Archive of Our Own ^beta

1.

Esposito could vaguely hear Beckett explaining something about the case, but he wasn't listening; he was more focused on the man standing before him. Kevin was wearing his tight trousers, knowing how they made Javier feel. They outlined his ass perfectly, leaving very little to the imagination. All he could think about was what was underneath and how much he wished he wasn't at work right now. “Esposito? Are you even listening right now?” Beckett's voice cut straight through Javi’s thoughts, pulling his focus from his boyfriend's spectacularly covered ass.

"Yes, I was paying attention,” Javier said defensively. “Why wouldn’t I be?” Esposito sat back in his chair, crossing his arms.
“Right, well, say I believe you,” Beckett tilted her head accusingly before continuing, “What have we been going on about for the past ten minutes?”
“Murder?” Esposito said as if stating the most obvious thing in the world.
"Javier, pay attention from now on, alright? Jeez, it's like working with children.” Beckett sighed, looking back to the murder board.
Kevin leaned down, smirking, before whispering in Javier’s ear, “Yeah, Javi, pay attention; wouldn’t want you to be getting distracted by anything.” As he straightened up, he leaned against the side of his desk, giving Javier a more direct view of his ass. He looked over his shoulder with a knowing glint in his eyes before turning his attention back to the board. Esposito sighed before standing next to his partner, muttering under his breath at how Kevin was going to be the death of him.

2.

Kevin was not staring at Javier's chest, no matter what it might look like; he was just zoned out and happened to be looking in Javi’s general direction. That was it, nothing else. This was a crime scene, not a place to be ogling his boyfriend. Although if he were looking at his chest, then it wouldn't be an unwelcome sight; it was a hot day, so Esposito was wearing a tight short-sleeve shirt. Course tight also meant it was outlining every muscle, showing every slight shift that Javier made. Kevin was unable to look away, not that he was looking in the first place, his eyes being drawn back to his chest almost magnetised. Glancing up towards Javi’s face only to find that he was being watched, “You good there, bro?” Esposito said smugly.

“Y-yeah, fine.” Kevin managed to splutter out, heat rising to his face. Ryan raised his hand, pulling at his collar. Logically, he knew he shouldn’t be getting so distracted; they were all standing around a dead body for God's sake, so why couldn’t he tear his focus from his boyfriend to the very dead person in front of them?

“Hey Ryan, I know it's hot out, but are you seriously sunburnt already?” Castle’s laughing voice pulled him out of his spiralling.
“What? No? I’m just hot; I don’t like warm weather.” Kevin said incredulously, looking back at Esposito, who had begun laughing at the look on his face. God, did he regret coming to work today.

3.

Esposito dragged himself to get a cup of coffee, his absolute boredom making him tired. This was his fourth cup of coffee. Javier looked out towards the bullpen, watching his partner busy writing; he loved watching Kevin work. Loved watching him take his lip into his mouth every so often when he got stuck on a piece of his report. All he wanted to do was go over there and brush the stray hairs out of his face and pull him in for a kiss, not caring about all of the other officers in the room, but he couldn't, especially not if he wanted Kevin and him to keep their jobs.

Wanting to make his day more interesting, he began typing out a message to Kevin explaining in detail how cute he looked and how much he missed him. He added a picture of a bundled-up Kevin, explaining how he wanted to get out of here just to see him be this relaxed. He pressed send, looking up with anticipation.

Javier watched Kevin glance at his phone, still entranced in his work. He watched as it clicked in his head who the message was from. Javier walked out of the breakroom, slowly creeping up on his partner, wanting to see his reaction up close. Just as Kevin picked up his phone to open the message, Beckett and Castle walked behind him. Javier had an ‘oh shit’ moment and slapped Ryan’s phone out of his hand.

"Man, what the hell?” Kevin shouted as his head shot up, “What was that about?”

"Yeah, Esposito, that was pretty dramatic; if you wanted his attention, I’m sure you could’ve thought of doing literally anything else.” Kate's 'stupid logic’, as Castle would say, was really ruining his heroic act of saving Kevin from the embarrassment of such a soft moment being shown to them.

