[That is the entirely wrong part of his sentence to latch onto, and Gepard regrets not throwing enough kelp at Sampo to knock his human into the water and then he'd probably dunk him into the water repeatedly or something along those lines, he hadn't thought too hard about the finer details of what he'd do if he got him in arm's reach.]
That isn't the important part.
[Can't even fucking deny it, although he'll pretend like he did for the sake of the conversation.]
The important part is that you clearly are an idiot. My idiot, evidently. [This isn't said as a pet name, more like tired, tired resignation as Gepard has a vision of a possible future and it is this: Sampo jumping into the ocean and him having to fish him out and bring him back to shore. It's like feeding a seal and suddenly discovering the seal is following you around. It's like that.]
As by the sounds of it, you'd contrive events so that you'd drown if I didn't show up - again. If I knew how much work you'd be, I'd have left the second I threw your body on the sand.
[His idiot. Careful, Gepard, pretty soon it'll be my idiot (affectionate), and you won't know how you got there. Like boiling a frog, small incremental changes until you're boiling in your own stupid affection for a dumbass.]
Is that how all of this works? If I throw myself in the ocean, will you be there to catch me?
[How romantic! And very practical, if he ever takes another ocean voyage, it would be great to know that he's got an on-call rescue. Instant rescue, just add water.]
[And, as though to really prove that he's Gepard's idiot, Sampo gets onto his knees and leans out over the dock, far enough to be precarious. If he throws himself into the water, Gepard, will you catch him? Will you wrap your manly arms around him and bring him back to shore?]
[His fins are fluttering, agitated, and Gepard's shifting in the water, angling himself better on the off chance Sampo throws himself off of the dock and needs to be caught in some manly arms and be brought back to shore. Gepard knows that he should just dive underwater and leave. Maybe splash Sampo in the face as he goes. Make it clear that no, absolutely not. This far, no further. He saved him once, and only once, and he's not someone who Sampo should, could count on for a rescue.
But also...
...also, he doesn't want to leave, and maybe catching Sampo in his manly arms and taking him gently back to shore does sound nice, actually- even if he shouldn't, and they shouldn't, and he should confess his crimes when he gets home and let them jail him. (But if he does that, something might happen to Sampo.)]
The ocean is a large place. There's no way I can promise to be there all the time. Get back on the dock before someone sees you and wonders what you're doing.
[For all his protestations, Gepard moves in the dark water so that he's just in the right spot to catch him if Sampo did decide to throw himself into the ocean. It's sweet, really, that he really is willing to rescue Sampo even if he says that he won't, even if it would potentially put himself in danger. What a dutiful merman! A real catch, you could say.]
[He sits back on his heels, away from the edge. Calm down, fishman, he won't yeet himself to his death just yet.]
You won't follow me wherever I go? Ah, I suppose I can't ask for that kind of devotion just yet! [Sampo what are you talking about.] Maybe I'll have to follow you. Let me think about it.
[Gepard won't have to turn himself over to the merfolk guard for talking to a human if that human doesn't exist anymore, would he? He'd look silly, trying to turn himself in for talking to a human when that human as a fish tail just like him.]
You can only do that if you drown, and the point of all of this is to keep you alive.
[He flicks up his tail, flicks a bit of water in Sampo's way...not too much, mere droplets, just the implication of a threat. He can - and will - splash him, he won't hesitate, bitch.]
Now, I really do have to go. I don't know when I can see you again.
[...but, ah, this is his idiot, and he's got a responsibility towards his idiot and he hesitated- hesitating was a mistake. He hesitated on the beach, and he's hesitating now. Gepard's voice softens ever so slightly-]
I'll leave a sign so you know I've found your cove.
[Is that the only way he could do it, Gepard? Is it, when you swam all the way up here to bring him a trinket that supposedly once belonged to a woman who decided to live in the sea?]
[Gepard splashes him with his tail, but it's just a few little droplets-- a threat, rather than a real soaking. Sampo just laughs and wipes the water off of his face.]
I'll be waiting! [They've got their secret meeting place, and that makes this whole thing a new level of exciting. And romantic, even though Gepard probably isn't aware that he's genre-switched into a rom-com. But Sampo's already made up his mind about reverse little-mermaiding himself, and any progress that he makes towards that goal is good progress.]
And be careful! We don't want you getting into trouble, do we?
[It would be a real downer if his merman beau got caught by the fishman police before he could get his happy ending.]
[Blissfully unaware that he's entering a rom-com, not suspecting at all that he's dealing with a madman who'd grow gills, and stubbornly ignoring the little thrill he felt as his human laughed as well as the warm feeling he felt as Sampo promised to wait for him, Gepard just nods.]
You as well.
[...and he should say more, but he doesn't know what to say, so he just...
Dives back into the water and swims away, off to find something suitably pretty to use as a sign that he found the right cove. Some shells, maybe some coral, maybe some shipwrecked coins or...
