#spacemermaid

It would have made so much more sense if turning into a bat was part of Strange's vampire powers. Sure, it was a fictional cliche, but some fictional cliches were indeed true.

Although, Peter was sure he would have known by now if this particular skill was part of Doctor Strange’s powers. After all Strange was dating his mentor slash father figure.

Doctor Strange had even become an additional father figure to him during this time. A currently very small, and flying father figure.

“Will he become human again? I mean, a vampire? With arms and legs. Vampire arm and legs.” Peter asked the sorcerer.

“We are working on that.”

It would be easier for them if Stephen was able to help with the research. But the bat had been banned from the library after his last attempt to read an ancient tome had resulted in an accident in which he clawed through several pages.

Wong had not yet forgiven him for that.

“Why are you here anyway?” Wong asked the boy, raising his eyebrows in suspicion. Peter had strolled in for no apparent reason, his backpack slung over his shoulders.

“It’s Wednesday,” Peter said as if that explained everything. There was a pause as Wong waited for more. So Peter added, “I always swing by Wednesdays to do my homework while Doctor Strange reads.”

Since Peter had quite the habit of talking while he was working – he really took after Tony – more often than not Stephen put his own book aside and just had a conversation with the boy. Sometimes he even helped with the homework.

The vampire didn’t seem to mind the interruption. On the contrary, he had prompted Peter to turn the occasional visit into a weekly fixed routine.

“Well, as you see, Stephen is unavailable today.”

Peter pouted, making Wong sigh, defeated.

“But you can use the library for your studies if you want.”

“Can Doctor Strange join me?”

Wong didn’t give in. “Absolutely not.”

Peter’s pout deepened but Wong was one of the few people who could still resist it. At least partly.

The teenager strolled up the stairs, his phone in his hand, texting.

Wong turned back to Stephen, who hung upside down from a wooden beam at the ceiling.

“You are being unreasonable,” he told his friend.

The sorcerer was pretty sure the screech that followed was an insult, but he had no way to prove that.

______

The noises died down after that. It was never completely quiet in the Sanctum; there was always something going on that would reach the ear - whether it was students arriving or leaving, the woosh of the cloak, or the low hum of magic in the background.

Still, it felt peaceful.

It lasted about half an hour. Then, the Sanctum’s door was yanked open with force.

“Where is he?!”

A worried, almost frantic Tony Stark stood in the door. His eyes darted around as if he was expecting someone to jump at him.

His behavior would be alarming on any other day. But today, Wong, who had heard Stark even in the kitchen, had a pretty good guess what had the Avenger upset.

He walked out of the kitchen and into the big entrance hall. Without a word, he pointed at a vase on an ancient-looking dresser.

It looked like a regular vase, the perfect size for a big bouquet of flowers. It was green-ish with a mostly black pattern which remotely looked like edgy flowers in a field.

Nothing remarkable.

However, Tony knew there was hardly anything regular in the Sanctum. Not even some of the doorknobs were regular – he had learned that the hard way.

Having that experience etched in his mind, he moved closer to the vase. Frowning, he peeked inside. It was pitch black.

“Stephen? Can you hear me?” He almost yelled into it. There was no way a grown man could physically fit in this thing. In conclusion, it must be some magic shit, like a soul captured or an aura stored away. “I’m here, bab-”

Something small and furry shot out of the vase and right into Tony’s face, screeching. Tony shrieked in surprise, trying to get it off.

It was small but had sharp claws that dragged over his skin.

Tony cursed. Finally, he managed to snatch the little thing and held it in his hands. He was surprised to find a bat, panting heavily.

Tony stared at it. Then he looked up to Wong, who had watched the whole thing unimpressed. Tony looked at the vase. Then back down at the bat.

He was putting two and two together.

No way…

“That’s…” he started but the sentence seemed too ridiculous to finish.

Yet, Wong confirmed it. “Yes.”

“The curse turned him into a bat?”

“Unfortunately.” Wong tilted his head. “How do you even know about the curse?”

Peter answered that question, suddenly standing at the upper end of the staircase. “I texted him.”

The teenager was still on his phone.

Tony’s pocket made a low chime noise. It was probably another reaction gif from Peter. He loved to send them.

Wong needed a break. “Have you finished your homework yet?”

Finally, Peter looked up. “No.”

“Go back to the library,” Wong and Tony told him at the same time.

Peter pouted but sauntered away.

Tony watched the bat, who had calmed down, and approached his boyfriend slowly.

“Why did he just attack me?” the engineer asked. Did Stephen forget who he was? Did he have the mind of a beast?

The answer was far more simple.

“Because bats are neither blind nor deaf. He probably didn’t like it when you yelled into the small space he hid in, and that amplifies your voice even more.”

Stephen flapped his wings, agreeing with a chirp.

Tony winced.

“Sorry.” He lowered his voice to a stage whisper.

With his finger, he brushed Stephen’s soft fur. The bat was actually really cute.

Stephen climbed onto his finger and curled his long toes around it. Tony raised his hand and the bat hung upside down from it. He barely felt the claws, they were more like small pressure points.

Adorable.

“We are looking for a way to break the curse but in the meantime, there’s little else we can do besides making sure he is safe.”

Stephen’s small bat size was problematic since it was easy to overlook him. It made him prone to accidents, like getting crushed in his tiny body.

“What about his regular condition? Did that change?”

“He is still a vampire. Which makes it easier to feed him but complicated in breaking the curse.”

Of course. Stephen was known for complicating things.

By now Tony had calmed down as well. He knew all the facts now, and had convinced himself with his own eyes that nothing truly dangerous had happened to his mate.

Honestly, this wasn’t even the weirdest shit the sorcerer had gotten himself into since Tony met him.

“I’ll look after him while you work on getting him back,” he reassured Wong.

The sorcerer nodded, actually looking relieved at the offer. He left to get his tea and then return to his research.

Tony climbed up the stairs and walked to Stephen’s room. He had a Starkpad there that he could use to entertain himself and Stephen.

It made him think of something else.

“When was the last time you ate? Are you hungry?”

He offered his wrist to the bat.

After a brief consideration, Stephen lapped onto it, his small black eyes glowing red for a second – that was the only sign so far that this bat was not a normal animal.

When the tiny teeth broke his skin it felt like the prick of a needle, the pain gone just as fast.

Tony was used to Stephen drinking off him, but this time felt different. Normally it was an intimate gesture. It had to do with the fact that they were also lovers. Tony knew that for other people it was different, sometimes nothing more than a business transaction.

Now it was just… over in an instant. The small body didn’t need much blood; no more than a few mouthfuls.

Afterwards, Stephen rubbed the soft fur of his head against Tony’s thumb as if to thank him. Then he spread his wings and took to the air, moving in a zigzag pattern as if he were drunk.

Back into Tony’s hair.

“No. Absolutely not, you little menace.”

Tony scooped him out of his hair before Stephen could get too comfortable.

Stephen complained loudly and slipped out of his hand to claw at Tony's shirt, with mediocre success. He slid down – right into Tony’s breast pocket.

The engineer glanced inside and watched the bat wiggling around, but not trying to get out. Instead, he settled against the warmth of Tony’s chest, chirping happily.

Tony sighed dramatically to cover up a smile.