Pinni had never expected to run into such a nice human when he went onto land for the first time.

It all started with him forgetting where he left his pelt after he was completely absorbed with wandering out and testing out his newfound legs. The excitement bolstered him to travel further than he had planned to, and once he was calmer (he doesn’t think he’ll ever get over having legs), Pinni realized he had no idea where he was. He attempted to retrace his steps, but between just figuring out how to walk and his growing panic, it took him an embarrassingly long amount of time to get just halfway back to where he started.

He knew his pelt couldn’t be damaged, but what would happen to him if someone else had found it while he was away? What would happen if a human found it?

Pinni shuddered at the thought.

All selkies grew up listening to stories of humans. In these stories, humans were the epitome of evil. They did anything they could to get their hands on a selkie’s pelt, using it to command the selkie to do horrible things. All of the selkies in these stories met unfortunate ends, and the children were warned to not play too close to the surface.

If a human found it, he’d…he’d—Whatever!

Pinni shook his head, trying to rid himself of the thought.

He just has to find his pelt before the humans do!

Determination renewed, Pinni continued down the beach on wobbly legs.

A long while later, Pinni spotted his pelt resting beside an outcropping of rocks. Sighing in relief, he rushed towards it, nearly falling flat on his face when he spotted a human next to his pelt. That’s not good. Swallowing down his nerves, Pinni slowly inched ever closer to his pelt. Squaring his shoulders and hoping he came off as more confident than he actually felt, Pinni called out to you.

“...Hey, can I have that pelt back? It’s mine.” His voice wavered as he spoke, Pinni pinched his legs, willing them to remain upright and not give out on him.

Please please please

You glanced down at the large seal pelt in your hands then looked back at Pinni. Having spotted the large fur blanket in the sand while strolling along the beach, you were going to return the item to the lost-and-found nearby. However, now that the owner has showed up, you don’t have to make the extra trip anymore.

Pinni’s eyes widened as you handed the pelt back to him. There wasn’t any fuss in the interaction, no pleading needed on his part, and certainly no terrible commands—nothing! You just handed the pelt to him, just like that!

Mind spinning at the incongruence of your actions and the stories he knew as a young pup, Pinni blankly went through the motions of thanking you before walking away.

That’s it? Is it that easy? Did the human not know what he was? That couldn’t be, although he didn’t want to admit it, he’s not the best actor…

Mulling over the interaction, Pinni suddenly came to a conclusion.

You must be a special human!

Nodding his head as if he solved an incredibly difficult problem, Pinni made up his mind to thank you for your generosity and to get to know you better. Unwilling to stall his observation case of this special human any longer than he had to, Pinni showed up at your doorstep the very next day.

“Hello!” He held out his pelt. “Please marry me!”

This is what humans do to get closer with each other right? They give the other something precious as a proof of their goodwill!