("Wow," Dunn later said, extremely paraphrased, after asking where Gepard had been, "You sure do love that blackfish."
[Well, there he goes. That sleek body disappears beneath the water, and Sampo can only sit on the dock for a little while and watch the gently lapping waves where he had gone.]
Okay. [He says it to no one but himself and, maybe, the cold, uncaring ocean.] You can't just sit here, Sampo, you've got a lot of work to do! You won't make any progress if you don't get a move on.
[He stands, stretches out the kinks in his limbs, and turns to head back into town. He's got a lot of work to do, trying to find a witch that could turn a man into merfolk, and correspondence off of the island is slow when everything has to go by boat. With the trinket that Gepard gave him, though, he has an addition line of inquiry to go down, which might bear fruit.]
[In addition to all of his letters and inquiries, and a little light smuggling on the side for spending cash, he checks the cove regularly for signs that Gepard has been there. Something out of place, maybe another little ocean gift left for him that wasn't there before-- anything that might indicate that he really did find the place and came to visit.]
[Each time, he leaves a message in a bottle, set close enough to the water's edge that Gepard would be able to reach it easily, and telling him when he was planning to come down to the cove again. Maybe he might show up at the same time, if he wanted to talk.]
[Now, he'd managed to find the right cove, he...assumed, and left some pretty shells about so that Sampo would know that he found the right one. And Gepard fretted that he had found the wrong cove, up until he saw a bottle that had something inside of it, paper, and he went ah! Ah. His idiot had left that for him.
The first note was promptly ruined by Gepard's too soggy hands as he tried to fish it out of the bottle. Drenched clean through. As was the second.
By the fourth, he had managed to figure out a way to dry his hands enough that he could pull out the note just enough to see what was on the paper and that was when Gepard had to accept that he actually- he-
He couldn't read. At least, not enough to-
Look.
Gepard knows some letters! Mostly stuff that had survived on statues which had sunk beneath the waves. And could kind of sound out some things! He gets that it's something to do with when Sampo was going to show up, he sees time and he sees numbers, which brings up the next problem which is just how, exactly, do humans tell time?
And Gepard knows that he's fucking things up when this keeps on happening. He shows up and no one's there. He shows up and there's a new note, or an empty bottle, or-
After a couple of weeks this is the point in which Gepard finds an excuse, goes to the fucking cove, and waits for however long until his idiot shows up because this is ridiculous, it's been far too long, they need to figure this shit out better, he needs to know how humans tell time. They need a system.]
[The first week or so, Sampo just figured that Gepard was probably busy-- and there were still little things being left for him, that must mean that his grumpy merman hadn't forgotten about him! But he wasn't actually showing up when Sampo said he'd be there. There's only so many times that Sampo could convince himself that it's just because Gepard's a busy merman, it gets a little disheartening when your aquatic boo can't manage a meetup.]
[He was starting to reconsider the whole message in a bottle thing. Maybe he was having a hard time getting to the messages? It's just hard to put something down in the cove without it getting wet, and wet paper doesn't last very long...]
[He comes down one evening both to check for any signs of Gepard and to pick up some packs of medical supplies that he'd smuggled in for Natasha. Since the cove had eroded away part of the cliff wall, there was a sheltered spot inside that was only accessible without swimming at low tide, but had enough space inside even when the tide came in again to store a small cache of goods without it all getting wet. The good doc'd wanted him to deliver her shipment tonight, so now's as good a time as any to bring them back up again.]
[When he arrives at the cove, everything looks normal. The water is calm, since it's well sheltered from the rest of the ocean, and with the tide out, the beach is covered in tide pools that have crabs and clams and all sorts of little fishes swimming around inside. It's kind of a nice place, or would be if Sampo wasn't continually disappointed by a lack of merman every time he went there.]
[He stands at the edge of the surf and looks out across the water, kind of halfheartedly looking for a blond head that he doesn't expect to find.]
Ah, I really need to try something else. [He's talking to himself. It's not like there's anyone else to hear him but the crabs and the gulls, right?] All this disappointment is bad for my heart.
[Now, he'd been determined to wait things out. To be strong! Endure, to yell at his idiot for coming up with a system that involved paper in bottles, and maybe to get some basic literacy lessons. His sister can read, he's just...he can't exactly say, "Hey sis, I'm meeting a forbidden human, but I have no idea of when I'm supposed to be there, help?" (The worst part is that he's not exactly sure she'd be opposed to it, but...well.)
So Gepard waited. And he waited. And then the air was warm and the day slow, and he decided to take a nap because, well, he hadn't been sleeping well what with all of the deceit, having to constantly lie about where he's going and what he's doing, trying to actually do his regular duties-
Anyway, point being, on this day off he fell asleep.
So there he is, gently snoring in a tide pool when he hears a voice and jerks awake-]
You're-
[There he is!]
