Chapter Nine [Video]

[thebestseller]

Who: Richard Castle and YOU
Broadcast: Fleetwide
Action: N/A
When: August 21st

Windrose crew, please don't worry too much, but I have been tossed in the pokey, so I won't be coming home tonight. Jeez, it's like the other factions don't have any sense of humor at all...

[Castle shifts uncomfortably.]

Really, no appreciation for fine artwork, these people. And they take this team business way, way, way too seriously.

Vision, please take care of the bots, and remember me fondly if I rot away in prison.

Comments

[revengeofthemordsith]

Not your wisest decision. How long do they plan on keeping you there?

[ She idly wonders if this is grounds for execution. ]

[thebestseller]

I'd say it was 'cause I was bored and drunk, but that's not much of an excuse, is it?

Just for one night. And I have to clean up my work or pay someone to do it for me. Luckily I used soap crayons.

[revengeofthemordsith]

Well. It's the excuse I hear all men say. So at least it's believable.

[ But she's amused regardless. ]

You're fortunate.

[thebestseller]

[Castle smirked.]

Yeah. All things considered, it could have gone a lot worse than it did. And honestly, I deserve a night in the pokey for being dumb.

[revengeofthemordsith]

Why do you call it that? The . . . pokey.

Do they poke you in there?

[thebestseller]

I saw it in a movie once, though I'm not sure why, now that you mention it. It just sounds fun. BY GUM, OLD CASTLE'S GONE AND GOTTEN HISSELF IN YON POKEY.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ She laughs despite herself. It's not something she's used to doing. ]

Do people really talk like that?

[thebestseller]

Just in the movies. I've never heard an actual person speak that way.

[revengeofthemordsith]

It must come from somewhere.

[thebestseller]

Could be an exaggeration or misremembering of an accent someone once heard. Fiction is often based on fragments of reality, after all.

[revengeofthemordsith]

I wouldn't know. Reading is an activity I never get time for.

[ And her skills are rudimentary at best. ]

[thebestseller]

Awww, really? That's quite a shame.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Normally she'd give a snarky reply but . . . she's curious. She only went to school when she was seven and after that . . . ]

Why?

[thebestseller]

Well, pragmatically, I write books for a living- so I need people to read them. I also love to read myself. It entertained me when I was young and lonely, and when I had my daughter, reading to her helped us bond when she was little.

[revengeofthemordsith]

[ Her expression softens slightly. Cara's father had taught her many things . . . while he could. ]

She is lucky.

[thebestseller]

I'm lucky to have her, too. She's an adult now, but she's one of the best things that ever happened to me.

[revengeofthemordsith]

All fathers say that.

[thebestseller]

Mmm. Doesn't make it any less true to me, though.

[revengeofthemordsith]

. . . No. So far, that seems to be true.

[thebestseller]

I miss her a lot. I haven't seen ANYONE from my world since I was brought here, in fact.

[revengeofthemordsith]

Isn't that a good thing? Certainly you wouldn't want your daughter to be kidnapped and brought to this place.

[thebestseller]

Oh, definitely. I wouldn't wish this place on ANYBODY, so I'll take that over my whole group being here.

[revengeofthemordsith]

But you're lonely. That is understandable.

[thebestseller]

... yeah. I try not to let it get to me much, but... I am. I know I don't belong here. None of us do.

[revengeofthemordsith]

Belonging anywhere, especially in a new place is difficult.

[ Cara belonged to the Mord'Sith until they betrayed her. Then she had nothing, but the need to protect Richard. Now she has more . . . but defining it, even calling it a place where she belongs is . . . hard. ]