"Whatever, I’m sure that his phone is fine,” Javier said, defending himself as he picked up the phone, revealing its shattered screen. “Oh shit, maybe not... erm, sorry man, I’ll pay you back, bro.”

“Yeah, yeah, right…” Kevin’s voice wavered as he reached for his phone, his eyes wide as he ran his fingers over the cracks.

Beckett leaned over to Castle, whispering in his ear before they both walked away, obviously deciding that they didn’t want to be a part of this conversation. “Javi, why? You were the one that messaged me; why didn’t you want me to see it?” Kevin said in such a small voice, and with the biggest puppy dog eyes Javier had ever seen, it made his heart break a little. In lieu of answering, he just handed over his phone and looked down at the ground as Kevin’s face went pink. “Oh, Javi, that’s, um.” Kevin forced out, conflict evident in his voice.

“Yeah, it was pretty stupid. Sorry, I’ll get you a new phone or at least pay for the repairs.” Esposito rubbed the back of his neck with his hand, glancing up towards his partner's face, unsure of what sort of reaction he was going to get.

“No, it wasn’t stupid; it was cute.” Kevin smiled slightly, looking up into Javi’s eyes.

4.

Ryan loves the winter; he loves how the snow makes everything look so majestic; he also loves how it gives him even more of a reason to cuddle up with his boyfriend on the sofa. What he doesn’t love is having to work in the snow because it means him going from freezing his ass off to then having to strip his extra layers off what feels like every five minutes.

Kevin walked up to his desk, pulling off his gloves and his hat. Throwing them down onto his desk, he reached up to unzip his coat before laying it over the back of his chair. He grabbed at his scarf, loosening the soft material until it fell from his neck. He placed it over his other things before sitting and laying his head down on top of them. “Whoa, you look like shit, Ryan!” Castle's oh-so-helpful remark really made him feel better.

Kevin lifted his head, levelling Castle with an unimpressed glare, which would have been more efficient if “Is that a hickey?” hadn’t just been yelled from across the room by the writer.

His hand flung up to his neck, covering it with a loud smack. “What? No! Of course it’s not a hickey! Why would I have a hickey?” Ryan’s defence would be more convincing if his voice weren’t getting higher in pitch with each word.

“Mhm, sure it isn’t; trust me, I know what a hickey looks like, and that is a hickey.” Castle smugly pointed out, very obviously trying not to laugh at the increasing reddening of Ryan’s face. The click of heels let Ryan know that he was about to be questioned again; it wasn’t just his fault that Javier and he went a little further than just cuddling last night.

“Castle, leave Ryan alone. I’m sure that you can wait until we have all had coffee before you start your pestering.” Kate’s reasoning was a nice change of tune; Kevin smiled, lowering his arm, allowing her to see what Castle was staring at. “Kevin Ryan, is that a hickey?”

“No!” He exclaimed. “Again, why would I have a hickey!”

5.

Beckett wasn’t paying much attention to the boy’s confidence that they could do their jobs, unlike Castle, who was up to his usual antics. She did notice, however, when they started acting strangely. She wasn’t sure how, but there was something off about them with the way they stood. Esposito looked slightly uncomfortable, not moving his arms very much but shifting slightly frequently enough for Beckett to notice. “Castle, have you noticed Ryan and Espo acting weird?” She leaned over to him, speaking lowly.

“Huh? Oh yeah, look how small Ryan looks. Did he get a new coat or something?” He replied back, not quite giving her all of his attention.

“Didn’t they disappear earlier?” Kate speculated out loud, wondering if Castle was going to be of any help.

“Hm, yeah, they did; maybe they went shopping and bought clothes that were the wrong sizes?” He said thoughtfully but was still not focused.

“Are you not going to help me? There is definitely something up with these two.” Beckett said, confused.

“Beckett, there is a dead person right here; we need to be looking for the killer, not focusing on Ryan and Esposito swapping coats.” Castle was being surprisingly mature about this; well, mature was a slight stretch, and the state that the bodies were left in was probably more food for his overactive imagination.

