Monday, 31st October 2022

Jamie made sure Phoebe's hard hat was secure before they walked down under the house and into what would be a basement with a pool and gym and utilities. At the moment it was a lot of structural bracing that was keeping Platypus Green from falling down and a large pit under the house. They'd dug out the old coal cellar which had been closed off and ignored in the renovation and then lorried off a fuck tonne of sand. Jamie had debated sleeping in his car, just in case it all fell down on his head, but he trusted Nigel too much to do that to him.

"Wow!" Phoebe said, bouncing. "Can you take a picture of me, Jamie? I want my next news to be about being under a house."

"Of course," Jamie said, his heart moving higher in his chest the farther she moved away from him. He pulled out his phone and took a bunch of snaps.

"And one of me with the supports."

"Don't get-" Jamie started but then a gruff voice took over from behind him.

"Don't get too close," Roy said, coming to stand next to Jamie.

"I was keeping an eye on her," Jamie said.

Roy pressed his elbow into Jamie's arm. "I know, she's always safe with you but she's also a bloody menace with those fucking eyes."

Jamie looked at Roy.

"Jamie!" Phoebe called out. "Stop looking at Uncle Roy and take my photo please."

Jamie flushed and focussed on Phoebe as she rushed around the space for photos.

Afterwards, they went upstairs and met with Nigel.

"It looks so good," Phoebe told him.

"It will. Are you going to help choose tiles again?"

Phoebe nodded.

"Excellent. Now, we need to finalise how we're going to get the pool in here. We have two options; we can take out the fence and check with the neighbour about bringing it in from the side of the house or we can rip up the nice grass and paving landscaping and move it farther into the garden to create the entryway into the pool."

"A ramp," Jamie said, clicking his fingers and pointing at Nigel.

"Ramp?" Roy asked.

Jamie nodded. "If it goes the length of the house, it could be a nice ramp down into the basement with a staircase at the end where the paving will be so it's accessible two ways."

"There would still be a few stairs down into the basement as the outside stairs would only be half length," Nigel mentioned.

Jamie nodded. "Could we make it a double wide door and do half ramp and half stairs?"

"What is your obsession with a ramp?" Roy asked.

Jamie looked at Roy's knee. "Just feels like a good idea to allow for accessibility."

Roy growled and then nodded. "Fuck."

"We can do that," Nigel said. "We can put in some windows along the ramp to give some natural light and make them levers so you can let out the super humid air that was as well as the vents."

"Perfect," Jamie said.

"Now I just need you to pick a pool."

"We're going now," Roy said.

"Normally we do that bit first," Nigel laughed. "But we have more groundwork to do."

"It's been a hectic couple of weeks," Jamie said, touching his fully healed nose.

"All better though?" Nigel asked.

"All healed. Didn't hurt at all at the game yesterday."

"Phoebe," Roy called out. "Time for school."

Phoebe gaped at him. "I want to come and help pick the pool."

"School," Roy reminded her.

"If I'm a little late, it won't be a problem. I'm sure Mummy won't mind."

"You only call her Mummy when you're trying to get something out of her."

Phoebe's chin dropped. "You know about that?"

Jamie laughed. "Roy will pick a good pool, promise."

Roy looked up. "You're picking the fucking pool."

"That's a pound," Nigel muttered, voice deep under Phoebe's higher tone.

"It's your house," Jamie pointed out, he reminded himself so much it no longer felt like a complete wrench to admit.

"And you're the interior designer."

Jamie hated that Roy could get to him so easily. "I will offer my opinion."

"Pick a good one, Jamie," Phoebe said, stepping forward to wrap his waist in a hug and then grabbing Roy's hand. "Come on, I don't want to be late."

Roy rolled his eyes at Jamie over her head and then left to take her to school.

When Roy came back, he collected Jamie and took him to the pool centre, just following the younger man around the space as he looked at all of the different options.

"Do you think you could fit a spa in as well as a pool?" Jamie asked. "I mean, do you want a spa?"

"What do you think?"

"It's your house," Jamie pointed out.

"But you made it a home."

Jamie opened his mouth to say something…or throw himself on the ground and beg Roy to love him back when the salesperson arrived.

"How can I help?"

"We're looking for a pool," Roy told them.

"Then you're in the right place, are you looking for a full-sized pool, plunge pool, or spa?"

"Full sized," Jamie said. "And possibly a spa too. And it needs to have the ability to be heated."

"Heated?" Roy asked.

"For winter," Jamie offered, not continuing with a comment about hydrotherapy.

