Try to help Eadrom

You swim closer to the sobbing selkie and place your hand on his shoulder. "Maybe I can help you. Did the sor-- I mean, the golden selkie tell you that you had to play rough? Or could we...play nice?"

Eadrom sniffles a few times, his shoulders still shaking as he turns to look at you, his huge, liquid black eyes shimmering with tears. "I- I don't know," he says. "He told me what to do if the human tried to fight or run away. He never said what to do if a human wanted to play with me."

"I suppose we could pretend to play rough," you say.

"What is 'pretend'?" Eadrom asks.

"Never mind," you say. You're not sure how to explain it to the simple creature. "Do you want to play? It might not work to get your skin back, if it's not what he wants, but we could try."

"I do like to play nice," Eadrom says. "It feels good."

"Okay, then," you say with a smile. "We'll play nice."