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From an early age, Selkie children are warned to be wary of humans. Told that if a human finds a selkie, the human will take their seal skin away, hiding it and trapping the poor selkie on dry land, sometimes for years until the selkie is finally able to find their skin again and return home. It was always told as a cautionary tale; a warning to keep selkie children away from the shores where humans resided.
But the stories only made Icarus more curious about humans. What were they really like? What did they sound like? How did they communicate? They couldn’t possibly be as terrible as the stories tell. His selkie husband, Blue, did not share Icarus’s enthusiasm; in fact, he was downright terrified of humans. His own brother had gone missing many years ago and everyone thought he had been taken by the humans. Blue was terrified of losing his husband the same way and just generally terrified of humans. He did not understand how Icarus could be so bold, so curious, so unafraid. Icarus was blinded many years ago in an accident and Blue knew he would be unable to find his skin if it were taken from him. But still, nothing Blue could say nor do could mitigate his husband’s enthusiasm; so they compromised. Blue stayed close to Icarus when he ventured close to the beach, listening to the humans’ communication sounds, but Blue made sure they didn’t get too close as to be caught.
Sadly, Blue’s caution was not enough when the storm hit. They were on one of the explorations when it did. It was swift and violent, coming out of nowhere. Neither of them was prepared and soon they were separated. They tried to keep a grip on each other's hands, but the current was too strong and they were wrenched apart.
Icarus awoke later, feeling… strange. He was in human form, but he could feel something on his body that wasn’t his seal skin. He patted around to find it, but something on his finger stopped him. He heard a soft voice speak in a human language “Oh, hey, you’re awake. Are you alright?” Icarus did not understand the words, but the tone sounded both relieved and concerned. Icarus turned towards the voice. He did not know how to respond or what was going on. But the old stories were lingering in the back of his head. He just touched around for his skin again, this time more frantically. “Are you looking for your coat? I found you unconscious on the beach wearing it. And nothing else… I brought you to the hospital because I didn’t know what else to do. I, uh, also lied to the doctors and said I was your boyfriend so they'd let me stay with you. I just felt like… I don’t know.” Still concerned. A little bit flustered. Guilt. Icarus also recognized one of the words the human had used.
“Coat.” He repeated. The voice chuckled. There was movement, some shuffling then Icarus felt his seal skin pressed into his hand.
“So you can talk. Guess English isn’t your first language. Are you from another country?” Icarus turned to where the voice was coming from now. He felt the slightest warmth of something passing in front of his face. “Are you blind? The doctor said you probably were. Why were you swimming only wearing a coat? Sorry, am I asking too many questions?” Blind… He nodded. Blind was the human word for it, he thought.
“Blind. Coat.” He nodded like that explained everything. He wasn’t trying to convey anything, just repeating the human's words. There was another chuckle.
“Let’s start over. I’m Bim. What’s your name?” A pause. “Oh. Right. Blind. So were you out there alone? Is there anyone we can call?” Icarus thought for a moment. Alone…? Blue! He tried to stand but the something on his finger pulled off, there was a loud sound, Icarus tumbled forward into soft, warm objects. Limbs. A torso. “Hey. Hey. It’s alright.” A click then a new voice spoke.
“Is everything alright?” Very concerned. Panic.
“Yes, it’s alright, Doctor. Sorry, he woke up and we’ve been talking. He wanted to leave.” The arms, assumably Bim’s, guided Icarus back to the soft surface he’d been on before.
“Well, since you’re awake now, your boyfriend here said your name is Isaac Marks. Is that correct?” The supposed doctor asked. Sadly, Icarus did not understand the question, so he just nodded. Bim spoke again.
“Sorry. He does not speak English very well.” Then Bim started speaking a completely different language. “ Je sais tu peux pas me comprendre. Mais, travailler avec moi, s'il tu plait, d'accord? ” Icarus blinked but nodded again. He had no idea what was going on, but it was clear from Bim’s tone he meant no harm and he had brought Icarus his coat. There was the sound of movement then the doctor spoke again.
“I am going to check over your body to make sure you are alright. Do you understand?” He was closer and spoke more slowly this time. Body. Icarus thought for a moment, clutching his skin to his torso. His body. Bim spoke again.
“ Où vont les étoiles la nuit de Noël? ” It was clear Bim was just babbling at this point, keeping up the act of translating for Icarus. But Icarus trusted Bim. He nodded slowly.
“Body.” He repeated back. The Doctor began to touch Icarus. Carefully and gently but his hands were cold. Why was this human so cold? Bim’s hands were warm. Bim was warm.
