Cryptid Enthusiast

This was, like, monumental. Luc was reminded of his first proper callback after an audition, the thrill of something new and positive so overwhelming that excitement almost turned into nerves. He was trying to be chill about it, though, even if it was a big deal, so that Maggie wouldn’t feel like it was such a big deal. But it so was. Luc’s first encounter with the supernatural that wouldn’t be horrible or scary or leave him with an injury. Not to mention that he was sort of overwhelmed by how warm his chest was with all of the trust Maggie was giving him. Even waking up at the crack of dawn had been no issue, anticipation driving him out of bed without as much as a single snooze. 

Fittingly, the sky was gorgeous, the sun not quite having started rising but close to it, blue and yellow merging beautifully on the horizon. The light reflected off the ocean, waves lapping at the rocky beach, empty except for Luc and Maggie. He was having a hard time not pulling up his phone, snapping photos like a mom at graduation but since this was a huge secret thing he was being let in on, Luc refrained. “And we’re still, like, a hundred percent sure we wanna do this because I’ll be totally fine if we just take a seat and watch the sunrise?” Luc assured Maggie, sounding genuine even though he did really want to see his friend’s other form, just as she had offered. 

—

Maggie didn’t know why it mattered to her so much. In the handful of friends she had gathered for herself, very few had revealed themselves to be totally, completely, one-hundo-percent human. Those she had known before the period she was quasi-affectionately referring to as ‘the Selkiening’ had donned their human disguises, not taking them off for her for even an instant. She’d forgiven, she’d understood, but she’d not forgotten the wave of secrets that had revealed themselves, nor the sour taste of a simple mistruth that accompanied it. 

Enter: Luc. His friendship mattered to her. It had come quietly, simply, and all at once. They had needed lights in their life— her, mourning the world she’d thought she’d known and the people she’d thought lived with her within it; him, mourning a love that should have stayed, but had been unkindly ripped away. She refused to build their friendship on a lie, despite the potential dangers. Showing him the seal was a must. He would know then that there was more to her than the silly artist he’d befriended, and there was much more to the town and world he dwelled in. 

Daybreak was the best time to do a risky thing like turn into a literal seal in front of someone on the beach. Most people were still tucked up in bed, shielding themselves from their responsibilities with a pile of blankets and the ancient whispered incantation of five more minutes. Maggie had carefully shepherded Luc to the craggly patch of beach, making sure he didn’t slip on the rocky shore, or get eaten by a killer clam emerging from a cave. And still, after waking up ass-crack early and journeying to a part of the beach even an axe murderer probably wouldn’t dare go, Luc was offering her an out. 

She mustered a bright, if a little forced, smile. “I appreciate it, Lulu… but this matters to me. Plus, then you’ll know how to find me in a crowd of seals. You never know when that’ll come in handy…”

___

Maggie didn’t seem too nervous about this whole thing, which helped, but Luc totally suspected her of hiding any anxiety for his benefit. He sure hoped she wasn’t anxious but considering how fresh the realization of her true self still was, how much Maggie was still learning for herself, Luc couldn’t imagine this was a decision she made lightly. There were times she would hesitate before showing off her more personal art and now, what was more personal than this? Luc’s heart swelled again, tempered only by the tentative smile on Maggie’s face. There were the nerves. 

Her words did assure him, though. As curious and honored as Luc was, this wasn’t a ‘for Luc’ thing, or it definitely wasn’t supposed to be. He was here for Maggie and as long as she was doing this for Maggie, too, he was happy. “Got it. That’s all I needed to hear. And I would hate to lose you in a crowd of seals. Is that the proper term, you think? Like, they have the murder of crows thing– we can look it up later, actually.” Shutting up, happy to have expelled just a tiny bit of energy with that brief ramble, Luc shrugged off his coat to put it down on one of the dewy rocks before taking a seat. The sweater would be enough to keep him warm, along with all of this adrenaline, especially with the sun coming up soon. 

