Disclaimer: As always I own nothing but the original characters and the situations all characters find themselves in. Thanks for continuing to read.

Touching Base

Louis was quite pleased that he'd managed to get up before Teddy even though he was feeling sleepier than normal as a direct result. But if he was going to get proper food into the other man he had to get to the kitchen before his landlord did which meant waking up way too early. But Teddy's health and wellbeing was definitely worth sacrificing a little bit of sleep everyday, the blonde thought as he expertly flipped a pancake into the air. Though he was probably going to have nightmares after he moved out, Louis mused ruefully, imagining Teddy going back to his bad eating habits without him around to supervise. He was going to have to visit the man often to make sure that didn't happen.

Hearing sound behind him Louis turned with a smile, immediately shaking his head when he caught sight of the other man's clothing. Making a sound of displeasure the blonde adjusted the heat and then marched over to where Teddy was watching him with still sleepy interest.

"That tie knot does NOT work with the lines of that suit, Teddy."

The look on the older man's face said he had no idea what Louis was talking about.

Rolling his eyes Louis looked over his hands to make sure they were still clean and then went to work undoing the offending tie, swatting Teddy's hands away when the man tried to take over. Really, he was going to go prematurely grey imagining how the man had lived before he'd come to stay with him. He was getting a migraine just thinking about it.

Retying the tie to his personal preference the blonde nodded in satisfaction as he studied his handiwork. "Much better. Sleep well?"

I dreamed about crawling into bed with you last night and spending the whole night making love to you so yes, it was damn good right up until I woke up, Teddy thought as he nodded his head in silent agreement. And knowing his luck he was going to be dreaming about using the tie he was wearing to tie the blonde to his bed when next he slipped into slumber. That was going to be loads of fun too.

"That's good." And completely unaware of the fact that the older man was currently imagining what he'd look like tied to the man's headboard Louis smiled and headed back over to the oven to finish the preparation of breakfast.

For both their sakes Teddy talked as little as was politely possible during breakfast, thankful that Louis loved to talk and therefore was more than willing to carry on almost the entire conversation with only nods and sounds of agreement required of him.

Now if the other man would just get over his conviction that he was going to shrivel away into nothing without constant care, Teddy mused as he tried not to react to the fact that the blonde was paying close attention to how much he was eating and what he was eating. It was Louis's health that was going to suffer if he didn't start paying more attention to his own food.

Teddy ate until he couldn't eat anymore and then announced he was heading out, the look he directed in Louis's direction making it clear that he wasn't going to be talked into eating another thing.

Smiling sweetly Louis just nodded and then retrieved the lunch he'd made for the man.

Automatically taking the bag from the blonde Teddy couldn't help but smile a little. He was far too old to have someone pack him lunches, but it was…nice. Homey.

Pleased with his victory Louis grinned and then leaned forward, intending to kiss the other man's cheek as he said, "Have a good day, Teddy bear."

Only Teddy instinctively moved in reaction to Louis's closeness and the blonde's lips ended up grazing the corner of the older man's mouth.

Surprised but not upset Louis was about to make a teasing remark when the words died in his throat, something about the other man's eyes killing them before they could be spoken. The awareness in them, well it suggested that Teddy was reacting to the simple sign of affection as a man would react to being kissed by someone. Though the reaction was probably because Teddy didn't get kissed regularly, especially by other men, Louis rationalized, even as awareness entered into his own thoughts. His honorary cousin wasn't the type to encourage displays of affection towards his person and even then most British men didn't go around casually brushing lips with each other. Come to think of it, he might be the only guy he knew who ever did that where Teddy was concerned, though he'd probably been just a kid the last time he'd greeted the older man that way. It was the French in him. Did it make Teddy uncomfortable for a guy to accidentally kiss him? Or almost kiss him in this case? The man was definitely not a homophobe, but he knew plenty of nice straight guys who got a little weirded out about gay guys showing them affection.

"Sorry." Louis said lamely, feeling more than a little uncomfortable now as he took a step back. He couldn't read Teddy's eyes but he couldn't shake the feeling that what he'd done bothered the other man.

"No problem." It wasn't a real kiss, maybe three tenths of the other man's lips had hit his own lips, Teddy told herself sternly, keeping his voice and face as unemotional as possible. "Been a while since you've done that."

He self consciously shrugged his shoulders. "You know how overly affectionate I am."

That he did. Just as he could see that he was making Louis extremely uncomfortable. Obviously the man was taking his reaction the wrong way and was assuming he really didn't like having affection shown to him by him.

