Domesticating Max

Max vs. the Washing Machine

"Max, isn't that the same shirt you wore yesterday?" Dan asked, half teasingly, half worried for his younger teammate, as they rode home after a team event together in Monaco.

"Maybe, I just grabbed something off the floor that looked clean." Max shrugged.

"Oh, laundry day's coming up?" Dan asked, because the shirt did not 'look clean' as Max had asserted.

"Laundry day? Um, my washing machine's broken, I think, so I don't know." Max tried to brush off the situation, but it was clear he was nervous.

"Want me to take a look at it? My washing machine acts up all the time, so I've gotten pretty good at fixing it." Dan offered.

"Nah, don't worry about it, thanks bro," Max smiled.

"It's no trouble, really, you live in the same complex as me, so we probably have the same washer. I can stop by on the way home, if you'd like," Dan pressed on.

"No, it's fine, I'll call someone to fix it tomorrow." Max smiled politely, but Dan wasn't giving in.

"Don't waste money on that, it's probably something easy to fix. Maybe we can fix it together -you know, a 'team bonding' exercise!" Dan laughed, and Max blushed as they got out of the car.

As they walked toward the building, Max looked down at his shirt and realized how noticeable the stains were, and thought of the growing pile of laundry on his bedroom floor. He couldn't just keep buying new socks and underwear whenever he needed a clean pair...

"I wouldn't want to take up any of your time," Max declined, but Dan wouldn't give up as he followed Max into the elevator.

"We're almost to your flat, I can just pop in and take a look at it -five minutes tops." Dan countered.

"It's kind of you to offer, but I'm rather busy this afternoon." Max smiled, and hoped Dan would leave it at that.

"Oh, I see, you don't want me coming over." A mischievous smile started on Dan's lips as they excited the elevator. "You have a girl in there or something?" He tilted his head toward Max's door.

"I wish." Max laughed to himself. A girl, as in, maybe his mother, so she could help him clean and do laundry - skills Max didn't pick up as a kid. He wouldn't dare bring a girl back to his apartment looking the way it did now! "It's just not very clean, that's all."

"If you want to tidy up real quick, I'll run up to my flat to grab some tools to fix your washer, okay? I'll be back in 10?" Dan stated, and hopped up the stairs before Max could reject his offer yet again.

"Shit," Max said as he opened his door and saw the mess on the other side. "Shit shit shit shit!" He swore and tried to pick up as much trash as he could. He stuffed old take-out containers in the trash, and when that was full he resorted to hiding them in cupboards and the oven - anywhere to get them out of sight.

Dan knocked on Max's door, which he hadn't closed all the way, and the door swung open to reveal Max, trying to shove an empty pizza box into his dishwasher. Dan took a few steps in and surveyed the scene with wide eyes.

"Holy shit, Max, this is a bit more than 'not very clean'!" Dan laughed at the mess in front of him.

"Sorry, I'm, uh, not good at this," Max stammered as a blush formed across this cheeks.

"That's cool, I understand; I was a young guy living on my own at one point. Now that I've got a girlfriend it definitely changes things." Dan laughed, and made his way over to the washing machine. "Let's see what's wrong with this guy."

"Maybe it's not broken, I don't know," Max said quickly and hovered behind Dan's shoulder as he opened the door to the washer.

"Well, it might be this pizza box you've stored in here." Dan grinned and pulled the empty box out of the washing machine. "You're lucky you can still eat this stuff as frequently as you do - I'm jealous." Dan enviously eyed the box, which still smelled of pizza, and handed it to Max. He pressed a few buttons and played with the dials on the machine, but couldn't find anything wrong with it. "Maybe we could try running it through a cycle to see if it works?" Dan suggested, and Max nodded. "Do you have some clothes to throw in there?"

"Oh I do." Max laughed to himself as he ran to his room to grab the mountain of laundry growing in the corner. He brought as much as he could carry in his laundry basket back to the washing machine and dumped it on the floor.

"Wow, that might be too much for one load of laundry." Dan shook his head at Max's naivety, but smiled. "Let's take a third of that and throw it in the washer, okay?" He suggested, not wanting to touch the clothes himself. "Do you have any soap?" Dan asked, and Max looked through a few cupboards (exposing the take-out containers he'd hidden there earlier).

"Here," Max handed Dan a box.

"This is dish soap, do you have laundry soap?"

"Oh, um, I must be out..." Max looked at the box and realized he'd never used that, either.

"I've got some you can borrow," Dan offered, and turned to leave.

Max groaned and leaned on the counter. "Oh fuck, he thinks I'm a slob." He shook his head and attempted to clean a little more until Dan returned with the laundry detergent.

"It's almost empty, just keep it," Dan offered, and Max took the bottle.

"Thanks." He smiled, and thought Dan might leave.

After a moment, Dan opened a little drawer on the washing machine that Max hadn't seen, nor knew what it was for. "This is where the soap goes," he explained, when he realized Max had never used the washing machine.

"Oh, right." Max nodded, as if he knew, and started to pour the detergent into the drawer.

"Woah, okay that's enough." Dan laughed, and shut the little drawer. "We'll wash this with cold water, since you've mixed your lights and darks," he continued as he adjusted the settings. "And when it's done, this is how you dry them," he showed him how to turn the dryer on. "Though, if it's anything like my dryer, it sucks, and you're better off buying a drying rack to hang your clothes on to dry."

Max nodded and took all this information in. "Okay, thanks." He smiled, no longer feeling too embarrassed.

"Alright, if you need any more help -with anything- just give me a call, I'm right upstairs." Dan said as he glanced around the apartment, realizing Max might need assistance with more than just laundry.

"Thanks," Max nodded.

"If you want to come over for dinner, we're having chicken, in case you want to eat something that didn't come in a box." Dan jokingly teased, and Max blushed.

"You've already been too kind, but thanks," he said, and ducked his head a little in embarrassment.

Dan ruffled Max's hair on the way out. "See you at 7 for dinner," he called before slipping back up to his own apartment.