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Sampo had no fear. There was nothing to fear, why should he fear anything when nothing matters? It was simply a ridiculous notion. That didn’t mean that he didn’t dislike things however. There were plenty of things he didn’t like all that particularly much.
Getting arrested was one. Sure it was fun the first few times, but breaking out got boring after the nth time. Besides, it wasn't as exciting as running away was. While it was funny to trick the guards into letting him go or stealing the keys off them, it didn’t get his blood pumping.
It was nothing like getting chased by a certain Captain of the Silvermane Guards. Gepard never failed to bring excitement to their chases, to make Sampo’s heart beat faster. He could never figure out why Gepard made the chase so much more. Sampo certainly didn’t have as much fun with any of the other guards.
Or maybe Sampo just liked Gepard himself. He wasn’t ashamed to admit it, he wouldn’t be the first to fall for the good captain's charms. Though maybe the only one to do so in his circumstance. Sampo doubts anyone could say they fell for a man who was hell bent on turning him in to the law.
Though if Sampo had to name one other thing he didn’t exactly like, it would be touching.
That wasn’t to say that he was some germaphobe. He just wasn’t the touchy–feely type! There’s nothing wrong with that. As a businessman, he had appearances to keep up and meant not getting all buddy with his associates. Some friendly words here and there and the occasional handshake were enough.
(He doesn’t think about how the feeling lingers even through his gloves. The way the touch leaves a buzz under the skin of his hands, one that made him want to scratch until the feeling left.)
Sampo didn’t go out of his way to avoid touch either. It was just convenient for him that most people didn’t feel the need to touch him in the first place. The only times he really got any contact with someone was during fights, when Natasha insists she takes care of his wounds, or when Hook and the kids grab his pant leg to get his attention.
The first two never did happen that often. He was very careful when it came to fights, it wouldn't do to be out of commission when there were deals to be made! So Sampo doesn’t really touch or get touched by people. It suited him just fine, more than fine really.
Honestly, Sampo would have been glad to forget about his little dislike entirely if not for the occasional incidents. He will be the first to admit that his work made him more enemies than friends. However, none of these people could do anything to him by themselves so it was usually a non issue… Usually.
Sampo was on his way to meet with someone who had shown interest in his relics. It was rare nowadays that anyone even gave his products a second look. More often than not he was usually doing ‘resource’ gathering or the like for someone. Not that he minded, money was money and as long as his client had the credits, he would provide.
The conman hummed under his breath to himself as he walked. There was never a better day than finding new clients to sell his goods and services to. When he arrived, he was expecting to see the lone man waiting for him.
However, the man wasn’t alone. Sampo could feel his grin drop. Nothing ruins his day as much as an ambush. He sighs dramatically, drawing three pairs of eyes to him. An exaggerated pout makes it on his lips and into his voice.
“Awww, now what’s all this about?” Sampo whined, “Here I was thinking how lucky I was to have found a new customer. Nothing makes me more upset than a false promise!”
“Shut your trap, Koski.” The words were spat out with a glare. The man who spoke was the one he had naively thought to be a new customer, Nouvel. Rookie mistake on his part he’ll admit.
“Now now, what’s this all about?” Sampo leaned forward, hands crossed behind his back, “I pride myself in my memory y’know? So believe me when I say I don’t believe we’ve met before.”
One of the men standing behind Nouvel rolled his eyes, “Doesn’t matter. What matters is that our employer has a bone to pick with you.”
His eyes narrowed, “Oh… Your employer huh. Well, I’m sure I can figure it out from there. Unfortunately for you gentlemen–”
A gloved hand flew from behind his back to throw down a bomb. Smoke began to fill the alley the moment the bomb made contact with the ground, the men cursed and covered their mouths.
“Motherf-”
“I simply don’t have the time to entertain you today!” Sampo calls, already backing away, “If you want my services however, you know where to find me!”
The conman chuckled to himself as he turned away, missing the way one of the men had pulled out a phone. Just as Sampo was going to congratulate himself on another successful last minute escape, he heard, “Drop it! He’s getting away!”