Features softening Teddy lifted a hand and ruffled Louis's hair in his own gesture of affection, forcing his fingers not to linger as they brushed through the silky strands he longed to weave his fingers through. "If you were straight the women would love that about you. And have a good day too. I hope work goes well."

"Thanks."

)

After Teddy had left and the dishes done Louis wandered the house, trying to distract himself from what had happened earlier but having no real luck doing so. It was just itching at him like a jumper made of really poor quality wool. But it was just so stupid to obsess over things, things he knew he was blowing out of proportion. Seriously out of proportion. Teddy just wasn't used to living with someone, being shown a lot of affection. The man hadn't lived with his grandmother in years after all and Andromeda Tonks was not affectionate as a rule, much less overly affectionate like him. Of course it would startle Teddy to be suddenly kissed on the cheek. Well…he'd meant to kiss just the cheek anyway.

What was really churning in his gut though was the idea that Teddy might not like his displays of affection. Because he knew the man tolerated the affection heaped on him by the other members of their family, and he wasn't different from them except that he was the only member of said family who was gay. He didn't like to think that Teddy might have a problem with him because he was gay, but the idea was gnawing at him. He'd never gotten the vibe before that Teddy had a problem with his sexual orientation, and the man had serious problems with people who hated people because of their difference. Teddy was the son of a werewolf for Merlin's sake.

Still…

Argh, he was going to make his head explode if he kept this up. He'd just have to ask Teddy straight out at breakfast, Louis decided, nodding his head decisively. It would be too late when he got home to question the other man and he'd probably have better luck getting a straight answer if he asked before coffee had Teddy awake enough to pick and choose his words.

)

Teddy's plan to throw himself into work so he didn't have to think about what had happened after breakfast was working fairly well, though in the back of his mind he knew he was going to have to think about it sooner or later given that he'd acted like an ass. Though it would be more accurate to say he'd come off as an ass because there was no way Louis could have not taken it wrong. He was going to have to come up with a real excuse too because the blonde was likely to confront him at the earliest opportunity. His hummingbird was direct that way. It was one of the things he loved about him.

And he was at work and he really should be concentrating on that.

Not that the business would crumble if he had an off day of course, but the company had been in his family for five generations and that meant something to him. The investment firm had been handed down from father to son right up until the death of his own maternal grandfather. His great grandfather had held things together as best as he could and when his health had demanded that he retire from the business his own grandmother had stepped in to hold the business together for her grandson until he finished his schooling. He'd been ten when that had happened and had already shown a love for numbers and making money, which had led his grandmother to correctly assume that he would enjoy following in his namesake's footsteps and invest people's money for them as a living.

He loved what he did and had made others and himself a hell of a lot of money too.

Especially since he'd opened an office in Diagon Alley two years ago and had started offering witches and wizards the opportunity to invest in Muggle businesses as well.

When the knock came Teddy didn't bother to look up as he called for the head of his Diagon office to enter. He knew who it was, Lucy Weasley was always on time after all. Her punctuality was just one of the reasons that she'd proven herself invaluable over the last couple of years. Finishing what he was doing since he knew she wouldn't mind the older man quickly looked over what he'd typed and then sent off the email, not doubting for a moment that he'd be getting a reply within the hour. They were going to be very, very unhappy with him, Teddy thought with a satisfied smiled as he minimized the window before turning his attention to the redhead watching him patiently.

"Sorry about that."

"No problem. Not like I haven't done the same to you." Lucy pointed out with a small, knowing smile. "Besides, you're my boss. You're supposed to ignore me unless I'm being useful."

"You're family, and never useless." Teddy told her with a hint of affection in his eyes. Of all his honorary relatives Lucy was one of his favorites, and not just because she was so good at helping him make money. They were very similar in a lot of ways and he'd thought more than once that if he'd been straight he would have been quite happy if fate had decided to sway his heart in her direction.

But fate had decreed otherwise and so they were good friends, honorary family, and worked well together instead.

"So I heard that Louis is living with you. I have to admit I was surprised when Mum told me." Unlike the vast majority of their shared family Lucy was aware of Teddy's feelings for her cousin, choosing not to make her knowledge known since she didn't want her friend to become self conscious, wondering what was giving him away so that he ended up giving himself away even more. Plus there was the chance that he'd withdraw further from her family and she definitely didn't want that to happen. As far as she was concerned he was as much a part of her family as she was and she'd take down anyone who suggested otherwise.