“Stage is all yours,” he said softly, smiling just as gently, arms wrapping around his knees as he gave Maggie all the time she needed. 

—--

Why did her hands suddenly feel sweaty? And why was her stomach twisting itself into a knot? And why was every bone in Maggie’s body telling her not to do the one thing her heart was telling her she needed to? Maybe it was some innate sense of self-preservation—a trait inherent to selkies, whose shifting could be stolen as easily as an article of clothing could be walked away with. Or maybe it was the fear that tangling Luc up in the world of shifters was more dangerous than it was worth. No, he wouldn’t get hurt by knowing her secret. It wasn’t like selkies were prone to losing their minds and biting people, and even if they were, a selkie bite didn’t make a selkie. But she couldn’t promise him that every shifter wasn’t a danger. And as for protecting… She’d tried protecting Wyatt through the intervention of others, and what good had that done? 

Worrying didn’t change the fact that Luc was perched on the rocks in the early morning sunshine with a smile that was just as gentle and warm. 

Maggie let go of a shaky breath. It would be fine, she promised herself as she crouched down and opened her backpack. To all the world it would have looked as if the woman had merely pulled out a jacket. Soft gray fabric that looked like corduroy or well-loved flannel, with splashes of darker gray dappled across it. Unlike most every other item within her wardrobe that had been met with a casual irreverence, the jacket remained pristine, without a paint stain or ink blot staining it. She held it in front of her carefully for Luc to see. “This is… my pelt.” She began, her voice wavering slightly. “It’s disguised with magic so it looks normal, and we can bring it around to charge it up… with more magic. It needs magic so we can… you know… change.” She drew the pelt back to her chest and closed her eyes for a moment before slowly easing herself into its embrace. 

Once, the shift terrified her. The ringing in her ears, the feel of her body going numb as if she’d been dunked in ice water, only to come back foreign and unfamiliar. But now? It was beginning to feel like coming home at the end of a long day with amber lights warming the path inside. As gentle as a mother’s embrace. There wasn’t fear anymore, when the ocean filled her ears, and the hushing chant of the waves swallowed her up. She belonged to the ocean, and it to her. She and the pelt were cut from its depths. Her legs tied up in a tail, her arms tucked in, her hands softened to flippers. The hood of the jacket swallowed up her face to hide safely inside. A seal sat on the stones where Maggie once stood.

Large dark eyes blinked back at Luc. Hi… It’s me still… Still your friend Maggie… The creature’s whiskers quivered as it stretched its neck forward and pressed its snout against his shoe.

—-

Luc was doing what amounted to a very dedicated impression of a puppy being told to sit and stay, scared to do anything that might jeopardize this or make Maggie feel bad for some reason. He didn’t want to think of her like a skittish animal for obvious reasons but he was definitely behaving like she was. Oops, mental note to address that later. But really, how was he supposed to react to his first ever ‘come down to the sea to watch me change into an actual seal’ encounter? There weren’t how-tos online for this. So Luc straightened his neck as if it would allow him to see into the backpack sooner, watching Maggie take out a very soft looking jacket that Luc immediately wanted to touch. They totally weren’t at the asking to touch her special jacket level yet, though. 

Sorry, the pelt. Luc’s eyes widened, as if he was trying to see the thing better, trying to spot the magic within it. “Cool,” Luc replied dumbly because what else was there to say? It really was freaking cool. Making sure his smile was still present when Maggie’s eyes fluttered open again, Luc found himself leaning forward without meaning to as her arms slipped into sleeves. And then slipped into… fins? No, flippers, right? Somehow, his eyes managed to go even wider as the gentle transformation took place right there. Magic. Beautiful magic that made Luc’s stomach flip over, like the first time he’d seen Avatar or The Grand Budapest Hotel in theaters only tenfold - no, a hundredfold - stronger. 

