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“Our valiant captain has returned!”
Gepard flinched, a hand reaching for his weapon case before he spotted Sampo and his shoulders sank, hand dropping back to his knee. Sampo would guess that just a couple of weeks ago, Gepard would have scoffed at the notion that the sight of Sampo would make him let his guard down. However, that had been before a revealing conversation and a kiss at the Aetherium Wars finale, when everybody else was off playing with their little monsters. Sampo should really thank Giovanni for the accidental opportunity to meet the captain on neutral ground next time they ran into each other. Knowing Giovanni, he would find it very entertaining that he had accidentally been Sampo’s matchmaker. Sampo could even deal with Gepard knowing a little more than Sampo had originally planned about his involvement in the Trailblazer’s heroic tale if it meant that he would now give him that small, almost bashful smile when he saw him.
“How did you sneak past the guards? Aren’t they paying attention?” Gepard asked.
“Don’t be too hard on them. Most Fragmentum monsters don’t walk as silently as your old pal Sampo, so you should be safe.”
Sampo sat down next to Gepard on the blanket spread over hard, stony ground. The requisition tents were thick to withstand the harsh Belobogian weather, so nobody would see a suspicious second figure outlined on the fabric walls of the captain’s abode. Sampo was about to make another joke about Gepard’s troops when he saw that Gepard’s sleeve was rolled up, showing two long, straight cuts, already cleaned and revealing pink, raw flesh.
“Now, now, look at that,” he said, tutting. “You found trouble again even with the Stellaron gone?”
There was still Fragmentum on Belobog, unfortunately, so the trouble would not stop yet. At least Gepard and his soldiers weren’t facing down relentless, growing, unending waves of newly spawned monsters anymore, though.
“Those were out-of-control ancient machines,” Gepard said.
“Svarog should really round these things up.” Sampo picked up a fabric swab and a brown bottle of antiseptic from the first aid kit that sat open next to Gepard.
“I can do it,” Gepard said.
“Of course you could, I would never doubt your survival skills. You have spent too much time out here. I haven’t seen you in too long, though! Since I’m already passing by, I might as well make myself useful.”
Gepard offered his arm, but his brow was knit in a frown.
“Where are you passing by to... ? It’s still dangerous out there in the plains, Sampo.”
Sampo chuckled at the alert tone of Gepard’s voice, a mask for the fact that he was a little charmed. As far back as his memory went, nobody had ever felt protective of him and really, he did not try to invite the feeling. If you wanted to stay alive, it was better to rely on yourself. However, Gepard was just so earnest. A pure heart like him would even want to shield an old crook like Sampo.
“Don’t worry about me. I’ll be fine.” He had drenched the piece of cloth in antiseptic. “Bite your tongue, this might sting, my dear captain.”
But of course, Gepard did not even flinch when Sampo dragged the fabric over the open flesh. Too stoic for that. The IPC could stack rocks for Qlipoth until the heat death of the universe and none of them would ever be such towering examples of the Amber Lord’s path as you could find on Belobog.
“So brave,” Sampo said with an exaggerated sigh.
“It’s not a big wound,” Gepard answered with a shrug.
And, judging by his casual tone, he wasn’t even doing a strong man act to impress Sampo. Sampo raised Gepard’s hand to his lips and kissed his knuckles. The blush that spread over Gepard’s face was visible even in the flickering light of the old miner’s lantern that bathed the inside of the tent in a dull orange light. From gossip around the city, Sampo knew Gepard had had a couple of short relationships, so he was not a virgin, but unfortunately for Gepard, he still acted so innocent that he triggered Sampo’s cat-and-mouse instincts. You just had to bat your paw at a target this cute.
“Is this treatment?” Gepard asked, gaze darting to the side.
“I can do two things at once,” Sampo said, raising his other hand as proof. He had grabbed the bandages from the first aid kit.
Bandaging Gepard’s wounds was quick work. Sampo pulled the strip of cloth firmly around his arm to make sure it wouldn’t slide. It was too much to hope that Gepard would keep his arm still, after all. As he looked up, he saw Gepard watching him with interest.
“Something on your mind?”
“You look like you have practice.”
He did. It was old practice and new. Back in the day, it hadn’t done much. He’d been the sole survivor of that calamity. Not an unusual story for a Fool, either; your brain had to crack just a little before you could truly embrace Aha, and most needed a push. There was no need now to muddy the waters by digging up the old bones buried at the bottom of the lake, though.