You're here-
[Wait why is he in a tide pool, where did all of the water go, is he stuck? He's stu- he can't be stuck. This is the stupidest way to confront his idiot about their meet-up system. And sure, he's not going to die, unless a betrayal happens in the next few minutes, but he feels all...raw and dry and sensitive and- how is he supposed to act like he just got here when-
[That sounds like Gepard! Sampo follows the sound of his voice around a rock, and... yup, there he is, sprawled in one of the shallow tide pools. But that's not nearly deep enough for a whole merman, there are parts of him that are out of the water and look a little irritated from all the sun and air exposure.]
How did you get all the way up here? [The waterline is a good fifteen feet down the beach. It would be really difficult for Gepard to drag himself all the way just to hang around in a tide pool and get crawled on by crabs.] You look like you're drying out!
[He wades into the tide pool after him, little fishes darting out of the way as he moves through the water. It only comes up to a little over his knees, definitely not enough water for Gepard.]
Come on, let me carry you down to the water! It's going to be hours 'til the tide comes back in again. How long have you even been sitting here?
[It's cool, it's fine, it's not as if Gepard's being forced to confront the fact that he might kind of like a human too much if he waited for so long he ended up stuck in a tide pool, drying out and utterly miserable, and if someone who wasn't Sampo had shown up things might have taken a turn for the worse. Breathe in, out, in, out, he's reaching for Sampo like-
Like. He's reaching for Sampo like. If Sampo takes him in his arms he is absolutely going to curl up and hug him like-
Like like. Like that.]
I don't know. I fell asleep. [Obviously. Don't ask why he was there for so long that he decided to fall asleep.]
[Sampo does take him in his arms, of course he does-- what's he going to do, leave Gepard in this little tide pool to be miserable until the water comes back in? Or for someone else to find him and do who knows what to him?]
[Gepard is heavy, and his tail is so long that it's going to drag in the sand no matter what Sampo does, but he gathers the merman into his arms and starts wading his way out of the tide pool again. It's difficult-- the sand shifts under his feet and the rocky parts of the beach are slick and treacherous, but he's got precious cargo. That merits caution, so he goes slow and makes sure that he doesn't do something awful, like drop Gepard.]
You're lucky I decided to come down today! [He makes it the fifteen or so feet down to where the waterline is, and starts wading his way out into the deeper water. How long can merfolk last in shallow water without getting hurt? Is he injured, does he need medical attention?] You would've really been uncomfortable for a while. Did you get sunburned? I know a doctor, she might have something that'll make you feel better.
[He keeps going until he's in the water up to his waist, ignoring how cold it is in favor of getting Gepard somewhere that he can actually survive.]
Here we go, this should be better. [Down into the water you go, cute blond fishman.] Are you going to be okay?
[He's curled up as best as he can in Sampo's arms, which is to say...not very, he's a very long fish. Gepard knows this. But he tries. He keeps his eyes closed, breathing him in - in, out, in, out, in again - because this might be the point in which he's forced to really fucking realize some things he didn't want to realize, mainly about himself, some of them about Sampo, some of them about the both of them.
Sampo says he's lucky he decided to come down that day, and Gepard smiles, smothered against fabric and flesh and whatever else. Sampo asks questions. Is he fine? Was he sunburned?
Will he be okay? Gepard feels the cool touch of water and that's when he opens his eyes and forces himself to relax. He doesn't know if he's safe or not. That's not the worst part. The worst part is that despite not knowing if he's safe or not, that he feels safe in defiance of it all.
Sampo lowers him into the water.]
I- [He flexes his tail and winces.] Should be fine. [Eventually.] I told my family- my sisters I'd be gone for a few days. [Please don't ask why he took a few days vacation and promptly camped out in the cove.
And then Gepard yields to inevitability, because he feels...sore, crusty, raw in places. Not at all how he expected to meet his idiot again. He flexes his tail again and it feels better, but not good. Could he push himself? He could. He could probably swim back home. Should he?]
It seems that I'll probably be spending most of that time in here.
[When Gepard moves his tail, it looks stiff and uncomfortable, like it hurts when he does it. That would make it really difficult for him, he needs that tail to really get anywhere. At least he's here in the cove, where it's sheltered; nothing big really gets in, so he won't be menaced by any sharks or anything. But Sampo also doesn't know how much he needs to eat, too. Would he be able to live for a few days off of the small things that lived in these waters?]
[This is terrible. He didn't want his merman crush to come here and get injured, he'd picked this place because it had looked safe and secure!]
Why did you come in so early? I left a note, it said that I wouldn't be around until evening. [If the water had been high enough that Gepard could swim up the beach and get stranded in a tide pool, he might have been there hours in advance. Way too early for even someone who wanted to be prudent.] Did something happen to it? Did the bottle break? I know glass is kind of fragile, but it's good for keeping the paper from getting all wet.
[Maybe he could find a metal container? That would be stronger, it wouldn't break if it fell over or something.]
[Oh wow, now comes the embarrassing part, somehow this is worse than being carried in his idiot's manly arms into the water, what the heck, what the fuck. He came here to say, "I'm having problems reading what the hell you're trying to tell me, we need a better plan." And now here they are.