Luc hadn’t noticed the tears brimming in his eyes until the moist snout was pressing against his shoes and his chuckle came out all wet. “Hi,” Luc choked out, slowly sliding down the rock to bring himself closer to Maggie, her dark eyes staring up expectantly. “I don’t… do I pet you? I wouldn’t normally pet you, obviously, but I can’t exactly hold your hand now or anything, either,” Luc rambled uncertainly, mouth still cracked in a smile and the whole thing coming with a nervous, and slightly tearfilled, laughter. Figuring Maggie would just tell him off, Luc hesitantly reached for the smooth top of her head, letting his palm rest on the surprisingly furry feeling texture. 

“Oh, that’s way different than it looks,” he stated, as if Maggie wasn’t aware, shaking his head in pure awe. “Wow, I’m… god, sorry, that’s so silly.” Luc used his free hand to wipe at his eyes, sniffling in amusement. “You look amazing.” 

—-

She wondered when it would stop being strange, feeling her body knit itself into something completely different and opening her eyes to see the world anew. The one thing Maggie hated was the color. After a whole lot of googling (at least fifty tabs, two of which were documentaries), she had begun to amass what could only be called sealxpertise. And, apparently, nature had nerfed the sweet seal’s ability to see color. It was bothersome to her to see a world she knew was vibrant and technicolor in shades of too-bright white, gray, and black. For all the joy a swim in a torpedo-shaped blubbery body could provide, it still left her wanting… Was she greedy for that? Probably.

At least the strangeness of it all was dampened by the presence of Luc. The guy looked like he was gonna dissolve into happy tears as he stared at his friend, the girl, the seal. Maggie wasn’t sure what it looked like to him when she’d slipped on the pelt and become something else. She would have to ask him when her ability to communicate wasn’t dampened by a seal’s awkward tongue. I am very cool, thank you for noticing, she squeaked before galumphing forward to use his legs as her own personal pillow. 

If there were rules that dictated selkie decorum, Maggie didn’t know them. She was probably the least cultured, least sealvilized selkie in all selkiedom. Maybe that was what her mother wanted: to have a daughter that was more human than seal, just in case the sea came calling for debts unpaid. But the tide always rolled in; secrets never stayed secret forever. Now, what was appropriate was dictated by Maggie, not a pod. And what was appropriate was for Luc to get to see the seal. And give her pets. She tilted her head into the palm of Luc’s hand, her whiskers tickling against his arm. Silly is okay. I have a PhD in silly, remember? Did I tell you I didn’t know how to swim as a seal the first time? I kinda drifted out to sea—wait you can’t understand me. You don’t speak seal. SHIT. I didn’t think this through… 

Somewhere down the beach, another seal barked. Maggie turned in the direction, trying to peer with those great saucer eyes to see if there was a pod nearby. That wouldn’t necessarily be a problem for her, but for Luc… She turned herself around so she could watch the stretch of beach and make sure no one came to bother them.

— 

There was a special sort of feeling reserved for when you managed to earn a kitten’s or a wild cat’s trust, especially if you got it to feel safe around you, the first cuddle or nuzzle an actual godsend. Luc had been lucky enough to experience it more than once thanks to his mom’s unrelenting mission to save every cat she could but he hadn’t expected to feel that same emotion tenfold at any point in his life. But that was exactly what Luc experienced when Maggie’s surprisingly heavy head rested gently on his legs, her eyes sparkling. 

Wonderful noises had replaced words and Luc couldn’t help but chuckle, giving Maggie an apologetic smile as the meaning behind her barks went entirely uncomprehended. “Totally,” he answered, adding a sage nod for theatrical effect - hopefully he hadn’t agreed to something too stupid. Even if he had, worth it. Maggie’s attention was snatched by a bark sounding from farther away and Luc tore his eyes off the wonderful seal he had the privilege of knowing, not finding the culprit. They must have been much farther away. 

“Come on, go show off. Seals can swim super fast, right?” Luc encouraged, giving that wonderfully soft head one last ruffle before getting to his feet and moving closer to the shoreline. “I would get in and join you but it is absolutely freezing. I will dip my toes in, though.” Kicking off his shoes and stuffing his socks in his pockets, Luc grinned back at Maggie. “You first.”

