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16/02/2020 disclaimer: In light of recent events, I want to specify I don't authorize this story appearing on websites other then Archive of Our Own. Other websites and unofficial apps do not have my permission to host this work, if you are reading this somewhere other than AO3 you can consider it stolen.

"Leone."

A slender hand pushed his headphones away. Bruno was lying next to him, propped up on his elbow, beautiful blue eyes fixed on him. Usually, Leone wouldn't mind the current position, but he had developed a certain sixth sense when it came to his lover's intentions. Between the tone Bruno had used and the way he was batting his eyes, Leone had the feeling Bruno was trying to get something out of him. Something Leone wouldn't like.

"I was thinking," Bruno said. He gently grabbed a lock of Leone's hair, twirling it around his fingers.

Yeah, Leone was definitely not going to like whatever Bruno was thinking. He steeled himself, ready to resist whatever bribe Bruno tried to offer.

"It's been a while since we went swimming together. We really should do that."

Leone raised an eyebrow. "In the sea?"

"Yes."

"Bruno, it's November."

"The water isn't that cold yet."

"For those of us who don't have blubber, it is."

"Come on." Bruno let go of Leone's hair, opting for throwing his arm over Leone's chest. "I can warm you up afterwards," he said, grinning suggestively.

"That's very tempting, but no."

"You can deal with a bit of cold."

"Yes, but I'd rather not feel my balls crawl back inside my body."

"They'll drop again after a while."

Leone glared. "That makes me want to not grant you access to that particular part of my body for a week."

"It'd be more a punishment for you than for me."

He was right. Fuck him, but he was right.

Bruno sighed, dropping his chin on Leone's shoulder. "Please?" He was less playful now, and slightly dejected.

Leone sort of felt like an asshole. The sea was Bruno's element, and it was important for him to share it with Leone. Selkie couples apparently bonded a lot by swimming together. It was like going on dates for them.

It wasn't that Leone minded. He didn't particularly like the sea, in general, but there was something wonderful about watching Bruno in his seal form dart around him. It made Bruno so happy, and there was nothing Leone wanted more than that.

That being said, Leone was only human. He had limits. He wasn't putting his body in the sea, at night, in November. In his opinion, it was a pretty understandable thing. Bruno seemed to be alright with that, for the most part. Except sometimes he decided to forget that Leone was only human.

"You know I'd freeze if I got in the water with you," Leone said.

"Some humans can get in cold water without issues."

"In Scandinavia, maybe. Sorry, but this Italian likes his water warm."

Bruno huffed, and rolled off of Leone. Leone did feel a little guilty about it, but it wasn't like he could get pneumonia just to make Bruno happy. He loved Bruno, but sometimes the selkie needed to be reminded he couldn't get everything he wanted. Otherwise, Bruno may end up doing things like taking home another stray bloodsucker. Why had Leone even allowed him to keep around that one annoying blonde leech was a mystery even to him.

Oh, no, it wasn't a mystery. Bruno would have been upset if Leone had chased the vampire away, and Leone couldn't deal with an upset Bruno. He was weak like that.

He closed his eyes, adjusting his headphones and focusing once more on the music. He didn't really notice what Bruno was doing until he felt a weight drop down on the bed next to him.

He cracked one eye open, and snorted. "Puppy eyes won't work, Bruno."

Bruno's answer was a huff. Not that he could have given a more eloquent answer, given he was now a seal. He seemed to be convinced that by being turning into a cute sea sausage he would be able to make Leone cave in more easily to his desires. He was right, but Leone tried to not let him realize it.

Bruno shuffled closer to Leone, placing his head on his thigh and looking up with those big, black eyes. The part of Leone that didn't have a dignity wanted nothing more but to wrap his arms around Bruno and maybe squeal like a twelve years old girl.

"You know, you should check if some animal rights organization needs a new sponsor. I heard they love the sad seal face," he said instead.

That earned Leone a slap on his thigh. Bruno's flippers could deliver some surprisingly powerful blows, for being as small as they were.

"The only body of water I'm taking you is the bathtub, make peace with that." It didn't matter how much Bruno played the part of poor, mistreated pinniped, Leone wasn't going to budge.

Bruno opened his mouth and shouted. Leone didn't speak seal yet, but that was a noise he usually translated as, I'm a whiny baby that isn't getting what he wants and is very displeased about it.

Well, Bruno could deal. It didn't matter how much he used that stupidly adorable fuzzy face of his, Leone wasn't going to let himself be corrupted. He could be strong. He could resist Bruno's antics. That's what he liked to tell himself, at least.

Bruno rolled on his back, still looking at Leone. He flapped his flippers a few times, probably attempting to look sad and pathetic. All Leone did was placing his hand on the seal's belly and giving it a good rub. A happy, gurgling sound came from Bruno.

Sometimes, Leone remembered how most people would consider the idea of petting a seal who is also your partner in your bed to be a rather bizarre notion. Had someone asked him about a year ago, Leone would have probably flipped them off. But as it was, this was his normal routine now. Bruno usually tried to act dignified around others, but when he and Leone were alone the selkie was absolutely shameless about his love for being pet. As for Leone, he loved to run his fingers in that short, dense fur. He scratched along Bruno's flippers, earning a happy grunt.

