Chapter Text
Danitz knocked on the door of the seemingly tiny flat that Gehrman was supposed to be staying at. He was surprised that someone like him would be living in this crowded and run down area, even if temporarily, but this was the address he had been given.
Danitz had been scared witless when the headless spirit had appeared in his cabin on the Golden Dream and demanded a gold coin in exchange for a letter. A letter that only said that the sender could be found at this particular address for the next two months, signed with a simple "— Your soulmate" in Gehrman's crisp handwriting.
Well, it certainly made sense for that terrifying messenger to belong to a man like Gehrman Sparrow…
As much as Danitz had wanted to go to Oravi Island and meet his soulmate immediately, he had taken too much shore leave already. He knew Captain Edwina would let him go if he asked but he did not want to burden her any more. And besides, they had been quite far from Oravi Island when he had received the letter. So, Danitz had to wait a couple of weeks to go to Gehrman's location.
And now he was there, patiently waiting for Gehrman to open the door, hoping the bond hadn't betrayed Danitz's slight nervousness at seeing his soulmate after what seemed like ages but was less than a month.
The door opened. Danitz looked up from where he had been fidgeting with his sleeve and opened his mouth to greet his soulmate, but the words died before they made it past his lips.
The man who had opened the door had the sun weathered skin of the Rorsted people, soft hazel eyes under thick eyebrows, an anchor beard and dark wavy hair.
Danitz checked the address on the letter again. He was sure he was at the correct place, and his intuition as a Hunter would have told him if he had strayed.
"I'm looking for Gehrman Sparrow?" Danitz said hesitantly. He didn't want to let people know of his connection to Gehrman but he couldn't think of anything else to say. It wasn't like his soulmate to be wrong.
The stranger nodded. "Come in, Danitz! I'm Sinbad Voluntier."
Immediately on guard, Danitz asked, "You recognise me?"
The man, Sinbad apparently, only smiled and gestured for him to step inside. Cautiously, Danitz did. Better to have a confrontation inside than in the narrow corridor.
The apartment was, as Danitz had expected, small — smaller than the luxurious suites he had stayed in with Gehrman. The "room" they were in seemed to be a kitchen, living room and study all combined into one, with the two doors presumably leading to a bedroom and bathroom. Danitz quickly took in the details, now even more doubtful that Gehrman was living here, until his gaze fell on a familiar trench coat and half-top hat hanging on the coat rack.
He turned to face Sinbad, who had closed the door behind himself and — seemed to be preparing tea? How Loenese of him.
"Where is Gehrman? And how did you meet him? Did he kidnap you to be a servant, too?"
The man looked up from where he was taking out cups and raised an eyebrow, amusement clear in his tone as he asked, "'Too'?"
Dogshit! Danitz scrambled to justify himself, "I mean, you clearly know Gehrman, he gave me this address and that's his coat and hat there. But he isn't the type of man to have many friends, especially since I am sure he didn't know anyone in Rorsted before coming here. So you can only be like me, someone he met by chance who then got swept up in his current, helping him as he did his… crazy bounty hunting."
At that moment, Danitz felt amusement and something else he couldn't quite pinpoint from the soul bond, strong enough to indicate that his soulmate was probably in the same city as him, closer than he had been in weeks. His excitement at the confirmation of their proximity almost made him miss what his 'host' said next.
Sinbad chuckled, his soft eyes crinkling. "Crazy bounty hunting, you say? But it makes money," His voice changed, got sharper, darker, familiar at the next words, "Doesn't it, Mr. Fifty-Five Hundred Pounds?"
A bolt of dread shot through Danitz at the tone and the nickname — a nickname that was only used by one man in particular. He suddenly remembered that Gehrman had the ability to change his face and appearance, even being able to turn into a petite woman. Combine that with the gentlemanly behaviour and the familiar clothes and…
"Gehrman?! Are you Gehrman?!"
It was an incredibly bold assumption, but it wasn't out of the question. Danitz had been paying attention to news regarding his soulmate and there were rumours that Gehrman Sparrow had last been spotted on a ship headed to Oravi Island, but there had been no incident involving the bounty hunter on this island since. It wasn't unreasonable to assume that the man had changed his identities and was laying low for some reason.
'Sinbad Voluntier' smiled and even with the different face, even if this grin was wider and warmer than Gehrman's small smirks and barely there smiles, Danitz thought he could see hints of Gehrman in the way one corner of his mouth lifted up before the other.
"That was honestly faster than I had expected, even if I did give you a hint." The man who had to be Gehrman took the kettle off the small stove, prepared the tea and brought the two cups over to where Danitz was still standing at the door, gaping at him.
"Please, Danitz, sit," he said, handing one of the cups to Danitz. He took it mutely and sat down in one of the two chairs near the table pushed against one wall, staring at the man in front of him.
