Hooked [I]

Once again Dimi is finding himself at the bottom of one of the large, expensive bathing tubs in the bathhouse. This time it is in the late afternoon; customers are flooding in and out of the building, but Dimi is hard at work checking up on some seals he has placed at the bottom of the tub.

Unlike the washtubs in the Laundry Rooms, these have to be checked almost daily and if there is even a mild hint at a problem the young maintenance worker has to come in and do a thorough inspection.

In this particular case, a large group of customers were complaining about the tub leaking during their stay. Dimi was the first to come down to the call so he took it upon himself to drain the tub and get to work, even though the water hadn't even been mopped off the floor yet and the tub was still sticky with soapy water.

The sooner this was over the better.

To avoid getting his clothes sudsy, Dimi has stripped off his tank top and hitched his work pants up to his knees so his defined calves are bare. He inspects each seal carefully, his eyes narrowed in focus.

Jomo's bare feet slapping against the smooth stone flooring of the large bathhouse was just another noise to be added to the heard of people that all seemed to be leaving and entering the bathhouse at the same time. He was assigned to one of the tubs on the far end of the hall, one which had been used by a very large group earlier, and as a scrubber it was his job to clean it before the next group that reserved it got there.

He had a bucket filled with brushes of different textures as well as different types of soap in one hand and a large rag in the other. He held them close to his chest as he ran, taking extra precautions not to bump into anyone in the slightest.

By the time he reached the large bath he was slightly out of breath, his tail was swaying back and forth behind him as he caught his breath. He opened the pristine, asian based, sliding doors of the bath and stepped inside.

"Hey! Dimi!!" He grins, his tail now swaying faster. "I was assigned to clean this bath!! Wait.. Is there something wrong with it?" He asks, though happiness still shown in his eyes.

Dimi's head pokes up over the side of the tub and he smirks warmly at the sight of Jomo standing there with his array of brushes. His arms and chest arm glisten against the light from the steam that's been caressing his body as he works, the tub still freshly drained.

"Kinda, they said there was a leak, but I think it was just that goddamn group splash'in around in here. All my seals seem to be alright, but I'll patch 'em up one more time just to keep them at bay... It's gonna take me a lil bit, wanna keep me company?" he asks casually and he looks back down at the seals to keep working on them.

Jomo's eyes linger on Dimi's fit body, which were looking even better than usual due to the coat of moisture over them from the steam. He can feel his cheeks get slightly warm as his tail curls around his waist.

"Oh, yeah." He says, already walking towards the edge of the tub. "Is there anything I can do to help?" He adds innocently, though he knows that he doesn't know nearly as much as Dimi when it comes to this sort of thing. It never hurts to ask, he thought.

"Oh!! Oh. Oh my god, Dimi, something terrible happened yesterday!!" He says with a sudden outburst, his arms already half way above his head. He climbs over the edge of the tub and then hops back to sit on it, his feet hanging inside it but they didn't reach the bottom.

Dimi keeps adding the paste over the seals, getting them nice and closed, taking his time now as he listens to Jomo speak.

"Yeah could you maybe mop up some of that water around the floor there," he gestures with his hand without lifting his head, but when Jomo starts exclaiming about his experience he looks up and makes eye contact with the young man, his brow raised.

"What happened?" he asks, resting his elbows on his knees to get ready for this story, whatever it may be about. A small smirk turns up on his lips as he sees how anxious Jomo is to tell him.

"Okay I'll mop them after I tell you what happened.. Its what I came in here to do after all!" Jomo says grinning. "Well I mean, clean and stuff." He adds quickly, running one hand through his blond hair.

"But anyways.." He leans his head back in thought, biting his bottom lip a bit. When he regains his train of thought, he makes eye contact with Dimi once again. "I was walking down the hall, delivering laundry and stuff, and all the sudden I knock into someone and all these dishes and towels go everywhere!!!" He says, wide eyed and making hand motions like its actually a much bigger deal than it sounds like.

"She was really sweet thought and it was mostly my fault, I always ruin things somehow.. Anyways, we start to clean it but the leader of the bathhouse found us and made us go to his office" He says, his tail swaying behind him again. "We almost got fired.."