He wasn't surprised that she'd heard already, news tended to travel fast in their family. And Lucy's older sister Molly was the biggest gossipmonger in the family. Molly rarely stopped talking and she was the most opinionated woman he'd ever come across which was really, really saying something. Hence the fact that Lucy was normally quiet but more than capable of overriding anyone who might try to talk over her when she did have something to say.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time."

Lucy laughed. "He's driving you up the wall already?"

"Let's just say that he's just a little obsessed with fattening me up at the moment. According to him I'm too skinny."

Lips twitching in amusement at the faint hint of insult in the man's words Lucy wisely didn't state that she thought regular meals would do Teddy some good. They were both bad when it came to proper nutrition, she admitted, the redhead wincing a little as she tried to recall the last time she'd eaten something Louis would approve of. It took some doing. Maybe her mother had a point that she needed to eat more too.

"What's the wince for?" Teddy wanted to know.

"I'm thinking maybe people are right and you and I need to eat more."

"Not you too. Everyone's turning on me." Shaking his head Teddy was sure he didn't need to gain any weight, though now that he was thinking about it he supposed Lucy could do with some substantial meals. She was a little on the thin side, Teddy decided with brotherly concern. "But since you think so, do you have plans for dinner on Saturday? I promised him I'd come by the restaurant he's working at for a meal and if you're there he can embarrass both of us instead of just me with his fussing. My treat, of course."

"Well when you put it that way, how could I possibly refuse?"

"Excellent. Now shall we get to work?"

"Let's."

)

He knew he should just wait until morning, he wasn't an idiot after all. But as he lay in bed looking up at his ceiling Louis knew there was no way in hell he was going to get any sleep until he'd talked things over with Teddy. And he needed his beauty sleep, dammit. It was almost two in the friggin morning already and he'd agreed to come into work early. But it would be wrong of him to wake Teddy up and if he recalled correctly the older man was an extremely deep sleeper. Double dammit. He was so screwed, Louis thought as he punched the side of his pillow in annoyance.

Mentally fuming with the situation at hand Louis remained in bed for another five minutes before throwing aside his covers, sliding out of bed with a determined gleam in his eyes. It was really early and odds were that Teddy would be asleep, but he was going to check, just in case. The man was a huge workaholic after all and he wouldn't put it past him to still be awake and working in bed.

Normally that wouldn't be a good thing but Louis couldn't help but hope that would be the case.

Heading into the hallway the blonde noted that there was light coming from under Teddy's door, the sight urging him forward as he moved to knock on the door, entering when he heard the other man give permission.

Running a hand through his no doubt messy hair Teddy watched the other man come into his room, wishing rather desperately that he'd decided to finish up the paperwork at his desk instead of bringing it to bed with him so that if he fell asleep it would be somewhere comfortable. He should have known the blonde wouldn't be able to wait until morning to talk to him.

"Something on your mind?" He asked as smoothly as he could, hoping he was wrong about Louis's reason for coming to see him, knowing that he wasn't. After all, it wasn't like the man had any interest in joining him in bed for something pleasurable, unfortunately.

Walking over to the bed Louis took advantage of the fact that Teddy was lying in the middle of the bed, opting to sit cross legged on the covers so that he was facing the other man. "I have a question and obviously it couldn't wait until morning."

"You've never been patient except when it came to cooking."

"Exactly." Leaning forward with his elbows on his knees and his chin between his hands, Louis gave Teddy a strong, searching look. "I want to know if you have a problem with me being affectionate towards you because I'm gay. If you do I'll try to tone that down, promise."

Teddy immediately shook his head. "I don't have a problem with you being gay, Louis. I never have." It had made him really happy at first, hoping that maybe that meant that Louis would someday give him a chance. "I'm just not used to having affection showered on me the way you do, especially early in the morning. You know how I am."

"You swear?"

Reaching out Teddy wrapped his fingers around Louis's left arm, giving it a light squeeze as he returned the strong stare. "On my word. I love you, and there's nothing about who you are that I'd change. You're perfect, quirks and all, and you're one of my favorite people in the world."

Face lighting up with delight Louis scrambled forward and threw his arms around the other man's neck, hugging him tight as he made a sound of pleasure and contentment when Teddy's arms came around him to hug in return.

"I love you, Teddy bear. You're perfect too."

If only you thought I was perfect for you, Teddy thought as he closed his eyes to hide his thoughts.

If only.