"Alright, well, if those are the rules we're playing by, I gotta think of a real good one for you," he answers, then falls silent, thinking as he chews on pancake.
"Okay, I got it. I wore pajamas to prom. My favorite band when I was 14 was The Cure. Aaand I still can't explain the offside rule." He holds his hands out as if presenting the options.
Joan blinks, chuckling as she considers those choices. "Wow. Okay. I can totally see you wearing pajamas to your prom, and you need to tell me that story. Hmm. The offsides rule is complicated, and I definitely believe that you still can't explain it. But The Cure? Really? I don't think 14 year old Ted went through a goth phase. I think that's the lie."
"No no no, I got this, I got this," Ted says excitedly, almost bouncing in his seat. "Offside is uh, like when Sam passes to Dani, but Dani is closer to the other team's goal than any of their defenders. Oh, BUT, but it's when Sam passes the ball, not when Dani gets it, which means he can still sprint to it!"
Ted looks extremely proud of himself. Not just for remembering, but also for successfully tricking Joan.
"Okay, okay," she says, holding up her hands, wrapping her head around this. "First of all, that is awesome, congratulations, very proud of you. More importantly, though...the Cure was your favorite band???" She gapes at him. "Seriously? Did you dye your hair? Are there piercings I don't know about?"
"Well, okay it was like for two weeks when I was 14, and it was mostly cause I was mad at my dad," Ted clarifies with a shrug. "Hey, but you said trick questions were okay!" he adds quickly, pointing at her.
"Oh yeah, you're gonna love this," Ted says, scooting over to sit leaned back against the headboard, holding out his arm so she can snuggle up next to him again, and he tells her the whole story.
It's an amazing story, and Joan is laughing through it. "Wow," she says when he's done. "That is so perfectly you." She nuzzles his cheek. "I doubt I'll be able to top that."
"Yeah, what can I say, I was a rebellious teen in a lot of ways," Ted chuckles, leaning his head against Joan's and closing his eyes for a moment. He's all comfortable and stuffed with food, and the urge to take a post-dinner nap is coming in strong.
She closes her eyes as well and sighs happily, warm and fed and in the arms of the man she loves. Their surroundings and circumstances aren't the greatest, but in a very real way that doesn't matter. All that matters is that they're together.
Once they fall comfortably silent, it takes very little time for Ted to fall asleep. Head leaned back, mouth a little open, and solidly conked out. But at least he's not snoring, nor drooling. Just a deeply breathing Teddy bear.
It doesn't take Joan long to follow him into sleep, her head on his shoulder and her arm around his waist. Her sleep is sound and mercifully dreamless, feeling weary but also safe in his arms.
Ted is not quite so lucky. He remains solidly conked out for quite a while - longer than he should. But eventually dreams do reach him.
Specifically one where he's apologising to Rebecca, who... appears to have been stabbed and is slowly bleeding to death, except she appears to be unaware of this fact and doesn't understand why Ted is apologising to her.
It doesn't jerk him awake, but eventually he does begin to mumble anxiously in his sleep.
Ted blinks awake, but it takes him a moment to become aware of his surroundings. The smell of the basement air hits his brain and makes him queasy for reasons he doesn't understand at the moment, before he reigns himself in.
"Hey. What's up?" he asks groggily, once words become possible.
"Yeah, I guess," Ted agrees, pushing himself up a little bit and rubbing at his eyes. He definitely doesn't feel super great. Like there's an anxious pit in his stomach. "Sorry, did I wake you?"
"Don't worry about that," she says gently. "Do you remember what your dream was about?"
He's got to still have so much trauma from the kidnapping itself, and there's been so much since and more to come. If she could help him work through it little by little, it might make it easier.
Ted shakes his head gently. He doesn't really want to dwell on the details of the parts he remembers. "Just worried about tomorrow. And about Rebecca," he explains. Which is honestly all that really needs saying about it. That's what it comes down to. And he's already mentioned his guilt about not telling Rebecca.
He does however wrap his arms around Joan, and squeezes her a bit tighter than necessary for a moment, like he's using her as a teddy bear.
She holds him just as tightly, more for his comfort than her own. She knows he's worried about Rebecca, and he's not wrong to be. Rupert is vicious and has made her life hell. Of course he'd be worried that Mannion would do something to hurt her.
"It's going to be okay," she whispers, leaning her head against his. "We're going to be okay."
"Yeah," Ted agrees just as quietly, then presses a kiss against the side of her head. (He'd kiss her properly, but after that nap, his breath is probably atrocious.)
That anxious knot does start to loosen a little as he holds onto her though. He draws a deep breath in through his nose, then makes a face at once again at that basement air. "You guys couldn't have had an above-ground safe house?" he asks, only half joking.
"There's one in an abandoned warehouse on the North side." She kisses his cheek. "If we need to continue hiding after the gala...honestly, at that point I'd rather we went to the safehouse in Argentina."
If this is going to be a long term thing, they might as well go someplace where they could actually enjoy themselves.
"Of course you have a safehouse in Argentina," Ted answers with an amused huff. "Apparently they have good soccer players there."
He doesn't want to seriously consider that possibility quite yet, but at least that would feel slightly more like a vacation than like hiding in an underground cave.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
theodorelasso) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
trashchildren2021-06-24 07:33 pm
no subject
"Okay, I got it. I wore pajamas to prom. My favorite band when I was 14 was The Cure. Aaand I still can't explain the offside rule." He holds his hands out as if presenting the options.
no subject
no subject
Ted looks extremely proud of himself. Not just for remembering, but also for successfully tricking Joan.
no subject
no subject
no subject
She leans in to give him a soft kiss.
"So," she says. "Pajamas to prom?"
no subject
no subject
no subject
no subject
She closes her eyes as well and sighs happily, warm and fed and in the arms of the man she loves. Their surroundings and circumstances aren't the greatest, but in a very real way that doesn't matter. All that matters is that they're together.
no subject
no subject
no subject
Specifically one where he's apologising to Rebecca, who... appears to have been stabbed and is slowly bleeding to death, except she appears to be unaware of this fact and doesn't understand why Ted is apologising to her.
It doesn't jerk him awake, but eventually he does begin to mumble anxiously in his sleep.
no subject
"Ted?" she murmurs, touching his cheek.
no subject
"Hey. What's up?" he asks groggily, once words become possible.
no subject
"Hey," she says softly. "I think you were having a nightmare."
no subject
no subject
He's got to still have so much trauma from the kidnapping itself, and there's been so much since and more to come. If she could help him work through it little by little, it might make it easier.
no subject
no subject
"I'm here," she says softly. "Do you want to talk about it?"
no subject
He does however wrap his arms around Joan, and squeezes her a bit tighter than necessary for a moment, like he's using her as a teddy bear.
no subject
"It's going to be okay," she whispers, leaning her head against his. "We're going to be okay."
no subject
That anxious knot does start to loosen a little as he holds onto her though. He draws a deep breath in through his nose, then makes a face at once again at that basement air. "You guys couldn't have had an above-ground safe house?" he asks, only half joking.
no subject
If this is going to be a long term thing, they might as well go someplace where they could actually enjoy themselves.
no subject
He doesn't want to seriously consider that possibility quite yet, but at least that would feel slightly more like a vacation than like hiding in an underground cave.
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)
(no subject)