#Adrien Girod | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

bouwrites · 5 years ago

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Even Heroes Have the Right to Dream: Chapter 15

All that’s left for me to climb to the heavens is the chasm of the night.

First, Previous, Next. Ao3.

Story under read-more.

Marinette is awoken by a muffled shout. She frowns into her pillow for a moment, waiting and wondering if it isn’t just her imagination, and then she hears it again. Not a yell, not a sob, something in between. That involuntary whimper closer to a groan, dulled by a wall. It only takes her a second to decide to rise from her bed.

It’s… not the first time she hears sounds like this from Jon’s room. She knows he hears the same things from hers. But both of them know each other’s pasts as heroes, so both of them understand. They don’t interrupt. It’s an unspoken agreement. They talk about nightmares, sometimes, if they need to, but only the one suffering brings it up. They certainly don’t go to each other in the middle of the night.

But… that was then. That was when they were friends. Best friends, even. Now, they’re dating, and even though Marinette still fights to do it, crossing the boundary into his room feels less inappropriate. She’s not afraid of overstepping her bounds. Not as much, anyway.

And besides that. Given what happened, Marinette already has an idea of what’s troubling Jon tonight.

A new brother, hidden from him for a month, locked in combat with his father. A weapon made to kill Superman, replace him, with Jon’s old name. Damian’s storage of kryptonite the only means of putting down the last Kryptonians.

Jon does so well out there on the farm. Marinette is so proud of him for standing up and resolving the situation peacefully, if not quite how he intends, and for having the strength to chastise Superman directly after a panic attack like that.

But Marinette also knows, because she does the same thing, that pushing past something, brute forcing his way through to the conclusion he needs, is not healthy resolution. Just because he does what he needs to do doesn’t mean he’s okay when all is said and done.

It’s been a while since the last nightmare. At least, the last one Marinette is able to note. She’s sure they’re more frequent, but Jon is quiet enough that she can’t hear, or she just doesn’t wake up at all and misses it. To her knowledge, though, this hasn’t happened since they started dating. Not during last semester, at least, and none the days he spent in Paris during the summer.

It pisses her off that it’s been triggered again. Jon deserves peaceful dreams. He deserves a peaceful life. But as much as Marinette wants to rage at Superman, for letting himself get dragged into a fistfight with a teenager (at best, given Conner is technically much younger, and she doesn’t care that Conner started it, Superman is an adult who should have handled it peacefully), for keeping Jon’s own brother a secret from him for a month, for not handling the situation so that Jon needn’t have been called in, that’s not Marinette’s place.

She certainly loses respect for Superman, but she’s following Jon’s lead with this. It’s his family. She has much more important things to worry about than spiteful fury at Superman for allowing this. She has to take care of Jon.

She raps her knuckles gently on his door. “Jon?” She asks quietly. “Can I come in?”

There’s a sharp, shaky breath that Marinette only hears because she’s listening so closely for it, then his voice. “Please.”

She turns the handle and slips into the pitch-dark room. Jon’s breathing is labored, and sounds like he’s fighting tears, and Marinette can make out just the barest silhouette of a Jon-sized ball curled up on the bed.

She doesn’t come in here often, not even after they start dating, but she knows Jon keeps his floor clean, so she doesn’t think twice about making her way over to him.

Her foot snags on fabric along the way, triggering a shatteringly loud clatter of metal and rustling denim. She winces. Jon does go directly to his room when they finally return home in the evening after their confrontation; she should expect him to not care to make sure his clothes are put away properly. Just this once. That’s her mistake. Carefully, she pushes the discarded pants aside with her foot, and finally reaches the bed.

She slips in under the blanket beside him and coaxes him to roll over to face her. Then, she hugs him close and kisses his head. She says nothing. She simply holds him.

It takes some time. Minutes, hours, Marinette can’t tell, but she’s there for a long time. Slowly, Jon’s breathing relaxes. She can tell by the way his face furrows up that he hasn’t fallen back asleep, but that doesn’t matter. What matters is that, little by little, he calms down.

“I woke you up, didn’t I?” He asks, voice just a whimper. “I’m sorry.”

“I’ve woken you up, too.” Marinette says matter-of-factly. “It’s okay.”