Gehrman said 'please'? Despite his polite gentleman thing, he has never said that to me, even after finding out we were soulmates. What is going on? And he is acting so… cheerful, too. Dogshit! Is this really Gehrman!? But he did kind of confirm it right now, didn't he?
Gehrman met his eyes, still with that unfamiliar yet familiar smile on his face. Danitz could now tell that the second emotion he was feeling from his soulmate was mischievousness. Gehrman Sparrow and mischief. Most pirates would be quaking in their boots.
"This face is 'Sinbad Voluntier'. Gehrman Sparrow isn't here for the time being."
"Huh? But you are Gehrman right? M-my soulmate?" Danitz couldn't understand why Gehrman was still using a different face in front of him, there was nobody else here with them.
Gehrman — or should he call him Sinbad right now? — sighed, and Danitz must have been imagining the fond exasperation in that sound, because he couldn't imagine hearing Gehrman sigh like that.
"Yes, Danitz, I am your soulmate." He said as he pulled down the neckline of his shirt — a loose beige one in the style favoured by natives, completely unlike Gehrman's usual crisp white button-downs — exposing the rooster imprinted on his skin. Seeing the soul mark settled something within Danitz and he took the rare opportunity to look at it for as long as his soulmate let him. Which wasn't long at all, because it seemed like barely a second had passed since Danitz fixed his gaze on it, before it was being covered up hastily.
A wave of embarassment-shyness-mortification flowed down the bond and he looked up at his soulmate in confusion only to find his cheeks dusted with a delicate red. Danitz's brain almost short-circuited from seeing his usually calm and collected soulmate blush, even if it was with a face he was unfamiliar with.
Why is he embarrassed? And enough for him to blush?! What did I do?
Sinbad cleared his throat. "Anyway, you already knew that I can change my face, why are you shocked?"
"Your face, yes, not—" he waved his hands to indicate all of Sinbad, soft and casual in a way Gehrman never was, other than when he had been sick — "this!"
His soulmate only took a sip of his tea, which did nothing to hide the mirthful twinkle in his eye. "Whatever do you mean, Danitz?"
Danitz felt like he would combust. Gehrman hadn't spoken his name as many times during their time travelling together for a month as Sinbad had taken within the last five minutes, and never in such a normal, casual way. When Gehrman deigned to call him by his name, it was either a silent demand or a possessive claim.
"Dogshit, that! I mean that!" he blurted out. "Its like you're a completely different person. Gehrman isn't this friendly."
Danitz would be more afraid of offending Gehrman with his words if he hadn't spent a week with the man after their knowing. He knew that although his soulmate did take some pleasure in intimidating him, he never actually meant any of his threats since Danitz had never felt any negative emotions towards himself during their interactions.
"I am not Gehrman right now, I am Sinbad." That made absolutely no sense but sure, Danitz will think more about this when he wasn't distracted by the smile on his soulmate's face — just knowing that it was Gehrman seemed to be enough for his heart — and the delight-amusement he could feel through the bond. "And Sinbad is friendly."
Danitz blinked. "There's no one here though, you don't need to act."
His soulmate only shook his head. "Acting is necessary for digestion, so yeah, I do need to act."
"Digestion?" What does acting have to do with the digestive system?
Sinbad's eyes widened slightly. "Your captain didn't tell you about the acting method?"
"The what?"
"Huh, no wonder you're a shit Provoker." Sinbad muttered, putting his cup down on the table.
"Hey!"
His soulmate ignored his indignant cry, instead focusing hazel eyes — that were suddenly more penetrating than they had been — on Danitz. The teasing smile was gone, replaced with a considering look that wouldn't have been out of place on Gehrman's face.
"How long have you been a beyonder? And how much time did you spend at each sequence?"
Although confused at the sudden change in topic, Danitz answered honestly. "I drank the Hunter potion thirteen years ago, when I was eighteen, and spent around three to four years at sequences 9 and 8." He paused for a bit at the surprise he felt from the bond, but continued. "I could probably try to advance to sequence 6 now but I haven't thought much about it. What about you?"
"Wow Danitz, you look pretty young for someone so old," Sinbad exclaimed, making him squawk in offence.
"Thirty-one is not old! How old are you?"
"I drank my sequence 9 potion when I was twenty-two."
"And you're now a mid-sequence so you must also be—"
"That was last July."
Sinbad smiled beatifically. Danitz gaped. Dogshit! I was being bullied by a man almost a decade younger?!?!?! And more importantly—
"How haven't you lost control yet?"
Sinbad's expression turned serious again. "The acting method."
Danitz's brows furrowed. That again? What even is that?
