Chapter Text
Sampo is humming a cheerful tune as he walks into Peace and Love. It’s a secluded bar hidden in the nooks of Belobog with the oddest name for a bar, and even he has only just discovered this place of fine liquor a week ago.
There’s no bell tinkle that every Overworld store seems to have when he walks through the door. Light music and chatter wafts through his ears, soft yellow lights washing away the darkness outside the door.
And sitting right at the bar, talking to the bartender, is a Gepard Landau, the shield of Belobog. A Gepard Landau out of Silvermane costume and in normal Overworld clothing, to be specific.
“…Huh.” Sampo blinks.
Gepard turns around at the sound of opening doors and pauses at the sight of a familiar criminal.
“Koski.”
Sampo tenses slightly, the cheeriness still hanging on his face.
Normally, this greeting would be followed by Gepard immediately breaking into a chase after Sampo, who would also be immediately running.
But to Sampo’s surprise, Gepard sighs and doesn’t jump out of his seat to arrest him, but turns his head away.
“If you leave now, I will pretend I never saw you.”
Sampo’s eyebrows jump at the unusual dismissive act.
Well. That’s new.
Naturally, he fully enters the bar and walks towards Gepard.
“What are you doing here?” Sampo asks. He briefly considers the risks of being in the same breathing area as the Silverman Captain, his relentless nemesis (he prefers the term “buddies with different ideals,” though the captain refused to admit it), before brushing it away and sauntering to Gepard.
“I’m off duty.” Gepard must be in a really soft mood because he’s actually answering Sampo.
Sampo gasps dramatically, sliding into a seat next to Gepard, “What? You? Our great captain is off duty?” He lowers his voice to a mocking hush, “Are you nearing your end?”
Gepard shoots him a glare but doesn’t do anything else. The bartender was a smart one and has already left their surroundings. Clearly, the man senses some tension between them, though Sampo would like to call it "the familiarity with someone who has been chasing you for years."
Gepard replies to him calmly as he twirls the cup, the ice in his liquor clinking, “As a Silvermane guard, we are advised to regularly relieve our stress with suitable methods. Lady Bronya has warned me that I have reached my limit, and thus I am here.”
Sampo’s eyes flicker up and down in a quick scan. The captain does feel different than usual: The strength within him is no longer unwavering, and despite the straightness in his entire posture, the man’s exhaustion is apparent in Sampo’s eyes.
“Huh,” Sampo sits beside him, apparently unworried that he could be arrested at any moment, “Didn’t know you could actually live outside that outfit. You were almost boring with all that ‘duty’ and ‘protect’ talk, heh.”
Gepard looked like he wants to punch Sampo, but thankfully didn’t.
“There were many cases of how soldiers have suffered greatly because of the sheer stress they’ve accumulated over time,” Gepard says, “It would be foolish to sacrifice my own mental and physical well-being, especially if I need it to complete my duties. Pushing my body beyond the limits when I don’t need to will only create unnecessary troubles for everyone.”
Sampo tsks, “No mention of duties when you’re around booze, pal! That’s the unspoken rule of drinking!”
“Shut up, Koski.” Gepard takes another sip.
Sampo dramatically closes his mouth shut, props his elbow on the bar table, rests his face on his palm, and chooses to stare at Gepard’s face.
(He doesn’t usually have the chance to do that, okay? And it’s a good-looking face!)
Gepard is steadfastly looking straight ahead and ignoring Sampo’s examination. Golden hair frames his face softly, bringing out the faint red across his cheeks and ears from the alcohol. His throat bobs as he tilts his head back and swallows the last of the liquor from the glass, the neck pale from where the constant layer of the Silvermane outfit usually covers.
He must be in a really tired moment, Sampo thinks, it’s almost making him seem vulnerable.
He whistles shamelessly, grinning at the side-eye it brought before speaking again, “And this is how you destress? Drinking?”
“No,” Gepard sets his glass down, as cool as ever. He pauses briefly, like the follow-up to a grand reveal, “I prefer sex.”
Silence follows as Sampo’s mind processes those unexpected words.
Then, his face jerks up from the palm violently.
“What?” Gepard asks, unperturbed. Internally, he’s relishing the reaction he stirred from the usually-smooth man.
Sampo looks at him as though he has turned into a Fragmentum monster, “You do sex?!”
Someone coughs in a corner. Probably the bartender.
Gepard hushes him, “You’re disturbing the others.” The captain doesn’t even look panicked at how Sampo’s casually ruining his reputation.
Sampo widens his eyes dramatically but still lowers his voice, “I don’t think that’s the problem right now?” He points at Gepard with a trembling finger, “Your character setting shouldn’t have this part!”
“Why are you so surprised?” Gepard raises an eyebrow and bats the finger away, “I am also a human, and we all have sexual desires, no matter how much we try to suppress them. It is also very useful in helping me relieve quickly, so it won’t affect my duties much either.”