He stalls for time, of course. His tail roughly brushes against Sampo's legs, just, back and forth.]
I had problems understanding your notes. [Well, there it is.] We use pictographs? [He's going for it, just, admiring Sampo's not-his-face, some part of him that's not his face, explaining.] And I'm also rather...damp, so I ruined quite a few notes before I figured out a way to dry my hands with sand well enough to get them out of the bottle. [Yep.] And not to mention, if I'm deep enough I can't see the sun so I don't know what time it is if we work off of that. [Yeah. Yeah, he's starting to feel much less like a mystical legend of the ocean, mysterious and powerful, and more like a really dumb dude.]
Change of subject for a moment- [Enough about that.] We can get back to telling time in a second, but do you have anything like...fishing nets? We like to use those to make our hammocks, but as that requires stealing from a human we usually make do with kelp and weeds- it's more traditional, but the fishing nets are far better for our purposes.
[So Sampo hadn't really felt like Gepard's idiot up until this point, because he was worried about the paper getting wet but somehow completely forgot that Gepard is also wet. That's. That's a big thing to overlook, he gave paper to a fish and expected there to not be any problems? Is he stupid? Did he actually get brain damage from that hypothermia?]
Oh.
[Yeah, he's feeling Big Dumb right now. He doesn't know how deep merfolk live, but apparently deep enough to not be able to see the sun, so that also makes sense for the whole telling time thing. Maybe merfolk have a different way that they determine time? Something that works that far underwater? Why didn't he consider the possibility that they live too deep to see the sun, he knows that they try to avoid humans.]
[Gepard mercifully changes the subject before Sampo's ego can take an absolute pummeling.]
Fishing nets? Oh! Yeah, there are a ton of them up in Boulder Town. People fish all the time.
[It's like, half the economy of this place, technically. Island people do a lot of fishing, even in cold and turbulent waters.]
I have to run some things back up to my doctor friend, so I could get some nets for you if you'll be okay for a little while? I can run back up to town and be back in a little over an hour, maybe?
[He'd be hustling, but, y'know, he's got motivation. His aquatic boo is going to hang around for a while, this is basically like hosting a friend and not having blankets for them.]
Please, don't rush on my account. [He doesn't know human speeds but that seems fast? Not excessively so, but definitely hustling speed for people. Gepard's not a legs expert, he doesn't understand the ground in the same way a human does, but he's seen people rushing about and he's got an idea of how fast a person generally goes.
But it's nice. It's exciting. Sure, he's breaking so many laws at the moment, and, sure, he wishes it was under different circumstances like not hurting his tail like an idiot. But a sleepover with his, uh. Friend? Really nice. Very exciting.]
I wouldn't want you to hurt your legs after I- well, hurt my tail, like you slip and fall and then where would we be? And if you draw too much attention from hurrying, someone might find this place and we'd have to find somewhere else to meet.
[ :c And what would they do then! How many coves are there on this island? This should not be his priority! He's already breaking a lot of laws, why is he gearing up to break more, Sampo Koski is a bad influence. Truly terrible. What is this. From an innocent, law abiding merman to whatever he is now.]
Are you worried about little ol’ Sampo? [He puts a hand over his heart.] Ah, never fear. I’ll be extra careful, just for you!
[He couldn’t allow something as silly as a slip or nosy neighbors keep him from his merman friend, could he? After all this trouble he’s going through to keep meeting with him? Hopefully he’ll hear good news from one of his inquiries and then they won’t have to meet so clandestinely— he’ll be able to follow Gepard into the wide blue sea, never to be bothered by land folk again.]
Please be patient and wait for me. I’ll be back soon!
[There’s no greater motivator than trying to impress your crush. Don’t worry, Gepard, he’ll be back as soon as he can, bringing the medicine to Natasha and carrying back a pack full of fishing nets, plus gear for him to stay down at the cove overnight. He needs to have a sleepover with his favorite fish, after all. And, of course, the good doctor was pleased to get her shipment so quickly, and not suspicious at all.]
[He's somewhat submerged when Sampo returns, maybe just enough Sampo can't notice him, but the second Sampo returns Gepard's head pops up from beneath the water. He's here, he didn't go anywhere, he just needed to have a good soak.]
You're here! Welcome back. [That might sound excited, but he's excited, so. He swims as close as he can, which is a bit difficult given his tail, but he manages. (It's like walking on a sprained ankle, not that Geaprd knows what that's like.) This has definitely been a fucking slippery slope from 'mysterious enigmatic figure of the deep' to 'friendly fish' but it's fine. It's not like it's going to hurt anyone, probably. Maybe.]
You brought quite a bit with you. [Can't even fucking pretend to not be curious.] More than I expected?
[For a moment, when Sampo returned, he thought that Gepard had left-- there was no handsome merman visible from the shore. But then that blond head pokes up from the waves, proving that he hadn't left, he'd just been soaking for a little while to soothe his poor tail. Sampo would never admit it out loud, but he's relieved to see that pale head again.]
