[Swap sandwiches? It's a cute suggestion, definitely more something that you would do on a date than necessarily just with an acquaintance that you're catching up with, and Sampo is immediately endeared by it. Maybe that was Gepard's nefarious plan all along-- order two of his favorite sandwiches so that he could get half of each. Or he's just being nice.]
I know it's been a while, but I have had crystal lizard before! And reubens. I know that I like both. [He's already taking half of his sandwich-- thankfully it had already been nicely divided into two parts-- and swapping it over to Gepard's plate. There you go, now give him half of yours so that it's fair.]
And, no, that wasn't what the General said! He wasn't getting sandwiches at the time, but I bet he would've liked that more than dealing with Phantylia. [Wouldn't anyone?] What he actually said was: [And Sampo does his best Jing Yuan impression] Reinforcements? I am the reinforcements.
[Sampo laughs.] The General is a very powerful man! When he shows up to fight, it definitely counts as reinforcements.
[No, wait, stop, it was an accidental suggestion, and then Sampo hits him with the vicious one-two of first, plopping half a crystal lizard sandwich on his plate, and then, second, that Jing Yuan impression. It startles a laugh out of Gepard. Is it a large or loud laugh, no, but a laugh is still a laugh, no matter how tiny it is.]
I don't know if I hope your impression is good for your sake, or bad for his. [He takes a reuben half and puts it on Sampo's plate, reasoning that he earned it for that good/bad Jing Yuan impression.] What was the fight like?
[Success-- Sampo has half of Gepard's sandwich, and he got a cute little laugh out of him. Everything's coming up Sampo today.]
Don't you think I'm good at impressions, Gepard? Tough crowd! [Is he good? Is he being intentionally bad? Who knows.] But the fight, well. I wasn't right in the thick of it, the Nameless didn't need my help for this one! I was just keeping an eye on things, in case they needed more reinforcements.
[It would've been pretty early in the game to reveal everything about himself-- his true strength and whatnot-- but he also couldn't have just stood around and let everything fall apart so early.]
Thankfully, they didn't need me! [He picks up the half of his crystal lizard sandwich and takes a bite; the taste has a certain nostalgic familiarity. A little gamier than chicken, with a little bit of an aftertaste that's kind of... mineral? Ah, for as much as he would complain about Belobogian cuisine being fully of dairy and rye, he did miss it a little.] That's tasty. Have you had this before?
Ah, I'm getting sidetracked. The fight! [Yeah, Sampo, the thing you're supposed to be talking about.] Phantylia was really a handful, especially with that body she got from the Ambrosial Arbor. Her goal wasn't really to kill the Nameless or Jing Yuan, though I imagine that she would've if push came to shove. She wanted to destroy the Xianzhou, and what better way to do that than by corrupting one of their beloved Generals?
[He lays it out for Gepard-- Phantylia capturing Jing Yuan, trying to corrupt him into becoming a powerful pawn in the army of the Antimatter Legion through a mental link similar to how she'd possessed Tingyun. How a strike from Dan Heng's lance had grievously injured the General, but also severed the connection that she had with him and disrupted her control over the Ambrosial Arbor body, leaving her as a disembodied, insubstantial heliobus.]
She ran off, after that! Back to the Legion, to start making her next plans. She's not the type to give up easily, you know?
[It's a good story, even if he's convinced that Sampo is making up more than half of it. Why would he be here, on Belobog, talking to him, if he could trawl the stars with the careless abandon that his story implies? But it's a good story. He can lose himself in it. Follow along. Make appreciative noises between bites of his half of the crystal lizard sandwich.
And at the end, the question...
He did know. Or he used to know what that was like- not trying to end the world, but a certain stoic stubbornness in which he persisted despite everything telling him otherwise. For Phantylia, the Nameless; for him, the passage of time and the realization that he can't just die. Now it just feels like he gives up all the time.
And Gepard smiles at Sampo, or, tries to, but there's something...perhaps bittersweet to it that he can't quite smother. Maybe it's just sad. Maybe it's just the crystal lizard.]
She sounds persistent. Corrupting generals, stealing bodies, who knows what else she's done before that. I don't know how you managed to keep all of this straight in your head, Sampo.
Who knows what, indeed! The Lord Ravagers have been doing the Destruction’s work for centuries.
[Even on Jarilo-VI. The Antimatter Legion arrived there seven hundred years ago, quite probably under the direction of one of the Emanators of Nanook. Gepard has read the first hand accounts of the battles against the Destruction’s forces from the time of Alisa Rand.]
[When Gepard smiles, it doesn’t reach his eyes. Sampo didn’t often see the good Captain smile back when he was a captain— Gepard didn’t really smile at men he tried to arrest— but he knows fake when he sees it.]
Being all mixed up in it certainly helps me keep it straight. [You don’t forget a Lord Ravager after you’ve seen one.] But it does all get to be a lot sometimes! That’s why it’s nice to come back to a stable place.
[And what place could be more stable than Belobog? Qlipoth’s most enduring fortress, a bastion in the snow. His Winterland!]
