[Oh wow, now comes the embarrassing part, somehow this is worse than being carried in his idiot's manly arms into the water, what the heck, what the fuck. He came here to say, "I'm having problems reading what the hell you're trying to tell me, we need a better plan." And now here they are.
He stalls for time, of course. His tail roughly brushes against Sampo's legs, just, back and forth.]
I had problems understanding your notes. [Well, there it is.] We use pictographs? [He's going for it, just, admiring Sampo's not-his-face, some part of him that's not his face, explaining.] And I'm also rather...damp, so I ruined quite a few notes before I figured out a way to dry my hands with sand well enough to get them out of the bottle. [Yep.] And not to mention, if I'm deep enough I can't see the sun so I don't know what time it is if we work off of that. [Yeah. Yeah, he's starting to feel much less like a mystical legend of the ocean, mysterious and powerful, and more like a really dumb dude.]
Change of subject for a moment- [Enough about that.] We can get back to telling time in a second, but do you have anything like...fishing nets? We like to use those to make our hammocks, but as that requires stealing from a human we usually make do with kelp and weeds- it's more traditional, but the fishing nets are far better for our purposes.
[So Sampo hadn't really felt like Gepard's idiot up until this point, because he was worried about the paper getting wet but somehow completely forgot that Gepard is also wet. That's. That's a big thing to overlook, he gave paper to a fish and expected there to not be any problems? Is he stupid? Did he actually get brain damage from that hypothermia?]
Oh.
[Yeah, he's feeling Big Dumb right now. He doesn't know how deep merfolk live, but apparently deep enough to not be able to see the sun, so that also makes sense for the whole telling time thing. Maybe merfolk have a different way that they determine time? Something that works that far underwater? Why didn't he consider the possibility that they live too deep to see the sun, he knows that they try to avoid humans.]
[Gepard mercifully changes the subject before Sampo's ego can take an absolute pummeling.]
Fishing nets? Oh! Yeah, there are a ton of them up in Boulder Town. People fish all the time.
[It's like, half the economy of this place, technically. Island people do a lot of fishing, even in cold and turbulent waters.]
I have to run some things back up to my doctor friend, so I could get some nets for you if you'll be okay for a little while? I can run back up to town and be back in a little over an hour, maybe?
[He'd be hustling, but, y'know, he's got motivation. His aquatic boo is going to hang around for a while, this is basically like hosting a friend and not having blankets for them.]
Please, don't rush on my account. [He doesn't know human speeds but that seems fast? Not excessively so, but definitely hustling speed for people. Gepard's not a legs expert, he doesn't understand the ground in the same way a human does, but he's seen people rushing about and he's got an idea of how fast a person generally goes.
But it's nice. It's exciting. Sure, he's breaking so many laws at the moment, and, sure, he wishes it was under different circumstances like not hurting his tail like an idiot. But a sleepover with his, uh. Friend? Really nice. Very exciting.]
I wouldn't want you to hurt your legs after I- well, hurt my tail, like you slip and fall and then where would we be? And if you draw too much attention from hurrying, someone might find this place and we'd have to find somewhere else to meet.
[ :c And what would they do then! How many coves are there on this island? This should not be his priority! He's already breaking a lot of laws, why is he gearing up to break more, Sampo Koski is a bad influence. Truly terrible. What is this. From an innocent, law abiding merman to whatever he is now.]
Are you worried about little ol’ Sampo? [He puts a hand over his heart.] Ah, never fear. I’ll be extra careful, just for you!
[He couldn’t allow something as silly as a slip or nosy neighbors keep him from his merman friend, could he? After all this trouble he’s going through to keep meeting with him? Hopefully he’ll hear good news from one of his inquiries and then they won’t have to meet so clandestinely— he’ll be able to follow Gepard into the wide blue sea, never to be bothered by land folk again.]
Please be patient and wait for me. I’ll be back soon!
[There’s no greater motivator than trying to impress your crush. Don’t worry, Gepard, he’ll be back as soon as he can, bringing the medicine to Natasha and carrying back a pack full of fishing nets, plus gear for him to stay down at the cove overnight. He needs to have a sleepover with his favorite fish, after all. And, of course, the good doctor was pleased to get her shipment so quickly, and not suspicious at all.]
[He's somewhat submerged when Sampo returns, maybe just enough Sampo can't notice him, but the second Sampo returns Gepard's head pops up from beneath the water. He's here, he didn't go anywhere, he just needed to have a good soak.]
