#SUPERBAT | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

crowned-aeris · 2 days

Text

MERMAY IS HERE!!

I will be splitting everything up into chunks for yall, but the full chapters will be uploaded on ao3 with the formatting in tact because tumblr just EATS it, and i cannot, for thr life of me, be bothered to replace every italics.

Here's the bingo i'm filling! It's by @skumhuu :3

Anyways… here’s:

Of Gem-like Scales and Silver Seal Pelts

Chapter 1: Sapphire Eyes; Part 1

Bruce fumed, storming out of the castle as a few maids called after him. The king ignored them, as he was prone to do, and continued down to the nearby beach.

He was the King of Gotham- he could choose to do what he wanted! He doesn't have to listen to anyone.

Anger tore at his chest with its vicious, serrated claws, and the human lashed out and slammed his fist against a lone post, ignoring the burn of pain that seared through his flesh in favor of the rage.

The king heaved, his chest rising and falling as he sucked in breath after breath. Bruce was about to storm into the bordering woods when he heard a faint, wailing sound.

Bruce faltered and twitched. His eyes narrowed in confusion as he whirled around to where the inhuman and hollow wailing was coming from. It clearly originated from a mer-like creature, but it was too high-pitched for an adult, which left the only option being a mer pup… but why would a pup be alone? Mers were notoriously protective parents, after all.

Grass rustled gently beneath his feet as he slowly crept toward the sound. A strange emotion akin to grief drowned out the previous, all-consuming anger as he felt pulled toward the sound. Bruce's intuition was eventually proven correct as the wailing sound grew louder. He frowned, brows furrowing as he hoisted himself over a few stacks of rocks before freezing in shock.

A little mer pup with dull crimson, gold, and emerald scales was crouched over the bodies of, presumably, his parents. The pup’s fins were torn, and his skin was scratched and bloodied.

The parents of the pup had been- for a lack of a better word- eviscerated.

Their tails were… bare. Their scales and fins had been pried or sawn off, the mers had been gutted, their bones harvested, and their eyes plucked. The sand around the bodies and the pup was dark with blood and gore. And from his distance, Bruce could see maggots and crabs picking at the corpses.

Bruce watched the pup continue to cry, wailing and pawing at his parents' corpses, and the king was suddenly hit in the face with the memory of his own parents' death.

Bruce slid down the rocks, a quiet thump sounded as Bruce’s feet met the sand, and the pup jerked to attention. He stared at Bruce with wide, fear-filled sapphire eyes- the most beautiful eyes Bruce has ever seen, and regretfully, the king could understand why the mers’ eyes had been plucked.

"Hey," Bruce said gently, lowering himself onto the sand until he was at eye level with the little pup. He was only a few feet long, most likely a few years old, and he was already experiencing the death of his parents. Stars above, Bruce could relate.

The king fished around his cloak before fishing out a few pieces of stale crackers. He winced. This wasn’t the greatest, but it was the best he had.

Bruce slowly reached forward, brandishing the stale crackers in his hands.

The creature blinked in distrust before his lips peeled back to reveal needle-sharp fangs, and the mer pup lunged forward to snap at Bruce's fingers.

He yanked his hand back before the teeth could close around his fingers, wincing as the pup growled at him.

"You know what? What the hell am I doing?" Bruce sighed, pushing abruptly to his feet but not before placing the crackers where the mer pup could reach, "Mers are dangerous. I can't- I can’t just- shit."

Bruce pushed to his feet and rushed back to the castle, a cloud of frustrated gloom hanging over his head.

What was he thinking? Mers are predators- creatures capable of capsizing ships and ripping apart a human in a matter of seconds before devouring them. Even if that mer was a pup, his hook-like claws and serrated teeth could decimate Bruce's hand apart...

Even then... Bruce couldn't help but- but feel... bad for the pup. Even if he would grow into a monstrous predator- even if that pup was just an animal that would eventually get over his parents' death- Bruce couldn't help but feel terrible… Especially after his passing thought about mer eyes.

"Master Bruce," his head butler, Alfred, called the moment Bruce swept into the castle's main hall, "what have I been hearing about you not heeding the maids' words?"

"Alfred!" Bruce called, slightly out of breath, "There's a- this mer pup out on the beach behind the castle- he's- his parents- they were harvested."

The butler faltered, and Bruce could see him physically shelving the topic for a later date, "A mer pup? Are you certain, sir?"

"Yes, I am," Bruce hissed, frustration beginning to build as he was desperate to return to the pup. Who knows what would happen in the time he was away? The pup's scales were dull and chipped, the membranes between his fins were torn, and the pup's underscales and skin were raw and covered with sores and cuts. "I don't know how long he's been out there, Alfred! He's so thin, I'm pretty sure he's starving, and- and what am I supposed to do?"

"Master Bruce," his butler reached forward to rest a hand on his shoulder, "calm down. We will figure this out. First, we shall check if the kitchen has anything the pup could eat."

Bruce nodded hesitantly and followed the graying man into the halls. With his hand on Bruce's shoulder, the king felt small again. It was as if Alfred was leading him back to his parent's room after he'd woken up after a nightmare.

Bruce had been the Crown Prince of Gotham, and now... he's the king.

The instant they entered the kitchen, the movements halted, and everyone within sight pivoted to bow. A tense energy filled the room, and Bruce could only sigh.

"At ease," Bruce said, flapping his hand before approaching one of the cooks, "excuse me, would you mind fetching me a fish? Raw, preferably."

The cook faltered, blinking in surprise at Bruce's request, "Your Majesty? You… want a..."

"A raw fish. Whole," Bruce nodded, forcing himself to remain nonchalant.

"I'm not doubting you, sir, but- what need do you have for a raw, whole fish?" the cook floundered, hunching in on himself with a timid expression, "If you want to eat fish, I'm sure the chef would be more than willing to cook something for you!"

