[He bobs lower in the water with a blush and a furious little burble, before just- Gepard can't swim away, and doesn't want to swim away, but also does, and he wants to splash Sampo but it feels rude to splash his idiot because his idiot's spending the night with him (and that's very exciting, Sampo will wake up to see a pair of blue eyes staring at him with fascination before said head ducks back underwater to go back to sleep) and-
Well, anyway.]
Something tells me I won't have a choice.
[Because surely, his human's flirting with other people with legs and doing leg things with them and he can't see it because he's a fish. Right?]
Different question. [Change of subject.] Can you teach me how to read? I understand some of it, but I'd like to know more.
Oh! [Right, the reading thing. Sampo does have other things to do than just flirt outrageously with a handsome fishman.] Of course! You're in luck, I'm a great teacher. We'll have you reading in no time!
[He can, like, get some books or something back in town and bring those back. They taught kids how to read with them, how hard could it be for an adult to figure it out?]
[But that's a problem for another day. Today, he's got a handsome fishman to entertain and chat up and continue to flirt with. Maybe ask a question or two about that little trinket that he'd given him before, that little golden pendant. He'd gotten a chain for it, so that he could keep it around his neck. It would be rude not to wear a gift, right?]
[He'd written similar questions in a letter, sent it off to an acquaintance of an acquaintance. He's still waiting to see if that line of inquiry bears fruit. He's heard things about that woman, a Miss Black Swan, and maybe she'll be the one who comes through for him.]
[And said fishman is smiling at Sampo, because he's willing to teach him! He didn't make fun of him! And for a moment thinks that it's a shame they're not of the same species because then they could crowd around a book more easily, and then Gepard decides to not think about that too much. Sure, his tail is still kind of sore, but this is turning out to be so nice...
Speaking of nice, Gepard wiggles in, and gestures for Sampo to get close so he can just touch and hold and admire that chain that he got for the pendant.]
I'm glad you kept it. [Okay, alright, he can admit it.] I didn't know what I should get you, but I wanted to give you something.
[Really, it’s a good thing that they’re in some pretty cold water, because he’s got a handsome fishman wiggling in close and that could’ve caused some problems if things were a little warmer. Sampo’s a healthy young(ish) man, it’s only natural! But thankfully he doesn’t have to explain anything weird to Gepard. For all he knows, mermen don’t even have dicks.]
[Huh. That’s a question that he might have to investigate at some point, since he plans on getting fishy. Losing his dick wasn’t part of his admittedly poorly thought out plan, but maybe he should be prepared for that.]
[For right now, he’s distracted by Gepard touching his chest to get a look at the chain that now holds his pendant. Even though he’d originally given it expecting Sampo to sell it, he’s pleased that he didn’t. And Sampo’s pleased that he’s pleased!]
I liked it too much to get rid of it. Don’t you think it looks good on me?
[Gepard looks good on him, too. Sampo could get used to having pretty mermen cuddled up to him.]
You don’t know anything else about it, do you? It’s pretty unusual!
[It does, in fact, make him happy, and he's glad that the pendant hangs close to where he thinks a human's heart is (maybe? people have hearts and he's pretty sure they're in chests...) and Gepard smiles and his smile's a small, tender thing.]
I suppose.
[This is in response to it looking good on Sampo, because he doesn't even know Sampo, really, but every instinct in his body is screaming at him and telling him he should be careful around this human. Specifically in regards to giving him praise.
...but, ah, that's a good question; also, ah, his waist is starting to hurt a little - it's hard to hold this angle, fish bodies aren't meant to do this, and so Gepard does what every single fish would do and just snuggles right in. Because at this point, it's pretty normal for the two of them? Sampo carries him, he drags Sampo around. And also because...
...because. Besides, this seems like a long, and maybe difficult conversation.]
What do you want to know? I imagine you're not interested in how my great grandfather wore it around or family stories of that nature.
[Worn by his great-grandfather, huh? Sampo lifts the chain, letting the pendant dangle so that he can get a better look at it. He might have thought that the patterns on it were merfolk made based off of that information, but Gepard probably would've mentioned that already if it was. So where did great-grandpa Landau get this?]
I wouldn't mind hearing a few family stories! If you don't tell me a few, I'll have to start making things up myself. [And Sampo could be very fanciful about this sort of thing, as Gepard has probably already noticed.] I'm sure I could spin a good yarn.
