Work Text:
Tony had never given any thought to how his laundry got done. He had his dry cleaning sent out, that he knew, but other items would magically move from his hamper (or the floor) to arrive clean and folded in his drawers within the day. Perhaps Jarvis had managed to become corporeal while he wasn’t looking. Perhaps there were laundry elves. He never would have guessed it was Steve doing his laundry every other day.
Steve was a guest, technically. Who cared if he slept every night in Tony’s bed and hadn’t made use of his own apartment in over a month? He was a guest and as a guest Tony thought it was ridiculous that he did the cooking. Had he known all along that the man was also washing his underwear he’d have put a stop to it.
When he did find out though, reason did not catch up with him for a while. He didn’t get to think about the bizarre level of domesticity, as the issue was brought up by Steve presenting him with a snapped candy cane.
“What was this doing in your pants pocket?” Steve asked with a smile. Steve loved the holidays. One only needed to try to count the strands of tinsel in the building to see that.
“What were YOU doing in my pants?” Tony shot back, glancing down to see what he was actually wearing. Sweats. Not his most flattering choice.
“I was getting the dry cleaning ready.”
Steve didn’t seem bothered by the question as he closed the gap between himself and Tony so he could hand him the candy and then move to the night stand to retrieve an oddly placed sock.
“Did you steal it or is someone trying to sweeten you up?” Steve asked as he threw a couple of items into the hamper. He’d reached behind the nightstand with one hand and come up with a couple of ties as well.
“Both. Neither.” Tony dropped down onto the bed and crossed his legs, a smile coming to him as he watched Steve mill about.
“I was schmoozing one of the board members’ wives and she had her granddaughter there. She was trying to convince her grandmother to buy them candy canes, because of the ones hung on the tree in the lobby?”
Tony was playing with his sleeve as he started to explain, eyeing the stain on the cuff. He should get that one washed too.
“I swiped a couple and offered them to them both. The woman snapped hers trying to get it open, so I kept it.” He pulled his shirt over his head, moving to discard it in the hamper. When he turned back, Steve was staring with a small smile on his face. It was not the flushed smile Tony usually saw when he started undressing.
“That’s very sweet, Tony. I’ve never seen you talk to kids before.” Steve sat down on the bed and pulled the straight piece from the plastic wrapper, sticking it between his teeth not unlike a toothpick.
Tony smiled and plucked the curved piece from Steve’s hands, biting straight into it for the immediate reward of peppermint taste. “You shouldn’t be surprised. I practically am one.”
He sat down next to Steve, shifting to accommodate the arm that soon slipped around his waist.
“That is true,” Steve mused with a smirk, earning a thump on the arm for his trouble. Tony didn’t respond, but he did crunch indignantly on his candy.
“If only you would put away your socks!”