When James moves in with Teddy it’s a bit of an adjustment for both of them. It’s not that James is lazy per say but he’s used to living at home where his mum and dad handled everything. And Teddy, as much as he loves living with James, has lived alone for so long now it takes time for him to get used to someone else being there all the time.
It takes a while before James realizes that, “No, Jamie, simply writing things on the list on the fridge won’t make them magically appear in the fridge we need to actually go buy them.”
And James, no matter how many times Teddy says it, seems to think his crap will magically tidy itself up. Book on the end table, broom polishing kits on the kitchen table, shoes in front of the Floo.
Teddy is surprised to find that he doesn’t mind those things so much though. Instead of annoying him he likes the little signs of James being everywhere.
The one thing Teddy cannot get used to though is the fact that James cannot seem to do the washing up. It’d taken weeks just to get him to understand that “Socks go in the hamper, not on the floor next to the hamper, James.” But he still can’t seem to get him to grasp that once it’s in the dirty clothes bin it’s not going to magically appear in his wardrobe washed and dried and folded.’
Teddy supposes it’s his fault really because as soon as he realizes James is useless at laundry he starts doing it all. Until one day the sight of the laundry piled up so high it’s spilled out of the bin and is falling to the floor in the corner of the room after twenty-four hours straight on duty is too much and Teddy loses his patience and resolves not to touch James’s laundry.
“See how long till he gets desperate enough to do it himself,” he mutters, glad no one is there to see him kick the dirty clothes bin hard enough to knock it over.
The problem is after a week Teddy realizes his plan won’t work because James doesn’t seem to care about the laundry piling up. and when he runs out of his won clothing he simply moves on to raiding Teddy’s wardrobe. The sight of James padding through the flat in his joggers which are too long and fall over his bare feet, hanging low on his hips is enough to drive Teddy to ruin. And of course James doesn’t wear a shirt, just wanders around the flat in the fucking joggers for three days straight as if his half-clothed existence doesn’t make Teddy want to shove his face into a pillow and scream. Or have James’s face shoved into a pillow while Teddy makes him scream.
On the fourth day, James spills tea on the joggers and heads to their bedroom returning this time in nothing but Teddy’s favorite oversized Weird Sister’s shirt. And if the shirt is too big for Teddy, well then it’s definitely too big on James but all that means is that James spends the next two days walking around with the bloody shirt falling off his shoulder exposing the sharp line of his collarbone, the tan freckled skin of his shoulder and neck on display and the swell of his arse and strong thighs peeking out beneath the hem of the shirt.
Teddy hides all of his clothing that night, unable to take it any longer.
This plan, however, backfires phenomenally because when Teddy gets home from work the next day expecting James to have caved and done his own washing up since there’s not a simple bit of clean clothing - not Teddy’s or James - left in the flat, well he’s disappointed. James still doesn’t seem to mind there are no clean clothes.
In fact, James isn’t wearing any clothes at all.
“Hey, Teddy,” James says, his easy smile fixed on Teddy as he walks into the living room to find James laying on the sofa watching the telly completely naked.
James doesn’t seem to care that he’s got no clothes on. Teddy, on the other hand, grips his wand tightly and wonders how his life came down to this - dying of sexual frustration from his eighteen-year-old boyfriend.
Teddy takes several slow steadying breathes, reminding himself that he will not cave and do the washing up. He lasts two more days before the sight of James naked doing menial things like spelling the dishes clean or eating crumpets in the kitchen with his freckled hips and his perpetually half hard cock has Teddy has Teddy quite sure if someone doesn’t clean the clothing Teddy might lose his job because he cannot possibly leave the flat with James walking around looking like that.
The next day all the clothing finds itself back into the wardrobes, and when James comes out with a bright smile wearing a pair of well-fitting jeans and a crisp white shirt Teddy slams his head into the table and groans.
James in clothing is just as distracting as James out of clothing.
“Morning,” James chirps, planting a kiss atop Teddy’s head, his warm fingers sliding into Teddy’s hair. Teddy closes his eyes and lets out the breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding as James’s strong fingers rub at his scalp, unable to stop the whimper that falls from his lips.
James is stubborn and exhausting and hilarious and so fit Teddy finds it hard to breathe just looking at him sometimes and he’s a right pain in the arse but fuck if Teddy isn’t completely and utterly in love with him.