I'm here! [He hops down the rocks with his burdens, depositing some of them up the beach where it's still dry. The netting, he brings down to the water for his fishy friend.] I brought the net that you wanted. Is this enough? I got extra, I wasn't sure how much you needed.
[Because he wouldn't want to bring too little netting for Gepard to make his hammock and either have to have the poor guy shove himself into a small bed or have to go back up to town for more.]
The rest of the stuff is so that I can stay for a while! If you're stuck here, you might as well have company, right?
[So much stuff! A lot of it neat! He takes the netting with gratitude, admiring the make of it-]
That's more than enough. Thank you. We make- [He gestures with his free hand, a shape like a pocket or a bag.] -beds like this to keep us from drifting off into the ocean. The water cradles us, but without something to anchor us we might wake up somewhere we never wanted to be. Something like that has happened to me more than once.
[But that doesn't matter! What matters is...]
I'm glad you'll be here with me. It feels like it would be lonely if I was the only one in here.
That makes sense. We wouldn’t want you floating off overnight!
[Who knows where the tides and currents would carry him? Especially not with his tail injured.]
I’ll have to sleep higher up on the beach, otherwise I’ll get swamped when the tide comes back in. But until then, we can get to know each other a little better, right?
[Really become friends. Like him, Gepard, he wants you to be happy to see him when he gets his tail and yeets himself into the wild blue yonder.]
I know you aren’t supposed to talk to humans, but can you tell me a little bit about what it’s like living in the ocean?
[He’s already breaking mer law just by talking to Sampo, so in for a fish penny, in for a fish pound.]
[But here he is, swimming nice and close, because when he sleeps for the night he'll have to dive underwater - and deep enough so that he's not easily spotted, should someone else creep down into Sampo's little cave. So they need to enjoy their close time while he can.]
It's...nice? We have a city. I was told there was more, once, before we were forced to the north. I don't know how true that is or not. I-
[Where to begin?]
It's...not as dry as you're used to? [Terrible.] It's louder than you think. [Awful.] It's- honestly, I don't know what I should say. So much of it seems like it's the same sort of thing you probably do, but some of it is so different.
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That isn't the important part.
[Can't even fucking deny it, although he'll pretend like he did for the sake of the conversation.]
The important part is that you clearly are an idiot. My idiot, evidently. [This isn't said as a pet name, more like tired, tired resignation as Gepard has a vision of a possible future and it is this: Sampo jumping into the ocean and him having to fish him out and bring him back to shore. It's like feeding a seal and suddenly discovering the seal is following you around. It's like that.]
As by the sounds of it, you'd contrive events so that you'd drown if I didn't show up - again. If I knew how much work you'd be, I'd have left the second I threw your body on the sand.
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Is that how all of this works? If I throw myself in the ocean, will you be there to catch me?
[How romantic! And very practical, if he ever takes another ocean voyage, it would be great to know that he's got an on-call rescue. Instant rescue, just add water.]
[And, as though to really prove that he's Gepard's idiot, Sampo gets onto his knees and leans out over the dock, far enough to be precarious. If he throws himself into the water, Gepard, will you catch him? Will you wrap your manly arms around him and bring him back to shore?]
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[His fins are fluttering, agitated, and Gepard's shifting in the water, angling himself better on the off chance Sampo throws himself off of the dock and needs to be caught in some manly arms and be brought back to shore. Gepard knows that he should just dive underwater and leave. Maybe splash Sampo in the face as he goes. Make it clear that no, absolutely not. This far, no further. He saved him once, and only once, and he's not someone who Sampo should, could count on for a rescue.
But also...
...also, he doesn't want to leave, and maybe catching Sampo in his manly arms and taking him gently back to shore does sound nice, actually- even if he shouldn't, and they shouldn't, and he should confess his crimes when he gets home and let them jail him. (But if he does that, something might happen to Sampo.)]
The ocean is a large place. There's no way I can promise to be there all the time. Get back on the dock before someone sees you and wonders what you're doing.
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[He sits back on his heels, away from the edge. Calm down, fishman, he won't yeet himself to his death just yet.]
You won't follow me wherever I go? Ah, I suppose I can't ask for that kind of devotion just yet! [Sampo what are you talking about.] Maybe I'll have to follow you. Let me think about it.
[Gepard won't have to turn himself over to the merfolk guard for talking to a human if that human doesn't exist anymore, would he? He'd look silly, trying to turn himself in for talking to a human when that human as a fish tail just like him.]
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[He flicks up his tail, flicks a bit of water in Sampo's way...not too much, mere droplets, just the implication of a threat. He can - and will - splash him, he won't hesitate, bitch.]
Now, I really do have to go. I don't know when I can see you again.
