For Joan

[theodorelasso]

Continued from here.

(warnings: sexytimes. also, panic attacks, brutal violence, attempted murder, discussion of suicide and actual murder... )

Comments

[theodorelasso]

Ted swallows and nods a bit. "Yeah, that sounds good," he answers quietly, sitting back in his chair.

[formersurgeon]

"Do you want to take a break, Mr. Lasso?" Susan asks, her voice steady and reassuring. "I could get you some water."

[theodorelasso]

"Sure, yeah," Ted answers, mindlessly agreeing more than he actually considers whether or not he'd like that.

[formersurgeon]

"I'll go get that for you," she says as she stands. She glances at Sherlock, who gives her a small nod. He'll tend to Ted.

Sherlock waits a moment after the door is closed before he speaks.

"Do you wish to call Watson?"

[theodorelasso]

Ted glances over at Sherlock. "No, I.." he answers, a gut reaction, before pausing. Trying to move past the gut reaction, and consider whether he actually wants to.

"No, we're gonna head back there afterwards, I'll be alright," he says, a bit steadier. He doesn't really know what he'd say anyway, or what he'd want to hear. But he's glad for the moment to pause.

[formersurgeon]

Sherlock nods, looking down, wishing he had more to say but knowing that sometimes being present is a help in and of itself. He considers talking to Ted about Chapman's mother, but nixes the idea,thinking it's likely only going to upset him further.

[theodorelasso]

Ted sits there in silence for a moment, then pulls out his phone after all. Instead of calling her though, he just sends Joan a text. Both to get her thoughts, and to reassure her that he's doing alright.

We're thinking about a simple wooden casket with the AFC Richmond logo printed on the top. Thoughts?

[formersurgeon]

When Joan gets the text she can't help but smile a little. It's very Ted. She texts him back:

I like it. It's a good way to honor him.

[theodorelasso]

Ted just sends her a thumbs-up emoji back, then pockets the phone again. He does feel a little better from having reached out, even without letting on that he was upset. It's just nice to know she's there for him, to have that little bit of connection to her.

[formersurgeon]

Sherlock sees Ted relax a little as he receives the text. The detective isn't looking at Ted's phone and he doesn't have to to know who he is texting with. He smiles a little to himself, happy Ted can find such comfort in such a small exchange with Watson.

There's a soft knock on the door. Sherlock supposes it's the funeral director, and looks to Ted.

[theodorelasso]

Ted looks up, half turning in his seat. "Come on in," he answers, sounding a bit more chipper.

It's still a defense mechanism, of course, but at least he's capable of it without feeling like he's gonna fall apart.

[formersurgeon]

The funeral director enters, a cup of water in her hand. She sets it on the table for Ted, then sits down, looking at both Ted and Sherlock to gauge the situation. She can tell that things have settled a bit.

"So, are we decided on the coffin with the Richmond logo and colors?" she asks, to settle the matter before moving on to other things.

[theodorelasso]

"Thank you," Ted says, picking up the cup and taking a sip. It's still water, thankfully. It hadn't occurred to him to specify.

"Yeah, that'll be good. Don't make it too overwhelming though, just some details on some sort of dark wood," he says, a bit more focused now.

[formersurgeon]

"We can do that," Susan says, flipping through pages of coffins and caskets until she comes to this one.

"Something like this?"

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, that's great," Ted answers, nodding. He's not remotely worried about the prize.

"Hey, instead of people sending flowers, can we do that thing where we encourage donating to a specific charity?"

[formersurgeon]

"Absolutely," Susan says as she writes down the information on the choice of casket. She looks up at Ted. "We can put it in the obituary. What charity would you like?"

[theodorelasso]

"Not sure, I haven't looked any up," he says, the thought having just occurred to him. "Maybe something for kids in poverty, or something for mental health.. or both."

[formersurgeon]

"We can look into that," Susan says, writing it down before looking up again. "For the funeral itself, it is customary to have at least some flowers. May I suggest two arrangements to flank the casket? Perhaps of flowers in the Richmond colors?"

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, that sounds good," he answers, nodding. He doesn't want it to look completely barren.

[formersurgeon]

She makes a note of that.

"Have you thought of where you would like the service to take place? I don't know if Mr. Chapman attended any particular church..."

"He did not," Sherlock says quietly. "Mr. Chapman was not a man of any particular faith, at least not publicly." It was something he had looked into during his investigation of the man, searching for anyone Turner knew socially who might have had an influence on the man.

Susan nods. "In that case I would suggest using one of our chapels at the funeral home."

[theodorelasso]

Another reason he appreciates having Sherlock there to support him.

"Yeah," Ted agrees. "I guess something not overly religious for the sermon and all that. I'm guessing we'll have to talk to whoever's holding that too?"

[formersurgeon]

"We have a non-denominational minister we work with," Susan says. "You can speak with her before the service if you like. She's very good at dealing with cases like this."

[theodorelasso]

"Cases like...?" he asks curiously. He's not offended or anything, he just can't imagine his particular set of circumstances happens very often.

[formersurgeon]

"Cases where the faith of the deceased is unknown or absent," she says. "And cases where nobody knows the deceased well enough to know what they would have wanted said or done. You'd be surprised how often that happens. Usually due to an elderly relative who only has distant family left who may not have seen them in a while."

Sherlock nods. He's encountered cases like that before, and far too frequently.

"Will anybody be speaking at the service?" Susan asks. She doesn't ask Ted directly because she doesn't want to put him on the spot.

[theodorelasso]

"Right," Ted says. He supposes it's not too unlikely. But probably then someone taking responsibility isn't just some random person who's met them twice, just someone who's been estranged for a while.

At the question, he pauses, going 'uhhh' for a second. It might as well be putting him on the spot, since he doesn't know anyone else who would do it. "God, I don't know," he answers. "Uh, maybe."