The Setup » [lashton] √

1.4

When Luke woke, it was with an arm laying lazily across his back and the sun filtering in through his broken blinds. Which really highlighted that the room was a mess, and the musty smell of sex hit him with the realisation he desperately needed to clean.

He used to clean his apartment most weekends or even just tidy it after work. But there seemed, more often than not, to be a visitor in his apartment these days. So he took the opportunity to extract himself from under the sleeping Ashton's arm and pull the blinds up, as far as they would come. Hearing the older man shift in the bed, hiding his face from the new light. Then opening the window to let the refreshing bit of breeze in.

Then he walked around the room as quietly as he could, collecting clothes off the floor, more than just the few from last night strewn around. Outfits he'd tried before deciding against them, clothes Ashton had left behind other evenings, and his 'chair' pile, which were vaguely clean clothes. He decided not to discriminate; it had all been sitting there too long and could go in the wash, along with a pile of used bathroom linens; the sheets would be done once Ashton decided he could be bothered rolling out of bed.

Once he'd ensured the bedroom door was closed nice, and firmly, he started on the rest of the apartment. Something deeply satisfying about airing out the musty space, throwing out the empty pizza boxes and putting things back where they belonged.

By the time he felt things were as tidying as they could be, without making too much noise, he took a shower and moved the clothes into the dryer; it was nearly 10 am. Ashton would be annoyed if he didn't wake him up soon; the man was usually an early riser and hated being allowed to sleep late.

When the door opened, Ashton shifted but didn't seem to be completely awake.

"Ash," no response, "Ash, wake up, I'm going to make sandwiches, what do you want on yours?" he asked, giving up on being gentle in his rousing.

The other rolled onto his back, eyes opening, "It's late, isn't it?"

"Only ten,"

"Could be worse, I suppose," he rolled out of bed as he spoke, entirely naked, and Luke thought back to the first time they slept together and remembered being worried Ashton would be embarrassed about nudity.

"Clothes are in the dryer at the moment," Luke offered as he watched the older man's eyes search the floor, "I realised how filthy this apartment was when I woke up,"

Ashton nodded, seeming only half awake, before fishing a pair of briefs out of the drawer and pulling them on.

"Do you want to make the sandwiches? I'm going to take these sheets off and vacuum quickly now that I don't have to worry about waking you up,"

Another sleepy nod, "Yeah, okay, they are a bit crunchy," he agreed sleepily before shuffling out into the kitchen.

The man was hungover. Luke couldn't help but chuckle as he stripped the bed, hungover Ashton was significantly more docile, less horny and well less gave attitude overall.

He added the sheets to the machine, poking his head into the kitchen to see Ashton silently buttering bread.

"Hey Google, play Rex Orange County," he called, and she replied chirpily, turning the music on before he started vacuuming the rug diligently.

When he was done, and the apartment was mostly quiet again, he noticed the smell and made his way back to the kitchen to find Ashton had found the sandwich press and had just finished making their toasted sandwiches.

"They smell good," he said, sitting himself down on the barstool opposite the side of the bench Ashton was standing on.

"Just ham, cheese and tomato," he told him, plating one up and cutting it into quarters before pushing it across the counter to Luke.