Jon breathes a shaky sigh. His forehead falls against hers. “I hate this.” He says softly. Despite how he trembles, despite the undercurrent in his voice that rises above the fragility, his voice never travels beyond the tiny space between the two of them. “Dad didn’t even tell me about Kon. I had to find out from Damian telling me to break them up. Does he… does he just not trust me? Because I’m not Superboy anymore? I- I know I told him I don’t need to be kept up to date on all the hero stuff, but… this is my brother! Why wouldn’t he tell me about this?”

Marinette exhales gently. “It was wrong of him to keep Kon secret from you,” she agrees, “but he was probably just trying to protect you. I’m sure he just didn’t want to risk you getting dragged back in.”

Jon scoffs bitterly. “What a great job.”

“I know.” Marinette rubs Jon’s bare back carefully. “I know…”

Jon sniffs. “What’s wrong with me, Marinette? I always – always – trusted Dad. He was my idol. I used to want to be just like him. Now, I… I feel like I can’t be any more different from him. What- what do I do? What did I do? Why am I… Why…” His breathing grows more tense, and he screws his eyes shut tight. “I don’t even know what happened. It’s like one moment I was Superboy, and the next… he doesn’t even tell me about my own family. No one does until they need me.

“Am I really that- that broken that- that I…”

New York is lucky that fury isn’t a physical thing. Superman, the Justice League, and all of America as collateral is lucky that the fire under Marinette’s skin stays there and does not immolate the entirety of them all. How dare they hurt Jon like this? How dare they make, however unintentionally, a man like Jon feel broken.

Marinette spent a long time feeling broken. Betrayed, alone, without her only mentor in the cruel world of heroism. She spent a long time believing it all to be her fault. She only persisted out of obligation.

Adrien once spent a long time feeling broken. Abused by a father blinded by a vain hope. Forgotten in his gilded cage, left to believe he’s the problem.

Like hell is she letting Jon feel that way.

“You’re not.” Marinette says firmly. “You’re not broken. You are the most wonderful, the kindest, the bravest, the most principled man I have ever met. There is absolutely nothing wrong with you.”

Jon is quiet for a long time. “Did you hear Kon?” He asks eventually. “Cadmus made him because I retired. Because we need a Superboy. I… I turned my back on that, on everyone who needs me, and… and because of that…”

“I don’t believe that.” Marinette says. “That might be what they told him, but he also said that he’s supposed to kill Superman if he turns bad, right? This… Cadmus. They didn’t tell you about that plan, did they? So, they would have made Kon either way, except… if you were there as a replacement, he might have only been a weapon. To take down either of you if they thought they needed to.”

Jon squeaks out such an odd noise. It’s a laugh cut off by a shaky gasp. “You always were so much smarter than me. You’re… you’re right. God knows why that makes me feel a little better, but… it does.”

“Pretty stupid that our lives are so weird that the thought of a half-brother created solely to kill you is a comforting thought, isn’t it?” Marinette teases, finally pulling a real laugh out of Jon. “But it’s because you know it’s not your fault. You haven’t done anything wrong. Matter of fact, I’m really proud of you.”

“You are?”

“Of course, I am. You put them both in their place, and never sacrificed your virtues to do it. You proved to us both that even if the worst happens, we don’t have to sacrifice what we’ve done here. Right? Nonviolence. To me, you’re exactly what the Girod stands for.”

Jon sighs. “I’m still not convinced it’s possible. But… thank you. I’m- I’m trying.”

“I know you are.”

Jon pulls her closer and buries his head in her shoulder. They lay like that, in silence, for so long that Marinette is sure he falls back asleep. But he surprises her when he says, “Today made me think… look back on everything that happened. I… God, I don’t even recognize myself. I always thought I’d grow up to be Dad, basically, but… now I’m on a completely different path from him. So different that he doesn’t even- I’m… scared. Lost.”

“I know.” Marinette mutters into his hair. “God, Jon, I know.” Throwing herself into the unknown with clipped wings and no safety net, Marinette knows the feeling. Not knowing where she’s going, hardly recognizing where she’s been. It’s scary, and it’s lonely, but… they’re not alone. “I’m here, Jon.” Jon’s grip on her tightens when she says it. “It’s okay, because we can do this together, right?”

“…Together. Right. If we’re together… I love you, Marinette.”

“I love you, too, Jon.”

“Hey, Marinette?” Jon whispers, with life just about renewed in his voice. “…On a scale of one to ten… how much have you already adopted Kon?”

