PSL for dreadnaughtfist

[papapink]

Pembe had had a series of unfortunate happenstances - that had ended up with him rather... homeless, and then taken in by a rather overlarge man. ... While there were several problems Pem could have really had with this arrangement, he'd done his best to take it all in stride. He was used to sudden change - it was how he'd lived his life up 'til now... though he'd hardly interacted with the other man other than polite introductions and a bit of idle chatter after convincing him that him staying there was better than a shelter. It'd only been a day or two since he'd... "moved in" (which was such a stretch of the phrase, considering the most he'd done was bring his clothes, camera, a small box of particularly random junk, and his cat... Assuming Potemkin had no problem with animals, of course. Gren was a fearless little scottish fold, as it were. As irresponsible as he felt moving around so much with a cat in tow, Gren seemed to bear it just fine. Pem generally didn't have much more than that to his name - he'd yet to actually find a job he could settle at, and freelancing had only encouraged his already natural drifter tendencies.)

Of course, Potemkin had... tried to get him to go to a shelter first, but as the cards had laid, it wasn't a particularly good option for Pembe. While he'd considered it, shelters were, for one thing, not a good place for cats (and in spite of it all, he was damn attached to his cat), and two, he was definitely not a fan. It'd taken a bit of convincing; Pembe had had to emphasize that while his things were meager, they were still expensive, and he was willing to assist as a housemate however he could in exchange for a place to stay where he wouldn't have to worry about having someone steal his camera... but he thought it'd gone well, considering that Potemkin had let him stay.

Though he'd promised to assist however he could with Potemkin's daily life... he did feel particularly useless at the moment. His current situation had him on a couch, with Gren bedding in the (now emptied, though it still hadn't had much) aforementioned box of junk. So, instead of giving in to the impulse to continue being useless, Pembe opted to take another option: start trying to do as he promised earlier. Potemkin would soon find himself hunted down by the big ball of pink that was Pembe - hair dye, glasses, and shirt making him... very pink. Pembe was large by most's standards, considering his height of 6'3", but Potemkin sort of outstripped him by leaps and bounds. It was a strange feeling - he rarely had to look up at people. But if he was going to room with Potemkin for long - which he was sort of hoping, given the area was fairly ideal - he'd have to get over it.

"Hey!" He greeted, throwing up a hand in a sort of wave when he caught Potemkin's attention. "I... uh, I was thinking I should get started on that whole business I offered earlier. Chores and all." He suppressed the urge to say he'd felt like a useless lump just because he hadn't started immediately, "You got laundry or... y'know, something I could help out with?" His smile was awkward - living in a house with someone you barely new was always destined to be awkward - but Pembe... was hoping he could at least get to know him, anyway.

Lord only knew if Potemkin's living style was clean and tidy or an utter mess... Judging from the man's bearing, Pem could've bet on either or.

Comments

[dreadnaughtfist]

Even though he lived alone (Potemkin's entire life was spent in solitary existence when one goes over it, actually), Potemkin still found the house as good of an area to exercise discipline as any other. Laundry goes in bins labeled for that purpose, dishes get put on the rack, and absolutely nothing gets left on the floor.

So there's another reason why Pembe would have felt out of work - the place is too spotless. Potemkin wasn't really thinking about the actual services to gain when Pembe approached him with his offer, just the state of mind of a man who seemed naturally more fit for an environment where he could do his art. (And Gren's sad eyes. Animals always took all fight out of Potemkin.) Potemkin has to learn how to make junk before Pembe could actually face a decent timesink in that area.

Potemkin thought for a few moments in honest racking of his brains, but the pause in answering might have come off as cold. It's an issue that Potemkin fell into constantly; with a face like a blunt instrument, and a voice which was not inclined to being chirpy, even his resting face was intimidating. "You're asking already? There's nothing scheduled to come up for a few days, except for washing down the bathroom on Saturday."

[papapink]

While he'd appreciated the cleanliness of the house, it definitely made him feel like a lump - even worse than before. And while Potemkin's discipline was admirable... it still made the house feel rather sterile, and it made Pembe itch inside. His general residences were rarely ever dirty by most's standards, but the coating of random forgotten items and cat fur had helped them feel more... homely.

However, it seemed like Potemkin had none of those things. He was surprised the man had caved - though he did notice the way the man had softened, even how little of it was visible, when Gren had come into the picture. The man hadn't rebutted quite as much when the smaller cat was in the picture. (Perhaps that was the start of Pembe's real interest in Potemkin - as more than just a man offering him a home - when he learned that the man was a bit more than what he appeared to be.)