[Do merfolk know what yarn is? It's fine, doesn't matter, Gepard will catch his meaning. Or he won't and he'll be confused, it's fine either way.]
Maybe your great-grandad was an explorer, swimming to distant shores in search of treasure and adventure! That's always a good start to a story.
[...what is yarn- well, that's okay, he can guess what Sampo means. Maybe. He can't guess why Sampo's so interested in that pendant specifically, well- it's magical, sure. There's probably not that much magic up in peopleland, not that he would know because he doesn't have legs and can't walk around. But he can guess there's not that much magic? Humans don't seem that magical, on the whole.]
Well, my people were supposedly closer to yours, once - that's where all the stories of mermaids and men abandoning their fins and choosing to dwell on shore came from. They say some members of my family did just that. They were curious about what life was like on land, abandoned their fins, and spent some time on shore. Some returned to the water once they satisfied their curiosity, and others remained on shore.
[But it's probably nonsense, who heard of people growing legs and then growing a tail back where it used to be?]
After the disaster happened, we moved, and things of that sort stopped happening- if they used to at all. [And then, Gepard looks at Sampo, and he says this with full sincerity-
Are you ready? Are you braced? Are you prepared for what he says with full sincerity?]
Listen to me ramble. I'm sure all of this is boring to you.
[So it is possible— even the merfolk have stories about going from man to mer. Or the other way around. Maybe some of Gepard’s great-great-whatever relatives did give up their fins either out of love or curiosity or just plain old wanting some land-based strange, maybe they didn’t. What matters is that every new story is another piece of the puzzle. What Gepard gives him is the most valuable gift of all- information.]
Don’t be like that— I like your rambling! I could listen to your pretty voice all day.
[Wait. Disaster? Hang on, Sampo, you can flirt outrageously later. There’s more information to be gained, potentially useful.]
What disaster? I don’t remember one. [But he’s also not from around here. And that disaster might’ve happened a long time ago, before he would’ve even been alive.] You live deep in the ocean, right? What kind of disaster would even bother you? Most weather wouldn’t make it down that far.
[Even the worst hurricane wouldn’t do much to a city that far under the waves. Maybe a tsunami would be felt a little bit, if it was really big? But that’s not a disaster for the merfolk, just for the humans.]
[Why is he being shamelessly flirted with, why is this still going on, sure, he likes Sampo far more than he should - here he is, breaking every last merfolk law which truly matters, talking with a human - but there's still limits.]
It was long ago. Before my time, or yours. [...probably. Who knows how humans aged? For all he knows, Sampo is thousands of years old.] We used to live closer to the surface- or that's what's said, and it makes sense to me. If my people hadn't lived near the surface at one point, then there's no reason why I should be able to spend so much time above the water, or speak with someone like you.
[He should stop, but, ah- Gepard snuggles instead. Maybe the relentless outrageous flirting is doing something for him, even though it'll end badly because legs, fins, who knows what humans have in terms of- uh. Parts. Also he shouldn't be thinking about this, so he won't.]
But, from what I do know: our old land was...corrupted, somehow, made inhospitable for our kind. Many merfolk died. It's said that it's humanity's fault, but no one knows why. We moved north and dove deeper, where we wouldn't be found so easily.
I don't know how humans would be able to do something as bad as all that.
[Sure, you could dump things into the ocean that would be poisonous for what lived there, but it's hard to dump enough of anything to kill a whole big section of it. And calling it corruption... it doesn't sound quite like good old pollution. And, besides, that long ago? People weren't really doing the kind of industry that even allowed for anything that poisonous to be made on that kind of scale.]
[But, hey, apparently men could turn into mermaids and vice versa, so maybe there's more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in his philosophy or whatever.]
I guess that's why you guys have so many rules about talking to humans, then? [If their history says that humans caused a catastrophe, than, well, it would make sense for them to forbid dealing with them anymore. Massive man-made horrors revokes your mermaid visitation privileges.]
I'm glad you aren't listening to the rules. [Gepard might otherwise be a very law-abiding mer, but if he had observed this particular law, than Sampo would've never seen him again after his rescue.] I promise I won't bring about any catastrophes!