Without missing a beat, Marinette says, “Your dad will have to fight me for the papers.”

Marinette is no stranger to sharing a bed with her boyfriend. The only difference when she wakes up today is that it’s Jon next to her rather than Adrien. Even so, it’s been years since back then, when she and Adrien were living in that apartment together.

If someone had told teenage Marinette that this is what her future holds, sleepily rising with the morning sun over the skyline of New York City, with not Adrien, but a farm boy from America stirring at her side, that little Marinette would probably have had a panic attack. If she’s told that she’s the one who steps away from the life she dreams of, that life with Adrien, with marriage and kids and a hamster on a horizon close enough to taste, that little Marinette might actually faint from shock.

It’s so strange, how dreams change and how reality drags them down to Earth. Jon is right. When she looks back at the person she was and how she manages to get where she is… she hardly recognizes that little girl. It’s sad, in a way. It’s rose-tinted nostalgia frozen by an odd melancholy. Affection for that little girl, in almost the same way she looks at Conner – a kid overwhelmed by the craziness of life, who needs a guiding hand – but… knowing that not only has she given up on those dreams, but that she made the choice to reject them is… sobering.

Would little Marinette like the person she is now? Does the Marinette of today? Marinette smiles and rubs Jon’s shoulder idly. He’s stirring awake, not quite dead to the world like she sometimes is in the mornings, but much more tired than he should be. He’s a morning person. Has been for as long as Marinette has known him. He only has trouble rising if he has trouble sleeping, and that considered, Marinette expects it this morning.

Even if it would be the shock of a lifetime for the Marinette of so long ago, Marinette thinks she’s quite happy with this. It’s still frightening. She’s still a little lost. To leave behind dreams she holds so dearly for so long is no small thing, and Marinette knows the next big change is just around the corner. They only have this year before they graduate. After that, they need to enter the next chapter of their lives. The transition may or may not be an easy one. But if they tackle it together, they can overcome it just like they are overcoming this one.

Jon sits up, rubbing his eyes and yawning, and mumbles, “Someone’s at the door.”

Not a second later, the doorbell rings. Marinette rolls her eyes. With a ruffle of Jon’s hair and a jump out of bed, she leaves Jon’s room for her own. “Be with you in a minute!” She calls to whoever’s at the door.

She refuses to answer the door in her nightgown. That said, it’s an easy affair to slip on a simple dress. As she leaves her own room to answer the door, Jon emerges from his, shirt still unbuttoned and fastening his belt.

Marinette answers the door. Standing there, looking very much out of place, Conner Kent fidgets with the hem of his shirt. “Oh! Conner! That was fast. Come in, come in!” Marinette steps aside so he can squeeze past her. “Take your shoes off. You can put them in this closet here.”

Conner mechanically does as instructed, so Marinette turns and catches Jon with a quick kiss to his cheek. “I’m going to make some cookies. And breakfast. You move the furniture.”

“Yeah, this ain’t my first rodeo.” Jon smiles back, catching her before she can hurry to the kitchen to give her a kiss on the lips. When he lets her go, he turns to grin at Conner. “Good to see you, Kon! Let me give you the grand tour.”

While Marinette is working on breakfast (and cookies on the side) Jon comes into the living room with Conner on his tail. Conner looks so lost, like a little duckling following his mother, and Marinette coos internally at his dumbfounded expression.

The two don’t have guests often, but their friends have been over before. They figure out quickly that their little table and two chairs isn’t enough space for everyone to share a meal, much less hang out at, so they figured out their alternative. Jon pushes the table and chairs into a corner (they don’t need the chairs with only one guest) and then pushes the sofa back closer to the center of the room. It’s further from the television, but it gives him space to pull the coffee table away from it. The coffee table itself is lower to the ground, and much larger than their little dining table, so if they all sit around it on the floor, they can share a meal with friends – or family.

It’s not that much adjusting. Just pushing things around a little, not nearly as major as when Marinette needs floor space to cut fabric, and Jon’s strength means it’s hardly an annoyance to set everything where it needs to be.

“So, did you already piss of Dad, or did you just miss me?” Jon asks casually as he picks up the coffee table.

“I didn’t do anything.” Conner crosses his arms defensively.

Jon shakes his head slowly, standing from placing the coffee table down in its new place. “I didn’t mean it like that, bro. I was just teasing. Come on, sit. What made you decide to visit so soon?”

