Twenty minutes later, Ivan was seated across from Mylene in a booth at the aforementioned sushi place after they had placed their orders. Feeling awkward, he took a discarded straw wrapper and began to fiddle with it. Whatever courage had filled him at the pool seemed to have vanished.

The only thing that helped was the fact that Mylene looked as awkward as he felt.

"So… what's your major?" Ivan asked, mentally kicking himself as soon as the words left his mouth. How generic and clearly avoiding the real topic could he get?

Mylene jumped with a soft squeak, then put down the paper napkin she had been shredding and glanced up at him. "Um, Marine Biology."

Ivan blinked, more than a little surprised. If anything, he would have pegged her for nursing or creative writing or something similar. "Really?"

Mylene huffed at him, puffing her cheeks out in irritation, and she was so adorable that Ivan was pretty sure he was going to explode. Sitting here like this, in the light and far away from water, it was hard to believe he had ever been afraid of her at all. "What, you don't think I'm smart enough?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean-" Ivan stammered, holding his hands up defensively. "I'm sure you're more than smart enough, I was more asking about the whole… aquatic thing. What with you being, well… a selkie and all."

"Oh." Mylene blushed and looked down. "Well, I mean… I've always loved the ocean, it comes with the territory. And I like science and learning about things and, well… if I can combine the things I love, then why not? Besides, if I can get in with a research team that's all magicals, I could use my seal form while on expeditions and there aren't many better swimmers out there than selkies."

The way she lit up as she spoke was, well, magical. Ivan didn't even realize he was softly smiling until Mylene gave him an odd look, upon which he tried to cover it up with a small cough. "That, uh… that really does sound nice. I hope you get to do that someday." A thought occurred to him, and he gave a teasing grin. "Try not to eat your research subjects, though."

The selkie gave a soft snort of a laugh and playfully swatted at his arm. Even as he chuckled, Mylene hesitated, then looked down, going back to shredding the napkin again. "I'll only be able to do the shorter expeditions now…"

Ivan frowned. "Why? What's keeping you from going on long ones?"

"Well… and don't take this the wrong way… it's you."

"I'm not going to tell you what you can and can't do, really Mylene-"

"No, no, it's not that," Mylene interrupted, holding her hands up placatingly. Ivan settled back, still a little irritated at the mere thought of trying to control the young woman across from him. "I mean… it's part of the magic bond that was formed when you gave me my skin back. I literally can't be away from you for more than a month or so at a time."

"You're kidding."

"I wish I was." Mylene sighed, abandoning her pile of napkin fragments and getting a fresh one to start anxiously shredding. "It all comes down to, well, stories. My kind don't live in a vacuum, we influence humanity's stories about us, and those stories influence us in return. It can form a pretty vicious cycle. And trying to break free of those stories can backfire, often in ways you would have never imagined."

Ivan paused, mulling it over and holding it up against the myths he had looked up earlier that afternoon. "So, the stories about skins being stolen and trapping you on land…"

"My kind were trying to break away from that, but the magic warped, and now we have the current system. Trying to change it again could possibly leave us with something even worse, so now we have to wait for human stories about selkies to change before we try again." Mylene sighed and paused to take a sip of her drink. "At least this way, we have some measure of freedom. We're able to actually take our skins back from those who would try to steal them. We can spend time away from our spouses at sea before we have to come back. It's better than it was."

"Still, it seams like a system that's easy to abuse."

"Oh, it is." Mylene grimaced. "And while we can't hurt our spouses directly, well… no magic keeps us from asking our more powerful friends to turn an abusive spouse into, say, an equal volume of spiders."

More than a little horrified, Ivan asked "Is that one huge spider with the same mass as a human, or a bunch of spiders that add up to the mass of a human?"

"Yes."

Ivan stared at Mylene, who just looked back at him seriously. "… No, I meant-"

"And the answer is Yes. Trust me on this one."

"… So, don't piss off any friends of yours?"

"That would probably be wise." Mylene gave him a sheepish smile. "They're nice, they really are, but they get… protective… of everyone else in our social group."