If Pembe was put off by the pause, or the rebuttal, he didn't show it with any more than a little awkward chuckle and a shrug. "Yeah, I just felt like helping. Anything that could be gotten done early? Like laundry?" If he was being honest, he felt like doing his, as well - he never felt like his clothes stayed clean inbetween houses. And he wasn't about to potentially leech further off Potemkin.

He was still a bit antsy about the man being larger than him, though he - through mostly innate tact - managed to not give that impression with more than the (doubtless rather common) awkward shifting. He was still managing a very awkward smile - he had no idea what to expect from Potemkin, though he was hoping there weren't bad things. ... Not that he really expected there to be. Anyone who liked cats could not be a bad person. It was just a fact.

"Or even just dishes, or something...?"

[dreadnaughtfist]

He's faster to answer from Pembe's given suggestions, but still he doesn't leap toward it. Everything about this man seemed to be deliberate: the way he walked, spoke, moved. It made sense; if someone of his strength was impulsive or hot-headed, there would be no end of carnage. So it spoke not just of his patience, but also his concern of the well-being of others. "Laundry can be done early," he said, right before turning to a different direction of the house, a clear target in mind.

"It's always in the hamper outside the bedroom. Since this is near the end of the week, it is mostly full, but now would be the time to add anything, if you wish."

[papapink]

Pembe wasn't sure he fully understood Potemkin - not yet, anyway - but he did at least appreciate the man's slowness, a bit. He could see how the man being brash would be a bad thing. Though at the same time, he did wish Potemkin could lighten up a bit. The bigger man didn't have to be so uptight - at least, not in his own home.

"Alright, then!" The idea of a full hamper - considering someone of Potemkin's size - was just a bit worrying. "I was thinking about throwing the clothes I brought in, since... it's pretty rare stuff like that stays clean, you know?" He chuckled, "At least, in transit. Are you the kind of guy to iron his clothes? If you do, I can do that, too!" He chuckled, voice actually rather pleasant - he was trying to relax just as much as lighten his mood some. (And maybe see if he could earn a smile from Potemkin? Somehow, the idea of Potemkin smiling felt like it'd put him much more at ease...)

In terms of if the huge man ironed or not, it seemed like a no-brainer, considering how formal Potemkin looked, but an important logistical question had arose to Pembe when he'd considered the idea of Potemkin actively ironing his uniforms: did anyone make irons that men with hands the size of Potemkin's could actually... safely... use...?

The house had been properly up-sized in some ways for Potemkin - that much, Pembe could tell - but Pembe had a feeling an iron was a different story... Though he'd been wrong before. The world today was much stranger than he liked to note, even as a journalist. There was probably something or other for that, somewhere...

[dreadnaughtfist]

From how his chuckling and light joking was received, already Pembe should have been able to tell that he faced an uphill battle in "Getting Potemkin to lighten up". While a huge part of his demeanor was a development in reaction to the strength he was born with, the responsibility he never chose to own, Potemkin was also just like that. Even his friends would struggle to come up with a memory of him smiling.

"I do iron. I would like that offer very much, Pembe."

No, he never found giant irons. Potemkin never found a lot of things that were for his size, including until relatively recently clothes and a bed. He accepted he was a man in a world undersized for him, and made himself the one who had to adapt instead of burdening the world around him. But if there was one area Pembe could definitely help Potemkin out on, it was using more complicated appliances for him. If Pembe saw how he normally does it, the handle barely pinched between his fingers, he would have plenty of reason to laugh.

They came to a beige basket, which true to what Potemkin said was half-filled with a load appropriate for the middle of the week.

"I should add what I can, too," he said while standing above it. Sticking to his word, Potemkin then lifted his shirt over his shoulders and head. Immediately by pulling the cloth off his stomach he flashes his body, his waist thick with muscle.

[papapink]

Seeing how Potemkin handled it probably would have earned both laughter and pity. He was already able to tell smiling might be an... uphill task, so to speak, but he didn't decide to give up on it. He was just as stubborn as one might expect - but he smiled at the man accepting his offer.

He was a bit heartened by the fact Potemkin - who definitely wasn't about to mince words - appreciated his offer. He definitely wouldn't mind being the man's hands in some instances - when his thicker fingers failed him.