Well, Belobog- [No.] Jarilo-VI has certainly been louder since you've come back here. I'm a little surprised I haven't heard complaints from my friends who are still with the Silvermane Guards.
[Not really. After all, he's retired. But, Gepard takes a drink of his coffee, mulling over his words, rolling it in his head- what's the most polite, delicate way of saying this, what's a good way of saying this, how should he ask this.]
But, if you're not causing trouble here, then your trouble is no doubt the problem of wherever you head to next, Koski. [Okay, it's not that polite.] Tell them I'm sorry I couldn't arrest you when I had the chance.
Has it? I haven't been back for very long! I didn't think that news of my return would make such a splash.
[Gepard's particular brand of politeness-- that is to say, absolutely none at all, being very direct and straightforward-- brings a sort of familiar fondness. Circumstances may have changed, but Gepard Landau is still Gepard Landau at heart.]
[And it seems that Gepard Landau didn't believe Sampo when he said that he was retiring from all his adventuring. Another person might have taken that statement as indication that a man planned on settling down, but not Gepard! Apparently the man thinks that Sampo is just going to gallivant off soon to some distant planet to trouble the locals, instead of staying here and troubling these locals instead.]
Well... if that's the case, I'll have to give your apologies to the new captain! I don't think he's fond of me, and he doesn't fill out the Silvermane uniform nearly as well as you did.
[Because the only people that he plans on being a menace to are the ones in Belobog. And even then, he isn't planning on being much of a menace, just a minor annoyance at best! A minor annoyance, and perhaps a major businessman.]
[Gepard is perfectly still as Sampo implies that he's back for the long haul. He's lying, probably, but he implies it and it's like being doused with a bucket of cold water, and he wants to say something, and he nearly says something-
And instead, inhales, sharp, as Sampo Koski finishes off by saying the new captain doesn't fill out the uniform as well as he did. He hadn't been prepared. He hadn't expected that Sampo Koski would go there. There's no need to flirt as a misdirection. He'd already agreed to pay. It's not like Sampo needed to dine and dash.
But he had, and he did, and Gepard hadn't been prepared, and he feels a slight heat on the back of his neck as the implications go places where they shouldn't, and he ignores that. He's good at denial.]
Please don't involve my successor in whatever game you're playing. He's a good man. [...probably.]
[No need to flirt? There's always a need to flirt with Gepard! Besides, Sampo had done it for years back when he and Gepard still played their games of cat-and-mouse, why break the habit now that he's returned? The poor man seems to have been dreadfully un-flirted with for so long, and he's clearly out of practice.]
You're such a worrier, Gepard! I'm not going out of my way to get chased around by your successor, it wouldn't be nearly as fun as our games were.
[Ah, the sweet nostalgia of the good old days, when Gepard was young and strapping and filled out a starched uniform to perfection, and Sampo got a front-row seat to him getting all hot and bothered in it. Not that Gepard isn't still a fine specimen of a man, he would still fill out a uniform excellently, but he probably wouldn't put one on again even if Sampo asked nicely. Maybe he'd be able to convince him someday, and they could play a whole different kind of cat-and-mouse game...]
If you must know, once we're done here, I actually have an appointment at Qlipoth Fort to file paperwork! There's all sorts of documents that I have to get approved before I can start an official business, especially if I plan to bring in off-world goods. Ah, bureaucracy!
[Sampo, filing official paperwork? That he hasn't forged? Brace yourself for the surprise of your life, Gepard.]
[Gepard breaths it out, in both wonder and horror and maybe something else, leaning in with fascination and confusion. None of this makes sense. It's the strangest, weirdest, most non-nonsensical thing that Sampo could say. It's like Sampo just revealed he's Qlipoth. It makes no sense. He can't even be mad. It just- it's just the most absurd thing.]
[There’s something very satisfying about seeing the surprise writ large on Gepard’s pretty face. Sampo’s still got it— he can still throw a few curveballs.]
Practicality, mostly.
[He props his chin on one hand and takes another sip of strong coffee.]
Let me tell you a little trade secret! Since we’re such good friends and all.
I had to forge all of my paperwork back when I was setting up a bunch of shell companies under different names, so that they couldn’t be traced back to me. More than one fraud charge you threw at me got tossed out because of how complicated all the shells got! But this is going under my name, and I plan on running it legitimately, so it’s worth the effort to get it started within the letter of the law. I didn’t care if one of the shells got found out and shut down, but it would be a hit if this one got taken down because of something as silly as paperwork.
[Part of making money is knowing where to put effort in and to what end. Right now, the benefits of doing this legally outweigh the detriments, so Sampo’s going to do it the way that benefits him the most.]
So I’ll sit in somebody’s stuffy office for a few hours and pay the fees to get a proper business license. A little trouble now to save myself a lot of trouble later.
[Gepard listens, and he forces himself to be patient, and he forces himself to listen, and he does his best - he really, really tries, even taking a sip of coffee to keep from speaking up - until he can't. He can't keep himself quiet.]
