Castle in the 1930s fic snippet
Dec. 12th, 2011 06:29 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
icepixieBecause really, the more like Nick & Nora Charles these two are, the better the show would be.
"Here we are—oof," Rick Castle said as the Golden State Limited jerked to a halt at platform 29 at Grand Central Terminal. "You'd think for the amount of money a cross-country ticket costs, they manage not to knock us into the walls. Does a train car even have walls, since they aren't attached to the ground? Are they just sides?"
"Castle," Kate Beckett—now Kate Castle, a fact which he still hadn't quite gotten over, even though it had been almost a month since the wedding—hissed as she stared out the window. "What are all those people doing out there?"
He touched her shoulder, hoping to soften the blow of what was coming. "They're here to see us. Well, more specifically you."
Her eyes widened, and he mentally counted to...well, he only got to one. "What?!" she exploded.
He winced. "You remember how I told you the papers tend to print everything about my life they can get their hands on, and make up things when they can't? Well, they've already made up plenty about you, and now people want to see you for themselves."
She glared at him. He worked at not finding it adorable. "You didn't say that half the city would meet us at the train station."
He glanced out the window again. "There aren't really that many—"
"Not that many? The president has fewer people show up when he makes a speech!"
"Well, okay, there are a few more than I expected..." As he said this, several policemen began pushing their way through the crowd, attempting to create enough space for the train's passengers to alight. He swallowed hard. "Kate." He touched her shoulders again, turning her so that she faced him, her expression still one of outrage and the tiniest bit of apprehension. "It'll be all right. We'll just get off the train, stride very purposefully through the path those nice policemen are clearing, and James will be waiting in the car to spirit us away from the crowds."
A tiny smile flickered across her lips. "Your driver is actually named James?"
He returned the smile. "No, actually his name is Elmer. But he lets me call him James sometimes."
She darted her eyes back toward the window. "And what if someone tries to get in our way while we're leaving?"
"Well, I have you to protect me, don't I?"
Apparently that was the key to cheering her up—he'd have to remember that—because she suddenly laughed and gave him a playful punch to the arm that he intercepted just in time, pulling her against his body and kissing her soundly.
***********
So obviously, if I were to continue this, WHICH I WILL NOT, they would stumble across a murder that needs solving, Beckett would wow the NYPD and make them beg her to join their forces, and turn them down to be a private investigator because the hours are better and there's no bureaucracy. The case would probably be a reworking of the one from The Thin Man, because I stole all kinds of details from Nick and Nora already. ;)
I have new respect for people who write AUs. Even in this snippet, I had a hell of a time trying to write a Beckett and Castle shaped by the 1930s but also recognizable as the characters from the show, especially in the dialogue.
"Here we are—oof," Rick Castle said as the Golden State Limited jerked to a halt at platform 29 at Grand Central Terminal. "You'd think for the amount of money a cross-country ticket costs, they manage not to knock us into the walls. Does a train car even have walls, since they aren't attached to the ground? Are they just sides?"
"Castle," Kate Beckett—now Kate Castle, a fact which he still hadn't quite gotten over, even though it had been almost a month since the wedding—hissed as she stared out the window. "What are all those people doing out there?"
He touched her shoulder, hoping to soften the blow of what was coming. "They're here to see us. Well, more specifically you."
Her eyes widened, and he mentally counted to...well, he only got to one. "What?!" she exploded.
He winced. "You remember how I told you the papers tend to print everything about my life they can get their hands on, and make up things when they can't? Well, they've already made up plenty about you, and now people want to see you for themselves."
She glared at him. He worked at not finding it adorable. "You didn't say that half the city would meet us at the train station."
He glanced out the window again. "There aren't really that many—"
"Not that many? The president has fewer people show up when he makes a speech!"
"Well, okay, there are a few more than I expected..." As he said this, several policemen began pushing their way through the crowd, attempting to create enough space for the train's passengers to alight. He swallowed hard. "Kate." He touched her shoulders again, turning her so that she faced him, her expression still one of outrage and the tiniest bit of apprehension. "It'll be all right. We'll just get off the train, stride very purposefully through the path those nice policemen are clearing, and James will be waiting in the car to spirit us away from the crowds."
A tiny smile flickered across her lips. "Your driver is actually named James?"
He returned the smile. "No, actually his name is Elmer. But he lets me call him James sometimes."
She darted her eyes back toward the window. "And what if someone tries to get in our way while we're leaving?"
"Well, I have you to protect me, don't I?"
Apparently that was the key to cheering her up—he'd have to remember that—because she suddenly laughed and gave him a playful punch to the arm that he intercepted just in time, pulling her against his body and kissing her soundly.
***********
So obviously, if I were to continue this, WHICH I WILL NOT, they would stumble across a murder that needs solving, Beckett would wow the NYPD and make them beg her to join their forces, and turn them down to be a private investigator because the hours are better and there's no bureaucracy. The case would probably be a reworking of the one from The Thin Man, because I stole all kinds of details from Nick and Nora already. ;)
I have new respect for people who write AUs. Even in this snippet, I had a hell of a time trying to write a Beckett and Castle shaped by the 1930s but also recognizable as the characters from the show, especially in the dialogue.
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Date: 2011-12-13 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 02:31 am (UTC)And since you're clearly going to continue this (isn't there a rule about never believing things typed in ALL CAPS?)
NO THERE IS NOT! *g* Seriously, though, I already have one 1930s-based novelish...thing percolating away in my brain; I don't think I could handle another. That one's about dancers, though, not crime-fighting, which I'm probably better suited to write since I never pay attention to the mystery plots on Castle or any other crime show I watch. :D
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Date: 2011-12-13 01:41 am (UTC)Also, did you write a Fringe/Wonderfalls crossover awhile back? I thought I saw one and then promptly lost it again.
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Date: 2011-12-13 02:28 am (UTC)Also, did you write a Fringe/Wonderfalls crossover awhile back?
I did!
(I also wound up writing more Fringe fic, and made a vid for each of them. Um, boredom apparently struck hard in October. :D)
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Date: 2011-12-13 06:05 am (UTC)LOVE SO MUCH! Of course that's the key to it all!
I know nothing of Nick and Nora, but this struck me as very Castle and Beckett. Which is hugely impressive. ::bows down::
no subject
Date: 2011-12-13 06:34 am (UTC)Hee! Complimenting her kickassery is always the best way to put Beckett in a good mood!
I know nothing of Nick and Nora
Really? Oh, you would love them! Nick and Nora are so snarky and suave and basically continually happily sloshed while they singlehandedly solve mysteries as a diversion from their lives of leisure. (Well, okay, it was the thirties, so set your expectations for Nora's involvement in the actual crime-solving parts accordingly, but she does play integral parts, even if they're small. Plus she gets great dialogue, and Myrna Loy is just wonderful.) The first Thin Man is the best, and the second two are almost as good, but the last three decline rather precipitously. Although the last one does have a five-year-old Dean Stockwell playing their son, which is fun to see.
but this struck me as very Castle and Beckett. Which is hugely impressive. ::bows down::
Awww, thank you!