Selkie Flint AU

bean-about-townn:

• @brightbluedot and i have been talking about this and it’s. fucking killing us here 
• (i mean i know there’s already a short fic somewhere but I WANT MORE) 
• “Stories concerning selkies are generally romantic tragedies. Sometimes the human will not know that their lover is a selkie, and wakes to find them returned to their seal form. In other stories the human will hide the selkie’s skin, thus preventing the selkie from returning to its seal form. A selkie can only make contact with one human for a short amount of time before the selkie must return to the sea. The selkie is unable to make contact with that human again for seven years, unless the human steals their selkie skin and hides it or burns it.”
• also like god shit fuck wait what if in this au selkies are like. common knowledge. there are plenty in the navy
• selkies are often treated as sub-human, especially by nobles like alfred
• they’re allowed to be in the navy bc they make fucking brilliant sailors but almost NEVER promoted
• and james would give his sealskin to thomas (bc he LOVES HIM AND WANTS TO BE WITH HIM FOREVER)
• giving up going back to the sea because he wants to stay with him
• like. just after james gets back from the three month trip to nassau
• he knew when he got back that he would never be able to leave thomas permanently. that thomas was *it* for him
• james being like ‘before i met you, whenever i was on land all i wanted was to return to the sea. but now… all i wanted these past months was to return to your side’
• just. james giving it to thomas and and being all ‘it’s yours. like my heart’
• james telling thomas to burn it but thomas tells him no, he won’t trap him *forever* – if he ever asked for it back, he would give it
• wait its about to get worse tho
• bc u know what he does next don’t u
• he goes……..to see hennessey……..and everything falls apart……..
• and james and miranda assume that alfred had his sealskin destroyed
• so thomas is gone and james can’t even return to the sea to fuckcing grieve
• and like. thomas definitely sees that alfred’s men are taking james’s pelt too
• thomas begging his father not to burn it
• and like we have to assume that making sure james is safe was his main concern at this point. bc miranda had money and a title and connections but james?? james is no one, has nothing
• and i mean. we know alfred had rivals. one has to imagine that they might see thomas as an opportunity to attack alfred – might visit him in bethlem, offer to help if thomas helps them. and so thomas could agree not to make trouble for alfred if alfred doesn’t burn it
• he gives up his last hope 
• and then what if the agreement is for the pelt to be sent to james
• only alfred is like, ha no
• and gives it to peter ashe
• and then years later once alfred is dead and peter has thomas brought to carolina
• he tell him ‘yeah james was dead so i still have it’
• and gives it to thomas as ‘proof’
• thomas of course doesn’t know that peter never SENT it
• so he thinks he bargained his only hope away. for nothing
• and if they say he died at sea……. then thomas might think……. if only james hadn’t trusted me to look after his pelt……. if only he’d kept it……. maybe he’d still be alive……

• and just?? the moment after the reunion when james realises that thomas has had it this whole time?? 
• HE ALWAYS HAD HIS HEART. HE KEPT IT SAFE ALL THIS TIME
• JAMES THOUGHT HE COULD NEVER FIND PEACE AND GO BACK TO BEING HIMSELF BUT HE CAN