“I do, but make sure you don’t get any more impressive wounds to test my skills, Captain. Natasha drafts me to help every once in a while, but she hasn’t turned me into that good of a nurse yet.” Sampo squeezed Gepard’s hand between his own and winked. “Besides, who knows, I might need you in top shape for some vigorous activity out of the field soon.”
Before Gepard could process his words, Sampo jumped to his feet and flitted to the tent flap, raising his hand in a goodbye. His last glimpse was of Gepard with his mouth open and his ears burning red.
-
“What are you up to?”
Sampo held up his hands and gave Gepard his most winning smile. The majority of people were not tall enough to crowd him against a wall, but Gepard was still wearing his reinforced uniform boots that had thick soles to withstand dirt and snow. Since Sampo tended to wear flat shoes when he dressed as a woman, he actually had to lean back his head a little to look Gepard in the eye.
“Nothing! You can ask around,” he said truthfully. “We made a deal that I would tone it down so we could develop our little thing here, and Sampo Koski keeps his promises.” He tugged gently at the sash wrapped around Gepard’s shoulder, the golden medals on it clinking. “Especially if the deal is this good.”
Gepard’s eyes followed his hand, finding the image of Sampo’s red nails against his uniform. He took a quick step away from him. The alley behind the tavern was so narrow his back almost hit the house on the other side.
“Then why are you dressed up like this?”
Even the ever-respectful captain could not keep his eyes from flicking up and down Sampo’s form – for good reason, if Sampo said so himself! He’d gotten really adept at padding the dress at just the right places. The corset, deliberately bound a little too high, actually pushed his pecs together tightly enough that he had a natural cleavage to show off, too. For his make-up, he liked bold colours, wine-red lipstick and thick dark lashes. The blue wig bound into a long braid matched his natural hair colour. Brughel Poisson looked quite dashing these days.
Not that any of this would have been necessary. He would just have to get his mask back at some point if he wanted a perfect disguise. However, that meant dealing with Sparkle. Playing dress-up is more fun, anyway...
“It gets boring wearing the same face everyday,” he answered with an expansive shrug. “Sometimes, it’s fun to see the world through different eyes – and have it see you through different eyes.”
It seemed Gepard could hear that he was honest, but he still looked confused. “I don’t really get that,” he admitted.
“That makes sense. You’re a follower of Qlipoth, after all. Steady, consistent,” Sampo inched closer to Gepard, his hand ghosting over his arm, “hard.”
Gepard cleared his throat, cheeks tinged with a beautiful pink hue once more. “Alright,” he said quickly, grabbing Sampo’s wrist. “You weren’t doing anything illegal, so there’s no reason to detain you.”
“And yet here I am,” Sampo noted with a pout, glancing at the fingers tightly encircling his arm, “in the unyielding grasp of the law.”
“No, I just-” Gepard quickly dropped his hand and looked at him in adorably flustered frustration. “I have to report back to the Supreme Guardian about the assignment, so I should go...”
He seemed reluctant to say the least. Good.
“Kiss me goodbye?” Sampo asked.
At first, it looked like Gepard was about to reflexively deny him, but he closed his already opened mouth in time. This was, in fact, no longer just a dirty little fantasy of theirs, unknowingly shared.
“Oh... yes,” he said and leaned in.
Gepard’s kiss was chaste but firm, a steadying hand tight around Sampo’s shoulder. Sampo turned it deeper, his tongue flicking over Gepard’s lips, into his mouth. As he stepped back and looked up into Gepard’s wide eyes, Sampo grinned and wiped the lipstick residue off Gepard’s mouth with his thumb.
“There. We wouldn’t want a scandal, would we?”
With those words, he opened the tavern’s back door and vanished inside.
-
“You’re on my turf here, Captain! Of course I would notice. But also, I would like for your assignment to be over soon.”
Sampo whistled as he threw his dagger and caught it again, watching a frozen Everwinter Shadewalker crumble into chunks of ice after the hit. Gepard and him did make quite a good team.
“I just wanted to speak to Oleg. I had no idea the Fragmentum was still so bad in this area...”
The guilt in Gepard’s voice rang loud and clear like a bell. Those Fragmentum creatures were the reason, Sampo imagined. They were the echoes of people much, much older than Gepard, but they still looked exactly like the soldiers he had lost, except that their helmets revealed only shimmering ice instead of faces.