[...but, ah, this is his idiot, and he's got a responsibility towards his idiot and he hesitated- hesitating was a mistake. He hesitated on the beach, and he's hesitating now. Gepard's voice softens ever so slightly-]
I'll leave a sign so you know I've found your cove.
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[Gepard splashes him with his tail, but it's just a few little droplets-- a threat, rather than a real soaking. Sampo just laughs and wipes the water off of his face.]
I'll be waiting! [They've got their secret meeting place, and that makes this whole thing a new level of exciting. And romantic, even though Gepard probably isn't aware that he's genre-switched into a rom-com. But Sampo's already made up his mind about reverse little-mermaiding himself, and any progress that he makes towards that goal is good progress.]
And be careful! We don't want you getting into trouble, do we?
[It would be a real downer if his merman beau got caught by the fishman police before he could get his happy ending.]
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You as well.
[...and he should say more, but he doesn't know what to say, so he just...
Dives back into the water and swims away, off to find something suitably pretty to use as a sign that he found the right cove. Some shells, maybe some coral, maybe some shipwrecked coins or...
("Wow," Dunn later said, extremely paraphrased, after asking where Gepard had been, "You sure do love that blackfish."
"Yep," Gepard also said, extremely paraphrased.)]
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Okay. [He says it to no one but himself and, maybe, the cold, uncaring ocean.] You can't just sit here, Sampo, you've got a lot of work to do! You won't make any progress if you don't get a move on.
[He stands, stretches out the kinks in his limbs, and turns to head back into town. He's got a lot of work to do, trying to find a witch that could turn a man into merfolk, and correspondence off of the island is slow when everything has to go by boat. With the trinket that Gepard gave him, though, he has an addition line of inquiry to go down, which might bear fruit.]
[In addition to all of his letters and inquiries, and a little light smuggling on the side for spending cash, he checks the cove regularly for signs that Gepard has been there. Something out of place, maybe another little ocean gift left for him that wasn't there before-- anything that might indicate that he really did find the place and came to visit.]
[Each time, he leaves a message in a bottle, set close enough to the water's edge that Gepard would be able to reach it easily, and telling him when he was planning to come down to the cove again. Maybe he might show up at the same time, if he wanted to talk.]
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The first note was promptly ruined by Gepard's too soggy hands as he tried to fish it out of the bottle. Drenched clean through. As was the second.
By the fourth, he had managed to figure out a way to dry his hands enough that he could pull out the note just enough to see what was on the paper and that was when Gepard had to accept that he actually- he-
He couldn't read. At least, not enough to-
Look.
Gepard knows some letters! Mostly stuff that had survived on statues which had sunk beneath the waves. And could kind of sound out some things! He gets that it's something to do with when Sampo was going to show up, he sees time and he sees numbers, which brings up the next problem which is just how, exactly, do humans tell time?
And Gepard knows that he's fucking things up when this keeps on happening. He shows up and no one's there. He shows up and there's a new note, or an empty bottle, or-
After a couple of weeks this is the point in which Gepard finds an excuse, goes to the fucking cove, and waits for however long until his idiot shows up because this is ridiculous, it's been far too long, they need to figure this shit out better, he needs to know how humans tell time. They need a system.]
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[He was starting to reconsider the whole message in a bottle thing. Maybe he was having a hard time getting to the messages? It's just hard to put something down in the cove without it getting wet, and wet paper doesn't last very long...]
[He comes down one evening both to check for any signs of Gepard and to pick up some packs of medical supplies that he'd smuggled in for Natasha. Since the cove had eroded away part of the cliff wall, there was a sheltered spot inside that was only accessible without swimming at low tide, but had enough space inside even when the tide came in again to store a small cache of goods without it all getting wet. The good doc'd wanted him to deliver her shipment tonight, so now's as good a time as any to bring them back up again.]
[When he arrives at the cove, everything looks normal. The water is calm, since it's well sheltered from the rest of the ocean, and with the tide out, the beach is covered in tide pools that have crabs and clams and all sorts of little fishes swimming around inside. It's kind of a nice place, or would be if Sampo wasn't continually disappointed by a lack of merman every time he went there.]
[He stands at the edge of the surf and looks out across the water, kind of halfheartedly looking for a blond head that he doesn't expect to find.]
Ah, I really need to try something else. [He's talking to himself. It's not like there's anyone else to hear him but the crabs and the gulls, right?] All this disappointment is bad for my heart.
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So Gepard waited. And he waited. And then the air was warm and the day slow, and he decided to take a nap because, well, he hadn't been sleeping well what with all of the deceit, having to constantly lie about where he's going and what he's doing, trying to actually do his regular duties-
Anyway, point being, on this day off he fell asleep.
So there he is, gently snoring in a tide pool when he hears a voice and jerks awake-]
You're-
[There he is!]
You're here-
[Wait why is he in a tide pool, where did all of the water go, is he stuck? He's stu- he can't be stuck. This is the stupidest way to confront his idiot about their meet-up system. And sure, he's not going to die, unless a betrayal happens in the next few minutes, but he feels all...raw and dry and sensitive and- how is he supposed to act like he just got here when-
Where did all the water go?]