You're here! Welcome back. [That might sound excited, but he's excited, so. He swims as close as he can, which is a bit difficult given his tail, but he manages. (It's like walking on a sprained ankle, not that Geaprd knows what that's like.) This has definitely been a fucking slippery slope from 'mysterious enigmatic figure of the deep' to 'friendly fish' but it's fine. It's not like it's going to hurt anyone, probably. Maybe.]
You brought quite a bit with you. [Can't even fucking pretend to not be curious.] More than I expected?
[For a moment, when Sampo returned, he thought that Gepard had left-- there was no handsome merman visible from the shore. But then that blond head pokes up from the waves, proving that he hadn't left, he'd just been soaking for a little while to soothe his poor tail. Sampo would never admit it out loud, but he's relieved to see that pale head again.]
I'm here! [He hops down the rocks with his burdens, depositing some of them up the beach where it's still dry. The netting, he brings down to the water for his fishy friend.] I brought the net that you wanted. Is this enough? I got extra, I wasn't sure how much you needed.
[Because he wouldn't want to bring too little netting for Gepard to make his hammock and either have to have the poor guy shove himself into a small bed or have to go back up to town for more.]
The rest of the stuff is so that I can stay for a while! If you're stuck here, you might as well have company, right?
[So much stuff! A lot of it neat! He takes the netting with gratitude, admiring the make of it-]
That's more than enough. Thank you. We make- [He gestures with his free hand, a shape like a pocket or a bag.] -beds like this to keep us from drifting off into the ocean. The water cradles us, but without something to anchor us we might wake up somewhere we never wanted to be. Something like that has happened to me more than once.
[But that doesn't matter! What matters is...]
I'm glad you'll be here with me. It feels like it would be lonely if I was the only one in here.
That makes sense. We wouldn’t want you floating off overnight!
[Who knows where the tides and currents would carry him? Especially not with his tail injured.]
I’ll have to sleep higher up on the beach, otherwise I’ll get swamped when the tide comes back in. But until then, we can get to know each other a little better, right?
[Really become friends. Like him, Gepard, he wants you to be happy to see him when he gets his tail and yeets himself into the wild blue yonder.]
I know you aren’t supposed to talk to humans, but can you tell me a little bit about what it’s like living in the ocean?
[He’s already breaking mer law just by talking to Sampo, so in for a fish penny, in for a fish pound.]
[But here he is, swimming nice and close, because when he sleeps for the night he'll have to dive underwater - and deep enough so that he's not easily spotted, should someone else creep down into Sampo's little cave. So they need to enjoy their close time while he can.]
It's...nice? We have a city. I was told there was more, once, before we were forced to the north. I don't know how true that is or not. I-
[Where to begin?]
It's...not as dry as you're used to? [Terrible.] It's louder than you think. [Awful.] It's- honestly, I don't know what I should say. So much of it seems like it's the same sort of thing you probably do, but some of it is so different.
[What a rousing endorsement of your own hometown, Gepard. Really selling it to him, showing it in its best light. Sampo laughs, enjoying the depiction despite its terrible presentation.]
Well, what's it called? It has to have a name, right?
[And it would be useful to actually have a name to put to the place, rather than just referring to it as the mermaid city or something. Merpolis? New Mer City? Sampo could come up with a suitably annoying name if Gepard didn't have one on hand.]
Is everyone who lives there as pretty as you?
[But that can't really be true, he's just saying it to make Gepard blush. There's no way that there could be a whole city as pretty as him, someone as pretty as Gepard is a rare thing. You don't run across a true ten every day, nevertheless a whole gaggle of them.]
[wet, loud, and in the north makes him cringe, smile a little bit sheepishly, because- well, yes. But also no. But also no. And also he's not really good at talking about where he's from. He's not used to having to explain water to a human, who has legs and does leg things.
The name thing is easy enough.]
Belobog.
[But it's the flirting that gets him to submerge ever so slightly, looking ever so slightly away, maybe blushing shut up, shut up, fins fanning in an ever so slightly perturbed (sure, let's go with that) way.]
Indiscriminately flirting with everyone you meet is a very bad habit, Sampo.
[Is his flirting indiscriminate, Gepard? Because it's been very focused so far, falling pretty much entirely on blond mermen with strong arms and, apparently, an appetite for blackfish.]