"Luckily we weren't though! I feel so bad about it I mean I just really need to watch where I'm going and now whenever I run to go clean something I'm so afraid I'm gonna knock into someone I end up just tripping on myself and falling over!" He says, looking down at his knees to an array of bruises. "I just feel so so so dumb." He says with a sigh, ending his story/ramble.

He puts both his hands over his face, only cracking his fingers to see Dimi.

Dimi's eyes widen slightly as he listens to Jomo talk, especially when he states he almost got fired. He crosses his arms over his broad chest the more the younger man speaks, his brow furrowing with interest; he's actually pretty engaged with what Jomo has to say, and that unto itself is pretty impressive for a guy like Dimi.

"Nah, you're not dumb, accidents happen ya know? Plus that chick was prolly in the same circumstance as you. Shit one of my first days on the job as a furnace feeder I dropped the goddamn shovel on my toe and cut it in half. Wanna see?" he questions with a grin on his lips, he likes telling this story to freak people out.

In reality he freaked himself out much more when it really happened, but it makes for a good story he feels.

Jomos hands move from over his eyes back to his lap. His eyes are full of shock when Dimi says he got his toe sliced on his first day, thankful something like that didn't happen to him on the first day of work.

"Did you really?" He says in awe. "Thats the worst! Yeah I'll look at it." He leaned forward a little, almost falling right into the tub and on Dimi when his fingers slipped. Lucky, although, he catches himself at the last minute. He sighs deeply in relief and smiles nervously at Dimi, knowing that he probably saw just how clumsy he could be first hand.

If Dimi looked close at the younger mans face he would be able to see that his markings were glowing brighter than the last time they saw each other. This was because in the last hour he'd been submerged in water. Sometimes, when he was alone cleaning tubs, he would run the hot water used to clean over himself, not caring that he'd be a damp for almost half the day afterwards.

Dimi flinches and tries to sit up quickly to help Jomo from falling, but he realizes Jomo caught himself and he relaxes himself, letting out a small laugh when he sees they're both okay.

With ease, the contortion Eidolon pulls his leg up so his foot is right in his face, his middle toe on his left foot clearly missing the entire tip. It's healed over, but it looks much shorter than the rest and there is no nail.

The amused smirk stays on Dimi's lips as he looks up at Jomo's eyes, noticing how bright his scales are... Wondering if that's the same as blushing for him.

But why the hell would his nasty half toe make someone as cute as Jomo blush?

"Pretty sick huh?" he questions, giving his nub a wiggle.

Jomo moves his glance from Dimi to his toe and back, his eyes wide. He'd been through his fair share of pain throughout his life but he still hated to think about people getting hurt, even self inflicted.

"Its like a little baby toe." He says, looking at the size difference between it and the others. "Its good that it only got this one!!" He said with his index finger pointing at the smaller toe, and even though he was talking about such an undesirable thing, his smile was still charming.

"I've never really had anything cut off me, like a toe or a finger or anything like that.. Its scary to think about." He shakes his head back and forth before his eyes meet with Dimi's again. His tail is wrapped back around his waist.

Dimi places his foot back down in the tub, laughter escaping his lips at Jomo's innocent words. How could one person be so endearing all at once like this? Jomo must be using magic or something he thinks to himself.

"It sucks ass when it does happen," he says calmly, looking back down at the seal to keep patching it, the smirk never faltering, "For a second it's all just surreal, you see a part of you, or someth'in that was part of you just roll across the floor. It doesn't hurt at first, but then it hits you like a ton 'a bricks, just a lotta fuck'in pain."

Dimi looks back up at Jomo with a half smile,

"But don't worry kiddo I won't let noth'in like that happen to you," he speaks this warmly and offers Jomo a wink since he knows Jomo will be the only one who's able to see this. He is quick to look back down at his work however, to try and cover for the hint he just gave his adorable friend.

Jomo knew all too well that pain faltered before coming and slapping you in the face like the cold on a winter morning. He'd been used to it, in fact. When he was locked it up after the death of the only family he had, which was his fault in the first place, he had thought he deserved it. He had thought this was gods way of punishing him, if there was even a god.

He says nothing about that though.

But when he hears Dimis sweet, deep voice and the words that slide out of them he feels a warmth spread over his heart. The wink was the cherry on top of the sunday, though, and just like ice cream melts under hot chocolate, he melted under Dimi.