“Oleg will fill you in,” Sampo said as he jumped to his side, out of the range of a screeching Frostspawn scratching its claws at him. “But don’t underestimate Wildfire. They do their job quite well.”
“Yes, of course.”
Again, Sampo turned out of the way of a Frostpawn, but this time it was into the path of another Everwinter Shadewalker’s lance. He braced himself for painful impact, but heavy steps fell next to him. Gepard swung the giant guitar case around and slammed it down between Sampo and the lance, which shattered against the hard material. His elemental powers surged along his arm to focus in his fist and a wall of ice shot up like white arrows to separate them from the enemies on the other side.
“Not bad!” Sampo called out, brushing his hand over Gepard’s back as he whirled around him, attaching his magnetic daggers at the bottom of their grips and sending the resulting double-edged weapon flying, separating another Everwinter Shadewalker’s head from its shoulders. “I’m sure glad I have you on my side.”
With the tide stemmed for a moment, Gepard and Sampo easily regained control of the fight – so much so that Sampo even had time to admire the way Gepard hoisted that big case around like it weighed little more than a one-handed sword.
“Alright, seems like we’re all done here,” Sampo said, as the remnants of their enemies melted back into the fractured nothing they had come from.
Gepard set down the case, his head cocked, a contemplative look on his face. “You’re a good fighter,” he said.
“Sampo Koski won’t say no to a compliment! I do have a couple of tricks up my sleeve,” Sampo answered, spinning one of his daggers easily between his fingers.
“You are good enough that you wouldn’t have had to run from my soldiers as much as you did,” Gepard said slowly.
That was true. The softness in Gepard’s gaze, the implication of it made Sampo squirm a bit in his shoes, though. It would have simply been crass and boring to hurt little rank-and-file soldiers for his amusement, so there was no reason to make Gepard think it had been an act of morals from Sampo to spare them. Sure, it might have been useful before if Gepard had believed him to be nice, but Gepard was more than useful to him now and Sampo didn’t want him to get the wrong impression.
“Now, now, I simply wasn’t trying to get in trouble for terrorising the guards of Belobog. You had enough reasons to hunt me down,” he said easily, waving his hand.
“Thank you,” Gepard answered, ignoring his explanation.
He’s really too good for this world. Time to change tactics. Sampo simply smiled in response and slid over to Gepard’s side, patting his guitar case. Luckily, he knew a very good way to distract Gepard.
“Picking a fight with you directly was always more dangerous compared to a squabble with your underlings. A little bit tempting, too, though.” He placed his hand on Gepard’s chest, splaying his fingers over the central metal piece of his armour. “After all, the captain of the Silvermane Guard is very strong.”
The way he drawled the last word was openly lascivious. Gepard stared at him. He really had the most devastatingly pretty blue eyes in the universe, and Sampo had been on enough planets to check. It seemed poor Gepard couldn’t even think of an answer now.
“Don’t keep Oleg waiting too long,” Sampo said, giving Gepard a gentle push against his chest before he skipped out of his reach.
-
“How did you get up here? This is dangerous!”
Gepard, one hand steadying Sampo’s arm on his windowsill, peered past Sampo down at ground many feet below. This apartment, one of several the Landau family owned in the city, overlooked much of Belobog’s central square, owing to its placement on the tenth and highest story of the building.
“Don’t worry, I’m like a cat. If I fall, I’ll land on my feet.”
“If you land on your feet, you’ll still shatter your legs,” Gepard said, shaking his head.
Sampo had to laugh. “So literal,” he joked. “I had to come! Your eternal assignment is over, after all. I figured I might have a chance to steal some time before you run off to your duties.”
He shifted a little on the slanted rooftop he was standing on. Gepard’s hand around his arm grew tighter.
“You could have come through the door.”
“And let everybody know that the captain of the Silvermane Guard is in leagues with Sampo Koski?”
Sampo gave him a smirk, but Gepard shook his head again. “As far as I can say, you kept your promise. We haven’t caught you doing anything wrong lately, so people shouldn’t treat you as a suspect anymore. If I had to hide that I’m meeting you, I wouldn’t be doing it. You’re not a secret I’m keeping.”
How was it that this young buck from a forgotten backwater planet could make Sampo’s heart skip like a record player in a way not even the most silver-tongued socialites in Epsilon had managed? The reward was enough to give being a decent person a try – what a state of affairs! But considering how much fun Sampo was having, he doubted it could be against Aha’s tenants.