I understand that, Sampo. [And since when has Koski become Sampo? Things to consider later, after he disentangled this mystery and got Sampo out of his hair and went back to his quiet bookstore.]
I understand the shell companies, and the forgeries, and the deceit, for Qlipoth's sake, you really don't need to explain everything you did to desperately evade being arrested while begging for our attention. My attention? It doesn't matter. I just don't understand- why?
I wouldn't call it desperately. I don't think I was desperate at all!
[Deliberately, maybe. Completely intentionally evading the law, with the intent on also getting the attention of a certain handsome guard captain along the way. One has to have one's hobbies, right? Sampo's just so happened to be getting Gepard to chase him across Belobog and back, to see if he'd ever really be fast enough to catch him. Maybe a little bit to admire how pretty he was when he got hot and bothered in a starched uniform. If nothing else, it was good cardio.]
[What he doesn't quite get is Gepard's why. He gave him the why-- because it could be costly to start up his business illegally when he plans to run it legally. What else is there to explain? It seems straightforward to him.]
But I don't think I understand the question. Why what? I already told you why.
[Why is this happening. There's some grave misunderstanding going on here and he has no idea where it is or why, and it's taking a lot to keep his voice quiet enough that the people in the cafe doesn't pay as much attention as they could. (They do.)]
You've seen things I will never see, accomplished things that I can never dream of doing. And- I love Belobog. I'm not ashamed of where I've come from or the things my city has accomplished. But what I don't understand is- is. [He should stop talking.]
Why someone who has gone so far would come back, for, of all things, to run a legitimate business when everything in his life has pointed to him wanting anything but that. That's what I don't get, Sampo. [...] Koski. [Nailed it.]
My, you seem to know a lot about what I want, Gepard!
[For a man who never tried to know Sampo Koski beyond his rap sheet and modus operandi, that's a lot of assumptions to make. Well, Sampo can't really be mad at him about it-- he had a role to play, he played it well, and Gepard has made his assumptions based on what he was allowed to see. Making beds, laying in it, all that jazz.]
I have seen a lot of the universe. Not all of it, of course, there's too much for even ol' Sampo Koski to get around to. But a lot!
[A lot of it tried to kill him, too. So, y'know, there's that. It was exciting, but even excitement can get boring.]
I'll tell you another secret, Geppie, just because you're my favorite. [He leans in a little, like he really is telling a secret. Conspiratorial. You're his partner in crime for this little secret, Gepard.] I went across the universe, and you know what was always on my mind? Belobog.
[He leans back, and takes another bracing sip of coffee.] I don't think anybody could ever doubt that you love Belobog. So why is it so hard for you to get that I might love it, too? Ah, I lived here for so many years, maybe it's a little of the Preservation rubbing off on me. Maybe you can't live in one of Qlipoth's enduring fortresses without getting a little bit steady. And years have a way of changing people, don't you think?
Gepard doesn't know what he believes. He doesn't know if he thinks Sampo is being honest or not - he's right, the years have a way of changing people, once he would have considered himself stubborn, and now Gepard just feels tired. He's tired. It's like...besides his daughter, his sisters, there's nothing left for him. Just routine, day after day, him loving his daughter - Lily - too much to leave, loving Belobog too much to leave, but also not being able to find-
He's just tired and-
Whether Sampo is being honest or not is a mystery for someone else to resolve. Not him. For him, all that's left is a quiet-]
You're right.
[Because Sampo is right about one thing.]
I apologize for jumping to conclusions. [Then:] I barely even know you at all.
[Is it a mystery for someone else, Gepard? Or is it a mystery that you'll be solving anyway, whether you like it or not?]
[What's in front of Sampo right now is the mystery of why Gepard Landau has turned into a sadsack. The Captain that Sampo knew never had looked so... ground down, even after months of fighting hard at the frontlines. There had always been something unyielding in him, something unshakeable. And, sure, Sampo did just say that years could change a man, but it feels like it would take more than just time to wear down Gepard's iron will.]
[What had happened, in the years that he'd been gone? Sampo couldn't go back and undo all those years-- nor would he want to, really, he'd had important things to do and he wouldn't change that-- but context might at least provide some understanding of how they got here. How Gepard went from a paragon of the Preservation to... this.]
[More reconnaissance is in order, then. At least Sampo will be able to keep himself busy.]
Apology accepted! I think it's the first one you've ever given me. [Gepard wasn't exactly the apologizing type. Probably still isn't, this is just a special case.] And, well, we can change that last thing, can't we?
[Gepard barely knows him, but that's not immutable. They can make progress on that, go from former antagonists to compatriots. The good ol' enemies to friends (to lovers?) trope, that's a real crowd-pleaser.]
[It's the first he gave Sampo, probably, and Gepard wants to squirm. He doesn't. He doesn't like the fact he apologized to Sampo. Because it's Sampo. He also doesn't like the fact it feels like Sampo is seeing through his excuses, his mistakes, or is trying to. And he still doesn't know why?]
I...
[He should politely rebuff Sampo.]
