trashchildren | For Joan

She shifts to help him take off the tights. "I'm feeling great," she says, and smiles warmly. "It helps waking up next to you."

Ted grins happily. "Aww shucks, turning my own words back on me, are ya?" he teases.

He sets the tights aside and then picks up the clothes to help her on with that. "So I'm more than happy to help you with clothes and braid your hair, but just as a warning, if you ask me to do your makeup then things are gonna take a turn for the worse," he says with a chuckle.

"They're good words," she says, answering his grin.

Joan is actually able to do a lot more than merely make it easier for Ted to dress her. She's not quite at the point where she can totally dress herself, but she's definitely getting there. She chuckles at Ted's words. "I'm probably going to just go without makeup. I don't tend to wear a lot anyway."

"Yeah, me neither," he answers with a playful smile. "But then neither of us need it to look gorgeous," he quips. Being silly and sweet to make up for that little pit in his stomach still hanging around, trying to chase it away.

She laughs a little, glancing down almost shyly at the silly and sweet compliment. You're always gorgeous," she says, looking up and smiling warmly, her eyes shining, so in love.

"It's the mustache, right? Makes ladies go crazy," he teases happily. When she looks at him like that it makes him feel all fuzzy inside, which is a far better feeling than the pit. He leans down to give her a kiss in between the getting dressed.

She hums into the kiss, then gives him a grin and a tilt of the head.

"I can't say the mustache is not doing it for me," she says playfully.

Joan looks over at the wheelchair. She knows she won't be able to make it to the dining room under her own power, but she's not crazy about just being wheeled around everywhere in front of people other than Sherlock and Ted.

"Maybe I could sit at the table before they get here?"

"You should see me without it," he answers just as playfully.

He glances over at the wheelchair too, getting what she's talking about. "Oh yeah. I figure we'll just order a bunch of take-out, so we can probably just sit on the couch. Comfier." Otherwise they'd have to move from the dining table to the couch at some point, which would be the same problem.

"Ah," she says, pointing at him. "That's smart." It will definitely be way more comfortable that way. "We should wait until they come over to order."

Ted nods in agreement. "I am very smart. Don't you know I'm the brains in this house?" he jokes with a chuckle.

"Does that mean I'm the one with the looks?" she says playfully as she reaches out to grasp his shirt and tug him closer for a kiss.

Ted scoffs playfully, letting himself be pulled in. "No, that's obviously Sherlock. Have you seen the man?" he teases, and kisses her. "You're the brawn, of course."

She laughs. "I do have a killer left hook," she says, and kisses him again. She's teasing, but it's also true.

"Oh, I gotta see that sometime," he answers, suddenly having yet another reason to look forward to Joan being fully recovered.

He sits down next to her, since if they're going to be going on like this, it's difficult to keep standing. "No but clearly, you're both the brains and looks, I'm the brawn, or at least the jock. And then Sherlock is all three, and that's why he has no room for tact."

"Remind me to ask Sherlock if there are any local boxing gyms," she says with a smile. What better way to celebrate being fully recovered than to go punch some people?

Joan laughs at that last bit. "First, I can hold my own in a fight. Second, you are also extremely good looking and have incredible insight and intellectual curiosity. As for Sherlock..." She grins. "You are absolutely right."

Ted laughs at the bit about Sherlock, glad they're in agreement. "Well, it's a good thing you think I've got brains and looks too, cause I'm not even that brawny," he answers with a chuckle.

He considers himself to be about average appearance-wise, making up for some of it with charm. But by now he does believe her that she finds him very handsome, and not just saying that, and really, hers is the only opinion that matters.

She's glad he believes her, because she absolutely finds him beautiful. And sexy as hell.

She reaches out and takes his face in her hands, then leans in for another kiss, this one a little slower and more gentle.

"You're incredible," she says when their lips part, giving him a loving smile.

Ted basically turns to putty in her hands when she's all loving and complimentary like this, just looking at her with adoration. It makes the last bit of anxiety just melt away and disappear.

"God, you make me feel like the luckiest man alive," he says quietly. "Which given our recent experiences is saying a lot," he adds with a soft chuckle.

She laughs softly, then smiles at him, taking his hands in hers.

"Even with our recent experiences," she says softly, "I wouldn't trade this for anything. I love you, Ted."

Ted smiles, squeezing her hands, his heart so full, but also feeling so many complicated feelings.

"'If you're with the right person, even the hard times are easy'," he says softly. "Just something Higgins told me before Michelle and I separated," he adds as an explanation.

Joan frowns faintly. "I'm not sure I believe that," she says. "Hard times can still be hard. What matters is when even in hard times you continue to choose each other."

She's thinking of Sherlock, how fraught their past has been, and yet they've always come back together, eventually stronger for it.

Ted nods, mulling that over for a second. After all, he's very aware that love alone doesn't make everything simple or perfect. And that a statement like that implies that if something is hard, then it must not be right.

"Alright, then how about... even the hard times are worth it," he suggests instead.

Because he also knows at a certain point, you just end up continuing to hurt each other, at which point you probably shouldn't continue to choose each other. It's possible Ted and Michelle chose each other for a little too long.

She nods. "I can agree with that," she says softly.

She knows that it can't be easy for Ted to think about this. He must be thinking of his relationship with Michelle, wondering if those times were worth it, if it was worth it to him but not to her, how he could love her and choose her and cherish their time together and yet she still wasn't the right one for him, and he wasn't the right one for her.

Joan wonders if Ted is afraid of the same thing happening again.

She moves closer and wraps her arms around him, resting her head on his shoulder.

Ted leans into it, closing his eyes and hugging her back. Maybe a little tighter than the situation calls for.

He probably wouldn't admit it, nor has he really confronted it, but part of him is definitely afraid. Wondering how long it's really going to last. How he's going to be able to cope if Joan leaves him. He tries not to entertain those thoughts, but sometimes they sneak up on him.

She feels how tightly he's hugging her, and she tightens her own hold on him, wanting to reassure him. Wanting to reassure herself. She knows he loves her, and she loves him, but sometimes circumstances just tear people apart. God knows they've already come close a couple times.

"I love you," she whispers, tightening her hold further. "So much."

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