Sinbad met his puzzled look with a patient one of his own. It reminded him of Captain Edwina, although it was more open and warm than hers. "You must have been told to 'grasp' the potion, right? To assimilate its abilities? What did you do towards that aim?"
This, Danitz knew. "I used my abilities for hunting, provoking and setting fires — doing what I thought Hunters, Provokers and Pyromaniacs are supposed to do."
"That's a start, but it goes deeper than that."
What followed was an analogy of castle and intruders, an explanation of acting principles and digestion that made Danitz's brain hurt from the gravity of it. This information was invaluable to any beyonder, and his soulmate was handing it to him so freely.
"So your current sequence has to do with changing appearances and acting as different people, which is why you are 'Sinbad Voluntier' now…"
Sinbad rewarded his conclusion with a grin. "Exactly! Just like 'Gehrman Sparrow' was a cold and crazy pirate hunter with a veneer of politeness, 'Sinbad Voluntier' is a friendly yet forgettable fellow who volunteers at the Oravi Hospice Foundation."
Danitz felt something cold sink inside him. The way Sinbad was talking made it seem like 'Gehrman' was as much as an act as 'Sinbad' was. If that was indeed the case, then who was his soulmate really?
Sinbad's grin dimmed, no doubt sensing his turbulent emotions. But he didn't seem to understand the cause, since he then said, "Do you not like 'Sinbad'?" A thread of worry-unhappiness crept down the bond, startling Danitz before it vanished quickly. "Luckily, I haven't yet solidified this persona much, so you can tell me if you have a specific way you would like me to act?"
The stone in Danitz's chest sank further. He is basically asking me what I want his personality to be, isn't he?
"I just want you to act like yourself…" he said softly as he met unfamiliar hazel eyes, trying to convey his sincerity through his voice and emotions.
Sinbad's expression turned a little strained, reflecting the confusion-unease-guilt-distress that Danitz felt through the bond before it was squashed ruthlessly. "Danitz, acting as myself won't help with digesting my potion." He hesitated before adding, "If it helps, Sinbad is closer to 'me' than 'Gehrman' was."
"Oh."
So Gehrman Sparrow really was an act.
Danitz tried to cogitate, not wanting his soulmate to feel his emotions. He could think more about how everything he thought he knew about his soulmate was a lie later, when he wasn't in such close proximity to the man himself.
He took a sip of the tea his soulmate had brewed, but it had gone cold. He drank it anyway, and placed the cup on the table with a soft thump.
Not knowing what else to say, and desperately wanting to distract himself from how his world seemed to shattering around him, he said, "You mentioned volunteering at a hospice? How is that? And what else have you been doing since we parted ways?"
Sinbad smiled at him in relief. "Yeah! I won't say that all the work there is great, but…."
And so, Danitz listened to his soulmate talk about the hospice, the patients he took care of there, and other mundane things like how he liked the pastries from this one local bakery, or the stray cats that tended to wander around the apartment. He tried his best not to find Sinbad's chatty nature jarring, to not draw comparisons between the two faces of his soulmate, because there was ultimately no point in doing that when neither were the real thing.
Instead, he focused on how Sinbad clearly talked about his sweet tooth that Gehrman had done his best to hide, how he scrunched his face when mentioning a coworker who smoked excessively, how his eyes twinkled and darted towards Danitz's chest when he mentioned seeing a rooster, saying that it reminded him of Danitz.
This was the most Danitz had ever heard his soulmate speak at once, and even if it was just an act of amiability, even if it was only to further digest a beyonder potion, he was glad to have had the chance to listen. And if the comort-warmth-contentment he felt through the bond was anything to go by, his soulmate felt the same. It felt like their roles were reversed, with Danitz interjecting only occasionally while Sinbad talked about anything and everything he had experienced on Oravi Island.
It was not much, but it helped Danitz remember that there under the facades of 'Gehrman Sparrow' and 'Sinbad Voluntier' was a man who couldn't — who hadn't — hidden everything about himself, whose very soul was connected to Danitz's own. He held on to this piece of knowledge tightly as the hours passed and it was time for him to leave.
At the door, Danitz turned around to face Sinbad who had walked the handful of steps it took to reach the door with him. As he took in the unfamiliar yet gentle face, every emotion that he had been suppressing till now threatened to blow up in his face. Despite standing across from his soulmate, he suddenly felt terribly lonely.
'Sinbad is friendly', he had said…
Danitz reached out and wrapped his arms around his soulmate. Sinbad startled, jerking away for a split-second before he relaxed and slowly returned Danitz's embrace.
"Goodbye," he whispered before letting Sinbad go and walking out the door. He could feel Sinbad's heavy gaze on his back as he walked down the corridor towards the staircase.
Danitz did not turn around.
He needed to get away from his soulmate, far enough away to not leak every emotion he felt down the bond as he thought about everything he had just learned about Gehrman.