...suppose? [That also seems mean.] You've told me stories. I've enjoyed them. I've mostly enjoyed our time together. [Okay, he's got a little bit of stubbornness in him. A little bit left. He enjoys Sampo's company only so much. This far, no further.] I don't have a reason to say no.
[And Gepard busies himself with a sandwich to stall for time to bite, and chew, and swallow, and think, what's a safe, easy conversation topic that he could direct Sampo to, like the sort of thing he used back when he was a Silvermane Guard and was looking for something polite to tell a civilian who was getting a little too familiar - something to keep a distance, but polite, and nice.]
You said you were getting a permit. What kind of business were you thinking of running, Sampo?
[It's nice to have the verbal confirmation that Gepard has been enjoying Sampo's little stories, even though it had been pretty obvious by his face. It's a little addicting, having a handsome man like Gepard staring at him with rapt attention-- a guy could get used to it!]
[He could poke more, try to prod Gepard into more little admissions about how much he liked spending time with his old pal Sampo, but he changes the subject. Probably doesn't want to linger on anything that might embarrass him, because Gepard is wonderfully easy to embarrass. Sampo could make an entire afternoon of it, of just finding all the ways that he could tease Gepard into blushing like a rose.]
I did say that! Well, I'm going to stick to what I know and go into the import and export business. There are a lot of people out in the galaxy who want to get into a fresh market like Belobog, and I'm just the man to make it happen. [He knows a lot of people, knows how to do business in the galaxy. The merchants on Belobog have a lot of catching up to do before they're comfortable with the way the rest of the universe does business.] Luxury goods are an obvious place to start, it looks like Belobog is starting to get a taste for them.
[After being isolated for seven hundred years and stuck in a state of constant survival, people were bound to be interested in the bounty of the universe. So many years of deprivation, and now everything is at their fingertips. Though... there are other things that he could mention to dear Gepard about his upcoming business. In the game of getting Gepard to like him, what tidbits of information that he divulges are very important and should be chosen carefully.]
I'll need a portion of my business to be very profitable, to prop up the parts that aren't!
You've... [What's a good word for it.] ...really thought this through.
[So much it actually sounds...well. Real. Doesn't it? That Sampo had thought it through to this extent, and, sure, Sampo's probably not telling him everything. And, sure, it's probably a ruse hiding something else. But it also sounds honest enough and Gepard has to, for a moment, consider what it means that Sampo is being this (seemingly) sincere about his new business and why he might be pestering him, and then decides to not consider those questions. A little bit at a time.
He's running out of sandwich, and Gepard doesn't know how he feels about that, because he should be glad to send his nuisance on his way. In theory.]
[Even when you're living an adventurous life, it's not all action and daring-do. There are some pretty long periods of down-time that can get kind of boring, and you've got to do something to keep yourself entertained. Sending out Nigerian prince scams to unsuspecting rich folks can only keep his attention for so long, after all-- sometimes you have to give your brain a challenge by planning how you'd open a business on a previously isolated planet to turn a nice profit and seduce handsome blond men.]
[It had sounded like a good idea at the time, especially the seducing blond men part. Sure, he had entertained the sort of wistful hope that said blond men could consist of a certain guard captain, but was realistically expecting to have to settle for a revolving door of Other Blonds. (Realistically speaking, he may still have to settle for Other Blonds-- even if Gepard's single, Sampo's only evidence towards his romantic proclivities is one failed relationship with a woman. While he could try his luck as Brughel Poisson, that would only last until Gepard saw what's under the skirts.)]
If I tell you, will you put in a bad word for me? Like you did with your sister! [Got him kicked out of the band, so rude. Just because he did a few scams doesn't mean that he was a bad band member!]
Word of mouth is one of the best forms of advertising, after all! If I have someone as respectable as you saying bad things about my business, I'll be dead in the water.
[Sampo says he thought about it, for years, and Gepard inhales, a little sharp. Clearly it's just the crusty bread he was eating or something that caused it, and it's nothing that Sampo should look too much into.
Fortunately, the moment passes. Sampo turns the subject to his sister and Gepard snorts, amused despite himself. (It's really hard to remember to be sad or guarded when Sampo's being like this. It would be annoying if he thought too hard about it.) And Sampo calls him respectable and Gepard wants to point out that he's not that noteworthy, not anymore.
He doesn't.]
I'll just say nothing about it at all and you can succeed or fail on your own merits. If you're doing things honestly, then I have no reason to care, Sampo.
Can't you at least pretend that you'll be happy if I succeed? I'll be a rehabilitated man! A pillar of the community!
[And maybe certain handsome former guard captains would like to take rehabilitated pillars of the community to be happy for him in the adult way? That's really probably the best that he could hope for-- but what's life without a little ambition? A few hopeless dreams? Maybe he'll get a dreambubble the next time he's in Penacony and be sad and pathetic to his little metaphorical heart's content.]
Ah, I see how it is. I'll have to bribe you for it, won't I? You're not Captain anymore, you can take bribes.