Is it? I'd hate to be rude! I guess I'll just make sure that my flirting isn't indiscriminate, then.
[Don't worry, Gepard, he can be very discriminate with his flirtation.]
I should start building good habits right away. You'll help me, won't you?
[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.]
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2024-10-20 06:51 pm (UTC)[Oh wow, now comes the embarrassing part, somehow this is worse than being carried in his idiot's manly arms into the water, what the heck, what the fuck. He came here to say, "I'm having problems reading what the hell you're trying to tell me, we need a better plan." And now here they are.
He stalls for time, of course. His tail roughly brushes against Sampo's legs, just, back and forth.]
I had problems understanding your notes. [Well, there it is.] We use pictographs? [He's going for it, just, admiring Sampo's not-his-face, some part of him that's not his face, explaining.] And I'm also rather...damp, so I ruined quite a few notes before I figured out a way to dry my hands with sand well enough to get them out of the bottle. [Yep.] And not to mention, if I'm deep enough I can't see the sun so I don't know what time it is if we work off of that. [Yeah. Yeah, he's starting to feel much less like a mystical legend of the ocean, mysterious and powerful, and more like a really dumb dude.]
Change of subject for a moment- [Enough about that.] We can get back to telling time in a second, but do you have anything like...fishing nets? We like to use those to make our hammocks, but as that requires stealing from a human we usually make do with kelp and weeds- it's more traditional, but the fishing nets are far better for our purposes.
no subject
Date: 2024-10-20 07:38 pm (UTC)Oh.
[Yeah, he's feeling Big Dumb right now. He doesn't know how deep merfolk live, but apparently deep enough to not be able to see the sun, so that also makes sense for the whole telling time thing. Maybe merfolk have a different way that they determine time? Something that works that far underwater? Why didn't he consider the possibility that they live too deep to see the sun, he knows that they try to avoid humans.]
[Gepard mercifully changes the subject before Sampo's ego can take an absolute pummeling.]
Fishing nets? Oh! Yeah, there are a ton of them up in Boulder Town. People fish all the time.
[It's like, half the economy of this place, technically. Island people do a lot of fishing, even in cold and turbulent waters.]
I have to run some things back up to my doctor friend, so I could get some nets for you if you'll be okay for a little while? I can run back up to town and be back in a little over an hour, maybe?
[He'd be hustling, but, y'know, he's got motivation. His aquatic boo is going to hang around for a while, this is basically like hosting a friend and not having blankets for them.]
no subject
Date: 2024-10-22 01:54 am (UTC)But it's nice. It's exciting. Sure, he's breaking so many laws at the moment, and, sure, he wishes it was under different circumstances like not hurting his tail like an idiot. But a sleepover with his, uh. Friend? Really nice. Very exciting.]
I wouldn't want you to hurt your legs after I- well, hurt my tail, like you slip and fall and then where would we be? And if you draw too much attention from hurrying, someone might find this place and we'd have to find somewhere else to meet.
[ :c And what would they do then! How many coves are there on this island? This should not be his priority! He's already breaking a lot of laws, why is he gearing up to break more, Sampo Koski is a bad influence. Truly terrible. What is this. From an innocent, law abiding merman to whatever he is now.]
no subject
Date: 2024-10-26 05:02 am (UTC)[He couldn’t allow something as silly as a slip or nosy neighbors keep him from his merman friend, could he? After all this trouble he’s going through to keep meeting with him? Hopefully he’ll hear good news from one of his inquiries and then they won’t have to meet so clandestinely— he’ll be able to follow Gepard into the wide blue sea, never to be bothered by land folk again.]
Please be patient and wait for me. I’ll be back soon!
[There’s no greater motivator than trying to impress your crush. Don’t worry, Gepard, he’ll be back as soon as he can, bringing the medicine to Natasha and carrying back a pack full of fishing nets, plus gear for him to stay down at the cove overnight. He needs to have a sleepover with his favorite fish, after all. And, of course, the good doctor was pleased to get her shipment so quickly, and not suspicious at all.]
I hope you weren’t lonely while I was gone!
no subject
Date: 2024-10-27 12:54 am (UTC)You're here! Welcome back. [That might sound excited, but he's excited, so. He swims as close as he can, which is a bit difficult given his tail, but he manages. (It's like walking on a sprained ankle, not that Geaprd knows what that's like.) This has definitely been a fucking slippery slope from 'mysterious enigmatic figure of the deep' to 'friendly fish' but it's fine. It's not like it's going to hurt anyone, probably. Maybe.]
