Seacliff

Chapter eighty-one: Awkward carrot

1940

Aidan woke up to an empty hut and yawned. The thatched roof above confounded him for a moment. In his sleep, he'd forgotten where he was and why. Then he remembered he'd spied Da with Amaruq and sighed at the ceiling.

"Get over yourself," he muttered and sat up, stretching.

Despite the cramped quarters, he'd rested like a king on the thick quilt Pauline had laid out for him over a bed of straw. Her own cot was vacant, save for a note under a tin lunchbox. Aidan reached for it.

Here's your breakfast, in case I'm not around when you're up. I'll check in on you before noon, though, so don't despair, but please stay put. The ice selkie parade is starting today, so getting lost in the forest might cost you your innocence. Bet you're dying of curiosity right about now. I'll explain everything when I'm back. Kisses! P.

"The ice selkie parade? Interesting."

Aidan folded the note and grabbed the lunchbox. In it, he found two apples, a carrot, and a soggy salmon sandwich with cream cheese and cucumber. The crunch of the cucumber, mixed with the cheese and salmon melting in his mouth, made for a divine experience after being deprived of flavour for so long.

The moan he released scared him, because he knew he was alone, and that didn't sound like a noise he'd ever been capable of making.

At that most inopportune of moments, Pauline poked her head in.

"Am I interrupting something?"

Her grin intensified his blush. One palm flew to his lips and he vigorously shook his head.

Pauline chuckled and ducked inside. "I brought you some fresh water." She dropped cross-legged to the floor, handing him the waterskin that hung from her shoulder.

He swallowed his mouthful of sandwich to mumble his thanks.

"Sleep well?"

Aidan nodded. "Yes, thank you. I really needed the rest."

"Good!" Pauline clapped her hands together. "I'm glad you're well rested, because we have a long day ahead of us." Her eyebrows wiggled suggestively.

He munched on his dwindling sandwich. "Because of this, uh... ice selkie parade? What's that all about?"

"You know ice selkies?"

"...No, I don't think I do."

"Well, they live in Greenland."

"Oh, I see! Harp seals?"

Pauline frowned. "Maybe? I don't know, I don't keep track of everyone's sealskins. Anyway – ice selkies come down from Greenland for a week every summer, with the sole purpose of impregnating as many wombs as possible."

Aidan choked on his sandwich, his eyes bulging out.

"And everyone goes crazy, because they are fine!" She giggled. "I know you can't wrap your human mind around it just yet, but trust me, it's a lot of fun. A week of constant carousing. And mating, if you're so inclined."

He finished his sandwich and washed it down with a big gulp of water.

"Speaking of which," he replied, regaining his composure, and cleared his throat. "There's something I've been wondering about since our run-in with Amaruq's brother."

Pauline crossed her arms over her chest. "What's that?"

"While we were there, um... One of the selkies asked my dad to..." Aidan gulped. " 'Contribute his seed to the colony' – his words, not mine – which apparently is a selkie obligation, especially if you're just passing through?"

Pauline nodded sagely. "Yes, see, that is also the foundation upon which the ice selkie parade is built. It's because we understand the importance of migration. You know, like bees travel from flower to flower, doing... whatever, to the pollen?"

Aidan only smiled.

"It's kind of like that," she continued. "The colony needs fresh blood. We all live for so long, if we stayed in one place forever, we'd end up either dying out, or mating with our... kids."

The thought made her shudder.

"So, you mentioned... wombs." Licking his fingers, Aidan picked up the carrot. "Does that mean only males travel down from Greenland? Why is that?"

"Well, I mean..." Pauline scratched at her head. "I guess it's a seal thing, but also, logistically, it makes more sense."

"How so?"

"Less risk to the baby. If the mating is successful, then the mother will stay here and give birth safely. Not to mention that not all babies will be ice selkies. Only ice selkies can swim back to Greenland with their fathers."

"Wait, so... they come back to take the babies?"

"That's right. The ice selkie pups go to Greenland. The others stay here."

"Wow," Aidan exclaimed. "That's... harsh."

"Is it, though? It's much safer up there. Much more freedom of movement."

Aidan couldn't argue against that. He'd crossed an ocean searching for freedom of movement.

"Still bothered by your dad cuddling the Chief, huh?"

Aidan didn't trust himself to comment. It appeared he would have to get over his very human attachment to monogamy, and soon.

"I get it," Pauline said out of the blue, her energetic voice soft. "I grew up with my married parents, during the Prohibition, in a Protestant neighbourhood. When I had to leave New York after my father's death... It was so odd to me, how selkies were switching partners or... living in big, orgy-prone groups. These libertine attitudes were a shock."

Aidan looked up at her, touching her arm. "I'm so sorry about your dad."

She patted his fingers. "You're all right. So, yeah, I understand it's a lot. But you'll get used to it. It's in our blood, you'll see."

"Did you get used to it?"

"Yes, I mean... It doesn't bother me anymore. I just can't really engage with the community like that." She shrugged. "I'm no saint, mind you – "

"No, I didn't think you were."

She winked at his interruption. "I'm happy to just cook for everybody. No pups for me, please, and thank you."

"So, you don't want children, at all?"

"I don't want them right now. I've got at least a couple centuries to change my mind! How about you?"

Aidan pondered the question. How about him, indeed?

He'd never been indifferent to women and he loved children. For as long as he remembered, though, he'd been in love with Jemmy and resigned himself to being the best uncle to his sister's future babies, rather than becoming a father.

Now, though...

"I don't know," he admitted. "I have a little sister who is ten years younger than me, so I know I am very fond of children. But I've just never really... contemplated having my own."

"Ah..." Pauline clicked her tongue. "You prefer the sausage to the clam?"

The chunk of carrot he was chewing lodged itself in his throat. Pauline came to slap his back while he punched his chest. After a bout of whooping cough, he finally managed to breathe in again. His eyes were streaming.

"You're really something else," he told her and gulped down some water. "I, uh... I wouldn't really know." He licked his lips, feeling the familiar heat creep up his neck. "I've only ever... tried the sausage."

His voice was so faint towards the end that Pauline made a show of cupping her ear and shouting at him to say it louder. He wordlessly munched on his carrot, certain his cheeks were redder than a lobster.