Archive of Our Own ^beta

Lucius' was friends was a merperson. The half human-half fish-kind that was shiny and talkative. Now that would be completely normal if Lucius had been friends with him at the age of six or even eight. Especially if the merperson had been an imaginary friend. Now the fact that Lucius befriended the merman at the age of thirty? And that he wasn't imagined? That was a tad concerning. Or, it would be, if he lived anywhere other than Gotham City. Luckily, Lucius lived in the strangest (by far) City in America. They already had dead rising from their graves and pig-themed cannibalistic serial killers, what was a merman compared to that?

The merman had a special chair/tank for working at a desk. He wore solid and plaid button-downs and a pair of bulky square glasses. He looked like a typical IT guy waist up, well other than his smile. (It was a little too wide and his teeth were a little sharper than average). Waist down was a bright yellowy green tail with a single ribbon-like fin spanning from the nape of his neck to the end of his tail. His name was Edward Nygma. He worked in the IT part of customer services at Wayne Tech. He was very friendly, and bubbly (pun not intended). He had gotten a picture with someone dressed up as the Little Mermaid at a convention (he'd gone as Data from Star Trek: Next Gen, so it made for an interesting image). He got around by an altered wheelchair that had a waist-high tank that sealed around his middle to prevent spilling.

First Lucius talked to him over lunch. Then they'd started meeting for chess games in a well-paved park. Then movie nights at Ed's apartment. Lucius had fallen for the half-human before he'd realized. It was funny how he did come to realize it. They'd been watching The Little Mermaid and giggling their way through the songs when it hit him like a bus. He'd said a joke, couldn't recall it even a second afterword. He'd been to ensnared watching Ed laugh. His grin splitting his face almost completely in two, his unusually sharp teeth shining with light from the tv. And it was like WHAM. He was in love. Oh, oh.

"Lucius, are you alright?" Ed looked concerned. Oh, he'd been staring...

"I love you," Lucius hadn't exactly meant to say that, well, not at that moment. He cursed himself, watching Ed gape. "I-"

"You do?" Ed's eyes were wide behind the bulky glasses, gaze intense. He was leaning forward as if captivated by Lucius.

"I think so, yes, I do," Ed rolled his tank closer and ducked forward for a kiss. Lucius was happy to give him one. Lucius stayed overnight the next movie-date. Helped Ed clean out his chair tank and settled himself on the couch. He stayed over for the movie night after that. And the next one after that. He brought himself an air mattress and set it in the corner of Ed's room (most of which was taken up by a large saltwater tank. They stayed up those nights smiling and making faces at each other until sleep came. In the mornings they'd take turns on who made breakfast. It was wonderful.

A few weeks later, when Thomas asked if he'd found someone (he'd claimed that Lucius had been acting smitten and dreamy), Lucius said yes, he had found someone.

"Is he good to you? What's he like?"

"Yes, he's good to me, Thomas. And-- well, he's a bit fishy." A few feet away one of the tech support people snorted, clamping his hands over a wide, sharp-toothed grin. Lucius couldn't help but chuckle at the look of confusion on Thomas' face.