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[That sounds like Gepard! Sampo follows the sound of his voice around a rock, and... yup, there he is, sprawled in one of the shallow tide pools. But that's not nearly deep enough for a whole merman, there are parts of him that are out of the water and look a little irritated from all the sun and air exposure.]
How did you get all the way up here? [The waterline is a good fifteen feet down the beach. It would be really difficult for Gepard to drag himself all the way just to hang around in a tide pool and get crawled on by crabs.] You look like you're drying out!
[He wades into the tide pool after him, little fishes darting out of the way as he moves through the water. It only comes up to a little over his knees, definitely not enough water for Gepard.]
Come on, let me carry you down to the water! It's going to be hours 'til the tide comes back in again. How long have you even been sitting here?
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[It's cool, it's fine, it's not as if Gepard's being forced to confront the fact that he might kind of like a human too much if he waited for so long he ended up stuck in a tide pool, drying out and utterly miserable, and if someone who wasn't Sampo had shown up things might have taken a turn for the worse. Breathe in, out, in, out, he's reaching for Sampo like-
Like. He's reaching for Sampo like. If Sampo takes him in his arms he is absolutely going to curl up and hug him like-
Like like. Like that.]
I don't know. I fell asleep. [Obviously. Don't ask why he was there for so long that he decided to fall asleep.]
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[Gepard is heavy, and his tail is so long that it's going to drag in the sand no matter what Sampo does, but he gathers the merman into his arms and starts wading his way out of the tide pool again. It's difficult-- the sand shifts under his feet and the rocky parts of the beach are slick and treacherous, but he's got precious cargo. That merits caution, so he goes slow and makes sure that he doesn't do something awful, like drop Gepard.]
You're lucky I decided to come down today! [He makes it the fifteen or so feet down to where the waterline is, and starts wading his way out into the deeper water. How long can merfolk last in shallow water without getting hurt? Is he injured, does he need medical attention?] You would've really been uncomfortable for a while. Did you get sunburned? I know a doctor, she might have something that'll make you feel better.
[He keeps going until he's in the water up to his waist, ignoring how cold it is in favor of getting Gepard somewhere that he can actually survive.]
Here we go, this should be better. [Down into the water you go, cute blond fishman.] Are you going to be okay?
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Sampo says he's lucky he decided to come down that day, and Gepard smiles, smothered against fabric and flesh and whatever else. Sampo asks questions. Is he fine? Was he sunburned?
Will he be okay? Gepard feels the cool touch of water and that's when he opens his eyes and forces himself to relax. He doesn't know if he's safe or not. That's not the worst part. The worst part is that despite not knowing if he's safe or not, that he feels safe in defiance of it all.
Sampo lowers him into the water.]
I- [He flexes his tail and winces.] Should be fine. [Eventually.] I told my family- my sisters I'd be gone for a few days. [Please don't ask why he took a few days vacation and promptly camped out in the cove.
And then Gepard yields to inevitability, because he feels...sore, crusty, raw in places. Not at all how he expected to meet his idiot again. He flexes his tail again and it feels better, but not good. Could he push himself? He could. He could probably swim back home. Should he?]
It seems that I'll probably be spending most of that time in here.
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[This is terrible. He didn't want his merman crush to come here and get injured, he'd picked this place because it had looked safe and secure!]
Why did you come in so early? I left a note, it said that I wouldn't be around until evening. [If the water had been high enough that Gepard could swim up the beach and get stranded in a tide pool, he might have been there hours in advance. Way too early for even someone who wanted to be prudent.] Did something happen to it? Did the bottle break? I know glass is kind of fragile, but it's good for keeping the paper from getting all wet.
[Maybe he could find a metal container? That would be stronger, it wouldn't break if it fell over or something.]
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[Oh wow, now comes the embarrassing part, somehow this is worse than being carried in his idiot's manly arms into the water, what the heck, what the fuck. He came here to say, "I'm having problems reading what the hell you're trying to tell me, we need a better plan." And now here they are.
He stalls for time, of course. His tail roughly brushes against Sampo's legs, just, back and forth.]
I had problems understanding your notes. [Well, there it is.] We use pictographs? [He's going for it, just, admiring Sampo's not-his-face, some part of him that's not his face, explaining.] And I'm also rather...damp, so I ruined quite a few notes before I figured out a way to dry my hands with sand well enough to get them out of the bottle. [Yep.] And not to mention, if I'm deep enough I can't see the sun so I don't know what time it is if we work off of that. [Yeah. Yeah, he's starting to feel much less like a mystical legend of the ocean, mysterious and powerful, and more like a really dumb dude.]
Change of subject for a moment- [Enough about that.] We can get back to telling time in a second, but do you have anything like...fishing nets? We like to use those to make our hammocks, but as that requires stealing from a human we usually make do with kelp and weeds- it's more traditional, but the fishing nets are far better for our purposes.