“So you’ve told people?” Sampo asked.
The confidence Gepard had displayed vanished.
“Well, no, I didn’t know if you... if that was something you’d like.”
Sampo brought his head very close. The wind up high ruffled his hair, short blue strands brushing Gepard’s forehead and then his cheek as Sampo breathed against his ear.
“Who wouldn’t want it known they are close to you? And I want to be really close to you, ” he whispered, making sure his warm breath met Gepard’s skin in the cold winter night.
“You...”
Gepard jerked back and Sampo laughed. The hand on Sampo’s arm remained, of course. Even embarrassment could not stop Gepard’s protective instincts.
To his surprise, however, Gepard did not fall into red-faced babbling or silence as before. He took a small breath and fixed his eyes on Sampo.
“Do you mean all this?” he asked.
“I told you during the grand finale that I have a soft spot for you,” Sampo reminded him. “Did you forget?”
“No, I mean all these innuendos and little hints. It’s not like I don’t pick up on their meaning!”
Sampo grinned. “I was never under that impression. You blush too easily for that, Captain.” He winked. “But why would I say it if I didn’t meant it?”
“Are you being serious? I need to know.”
Sampo raised a brow, a little confused at this point. “Yes. Why are you asking like this?”
Gepard’s other hand came at him fast as a bullet. He grabbed the front of Sampo’s shirt and yanked him through the open window into the room, Sampo’s knees knocking against the windowsill. Before Sampo could even feel ground under his feet again, Gepard had wrapped his arm around his waist, turned, and thrown him like a sack of dried provisions. Sampo’s back hit something soft instead of a hard storage room floor, though. Blinking as he looked around himself, he realised he was on a bed, and as soon as this had dawned on him, Gepard was already on it, too. One of Gepard’s knees pushed up so far between his thighs it jostled against Sampo’s crotch, and he had pinned one of his wrists to the bed.
“You know, you can only push people so far, Sampo,” he said, his face as red as cherries, but hiding none of his determination.
For a brief moment, Sampo couldn’t answer. The lightning strike that had gone directly through him and left him hard and staring up at Gepard like a hare in a snare made it a bit difficult to talk. Not that he hadn’t gotten people to this point before, but to think Gepard had it in him... Sampo felt justified in his belief that stronger men than him would have gotten weak at the knees. He’d been absolutely sure that if they did end up in bed, he’d have been the one to take Gepard there.
“Is that so?” he asked sweetly. “I wonder what will happen to me if I don’t stop teasing.”
He half expected Gepard to lose his nerve and snap at him, but instead, Gepard crashed their mouths together. They had kissed before, but not like this; Sampo hadn’t known Gepard could kiss like this, shoving his tongue into Sampo’s mouth, biting, pulling at his lower lip with his teeth until it hurt. His guard’s experience was proving handy, too, because he had him locked down so effectively Sampo could barely move a limb.
When he pulled back and lessened his grip, it was only to throw Sampo on his front. With his knees, he kicked Sampo’s legs apart.
He’ll have to take my pants off soon because I’m too hard to be wearing them anymore, Sampo thought distantly, licking his smarting lips.
Thankfully, Gepard was already on that. He had pulled off Sampo’s shoes and undid his belt and the holster around his leg. His pants went in one quick motion, with Sampo obediently lifting one knee to be rid off them sooner. Sampo noticed Gepard hesitate briefly at the lack of underwear and snickered.
“I made it easy for you. Isn’t that nice of me?” he asked.
“This once. I wouldn’t call what you’ve done over the last weeks ‘making it easy for me’,” Gepard ground out.
“I had no idea it affected you like that! I’m flattered.”
Gepard just huffed in response. He pulled off Sampo’s jacket, too, and the remainders of a shirt he was wearing underneath. Even his gloves had to go, leaving him completely naked. Meanwhile, Gepard was still wearing the simple black slacks and silver pullover in which Sampo had found him, at least judging by the fabric sliding against his bare ass when Gepard pressed his bulge against him.
“Now this is just a little unfair, isn’t it? Your old pal Sampo has also been thinking about what you’re hiding underneath. I bet I could-”
His stream of honeyed words was stopped by three fingers pushing roughly into his mouth.
“Suck them,” Gepard ordered.