[Gepard had been too honorable a man to take bribes when he was in the guard-- there were other men that weren't quite so upright as him that Sampo had gotten his hooks into once upon a time, for the right price or, once, the right act. (He'd actually been quite glad when that man had gotten kicked out for unrelated reasons. Like, sure, Sampo had done it, but that guy's the one who asked. Have a little class, man.) But now, Gepard could get bribed and it's not even really a bribe, it's just getting gifts.]
How many lemons would it take? Oranges? There's a lot of citrus in the galaxy! Maybe some grapefruit? Oh, something a little more rare, I could probably get some yuzu or pomelo.
[How much fruit does it take to buy out Gepard Landau?]
[He makes a noise at succeed. Neither positive nor neutral, just a noise acknowledging that he heard what Sampo said. As Sampo describes himself as a pillar of the community, Gepard can't resist cutting in with an exasperated,]
Sampo, please-
[But Sampo talks, as absurd as always. Bribes. He's just a guy, he's hardly anyone that Sampo would need to bribe, but Sampo brings up grapefruit and oranges, and he has Gepard's attention, it's obvious that he has his attention, and he can't help what slips out.]
What's a yuzu?
[If Sampo whipped out a yuzu right then and there he'd probably scoot in, that's how curious he is. It sounds...interesting?]
[Wow, so maybe the way to Gepard's heart really is through vitamin C. The man is clearly interested in the prospect of getting his hands on more citrus fruits, and like. That's not how Sampo expected this conversation to go, but he's not going to look a gift crystal lizard in the gizzard.]
It's a fruit, kind of looks like a small orange? Tastes like if you crossed a grapefruit and a mandarin.
[Sampo can't just pull one out of his pocket-- he keeps a lot of things in there, but not an entire fruit stand-- but he can pull a picture up on his phone to show Gepard. See, there you go, it's a real thing. Sampo isn't just making up words.]
I'll get some for you! It'll be my first import, once I get everything up and running.
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I know it's been a while, but I have had crystal lizard before! And reubens. I know that I like both. [He's already taking half of his sandwich-- thankfully it had already been nicely divided into two parts-- and swapping it over to Gepard's plate. There you go, now give him half of yours so that it's fair.]
And, no, that wasn't what the General said! He wasn't getting sandwiches at the time, but I bet he would've liked that more than dealing with Phantylia. [Wouldn't anyone?] What he actually said was: [And Sampo does his best Jing Yuan impression] Reinforcements? I am the reinforcements.
[Sampo laughs.] The General is a very powerful man! When he shows up to fight, it definitely counts as reinforcements.
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I don't know if I hope your impression is good for your sake, or bad for his. [He takes a reuben half and puts it on Sampo's plate, reasoning that he earned it for that good/bad Jing Yuan impression.] What was the fight like?
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Don't you think I'm good at impressions, Gepard? Tough crowd! [Is he good? Is he being intentionally bad? Who knows.] But the fight, well. I wasn't right in the thick of it, the Nameless didn't need my help for this one! I was just keeping an eye on things, in case they needed more reinforcements.
[It would've been pretty early in the game to reveal everything about himself-- his true strength and whatnot-- but he also couldn't have just stood around and let everything fall apart so early.]
Thankfully, they didn't need me! [He picks up the half of his crystal lizard sandwich and takes a bite; the taste has a certain nostalgic familiarity. A little gamier than chicken, with a little bit of an aftertaste that's kind of... mineral? Ah, for as much as he would complain about Belobogian cuisine being fully of dairy and rye, he did miss it a little.] That's tasty. Have you had this before?
Ah, I'm getting sidetracked. The fight! [Yeah, Sampo, the thing you're supposed to be talking about.] Phantylia was really a handful, especially with that body she got from the Ambrosial Arbor. Her goal wasn't really to kill the Nameless or Jing Yuan, though I imagine that she would've if push came to shove. She wanted to destroy the Xianzhou, and what better way to do that than by corrupting one of their beloved Generals?
[He lays it out for Gepard-- Phantylia capturing Jing Yuan, trying to corrupt him into becoming a powerful pawn in the army of the Antimatter Legion through a mental link similar to how she'd possessed Tingyun. How a strike from Dan Heng's lance had grievously injured the General, but also severed the connection that she had with him and disrupted her control over the Ambrosial Arbor body, leaving her as a disembodied, insubstantial heliobus.]
She ran off, after that! Back to the Legion, to start making her next plans. She's not the type to give up easily, you know?
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And at the end, the question...
He did know. Or he used to know what that was like- not trying to end the world, but a certain stoic stubbornness in which he persisted despite everything telling him otherwise. For Phantylia, the Nameless; for him, the passage of time and the realization that he can't just die. Now it just feels like he gives up all the time.
And Gepard smiles at Sampo, or, tries to, but there's something...perhaps bittersweet to it that he can't quite smother. Maybe it's just sad. Maybe it's just the crystal lizard.]
She sounds persistent. Corrupting generals, stealing bodies, who knows what else she's done before that. I don't know how you managed to keep all of this straight in your head, Sampo.
