A Comfortable Existence - #6 [The Laundry]

[Part 5]

Izuku hummed to himself quietly as he folded the warm laundry, double-checking that all the pockets and hems were dry as he worked. He’d figured out very quickly that Katsuki didn’t bother with laundry hampers in his home; everything dirty went straight into the machine, untangled and with empty pockets, ready to just turn it on when it was full enough to be worth it, or when he needed something in particular that was waiting within.

The first time, Izuku had debated taking out Katsuki’s dirty stuff to use the machine and then putting it back after, but that had seemed kind of ridiculous. So he’d washed Katsuki’s first, and while his collection of new purchases was in the machine, he’d carefully folded Katsuki’s clean stuff and set it neatly on the top of his dresser, to put away when he got home.

The second time, Izuku had decided ‘fuck it’ and just thrown his own dirty stuff in to wash it all together, since it wasn’t a full load on its own anyway. Neither of them tended to wear anything that needed special care, like hand washing or line drying, so it all went through the same process either way.

After that... Well, what was that old saying? If you can’t beat them, join them? He didn’t particularly care about beating Katsuki, other than in the hero rankings, so he just skipped ahead a little, straight to joining him. He had to admit, it was a pretty decent system. He came home from work, chucked his clothes in the laundry machine on his way through to the shower, and when he was clean and dry, he just walked across to his bedroom to find something cosy to wear.

The weather was finally beginning to cool down, after a stinking hot and insanely long summer, so he’d already been getting a lot of use out of his comfy new sweater; he really should have bought two of them. He especially found himself lamenting that as he turned on the machine, watching his favourite comfort item – only comfort item, really, since he’d lost everything else – get drowned with the rest. It would take a while to wash and to dry, so for the rest of the night, he supposed he’d have to settle for the comfy blanket Katsuki always kept in his living room.

“I love your laundry system,” he admitted, when Katsuki caught him in the hallway with a stack of clean laundry. “So much easier than dealing with hampers, or stuff strewn across the apartment.”

“It’s one of the best things about having my own place,” Katsuki admitted, nodding thankfully as he accepted the clean stuff from Izuku’s arms. “I don’t have to worry about other people using the machine and not taking their shit out when I want to use it, or leaving it clear for other people.”

“My place didn’t have a machine,” Izuku lamented. “I’ve been spoiled now, it’s gonna be hard to go back to coin laundries. I hope you don’t mind that I’ve been mixing our stuff.”

“No,” Katsuki answered. “Not like it matters, they’re all getting cleaned. Uh, thanks. For doing mine.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Izuku agreed. “Thanks for doing mine, too.”

Katsuki just nodded, pausing before he reached out his free hand, plucking at Izuku’s t-shirt.

“You warm enough?” he asked, glancing toward the living room where the aircon was blasting, as always.

“I’m gonna steal your blanket again,” Izuku said, instead of answering. “My sweater is in washing.”

“You don’t have another?”

“No, I didn’t think that far ahead!” Izuku laughed sheepishly. “I’ll have to drop by and see if they have them in stock still, at some point.”

Katsuki hesitated, then jerked his head toward his bedroom door, taking the few steps down the hallway to reach it. Izuku thought he was dismissing himself, but then he looked back, giving Izuku a pointed look as he opened the door, and Izuku followed.

He'd never really looked much at Katsuki’s bedroom. He’d gone in to put the clean clothes down, sure, and he knew Katsuki didn’t care about him being in there, but it had always seemed weird to actually look at stuff. His eyes wandered though, with Katsuki there giving him proper permission to enter, and he smiled when he saw the little shelf crammed with All Might merch. He missed his own collection, he’d grown so accustomed to always having it around in his life. It made his stomach churn again, thinking of all the things he’d lost, and when Katsuki glanced back at him, he knew it was written all over his face.

“Sorry,” Katsuki said, the corner of his lips twitching with an attempt at a sympathetic look. “You have some at your mother’s place, right?”

“A little,” Izuku agreed, sighing. “It didn’t all fit in my place. My poster from Nighteye is there, though, so I’m really grateful for that.”

“I’m glad.”

Katsuki opened a drawer, tucking away a couple of things, but then he was digging through a stack within, pulling out something thick and dark.

“New line,” he said, offering it to Izuku. “If you want it.”

“Of yours?” Izuku clarified, resisting the urge to snatch it. Katsuki had always thought it was weird to wear his own merch, even though his publicist tried to tell him it was a good idea for marketing and all that. He’d made fun of Izuku the first time he’d caught him buying a Dynamight figure, even though Izuku had pouted and bought it anyway. To be handed something from Katsuki’s new collection was like some kind of weird peace offering, Katsuki’s way of showing sympathy for everything he’d lost, and Izuku thought it might just have made up for everything he’d lost along the way. “Oh, it feels so soft.”

“Winter stuff coming out soon,” Katsuki clarified. “Might be too hot right now, but—”

“It’s perfect!” Izuku corrected him, before he’d even finished unfolding it.

Katsuki snorted, but he didn’t argue, just watching with a strange contentment as Izuku unzipped the front and pulled it on happily. Most of Katsuki’s merch clothing was just black with a few orange accents, maybe the occasional bit of green thrown in like his gauntlets, but this one came with a much bigger pattern than the rest. One sleeve was dotted with tiny orange sparkles, like Katsuki’s sweat exploding during the biggest battles, growing bigger and more clustered as they spread across the body, until they reached a massive explosion print down the other side. Within the smoke and fire stood a dark outline with spiky hair, and Izuku smiled as his fingertips went to it reverently.

“I love this one,” he said softly. “You should keep this designer.”

“She’s alright,” Katsuki admitted. “Less boring than some of the others.”

“I’m keeping this.”

“Yeah,” Katsuki snorted, smiling fondly all the same. “I figured.”