—-

She was going to need someone to invent one of those collars from Up that translated animal noises into English. The inability to communicate was… inconvenient to say the least. At first, she had assumed it just came with the turns into an animal territory. But then, Wyatt shot that particular theory all to shit when he’d admitted her beloved Mister Gator could speak the whole damned time and had never bothered to do so. Whatever great-great-great-times-a-hundred grandparent that had become the first selkie hadn’t been kind enough to pass the talking gene along. Rude of them… At least Luc was cool about it, his apologetic (if still a little wobbly from tears) smile telling her he’d understood not a word and did not care a bit.

There weren’t any other seals nearby. Good. The selkie turned back to study the human. Luc was (and she thought this with all the love in her heart) a magnet for the wildest shit in the world. She loved him, despite it and for it. Maggie hesitated to leave him alone on the beach. If she did, a rogue wave would come and drag him out to sea, or he’d get eaten by a passing whale. The problem in doing so was that turning into a seal and staying on land was much less impressive than turning into a seal and being in the sea. Her whiskers twitched in consideration before she gave a confident MmmmerPHhhh!, backed up, and galumphed towards the edge of the rocks.

It was hard to catch her reflection in the water, the lapping waves morphing her features in ripples and foam. Beneath, the sea was dark and deep. It called out to that little piece of her soul she had a stranger to for so much of her life. Maggie closed her eyes and dove. The water was summer-warm, welcoming her into the waves. She darted though the water, a sleek torpedo slicing through the currents. A moment later, she popped up above the surf. To Luc, she probably looked like a beach ball bobbing on the water. HIIIIIIIIIII!!!! Oh, she hoped he could see her… 

Something moved out of the corner of her eye. Down the bright white strip of beach, a blob of gray was moving. Galumphing. It stopped, barked, splayed against the rocks. That’s right, just stay waaaaay over there… that’s my friend. Mine. Go away. 

Hopefully they stayed away. Maggie hadn’t really gotten her fighting flippers, after all…

___

Overjoyed when Maggie agreed with his idea, Luc followed his friend closer to where the waves crashed against the sand, practically giggling (fine, literally giggling) at how she was moving across the uneven surface. Like a very cute, very inconvenient for dry land, dark beach ball. Maggie wouldn’t blame him for laughing, surely - she had to know how funny and ridiculously cute she looked flopping down the beach. And then she more than made up for the giggling inducing motions as soon as she hit the water. The was nothing clumsy about the way her body dove through the water, quickly vanishing from sight and leaving Luc to chase shadows that might have been his friendly seal or a trick of the light. 

It drew Luc into the sea, helped him ignore his chilly toes as he ventured a few steps into where the waves could lap at his feet. His eyes peered against the bright light being amplified by the sea, waiting for the appearance of– there! Luc’s grin reappeared once he no longer had to focus on trying to spot a seal zooming around underwater and he gave her a big wave. Maggie was fast. 

Luc didn’t even bother to turn his head at the sound of another bark, too focused on not losing Maggie as her adorable head bobbed in the lazy waves. Luc was regretting not bringing swim trunks, wishing he could wade in all the way and just join Maggie, screw how cold the water was. Even if swimming in the ocean was a slightly scarier thought than paddling around in a public pool. Luc had never gotten into the surfing scene or anything like that back in California, never really got the hang of dealing with the waves at more than just waist depth. He would have tackled it for Maggie, though. Maybe at a later date - he didn’t really feel like taking a bus or taxi home all soaked. “Go further,” Luc encouraged with a gesture of his hand, wanting to see just how fast she could go in the deeper parts of the ocean. With his shouting and excitement, Luc unknowingly roused the other blob of gray sharing the beach with them, its form huffing as it started plopping its way closer to Luc, whose eyes were fully focused on finding Maggie again. 

—-

Suddenly, she didn’t quite like being so far away from shore. 