"Then we'll need a spa too," Roy said.

Jamie nodded with a smile.

Jamie asked to be left to wander, and Roy happily followed him around as the younger man extolled the different pools as though Roy was going to make a decision.

"Do you think you want a sauna too?" Jamie asked. "Are you a sauna person?"

"I'll call Nigel."

"That wasn't an answer."

Roy grunted. "Checking for dimensions so you can know what space you're working with."

"You don't have to do what I think."

"You haven't steered me wrong yet," Roy told him. He spoke with Nigel and then came back to Jamie. "Plenty of space to do whatever you think we should."

"I'm sure you would do just as well without me," Jamie told him.

Roy paused, staring at Jamie. "Do you want to see the other project I've been working on?"

"Really?" Jamie asked. "Yeah, that sounds mint."

"It's almost finished."

"So, you're going to be moving into Platypus Green soon?"

Roy nodded. "Hold on, I need to speak to my tiler."

Jamie frowned. "What?"

Roy held up a finger and walked a little way away.

Jamie looked out over the pools on display and then went to the screen where he could see the full range and started flicking. He used his phone to take photos of the pools he thought matched Roy and Phoebe. He found the one he thought was the right choice, coming back to it a couple of times.

"Is it this one?" Roy asked.

Jamie startled and then held up his phone. "I've taken photos of the ones I think would work."

"You've come back to this one four times."

Jamie looked at Roy in surprise.

"Have you picked a spa too?"

"Do you like this pool?" Jamie asked.

"What do you like about it," Roy countered.

Jamie turned back to the screen. "The little spot for sitting with a table, and the depth of the deep end, and the design of the steps."

"Good," Roy called the salesperson back over and asked them to send Nigel the dimensions of the pool and that they were going with that one and just needed to choose a spa next.

Jamie held up his phone. "There are a few options on here."

"Show me."

Jamie tapped on the screen and brought up his favourite of the two and showed Roy. "It might be too big."

"We have plenty of space to work with."

"What did Nigel say?"

"That unless we wanted a custom pool, we'd have space to fit whatever we chose."

"And you are sure about the spa?"

"Yes," Roy said. "And everyone who watched TV knows you like a spa."

Jamie flushed, remembering Amy and the spa and then turned to Roy. "You watched Lust Conquers All?"

Roy growled while nodding. "Wanted to fucking murder you for wasting your talent."

"But you watched?"

"Me and the yoga ladies," Roy corrected. "You know we yoga and then watch whatever reality telly they want."

"But, you watched my show and never told me."

Roy nodded. "Which spa do you think?"

"It is your house."

"You promised you'd help," Roy said.

"This one," Jamie told him, flicking to the right screen.

Roy smiled at him and Jamie's heart rattled at the crinkle of skin around Roy's eyes. What would he do when he didn't get to see those crinkles up close anymore. The thought almost stole his breath.

-)(-)(-

Roy stopped in front of the house he'd been preparing to rent out in Hounslow. It was from the 1980s and he'd done as much as he could to reduce the aesthetic and make it more appealing.

"This is where you're living?"

Roy shrugged. "Barely."

"Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday night of every week," Jamie said absent-mindedly as he climbed out of the car.

Roy followed him, locking the door and meeting Jamie inside the gate.

"Has Nigel been working on this place too?" Jamie asked.

Roy shook his head. "His younger brother is learning the business, so he's been taking care of this place."

"And this was just a paint and decorate job?"

"Redid the kitchen and bathroom and then fixed up the backyard. Platypus Green was the priority."

Jamie span around and grinned at Roy. "You called it Platypus Green."

Roy sighed. "You and Phoebe have got to me."

Jamie laughed as he strode into the house and ducked in and out of the rooms and then upstairs. It was bland, but serviceable, it would need decorations to feel like a home but he understood at a renter looking at it would see a blank canvas. One thing really stuck out to Jamie though. "You have one chair, a TV, and a bed."

"Yes."

"Where's the rest of your stuff?"

"This is it."

"Fucking hell, Roy, we need to go somewhere and buy you a nice piece of frivolous crap that you can look at and it makes you smile."

"Why?"

"Because the psychological damage of not having anything in your house that makes you happy is heartbreaking."

Roy rolled his eyes to the back of his head and then tugged Jamie into him and kissed him.

Jamie hopped up onto the bench in the kitchen and pulled Roy in close.

"You want me in this house too?" Jamie asked.

"Every fucking house," Roy told him, yanking at Jamie's track pants and kissing all thoughts from his head.

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