For Joan

[theodorelasso]

Continued from here.

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

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[formersurgeon]

She grins, laughing. "Every once in a while there's string involved." She rolls her eyes in mock drama. "And yes, okay, the string is usually red. We actually have a wall we use at 221B for the same purpose, if you'd like to see an actual conspiracy wall in action, the next time we have a case."

It would be a lot easier for Ted to watch Joan at work rather than the other way around.

[theodorelasso]

"Oooh, exciting. Just as long as I'm not getting in the way," he answers. "Ooh, you know how in TV shows, they usually have one person who doesn't have a clue what's going on, so the show uses that character as an excuse to explain stuff to the audience? I could be that. ...Not sure how helpful that actually is in an investigation, but." He shrugs.

[formersurgeon]

"Angus!" Joan exclaims, then shakes her head, amused. "No, you wouldn't be Angus." She turns to face him as she explains. "Sherlock has this phrenology bust he named Angus. He used to explain things to it when he needed to talk through his thoughts on a case. At one point, before I became a detective, he said I was his new Angus, that he would talk at me and I should just be silent." She rolls her eyes. "You can imagine what I told him he could do with that idea. But it actually is really helpful to talk through a case with someone who isn't part of the investigation, especially if you're stuck. It forces you to organize your thoughts, and the person you're talking to can sometimes notice things you've missed."

[theodorelasso]

Ted blinks in confused surprise when she apparently calls him a name, then grins once she explains it. And snickers a little imagining her telling him to stuff it.

"Oh yeah, the rubber duck," Ted agrees. "I saw a thing on the Internet about how programmers would explain their things to rubber ducks."

[formersurgeon]

"Really? Huh! I'd never heard of that. But yes, that's the general idea."

She leans in and gives him a gentle kiss, smiling as she drew back.

"You're better than a rubber duck," she says with a fond smile.

[theodorelasso]

Ted smiles into the kiss. Maybe he's romance-starved or something, but it just makes him so happy to just sit here and chat and cuddle and occasionally kiss.

"I dunno, I happen to have a pretty high opinion of rubber ducks," he answers playfully.

[formersurgeon]

Joan has been satisfied to be without romance for a while. She wouldn't have thought that she would meet someone that would change that, much less meet that person in London. And then Ted came along.

"I mean, they are adorable," she says, eyes sparkling. "And kids love them. Even with that, though, I'm pretty sure you've got the rubber ducks beat."

[theodorelasso]

"That's true, I am also adorable and kids love me, and I know how to moonwalk," Ted agrees seriously, though he breaks into a deep chuckle almost immediately.

[formersurgeon]

Joan laughs as well, half in surprise. "Okay," she says. "You cannot just say that and not demonstrate."

[theodorelasso]

"Mmm!" Ted answers, taking a drink of wine, setting it down on the table and jumping to his feet, stepping over to a more open spot on the floor.

And then he moonwalks. It is by no means a perfect moonwalk, but it's serviceable. "There you go! Or how about--" And then he does the running man. And then something that appears to be an NSYNC dance move. And then some steps that include fingerwagging. "I can keep going!" He does the wave move with his arms. All very obviously just to make Joan laugh.

[formersurgeon]

And Joan is cracking up. She's laughing and clapping and grinning so wide that her face hurts. She hasn't laughed this hard in god knows how long. She holds up her hands in surrender, laughing so hard that it takes a moment for her to talk.

"Okay, okay" she says finally, still chuckling. "Clearly you are a dancing machine."

[theodorelasso]

"You know it, baby!" Ted answers, ridiculously. "Come on, now you," he says, grabbing his phone and opening up the music player, turning on a random song from his locker room jams, which ends up being 'Juice' by Lizzo.

He drops his phone on the table and then gestures for Joan to get up, holding out his hands for her. "Come on."

[formersurgeon]

"What?" she says, blinking in surprise when he encourages her to come dance. "No...no, I..."