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Oh.
[Yeah, he's feeling Big Dumb right now. He doesn't know how deep merfolk live, but apparently deep enough to not be able to see the sun, so that also makes sense for the whole telling time thing. Maybe merfolk have a different way that they determine time? Something that works that far underwater? Why didn't he consider the possibility that they live too deep to see the sun, he knows that they try to avoid humans.]
[Gepard mercifully changes the subject before Sampo's ego can take an absolute pummeling.]
Fishing nets? Oh! Yeah, there are a ton of them up in Boulder Town. People fish all the time.
[It's like, half the economy of this place, technically. Island people do a lot of fishing, even in cold and turbulent waters.]
I have to run some things back up to my doctor friend, so I could get some nets for you if you'll be okay for a little while? I can run back up to town and be back in a little over an hour, maybe?
[He'd be hustling, but, y'know, he's got motivation. His aquatic boo is going to hang around for a while, this is basically like hosting a friend and not having blankets for them.]
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But it's nice. It's exciting. Sure, he's breaking so many laws at the moment, and, sure, he wishes it was under different circumstances like not hurting his tail like an idiot. But a sleepover with his, uh. Friend? Really nice. Very exciting.]
I wouldn't want you to hurt your legs after I- well, hurt my tail, like you slip and fall and then where would we be? And if you draw too much attention from hurrying, someone might find this place and we'd have to find somewhere else to meet.
[ :c And what would they do then! How many coves are there on this island? This should not be his priority! He's already breaking a lot of laws, why is he gearing up to break more, Sampo Koski is a bad influence. Truly terrible. What is this. From an innocent, law abiding merman to whatever he is now.]
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[He couldn’t allow something as silly as a slip or nosy neighbors keep him from his merman friend, could he? After all this trouble he’s going through to keep meeting with him? Hopefully he’ll hear good news from one of his inquiries and then they won’t have to meet so clandestinely— he’ll be able to follow Gepard into the wide blue sea, never to be bothered by land folk again.]
Please be patient and wait for me. I’ll be back soon!
[There’s no greater motivator than trying to impress your crush. Don’t worry, Gepard, he’ll be back as soon as he can, bringing the medicine to Natasha and carrying back a pack full of fishing nets, plus gear for him to stay down at the cove overnight. He needs to have a sleepover with his favorite fish, after all. And, of course, the good doctor was pleased to get her shipment so quickly, and not suspicious at all.]
I hope you weren’t lonely while I was gone!
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You're here! Welcome back. [That might sound excited, but he's excited, so. He swims as close as he can, which is a bit difficult given his tail, but he manages. (It's like walking on a sprained ankle, not that Geaprd knows what that's like.) This has definitely been a fucking slippery slope from 'mysterious enigmatic figure of the deep' to 'friendly fish' but it's fine. It's not like it's going to hurt anyone, probably. Maybe.]
You brought quite a bit with you. [Can't even fucking pretend to not be curious.] More than I expected?
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I'm here! [He hops down the rocks with his burdens, depositing some of them up the beach where it's still dry. The netting, he brings down to the water for his fishy friend.] I brought the net that you wanted. Is this enough? I got extra, I wasn't sure how much you needed.
[Because he wouldn't want to bring too little netting for Gepard to make his hammock and either have to have the poor guy shove himself into a small bed or have to go back up to town for more.]
The rest of the stuff is so that I can stay for a while! If you're stuck here, you might as well have company, right?
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That's more than enough. Thank you. We make- [He gestures with his free hand, a shape like a pocket or a bag.] -beds like this to keep us from drifting off into the ocean. The water cradles us, but without something to anchor us we might wake up somewhere we never wanted to be. Something like that has happened to me more than once.
[But that doesn't matter! What matters is...]
I'm glad you'll be here with me. It feels like it would be lonely if I was the only one in here.
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[Who knows where the tides and currents would carry him? Especially not with his tail injured.]
I’ll have to sleep higher up on the beach, otherwise I’ll get swamped when the tide comes back in. But until then, we can get to know each other a little better, right?
[Really become friends. Like him, Gepard, he wants you to be happy to see him when he gets his tail and yeets himself into the wild blue yonder.]
I know you aren’t supposed to talk to humans, but can you tell me a little bit about what it’s like living in the ocean?
[He’s already breaking mer law just by talking to Sampo, so in for a fish penny, in for a fish pound.]
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[But here he is, swimming nice and close, because when he sleeps for the night he'll have to dive underwater - and deep enough so that he's not easily spotted, should someone else creep down into Sampo's little cave. So they need to enjoy their close time while he can.]
It's...nice? We have a city. I was told there was more, once, before we were forced to the north. I don't know how true that is or not. I-
[Where to begin?]
It's...not as dry as you're used to? [Terrible.] It's louder than you think. [Awful.] It's- honestly, I don't know what I should say. So much of it seems like it's the same sort of thing you probably do, but some of it is so different.
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