"I won't let anything like that happen to you either..." He says quietly, his cheeks red and his ears fluttering. "I mean, again." A smile spreads across his lips at the last part.

Dimi smirks warmly in reply to Jomo's promise and he waves his hand in a casual dismissive fashion, turning his face to the side and down to look the other way,

"I'm a maintenance worker man, that's a promise I know you can't keep... But thanks for the thought," he offers Jomo another smile and then leans back in to wipe off the excess seal from the crack he was working on.

"...So uh... I couldn't help but notice your scales got some kinda shine on 'em today," he says in a steady tone, the muscles in his arms flexing slightly as he presses more seal into another crack, a crack so small it seems pointless to fill, but he does it regardless.

Jomo's face turns a shade darker of red when Dimi asks about his scales.

He noticed. Oh, how such a small thing could make him so happy.. And he didn't know why.

"Yeah," He moves his fingers to touch the vibrant purple dots around his eyes. "I sometimes um... Don't laugh okay? Its just sometimes I like to run the hot water over me, like, the ones to fill up the baths and to clean and stuff, but I dunno it just feels really nice and warm and I really like water and some mornings I don't really get to swim and if I don't I get kinda shaky and all that waters just right there so I didn't think anyone would notice if I looked a little damp sometimes after cleaning because I mean, I am a scrubber and--" He continues while making a variation of hand motions.

He takes a deep breath, suddenly realizing that he was rambling. His face becomes about as red as a beet and his ears start to flutter out of embarrassment. He quickly gets up from his seat on the side of the tub and scurries to one of the closets inside the room, which contained a mop. He hurries back over and starts to sop up the water that Dimi mentioned earlier, trying to make up somehow for talking so much.

"Sorry.." He says with a deep sigh.

Dimi grins huge to stifle back his laughter, and after Jomo finishes and runs back to the storage room he has to bite down on his lip to keep from bursting out laughing. This little guy, this little scrubber is making Dimi feel more humored and happy than he has in a very, very long time.

This leaves Dimi feeling very conflicted... Parts of him recall experiences that leave a bitter taste in his mouth, when he lost his virginity, the sights he saw in the ghettos of people being persecuted for things they couldn't help. Being around Jomo is like feeling his entire body grow warm with admiration and attraction.

The downside is that Dimi is laying atop ice.

"Jomo, you know you don't gotta apologize. I like the way you talk and the way your ear...er... Fins do that flipping thing. It's cool and you should be proud of those quirks ya know? If people don't like it than that's their fuck'in problem because I think it's great," he states this all in a no-sass-attitude, completely serious, but his tone is warm.

He would really like Jomo to feel completely comfortable around him.

Jomo keeps his eyes on the soapy water that glassed the surface around the large bathtub as Dimi spoke. His words meant more to Jomo than he could have realized, hot honey seemed to be melting over his heart and dripping down into his stomach.

As he looked up to meet Dimi's eyes and is at a loss for words for a few moments. He'd never been treated so kindly like this by anyone but his deceased immediate family or the woman that saved his life.. All much older than him... All people he would never have a relationship with beyond family. Dimi, however... Maybe there was something more to gain with Dimi.

"I..." He starts breathlessly. "Thank you so much Dimi.. I just.." He runs a hand quickly through his hair, bitting his bottom lip a little. "You're so nice to me and just thank you for that and.." His words were lost in a mumble.

He takes a couple steps forward, and then backwards again. He wanted some way to thank Dimi more.. And he had an overwhelming urge to embrace him. Though, he wasn't sure if he should act on it.

Dimi runs his hand back through his hair, his lips pouted slightly, but his brow is relaxed and calm like the rest of him. He makes quick, slight glances at Jomo as he gets closer, but he himself doesn't move from his sitting position in the tub.

"...Hey don't worry about it," he says calmly before Jomo can finish what he was saying, "I'm just say'in what's been on my mind for awhile. You're a cool guy kiddo, just accept it." He lets out a soft laugh and gives Jomo a genuine smile.

"Now keep mopp'in the floor, I won't want you to get in trouble or noth'in," he orders casually, knowing it will distract Jomo from these conflicted feelings that are plastered all over his blushy face.

