[He waits far longer than he had intended to. At the first sight of humans finding his, uh. The man he rescued.
At the first sight of humans finding the man he rescued, Gepard dips underwater, but, well, he should watch the whole rescue because what's the point in rescuing a man if he doesn't confirm he's safe? So, he bobs back up ever so slightly, just in time to see Sampo get wrapped in a coat and carried off as humans said things he couldn't quite catch from out in the ocean. He can just hear the hint of noise. He waits until they're out of view, and then, satisfied in a job well done, Gepard dives underwater again and proceeds to ignore any feelings of being lonely.
...it's strange how incidental encounters can make someone feel strangely lonely. And curious. And want to know more. But he is a merman, and Sampo a human, and they never should have met, and what little time they had was enough, and so Gepard catches and eats a blackfish in contemplative silence and then goes back home.
No one questions where he's been. He's always been a good soldier. At worst, Dunn asks, "Where have you been?" (Paraphrased.) And Gepard says, "I ate a blackfish." (Extremely paraphrased.) And Dunn says, "Oh shit, it's that time of year? I gotta catch me a couple, thanks for the reminder." (Also still paraphrased.)
His sister, Serval, just gives him a sidelong look and passes him the seaweed, and Gepard doesn't know if he's glad she doesn't ask further questions or extremely wary. But even he knows she wouldn't guess what it was he actually had done, because there's a difference between going up to the human settlement...
...technically forbidden, but everyone knew everyone else had done it at least once, even golden children who were upheld as paragons of merfolk...
...and talking to a human at length.
Gepard returns to the beach three times, kind of. The first two times he bobs in the waters, ready to slip under at a moment's notice, but no one comes close enough for him to have to flee. He sees no one, and no one sees him.
The third time, he impulsively, recklessly, stupidly leaves a seashell where he and Sampo had talked. It's a nice seashell. Blue. Small. Easily missed. He tells himself that the tides will drag it back out again, or people will assume it just was there and has no significance, or someone who isn't his The Man He Rescued (somehow, Sampo had picked up capital letters along the way) will pick it up and wonder about the beauty of nature. It's hardly unique to merfolk - Gepard's definitely not reckless enough to pull off a few of his scales and leave them there as treasures. Even if his The Man He Rescued finds the shell, he might not even care. After all, a dream is just a dream, and mermen don't really exist. Right?
When he gets home, his sister nudges him with her tail and says she loves their music too, and Gepard awkwardly laughs, not sure if she's giving him an out and saw through him, or if she doesn't actually know what it was he was doing. And if she had seen through him, he wishes she'd tell him what he's doing, because he really doesn't know.]
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2024-09-25 03:37 pm (UTC)At the first sight of humans finding the man he rescued, Gepard dips underwater, but, well, he should watch the whole rescue because what's the point in rescuing a man if he doesn't confirm he's safe? So, he bobs back up ever so slightly, just in time to see Sampo get wrapped in a coat and carried off as humans said things he couldn't quite catch from out in the ocean. He can just hear the hint of noise. He waits until they're out of view, and then, satisfied in a job well done, Gepard dives underwater again and proceeds to ignore any feelings of being lonely.
...it's strange how incidental encounters can make someone feel strangely lonely. And curious. And want to know more. But he is a merman, and Sampo a human, and they never should have met, and what little time they had was enough, and so Gepard catches and eats a blackfish in contemplative silence and then goes back home.
No one questions where he's been. He's always been a good soldier. At worst, Dunn asks, "Where have you been?" (Paraphrased.) And Gepard says, "I ate a blackfish." (Extremely paraphrased.) And Dunn says, "Oh shit, it's that time of year? I gotta catch me a couple, thanks for the reminder." (Also still paraphrased.)
His sister, Serval, just gives him a sidelong look and passes him the seaweed, and Gepard doesn't know if he's glad she doesn't ask further questions or extremely wary. But even he knows she wouldn't guess what it was he actually had done, because there's a difference between going up to the human settlement...
...technically forbidden, but everyone knew everyone else had done it at least once, even golden children who were upheld as paragons of merfolk...
...and talking to a human at length.
Gepard returns to the beach three times, kind of. The first two times he bobs in the waters, ready to slip under at a moment's notice, but no one comes close enough for him to have to flee. He sees no one, and no one sees him.
The third time, he impulsively, recklessly, stupidly leaves a seashell where he and Sampo had talked. It's a nice seashell. Blue. Small. Easily missed. He tells himself that the tides will drag it back out again, or people will assume it just was there and has no significance, or someone who isn't his The Man He Rescued (somehow, Sampo had picked up capital letters along the way) will pick it up and wonder about the beauty of nature. It's hardly unique to merfolk - Gepard's definitely not reckless enough to pull off a few of his scales and leave them there as treasures. Even if his The Man He Rescued finds the shell, he might not even care. After all, a dream is just a dream, and mermen don't really exist. Right?
When he gets home, his sister nudges him with her tail and says she loves their music too, and Gepard awkwardly laughs, not sure if she's giving him an out and saw through him, or if she doesn't actually know what it was he was doing. And if she had seen through him, he wishes she'd tell him what he's doing, because he really doesn't know.]