(Untitled)

[bennet_beauty]

It was only fitting, Jane believed, that she would hold this party upon such an eventful day. Five years ago, she had arrived upon the island and her whole life had changed. She was no longer the young girl that she had once been and was no longer trapped in the confines of a time when her options were greatly limited. Though the date coincided,

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[stormweathered]

Castle was delighted that apparently a committee of gods-on-high had been listening to his list of demands. More fancy-dress (or costume, whatever people called it these days) parties was right up there with monkey butlers and 'condo on my moon property'. Since he didn't think the rocket technology was anywhere near getting him to the moon and he couldn't seem to find any monkeys willing to wear suits, fancy dress was going to have to do.

He was moving through the crowd with as debonair a smile as he could muster, wearing a tuxedo and acting like he was James Bond. And really, truly, in his head, a part of him really did think like that. He smiled at the next passing guest, thinking that now was as good a time as any to begin socializing more. "Castle," he introduced himself. "Richard Castle. Would you like a drink?"

[needthepractice]

"You're lucky you can make that work," Beckett teased, coming up behind him after hearing his little introduction and winding her arm through his, her fingers lightly resting against his forearm.

"A drink is probably better. I'm not even sure I can dance in this," she murmured, reaching down to adjust the skirt of her dress so it wasn't tangling up around her ankles.

[stormweathered]

Castle wasn't exactly speechless. He had the opposite problem. He had a dozen things that he wanted to say and didn't know where to start, so he began by placing the drink in her palm, kissing her cheek, and glowing with a grin. "You are absolutely beyond stunning," he informed her. "Just so you're further aware."

[needthepractice]

"Thank you," she murmured, accepting the drink and turning her head just enough to let his lips grace her cheek as her own did the same against his. Her free hand slipped down to hold his as she stood next to him, taking a sip from her glass.

"Well, you're probably already aware of your ability to wear the hell out of a tux," Beckett softly added.

[stormweathered]

"I believe it was mentioned in a Time article about me," he confirms with a smug smile on his lips. "The cut of the suit hangs off my shoulders and creates an air of international intrigue. Their words, not mine. Okay, somewhat mine when I hinted that the reporter should write that."

[needthepractice]

Beckett shook her head and masked her smile with another sip of her drink before leaning in against his side, looking out at the dance floor. The skirt of her dress made things slightly tricky, but she was willing to forego that for one dance. She set her drink down and took both of his hands into hers, slowly backing up to lead him onto the dance floor. "Come on, Mr. Time magazine."

[stormweathered]

Castle waggled his brows as he followed her, careful to avoid the train of her dress. Inevitably, he found it easier to reach over and help her with it by lifting it off the ground, keeping it secure in his palm. "Do you remember our first dance?"

[needthepractice]

Beckett wound one arm around his neck as they made it to the floor, taking her other hand and gently placing it in his own as she fit herself in comfortably against him, tilting her head back to smile slowly. "How could I forget? You held me in a dip for all of eternity."

[stormweathered]

"And it was perfect," he mused fondly, mostly to himself as he twirled her around the floor, as if getting her in position to do much the same thing all over again. "And now we have as long as we want to have as many dances as we'd like."

[needthepractice]

Beckett laughed happily and curled herself in against him when she eventually twirled back into his arms, moving in a little closer than a traditional waltzing hold called for. "I can't think of anyone whose dance card I'd rather fill up for the rest of the night."

[stormweathered]

"And, just think," he whispered, pressing gentle kisses to her cheek, letting each one linger as if to leave an imprint of each of them, "you don't even have to pretend to like me, anymore."

[needthepractice]

"Oh, stop," Beckett chided, but she was still smiling, and she turned her face right at the last kiss so that his mouth was squarely planted on her own, surprising him that way before she pulled back and settled herself in his arms again.

[somanytitles]

"A pleasure to meet you, Mr. Castle," Aragorn said with a nod of his head. The man seemed far more at ease than Aragorn felt, mostly because a suit did not lend itself to wearing a sword, and Aragorn refused to leave his weapon at home.

"I am Aragorn. And a drink would be most appreciated."

[stormweathered]

Castle gaped. He was sure that it was rude -- more than that, he knew how rude it was -- but he couldn't help it. Presented with a man from one of his most esteemed and favorite books, Castle could only stare at him like he was Hanson and Castle was a pre-teen girl. "Aragorn, you need a...Aragorn needs a drink, people," he barked out, busying himself with fetching a good glass of vodka, bemoaning that it wasn't mead. "Will this do?"

[somanytitles]

"I assure you that my desire for one constitutes no great rush on anyone's part," Aragorn said with a chuckle. He knew that his appearance, between his height and his sword, was somewhat odd and sometimes startling.

"But I thank you all the same."

[stormweathered]

"Trust me," Castle insisted, as serious as he got -- which was pretty damn serious and typically only appeared in instances where affect and effect were dueling, or when the umlaut and irony were being abused (though usually not in the same scenario, usually). "There is definitely rush needed," he insisted, handing over the drink, biting back the desperate urge to say 'my liege' or 'I've read your books once every year since I was eight'. "I'm Richard Castle, as I already mentioned."