asgardmeridiem | love me for the man I’ve become, not the man that I was [closed]

Who: Richard Castle

writeswrongs and Kate Beckett

extraordinarymuse
What: ~Date night. ~~bow chica bow wow~~
When: 122; evening
Where: Gefion Park
Rating: PG-13. If it goes higher than that, I'll change this.

If Richard Castle's first date with Kate Beckett had taken place in New York, he probably would have gotten her box seats to a Yankees game.

Or made a reservation in the private dining room at The Four Seasons.

Or given her front row tickets to Phantom of the Opera, complete with backstage passes.

All of these would have been acceptable, no-holds-bars first dates, but they were in Asgard, so he needed to be more creative. She had dared him to go over the top and as far as he was concerned, he had delivered.

Castle was waiting for her in Gefion Park next to a well set table with a white table cloth. Next to the table stood a cart with covered dishes on it and a waiter who was busy opening the wine. Sitting at a comfortable distance was a string quartet who was warming up, each playing different soft notes. It was dusk and candles were lit on the table and all around the area of the set up. He even had a dozen red roses for her.

Everything seemed fine, but Castle was still nervous. He paced back and forth in front of the table and constantly checked his watch. Beckett would be there any moment. All he wanted was for this to be perfect. He had even dressed up for the occasion. He had been close friends with Beckett for 3 years, but he felt like there was a lot riding on this. Deep down he knew that Beckett was the type of girl who would be happy going on a date to a bar in a pair of jeans, but the flashiness was hard for Castle to let go off. Plus he doubted that a man had ever taken this amount of time planning something romantic for her. He wanted to be the one that did it.

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If Kate wanted to be perfectly honest with herself, she was a lot more nervous about this date than any other date she's ever been on. Therefore it was a good thing she wasn't being completely honest, or she may have never made it to the park.

But here she was, walking down the pathway to the area Castle has told her. She'd spent way too long getting ready, but she figured Castle would most likely own up to her challenge to go all out, which meant that she needed to dress the part. She considered it some sick kind of humor from the Gods of Asgard that she managed to get here with this dress in her closet, but no gun. At least she had something, though, because the last thing she needed was to worry about shopping or getting something made.

She did make it, though, walking up to what she assumed was Castle's doing - the table, the waiter, the string quartet. Kate had to resist the urge to roll her eyes because this was all, technically, her doing. But still ridiculous.

And least they weren't in New York. She could only imagine how bad that would be.

Instead, she walks up, holding her clutch and smiling when she finally found Castle - looking very good, might she add. The trick, she decided while walking over, was to make sure she didn't think too much about it. About anything. She just needed to relax and have fun. It's just a date, after all.

Just a date...yeah who was she kidding.

"I have to say, the quartet I didn't expect."

Castle grinned at the sight of her. That dress was stunning on her and he'd hoped for its reappearance ever since he first saw it at his book release party for Heat Wave. He met her halfway so that he could escort her to the table.

"You underestimate me, Beckett."

Kate smiled back at him, taking his arm easily and walking with him to the table.

"Apparently."

"You shouldn't. You're mine now and I play to treat you like the queen that you are."

Castle gave her a wink, then pulled out her chair for her.

She rolled her eyes at the comment, giving him a look. "God, Castle. You're going to have to stop that." But it was nice, knowing that even now, in that setting, they could still banter like they did. That things were the same.

She took the chair and moved it forward, placing her clutch on the table.

"Stop what? Loving you? Because that's never happening."

Castle sat opposite her at the table and grinned. She looked incredible. They were finally both here, on their first date. He'd only been waiting for this moment for about 3 years. The wine was poured and Castle raised his glass to her.

"Being ridiculous."

Kate shakes her head and reaches for her glass once he's finished pouring it, raising it right back for the toast. She was doing a good job and keeping things simple - she wanted to be here. She did. Thinking about the feelings that went beyond the simple enjoyment of right now could ruin the moment, so she didn't want to worry about them.

"I don't see any of this as ridiculous."

He clinked his glass against hers. Castle didn't want simple. He wanted her with him, the two of them in love and whatever complications that might bring. He was ready to face them head on.

"You don't think the quartet isn't just a little bit over the top?"

She raised an eyebrow at him, clinking her glass back against his before taking a sip.

"It's classy. They won't be here the whole time, just while we eat and then if we'd like to dance."

And he hoped that she would like to dance. He grinned at her from above his wine glass.

"Dancing? Wow, you did think of everything."

She could be up for dancing. She could be up for a lot of things, feeling herself relax and fall into the date like she always seemed to fall into step with Castle. It always worked out in the end.

Kate caught his look, glancing away before meeting his eyes again, also smiling. "What?"

"I'm just happy. Maybe I like to dance. Maybe I just want to feel your body against mine."

His eyes didn't stray from hers once as he sipped his wine.

"Do you think about this a lot?" She laughs, setting her glass down for now. "Or just now that you finally got me on a date?"

Castle smiles into his wine glass before putting it down.

"Do you really want to know?"

"Is it bad?"

She reaches for a piece of bread, pulling it apart and taking a bite of one of the pieces.

"Yeah, I think I can handle it."

He's quiet for a moment as he decides how much to reveal. They did just start dating and he wouldn't want to scare her away.

"I've thought about your body next to mine since the first moment I saw you."

She breaks into a smile, though tries to hold it back from a full on grin. "Well yeah. It's not like you tried to hide it."

"Back then I didn't have much tact. Since then I've gained a little."

He glanced up at the waiter who brought over the food, then turned back to her.

"But only a little."

"Only a little?"

She sat up a bit when the waiter served them their food, looking back over to Castle.

"Just enough, right?"

Dinner was chicken parmesan with pasta and a side caesar salad. Despite the elegance of the evening, he wanted the food to be something that he knew she would like. After the waiter left, he looked up at her.

"You do know why I've gained some tact don't you?"

"Because you've matured?"

The dinner looked fantastic, and Kate hadn't realized just how hungry she'd been leading up to the dinner. Too preoccupied with nerves.

He nodded, chewing his food before answering.

"Partially. But you're the reason why I've matured. I wanted to be worthy of you."

That's how he knew he loved her: he was willing to completely reexamine his life and his decisions.

love me for the man I’ve become, not the man that I was [closed]

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