I can find it. [There's a slightly stubborn jut to Gepard's jaw, a slight tension to him. If Sampo actually knew who he was as a person, and could see him better than the angle he got, he'd probably recognize it as challenge fucking accepted. As they didn't know each other all that well, and the angle sucks, who knows what he takes from that.
And then, with a slight hint of a challenge to his voice (who is he challenging? does it matter? it probably matters, but he wouldn't know) Gepard impulsively tosses up the 100% meaningless golden pendant he picked up, and tries to not think too hard about how it seems to shine as it arcs in the air, nor how he wanted to find something...nice. It would be something that his human would like, but he didn't really know his human besides the delirious things he rambled about on the beach, so he went for nice in general.]
Here. [Catch!] You seem to be doing well enough for yourself, but in case you wanted something to barter with... [What was the story attached to it? Oh, right, something like-] It's said that it was made by a witch who took to the sea, in memory of the sun she was leaving behind, but I don't know how true that story is.
[Gepard tosses something into the air, and it sparkles briefly in the light as it arcs up towards Sampo; he isn't expecting to play catch with his mermaid acquaintance, so he fumbles the catch at the start. Juggles the thing briefly before catching it securely and taking a look at the little trinket that Gepard brought for him.]
[Gold, it feels like, judging from the weight of it in his palms. And an odd make, the designs on it don't look like anything that Sampo has ever traded before. He's been to a fair few places, so it says a lot if he can't recognize it. There's the whole glowing part, too, that's definitely unusual.]
Well! It definitely looks valuable!
[There is a certain temptation to sell it, of course, because gold always sells well and unusual gold can sell even better if he can find the right buyer, but... well, how can he really part with a gift from a merman? A glowing, golden pendant given to him by an actual merman? It's like something out of a fairy tale. It even has a fairy tale to go with it, about sea witches and such.]
I'll take good care of it. Ah, but I didn't bring a gift for you! If I'd known, I would've gotten something for you.
[What the shit, Sampo wasn't supposed to want to keep it, and Gepard ducks his head underwater for a moment. Just a brief moment. If asked, he's prepared to lie and say that it's to keep himself hydrated. Proper hydration is important. Dry gills tend to get sensitive. He can survive out of water far longer than a human might expect, at the cost of really sensitive gills. Could be worse.
And it's technically true, though the real reason is because he had to hide the moment in which he felt flustered (slightly widened eyes, a slight smile) when his human said he'd take good care of it, because that sounded like he wasn't going to trade it to the first person, which- well. Well.
Well well. Well well well well he should say something instead of basking in feeling pleased.]
You don't have to get me anything. [...] Besides, I'm a fish. [Basically.] I'd probably ruin anything you got me just because of what I am.
[Don't ask him, he's not a fish scientist or anything. Are mermen considered one of the perks of being a marine biologist?]
Come on, it isn't like everything up here gets ruined the second you put it in water! There has to be something that you'd like.
[Something shiny? Something rare? A tasty morsel that he couldn't get underwater? Maybe that's a thought, Sampo could bring him pastries and cake, baked goods that he wouldn't be able to get in the ocean. You can't bake a croissant at the bottom of the sea! Gepard could try what Sampo brings when they meet up in the cove, and decide if he likes any of it or not.]
If you can't think of something, I'll figure it out! Don't worry, Sampo Koski is great at giving gifts!
[Meanwhile, he's debating the merits of ducking his head underwater and vanishing, but- ah, he promised he'd meet his human at his cove, and he...actually wants to meet his human at his cove (he's been a good soldier, he deserves this much) and that means he can't just escape this conversation. Even if he leaves now, the subject will probably come up again.]
I didn't save you because I expected a reward. [Which brings up the question of why he brought a gift-] And I stayed with you because when you save a life, you're responsible for seeing things through. [Or...something, very duty minded, very practical. Which brings up a question. Can a fish blush? If he can, he is, if not, there's still a certain fluttering of gills. Because this is very nice. He rescued a human and he turned out to be handsome and nice and wants to bring him things, and Gepard is going to be very disappointed once he learns what Sampo is really like, probably. And by then it'll be too late, probably.]
But if you insist, I'll be happy with whatever you bring.
That's very noble of you! Very dutiful. You must be a very reliable person.
[He seems like it, since he cares to check in on the guy that he saved. Most people would've just dropped Sampo off on the beach and called it good, if they even bothered to save him at all, but not Gepard! He came back, even though it's dangerous. Normally Sampo doesn't really go for the goody-goody type, since they're likely to want to have him arrested, but Gepard is a fishman! He hasn't broken any merman laws, or at least not any that Gepard isn't also breaking.]