Just as Leone thought he had managed to appease Bruno for now, the selkie decided to roll over again, and then climb Leone. It was not Leone's favorite thing. It involved a lot of awkward bouncing on Bruno's parts that usually ended up with him knocking the breath out of Leone. One never quite realized how heavy a seal could be until it was crawling over your internal organs.

"You good, now?" Leone wheezed, once Bruno was resting on his torso.

Bruno barked and rested his head on Leone's breastbone. It was slightly suffocating, but also fucking adorable.

Leone went back to caressing Bruno's head. If they could spend the rest of the evening this way, he would be happy. Sure, having his lover in human forms had a lot of perks, but Leone didn't mind it if Bruno stayed like this for a while. It was relaxing. And Bruno seemed to have forgotten about the sea for now, his eyes closed in bliss as Leone scratched that good spot on his back.

And then, because the universe hated Leone Abbacchio, someone rang at their doorbell. Bruno raised his head with a bark, looking as offended as a marine mammal could. Leone contemplated ignoring it, but then they rang again, and so, with a lot of swearing, he made Bruno roll off and went to see who it was.

It was Mista. And the shitty vampire. And the bunch of puppies Mista had adopted for some reason, all of them on a leash.

"What."

"I'm taking the puppies out. It's almost the full moon, they're feeling antsy," Mista said. Almost as if in answer, one of the puppies howled. "Just felt like you and Bruno should know."

Leone was very tempted to ask him why the fuck would he and Bruno be interested in knowing it, but then he remembered Mista's stupid pack instincts or whatever they were. Bruno was the pack leader, and so Mista, as a good dog, was supposed to let him know everything that went on with his life.

Leone honestly didn't want to know what his role in the pack was.

"I'll be going with them too," Giorno said, and who the fuck asked Giorno. The asshole was holding one of the puppies in his arms, Leone could guess by himself. He didn't need baby Dracula to open his mouth.

"Just don't let anyone notice you," Leone said, before slamming the door in their faces. Taking out the Pistols, as Mista for some reason called the litter, was always a risk. The puppies weren't hold enough to really control their transformations. They stayed in wolf form for the most part, but one could never be sure they wouldn't fuck up.

Mista himself wasn't exactly looking human there, teeth slightly too long, hair slightly too thick. Hopefully, in the dark people would just think they were a very hairy man and a very pale one walking six small dogs. Really, Leone had no idea how did the various supernatural idiots making up their little group manage to pass as humans.

He was totally including Bruno with that. He regularly walked home from the sea soaking wet and wearing only his skin.

Speaking of Bruno, he was in human form again when Leone walked back in the bedroom. "Who was it?"

"Mista. He and the leech are taking the Pistols out."

"His name if Giorno, Leone."

"And he's a leech."

Bruno's sigh was fond. He turned to the window. "It is almost the full moon. It's good for them to be enjoying it."

There was something sad in Bruno's voice. "Is this about the sea again?"

"It's not the same if I go by myself," Bruno said. "But I get it."

Leone wanted the ground to swallow him for making Bruno unhappy. Had the threat of getting the sickness of the century not been a very real one, he wouldn't have hesitated to throw himself in the water. Clothes, make up and all. This interspecies relationship thing could be so hard sometimes.

Leone rubbed at the bridge of his nose. He had lost this battle. "Alright."

"What?"

"We can go to the sea. But I'm staying on the beach, got it? I'm not coming in." Sitting on a damp beach in an autumn night wasn't exactly Leone's idea of a good time, but he supposed it was a sacrifice he could make for Bruno's happiness. He'd be shivering the whole time, and it wasn't exactly what Bruno wanted, but it was a compromise.

Bruno very nearly jumped to his feet at that. "Thank you," he said, taking Leone's face in his hand. He kissed him, and as Leone wrapped his arms around Bruno, he tried not to think of how his very, very handsome lover was currently naked except for a seal skin draped over his shoulders.

"Get dressed," Leone said, pulling back. "I'm not taking you out naked."

"Jealous?"

Not feeling like being arrested for public indecency, more like. Taboos over nudity was something Bruno still hadn't quite gotten in his seal brain. "Extremely. Go."

"Hold this," Bruno said, taking his skin off and depositing it in Leone's hands before rushing to grab some clothes.

The acrobatics Leone's stomach did wouldn't have been out of place in a circus. It almost hurt to think that Bruno trusted him enough to just leave him with his skin. Having your skin stolen or damaged was a very real threat for a selkie, to the point Bruno got anxious if anyone else as much as brushed against it. And yet he just let Leone touch it like it was no big deal.

Leone might have cried a little the first time Bruno had allowed him to touch his seal skin. He still sort of felt like it now. His poor heart hadn't quite recovered yet when Bruno walked up to him, now clothed. "Shall we?" he asked, picking his skin up.

"If I get a cold, it's on you."

Bruno laughed. "Don't be a baby."

"Oh, I'm a baby now?"