They got another lead on their killer; well, they had hoped it was a lead that would lead them to their killer, but no, another dead end. Sulking about not getting any further, Beckett focused again on the boys, noticing now that they both seemed more comfortable. Their jackets sure seemed to fit better; in fact, after she noticed the difference last time, they seemed to go missing again. Castle was yet again no help; how he managed to help solve cases was beyond her; he only focused on the case, seemingly unable to use his imagination to come up with a reason for the boys frequent disappearances. Beckett could probably find out the real reason, but Castle’s theories are always entertaining, not that she would tell him that to his face.

“Ryan!” Beckett called across to him.

“Uh, yeah?” Kevin replied, walking over, confusion evident on his face. “What's up?”

“You and Espo disappeared earlier, and when you came back, you looked odd.” Beckett said in an accusatory way.

“Okay? Wha-what do you want me to say to that? We don’t have to announce everywhere we go." Kevin’s voice held an emotion that Beckett couldn’t place—uncertainty, maybe?

“Hmm, right, well, thank you.” Kate said with an unnervingly wide smile.

+1

Normally any out-of-work gatherings were done in Castle’s own home; he practically jumped at the idea of going to pick Ryan and Esposito up from their own apartments. He wondered what the private lives of his friends were like. The guys weren’t very open with what they did when they left the station for the night, but Castle did know that they hung out together outside of work; he’d seen them leaving together. He had been tempted to follow them on multiple occasions just to get a glimpse of what they were doing, but Beckett caught him each time trying to sneak out.

He was vibrating with excitement; they were getting Ryan first, meaning Castle could pester him about his after-hour activities. “Kate, you have got to know what they do when they leave; I mean, they constantly leave together; they even leave in the same car.” Castle was still ranting on about this like he had been doing for the past half an hour. Beckett had blocked most of it out, but with his incessant need to use her name every other word, he forced her attention on him.

“Castle, I do not care what they get up to when they leave work, and neither should you, so can you just drop it? Please?” Exasperation was clear in Kate’s voice. Castle was either completely oblivious or he was just ignoring what she said, which was definitely more probable.

“Beckett, you have to be curious; they literally never say anything about what they’re up to, and I have never been to either of their places, so what gives?” Beckett knocked on Ryan’s door, and so did Castle. “For good measure, to make sure he heard us.” Castle explained with a grin. Kate just rolled her eyes, ignoring the look Castle was giving her. After a beat they heard the lock being undone and watched the door swing open, revealing a groggy, “Esposito? What? Why are you here? Why is he here? I thought you said we were going to Ryan's first, not Espo’s?” Castle spoke his words jumbling together. He swung his head between Kate and Javier, making confused noises.

“Castle, we are at Ryan’s and Espo’s. God, you are oblivious.” Beckett rolled her eyes, scoffing lightly.

“You knew about them? How?” Castle whined. “More importantly, why didn’t anyone tell me?” A half-asleep Kevin joined them, looking like he’d only just woken up, hair sticking up everywhere.

“‘Cause you talk too much.” Kevin groaned, resting his head on Javier’s shoulder. He raised his arm, wrapping it around his boyfriend's waist, melting against him.

“I do not!” Castle gasped, affronted by the accusation, plastering his hand over his chest before looking Beckett right in the eye and lowering his head to be the same level as hers. “Beckett, tell them that I don’t talk a lot; I have no clue where they have gotten such an insane theory. It's hurtful.” Beckett sighed, deciding not to acknowledge his childish actions before pushing Castle’s face away from her own.

“Ignoring him, did we get here too early or something? ‘Cause you guys definitely said half seven.” Beckett pulled back her sleeve, checking her watch. “Oh, maybe we are here early; it’s only seven fifteen. Sorry, guys, I misjudged how long it’d take to get over here.”

Esposito stepped back, dropping Kevin's head off his shoulder, which earned him a half-hearted glare. "Well, you can come in; it shouldn't take us much longer than five, maybe ten minutes, to get ready." Javier pushed the door further open and took a few more steps back, allowing them through.
"Thank you." Kate smiled at them both, nodding once before stepping into the apartment.