For Joan

[theodorelasso]

Continued from here.

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

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[formersurgeon]

She hums, frowning faintly. It's a good question. They know a lot of things, and much of it probably shouldn't come out outside a courtroom.

"I think we keep it to our case," she says. "The other things Rupert's done will come out in court. We probably shouldn't be tipping that hand ahead of time."

"It would be advisable," Sherlock adds, "to keep Moriarty out of it altogether."

[theodorelasso]

"Good advice for life in general," Ted quips, maybe a bit bitterly. He doesn't blame Joan, but he definitely blames Moriarty.

He figures for anything involving Rupert, he'll allow Joan to be the one to talk about that mostly. She'll have better judgement regarding it, probably.

[formersurgeon]

Joan lowers her eyes at that. Ted might not blame her, but she still carries a lot of guilt for what happened to Turner, and to the man who recruited him. Of course, if Moriarty hadn't gotten involved, they might not have known that Rupert was going to try again to have Ted killed. He could have been the one to eat the cyanide-laced food at the gala, and not have known there was a problem until he had ingested so much that he could not be saved.

[theodorelasso]

Ted may be a bit hyperaware of Joan's reactions whenever Moriarty is mentioned, so he definitely notices her looking down. He doesn't say anything, but he does reach over to put his hand on hers on the table.

"I figure we probably don't need to say all that much in the first place. The broad strokes will probably go a long way," Ted says. He has no intention of describing his stay in Turner's basement in any detail to the press, even if he trusts Trent.

[formersurgeon]

Joan turns her hand over to wrap her fingers around Ted's hand, squeezing it gently.

"That's true," she says. "There are plenty of things no one else needs to know about."

She feels protective of Ted. Whatever they wind up talking about, however much they wind up telling the reporter, she's going to be looking out for his mental and emotional wellbeing first and foremost.

[theodorelasso]

Ted nods in agreement. He knows it'll all have to come out eventually, in front of the court. But at least he'll have more time to prepare for that.

"Trent does have a way of bringing the heat, I should warn," he adds with a smile.

[formersurgeon]

She smiles back. "Good. Then people will respect him and what he has to say, because they'll know he didn't go easy on us."

It's a fine line to walk, between a tabloid exposé and a puff piece. But walk it they must, if this is going to work.

"I look forward to meeting him."

[theodorelasso]

He has gotten significantly less mean since Ted first met him too. Asking the hard-hitting questions while still being respectful.

"So, anyone want a second helping?" he asks optimistically, looking around at people's plates with a smile. He did give them pretty big servings though. Beard silently raises a hand, declining.

[formersurgeon]

Joan has actually managed to eat all of her dinner, which is a great sign, both that the food was delicious and that she's feeling a lot better.

"No thank you," she says. "It's wonderful, but if I take one more bite I might explode."

Sherlock shakes his head as well.

[theodorelasso]

"More leftovers for me later," he says cheerfully, not minding at all. He gets to his feet and gestures for Beard to help him clean off the table, while Ted goes to pack away the rest. Keeley texted back with Trent's number, so he can do that in a moment.

[formersurgeon]

Sherlock gets up as well to help clear the table and put things away. As Joan waits at the table, she pulls out her phone and looks up Trent. She finds the article he wrote back when Ted was new to Richmond, and she smiles as she reads it. She knows that Ted had faced an uphill battle when he started coaching the team, so for a well-respected journalist to write such an honest and yet ultimately complimentary piece is pretty significant.

[theodorelasso]

Once everything's packed away, Ted heads to another room to phone Trent. He doesn't elaborate much on what exactly they'll talk about, beyond 'everything going on lately', but Trent is plenty eager to talk. He agrees to text about a specific time later, before he heads back into the kitchen.

"Trent's happy to talk to us," he says. "Actually he seemed like he was trying not to sound too excited," he adds with a smile. It is admittedly very much a scoop, so he doesn't blame him.