"Great!" He turned his attention to Potemkin's laundry, immediately taking notice of the size of the clothes. His mind set itself curiously to trying to figure out exactly how many clothes there were - it was hard to tell where some of the cloth ended and some of the other cloth began - though Potemkin's remark earned a curious glance from Pembe.... followed by an immediate, dark flush. He restrained himself from making a noise - he actually didn't mind, other than getting an abrupt flash of a man he'd already found himself attracted to's musculature. He immediately sucked in a breath, suppressing some of his more curious and active impulses - like, say, just sort of touching the man's chest, for example.

A part of him gently hoped that maybe, just maybe, Potemkin would get his shirt stuck or something, and need Pembe to help him. He watched for a few moments, eyes transfixed, before he looked down and swallowed.

"Rrright." He rolled the r to hide the sort of stutter in his voice, chuckling - "Dunno if I should try and add in what I'm wearing, since I don't... actually... have anything else." He appended another awkward chuckle, though he'd considered it. His question was one part curious to how Potemkin might feel about the idea of, say, a naked or near-naked Pembe doing laundry, and two parts self-conscious. In spite of the fact that what he was currently wearing could do to be washed, he was at least a bit shy.

Plus. The vague urge of wanting Potemkin to do things to him was not helping this shyness. At all.

[dreadnaughtfist]

In defiance of Pembe's fantasies, he took his shirt off with no fuss and the moment was already over, Potemkin giving a sigh before he tossed the whole shirt into the hamper. That meant he remained standing half-naked though. Potemkin was top-heavy in an extremely masculine way, shoulders and chest having enough heft in them to make the aforementioned waist look thin in comparison. With Potemkin's figure, the only parts that appeared lacking were due to even greater bounty elsewhere; even his comparatively small legs are not actually thin by any objective standard.

If Potemkin didn't prod into Pembe's nervousness earlier, he continued to act just as unobtrusive now. Or even oblivious. It makes sense that the man who was used to never being able to hide would have a skewed sense of modesty, which he extender to other people. He looked down to address Pembe.

"You could clean it in pieces, like what I'm doing. Then it'll be done eventually."

[dreadnaughtfist]

Over the course of their time living together, Potemkin treated Pembe almost completely as a housemate, which was possibly what he had wanted all along. As he had acknowledged to Pembe, just incidentally in conversation, he was filling in for a missing experience, that of being surrounded by a lively household. Before this he mostly alternated between work and solitude, and he had never came home with the expectation for someone to be there. Although he had stepped in with trepidation from how odd and different it seemed on paper, the desire to help out a man in need pushing him forward just enough, after several months Potemkin could tentatively say he likes it.

But Pembe was still technically his hire. Potemkin still held the right to ask anything from him. Potemkin looked down to the clothing items he was carrying (the remaining pieces of what were meant to be his uniform tomorrow - a tie and a couple of suit pins), while calling out to wherever Pembe might be in the house.

"Pembe? I have want to ask you of something."

[papapink]

Pembe had taken well to the admission - but then again, being told a man you were particularly interested in liked having you around stuck in your mind. He didn't mind if Potemkin called it just a missing experience - he figured it was good enough that he called it lively, rather than, say, cramped. He'd taken to living with Potemkin just as well as the other man did - he was a hire and all, but he was still happy to live with the other man.

It helped that Potemkin's work meant Pembe had time to do his job before the other man ever got home, so he could still squeeze in chores and the like.

Still, he was laying on the couch with Gren (as he'd particularly not been interested in moving anywhere else - and Potemkin's bed was the only bed in the house, by his appraisal) when he was called for, and he shuffled into a sitting position, Gren settling into his lap as he called out from the living room:

"I'm over here! What's up?"

Today, he was in a pink sweater and a pair of khaki shorts. Potemkin likely knew by now the man was naturally quite warm, though the colder months that had come after the warmer ones meant he liked sweaters more than simple t-shirts.

[dreadnaughtfist]

When he saw him, Potemkin walked over to him, and slightly lifted the parcel in his hands to show it to Pembe. The dark tie was the largest subject but the pins stood out with their shininess, with the emblems of various government branches on their heads. They were tiny and easily lost even to a normal sized person, to Potemkin it was unmanageable. Oh and he did try; he probably would not disclose the number of hours spent in his attempts to anyone.

Potemkin paused to collect himself one last time before speaking. It's not that he feels any shame receiving help from Pembe, but he's simply shy about asking.