Bruce narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, "I need it. For… something..."

The cook fidgeted anxiously before sighing in defeat, "Very well, sir. I shall be out shortly... with your... fish."

He nodded before returning to Alfred's side. His butler smiled, patting his shoulder in encouragement as the cooks and chefs rushed around the kitchen to clean and prepare dinner. But then, the elderly man spots something from the corner of his eye and frowns, "DuBois, what do you think you're doing?”

The butler strode over, his brow drawn in appallment as he stared at the straight-edged knife in the young man's hand, "Why are you using this knife?"

"It's a knife?" DuBois blinked in confusion, "I'm cutting a tomato, so I use a knife, right?"

"A tomato should be cut with a serrated knife," the butler said not unkindly, "if you have further inquiries, Anderson will guide you."

"Sir! I've fetched the... raw fish you'd requested," the cook from earlier had returned, and he was holding a largemouth bass in his hand. It was clearly dead, which was what Bruce expected. If the bass had been live… Well, Bruce wasn’t sure what he would’ve done.

"Thank you," Bruce said. He took the fish, thumb wedged firmly under its lip, and retraced his steps. Alfred deigns to remain in the castle, and so the king followed the wailing until he reached the pup.

Sliding past the rocks and nearly falling onto his face, Bruce’s boots thumped against the sand. The pup jerked to attention, spotting Bruce before baring his teeth at the supposed threat.

"Hey, buddy," Bruce called lightly, brandishing the fish in front of him. "I know you're hungry, so I got you some fish."

The mer pup's gaze fixed on the fish, darting between Bruce's face and the food before he slowly shuffled forward.

"That's it,” Bruce said softly, deliberately avoiding the bodies on the beach as the mer pup slowly clawed forward, "you're doing great, buddy."

He relaxed slightly at Bruce's tone, the little pup hesitantly before curling up and nipping at the fish. From his perspective, Bruce could clearly see that the little mer pup was trembling like a leaf.

Bruce reached forward slowly. The pup was too preoccupied with the fish to notice the king's hand approaching his head. As Bruce brushed a hand through his hair, he froze. Bruce stilled too as the pup carefully deliberated whether he should do something in retaliation.

Thankfully, the pup does not decide to rip Bruce's hand apart and instead continues to tear the flesh of the fish into small strips with his serrated teeth.

The king continues to card his hand through the pup's hair, carefully avoiding his cranial fins. The mer whined and chittered, leaning into Bruce's touch, his tail slowly wagging back and forth in the sand.

Brushing his hand through the little mer pup's hair, Bruce couldn’t help but think. He couldn’t have been older than a few years old, yet the little pup has already felt the sting of grief… Bruce knows he shouldn’t humanize an animal, but how can he not? This pup was just like him, "Poor thing..."

Bruce sat with the pup long after the sun had set, silently enjoying the pup’s company. His weight splayed across his lap was a nice feeling, and Bruce took care to block the sight of the corpses from the little mer pup. He’ll find a way to bury them in a bit.

The king leaned back, the little pup chirping at him in confusion before returning to his barely-there fish. Bruce's pants were covered with fish guts and blood, but he couldn't care less. Something in his chest screamed for him to swaddle the pup in linens and steal him away, and he was very tempted to give in.

As the moon climbed higher and higher into the sky, Bruce felt exhaustion pulling at him and decided he'd much rather go to sleep in his bed than have sharp sand digging into his back all night.

He was about to climb to his feet and return to the castle when the pup at his feet started wailing again, the mer's claws hooking into Bruce's pants to try and keep him from leaving.

"Bud," Bruce felt his expression tighten with uncertainty, "I can't- I can't stay here. I'd love to, but I have a whole kingdom I need to take care of. I have a conference tomorrow, too."

The pup, deaf to Bruce's plight, only increased his volume. Right now, his wailing was childlike and chirpy, but one day, his wail would grow into something haunting, hollow, and capable of luring sailors to their deaths.

"I'm sorry, but I have to go," Bruce tried to explain, but the pup was not hearing it. Instead, when Bruce bent over to pry the pup's claws from his pants, the mer pushed off his tail to hook his claws into Bruce's shirt. The mer pup tossed himself over Bruce's shoulder with a petulant hiss, "Buddy, I can't just-"

He interrupted Bruce with a pitiful whine that pulled at Bruce's heart strings. Bruce has always been weak to children, even those who aren't human, so the king very quickly caved into the pup's demands.

"Alfred!" Bruce called with a sigh, his arm slotted under the whining pup's tail to support his weight, "Alfred- I need help!"

The butler quickly appears, blinking in surprise at the sight of the young mer pup clinging to Bruce's shoulder.

"Alfred," the king gave his butler a hopeless expression, "he won't let go!"

"Perhaps we shall settle him in the lake, sir?" Alfred quickly resumes his unbothered demeanor, and the king of Gotham could feel himself relax slightly. This was the man who helped him through the hardest time of Bruce’s life.

He thought about it before nodding, "Alright, we’ll do that. Do you think he'll cry during the conference?"

"I am unsure of that, Master Bruce, but your newest seems quite attached to you," Alfred comments.

Bruce sighed, "I'll try and settle him into the lake."

"Very well. Good luck, Master Bruce."

He nodded before turning toward the back of the castle.

Bruce will need all the luck he can get.

#batman #batfamily #batfam #dick grayson #bruce wayne #fanfic #batfam mermaid au #merman dick grayson #mermay #mermay 2024 #leviathantale #writing #clark kent #alfred pennyworth #superbat #but it’s kinda implied #Crow’s 2024 Mermay: Of gem-like scales and soft seal pelts

31 notes · View notes