Some Time Later…

“Hang on!” Eilidh shouted aloud her disbelief, spinning around after stopping her rush through her home, “You can speak?! You can understand me?! All this time?!”

Having followed behind her, Córu nervously lifted a hand to her lips, “I- I don’t know.” Dipping her head forward, she muttered, postulating simply, “I think- last night, when we-“

“Stop,” Eilidh raised an open palm, “We’re not bringing that up again.”

“Me saving your life?”

Eilidh’s eyes tensed, “Apropos of that, we’re not touching that, alright?” She groaned, reaching up to rub her face, groaning to herself before continuing, “Gods damn… So, what, last night, we- That whole thing, what- imbued you with speech?”

A shrug as Córu answered, “It’s as best an explanation I can tell. I didn’t much understand you before that beyond your tone and affect. and your gestures, your ravenous gesticulating behavior of speech, your-”

“My what?!”

Córu stared at her, as though perplexed she hadn’t noted it herself by now, “You’re very dramatic when you speak. You wave your arms around, you twist your body; you speak with your body as much as your speech.”

Frowning, Eilidh’s shoulders slumped, “Oh, gods, I’m being judged by an alien creature.

“It’s not a judgement. I found it rather comforting when I couldn’t understand your words,” Córu admitted, “I could still understand your meaning.”

Eilidh gave an upturned glance from her downtrodden posture, crossing her arms as a weakened voice replied, “Yeah, well- Let’s just-”

It admittedly, to herself, alone, made her uncomfortable to hear somebody critique her at all – she had always thought highly of her work and level of knowledge, any criticism seen a slight against her competency indeed. But compliments, too, were critiques that made her skin crawl, perhaps due to the spotlight it cast upon her. The last few days, all attention had been placed far from Eilidh, allowing her some solitude, only now to discover that some of that light had been reflected, to some extent, back onto her.

“So-” Eilidh shifted in place, “You can understand everything?”

“I seem to,” Córu tilted her head in thought, “Though, I’d be curious of the mechanism, biological or otherwise. Did I inherit your lexicon as you understood your language at the time? or did I inherit your language whole?”

A shrug, “You got me. I’m a human, not a selkie.”

“Sel-kie…”

Córu turned her head toward her hand as it raised before her, staring at her skin as though it were brand new to her, “Yes… That’s what you would call me.”

A brow raised, Eilidh wondered, “What- would you call yourself?”

“In our tongue, I’d be called a sognen. and you a lird.”

Eilidh watched Córu with disbelief, sighing after a moment, “Okay, look- I’ve had to do a lot of recalculating about truth and fact and what all that means these last few days. Especially as a teacher, somebody who that’s supposed to be pretty big deal to-” she frowned, “How do I know I’m not just losing my mind? Surely you can understand the optics of this all? None of the more fantastic parts of your time here- Like- You could just be a figment of my imagination because I’ve been out here in the foothills too long and my mind decided I needed a friend with- not skin, I guess, but- eyes.”

Brow rising with consideration, Córu wondered, “You’re wanting proof that I’m real?”

“Well- what would you do if a person just showed up in your home?!”

“Lirds don’t breathe underwater, so that would be rather undeniably impossible to begin with.”

Eilidh’s face shone scornful, though Córu managed something of a ginger grin, “I was attempting levity.”

“So a joke, yes,” sighed the human, “See, I’ve been running in my mind for the past week all these scenarios to try and figure out whether or not I’ve lost my mind. Why do you think I was out there last night in the first place?!” Eilidh’s eyes narrowed. “On that note, why are you so afraid of the loch?!”

Córu grew visibly uncomfortable, crossing her arms over her stomach and lowering her head, “I- It’s difficult to say.”

“Not difficult enough to chase me into it.”

Córu didn’t answer. She didn’t even break her cloistered posture, remaining still as she looked as though she were attempting to be invisible. Eilidh shook her head, turning to step into the kitchen, hoping to diffuse the situation, knowing confrontation to be the worst way to progress, instead continuing back toward other avenues.

“In any case, I’ve come up with a few ways, but now that I know you can talk, that changes things quite a bit. Quite a lot, actually, but one phenomenon at a time,” Eilidh rolled her eyes, “Most of these methods involve – gods help me – involving one or more of my friends and them confirming that I’m not just imagining you here standing with me.”

Córu glanced out the window, “More lirds?”

“Humans, please. Lirds sounds disgusting,” Eilidh groaned, “They live in town. It’s down the hill.”

Recalling the selkie’s attention, Córu returned to question, “I wouldn’t mind meeting them if it meant quelling your fears.”

“My- I’m not afraid, just-” Eilidh tugged at her lips in worried reverie, “Okay, maybe a little afraid of losing my mind, but that’s not something that’s going to happen anytime soon!” She checked herself, pondering for a moment. “Meeting my friends, not- You know.”

She leaned overtop her counter, “First, since you can talk, I have questions.”

Nodding, Córu replied, “As your guest, I should answer them.”