[But it sounds like he'll accept gifts, and that's a good first step in weaseling his way into the good graces of a merman. Everybody likes gifts!]
Ah, dutiful and gracious! Say, you don't happen to be married, are you? Got a pretty mermaid girlfriend down there? I'd hate to make someone jealous and get you in trouble!
[Lies, he'd be here to steal their man. Fish. Fishman. Whatever.]
-it would be a boyfriend if I had one. [Gepard says this with all of the absent tiredness of a fish who had this conversation one too many times with one too many people. Sometimes, a guy can prefer men to women, and that's fine. And no, he doesn't feel like changing his mind anytime soon.
Sampo can see the moment in which Gepard realizes one possible interpretation as to why he asked if he was single or not. He stills, bobs in the water, his eyes widen slightly, narrow slightly, his mouth clenches shut, and Gepard contemplates doing a flip and splashing his human in the face.
On one hand: it's far from subtle. It would increase the danger. It's a stupid move.
On the other hand, Sampo absolutely deserves it.
Much to consider. Maybe at the human's cove, at leisure?]
[Gepard is really giving valuable information away today! It would be a boyfriend if he had one, that tells Sampo two things-- that mermen do sometimes like to fool around with other mermen, and that Gepard is currently without a fooling-around partner. It's a complete vacancy! And here Sampo Koski is, all ready to step into the role.]
[Gepard seems to catch on that this might be the reason behind the question, or at least gets very suspicious of it, giving Sampo some serious side-eye from the water. But Sampo just smiles at him, pleased as anything because of his newfound information, and lets Gepard think whatever he likes. His continued silence on the matter speaks volumes. If blue-haired human men weren't to his tastes, wouldn't he say so right away?]
Already? You just got here. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health, I promise! [For whatever that's worth.] She just said not to do anything stupid, I think I'm still in the clear.
[Point, counterpoint. He knows what human men do. They walk around on their legs and do leg things, and go look at things like trees and eat fruit.]
More specifically, you're talking to a fish who should have left you to drown, and was, in fact, supposed to have let you drown. If any of my kin learn about you, you'll be in danger.
[...he's just going to slightly float under the dock again, not too much, just a little. Mainly because at this angle, it's tempting to find the nearest chunk of kelp and throw it at his human's smug fucking face.]
There isn't a fish alive that's half as handsome as you.
[He's talking to a merman, thanks, that's very different from a fish! Fish don't talk, for one thing, or at least not in any language that humans can understand. Maybe merfolk can talk to fish and actually understand them, though Sampo doubts that very many fish have anything interesting to say.]
[Well, if Gepard was supposed to let Sampo drown according to the laws of his people, maybe he shouldn't be so upset when he finds out that Sampo isn't exactly the most law-abiding person, either. Fishmen in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!]
Mmmaybe you should've, but you didn't! [He says it with a singsong pitch and leans back, casually propping himself up on his hands. Entirely unconcerned.] I guess if you don't want either of us to get in trouble, you'll have to be very careful when you come to see me, right?
[In for a penny, in for a pound, Gepard. If any other merfolk find out that Gepard's visiting a human, Sampo won't be the only person in trouble!]
Besides, it'll be hard for them to do anything to me while I'm on land.
[Sampo wasn't supposed to double down on it. He was supposed to go oh, right. He's talking to a monster (at least from the perspective of a human), something dangerous, unknown, something to be careful around. He's not supposed to say, extremely paraphrased: you're still handsome, would.
But that's what it sounds like his human's saying! Which leaves Gepard...
At a loss, especially at the singsong tone.
He scoots a bit further under the pier. Just a little. Hunting for a glob of kelp. A throwable glob of kelp. One that could be wadded into a kelpball and hurled at the head of a stupid human.]
There aren't any humans around, are there? Besides you.
[While Gepard messes around under the dock however he pleases-- Sampo's not going to question it, who's he to criticize the habits of handsome wet men who grace him with their company-- Sampo tips his head back to look around, checking for any prying eyes.]
Nope! Just the two of us, from what I can see. [And he's very good at spotting people. Comes with the territory of doing illegal things.] Is there something that you wanted me alone for?
[There are plenty of things that he'd like to be alone with Gepard for, only some of which might be physically possible considering their differences in anatomy at the moment.]
[Well, he did find kelp, but he also found half a mussel shell floating in the ocean, so Gepard grabs that, swims back out, and viciously throws the shell at his human's face or...thereabouts.]
You're an idiot and one of these days your idiocy is going to catch up to you and I won't be able to help you.