He said that with such a straight face that Sampo can’t help but laugh, “No offense, but anyone who sees you would think that you’re a virgin. Who would possibly guess that the Gepard Landau would find random chicks to fuck every once in a while?”
“No,” Gepard’s mouth is twitching, “That’s not entirely true.”
He pauses again, and Sampo is very certain that it’s for dramatic effect (because he does it everyday), before finally saying, “I select qualified men to fuck me every once in a while.”
Sampo chokes on his own spit.
Amidst his outburst of coughing, he hears laughter. Low, quiet, but definite laughter from the captain. It’s a pleasant sound.
Gepard stops chuckling and looks at Sampo’s ruffled figure, who quickly sits back up straight and smothers down his clothing’s creases.
“Just so you know,” Sampo says defensively, “I’m not against gay people or whatever. Just taken by surprise.”
“What, my character setting doesn’t fit?”
“Well, yeah.” Sampo grins instinctively at the callback.
“But now then?” Gepard tilts his head, “What do you think now then?”
Sampo shrugs, “Eh, I can roll with anything. Don’t care much about who is being what as long as I know.” It’s true. He’s seen too much in his travels to freak out being around men who like dick. It’s not as amusing as wreaking havoc.
But then again, one would not expect Gepard Landau to be so…sexually active.
He feels a slow heat creeping up to his neck at that thought, and he subconsciously raises a hand to cover it.
“So, who are you looking for tonight then?” Sampo asks, trying to regain his usual cool air.
Gepard raises an eyebrow, “That’s none of your business.”
Gepard’s feeling bold. He usually does when it’s these days. He is aware of the certain desires he attracts from certain people. The signs are always obvious in his sharp observations.
And now, it’s interesting to see hints of those on the man in front of him.
Gepard leans slightly forward, “Why, you’re interested too?”
“Wh-?” Sampo leans back. He can feel his flush shooting up at that unexpected question, “What? No! Well, you’re hot, but I’m not like I-want-to-do…sex-with-you kind of attracted to you right now!”
“Right now, you say?”
Sampo splutters something unintelligible in response, the smile still hanging on his face, though it seems much more stiff than usual.
Gepard’s eyes narrow and zeros on Sampo’s own eyes, which shift away in response.
Seconds later, Gepard pulls away. He leans against the back of his bar chair and silently examines Sampo a while longer.
Sampo was feeling quite defensive for some reason. He’s feeling like he’s being pried apart by the other man, “What?”
Realization falls onto Gepard’s face before it turns into a small knowing smile, one that Sampo swears is filled with kindness, the kind that an elder show when a younger person asks something ignorant.
“You’ve never done it, have you?”
Sampo’s grin freezes, “Huh?”
“You’ve never done sex.” Gepard reiterates, this time with an air of certainty, “That is…unexpected.”
“How–” Sampo looks at him incredulously, “How did you come to that conclusion?”
That’s definitely a smug smile on Gepard’s lips, an unusual but surprisingly fitting look for the man, “Sampo Koski. A virgin. This is certainly surprising.”
“Not as surprising as what you are,” Sampo shoots back, not bothering to hide anything. He’s finding himself on the lower end of their banter, and it’s certainly a rare experience in addition to all the other new stuff he’s going through in the last few minutes, “You’re supposed to be the untouchable shield of Belobog!”
“Well, I certainly had my own misunderstandings of you, so don’t feel so hurt.” Gepard replied. He gestures at the bartender, who is on the other side of the bar, to show that he’s paid his tab before standing up languidly.
“Hey! Where are you going to now?” Sampo is quickly recovering from the shock of everything and stands up to follow him, the initial goal of coming here for a drink thrown to the far back of his mind.
“Well,” Gepard says, as calmly as one would talk about the weather, “I’m going to find someone.”
“Oh,” Sampo’s hair ruffles against the cold wind as they step into the darkening city streets, “Right, I forgot about that.”
Gepard exhales loudly in exasperation as he tugs his coat around himself closer, “Why are you still following me? You’re not afraid I’ll take you down right now?”
Sampo laughs, “Don’t ruin your own night, Geppie! I’m sure you need to get laid very badly right now, don’t let me interrupt you!”
Geppie’s – no, Gepard’s – face darkens at the nickname but doesn’t arrest him immediately.
Sampo does have a point, he needs to get laid. Badly.
Gepard turns around and looks at Sampo. Despite the long-lasting conflict between them, he had to gradually admit throughout the many years of cat-and-mouse that Sampo Koski, the charming bastard he is, does indeed, fits his taste in men. A lot.
More importantly, he’s not blind enough to detect the other man’s attraction to him. And maybe it’s his malfunctioning mind, but he’s feeling very amused and pleased by that small finding.
He usually doesn’t find someone inexperienced, much less a virgin, for nights like these, but he’s feeling intrigued and exploratory.
So naturally, he opens his mouth and allows the invitation to roll out,
“Then, do you want to fuck me tonight?”