[Gepard makes a noise because as much as he hates to admit it, he's had similar thoughts - sure, there's laws against merfolk and humans interacting, and there's a story, but every single time he surfaced he couldn't help but wonder just how it was this unspecified disaster happened? And also, if there was a disaster, wouldn't it have spread? Because things do spread, especially when you're in water. More than once, Gepard thought (a little bit enviously) that it must be nice to not have to worry about dinner floating out of your reach because of a sudden current.
But Sampo doesn't need to know that. He just- stares at the water instead of at Sampo.]
Please don't remind me of the laws. It just makes me feel like I should turn myself in.
[He won't, but.]
As for the rest, I always did find it strange that for all we supposedly once had a city closer to the surface, no one knew where it might be- but my sisters are the academics, not me.
[No, haha, don't turn yourself in to the police, you're too hot.]
[But back to the more interesting topic than just why Sampo would like his handsome aquatic boo to continue to skirt the laws of his people...]
Yeah, that is strange. Strange that people wouldn't be talking about it, either, if we used to know where there was a whole city of mermaids. That's the kind of thing that you'd tell stories about, y'know? Or write books about.
[Not just a few isolated fairytales about sailors being rescued by pretty fish women with their tits out, but an actual whole civilization that lived just off the coast. That's one of those things that people don't forget in a hurry, there would be like. Records? People definitely would've written that one down.]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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Well, anyway.]
Something tells me I won't have a choice.
[Because surely, his human's flirting with other people with legs and doing leg things with them and he can't see it because he's a fish. Right?]
Different question. [Change of subject.] Can you teach me how to read? I understand some of it, but I'd like to know more.
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[He can, like, get some books or something back in town and bring those back. They taught kids how to read with them, how hard could it be for an adult to figure it out?]
[But that's a problem for another day. Today, he's got a handsome fishman to entertain and chat up and continue to flirt with. Maybe ask a question or two about that little trinket that he'd given him before, that little golden pendant. He'd gotten a chain for it, so that he could keep it around his neck. It would be rude not to wear a gift, right?]
[He'd written similar questions in a letter, sent it off to an acquaintance of an acquaintance. He's still waiting to see if that line of inquiry bears fruit. He's heard things about that woman, a Miss Black Swan, and maybe she'll be the one who comes through for him.]
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Speaking of nice, Gepard wiggles in, and gestures for Sampo to get close so he can just touch and hold and admire that chain that he got for the pendant.]
I'm glad you kept it. [Okay, alright, he can admit it.] I didn't know what I should get you, but I wanted to give you something.
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[Huh. That’s a question that he might have to investigate at some point, since he plans on getting fishy. Losing his dick wasn’t part of his admittedly poorly thought out plan, but maybe he should be prepared for that.]
[For right now, he’s distracted by Gepard touching his chest to get a look at the chain that now holds his pendant. Even though he’d originally given it expecting Sampo to sell it, he’s pleased that he didn’t. And Sampo’s pleased that he’s pleased!]
I liked it too much to get rid of it. Don’t you think it looks good on me?
[Gepard looks good on him, too. Sampo could get used to having pretty mermen cuddled up to him.]
You don’t know anything else about it, do you? It’s pretty unusual!
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I suppose.
[This is in response to it looking good on Sampo, because he doesn't even know Sampo, really, but every instinct in his body is screaming at him and telling him he should be careful around this human. Specifically in regards to giving him praise.
...but, ah, that's a good question; also, ah, his waist is starting to hurt a little - it's hard to hold this angle, fish bodies aren't meant to do this, and so Gepard does what every single fish would do and just snuggles right in. Because at this point, it's pretty normal for the two of them? Sampo carries him, he drags Sampo around. And also because...
...because. Besides, this seems like a long, and maybe difficult conversation.]
What do you want to know? I imagine you're not interested in how my great grandfather wore it around or family stories of that nature.
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[Worn by his great-grandfather, huh? Sampo lifts the chain, letting the pendant dangle so that he can get a better look at it. He might have thought that the patterns on it were merfolk made based off of that information, but Gepard probably would've mentioned that already if it was. So where did great-grandpa Landau get this?]
I wouldn't mind hearing a few family stories! If you don't tell me a few, I'll have to start making things up myself. [And Sampo could be very fanciful about this sort of thing, as Gepard has probably already noticed.] I'm sure I could spin a good yarn.