[A mussel shell comes at his face, and Sampo puts up a hand so that he doesn't get beaned right in the eye with it. Those things are sharp, Gepard, you might ruin his stupid handsome face if you do that!]
Hey, careful! My face is too pretty to get cut up!
[His good looks are a critical part of his brand, Gepard! Sometimes a guy has to flirt his way out of disaster, and it's way easier to do that when you've got a nice face. Pretty people really do have it easier in life, it's a sad truth.]
[But now that he's out of shell-based danger, he can latch on to entirely the wrong part of Gepard's sentence.]
[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-
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-10-01 01:38 am (UTC)And then, with a slight hint of a challenge to his voice (who is he challenging? does it matter? it probably matters, but he wouldn't know) Gepard impulsively tosses up the 100% meaningless golden pendant he picked up, and tries to not think too hard about how it seems to shine as it arcs in the air, nor how he wanted to find something...nice. It would be something that his human would like, but he didn't really know his human besides the delirious things he rambled about on the beach, so he went for nice in general.]
Here. [Catch!] You seem to be doing well enough for yourself, but in case you wanted something to barter with... [What was the story attached to it? Oh, right, something like-] It's said that it was made by a witch who took to the sea, in memory of the sun she was leaving behind, but I don't know how true that story is.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-07 08:28 pm (UTC)[Gold, it feels like, judging from the weight of it in his palms. And an odd make, the designs on it don't look like anything that Sampo has ever traded before. He's been to a fair few places, so it says a lot if he can't recognize it. There's the whole glowing part, too, that's definitely unusual.]
Well! It definitely looks valuable!
[There is a certain temptation to sell it, of course, because gold always sells well and unusual gold can sell even better if he can find the right buyer, but... well, how can he really part with a gift from a merman? A glowing, golden pendant given to him by an actual merman? It's like something out of a fairy tale. It even has a fairy tale to go with it, about sea witches and such.]
I'll take good care of it. Ah, but I didn't bring a gift for you! If I'd known, I would've gotten something for you.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-08 02:01 am (UTC)And it's technically true, though the real reason is because he had to hide the moment in which he felt flustered (slightly widened eyes, a slight smile) when his human said he'd take good care of it, because that sounded like he wasn't going to trade it to the first person, which- well. Well.
Well well. Well well well well he should say something instead of basking in feeling pleased.]
You don't have to get me anything. [...] Besides, I'm a fish. [Basically.] I'd probably ruin anything you got me just because of what I am.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-08 05:38 pm (UTC)[Don't ask him, he's not a fish scientist or anything. Are mermen considered one of the perks of being a marine biologist?]
Come on, it isn't like everything up here gets ruined the second you put it in water! There has to be something that you'd like.
[Something shiny? Something rare? A tasty morsel that he couldn't get underwater? Maybe that's a thought, Sampo could bring him pastries and cake, baked goods that he wouldn't be able to get in the ocean. You can't bake a croissant at the bottom of the sea! Gepard could try what Sampo brings when they meet up in the cove, and decide if he likes any of it or not.]
If you can't think of something, I'll figure it out! Don't worry, Sampo Koski is great at giving gifts!
no subject
Date: 2024-10-10 03:00 am (UTC)I didn't save you because I expected a reward. [Which brings up the question of why he brought a gift-] And I stayed with you because when you save a life, you're responsible for seeing things through. [Or...something, very duty minded, very practical. Which brings up a question. Can a fish blush? If he can, he is, if not, there's still a certain fluttering of gills. Because this is very nice. He rescued a human and he turned out to be handsome and nice and wants to bring him things, and Gepard is going to be very disappointed once he learns what Sampo is really like, probably. And by then it'll be too late, probably.]
But if you insist, I'll be happy with whatever you bring.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-10 04:40 am (UTC)[He seems like it, since he cares to check in on the guy that he saved. Most people would've just dropped Sampo off on the beach and called it good, if they even bothered to save him at all, but not Gepard! He came back, even though it's dangerous. Normally Sampo doesn't really go for the goody-goody type, since they're likely to want to have him arrested, but Gepard is a fishman! He hasn't broken any merman laws, or at least not any that Gepard isn't also breaking.]
[But it sounds like he'll accept gifts, and that's a good first step in weaseling his way into the good graces of a merman. Everybody likes gifts!]
Ah, dutiful and gracious! Say, you don't happen to be married, are you? Got a pretty mermaid girlfriend down there? I'd hate to make someone jealous and get you in trouble!