So Sampo had probably brought this on himself, but that only meant he was thinking of giving himself a medal. Who knew he’d like Gepard talking to him like he was a clumsy recruit? And here he’d thought he was someone who chafed against authority – if authority had always come in this form, maybe he wouldn’t have gotten into so much trouble in his life.
Since he’d been asked so nicely, Sampo gave it his all, eagerly swirling his tongue around the fingers pushing deep into his mouth. However, soon enough Gepard’s fingers were pressing down on his playful tongue, gagging him until Sampo had drool dripping down his chin and trouble breathing through his nose because he was panting so hard.
Gepard pulled out his fingers when Sampo was starting to gag for air. Sampo heard the click of a bottle cap.
“You had lube?” he asked breathlessly, staring at Gepard over his shoulder.
“Hm,” Gepard just made and almost smiled.
Sampo chuckled. “You know, if you just wanted to see me choke on something, there were other options!”
“It would be harder to keep you in check in that position,” Gepard said, one hand clasping tight around the nape of Sampo’s neck as he pushed two wet fingers inside his hole, all the way to the knuckles.
Sampo was pretty sure his eyes rolled into the back of his head for a moment. The matter-of-fact way in which Gepard had spoken, as if he was laying out his battle tactics, made Sampo’s mouth go dry, too.
What Gepard did could only very charitably be called preparation. Sampo had a feeling he’d just wanted to take better aim at his sweet spot, anyway, and he hit it every time like this was target practice at the range. Sampo’s knees almost buckled and his elbows actually did, leaving him face down, ass up, with Gepard’s hand still tight in the back of his neck.
“Ge-Gepard,” Sampo managed with a weak chuckle, tone ingratiating, “if you g-fo on like that, it’ll be d-difficult to hold on.” His voice hiccupped with each thrust of Gepard’s fingers.
“So come. You can come more than once,” Gepard said bluntly.
“I’m not as young as you,” Sampo protested, although in truth he just wasn’t sure that he wouldn’t end up losing his mind if he let go now. He’d be more sensitive after already coming once.
“Let’s take the risk.”
Gepard’s fingers twisted, not letting up pressure, milking his prostate. Sampo’s toes and fingers curled and he came while uselessly bucking against Gepard’s hand. Only when his cock was already dribbling come onto the sheets did he realise Gepard had never even touched it.
The little breath Sampo managed to catch was promptly punched out of him again when Gepard pulled back his hand and grabbed Sampo around the waist, throwing him around to land on his back. Sampo stared up at him, in shock at what he had unlocked. At least now that he got a good look at Gepard’s face, he saw the brush of pink across his cheeks and the tips of his ears, and the outline of his hard cock in his pants. It’d be very embarrassing if Gepard weren’t affected at all.
Gepard spread Sampo’s legs by hooking his hands under his knees, fingers digging into the sensitive skin. He was still dressed, but now he finally pulled down his waistband to reveal his cock – and what a reveal it was.
“You have quite the weapon on you, Captain,” Sampo purred.
Gepard shook his head at Sampo, clearing his throat as he swept his gaze to the side and briefly rubbed the back of his neck. “Are you good to continue?”
Here he was being sweet again, checking in with Sampo. Sampo found fielding that more difficult than being manhandled or facing Gepard’s annoyed frustration.
“Now, I wouldn’t want to leave here owing you a favour – and I do want to see what you can do with that,” he said, nodding at his cock. Clever comments were always his easiest escape.
“Good,” Gepard said, tightening his grip on Sampo’s knees after he had positioned the head of his cock against Sampo’s entrance.
If he’d speared him in one go, Sampo thought he could have dealt with it, but instead, Gepard decided to let him feel every inch as he slowly pressed the entirety of his sizeable cock inside. When he was done, Sampo’s mouth was hanging open as he was gasping for air. Feels like he is up in my stomach.
Then Gepard leaned forward and up, pressing Sampo’s knees up to his chest, and began fucking him in earnest.
Sampo found his hands scrambling uselessly against the sheets, trying to find something solid to hold on to, and eventually hanging on to Gepard’s shoulders because that was the only thing that seemed stable in his vicinity. Gepard moved Sampo’s body like he had no more weight than a hollow doll. The headboard cracked against the solid stone wall as every thrust shook the bed.
