trashchildren | For Joan

Continued from here.

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

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

formersurgeon

That's an interesting way of putting it, and Joan picks up on the idea that Rebecca has been untruthful in the past. She doesn't know about what, though.

Joan looks at her clock on her night table and winces.

"It's got to be getting late there."

From:

theodorelasso

Ted pulls the phone away from his ear to look at the time on it. Ah, yeah. Well, not that late, but he's been requiring a lot of sleep lately, and he usually gets up pretty early.

"Yeah, I guess. But I don't want to stop talking to you!" he says, intentionally saying it as if he were a petulant 5 year old, mostly to make Joan laugh.

From:

formersurgeon

He succeeds. Joan laughs, the sound full of fondness for this adorable man. "I know," she says, still smiling. "I don't want to stop talking to you either. But I also don't want to keep you from getting the rest you need."

From:

theodorelasso

"Yeah, I know," he agrees, however much he might not like it. "You can keep me company while he brush my teeth and stuff."

He carefully pushes himself to his feet with a gentle 'oof'. His knees are still pretty stiff, but at least he can walk around on his own, as long as he doesn't go running anywhere.

"So when I come visit you in New York," he begins, intentionally using 'when'. "What sort of stuff would you want to show me?"

From:

formersurgeon

"I can do that," she agrees, smiling. She'd stay on the line for as long as he wants, even if he wants her on the line as he falls asleep.

The question makes her smile deepen. New York is very important to Joan, and it warms her heart that he wants to honor that.

"We could start with your standard touristy stuff. Times Square, Statue of Liberty, Empire State Building..."

From:

theodorelasso

"Gotta start off classic, sure. What about your favorite places?" he asks, making his way into the bathroom. He puts her on speaker so he can brush his teeth without having to do everything one-handed.

From:

formersurgeon

She can hear the water running, hear him brushing his teeth. It's so sweet and domestic and one again her heart is both happy and sad.

"Well, I'd take you here, of course. To the brownstone. I'd take you up to the roof...there's an amazing view of the city up there. And the beehives. Have I told you Sherlock keeps bees?"

From:

theodorelasso

Mouth full of toothpaste, he makes a sound of excited interest, and an uh-uh as answer for the bees. That's delightful, he loves knowing that about Sherlock.

From:

formersurgeon

She loves how excited he is about that bit of information. "One time we took a case from this guy who was, like, rich beyond belief. Sherlock doesn't care about money at all, since his father is also rich beyond belief, so the guy persuaded Sherlock to take the case by offering him a bee. A single bee, of a species known as the solitary bee. It's very rare, and builds intricate nests out of flower petals."

From:

theodorelasso

Ted spits and rinses his mouth before he answers.

"Let me guess. Sherlock now has an entire bee army," he says, then starts the effort of undressing. He's definitely going to have a period of just not worrying about wearing pants at home for a while. Even getting shorts over this cast is annoying.

From:

formersurgeon

"Not exactly," she says, amused by that mental image. "But he did manage to get this rare solitary bee to mate with his regular bees. It created a whole new species of bee. He named it after me. Euglassia Watsonia."

From:

theodorelasso

Ted has to take a moment at that, falling silent. That's so sweet! Ted has ever increasing fondness for him, despite barely spending any time with him.

"He named a bee after you? That's awesome." He's touched on her behalf, which she can probably tell from his voice.

From:

formersurgeon

She hears it, and it makes her happy. Sherlock is an integral part of her life, and as complicated as it's going to be to balance the parts of her life that Ted and Sherlock represent, she doesn't intend to change that. She's going to have to make sure they spend more time together when she returns to London.

"It is," she agrees softly. Then she changes the subject. "I'd love to take you to Chinatown. Oh, and in Washington Square Park there's a market on the weekends during the fall where you can find very interesting things. I bought a platypus skull there for Sherlock once."

From:

theodorelasso

"A pla-- of course you did," he answers with amusement. "Hey, you know they've got a Chinatown here too."

Now he's managed to strip off, he picks up the phone again and heads to bed, crawling in carefully. He's glad he doesn't mind sleeping on his back, as he carefully settles in.

From:

formersurgeon

"They do," she says with a smile. "The London Chinatown gate is beautiful. It's also one of the best places to get food."

She pauses for a moment, smiling as she hears him getting into bed.

"Where will you take me when we visit Kansas City?" she asks softly.

From:

theodorelasso

"Oooh," Ted answers, excited but simultaneously thoughtful at that question. "My favourite barbecue places, obviously. Can show you around where I grew up, tell you endless amounts of ridiculous anecdotes." She's already gotten a few of those, so she knows Ted loves telling them.

"Besides that it depends what you're into. There's good museums? And we've taken Henry to Legoland a few times, but I'm not sure that's your thing," he says, chuckling softly.

From:

formersurgeon

"I'd love to take Henry to Legoland," she says, smiling. Then her smile fades a little as her voice softens.

"I'm so sorry I didn't get to meet Henry."

From:

theodorelasso

He softens when she apologizes, and also gets a bit sad at being reminded of that. He had been pretty worried and upset at her disappearing, even if he didn't really blame her for it.

"It's okay," he answers softly, and he does mean it. "You'll get to eventually, and then it will probably be a better time for it."

You know, sometime when they're not all worried, and Ted is on pain meds, and he hasn't had a chance to tell Michelle about Joan. It would have been nice, but it also would have been a bit awkward.

From:

formersurgeon

She doesn't tell him about having gotten right to the door before balking upon seeing how happy Ted was with Henry and Michelle. She's disappointed with herself for not knowing that Ted loved her, and doesn't want him to feel bad about the chance so narrowly missed.

"That's definitely true," she agrees. It had not been the easiest of times for anyone. Throwing in a difficult situation like introducing a new girlfriend would have been suboptimal, to say the least.

From:

theodorelasso

He pauses a bit as he considers it. "...Plus, it probably would've been weird if I introduced you to them, and then we quote-unquote broke up the very next day," he considers with a soft, sleepy chuckle. "At least now I don't have to lie to them about it." Silver linings and all that.

From:

formersurgeon

"That is an excellent point," she says. "Maybe everything worked out for the best." She smiles, thinking of Leibniz. "The best of all possible worlds."

From:

theodorelasso

Ted smiles and makes a noise of approval, then falls silent for a bit, trying and failing to think of something to say as sleepiness slowly threatens to overcome him.

"...Do you wanna stay on the line till I fall asleep?" he asks softly. He'd just really like to fall asleep with her next to him, and this is as close as they can get. Besides... It's his first night on his own since what happened, and he'd rather not feel entirely alone in the dark.

From:

formersurgeon

"I'd like that," she answers just as softly. She wishes she could be there with him, especially tonight, but this will have to do.

"I love you, Ted," she murmurs.