You brought quite a bit with you. [Can't even fucking pretend to not be curious.] More than I expected?
no subject
Date: 2024-10-28 01:38 am (UTC)I'm here! [He hops down the rocks with his burdens, depositing some of them up the beach where it's still dry. The netting, he brings down to the water for his fishy friend.] I brought the net that you wanted. Is this enough? I got extra, I wasn't sure how much you needed.
[Because he wouldn't want to bring too little netting for Gepard to make his hammock and either have to have the poor guy shove himself into a small bed or have to go back up to town for more.]
The rest of the stuff is so that I can stay for a while! If you're stuck here, you might as well have company, right?
no subject
Date: 2024-10-31 01:13 am (UTC)That's more than enough. Thank you. We make- [He gestures with his free hand, a shape like a pocket or a bag.] -beds like this to keep us from drifting off into the ocean. The water cradles us, but without something to anchor us we might wake up somewhere we never wanted to be. Something like that has happened to me more than once.
[But that doesn't matter! What matters is...]
I'm glad you'll be here with me. It feels like it would be lonely if I was the only one in here.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-03 07:29 pm (UTC)[Who knows where the tides and currents would carry him? Especially not with his tail injured.]
I’ll have to sleep higher up on the beach, otherwise I’ll get swamped when the tide comes back in. But until then, we can get to know each other a little better, right?
[Really become friends. Like him, Gepard, he wants you to be happy to see him when he gets his tail and yeets himself into the wild blue yonder.]
I know you aren’t supposed to talk to humans, but can you tell me a little bit about what it’s like living in the ocean?
[He’s already breaking mer law just by talking to Sampo, so in for a fish penny, in for a fish pound.]
no subject
Date: 2024-11-07 03:14 am (UTC)[But here he is, swimming nice and close, because when he sleeps for the night he'll have to dive underwater - and deep enough so that he's not easily spotted, should someone else creep down into Sampo's little cave. So they need to enjoy their close time while he can.]
It's...nice? We have a city. I was told there was more, once, before we were forced to the north. I don't know how true that is or not. I-
[Where to begin?]
It's...not as dry as you're used to? [Terrible.] It's louder than you think. [Awful.] It's- honestly, I don't know what I should say. So much of it seems like it's the same sort of thing you probably do, but some of it is so different.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-11 07:23 pm (UTC)[What a rousing endorsement of your own hometown, Gepard. Really selling it to him, showing it in its best light. Sampo laughs, enjoying the depiction despite its terrible presentation.]
Well, what's it called? It has to have a name, right?
[And it would be useful to actually have a name to put to the place, rather than just referring to it as the mermaid city or something. Merpolis? New Mer City? Sampo could come up with a suitably annoying name if Gepard didn't have one on hand.]
Is everyone who lives there as pretty as you?
[But that can't really be true, he's just saying it to make Gepard blush. There's no way that there could be a whole city as pretty as him, someone as pretty as Gepard is a rare thing. You don't run across a true ten every day, nevertheless a whole gaggle of them.]
no subject
Date: 2024-11-12 01:35 am (UTC)The name thing is easy enough.]
Belobog.
[But it's the flirting that gets him to submerge ever so slightly, looking ever so slightly away, maybe blushing shut up, shut up, fins fanning in an ever so slightly perturbed (sure, let's go with that) way.]
Indiscriminately flirting with everyone you meet is a very bad habit, Sampo.
no subject
Date: 2024-11-13 04:42 am (UTC)Is it? I'd hate to be rude! I guess I'll just make sure that my flirting isn't indiscriminate, then.
[Don't worry, Gepard, he can be very discriminate with his flirtation.]
I should start building good habits right away. You'll help me, won't you?
no subject
Date: 2024-11-13 05:02 am (UTC)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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Date: 2024-11-20 01:37 am (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-11-20 02:50 am (UTC)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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Date: 2024-11-20 03:54 am (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-11-21 03:24 am (UTC)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.
no subject
Date: 2024-12-03 04:27 am (UTC)[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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Date: 2024-12-11 03:33 am (UTC)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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Date: 2024-12-12 04:36 am (UTC)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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Date: 2024-12-15 03:21 am (UTC)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.
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Date: 2024-12-16 02:38 am (UTC)[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
Date: 2024-12-21 09:57 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2025-01-09 05:50 am (UTC)[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.]