"At least you know they're looking out for you," Ivan said, giving a slight smile in return before he realized it. Before he could continue, their food arrived, and a few moments were spent arranging things and taking their first bites of sushi.

Ivan swallowed, looking down and idly poking at a grain of rice that had fallen out of his bite when he picked it up. "… Mylene, I don't want to trap you into anything."

He tensed when a warm, soft, small hand hesitantly covered his, then gave a gentle squeeze. "I know, Ivan. It's not you, or me, it's the magic that's pushing us into this." Mylene shyly smiled at him. "I know it's not an ideal situation, but… we don't have to do things that married people do. I wouldn't even mind if you dated other humans, or got married to one. I just… if it's alright, I'd like to be friends, at least."

"What about you, though?" Ivan asked, suddenly worried for the small woman across from him, and about what she clearly wasn't telling him. "Would you be able to live a regular life?"

Mylene shifted nervously under his questioning stare, then looked away. "… I can't get married to anyone else as long as this magical bond is in place," she admitted.

"… Okay, now that's just not fair to you," Ivan said, more than a little offended on Mylene's behalf.

"Trust me, I know," Mylene replied. She apparently realized that she had been rather hard on their napkin supply, and began to pile the scraps onto an empty tray.

"So, does the bond just… keep you from marrying anyone?" Ivan asked, picking up another piece of sushi and drowning it in soy sauce before popping it into his mouth.

"No, it's a little more complicated than that. I'm basically off limits to other Fae as long as you're alive. Sleeping around and open relationships and all that are really common among our culture, but only so long as you aren't married. Then you're expected to be loyal to your spouse, though dallying with humans isn't considered cheating." At Ivan's expression, she added "Trust me, I'm aware it doesn't make much sense when you get down to it. Welcome to Fae logic." Mylene sighed and nibbled at a piece of sushi without bothering with the chopsticks this time. "Most Fae… don't exactly have the highest opinion of humans. Anyways, due to the bond, as far as Fae customs and culture go, our marriage is considered the same as between two Fae. So, basically, I'm off limits until you die."

"And there's no loopholes or anything that we could do to get you out of this?"

"Well, considering that all of the ones I know of include an 'accident' befalling you, and neither of us want that…" Mylene trailed off.

"What was traditionally done to break off a marriage?" Ivan asked, though he suspected he already knew.

"Well, traditionally if we found our skins after they were hidden, we were free to leave. This new system, while it allows us to keep our freedom in some ways, just makes it much harder to get out of if you don't want to harm the human you end up with."

"So, we don't have any options?"

"None that would end well for you. There's the magical divorce route, but that road also tends to lead to equal volume of spiders territory."

"Why?!"

"Because then you would be a liability," Mylene explained, pausing to take a sip of her water. "Right now, you're allowed to learn about the Fae because you're considered married to me. But if we got the divorce, then you would be an unattached human who still knows about the Fae. See where I'm going with this?"

Ivan winced. "Yeah, I think I get the picture." He sighed and looked down, toying with a small clump of rice using his chopsticks. "… This situation sucks."

"… Yeah, it kind of does," Mylene agreed with a sigh. "But it could be worse. I don't know you very well yet, but… you seem like a nice person. At least someone I could be friends with."

"Mylene, I don't want to keep you from finding happiness, though."

"Oh, it's not like it's forever to me. I just have to wait, what, five or six decades?"

"Five or six… Mylene, how old are you?"

The selkie blushed, going back to shredding a napkin. "Probably not too much older than you. Twenty-six… I think. Time passes oddly in the Fae realm, so it kinda becomes guesswork after a bit. Not that it makes much difference, once we hit adulthood our aging just kind of… stops. Barring an accident, I'm going to outlive you by a long time."

"Well, um… that's good." While Ivan was genuinely happy that he wasn't dooming Mylene to a lack of love for her entire life, it was pretty disconcerting to talk to someone long-lived enough to talk so flippantly about half a century of time.

Mylene seemed to realize she had made Ivan uncomfortable, to judge by how quickly and obviously she changed the subject. "So, you know my major. What's yours?"

