For Joan

[theodorelasso]

Continued from here.

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

Comments

[formersurgeon]

When Joan gets the text she can't help but smile a little. It's very Ted. She texts him back:

I like it. It's a good way to honor him.

[theodorelasso]

Ted just sends her a thumbs-up emoji back, then pockets the phone again. He does feel a little better from having reached out, even without letting on that he was upset. It's just nice to know she's there for him, to have that little bit of connection to her.

[formersurgeon]

Sherlock sees Ted relax a little as he receives the text. The detective isn't looking at Ted's phone and he doesn't have to to know who he is texting with. He smiles a little to himself, happy Ted can find such comfort in such a small exchange with Watson.

There's a soft knock on the door. Sherlock supposes it's the funeral director, and looks to Ted.

[theodorelasso]

Ted looks up, half turning in his seat. "Come on in," he answers, sounding a bit more chipper.

It's still a defense mechanism, of course, but at least he's capable of it without feeling like he's gonna fall apart.

[formersurgeon]

The funeral director enters, a cup of water in her hand. She sets it on the table for Ted, then sits down, looking at both Ted and Sherlock to gauge the situation. She can tell that things have settled a bit.

"So, are we decided on the coffin with the Richmond logo and colors?" she asks, to settle the matter before moving on to other things.

[theodorelasso]

"Thank you," Ted says, picking up the cup and taking a sip. It's still water, thankfully. It hadn't occurred to him to specify.

"Yeah, that'll be good. Don't make it too overwhelming though, just some details on some sort of dark wood," he says, a bit more focused now.

[formersurgeon]

"We can do that," Susan says, flipping through pages of coffins and caskets until she comes to this one.

"Something like this?"

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, that's great," Ted answers, nodding. He's not remotely worried about the prize.

"Hey, instead of people sending flowers, can we do that thing where we encourage donating to a specific charity?"

[formersurgeon]

"Absolutely," Susan says as she writes down the information on the choice of casket. She looks up at Ted. "We can put it in the obituary. What charity would you like?"

[theodorelasso]

"Not sure, I haven't looked any up," he says, the thought having just occurred to him. "Maybe something for kids in poverty, or something for mental health.. or both."

[formersurgeon]

"We can look into that," Susan says, writing it down before looking up again. "For the funeral itself, it is customary to have at least some flowers. May I suggest two arrangements to flank the casket? Perhaps of flowers in the Richmond colors?"

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, that sounds good," he answers, nodding. He doesn't want it to look completely barren.

[formersurgeon]

She makes a note of that.

"Have you thought of where you would like the service to take place? I don't know if Mr. Chapman attended any particular church..."

"He did not," Sherlock says quietly. "Mr. Chapman was not a man of any particular faith, at least not publicly." It was something he had looked into during his investigation of the man, searching for anyone Turner knew socially who might have had an influence on the man.

Susan nods. "In that case I would suggest using one of our chapels at the funeral home."

[theodorelasso]

Another reason he appreciates having Sherlock there to support him.

"Yeah," Ted agrees. "I guess something not overly religious for the sermon and all that. I'm guessing we'll have to talk to whoever's holding that too?"

[formersurgeon]

"We have a non-denominational minister we work with," Susan says. "You can speak with her before the service if you like. She's very good at dealing with cases like this."

[theodorelasso]

"Cases like...?" he asks curiously. He's not offended or anything, he just can't imagine his particular set of circumstances happens very often.

[formersurgeon]

"Cases where the faith of the deceased is unknown or absent," she says. "And cases where nobody knows the deceased well enough to know what they would have wanted said or done. You'd be surprised how often that happens. Usually due to an elderly relative who only has distant family left who may not have seen them in a while."

Sherlock nods. He's encountered cases like that before, and far too frequently.

"Will anybody be speaking at the service?" Susan asks. She doesn't ask Ted directly because she doesn't want to put him on the spot.

[theodorelasso]

"Right," Ted says. He supposes it's not too unlikely. But probably then someone taking responsibility isn't just some random person who's met them twice, just someone who's been estranged for a while.

At the question, he pauses, going 'uhhh' for a second. It might as well be putting him on the spot, since he doesn't know anyone else who would do it. "God, I don't know," he answers. "Uh, maybe."

[formersurgeon]

"We don't need to decide now," she says. "We can talk about burial. We were able to locate the grave of Mr. Chapman's father. While there is no space beside it, there is an available plot nearby. We've put a hold on it, so you can purchase it if you like. There are less expensive options, but in a different cemetery."

[theodorelasso]

"No, he should be close to his dad," he answers immediately. That at least he's pretty certain Turner would've wanted. It's not like Ted is strapped for cash, with the job he has, and even if he was, he knows so many people making millions, he's sure they'd get it covered.

"Maybe get him a gravestone similar to his dad's," he adds. He assumes it was Turner who picked it, so it makes sense to match.

[formersurgeon]

"The gravestone is very simple," she says, making a note of that as well. "So that will be easy. I think that's about it..." She does some math on her pad of paper. "We're comping you the transportation, storage, and fees. So the cost comes out to..."

She turns the pad around so Ted and Sherlock can see the number. It's a lot of money, but Sherlock knows it's much less than average.

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, that's fine," Ted answers. He's grateful that money doesn't matter too much to him, but he can see why it's hard for people who barely know him to pick up that cost.

[formersurgeon]

Sherlock is the sort of person for whom money is absolutely no object, yet he's still aware of what impact it has on other people. He knows how much Ted makes, and even though that amount is substantial, this pricetag is still significant. And all for a man Ted barely knew and who had nothing but hate and malice towards him. It's stunning if you think about it, and Sherlock admires the hell out of Ted for it.

It's pretty clear from her expression that Susan does, too.

"When would you like the service to be?"

[theodorelasso]

There is a grain of selfishness in it too. Some way for him to process everything that's happened, to try to make sense of it.

Turner's hatred was misplaced and not even based on who Ted is. They both wanted the same thing - for Richmond to prosper. Turner just couldn't deal with things going badly, because he didn't have anything else in his life to keep his spirits up. That breaks Ted's heart.

"Right.." Ted answers, clicking his tongue. "Wednesday next week?" he suggests after a moment's consideration. Ted will have gone back to work then, he'll have his team to lean on. And they don't have a match that first week, so he won't have to worry too much.

[formersurgeon]

"I believe we have that date free," Susan says, pulling out her phone and scrolling through it until she finds what she's looking for. "Yes, next Wednesday works. How is 10am?"