The blob on the shoreline that Maggie was positive was another seal was taking up her attention. It made her skin (well, fur, she supposed) prickle. Her mother had warned her that she might become more protective of things that belonged, in some way, shape, or form, to her. She had assumed this meant things like her pelt, or her art, or even her bike. And yet, the thing that ate at her the most was her people. Sure, she’d get a little more irked than she used to if someone lingered too close to her. But sirens blared in her mind every time someone posed a threat to a friend. Even if the threat was more of a nuisance. The solutions the dumb little seal voice in her head provided were not exactly ideal. Biting people, after all, was frowned upon in most polite society. 

Luc’s voice was carried on the breeze out to her. Go further! he cried. Entertain him! her heart said. But her eyes watched the seal on the shoreline. There was a rumbling in the water… It took Maggie a moment to realize it was coming from her—growling. She was growling. Wasn’t that fun? A wave lapped over her head, obscuring her view for just a moment. A moment was enough; along the craggly shore she watched as the seal moved once more in Luc’s direction. 

A roar cut across the water. Shit. 

If she hadn’t been worried about Luc getting mauled by an honest-to-god-real seal on the shore, Maggie might have taken a moment to appreciate how much better she’d gotten from her first time swimming as a seal. She was getting stronger. Each move of her body propelled her faster and faster through the blue. It wasn’t perfect yet—swimming against the current was always harder—but it was getting better. By the time she got to the shore, the seal was close enough that she could make out the familiar splotchy coat and snaggletoothed, crooked whiskered mug of her least favorite seal in the whole fucking ocean. 

Bowie. 

That fuck. 

The selkie practically launched herself out of the water and onto the rocks, desperate to beat Bowie to Luc. 

—

Maggie’s head disappeared for a moment and Luc whooped, laughing as it quickly appeared again, so unbothered by the force of the waves where a human like Luc would have struggled to stay afloat. This was so damn cool, excuse his language. Waves crashed around him and Luc felt so peaceful amongst all the giddy energy - totally unaware of the angry seal noises drowned out by the noise of the water. The round blob with dark eyes vanished properly then and Luc craned his neck, waiting to find out where Maggie would pop up next, eyes searching all the way out to the horizon just in case. 

And then the flopping noises caught his attention. Luc furrowed his eyebrows, head turning only to have his eyebrow shooting right back up in surprise. Another seal was heading his way and it looked less curious, more… angry? “Is this your beach?” Luc asked softly, voice apologetic as he raised his hands in surrender, shoes dangling from one hand. The seal’s flippers no longer looked adorable but rather quite menacing as it slapped its large body closer and closer to Luc, gaining speed with each push forward. 

“Hey, Maggie?” Luc called out, not daring to take his eyes off this new arrival in case it charged, backing up a few steps and then a few more. “Mags?” Something splashed in the ocean on Luc’s left and he really hoped it wasn’t a second unhappy seal coming to ambush him for whatever crime he was accidentally committing by being on this beach. “I’ll leave,” Luc promised but the seal only huffed and barked and Luc was just about ready to run on his heel and run when Maggie plopped into his periphery, making a beeline for the little remaining space between Luc and the seal. Oh, good! She could talk to the seal, right? Explain that everything was chill here. 

—-

She really had not thought this through.

Somewhere between the seal brain that screamed for her to bite Bowie’s face off and the human brain that pleaded with her not to fight the seal and get herself killed were a handful of brain cells wondering how the hell Maggie had found herself in such a situation. Those couple of cells did at least permit her the ability to ignore the human thoughts of self-preservation with the (in her opinion) sound logic of self-preservation doesn’t matter if it means Luc could get hurt. The harp seal moved across rocks and sand as quick as she could (which, outside of the water, was considerably slower. At least Bowie was subject to the same shitty land speed that Maggie was) until she had placed herself between the charging seal and the human. 