[formersurgeon]

While Ted is calling Trent, Sherlock helps relocate Joan to the living room, and Beard follows. When Ted reemerges they're all sitting in silence, with Beard and Sherlock in a staring contest. JOan looks up at Ted and smiles.

"That's great. Did he say when he's available?"

[theodorelasso]

"Tomorrow's fine, I said I'd text him with a time," he answers, looking between Beard and Sherlock, a smile growing on his face as he notices what's happening, and suddenly he doesn't want to speak anymore, for fear of disturbing the amusing competition.

[formersurgeon]

Joan catches his eye after he looks at Beard and Sherlock, and smiles, her eyes sparkling. She loves how Sherlock and Beard are relating to each other. An outsider might think that there's hostility there, but Joan and Ted know them, and know that their stares are just them being them and appreciating each other.

[theodorelasso]

Ted silently makes his way over to Joan, sitting down next to her and putting his arm around her. He gives her an amused smile, but he stays quiet, and continues to watch their friends. He wonders what they're thinking. Though he's almost entirely sure that the two of them can keep this up for longer than Ted can keep quiet.

[formersurgeon]

Joan smiles at Ted, then leans against him, resting her head on his shoulder, and watches their friends as well. They're definitely different sorts of people, with Beard being generally quiet while Sherlock is frequently loud and brash and rude. And yet this silent moment of staring demonstrates at least one of their similarities...a dislike of small talk and a lack of care about social convention that dictate what friendly interaction looks like.

Joan is not a very talkative person in general, so she's happy to let them have this moment of silence, while she is also aware it is quite likely that Ted will be the first to break the silence.

[theodorelasso]

At least gently cuddling with Joan soothes his patience quite a bit.

Still, it's not that long before he whispers to Joan. "How long do you think they'll keep this up?" he asks softly, as if they can't still easily hear him in the quiet room. He understands that non-verbal communication is a thing, but this seems to be dragging it a bit far.

[formersurgeon]

Both Sherlock and Beard turn to look at them. Joan smiles.

"That long," she says, taking and squeezing Ted's hand. "You know," she says to Sherlock and Beard, "you two should actually talk. I think you'd find you have a lot in common."

[theodorelasso]

"Aw, nuts," he answers when they both turn to look at him, but he smiles almost immediately anyway.

"Hey, you could play each other at chess!" he suggests, figuring that's definitely something Sherlock would be good at, right? It'd be thrilling to watch. Ted understands the rules of chess, but he's not particularly good at it, so he's never been much of a challenge for Beard.

[formersurgeon]

Joan smiles and looks at Sherlock, knowing that he would in fact love that.

Sherlock lifts his eyebrows and looks back at Beard. "I can fetch a board if you like."

[theodorelasso]

Beard gives a nod, accepting this proposal. There is a slight tension in his posture suddenly, very minuscule, that Ted takes to mean Beard's excited about this.

Ted smiles at Joan. "And then you and I can play Go Fish or something," he suggests jokingly.

[formersurgeon]

At that nod, Sherlock gets up and heads out to go over to 221B. Joan turns her head to press her lips to Ted's cheek.

"We could go play video games," she suggests, with a smile that hints she actually intends to do something quite different in the bedroom with him.

[theodorelasso]

Ted raises his eyebrows at that smile. Maybe they should have just shooed both Sherlock and Beard over to the other apartment, instead of having them bring the chess board here.

He gets to his feet and holds out his hands for Joan. At this point it's becoming such a habit, he might accidentally just keep doing it.

"You gonna be alright," Ted asks Beard.

"Depends how well he plays," he answers, with just the hint of a smile.

[formersurgeon]

It might have been best, yeah, but she'll work with what they've got. She smiles up at him when he holds out his hands for her. She's getting stronger, and soon she won't need help to get up, but she can imagine this just being a thing they do, even when it's not strictly necessary. She takes his hands and rises, then holds onto his arm for stability.

"Oh," she says to Beard with eyebrows raised. "He is an amazing chess player. I can't even tell you how many people in New York owe him favors because he's beaten them at chess."