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[Even on Jarilo-VI. The Antimatter Legion arrived there seven hundred years ago, quite probably under the direction of one of the Emanators of Nanook. Gepard has read the first hand accounts of the battles against the Destruction’s forces from the time of Alisa Rand.]
[When Gepard smiles, it doesn’t reach his eyes. Sampo didn’t often see the good Captain smile back when he was a captain— Gepard didn’t really smile at men he tried to arrest— but he knows fake when he sees it.]
Being all mixed up in it certainly helps me keep it straight. [You don’t forget a Lord Ravager after you’ve seen one.] But it does all get to be a lot sometimes! That’s why it’s nice to come back to a stable place.
[And what place could be more stable than Belobog? Qlipoth’s most enduring fortress, a bastion in the snow. His Winterland!]
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[Not really. After all, he's retired. But, Gepard takes a drink of his coffee, mulling over his words, rolling it in his head- what's the most polite, delicate way of saying this, what's a good way of saying this, how should he ask this.]
But, if you're not causing trouble here, then your trouble is no doubt the problem of wherever you head to next, Koski. [Okay, it's not that polite.] Tell them I'm sorry I couldn't arrest you when I had the chance.
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[Gepard's particular brand of politeness-- that is to say, absolutely none at all, being very direct and straightforward-- brings a sort of familiar fondness. Circumstances may have changed, but Gepard Landau is still Gepard Landau at heart.]
[And it seems that Gepard Landau didn't believe Sampo when he said that he was retiring from all his adventuring. Another person might have taken that statement as indication that a man planned on settling down, but not Gepard! Apparently the man thinks that Sampo is just going to gallivant off soon to some distant planet to trouble the locals, instead of staying here and troubling these locals instead.]
Well... if that's the case, I'll have to give your apologies to the new captain! I don't think he's fond of me, and he doesn't fill out the Silvermane uniform nearly as well as you did.
[Because the only people that he plans on being a menace to are the ones in Belobog. And even then, he isn't planning on being much of a menace, just a minor annoyance at best! A minor annoyance, and perhaps a major businessman.]
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And instead, inhales, sharp, as Sampo Koski finishes off by saying the new captain doesn't fill out the uniform as well as he did. He hadn't been prepared. He hadn't expected that Sampo Koski would go there. There's no need to flirt as a misdirection. He'd already agreed to pay. It's not like Sampo needed to dine and dash.
But he had, and he did, and Gepard hadn't been prepared, and he feels a slight heat on the back of his neck as the implications go places where they shouldn't, and he ignores that. He's good at denial.]
Please don't involve my successor in whatever game you're playing. He's a good man. [...probably.]
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You're such a worrier, Gepard! I'm not going out of my way to get chased around by your successor, it wouldn't be nearly as fun as our games were.
[Ah, the sweet nostalgia of the good old days, when Gepard was young and strapping and filled out a starched uniform to perfection, and Sampo got a front-row seat to him getting all hot and bothered in it. Not that Gepard isn't still a fine specimen of a man, he would still fill out a uniform excellently, but he probably wouldn't put one on again even if Sampo asked nicely. Maybe he'd be able to convince him someday, and they could play a whole different kind of cat-and-mouse game...]
If you must know, once we're done here, I actually have an appointment at Qlipoth Fort to file paperwork! There's all sorts of documents that I have to get approved before I can start an official business, especially if I plan to bring in off-world goods. Ah, bureaucracy!
[Sampo, filing official paperwork? That he hasn't forged? Brace yourself for the surprise of your life, Gepard.]
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[Gepard breaths it out, in both wonder and horror and maybe something else, leaning in with fascination and confusion. None of this makes sense. It's the strangest, weirdest, most non-nonsensical thing that Sampo could say. It's like Sampo just revealed he's Qlipoth. It makes no sense. He can't even be mad. It just- it's just the most absurd thing.]
Why would you do things that way? It's...you.
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Practicality, mostly.
[He props his chin on one hand and takes another sip of strong coffee.]
Let me tell you a little trade secret! Since we’re such good friends and all.
I had to forge all of my paperwork back when I was setting up a bunch of shell companies under different names, so that they couldn’t be traced back to me. More than one fraud charge you threw at me got tossed out because of how complicated all the shells got! But this is going under my name, and I plan on running it legitimately, so it’s worth the effort to get it started within the letter of the law. I didn’t care if one of the shells got found out and shut down, but it would be a hit if this one got taken down because of something as silly as paperwork.
[Part of making money is knowing where to put effort in and to what end. Right now, the benefits of doing this legally outweigh the detriments, so Sampo’s going to do it the way that benefits him the most.]
So I’ll sit in somebody’s stuffy office for a few hours and pay the fees to get a proper business license. A little trouble now to save myself a lot of trouble later.
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I understand that, Sampo. [And since when has Koski become Sampo? Things to consider later, after he disentangled this mystery and got Sampo out of his hair and went back to his quiet bookstore.]
I understand the shell companies, and the forgeries, and the deceit, for Qlipoth's sake, you really don't need to explain everything you did to desperately evade being arrested while begging for our attention. My attention? It doesn't matter. I just don't understand- why?