Drop it? Drop wha–
Sampo didn’t have to wonder for long, when something fell on top of him. Surprised by the sudden weight, he fell on his hands and knees. Trying to rip whatever it was off of himself, he finds his hands tangled in a rope. A net–they had dropped a net on him. He grunted, a quick look at the net found that the edges were weighted down. Sampo grimaced, Well that’s annoying.
Thankfully, they seem to have forgotten that his weapon of choice were blades. It would be easy to just cut himself out of the net as long as he didn’t tangle himself in the ropes. Just as Sampo was reaching for his blades, a hand grabbed him roughly by the shoulder–pulling him up against the rough ropes.
“I’ve got him!” The man yelled, but the conman could barely focus on that. Sampo could feel his muscles seize, tense under the hand that touched him. Before he could force himself to calm down, more hands grabbed at him. His arms, his shoulders, back–by his hair.
By this point, every inch of his skin was burning. He could barely hear the gloating of Nouvel in front of him, something about outsmarting an infamous criminal, but Sampo could care less. His mind was too focused on every point of contact on his skin, even through the clothing. Every moment that passed felt like torture, breath coming out short.
Patient, Smapo reminded himself as he forced himself to relax. He just had to wait…
“Oh? Not fighting anymore? Where’s all that spunk from earlier, huh?” Nouvel taunted. He leaned forward, “Or maybe you’re just scared.”
Sampo suddenly surged forward and headbutted the man, the movement was so sudden that the grip on him slackened–finally. The man wasted no time retrieving his blades from where they were strapped and cutting through the blades. He felt a jittery energy inside of him and he knew exactly how to get it out.
He rose from the shredded rope slowly. A grin in place as he looked at every single person that surrounded him. Sampo didn’t bother to count how many there were, it didn’t matter. For a moment there was stillness, the only sound was his heart pounding in his ears.
Sampo shot forward.
Motion broke out as he set his eyes on his main target. Nouvel barely took a step back before he was pushed against a wall.
“What the–” He groaned.
The pinned man suddenly felt the cold touch of metal against his neck. When he looked up, Sampo’s face was inches away from his. The conman had a wide grin, yet his eyes seemed almost glazed over.
“Now now… I don’t want to accidentally hurt you.” Sampo murmured, “So why don’t you call off your men? Fair deal don’t you think?”
Nouvel’s eyes flickered behind the blue haired man where the rest of the men stood, weapons in hand. There was no telling what the conman would do… “Stand down.”
If it was possible, Sampo grinned wider, “Good choice. Don’t worry, I’ll let you go this time. But…”
He leaned down to speak into Nouvel’s ear, “Keep in mind… I have an excellent memory.”
With that he slowly backed away from the man, glancing around at the men surrounding him. Sampo raised an eyebrow, “Well? I’m sure our business here is over…”
Stiffly the men backed away, Nouvel joined them, and swiftly left the scene. Sampo waited for them to be out of eyesight, until he could no longer hear their footsteps, to finally drop the mask. He felt the adrenaline drain from his body, leaving the lingering feeling of thousands of pinpricks on his skin.
With shaky hands he barely managed to put his blades away without hurting himself by accident. He frowned at how unsteady he was, he should be better than his. It was just some people grabbing him, it shouldn’t have been a problem…
Yet there was no denying the way that Sampo’s breath shook, the unsteadiness of his hands. Sampo pushed the thought away, he was fine. He just needed to get to a safe house. He forced his feet to move, one by one he made his way away from the scene.
It was fine. He would be fine. He had to be–
Someone grabbed his wrist from behind. It felt like getting electrified.
Sampo ripped his arm from the grasp, turning and stumbling backwards. His breath came out harshly, as he glared at whoever touched him. The conman felt his heart jump to his throat when he recognized the head of blonde hair and those blue eyes.
Blue eyes that stared at him with concern. He really did look bad if Gepard was looking at him like that huh.
The blue haired man straightened himself out, clenching his hands into fists to stop the shaking. He mustered up a smile, “Geppie! What brings you around here?”
Gepard furrowed his brows, for once not protesting the nickname, “I was informed of a commotion in the area. Someone said they saw a group of men leave from around here.”
“Ah… You see, it was just a little… misunderstanding.” Sampo said with a weak chuckle, he crossed his arms, “Don’t need to worry! I have everything handled!”