"Oh, uh… music…" Ivan mumbled, looking down and rubbing the back of his neck.

"Music? That's really cool! What do you want to do?"

Unused to a response that wasn't some variation of 'you'll never make money with a degree in music', Ivan blurted out "Well, I'd like to teach lessons to kids, but I also like writing and composing my own songs, so being a songwriter on the side would be great." Ivan glanced up, only to find that Mylene was blushing for some reason. "Are you okay?"

"Fine, fine," she squeaked, not meeting his eyes as she shoved a piece of sushi in her mouth. Ivan blinked, then raised a brow. Mylene flushed further and went back to her decimation of the local napkin population. "Um, I… look, just… just look up leopard seal behavior when you get home, okay? Because I really don't want to explain it."

"… That's fair," Ivan conceded, finishing off his own roll of sushi. There had been a lot of things explained and laid bare tonight, he certainly wasn't going to push Mylene when it seemed like she had hit her limit.

"A-anyways… working with kids sounds nice. I think you'd be good at it."

"You think so? A lot of people tell me I'd just scare them."

Mylene shook her head. "You're a big guy, and you look rough, but… you're gentle. Trust me, from someone who's met actual monsters… you're a good person. Kids can sense that. You'll do fine."

They shared a shy smile, and Mylene finished her last piece of sushi as Ivan started to tidy up. "Would you like me to walk you home? It's pretty late, and, well…"

"… I would like that," Mylene said softly, not meeting his eyes as she made sure she had her duffle bag where her skin and a few other things were kept.

"If you want… I usually study in the library where we first met most afternoons," Ivan offered. Wait, did him asking make it a date? Did he want it to be a date? Mylene was definitely attractive, but he didn't want to push a relationship on her when she was the one stuck with him.

Deciding to let Mylene set the pace of whatever their relationship ended up being, he added "It would be nice to have a friend to study with."

A quick flash of something that almost seemed like disappointment crossed Mylene's face, but it was gone before it could really register as she beamed up at him. "That would be nice. I should introduce you to Nino, he's in the music program too, though I don't know if he's ahead of you or not."

"Is he another selkie?" Ivan asked, wordlessly offering to carry Mylene's duffle bag for her. She clutched it a little tighter, so he gave a soft smile and held his hands up to show he was fine with that. He didn't blame her in being cautious about her skin.

"No, he's a Ninki Nanka."

"A what-now?"

Mylene laughed, and it was a soft thing that had Ivan smiling before he realized it. "Yeah, he gets that a lot. They're… kinda dragon-like beings native to western Africa, though Nino has lived in Europe his whole life. They're pretty rare, even among Fae. They have a reputation for being cranky, but Nino is pretty chill. The only things that tend to get him mad are people being mean to those he cares about."

"What happens when he gets mad?"

"You don't want to know. Trust me."

The mention of another non-human in his own degree program had Ivan curious. "How many other… magical beings are going to our university?" he asked as he held the door open for her.

"I don't know the exact number, but we tend to congregate in our own friend groups. On the same floor of the apartment complex I live in, there's at least seven other magical beings. No other selkies, but my roommate, Alix, is a swan maiden."

That name at least rang a bell. "Isn't Alix that one girl with pink hair who's constantly challenging one of the rugby players to contests?"

"That's her." Mylene gave a small giggle. "Yeah, Alix has a bit of a reputation."

"I never would have thought that she's something as graceful as a swan."

"Have you ever met a swan? They're always ready to throw down and fight. Alix channels it through doing martial arts and boxing and stuff like that, because humans tend to frown on someone just hauling off and punching people when they get mad."

That was probably for the best. "Is she a good roommate?"

"For the most part. She's messier than I am, but she doesn't complain much if I ask her to help tidy up, which is better than some roommates I've had."

"You said there were others on your floor?"

"Yeah, those would be Rose, Juleka, Alya, Marinette, Adrien, and Nino. There's one other apartment on our floor, but it's an elderly couple who are mostly deaf, and frankly they're too old to care if they see anything weird. They're sweet, so we try to look out for them."