"I need to dress with these for the ceremony tomorrow. Assist me, and I'll make it so you don't have to do it more than once."

Potemkin still had the lingering hope of being able to learn from watching someone else do it, but he was considering taking the clothes off as they were after this and leaving the finished pins on for the next day.

[papapink]

Even if Potemkin refrained from disclosing the number of hours he tried, Pembe could imagine. He smiled up at Potemkin, kindly - a little chuckle passing through his lips. "Sure."

He took the parcel, gently setting the tie aside - just for now - before taking the pins, carefully pulling the clutch from the military-style pins. "They really should have given you magnetic ones," He noted, mostly to himself - the clasp that more formal and military pins traditionally used... were meant to be pinched. If Potemkin could actually manage it without losing the pin altogether, Pembe would've been surprised.

Once he'd properly started one up, he looked up at Potemkin - preparing himself as he had several times before, in other situations - before standing up (letting Gren hop onto the couch) and then leaning up a bit further so he could reach Potemkin's lapel, with one hand sliding between the lapel and fabric of the coat. It held the clutch as the other hand brought up the pin itself and carefully pushed it through. He caught the pin's end with the clutch, and then repeated that for the other pins.

He kept them evenly spaced; he was at least concerned about making sure Potemkin looked his best. And he did his very best to not be distracted by the slabs of muscle he could feel his hand laying against. His very, very best.

His face still flushed.

Once he was finished, though, he leaned back, crossing his arms and smiling up at Potemkin. "Y'know, you should just let me handle those, in the future. They're not good for the washer, and I don't think they're designed for you to mess with." He chuckled, not unkindly - he was using just about the same tone he'd used to declare he was handling all ironing from now on -- a mixture of concern and playfulness, as well as some amusement at the man's tenacity for trying to do things himself.

There was still the tie to attach, but he figured he'd wait on Potemkin's reply first - he'd picked the pins because they were easier. ... And they also didn't mean he had to get at Potemkin's neck, and no matter if it was Potemkin leaning down to accomodate, or him leaning up to try and properly tie it around the man who was 2 feet taller than him's neck... Pembe had a feeling it was better to start with the thing he was less likely to be distracted by.

[dreadnaughtfist]

Potemkin very possibly could have asked the agency to customize the bits of the uniform to his needs, but he couldn't bring himself to ask something so petty. His country had gave him everything, introduced him to his purpose, and started a whole new life which he could not have imagined before. He did not feel right to demand more.

So he felt something lifted from him when Pembe offered his aid in the future. Potemkin was a very still and attentive listener, even as Pembe surrounded his words with joking and laughter and he practically climbed him to get all the pins on. For some reason, Potemkin paid special attention to how it felt for Pembe to tug and pull slightly at his clothing. There was something caring about his fussing, like he was being groomed, and by the end the edges of Potemkin's mouth crooked up into a smile.

"That would be most appreciated," Potemkin said. He's not sure if Pembe was turning red because he found this so hilarious, or something else. He really should ask about that sometime. But there's the next task to move onto, and Potemkin addressed that first, bending at the waist to lower his neck by a few feet.

[papapink]

Pembe was aware of the fact Potemkin probably could have asked for modifications. He - however - had at least gleaned that Potemkin preferred to take what was given, rather than ask for more. When you took care of a guy's housekeeping, you sort of learned that.

When Pembe leaned back and saw that smile in the edges of Potemkin's lips, his own grin practically doubled in size - and the big man felt as though his insides had started to glow, starting in his heart and seeping outward, infusing him with a delighted warmth. He always had trouble getting smiles out of Potemkin - getting one out of him now was not just an accomplishment, but also his pleasure.

"Awesome," He chuckled, grin still thick on his face - even as he watched Potemkin bend down to let him better access. He had to step back at first, give him the needed room - though once Potemkin's face was down, the hard part began. Pembe brought one hand up to the man's neck as he swung the tie over it and set about tying it on, and adjusting its fit for the bigger man. The tie was at least well-fitted for Potemkin - it wasn't too small. It was more that the size of Potemkin's hands were still unsuitable to tying the knots in the cloth necessary. He did his best to distract himself from the thoughts that were sure to come, albeit the eager glow within him from making Potemkin smile drowned out the more sexual urges.

Satisfaction was wonderful.