Blue awoke on the sand, hot and alone, slivers of light shining onto his face. He blinked, shielding his eyes from the sun as he looked around his surroundings. He had washed ashore under some kind of wooden structure. He could hear the sounds of humans moving and communicating above, but none seemed to be aware of his existence. His seal skin was also still wrapped around his body, confirming in his mind that no humans knew he was there. He stood up slowly, looking around for his husband. But Icarus was nowhere to be found.
Blue’s heart began to pound wildly in his chest. What if Icarus was lost or hurt? What if humans found him? What if they hurt him or took his skin or-
Blue took a deep breath. Panicking would do no one any good. What he needed to do was look for him. Hopefully, Icarus was okay. He is blind but clever. He’ll be alright until Blue could find him. With those reassurances in mind, Blue pulled his skin tightly around himself and headed inland.
Icarus held Bim's hand tightly as the human led him away from the hospital. After the doctor had apparently given Icarus a clean bill of health, Bim had brought him clothes (they smelled like Bim, so Icarus assumed they were probably his) and signed him out of the hospital. Bim squinted in the afternoon sun before looking at his new friend to see if he was okay. Icarus had no reaction to the sun. He did, though, pull his coat tightly around himself despite the heat. Bim wondered why ‘Isaac’ had such an attachment to the coat. Now that they were out of the hospital and Bim had time to breathe, an old story his grandmama used to tell him tingled in the back of Bim’s mind but he couldn’t remember anything in detail. Something like seal mermaids? “So, uh, do you like ice cream?” Bim asked his new friend. Icarus did not respond, just kind of staring unseeing at the world around. “Well, it’s a warm day so let’s get ice cream then maybe we can go back to the beach and find your family.” He still did not respond verbally, but he squeezed Bim's hand slightly in response to the word family. Bim was a little glad ‘Isaac’ was blind, so he was unable to see the slight blush that danced across Bim's cheeks. It was still odd to him to find this man nude and alone with only a fur coat on. Was it some weird cult thing? Was he in some kind of danger? Should Bim not take him back? “So, uh, why were you naked on the beach?” Bim posed cautiously. ‘Isaac’ for not respond. Bim sighed and led him to the ice cream place. “Do you at least know what kind of ice cream you want?” No response. “Uh, two vanilla cones please,” Bim told the seller. Bim fished money out of his pocket, carefully handed ‘Isaac’ the ice cream and led him to a bench. ‘Isaac’ just stood next to the bench, not moving, ice cream in his hand. Bim chuckled. “Sorry. We’re by a bench. Sit. Do you have ice cream where you’re from?” Bim gently sat ‘Isaac’ down and the blind man shook his head.
“No. Ice Cream?” he replied. He really was cute, Bim thought.
“It’s food. You eat it. Do you, uh, need help?” ‘Isaac shook his head and brought the ice cream to his mouth. He took a small bite, and his eyes seemed to light up. “Good, right?”
“Ice cream.” Isaac repeated. The two young men sat quietly for a while, eating their treats before a young man ran up to the pair.
He was tall, with dark messy hair and eyes the colour of deep water. He was also nude under a fur cape like ‘Isaac’ had been. The stranger looked at ‘Isaac’, clearly knowing him and relieved to see him safe and unharmed. Once he had verified ‘Isaac’ was indeed unharmed, the stranger turned angrily to Bim before saying something in a language Bim did not understand but could tell the words were not kind. He then grabbed ‘Isaac’s hand, probably to lead him away. ‘Isaac’, surprised to hear the man’s voice, turned to the stranger and spoke in the same language. They conversed for a few moments, the stranger seeming to calm down. Then ‘Isaac’ sighed, stripped off the clothes, handed them back to Bim and smiled. In a soft voice, Isaac said: “Thank you, Bim. Until we meet again.” Then he gently touched Bim’s face and kissed his cheek before the two nude men ran off.
Bim was left on the bench, dumbfounded. What had just happened? His face was red and one word popped into his mind. The stories his Grandmama used to tell him. Fair folk who could turn into seals and wore their seal skins as coats on land. If their coat was stolen, they would be stuck on land. Selkies. Suddenly it all made sense to Bim. He had befriended a Selkie. Bim slowly walked home with the clothes.
And Bim did see the men again. Turns out Isaac’s real name was Icarus and he actually liked Bim. The other man was Blue, Icarus’s selkie husband. The two slowly learned English, enough to converse at least, enough to indicate that they were interested in polyamory, more so Icarus but Blue did slowly warm up to the human. It also helped that Bim’s friend Bing was actually also a selkie who remained on land by choice to stay with his human boyfriend Harrison. And Blue’s brother. So he could translate and help them learn English. He was very happy to see his brother again and that he was finally starting to warm up to humans enough to date one. Icarus was happy too. And to be honest, so was Bim. His boyfriends were seal fæ and he loved them. They were all very happy.