“You… Are you ok?” Gepard asked, reaching a hand out as if to steady Sampo. The blonde paused however, when he saw the way that the conman stiffed at the closeness. It reminded Gepard of some of the Underworld children, those who stiffened when touched–as if they didn’t know how to respond to it.
It was only later that he was informed by Pela what it was, touch starvation. Many of those children survived the Underworld by themselves. Some were lucky enough to find allies and even trustworthy adults, those that didn’t fended for themselves and rarely came in close contact with others. They became unused to touch from other people, let alone physical affection of any kind.
Gepard knew there were two ways that these children responded to touch. A great many of them started to thrive when they began receiving more physical affection from people around them. They seemed much happier and open. But…
There were children who completely avoided being touched. They wouldn’t be receptive to any physical contact, even minimal touch was intolerable to them if it lasted too long. When asked why, they said it hurt. If not painful, it was highly uncomfortable.
The way Sampo was reacting now… It reminded Gepard too much of those children. He retracted his hand and took a step back, relieved when Sampo relaxed a bit. The blonde spoke in a softer tone, “I’m not going to take you in, I promise. I just want to know what happened.”
Green eyes stared at him, he could see Sampos hands clench and unclench. A moment passes, and another, before Sampo speaks up, “It was just a little conflict is all. No one was hurt, I can promise you that.”
“Did it get physical?” Gepard asked gently. He could hear Sampo’s sharp intake of breath.
“Don’t need to be so worried, Gep!” Sampo tried to tease, “There was a little grabbing here and there, but none of them could land a hit on me. I’m perfectly fine!”
But even to Sampo, he sounded unconvincing. He internally cursed himself, he can’t be losing grasp of his mask so easily. Distracted as he was, he startled when he realized that Gepard had come closer again. The conman tensed, eyeing the Captain who was holding out his cape.
“Uh… What’s this all about?” Sampo asked, frowning at the offered piece of fabric. Gepard kept holding up the cape. It was made from thick and dense material, a good emergency insulated blanket for the cold. “Wrap it around yourself, it’ll help. I promise.”
The conman bit his lip, doubting what the Captain said. Yet… Gepard was not someone who would lie. At least, Gepard had no reason to lie to Sampo right now. So Sampo slowly reached out, only to snatch up the offered clothing as if to avoid touching Gepard’s hand for longer than necessary.
Once he had his hands on the cape, Sampo soon realized that it had weight to it. Probably enough to slow down the average person, but apparently not Gepard. He briefly wondered just how fit the Captain was, but the thought left him as soon as he did as Gepard told him to do.
The weight of the cape was honestly relieving. The fabric was smooth, not rough against his skin, and it felt like it was erasing the crawling feeling from his skin. Something must have shown on Sampo’s face, because Gepard chuckled.
Sampo snapped out of his relieved daze, staring at the blonde. He tensed, would Gepard use this against him? The conman knew that the Captain wasn’t one to use underhand tricks, but he didn’t get as far as he did blindly trusting people.
As if sensing Sampo’s wariness, Gepard took another step back. “It’s ok, I won’t breathe a word of this to anyone. I swear on my honor.”
It was only then that Sampo fully relaxed, the blonde took swearing to his honor seriously and would never go back on his word if he swore on it. He wrapped the cape tighter against himself, it really did feel nice. The pressure was grounding, making it easier for him to think about other things aside from the fading tingle to his skin.
Green eyes flickered back to the blonde when he saw the Captain take another step back, “I’ll head back now. ‘Physical disagreement’ should be enough for the report.”
Sampo sighed, time to give back the cape then. Just as he was unwrapping himself from it, Gepard held a hand up. “No, keep it.”
The conman frowned, “But–”
“There’s always spares I can take.” Gepard shook his head, firm in his answer, “Keep it.”
Seeing that Gepard wasn’t going to be changing his mind, Sampo pulled the cape against himself again, “... Thank you.”
The blonde smiled, “It’s nothing. I’ll be leaving now. Get home safely.”
Sampo said nothing as he watched the Captain walk away. There was something warm inside of him, and it wasn’t because of the cape. He’ll repay the captain, he swore.
If a few days later, Gepard found a rose in his office? That was between the Captain and the conman that lingered outside of his window.