Pembe leaned back again when he was done, his own smile still practically blinding. "There, how's that? It's not choking you or anything, right?" He'd deliberately tied it on just a touch loose, aiming to avoid Potemkin accidentally ripping the cloth or having it press uncomfortably into his skin.

[papapink]

Pembe tried to be home before the moon came out. He always did. It wasn't that all phases of the moon put the fear of God in him - but he got jumpy even thinking about the full moon, God forbid it actually showed up overhead. He could never properly justify his fear, but he supposed that was why it got the title of 'phobia' rather than 'fear'. Even so, he'd still had to push out his night at the office.

If he'd thought to check, he probably would have, to be honest. Potemkin had sparked nicer feelings in him - ones that made him sometimes forget about the things that could loom in on his mental health.

Of course, he found himself regretting those feelings when he - in a moment of unguarded tiredness and attempting to relax on his way home - leaned back and looked up with a sigh. It loomed overhead - impossible to miss in his view, and it immediately kicked him from relaxed to stressed.

He tore his eyes away, trying to take things slowly as he jogged for home - even though knowing it was out tonight was already doing awful things to his mood. He didn't want to be outside - much less anywhere but curled up in a bed. He fumbled the keys Potemkin had given him as he arrived at the door, low jingling signifying his presence - followed by a few loud jangles as the keys spilled to the floor, three times before he properly went and actually started on putting them in the door.

Once he'd let himself in, his brain tried to decide the most suitable thing to do - and that, it turned out, was locating Potemkin as quickly as he could, jogging through the house to find the bigger man and, looking rather frazzled and haggard, latch onto him for a hug. Clearly, this couldn't go wrong.

[dreadnaughtfist]

Potemkin was already peeking around the corner with a raised brow at the sound of something scrambling at the door like a wild animal (a wild animal with hands that can hold keys). So Potemkin was closer to Pembe, and Pembe closer to Potemkin, than either of them expected. The difference in eye-level meant that Potemkin didn't catch sight of what was running toward him, until Pembe was hugging him in an also chest-height embrace.

Potemkin looked down, a shocked, almost similarly fearful expression on his face. It was fear out of the possibilities of what could have happened to him. It's hard to get a straight look at someone so close to his body, but he squirmed to try.

"Pembe? Is there something wrong?"

[papapink]

Plan "Attempt To Hug Large Comforting Person" had been a rousing success, and Pembe's strong arms double checked that to be sure by slightly squeezing Potemkin's chest. He wasn't being rejected, and that was wonderful all on its own. Not that he'd expected rejection, but the lack still felt good to him. He shifted some himself, not entirely sure how to deal with that question. He was embarrassed about his fear - and even when his brain had taken the back seat, he was reluctant to spill his guts.

He decided the best way to deal with this was to lean back, and try and say something, anything, but the look on Potemkin's face made his mouth go dry. He had expected... well, he didn't know what he'd expected, but the genuine concern on his face was... touching wasn't the right word. But it was all he could really think to apply. His brain told him to be reassuring to the extreme, but the wires crossed because he'd really expected less; he processed that Potemkin was afraid for him, and that suddenly meant a lot.

The fear was heightening his emotions, and some part of him knew that, but the rest of him hadn't gotten the memo. His expression - previously somewhere between stunned and fearful - twisted up, just a bit as the sudden surge of affection overwhelmed him. If he were actually using his brain, he'd have hesitated, but he wasn't, so he pushed himself up onto his toes - arms reaching up and grabbing Potemkin's shoulders as he pressed his lips to Potemkin's. The emotions boiling up in him had no better outlet, and so he let them out the only way he could - in the way he'd wanted to for a long, long time.

Even considering the motivation behind it started with fear, the kiss was still... quite clear about Pembe's feelings. Affection, lust, and honest to god thankfulness that he'd met Potemkin all came into it, from how he touched Potemkin's shoulders to how he held them as he held himself up. It was actually a stretch to manage, not that Pembe minded. If he was being honest with himself, it was actually appealing. While Pembe often gave comfort, he rarely got comforted; the man hardly cared for himself the way he ought to, and Potemkin's presence alone was its own sort of comfort.

He wasn't sure how to break the kiss, and he let it stretch as long as Potemkin allowed it to. The emotional release of the kiss had been its own electric shock to the part of him that actually thought about things, and he looked adorably sheepish - red to his ears - as he pulled back, looking up at Potemkin sheepishly. Whether the bigger man kissed back or not - his mind was racing to try and catch up. From the look on his face, he was going to need a moment.