And then he's there, holding out his hands, Lizzo blaring from his phone, and Joan really has absolutely no choice.

"Fine," she says with a grin and a playful eyeroll. She gets up and takes his hands, ready to dance with him.

[theodorelasso]

It's very difficult to say no to Ted when he gets excited. Lucky for her, he has absolutely no demands beyond trying to move to the music and not standing still. He pulls her along happily, taking the lead and encouraging her - he saw her at karaoke, he knows she's got it in her! He pulls her into a waltz hold, and it's messy and silly, but it's fun.

[formersurgeon]

She's a little stiff at first, this not being her sort of thing, generally speaking. She had danced and strutted on stage to Material Girl, but that was a performance, and this...this is just sheer, exhilarating, silly JOY, and she's not used to that.

But she loosens up as he encourages her, and by the time he sweeps her into a waltz hold she's laughing again, moving with him, dancing with him, letting go and being joyous with him.

[theodorelasso]

The song ends, and Ted is still holding her, breathless and happy. And then 'Wichita Skyline' starts up, a much more mellow and even romantic song, and Ted smiles down at Joan, still moving gently with the music, and gives her a kiss.

"It might have been a mistake to do this right after eating," he comments with a chuckle after they pull back again, but he's clearly not regretting it, still holding her close.

[formersurgeon]

She's breathless and happy, too, still laughing when the first song ends. Her laugh quiets as the next song starts, slower and sweeter, and she smiles up at him, swaying with him, and closes her eyes as he kisses her.

"No," she says, her voice and her smile both soft. "This is perfect."

She presses gently closer, dancing with him, her eyes on his, feeling warm and fluttery inside.

[theodorelasso]

Ted's smile widens, and his heart is so full. He feels like he could stay in this moment forever.

"Yeah, it is," he agrees softly, looking at her with such fondness, just thinking about all the things he loves about her. He could probably list them for hours, but for now he just enjoys a moment of quiet connection.

[formersurgeon]

Joan loves so many things about him, things she could easily list as well as things that would be more difficult to express in words, those small, quiet things that are by their very nature indescribable. The synthesis of all of those things, simple and ineffable, are three words that are right on the tip of her tongue as she gazes up at him, swaying from side to side. Words she wants so badly to say. And for a moment she feels like she's going to say them. That this is it, the magical moment.

Then the song is over, and the spell is broken.

She smiles and kisses him as a more upbeat song starts to play, and pulls away to sit back down.

[theodorelasso]

Ted feels it too, and even if she doesn't say it, it's almost like he hears it. He knows it in his heart.

And then the moment ends, and as a louder song starts playing, there's a thump from the floor above, and Ted looks up. "Sorry, Ms Shipley," he yells up, and then looks at Joan with a 'busted!' expression as he turns off the music and goes to sit down next to her again.

[formersurgeon]

Joan echoes that expression with a playful cringe.

"Apartment living," she sighs as she snuggles against him again, head resting on his shoulder. "Or...flat living, I guess."

[theodorelasso]

"Yeah, I never got that. Is it cause it's just on one floor?" he guesses, sinking into the couch and leaning his head against hers. "Seems like a weird word to use anyway."

[formersurgeon]

"That would make sense." She sighs, so comfortable here, leaning against each other. It feels like the most natural thing in the world, like this, out of all the world, is where she's supposed to be.

"I've been to London probably a dozen times now, and I still don't get all the differences in terminology. Which can be challenging as a detective. I guess I know what Sherlock feels like being an Englishman in New York."

[theodorelasso]

Ted has much the same challenge, but it's probably not as big deal in his line of work. And he's been absolutely terrible at adjusting to some changes, even after learning them. He'll probably never remember to call it 'training'.

"Like a legal alien?" Ted asks with a smile, referencing the song.

[formersurgeon]

"Exactly," Joan says, smiling at the reference. "Be yourself, no matter what they say."

And didn't Ted embody that to a T.

"How did you get into coaching? Like, at first, when you were coaching American football?"