trashchildren | For Joan

Ted chuckles cheerfully at their playful bickering. "I mean, fish and chips is great, though," he points out. "Hey, I should do proper Kansas barbecue for y'all at some point!"

He's been wanting to do it for Joan for a while, but then there's been so much stuff happening. But now he can include Sherlock in it as well. Once Joan feels ready for that amount of meat.

Joan and Sherlock bicker like an old married couple a lot of the time, which Ted is going to witness plenty of now that he's going to be spending a lot of time with them both.

"I would like that," Joan says with a smile. "I will admit my knowledge of different kinds of barbecue is a little lacking."

"I will be happy to educate," Ted answers with a smile. "What about you, Sherlock, what food do you like?" he asks curiously.

There is a pretty high probability he will end inviting him to dinner as well, even when he isn't already around to help Joan.

"Food is fuel," Sherlock replies. "Under most circumstances I eat because it is a bodily necessity. I can recognize and appreciate cuisine of high quality, but like or dislike are not useful categories for me."

Ted stares thoughtfully at Sherlock for several long moments.

Then he turns to Joan. "What in holy heck is he talking about?" he asks seriously, but the smile that creeps in indicates it's definitely a joke. Because wow, they have an incredibly different mindset.

Edited 2021-08-15 20:42 (UTC)

Joan smiles with a mild chuckle. Sherlock's unusual relationship with food is one of the unique things about living with him.

"If he tells you your barbecue is good, he really means it," she explains.

"Alright, well, challenge accepted, I suppose," he answers with a chuckle. "Although, you apparently actually get more nutrition from food if you enjoy it, since your brain tells your body to absorb more. Which is probably why I look like this," he adds and pats his stomach. Ted takes a lot of enjoyment from food.

Joan smiles at that. "I'm glad you enjoy food, then," she says. "Because you're perfect."

Sherlock rolls his eyes. "Be that as it may," Sherlock says, talking over Joan leaning into cuteness. "My enjoyment of food is mostly utilitarian in nature."

"As is his cooking," Joan points out with a smile to Sherlock. "He likes to bake Yorkshire puddings when he's stressed. Then he throws them away."

Ted very much appreciates the cuteness even if Sherlock doesn't.

He looks shocked at that news. "But Yorkshire puddings are so good!" he objects. And both easy to make and eat. It's one of the foods he enjoyed discovering after moving here.

Sherlock pulls a face. Joan looks at Ted and shrugs. She suspects there's likely some sensory issues going on there...that it's not the taste but the texture that he dislikes. It's also possible there's history behind it. Either way it might not be the best time to get into it.

"Are you not the one who dislikes tea?" Sherlock counters.

"Yeah? It's just hot brown water. Absolute garbage," Ted answers, but he smiles to indicate he means no offense.

"Well, then," Sherlock says. He gestures toward Ted with an outstretched hand. "You shall have your unpopular opinion concerning British comestibles..." He places the hand on his own chest. "And I shall have mine."

"That's fair," Ted agrees cheerfully. "Though if you ever want those puddings to go to good use, feel free to hand them to me," he adds. Maybe the throwing away is part of some ritual or something, he doesn't know, but if not, they might as well be eaten.

"Mmm, speaking of food," he says, pulling out his phone. "I can order some groceries for delivery in the morning. Any requests?"

Joan enjoys watching the two of them interact. Sherlock is being his usual acerbic self, and Ted is being his usual cheerful, kind self, and it works. She's so very happy to have Ted in her life, and now she's beginning to be happy that Sherlock has Ted in his life, and Ted has Sherlock in his. That's never happened before, and it supports what Joan said in the cab...they were meant to be together.

"Eggs," Joan says. "Bread." She smiles at Ted. "Peanut butter, obviously. Smoothie ingredients...milk, yogurt, fruit..."

"Yup, yup.." Ted agrees, picking stuff off lists on his phone in between sips of soup. He also gets baking ingredients for himself, and tries to find dinners that Joan could eat. He doesn't necessarily have a lot of experience making soups, but there's stuff like oatmeal porridge, mashed potatoes... He can find yummy things to make.

Joan carefully fishes out the strips of chicken in her soup and eats them, until only the broth is left. Then she sets the ladle down and carefully lifts the container to her lips. Her hands are still shaking, but she's still able to drink the last of the soup without too much trouble.

Ted watches Joan out of the corner of his eye to make sure he's okay, but he tries not to be too conspicuous about, since she doesn't want her to feel like he's babying her or anything like then. But then he's now pretty much living with not just one but two detectives, so probably anything he does is conspicuous by default.

He finishes up the grocery ordering, and just as he does, he gets a text from Michelle. It's a drawing from Henry, featuring Ted (going by the mustache), and his leg is in a cast, but rather than using crutches, he's got what appears to be robot gorilla arms, long enough to reach the ground. He smiles and shows the picture to Joan.

Joan notices that he's keeping half an eye on her, and she's okay with that, at least for the moment. She's still healing, and Ted's concern not at all unreasonable.

When he shows her the drawing, Joan grins. "That is amazing," she says, looking up at Ted, eyes shining. "He has a great imagination. And he loves you a lot."

Ted beams and nods in agreement. He shows the picture to Sherlock too, not necessarily because he thinks he'll be terrible interested, but out of politeness and on the off-chance he is.

"Obviously every coach dad wants a sports kid, but maybe I've got an artist kid instead," he says, and it's obvious he'd be just as happy with that, even if he couldn't gave any advice then.

He texts Michelle back, both to say he loves it, and to let her know they're back home and focusing on getting better now.

Sherlock smiles faintly at the picture, amused by it.

"Artistic kids are great," Joan says, smiling at him, knowing that he loves his son no matter what.

As Ted texts Michelle, Joan's smile fades a little.

"What does she know?" she asks softly.

"Oh, uh... Most of it," he answers, putting his phone down. "I called her last night. Didn't want her to find out through the news, and especially didn't want Henry to find out that way," he says heavily. At least Michelle can try to shield Henry more effectively than Ted can right now.

"On the upside, she knows we're dating now?" he adds with a small smile.

The news. Joan herself is going to need to make some calls on the off chance that the news names her and manages to reach the States. She answers that small smile with a smile of her own, small and hesitant.

"How did that go?"

"Alright," he answers, nodding. "She said she was very happy for us. I mean, I don't think she'd tell me if she wasn't, but..."

He picked up on that she wasn't 100% enthusiastic about it. But there could be many reasons for that, that have more to do with her life than his. It's a complicated topic.

"You know her best," Joan says. "If you think she's happy for us, I believe you."

She glances away, considering how to proceed. "I should tell you something," she says.

Ted thinks she wants to be happy for them, and that's all he can really ask.

He looks over at her curiously at that. "What?" he asks softly. It's usually important if it needs a preface like that.

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