Still, he managed to say something: "Uh..." He sounded unsure and searching, but he'd just properly distracted himself out of being afraid.

So there was that, at least.

[dreadnaughtfist]

Potemkin was expecting to hear something, and he was bracing himself for it. He could tell that Pembe had come to him for comfort, to be a support and foundation when he was in need of something in world that wouldn't distress him further. Potemkin took that as a duty as important as anything he had staked for his country.

So he's surprised to receive an answer that's entirely nonverbal and physical. It's a hard one to decipher, since he's never been...kissed before. It feels nice, between the softness of Pembe's lips felt on his, the caress across his shoulder (it was so rare for his body to be treated this way, like an object of tenderness), and the emotional release of having a want delivered, a want which he never thought of before but seemed so solid to him now. Potemkin's cheeks warmed up under Pembe's face even during the relatively brief period of the kiss, because apparently his body knew more on how to react than his mind did.

Potemkin mostly just reacted, and only the bare minimum of a reaction, purely as a result of how long he stayed stunned. It's over just as it really registered to him what was going on, and the next thing he knew Pembe was standing in front of him, blushing and shifting on the spot. Potemkin couldn't bear seeing Pembe get crushed by that awkwardness. He pulled him from it with his hands, this time lifting him up, up to his level for a second kiss. And this time he's the one pushing, with his square jaw and thick lips going over both of Pembe's.

[papapink]

The stunned look on Potemkin's face had almost convinced the smaller man to step back and apologize. He was lucky he hesitated - the feeling of Potemkin literally picking him up and bringing him back up for a second kiss was already breathtaking in its own right.

Pembe was used to being Big, and even though he was used to Potemkin's size, he wasn't used to being the object moved by his strength. He felt like a feather, being lifted as he was, and he melted again, arms wrapping around Potemkin's neck as he was kissed. His legs straddled the huge man before him, trying to let Potemkin pull him in as much as the larger man liked as he leaned into the kiss as well, his initial awkwardness melting into passion.

He wasn't sure when to break the kiss - nor did he really want to - and the sheer relief and pleasing shock to the nerves that told him Potemkin was reciprocating was enough to keep him going for hours on its own. He let Potemkin figure out when he was going to break the kiss, and focused on enjoying the ride.

[dreadnaughtfist]

It was bold for Potemkin to scoop up Pembe for a kiss, but the actual movements of his lips were not as brave as what you'd expect to follow. He's comfortable with Pembe, he was beforehand and he was now, but he still moved slowly, only adjusted his mouth gradually and with attention at each step. This was an experimental experience for him, and at the same time he was missing Pembe he was figuring out for the first time what to do, what seemed to work.

He didn't have an idea of when to end the kiss either, but eventually he dropped off, and turned his head into the bowl of his reaching arms. His intense eyes looked up (up, for once, since Pembe is now lifted in his hands and his head above Potemkin's), feeling reminiscent of a begging puppy.

"I don't know how long I've felt this way."

[dreadnaughtfist]

Despite the undeniable change in their relationship, things could somehow continue on as normal. They knew each other well before and after, and Potemkin was not so loud about his private life that his peers could really notice a shift in the steadfast giant when he was on duty. Though he no longer answered as being a single male on forms.

But Potemkin wondered if he should do more, if he had an obligation to change as a person to be the better companion to Pembe. This was his first intimate relationship, if he had an excuse earlier for using exactly the same approaches, his stubbornness no longer had any justification in the face of that which was completely new to him.

His worries came out again when Valentines Day came through. The setting drove him mad, and Potemkin decided that this was the opportunity to prove to himself his ability to adapt, now or never. When Pembe would come home could be hard to predict, but Potemkin was confident in trying. So Potemkin spent the prior hours setting things up, and inside the house he awaited him in shorts and a sporting tanktop - restrained considering the rest of his plans, since those were not out of the ordinary if he had been working out. But Potemkin thought they showed enough of his body even at first glance.

[papapink]

Things could continue on as normal - and did, though Pembe perhaps forced a few changes into both of their lives. (For one thing, he liked to sleep nestled with Potemkin, rather than on the couch.) Pembe never demanded sex from Potemkin - though he was fine with having it, and would try and figure out when Potemkin was in the mood often.