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[Deliberately, maybe. Completely intentionally evading the law, with the intent on also getting the attention of a certain handsome guard captain along the way. One has to have one's hobbies, right? Sampo's just so happened to be getting Gepard to chase him across Belobog and back, to see if he'd ever really be fast enough to catch him. Maybe a little bit to admire how pretty he was when he got hot and bothered in a starched uniform. If nothing else, it was good cardio.]
[What he doesn't quite get is Gepard's why. He gave him the why-- because it could be costly to start up his business illegally when he plans to run it legally. What else is there to explain? It seems straightforward to him.]
But I don't think I understand the question. Why what? I already told you why.
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[Why is this happening. There's some grave misunderstanding going on here and he has no idea where it is or why, and it's taking a lot to keep his voice quiet enough that the people in the cafe doesn't pay as much attention as they could. (They do.)]
You've seen things I will never see, accomplished things that I can never dream of doing. And- I love Belobog. I'm not ashamed of where I've come from or the things my city has accomplished. But what I don't understand is- is. [He should stop talking.]
Why someone who has gone so far would come back, for, of all things, to run a legitimate business when everything in his life has pointed to him wanting anything but that. That's what I don't get, Sampo. [...] Koski. [Nailed it.]
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[For a man who never tried to know Sampo Koski beyond his rap sheet and modus operandi, that's a lot of assumptions to make. Well, Sampo can't really be mad at him about it-- he had a role to play, he played it well, and Gepard has made his assumptions based on what he was allowed to see. Making beds, laying in it, all that jazz.]
I have seen a lot of the universe. Not all of it, of course, there's too much for even ol' Sampo Koski to get around to. But a lot!
[A lot of it tried to kill him, too. So, y'know, there's that. It was exciting, but even excitement can get boring.]
I'll tell you another secret, Geppie, just because you're my favorite. [He leans in a little, like he really is telling a secret. Conspiratorial. You're his partner in crime for this little secret, Gepard.] I went across the universe, and you know what was always on my mind? Belobog.
[He leans back, and takes another bracing sip of coffee.] I don't think anybody could ever doubt that you love Belobog. So why is it so hard for you to get that I might love it, too? Ah, I lived here for so many years, maybe it's a little of the Preservation rubbing off on me. Maybe you can't live in one of Qlipoth's enduring fortresses without getting a little bit steady. And years have a way of changing people, don't you think?
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Gepard doesn't know what he believes. He doesn't know if he thinks Sampo is being honest or not - he's right, the years have a way of changing people, once he would have considered himself stubborn, and now Gepard just feels tired. He's tired. It's like...besides his daughter, his sisters, there's nothing left for him. Just routine, day after day, him loving his daughter - Lily - too much to leave, loving Belobog too much to leave, but also not being able to find-
He's just tired and-
Whether Sampo is being honest or not is a mystery for someone else to resolve. Not him. For him, all that's left is a quiet-]
You're right.
[Because Sampo is right about one thing.]
I apologize for jumping to conclusions. [Then:] I barely even know you at all.
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[What's in front of Sampo right now is the mystery of why Gepard Landau has turned into a sadsack. The Captain that Sampo knew never had looked so... ground down, even after months of fighting hard at the frontlines. There had always been something unyielding in him, something unshakeable. And, sure, Sampo did just say that years could change a man, but it feels like it would take more than just time to wear down Gepard's iron will.]
[What had happened, in the years that he'd been gone? Sampo couldn't go back and undo all those years-- nor would he want to, really, he'd had important things to do and he wouldn't change that-- but context might at least provide some understanding of how they got here. How Gepard went from a paragon of the Preservation to... this.]
[More reconnaissance is in order, then. At least Sampo will be able to keep himself busy.]
Apology accepted! I think it's the first one you've ever given me. [Gepard wasn't exactly the apologizing type. Probably still isn't, this is just a special case.] And, well, we can change that last thing, can't we?
[Gepard barely knows him, but that's not immutable. They can make progress on that, go from former antagonists to compatriots. The good ol' enemies to friends (to lovers?) trope, that's a real crowd-pleaser.]
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I...
[He should politely rebuff Sampo.]
...suppose? [That also seems mean.] You've told me stories. I've enjoyed them. I've mostly enjoyed our time together. [Okay, he's got a little bit of stubbornness in him. A little bit left. He enjoys Sampo's company only so much. This far, no further.] I don't have a reason to say no.
[And Gepard busies himself with a sandwich to stall for time to bite, and chew, and swallow, and think, what's a safe, easy conversation topic that he could direct Sampo to, like the sort of thing he used back when he was a Silvermane Guard and was looking for something polite to tell a civilian who was getting a little too familiar - something to keep a distance, but polite, and nice.]
You said you were getting a permit. What kind of business were you thinking of running, Sampo?
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[He could poke more, try to prod Gepard into more little admissions about how much he liked spending time with his old pal Sampo, but he changes the subject. Probably doesn't want to linger on anything that might embarrass him, because Gepard is wonderfully easy to embarrass. Sampo could make an entire afternoon of it, of just finding all the ways that he could tease Gepard into blushing like a rose.]