God, Jomo was such a mess when he talked to Dimi. Whenever he was around him, even though they hadn't met until a while ago, his words spilt out of his mouth like a broken faucet. And oh, he knew it. Mostly his face was red from embarrassment now, how was it that every time he was around Dimi he always ended up making himself look weird. Why couldn't he have finished his sentence at least?

"Oh, yeah." Jomo says, straightening up a little and getting a firmer grip on the mop. "But anyways.. Hows your day been?" He asks, realizing he'd hadn't yet.

There was no use dwelling on it, maybe he didn't even sound that strange thanking him to begin with? Jomo's tail wrapped around his waist, the tip of it tapping the side of his stomach. He started to mop the floor, though, he didn't mind too much. Mopping wasn't one of his least favorite jobs during the day.

Dimi's smirk grows on the right corner of his face like a clean brushstroke on smooth, tanned paper. The flustered little looks his crush provides, how smooth it makes Dimi feel, yet at the same time there is a tinge of shame in his stomach. Just a tinge though, being alone in this room with Jomo masks the majority of shameful feelings Dimi would be overwhelmed with if they were in a more public area. The young man lets out a short laugh, a grunt really and cracks his neck.

"I think it's real funny how you ask me that, you don't gotta make small talk with me you know... Day in the life of a maintenance worker is pretty just the same day over 'n over again... With the exception that you sometimes see funny lil scrubbers runn'in around from time to time. Other than that my day pretty much sucked ass," he speaks flatly, but there is a smile on his lips.

"What about you? Besides the accident?" he questions, his eyes following the movements of Jomo's tail against his tummy. Dimi's finished up the majority of his patchwork, but he sees no harm in hanging around Jomo while it drys. He faces the younger Eidolon, his crossed arms over his bent knees.

Jomo finished up mopping up all of the water and rang the mop out into a water bucket, tilting his head back a bit not wanting to get dirty water on his face. Where the water touches his arm there seems to be just a tint of blue, barely noticeable unless you were looking for it.

"I know I just think its good to ask stuff like that, and plus I actually care how your day was." He flashes Dimi a charming smile while moving towards the cabinet again to put the mop and water bucket away. "Its been the same for me though, I'm starting to get used to the work!!" He shuts the cabinet doors and turns back to the broader Eidolon with the same smile on his face, his eyes bright.

"You'd be surprised how many dirty clothes this place has, or I guess not because you've worked here for so long but.. Theres just so many people!! It makes it seem like it never ends and I'll always be doing laundry.. But I guess thats true too cause this is my job." A puzzled expression shows on his face, realizing he probably sounded really dumb by saying that.

"Its probably the same for you with pipes though." He smiles again and his tail loosens and tightens around his stomach, which was above his clothes but still managed to pull up his shirt a bit, though its completely unintentional and would look normal if he were walking around like that.

Dimi can't help but bow his head momentarily to hide a a smirk that's just wide enough to constitute as a smile when he hears Jomo say that he cares about his day. That... That was a first. The simple contortion Eidolon has an overwhelming urge to thrust his head up and cut in, saying he cares about Jomo's day too. Just that, just that he cares about it because it's true, but to hear someone you pine to be close with utter those words is almost like hearing them say 'I care about you as a person above billions of other faces, even if it's just a little bit'. No one's ever cared about Dimi like that.

In his moment of absent mind, his thoughts still hanging onto Jomo's savory words, Dimi's eyes glaze over just slightly, but they perk back up to pay attention once his company shuts the cupboard doors. He smirks and nods his head understandingly as Jomo tells him about the mountains of dirty clothes at the bathhouse and he truly believes it, workers and guests here can be filthy... Dimi being a prime example of this. He chuckles at Jomo's little absentminded statement and speaks,

"Nah, I believe ya. Most of all those clothes you wash are probably mine anyway... Funny to think you've probably washed my stuff before." He scratches the back of his scruffy hair and takes a moment to think about every goddamn busted pipe he's had to fix in his career. Countless.

"Yeah, it's exactly the same with me 'n pipes. Every goddamn day it's another pip burst'in or freeze'in over or some idiot asshole got drunk 'n decided he wanted to try 'n fuck the steam pipe," he turns away slightly and sneers, but his eye darts back over to look at Jomo and he offers him a half smile.