By the time that Valentines Day rolled around, Pembe had settled into his romance with Potemkin. They didn't do as much as he would have liked together, but Pembe knew he was prone to going overboard - so he tried to hold himself back, and not get too overly romantic. He didn't know if his level of extravagance would make Potemkin too happy or not, after all - Potemkin was wonderful in a lot of ways, but Pembe often worried about overwhelming him.

That was why his plans for Valentines Day had been simple - a badge in the style of the more military ones Potemkin had accrued (something Pembe had designed himself: he thought it'd be nice, anyway), the kind of underwear he thought Potemkin would appreciate, and possibly another chance for him to lavish Potemkin with attention.

Pembe was as hard to predict as ever for his return time, but thankfully he was late, rather than early. His officemates had noticed he had an even higher spring in his step than usual, and when they'd asked about his Valentines' plans, hearing him say 'just spending time'... Well, they invented reasons to make sure he wouldn't get home early.

Thank his coworkers in your heart, Potemkin.

But Pembe arrived at their home a little after Potemkin probably would've expected him, opening the door with a faint jingle of keys the click of the lock, and a call of "I'm home!" - and when he stepped in, he hadn't quite processed Potemkin's state of dress yet - though he clearly appreciated the state of dress. He loved seeing Potemkin in his exercise clothes, and he didn't hide that in the least.

To his credit, he did wait to let Potemkin do whatever he seemed to be waiting to do before he started commenting, though.

I'm the person with exams this time :(

[dreadnaughtfist]

Potemkin recognized when his turn was being handed to him, and even took the opportunity to clear his throat before speaking. After a harsh tut-tut, Potemkin leaned over. Normally Potemkin had to bow a certain amount to make eye contact with anyone, but Potemkin bended a lot more than what was needed for that. Potemkin's body was already prone to exaggerated gestures, so his attempts at push his assets toward him didn't stick out as much as it would have.

"Pembe. I've wanted to have your attention."

it's okay i'm in Summer Class Hell

[papapink]

Pembe noticed the exaggeration - as little as it was, it stuck out a bit. What Potemkin said afterwards, of course, also earned a little eyebrow raise. Pembe might've found this arousing or even enticing in another situation, but his tired brain was failing to connect the dots that he was being provided.

"Well, you've got it," He offered, sounding playfully amused. It was such a strange sentence to hear from Potemkin that it'd tipped something off somewhere, but he was still not quite realizing what Potemkin was attempting to do. His words were glowing with good vibes, as usual, especially with the addition of: "Not that you didn't already, big guy."

Same...

[dreadnaughtfist]

Potemkin closed his eyes as a twinge of affection passed through him at Pembe's sweet words. It took some willpower to not just fall over him immediately. It was entirely within his power to reach out and grab him in his arms for a full body embrace, which made it even harder to not do.

But Potemkin persevered, for the sake of the plan. Unsubtly one of Potemkin's massive hands moves to pull down his shirt so that the neckline drooped, showing more of the pecs Potemkin knew Pembe liked so much.

"Well then, I'm aware the time has come to show you how much you mean to me," Potemkin sounded surprisingly steady for how out of place this was for him, but Potemkin never hesitatingly committed himself to anything. "And there's more I have to show you."

YEP also stormblood happened rip

[papapink]

Pembe detected the unsubtle movements to expose those pecs, and while he had to admit that was attractive, the attempts at seduction that came afterward were too adorable for Pembe to not take a moment before chuckling, eyeing Potemkin with pleasant amusement plastered all over his face.

Though he was still tired, two plus two finally did manage to equal four with him, and the dots aligned. His brain registered how adorable Potemkin was - and how cute it was he was trying to seduce him - though, as with some things, Potemkin's presentation could use some work. He chuckled, eyeing Potemkin with a pleasant warmth as he decided what to do with that information.

His first plan had been to simply call Potemkin out on it, but his second formed: why not reverse the tables? Pembe liked the idea - he'd felt Potemkin was more sensitive than he gave himself credit for a while now - and he went for it with a grinning zeal as he slipped back into the situation and out of his little chuckling observations.

"Is there?" Pembe asked, voice playful and seductive as he stepped in, taking advantage of the exposed neckline to slip his hands in and press up against those pecs, gently squeezing them with his fingers. He brought his nose in - as best he could, assuming Potemkin had bent down some to expose his pecs - to touch Potemkin's, eyeing him with zeal as he grinned. "I mean, I'd really like to see." He provided a little teasing kiss, grinning some more as he did. "Won't you show me?"