I did say that! Well, I'm going to stick to what I know and go into the import and export business. There are a lot of people out in the galaxy who want to get into a fresh market like Belobog, and I'm just the man to make it happen. [He knows a lot of people, knows how to do business in the galaxy. The merchants on Belobog have a lot of catching up to do before they're comfortable with the way the rest of the universe does business.] Luxury goods are an obvious place to start, it looks like Belobog is starting to get a taste for them.
[After being isolated for seven hundred years and stuck in a state of constant survival, people were bound to be interested in the bounty of the universe. So many years of deprivation, and now everything is at their fingertips. Though... there are other things that he could mention to dear Gepard about his upcoming business. In the game of getting Gepard to like him, what tidbits of information that he divulges are very important and should be chosen carefully.]
I'll need a portion of my business to be very profitable, to prop up the parts that aren't!
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[So much it actually sounds...well. Real. Doesn't it? That Sampo had thought it through to this extent, and, sure, Sampo's probably not telling him everything. And, sure, it's probably a ruse hiding something else. But it also sounds honest enough and Gepard has to, for a moment, consider what it means that Sampo is being this (seemingly) sincere about his new business and why he might be pestering him, and then decides to not consider those questions. A little bit at a time.
He's running out of sandwich, and Gepard doesn't know how he feels about that, because he should be glad to send his nuisance on his way. In theory.]
Does your business have a name?
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[Even when you're living an adventurous life, it's not all action and daring-do. There are some pretty long periods of down-time that can get kind of boring, and you've got to do something to keep yourself entertained. Sending out Nigerian prince scams to unsuspecting rich folks can only keep his attention for so long, after all-- sometimes you have to give your brain a challenge by planning how you'd open a business on a previously isolated planet to turn a nice profit and seduce handsome blond men.]
[It had sounded like a good idea at the time, especially the seducing blond men part. Sure, he had entertained the sort of wistful hope that said blond men could consist of a certain guard captain, but was realistically expecting to have to settle for a revolving door of Other Blonds. (Realistically speaking, he may still have to settle for Other Blonds-- even if Gepard's single, Sampo's only evidence towards his romantic proclivities is one failed relationship with a woman. While he could try his luck as Brughel Poisson, that would only last until Gepard saw what's under the skirts.)]
If I tell you, will you put in a bad word for me? Like you did with your sister! [Got him kicked out of the band, so rude. Just because he did a few scams doesn't mean that he was a bad band member!]
Word of mouth is one of the best forms of advertising, after all! If I have someone as respectable as you saying bad things about my business, I'll be dead in the water.
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Fortunately, the moment passes. Sampo turns the subject to his sister and Gepard snorts, amused despite himself. (It's really hard to remember to be sad or guarded when Sampo's being like this. It would be annoying if he thought too hard about it.) And Sampo calls him respectable and Gepard wants to point out that he's not that noteworthy, not anymore.
He doesn't.]
I'll just say nothing about it at all and you can succeed or fail on your own merits. If you're doing things honestly, then I have no reason to care, Sampo.
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[And maybe certain handsome former guard captains would like to take rehabilitated pillars of the community to be happy for him in the adult way? That's really probably the best that he could hope for-- but what's life without a little ambition? A few hopeless dreams? Maybe he'll get a dreambubble the next time he's in Penacony and be sad and pathetic to his little metaphorical heart's content.]
Ah, I see how it is. I'll have to bribe you for it, won't I? You're not Captain anymore, you can take bribes.
[Gepard had been too honorable a man to take bribes when he was in the guard-- there were other men that weren't quite so upright as him that Sampo had gotten his hooks into once upon a time, for the right price or, once, the right act. (He'd actually been quite glad when that man had gotten kicked out for unrelated reasons. Like, sure, Sampo had done it, but that guy's the one who asked. Have a little class, man.) But now, Gepard could get bribed and it's not even really a bribe, it's just getting gifts.]
How many lemons would it take? Oranges? There's a lot of citrus in the galaxy! Maybe some grapefruit? Oh, something a little more rare, I could probably get some yuzu or pomelo.
[How much fruit does it take to buy out Gepard Landau?]
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Sampo, please-
[But Sampo talks, as absurd as always. Bribes. He's just a guy, he's hardly anyone that Sampo would need to bribe, but Sampo brings up grapefruit and oranges, and he has Gepard's attention, it's obvious that he has his attention, and he can't help what slips out.]
What's a yuzu?
[If Sampo whipped out a yuzu right then and there he'd probably scoot in, that's how curious he is. It sounds...interesting?]
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It's a fruit, kind of looks like a small orange? Tastes like if you crossed a grapefruit and a mandarin.
[Sampo can't just pull one out of his pocket-- he keeps a lot of things in there, but not an entire fruit stand-- but he can pull a picture up on his phone to show Gepard. See, there you go, it's a real thing. Sampo isn't just making up words.]
I'll get some for you! It'll be my first import, once I get everything up and running.
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