trashchildren | For Joan

"He's good, he was just telling me dinosaur facts," Ted answers with a grin. "I'm sure I'll get a full report about that later. Oh, hot tip for talking with kids, make sure you have a favorite dinosaur. Mine's apatosaurus, which is 100% because of Land Before Time."

She laughs at that. "Personally, I don't think you can go wrong with the pterodactyl. I think there was one of those in Land Before Time, too. Oh, remind me to tell you about the case that involved a fossilized dinosaur egg sometime. Anyway." Her voice and her smile both soften. "It was really nice watching you talking to your son."

Ted's eyebrows lift at the bit about the dinosaur egg. He will definitely ask about that later.

He smiles back at the comment about talking to Henry. "Aww, well, it's real nice doing the talking too."

He gives her a mock serious expression. "But, first of all, Petrie was a pteranodon, not a pterodactyl. Second, neither of those are actually dinosaurs. And I don't mind, I'm just telling you this because some kids will take offense."

Ted may not have been big on school, but it's amazing what kind of random information you end up with just interacting with kids.

"Really? Oh man. I need to brush up on my paleontology. And apparently watch Land Before Time again."

She smiles at him fondly, then drops her eyes, suddenly feeling a little shy, perhaps a little overwhelmed with emotion.

"So..." She glances up. "What do we do now?"

Ted smiles, noting her emotion curiously.

"...Watch Land Before Time?" he suggests playfully, but then quickly changes his mind. "Actually no, never mind, I will definitely cry. Especially after two glasses of wine."

There's something about seeing a man be good with kids that gets to Joan, and that's cranked up to 11 here. She chuckles a little and picks up her wine glass again.

"No sad kids movies, got it. We could talk more. We could go to bed. We could go to bed and talk more once we're there."

"I like that last one, good middle-ground," he agrees, and leans forward to give her a quick kiss.

He picks up his glass and gets to his feet, draining what's left of the wine, and then going to put away the rest of the food. They make amazing breakfast leftovers too.

"Middle ground it is!" She finishes her wine as well and grabs her plate, following Ted into the kitchen. She sets her dishes by the sink then leans back against the counter, watching him put things away.

"It will be nice to be able to fall asleep with you," Joan muses. "Not that I'm particularly tired at the moment. Just thinking about it."

Ted hums gently in agreement. He's definitely missed sharing a bed. And there's something lovely and intimate about it.

"And I don't even snore," he says with a chuckle.

"Good to know," she says with a smile.

She's quiet for a moment, watching him finish his work.

"We should probably talk about sex," she says near the end.

The comment catches him off guard, and he mentally stumbles for a moment, blinking at her.

"Yeah, no, definitely," he agrees. "It's a... a good topic."

Yeah, this is clearly not something he does often. And he absolutely does want to talk about it, but he also knows he's going to be vaguely uncomfortable while they do. (That's alright though, he can deal with uncomfortableness.)

He's adorable when he stammers like that, and Joan smiles wide with amusement.

"I'll follow your lead," she promises, hoping the control puts him more at ease. "However you want the conversation to go."

"Right," Ted answers, taking a moment to collect his thoughts. While he appreciates maybe not being blindsided by questions he has no idea how to answer, he hadn't really prepped any questions either.

"Uh, are you on birth control?" he asks, because that's the thing that had actually occurred to him earlier.

It's a good place to start.

"Yes. I have an IUD." With her sex life being so varied in New York, a "set it and forget it" method seemed best.

She waits for his next question.

Ted nods. Alright, good to know, good to know...

He tries to think of more questions. And, more importantly, how to phrase them.

The moment drags on.

"Okay, I don't actually really know how to do this," he admits, which should not be a surprise. He goes and sits down at the kitchen table. "How about you just, I dunno, tell me things you think I should know? Or ask me things?"

Turns out being in control of the conversation doesn't help if you have no idea what to do with it.

Joan sits down at the table next to him, and reaches out to take his hand.

"Is there anything you'd want to avoid?" she asks. "Anything that makes you uncomfortable?"

Ted thinks about it for a moment, then shrugs. "Not really," he answers. Certainly nothing that they wouldn't probably discuss beforehand.

"Also, I know I seem a bit uptight or awkward, but I'm actually really open to trying stuff. You know?" He pauses. "I mean, I like to be private about it though. So no like fooling around at work in a closet or anything like that."

He may be blushing a little, but at least he isn't stammering.

She smiles fondly, so charmed by his adorableness. "I think we can manage not to do that," she says, amused. She lifts her eyebrows mischievously. "If I'm hot and bothered after a game, I'll remember to get you home before pouncing on you. Is there anything you really like? A position? A way to be touched?"

Between the flirting and the questions, the blush is definitely increasing. He's not even sure if he has good answers, because a lot of the stuff he can think of is... so tied to Michelle specifically.

"I dunno, I.. like to be able to see you and make sure you're enjoying yourself," he answers, although right now he's not looking directly at her, cause this is embarrassing enough. "I mean. I've only had sex with five people, including you. It's... specific for the person, it's personal, it depends on what they like."

That is so deeply Ted, the one thing he can think of wanting being the pleasure of others. Her heart aches at how he's not looking at her, too embarrassed to talk about this to look her in the eyes. Joan is so used to sex being transactional, an arrangement for the exchange of pleasure, giving and taking so that each individual is satisfied. But this is different, and she feels it in the pit of her stomach. Consent is important, of course, as is communication, but this isn't a transaction. She loves him, deeply.

She gets up and goes to him, kneeling so he doesn't have to get up, and takes his face in her hands and kisses him. When she pulls back she gazes up at him, the love clear in her eyes.

"Let's find out what we like," she says softly. "Together."

Ted blinks when she gets up, and makes a small noise when she kisses him.

When she says that, his heart swells, just from affection and gratitude for her sweetness. He puts a hand on her wrist and strokes it a bit with his thumb, smiling emotionally at her, and nods.

He's usually better at talking about this in the moment anyway. Then they're already doing it, so it's less embarrassing, it feels less incongruous. Heck, if they want to discuss ideas or things more in detail, it might just be easier to do during foreplay.

That smile is heartbreakingly beautiful, and she mirrors it, nodding back at him, smoothing her thumbs over his cheeks.

Then she kisses him again, more passionately this time, making a small soft noise of want. She wraps her arms around him and presses in as much as she can. Their relative positions make it difficult, but she doesn't want to let go, doesn't want to stop kissing him.

Ted kisses back, though after a few moments he makes a muffled sound and then tries to get them both to stand up -- without necessarily taking a proper break in the kiss.

It ends up being not very smooth, and he laughs a bit into the kiss before pulling back a little, though instead keeping their foreheads pressed together. "I thought you said you wanted to talk in bed," he teases.

Getting to their feet while still lip locked is awkward in the most adorable way possible, and Joan is laughing into the kiss as well by the time they manage it. Her arms are still twined around him as their lips part, and she laughs at the tease.

"I didn't say that was the only thing I wanted to do," she teases back.

"Do we want to be proactive and responsible adults and brush our teeth and all that before we get carried away?" he suggests with a smile.

Not that he isn't eager to get into bed with her, but he has a feeling that once he does, he won't want to get up again.

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