Bowie came to a halt a mere breath away from her. His teeth were bared. The flicker of humanity she had come to be able to spot within the eyes of shifters was lacking in the harbor seal. A growl rose in his throat, louder and louder, until it practically drowned out the sound of the waves. Maggie didn’t budge. Yeah, I’m not happy about seeing you either, Bowie… She barked back. She slapped a flipper against her side to show she meant business. Back off. My beach, my boy. Go home.

The first time Maggie had shifted, she had been scared enough to believe the first thought that came to her mind. Now, staring down the harbor seal who was inching closer, trying to decide whether or not to fight her, she knew a few things to be true: one, she was bigger than Bowie—not by much, but bigger still was bigger; two, she had human smarts on her side; and three, if shifters like Wyatt and Sawyer and Talia could hold their own, why the hell couldn’t she? Bowie shifted like he was going to bite. Now or never, Maggie… She plowed into the harbor seal, barking like crazy to push him back, and hoping that Luc wouldn’t think she’d totally lost the fucking plot. 

—-

Luc’s relief was short lived. Despite Maggie’s arrival, another seal, someone who should have posed less of a threat than an uninvited human on the beach, the non-magical seal didn’t let up on its threatening stance or noises. Those teeth looked like they could do a lot of damage, not nearly as cute now that they were bared and accompanied by growling. Luc was beyond tempted to put himself between the two seals, as if that would somehow help, but the thought of Maggie taking a chomp meant for him wasn’t a nice one. Thankfully, she wasn’t growling but rather, saying something (Luc assumed, he didn’t speak ark ark ark). 

“Be careful,” Luc whispered, lingering behind Maggie like a useless bystander - he wouldn’t belittle the fact that she had put herself between Luc and the surprisingly sharp teeth by willingly inviting danger in but just watching was really, really hard. 

It was even more difficult when Maggie suddenly charged, her barking so much angrier than the wonderfully happy noises she’d made at Luc earlier. The other seal startled but stubbornly held his ground, trying to push back and, to Luc’s horror, looked ready to rear back and bite Maggie. It was enough to startle Luc into action, which hopefully Maggie wouldn’t give him too much grief for, and Luc dropped one of his shoes to brandish the other like a weapon. Running on the sand was difficult and he slipped his way awkwardly towards the two clashing seals, raising his shoe and smacking the mean seal on the top of its head with it. Luc really didn’t like the thought of hurting an animal but it was going to hurt his friend if he did nothing. That was probably enough karmic reasoning, right? “Shoo!”

—-

Seals were, by nature, a territorial lot. Maggie had once stayed up til three in the morning watching a bunch of nature documentaries in an attempt to better understand the world she’d been thrust into overnight. For the most part, the harp and harbor seals (that was, her and the vast majority of the actual-real-life seals that plopped along the stretch of sand at the edge of Wicked’s Rest) were friendly within their pods. Fighting amidst their ranks mostly included: slapping of flippers, biting, and an aggressive nose boop she’d decided to call muzzle punching. She’d already experienced a Bowie scuffle once—biting being his preferred means of combat—but that had been a quick shooing bite to the tail. This was a fight fight. Losing wouldn’t be good for her, or for Luc, who was stood safely behind her. 

The human part of her mind was firmly pushed to the side as she charged forward, jabbing Bowie the Seal in his blubbery side over and over again to push him back. Flippers slapped at her face. Teeth scraped against her back—but did not bite. There was a whistling sound of something cutting through the air, followed by a resounding SMACK. The noise had Maggie pulling back in surprise. There was a shoe in the air. Held aloft by a hand. Attached to an arm… Had Luc just… 

Bowie, on his part, seemed just as bewildered as Maggie. She had to assume most humans didn’t bother interceding on seal business. Being hit with a shoe was probably a first for him. A growl rumbled in his throat—nope, nope, not today. The selkie shoved at Bowie once, twice, three times more, until the creature wobbled over, scooting too close to the edge of the rocks. Back. Off. Or you’re going in the water. Bowie barked back at her (she had to assume it was probably something to the tune of fuck you you fucking asshole kiss my ass in seal, but she couldn’t be too sure) and smacked at his side. Fine. You don’t believe me? In ya go. With one last charge, Maggie slammed her head into the harbor seal’s side. He let out an indignant yelp as he started sliding backwards into the sea. 