The brutal pace Gepard set left no space for any thought, but Gepard damn near bent Sampo’s spine into a circle to kiss him, all teeth and tongue, so speaking was out of the question, anyway. Eventually, Sampo managed to drop one sweat-slick, shaking hand to his own cock, desperately squeezing himself in time with Gepard’s never-faltering thrusts. His whole body seemed to pulse alongside his rapidly beating heart as he panted into Gepard’s mouth.
When Gepard bottomed out once more and then moved his head and bit down on Sampo’s shoulder so hard the skin broke, Sampo blanked out. His body shook with his orgasm as if he’d touched a live wire. As he came down with shuddering breaths, he thought his brain felt like it had been fried, too.
As he blinked himself back to full consciousness, he realised Gepard was watching him, momentarily motionless. When Sampo had caught his eye, he snapped his hips forward again, with sharp, hard movements. Sampo groaned. At this point, he had to assume Gepard had fully rearranged his insides to make space for his ridiculously big cock in there, since he didn’t even feel the ache anymore.
Gepard came with a cute, choked-off little sound, face pressed against Sampo’s neck. Sampo could feel his come drip out of him when he pulled back, lowering Sampo’s legs so he could stretch them out.
Sampo’s muscles protested, but his head was still swimming with bliss. He took a deep breath and passed a hand over his face. “Impressive stamina,” he said, smiling.
“It’s not so much stamina, I was just... you always teased me and ran off,” Gepard muttered.
The anger-fuelled confidence had faded away. As Sampo looked up at him, he found Gepard running his eyes over his naked body – the bleeding teeth marks on his shoulder, the finger-shaped bruises around his knees and on his neck – and look vaguely guilty.
We can’t have that, can we? Sampo grabbed Gepard’s hand, tugging him down towards himself.
“I must admit I was trying to slow-boil you, but I was just laying some groundwork for when I would make the final move! I didn’t expect you to cut in there... no complaints, though, I love surprises.” He placed a peck on Gepard’s cheek. “But if you think this will stop me from teasing you in the future, you may have used the wrong method of punishment.”
Gepard sighed. “I already knew that was a lost cause,” he said.
“The captain is strong and smart also,” Sampo drawled, kissing his way up Gepard’s jawline, his arms loosely draped around Gepard’s neck.
“Very funny.” Gepard hesitated, his hand on Sampo’s waist. “I’m going to get something to disinfect that wound.”
“It’s not that deep.”
“Human bites are dangerous,” Gepard said sternly, sitting up. “You can use the shower, too, if you want.”
“Not a bad idea.” Sampo ran a hand through his tousled hair and sat up, which really made him appreciate how long it had been since someone had gone at him as vigorously as Gepard. He’d be feeling this for a day or two, but it would be a nice reminder. “Right now, I think people could tell what I’ve been up to if I ran out into the streets like this.”
Already perched on the edge of the bed, Gepard hesitated. “Do you have somewhere to be?”
“Oh, you know me, always on the go. Why?”
“I would like it if you stayed the night.”
Perhaps if Sampo had been a dedicated follower of Qlipoth, steadfast and immovable, he could have withstood those puppy eyes. However, his own pleasure-seeking heart was too swiftly swayed. After all, there would have been nothing funny about seeing Gepard’s face drop with disappointment.
“I’m a little too sore to go on any adventures, anyway,” he decided.
“Sorry,” Gepard said immediately.
“Don’t worry. I know better than anyone that everything has its price, and this was a bargain.” Heedless of his still fully naked state, Sampo wrapped his arms around Gepard from behind. “I hope you’ll teach me a few more lessons sometime.”
“We could also just have sex without you riling me up for weeks beforehand...”
“Both is possible,” Sampo said, resting his chin on Gepard’s shoulder with a winning smile.
Gepard looked at him for a long moment. “Does that mean you’re my partner now?” he asked hopefully.
Damn this man. Of course, adding to all his unexpected feats tonight, he did actually manage to make Sampo blush. Sampo quickly pulled back before he could be found out, sliding off the bed and pivoting towards the bathroom.
“I would never turn down a good partnership.”
Over his shoulder, he saw Gepard’s brilliantly happy smile. Sampo closed the bathroom door and shook his head as he leaned against it from the inside. Losing your heart to a dutiful soldier on an up-until-recently doomed frozen wasteland world – good thing he wasn’t broadcasting this to the tavern anymore, since his little play was turning into a cheesy late-night romance. This time, though, Sampo was quite happy to be one of the stars of the show.