He plops down on the sofa, hesitant Conner following suit a moment later, and watches his brother expectantly. For a moment, Jon meets her eyes, a silent question overtaking his expression. Ordinarily, if they have breakfast at home, he helps cook. And that’s when they’re cooking for two. Marinette shakes her head. She’ll do this, Jon needs to focus on his brother.

She keeps an eye on them, though. Connor is distinctly uncomfortable here. “I’m sorry.” He says. “I should have called ahead.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Jon says nonchalantly. “Marinette and I have classes in a couple hours, but we’re free until then.” Classes, and if Conner’s sticking around this afternoon Jon will have to ask his professor for a short extension on an assignment he planned to complete yesterday, but it should all work out. They’re definitely not cluing Conner in on that part. The last thing they need is for him to feel like he’s getting in the way of their university work. “And I said you’re always welcome here, didn’t I?”

That gets Conner to loosen up just a little. “I…” Conner starts. “I… I’m here to update you on the cover story. On how you suddenly found a new brother.”

I don’t suppose anyone would believe if we said you fell from the sky. Marinette thinks, snickering to herself.

“Ah, yeah, I saw the message when I was getting ready this morning. You’re sixteen, officially, were in California with adoptive parents until now. I assume those names were all aliases.”

“Think so.” Conner says.

“Adoptive parents died, you came here to be taken care of by your birth parents. Did I miss anything? I just skimmed it, honestly.”

“There’s some more details, but that’s the idea.”

“Cool. Real nice of you to come tell me that in person after you already sent the brief.” Jon says it in a friendly way, but it’s clear that Jon knows that isn’t the real reason Conner is here. “Your idea?”

Conner grits his teeth and crosses his arms again. “I… I wanted to ask you about Superman. And about Superboy. And… what happened.” Jon’s expression turns serious, but Conner, despite looking somewhere between angry and terrified, forges on. “All I know about you is what Cadmus taught me, and all they know is the public stuff. No one ever said why you retired, some people are even still saying you’ll come back, but… you told me to use the name, so… you’re not coming back, are you?”

“No, Kon, I’m not.” Jon sighs heavily. “If you know all that public stuff, you already know that at first, the League just said I was on leave.” Conner nods stiffly. “I haven’t talked much with them since then, but I know them pretty well. I’m sure they were just trying to prevent a panic from Superboy disappearing suddenly. The truth is, it was a temporary leave at first. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, because I was raised to believe that fighting, using my powers for the good of the people, is the right thing to do. But… I honestly hated it. Fighting, I mean. It wore me down, until eventually I had to decide what I want my life to be. Mom convinced everyone to let me take a leave while I go to college. I was supposed to use my college years to decide my future. If I’d go back, or not.” He chuckles a little helplessly. “I think everyone expected me to come back within a few weeks.”

“But you didn’t.”

“No. I didn’t. My friend Damian told me once that it started because I felt safe enough to process everything. All the fighting. But… after I was away for a while… anytime I thought of going back, I’d start panicking. Not like- not like worry or anything like that. Like what you saw back at the farm. I freeze. I- uh, I’d rather not go into detail on exactly how it feels, but… I can’t fight anymore, even if I wanted to.” Jon shakes his head slowly. “But I don’t want to.” He grins at Conner’s near-horrified face. “I was only getting worse and worse towards the end of my time as Superboy. I’m happier now living a… well a peaceful life. So, no, I don’t intend to ever go back. I promised myself and Marinette that I wouldn’t ever fight again. And I intend to keep that promise. We’re pacifists now.”

“That’s… I’m sorry.” Conner looks to the floor. “That must be hard.”

Jon snorts. “Not when my old League friends aren’t trying to drag me back into it. Not anymore, anyway. You totally missed my whole ethics crisis phase.”

Conner winces, despite Jon’s attempt to lighten the atmosphere. His hands tremble and he bites his lip as he stares at the table. “I’m sorry.” He says. “If I didn’t start that fight, you wouldn’t have had that panic attack, I- I- you’re my-” Conner huffs, closing his eyes. His jaw and brow are set determinedly. “I’m not going to put you through that again. I’m sorry it happened once. I won’t make my brother feel that way.”

“Kon…” Jon’s gentlest voice carries through the room. “Don’t blame yourself for that. I knew what would happen, and I went anyway.”