—

Despite how badly he wanted to protect Maggie, Luc hadn’t quite mustered the will to go all in on smacking that seal with his shoe, it was just an angry and probably frightened animal, after all. Thankfully, the amount of effort he had put in was enough to serve as a distraction, which was all they needed at this point. The seal’s anger turned to Luc, who brandished his shoe once again, but Maggie intervened before he was forced to slap a seal with his shoe for the second time today. With the element of surprise, and some backup, Maggie managed to push the seal back properly now, getting a good roll until the seal teetered on the edge. 

A flipper slapped against the seal’s stomach and judging from Maggie’s reaction, Luc could only gather that she’d been insulted (did the selkie actually speak seal or was she just going off vibes? A question for later). With a great, big splash, the angry seal slammed into the ocean and Luc breathed an immediate sigh of relief. Who knew seals could be that scary? Dropping his “weapon”, Luc rushed over to Maggie, settling on his knees next to her, checking the fur for any injuries. “Are you okay? That was insane! And you were so hardcore. I really think that seal wanted to bite me.”

—-

Maggie watched, feeling a bit like Scar in The Lion King, as Bowie rolled back into the rine, landing with a splash and disappearing beneath the waves. She stared down into the water, making sure that the harbor seal did not reamerge from the ever shifting expanse of gray. A few seconds later, a beachball sized blob popped up to the surface several yards away. Bowie had given up. For once in her albeit short career as a shifter, she’d won a fight. She could hear distant barking as he called to his pod who were sunbathing, completely unbothered by the human and selkie at the other end of the beach. 

Maybe they would be the ones to tell Bowie he was stupid for trying to fight a human. 

She turned her attention back to Luc, who was knelt down and inspecting her pelt. I’m fine! See? Maggie shuffled around to look at him properly. If she had any scrapes, the magic in the pelt would make quick work of healing them. It would just be a matter of charging the magic back up. But magic was back in abundance in their strange little town. It shouldn’t be too much of a problem. I can’t believe you hit him with your shoe! Did you see his face? She mimed it the best she could before booping her nose lightly against his knee. Now: do you want more seal tricks, or do you wanna go get pancakes at Flipped? Wait. Wait, you still can’t… Maybe this is gonna have to be a one bark for yes two for no situation… 

—

It would take time to learn the nuances of seal expressions, Luc thought, but he was fairly confident that Maggie’s current expression was happy, maybe even prideful. At the very least, she wasn’t hurt or in pain, which was good enough for Luc right now. “Thank god,” Luc sighed, allowing a smile to find its way to his face now that the immediate danger was over. Not this year’s, or even this summer’s scariest encounter, but enough to get his pulse racing, for sure. The excitable and adorable antics Maggie had been displaying before were back in full force now that no one was threatening to bite either of them and Luc chuckled, wishing he could understand her a bit better. They really needed to make a system if they were going to do another seal day (which Luc was totally up for, just somewhere far away from that mean seal). 

“Well, I’m okay, too! And super impressed.” Luc settled back on his heels, resting a hand on his knee where Maggie could easily reach it. “Up to you if you’ve got even more to show off or if we should head for breakfast and call it a day,” he laughed, not having prepared for this morning of reveals and trust and friendships to contain quite this much excitement. 

—-

Some people had friends who would laugh with them, or go out for coffee and some small adventure, or exist in the same room doing two different activities in the peace of the others’ company. Maggie found herself feeling very lucky that she had a friend who would do all that, and still face down a seal to hit it with a shoe if it meant helping her. The fact that he hadn’t thought she was batshit bananas crazy when she’d told him she was a selkie? That was just an added bonus. A contented little wawawawawawawa rumbled from the harbor seal. Translation: you’re the best, did you know that?