"That sounds… really nice," Ivan said, knowing it was lame even as it came out of his mouth.

Mylene seemed to have a sixth sense for when something was wrong, as she gave him a searching look when they paused at a crosswalk to wait for the light. "What about you? What's your living situation like?"

"Uh…" Where would he start? Mom long gone, Dad either working or drunk and angry, and Ivan only coming back to scarf food and try to catch a few hours of sleep before going back out. Spending all of his time at work or class or studying, just to avoid going home?

Mylene didn't deserve having him dump all of that on her. "It's… okay. I live with my Dad, I can't afford an apartment right now." And even if his Dad was a grade A jackass, at least it was a roof over his head.

The eyes Mylene turned on him glowed softly in the darkness as they crossed the street, this part of the walk poorly lit and just making her gaze eerie and piercing, like she was seeing right through him. "I know you're lying to me, Ivan."

"I-" Those eyes stole the words from his mouth, and for a brief moment, Ivan knew what it was like having the full attention of a being that was ancient and terrible.

And then Mylene's expression softened as they passed under a streetlamp, stealing the glow away and leaving her as 'normal' as him. "If you're not comfortable telling me, that's alright. Just tell me, though. Don't feel like you have to lie about it."

Ivan nearly sagged in relief, and he nodded dumbly as Mylene turned towards a stairway in the building they had come to. "Sorry, we're on the third floor and the elevator has been broken for months now. We keep asking for it to be fixed, but every time they send a tech out, it just breaks again within a day."

"It's fine, I don't mind the climb." The apartment he lived in with his dad was on the fourth floor, and while they didn't have quite so many problems with their elevator, it certainly felt like it at times.

Conversation paused as they climbed, and once on the right floor Mylene led Ivan to the second to last door along the walkway, where she paused. Ivan gave a small, awkward smile, not sure what to say after what had been probably the craziest day in his life.

It looked like Mylene was having the same trouble, as she fiddled with her fingers and wouldn't meet his eyes. "So, um… thanks for taking all of this as well as you did."

"What?" In what world had today been him taking all of this news well?

"I've heard stories of humans taking this far worse. You freaked out a bit, but you didn't immediately try to go to the police or the news. Or worse."

The tone that dropped into her voice on the last word sent a shiver down his spine, and it took no imagination at all to figure out what she meant by that. His father alone…

Aaaand now that Ivan considered it, no way was he letting Mylene within a hundred meters of his old man. Though if there was anyone that he wouldn't feel too sorry about getting turned into an equal volume of spiders…

"Well, I guess… this is goodnight?" He ventured out, in what was probably a blatant attempt to change the subject.

"… Yeah. Thanks for dinner." In a sudden move that made Ivan jump, Mylene darted forward, hugged him briefly, and then was through the door of her apartment before Ivan could say anything.

So… that was a thing that happened. And it was… nice. Especially the hug, Ivan wouldn't mind more of those.

Not bothering to wipe the goofy grin off of his face, Ivan turned to head back down the stairs.

Before he had gone three steps, a feeling he was being watched made the hair on the back of his neck prickle. He glanced around, but the only being he could see was a large, floofy cat sitting on the railing. In the low light it was hard to tell color, but it looked to be pale, with ginger points. The way the cat narrowed its eyes at him made it very clear that any attempts to pet would probably end with points of an entirely different kind embedded into his hand.

Still, the feeling didn't abate, and he grew more and more unnerved as he went down the stairs. Once he was out on the sidewalk, he breathed a sigh of relief. Maybe some sort of weird Fae spell to drive away humans?

He made it two more steps before something slammed into him, and then his back was against a (rather uncomfortable) brick wall with his feet dangling above the ground.

Ivan squeaked as two pairs of glowing eyes, one pair green and the other amber, glared up at him out of the night. The light from the streetlamp caught briefly on several lashing tails, one ginger and the rest dusky orange with white tips.

"So…" said one of the Fae holding him up, the one with amber eyes. "You're Mylene's new husband."

Oh, fuck.