Marinette rolls her eyes as she brings three plates of food to the coffee table. Conner seems to be trying hard to figure out a response, so Marinette uses the opportunity to interrupt. “Breakfast.” She says. “Eat up.”

“Ah! Thank you, Marinette!” Jon immediately leaps from the sofa to take a seat on the floor next to the table. “You’re the bestest ever!”

She giggles, bending down to kiss Jon’s head. “You’re cooking next time.” She murmurs, smiling at his laugh in reply.

Conner jumps, like he’s forgotten she’s there. “Oh. Thank you. You were there yesterday, too.”

“Of course, I was.” Marinette says. “I’m a lot like your brother. I was a hero for a long time. Started when I was a kid, too, though not quite as young as him. Put that life behind me, came to America for university. It was a stroke of luck that we ended up roommates.”

“Now she’s my girlfriend.” Jon beams proudly. “So, get used to her. She’s your sister-in-law.”

“We’re not married, Jon.”

“Have you seen us? We were married before we started dating.”

Marinette giggles, and, for the first time since he got here, Conner smiles. A small, weak one but a smile nonetheless. It falls quickly, though. “I can’t believe Superboy gave up being a hero. Just… like that.” Conner says quietly.

Jon lets out a sharp laugh. “Hey, that took years. I wouldn’t say it was just like that. Trust me, bro, it was hard. Worth it, though.” Marinette lets Jon take her hand and give her that same smile he had on Thanksgiving.

“Superman wants you to be a hero.” Conner says. “He doesn’t want me.”

Jon’s brow knits together. “Kon.” Jon touches his shoulder, drawing Conner’s eyes to his. Both the same blue, just a few shades deeper than Marinette’s own. “Do you want to be Superboy? Not me, Superboy, you Superboy. Is being a hero something you want to do?”

Conner awkwardly pushes his breakfast around the plate. “I… I was made to be a hero.”

“That doesn’t answer the question, Kon.” Conner flinches, but doesn’t say more, so Jon sighs and says. “It’s your life. Never forget that. I always thought I’d grow up to just be Dad, but look at me now. I had to decide my own path, and someday you will, too. If you want to be a hero, that’s fine. If you don’t, that’s okay, too. I’m your brother, and I’ll support you either way. And Dad?” Jon pauses for a moment. “He’s doing the best he can. You scare him, that’s the only reason he wouldn’t have told me about you. If you scare him that badly… it’ll take time for him to really accept you. But he will. And even if he doesn’t, your life is still yours. You don’t have to be him if you don’t want to, and he can’t stop you from using him as an example if that is what you want. Do you… sort of get what I’m saying?”

“I have to decide what I want to do.” Conner says.

Jon grins and throws an arm over Conner’s shoulder. “Yeah, but there’s no rush. You’re like, a month old, dude, you’ve got time to figure everything out.”

Conner glares at Jon, but makes no move to push him off. The expression quickly softens. “You’re… not at all like I expected.”

“Trust me, bro, when I look back at myself when I was Superboy, I think the same thing. Is it good or bad?”

“Good… I think.”

Jon beams brilliantly and roughly ruffles Conner’s hair, making him quickly rescind the statement.

Marinette slides into her seat. As usual, the professor isn’t here yet, but it’s not worth the walk home with only an hour between classes. Luckily, no one uses the room at this time block, so Marinette can sit down early and work on some sketches, or homework, if she needs it, or even just a bit of hand sewing.

She doesn’t expect Kasey and Louise to come in, both hesitating in the doorway with wide eyes like she’s some sort of ghost. Louise gently coaxes Kasey forward. “Hey, Marinette.” Louise says with a guarded smile.

Their countenances being so clouded puts Marinette on guard herself. “Hi. I don’t usually see you here, what’s up?”

Kasey fiddles with a pink pen in her hands. “Well, um… Have you heard from Sam recently?”

Marinette just raises a brow. What could she say that you’re so afraid of? “No.” Marinette answers honestly. “I blocked her when she started harassing my boyfriend. Haven’t heard from her since.”

Like she’s flipped a switch, the tension drains out of the two other girls. “Oh, good.” Kasey says. “Uh, er, I mean- not that it’s good that- I- aw…” She covers her face and ducks into Louise’s shoulder, groaning at herself.

