felix

The air in their house was different as soon as Grian opened the door, something anxious cloying in the air. It was far from the homely feeling Grian was used to upon arriving back to the small house he shared with his boyfriend Scar. It took only a short amount of time to realise why the house felt so wrong and out of place. Scar had not yet called out, Grian knew for a fact he was still at home. It was unlike Scar to not come to greet him a few seconds after he entered their home, with his infectious smile and shining green eyes. It was unlike him to not even do so much as call out to Grian. The second thing that was missing from the normal workings of their house was the most pressing. Grian’s sealskin was gone, the very thing that gave him his freedom, that allowed him to return to the sea when his longing became too much.

Grian was a selkie. He had heard the tails since he was a child, of greedy men who would capture them and hideaway their coats so they could never leave. To take away a coat was to bind a selkie to land, to bind them as husband or wife to the one who had taken it away.

Scar was not those greedy men, he had promised Grian from the start, that he wouldn’t so much as touch his coat without being allowed. Scar was not a liar, whenever Grian came upon land his seal skin was draped over the same chair and never moved. It was missing from its place.

Finally stepping fully into their house Grian closes the door gently behind him. He can only take a few more steps before stopping again, eyes glued to the empty space upon the chair.

“Scar?” Grian calls out, unable to stop his voice from wavering slightly, “Are you home?” a voice does not respond to Grian, instead he is met with the sound of familiar footsteps, only ceasing when Scar is in the boundaries of their living room. His boyfriend does not open his mouth to speak.

“Do you know where my coat is?” with great effort Grian drags his eyes away from the empty space and refocuses them onto Scar. The man’s face is unreadable. It’s unusually for Scar, in all the time that Grian has known him his face was always a clear display of whatever emotions he was experiencing. Scar had always worn his heart on his sleeve, no matter how much Grian found it annoying.

Yet he cannot scrape a hint of emotion from Scar’s face.

“Scar?” Grian tries one last time. His words are met, once again, with footsteps. Scar approaches with the finality of a death bell, a hand coming up to cradle Grian’s cheek when he’s in the vicinity to do so.

Scar’s face is still uncharacteristically blank, Grian can gather no warmth from his boyfriend’s familiar hold.

“I know who you’ve been seeing,” Scar speaks up finally, the worse are enough to make Grian wish he had remained quiet. “I’m not stupid Gri, did you really think I wouldn’t notice your little affair”

Yes. Grian had though he had done well enough keeping him out of Scar’s radar.

“I uh, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” The lie is weak and pathetic, they both know.

Scar scoffs and pulls Grian into a hug. The difference in action to word throughs Grian for a loop, until Scar’s arms tighten like prison bars and he finally understands.

“I can’t let you go,” Scar says softly, his breath ghosting the shell of Grian’s ear, “I won’t let you leave me, not for him or anything else, I won’t allow it.” The embrace appears gentle, the words are spoken softly into his ear, yet nothing about the moment is peaceful. Grian wants to flee, wants to bargain, to scream. If he were a better man maybe he would wish to never cheat on Scar to begin with.