[Do merfolk know what yarn is? It's fine, doesn't matter, Gepard will catch his meaning. Or he won't and he'll be confused, it's fine either way.]
Maybe your great-grandad was an explorer, swimming to distant shores in search of treasure and adventure! That's always a good start to a story.
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Well, my people were supposedly closer to yours, once - that's where all the stories of mermaids and men abandoning their fins and choosing to dwell on shore came from. They say some members of my family did just that. They were curious about what life was like on land, abandoned their fins, and spent some time on shore. Some returned to the water once they satisfied their curiosity, and others remained on shore.
[But it's probably nonsense, who heard of people growing legs and then growing a tail back where it used to be?]
After the disaster happened, we moved, and things of that sort stopped happening- if they used to at all. [And then, Gepard looks at Sampo, and he says this with full sincerity-
Are you ready? Are you braced? Are you prepared for what he says with full sincerity?]
Listen to me ramble. I'm sure all of this is boring to you.
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Don’t be like that— I like your rambling! I could listen to your pretty voice all day.
[Wait. Disaster? Hang on, Sampo, you can flirt outrageously later. There’s more information to be gained, potentially useful.]
What disaster? I don’t remember one. [But he’s also not from around here. And that disaster might’ve happened a long time ago, before he would’ve even been alive.] You live deep in the ocean, right? What kind of disaster would even bother you? Most weather wouldn’t make it down that far.
[Even the worst hurricane wouldn’t do much to a city that far under the waves. Maybe a tsunami would be felt a little bit, if it was really big? But that’s not a disaster for the merfolk, just for the humans.]
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It was long ago. Before my time, or yours. [...probably. Who knows how humans aged? For all he knows, Sampo is thousands of years old.] We used to live closer to the surface- or that's what's said, and it makes sense to me. If my people hadn't lived near the surface at one point, then there's no reason why I should be able to spend so much time above the water, or speak with someone like you.
[He should stop, but, ah- Gepard snuggles instead. Maybe the relentless outrageous flirting is doing something for him, even though it'll end badly because legs, fins, who knows what humans have in terms of- uh. Parts. Also he shouldn't be thinking about this, so he won't.]
But, from what I do know: our old land was...corrupted, somehow, made inhospitable for our kind. Many merfolk died. It's said that it's humanity's fault, but no one knows why. We moved north and dove deeper, where we wouldn't be found so easily.
no subject
[Sure, you could dump things into the ocean that would be poisonous for what lived there, but it's hard to dump enough of anything to kill a whole big section of it. And calling it corruption... it doesn't sound quite like good old pollution. And, besides, that long ago? People weren't really doing the kind of industry that even allowed for anything that poisonous to be made on that kind of scale.]
[But, hey, apparently men could turn into mermaids and vice versa, so maybe there's more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in his philosophy or whatever.]
I guess that's why you guys have so many rules about talking to humans, then? [If their history says that humans caused a catastrophe, than, well, it would make sense for them to forbid dealing with them anymore. Massive man-made horrors revokes your mermaid visitation privileges.]
I'm glad you aren't listening to the rules. [Gepard might otherwise be a very law-abiding mer, but if he had observed this particular law, than Sampo would've never seen him again after his rescue.] I promise I won't bring about any catastrophes!
[Probably. That he knows of.]
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But Sampo doesn't need to know that. He just- stares at the water instead of at Sampo.]
Please don't remind me of the laws. It just makes me feel like I should turn myself in.
[He won't, but.]
As for the rest, I always did find it strange that for all we supposedly once had a city closer to the surface, no one knew where it might be- but my sisters are the academics, not me.
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[No, haha, don't turn yourself in to the police, you're too hot.]
[But back to the more interesting topic than just why Sampo would like his handsome aquatic boo to continue to skirt the laws of his people...]
Yeah, that is strange. Strange that people wouldn't be talking about it, either, if we used to know where there was a whole city of mermaids. That's the kind of thing that you'd tell stories about, y'know? Or write books about.
[Not just a few isolated fairytales about sailors being rescued by pretty fish women with their tits out, but an actual whole civilization that lived just off the coast. That's one of those things that people don't forget in a hurry, there would be like. Records? People definitely would've written that one down.]