[...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.]
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no subject
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.
no subject
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.]
no subject
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.]
no subject
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 subject
[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.]