trashchildren | For Joan

"Whatchu thinking about?" he asks curiously, noting her thoughtfulness as he gets back to his feet.

She smiles a little at the question, Ted demonstrating his attentiveness. "Just wondering about our hometowns," she says. "And what to do if we get homesick at some point."

"Oh, I get homesick all the time," Ted answers honestly, idly scrubbing himself with the loofah now. "But at this point I'll get homesick for London too, whenever I end up leaving it."

"Yeah, me too," Joan says softly. She pauses, frowning faintly, thinking about his use of the word 'whenever.' "Do you think you'll end up leaving it?"

"Unless Henry decides to move to London," he answers, giving her a soft smile. "I'd like to at least be on the same continent at some point. Maybe not next month, maybe not even next year... But yeah, definitely."

He might have unfinished business here, but... there's only so much time he can justify missing of Henry's upbringing. Almost dying has only made that even more clear.

She gets that, even if it makes her sad. She's not sure where she would fit in that picture, but she's always known that he will choose his son over her if it ever comes down to it.

"He could come here," she offers quietly. "You could share custody with Michelle. We've talked about that before. It could be a wonderful thing for him to have a home here with you in London."

"Or he could come live with us in New York," he points out. He gives a shrug. He's not saying that's what they should do, he just wants her to know that he considers the option to be on the table. That he does very much consider her wants and needs when it comes to this stuff. And he knows he's most of the reason she's even staying in London to begin with.

She looks up at him at that, understanding now that she absolutely has a place in whatever life he chooses. Whatever life they choose.

She gives him a smile. "I think there's the most here for both of us. But we can find what works for us."

She reaches out for his hand.

Ted takes her hand, and also bends down to give her a kiss for good measure. He would hug her if the angle wasn't making it kind of hard.

"I don't think there's much of a rush to figure it out," he adds. First they need to get better. Then there's everything that's going to happen with Rupert. And if he does leave the team, it won't be like this. He wants to do right by them too.

"Now, how about we get out of here before we turn into raisins?" he adds with a smile.

She smiles into that kiss. "Definitely no rush," she agrees. Right now they don't have to worry about anything besides taking care of each other and getting better.

"No raisining," she agrees playfully. "It'll also be nice to snuggle in bed with you for a while." Breakfast and a shower are proving to be the limit of her energy.

"Sounds good," he answers, turning off the shower and going to get towels, handing one to her, and using the other to start drying her hair and her back gently, getting all the spots that are hard for her.

Joan accepts the towel with a smile and starts drying herself the best she can. It feels good to have Ted gently drying her hair and her back, and she closes her eyes to enjoy the sensation.

Once she's done she rests the towel in her lap.

Ted dries her legs and feet as well, then grabs a fresh towel, which he puts on her shoulders, and puts her hair on top of it. He picks up the corners of the towel, then stares at them with a soft thoughtful frown. "...How do you do the turban thing I always see ladies do?"

Joan chuckles at that. "Here," she says, carefully leaning forward and bowing her head. "Drape my hair up and over my head, then wrap the towel around from the nape of my neck to my forehead."

"Okay.." Ted answers, though it's clear he's not entirely confident. He does what she says though, and with a little finagling and her guidance, they manage to get it done, her hair all wrapped up.

Then he goes and takes a different towel, and does the same to himself, even though there's not as much hair for the turban to hold onto. "How do I look?" he asks. While still otherwise naked and damp, of course.

He looks delightfully silly, and Joan can't help but laugh.

"Utterly ridiculous," she says with a grin. "And I love it."

"So business as usual then, huh?" he asks with a chuckle, then goes to grab the smaller of the two bathrobes that has obviously been supplied for them.

"Here, give me your arms," he says, helping her on with it, while being careful not to graze the wet floor with it.

She complies, sliding her arms through the sleeves. "Sherlock thought of everything, didn't he," she remarks.

"Isn't that what he does?" Ted asks. Of course, he's not infallible, but it certainly seems to be what he aspires to. "I'm sure him and Beard could take over the world if they wanted," he says with a chuckle, drying himself off quickly and grabbing a robe for himself. "Ready to go back in the chair?"

"They probably could." It's funny how they both have these taciturn, ultra-competent companions in their lives, partnerships that are so central to who they are and what they do. "We're lucky to have them."

She smiles and lifts her arms toward him. "Yes please."

Ted hums in agreement at that. There's more similarities too, but Ted hasn't told Joan about how Beard and him started working together.

He loops Joan's arm around his shoulders, steadies himself for a moment, then helps her over into the chair, making sure the robe gets properly under her as well and she can sit comfortably. Though it probably won't be for very long, since that cuddling up in bed plan sounds great.

Once he no longer needs to walk around in the wet shower, he takes the bag off his cast. "Alright, shower mission complete. Ready for bed?"

"God yes," Joan responds with a smile. Not only is she tapped out, she's also very much looking forward cuddling with Ted. Perhaps even naked. Some non-sexual skin-to-skin might be nice.

"Away we go," he says, grabbing his crutch and hooking it over his arm, then wheeling her out of there, leaning onto the wheelchair for support, making a beeline for the bedroom.

She can't help but giggle a little as he sweeps them into the bedroom. At the sound Sherlock looks up from his laptop in enough time to see Joan laughing as Ted pushes her into the bedroom. He rolls his eyes...but can't help but smile as well.

Once they get to the bedroom Joan smiles up at him. "Can we dispense with the clothing?"

"Yeah, I like that idea," he agrees softly. After wheeling her into place, he makes sure to close the door, then goes to pull back the covers. He helps her slip out of the robe, since he's going to be lifting her out of the chair and thus out of the robe at the same time. They're getting quite practiced at the collaborating of moving Joan around.

Once he's helped her get in and tucked her in, he heads to the other side of the bed and sheds his own robe, before crawling in with her.

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