Jomo trots over to the edge of the tub and sits near Dimi, figuring he'd wait until he was done here as well before moving to his next job. No ones going to notice one young worker missing, right? Though, this probably wasn't a good idea especially because he'd almost gotten fired just recently. Spending time with Dimi seems more appealing than going to the next bath and cleaning the grime from the cracks that never seem to lose their grayish tint so he decides to stick around.

"Oooh yeah I might have!! I didn't even think about that.." He leans his head back a bit in thought. He's washed enough loads already to where he doesn't doubt that he actually has washed Dimi's clothes at some point. Hes seen some strange things go through the wash... It surprised him to see some of the things people wore in the city, especially wealthy people.

Jomo looks back suddenly when Dimi mentions someone trying to fuck a steam pipe with a painful expression on his face. In his first week working he would see the steam spew out of the pipes sometimes, and was even curious enough to try to touch it at some point and managed to give himself a small burn surprisingly, though it healed pretty quickly.

"Thats so horrible wouldn't that hurt??" He says with a worried expression on his face. "Even when you're drunk.. Wow... I can't imagine!" He'd never been drunk before so he wasnt completely sure what your thought process was when drinking is but he knew it tended to make people do things they regret. He moves his legs instinctively together thinking of how painful it would be.

Dimi's green eyes follow the short journey Jomo's emotions go on as he listens and responds to the information placed before him. He drinks in the look of wonder on his face, it makes him look like a young adult plagued with the curiosity of a child and for Dimi that sense of wonder and innocence is something he is so firmly envious of he's attracted to it. He missed that in his own life, that stage to just ponder about the average experience, his life was harder than that. But to see Jomo living that right now as a near adult... It fascinates Dimi much more than he'll ever want to admit.

"Damn straight it would hurt... Guy was lucky though, that particular pipe wasn't due to run until five minutes after I unstuck his sorry ass," he says with a mischievous grin, "Teaches ya a lesson not to put your junk in someth'in you know is gonna just burn ya in the end." He smirks once more, but oddly enough there's a hint of what appears to be shame in his expression. He's quick to shake it off though... He won't subject Jomo to that.

"So you don't got many tubs to clean I suppose?" he questions once he realizes neither of them are working much.

Jomo leans his head back with the same puzzled expression, continuing to wonder why someone would do something like that. At least Dimi got them out of that though, thankfully.. He looks back to Dimi when he speaks and nods his head a bit, agreeing with him.

His cheeks tint pink when Dimi brings up work, knowing he has a few more tubs to scrub down before the end of the day.. Talking to Dimi was so much better than that though and he felt reluctant to move on when he was here.

"I have one or two more but I just like talking to you I guess.." His cheeks become darker. "I mean I could move on now if you wanted me to and I still have more time I think!! I don't mind working that late because it makes sleeping so much better and sometimes I can swim before. I don't know--" He wiggles his body next to the broader ediolon, realizing hes rambling and quickly shutting his mouth.

"You said not to apologize but I know I talk a lot.. " He looks up at him embarrassed, his tail swishing behind him now.

Jomo would be able to see a clear reluctance behind Dimi's eyes as well when it came to the subject of work. Honestly, the contortion Eidolon would rather get to know Jomo better... Not that he'd say that aloud to anyone besides his new friend. He smirks at the dusk of rosy blush spread across Jomo's cheeks and takes in his words with casual attentiveness.

"Nah don't sweat it kid. I like hang'in out just as much as the next guy," he waves his hand dismissively at Jomo's offer to leave as he speaks. Dimi's green eyes then flicker with a thought and his smirk spreads slightly wider across his tanned face.

"How about a happy median?" he questions, but then speaks before Jomo can reply, "Get your work done early and clock out. I'm on call whenever they need me, but there's usually a gap between the end of the night shift and the early morning shift. If you wanna, I'd be game to go out to the city 'n just walk around, take a dip or whatever. It'd be like, two in the morning though. Can ya handle that?"

Part of Dimi is ready for Jomo to say no, that it's too risky or whatever. But the other slightly more optimistic part, the part that even mustered up the courage to suggest this to Jomo, is hanging onto the idea that he may say yes. Hopefully.