[Lies, he'd be here to steal their man. Fish. Fishman. Whatever.]
no subject
Date: 2024-10-10 09:14 pm (UTC)Sampo can see the moment in which Gepard realizes one possible interpretation as to why he asked if he was single or not. He stills, bobs in the water, his eyes widen slightly, narrow slightly, his mouth clenches shut, and Gepard contemplates doing a flip and splashing his human in the face.
On one hand: it's far from subtle. It would increase the danger. It's a stupid move.
On the other hand, Sampo absolutely deserves it.
Much to consider. Maybe at the human's cove, at leisure?]
I see that I should go and let you rest.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-11 03:00 am (UTC)[Gepard seems to catch on that this might be the reason behind the question, or at least gets very suspicious of it, giving Sampo some serious side-eye from the water. But Sampo just smiles at him, pleased as anything because of his newfound information, and lets Gepard think whatever he likes. His continued silence on the matter speaks volumes. If blue-haired human men weren't to his tastes, wouldn't he say so right away?]
Already? You just got here. The doctor gave me a clean bill of health, I promise! [For whatever that's worth.] She just said not to do anything stupid, I think I'm still in the clear.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-11 10:19 pm (UTC)[Point, counterpoint. He knows what human men do. They walk around on their legs and do leg things, and go look at things like trees and eat fruit.]
More specifically, you're talking to a fish who should have left you to drown, and was, in fact, supposed to have let you drown. If any of my kin learn about you, you'll be in danger.
[...he's just going to slightly float under the dock again, not too much, just a little. Mainly because at this angle, it's tempting to find the nearest chunk of kelp and throw it at his human's smug fucking face.]
no subject
Date: 2024-10-13 01:44 am (UTC)[He's talking to a merman, thanks, that's very different from a fish! Fish don't talk, for one thing, or at least not in any language that humans can understand. Maybe merfolk can talk to fish and actually understand them, though Sampo doubts that very many fish have anything interesting to say.]
[Well, if Gepard was supposed to let Sampo drown according to the laws of his people, maybe he shouldn't be so upset when he finds out that Sampo isn't exactly the most law-abiding person, either. Fishmen in glass houses shouldn't throw stones!]
Mmmaybe you should've, but you didn't! [He says it with a singsong pitch and leans back, casually propping himself up on his hands. Entirely unconcerned.] I guess if you don't want either of us to get in trouble, you'll have to be very careful when you come to see me, right?
[In for a penny, in for a pound, Gepard. If any other merfolk find out that Gepard's visiting a human, Sampo won't be the only person in trouble!]
Besides, it'll be hard for them to do anything to me while I'm on land.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-13 05:06 am (UTC)But that's what it sounds like his human's saying! Which leaves Gepard...
At a loss, especially at the singsong tone.
He scoots a bit further under the pier. Just a little. Hunting for a glob of kelp. A throwable glob of kelp. One that could be wadded into a kelpball and hurled at the head of a stupid human.]
There aren't any humans around, are there? Besides you.
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Date: 2024-10-13 05:19 am (UTC)[While Gepard messes around under the dock however he pleases-- Sampo's not going to question it, who's he to criticize the habits of handsome wet men who grace him with their company-- Sampo tips his head back to look around, checking for any prying eyes.]
Nope! Just the two of us, from what I can see. [And he's very good at spotting people. Comes with the territory of doing illegal things.] Is there something that you wanted me alone for?
[There are plenty of things that he'd like to be alone with Gepard for, only some of which might be physically possible considering their differences in anatomy at the moment.]
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Date: 2024-10-14 02:16 am (UTC)You're an idiot and one of these days your idiocy is going to catch up to you and I won't be able to help you.
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Date: 2024-10-18 04:38 pm (UTC)Hey, careful! My face is too pretty to get cut up!
[His good looks are a critical part of his brand, Gepard! Sometimes a guy has to flirt his way out of disaster, and it's way easier to do that when you've got a nice face. Pretty people really do have it easier in life, it's a sad truth.]
[But now that he's out of shell-based danger, he can latch on to entirely the wrong part of Gepard's sentence.]
Aww, you would help me? I knew you liked me!
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Date: 2024-10-18 05:47 pm (UTC)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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Date: 2024-10-18 08:26 pm (UTC)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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Date: 2024-10-18 10:12 pm (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-10-19 05:51 am (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-10-19 05:43 pm (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-10-19 07:09 pm (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-10-19 08:23 pm (UTC)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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Date: 2024-10-20 02:43 am (UTC)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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Date: 2024-10-20 02:55 am (UTC)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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Date: 2024-10-20 03:23 am (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-10-20 03:39 am (UTC)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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