distracted to you lately?"

[needthepractice]

"Distracted? You mean, moreso than usual for a teenage girl who just so happens to have a boyfriend?"

And don't think Beckett wasn't keeping an eye on that particular situation - not just because she felt like she had an obligation to both father and daughter, but also because she remembered being that age once, and the decisions she'd made were the kind she definitely wouldn't wish on Alexis. Or encourage.

"They are still dating, right?"

[stormweathered]

"As far as I know, Alexis and her boyfriend are still dating and he does not yet think I'm a scary man. A weird one, sure, but everyone thinks that," Castle said dismissively. "The boyfriend seems fine. Because if he didn't, he'd be waking up with a horse's head in his bed, if you know what I mean. Or, no, not a horse around here, but definitely some kind of head. Maybe a dinosaur."