Louise just smiles awkwardly, patting her back all the while. “We didn’t invite Sam back into the apartment this year.” She explains. “When it looked like you were willing to forgive what she said, we decided to do the same, but when we found out what she was trying to do with Jon… it crossed a line. It took a while to finalize everything, but we’ve basically cut contact with her. Last we heard, she blames you and threatened us that she’d ruin our friendship, like you ruined hers with us. Apparently, she was assuming that we’d cool off over the summer and forget about it. When she found out that we didn’t… We… aren’t sure yet what she’s planning.”

Marinette suddenly feels very weary. Who would have thought unnecessary drama would follow her right out of heroism (and lycée) and into normal university life. Maybe drama is less a kid thing and more a human thing?

If that’s the case, Marinette has never been more thankful for Jon’s Kryptonian heritage.

Then again, there is the whole “I’ve got a new sixteen-year-old brother created in a lab to kill or replace me, whichever comes first” thing, so maybe Kryptonian lives are actually even more dramatic.

Only Jon is worth that headache, no matter how cute a kid Conner is. And it really does put this kind of dumb, petty drama in perspective. Marinette sighs. “Guys, just forget about Sam. Trust me, she can’t do anything to me.” If Lila couldn’t, Sam definitely can’t. Lila is a lot more frightening than her, and Marinette’s already beat her twice.

Kasey collapses heavily into the seat next to her. “I wish I could.” She whimpers. “But… Sam was my friend. I still can’t believe she did that in the first place.”

Marinette stops for a moment, frozen, and slowly sets down her pencil. Louise takes the seat in front of them, imploring Marinette silently with her eyes to do something, though Marinette sees deep within those eyes that Louise is hurt, too.

The truth is, Marinette is hurt, too. Betrayal is betrayal.

So, she carefully picks Kasey up off the desk and turns her around so that she can comb her hands through the other girl’s hair. Kasey relaxes into the touch just like Marinette used to when Adrien or Alya or Nino did the same for her way back when. “When I was in collège,” Marinette says gently, “back in Paris… that’s middle school here, though it went on into high school, there was a girl in my class called Lila.”

Louise leans close resting her head on the desk while Kasey frowns a little at the story. “Lila is…” Marinette licks her lips, searching for appropriate words. “A sad, sad girl. All she cares about is fame and attention and power, and to get that, she tells all sorts of lies. A lot of bragging about celebrity connections, charity work she claims to do to make her look good, that kind of thing. Plus, she lied about disabilities to get my classmates to do things for her. Anything from her homework to carrying her lunch tray.”

“Wow.” Louise says. “She sounds like a bitch.”

Marinette giggles. “I wouldn’t have called her that, we were just kids, after all, but given she made no effort to change even towards the end of lycée… yeah, she was.” Not to mention how she got worse, with Hawk Moth and the Miraculous. Marinette has to shake the memories away. There’s no use lingering on that right now. “She’s a lot worse than anyone imagined, even me, but… that’s not why I’m telling you this. The point is that, early on, I figured out she was lying. I called her out. Because of that, she considered me a threat and did everything in her power to ruin me. She would plant evidence to accuse me of stealing, or cheating, make false claims of me attacking or bullying her, spread rumors about me, anything to make my life terrible. To prove that she can, and to punish me for defying her.”

“Definitely a bitch.” Louise mutters, quieter this time. Kasey makes a disgruntled noise of agreement.

“She threatened me with exactly the same thing Sam threatened you two with. She told me that she would take all my friends away, that I’d be all alone.” Marinette continues. “I won’t bore you with all the details of that whole thing, but… it was a tough time. There was more going on on top of everything, so I was already stressed, and the threat of losing my friends – seeing them trust Lila even when I know she’s lying, take her side when I try to call her out on the lies… it was hard. But you want to know how it all ended?”

Kasey pulls away to look at her with determined, curious eyes. Probing eyes what hunger for the answers. Marinette appreciates that look. That drive for knowledge is a good trait to have. It reminds Marinette of Alya, much more tempered by logic now than when they first met but no less passionate. “How?” Kasey asks.

She got arrested for being a supervillain. Marinette smiles to herself and decides that bit of information isn’t strictly necessary to get her point across. “I’m still close friends with all my classmates from collège. None of us have heard of Lila in years.” Marinette chuckles. “Sam’s little stunt reminded me of Lila, honestly. Except Lila was a lot more threatening. Trust me, I’m way too familiar with that type of person to fall for her tricks. She has no control over our friendship. That’s something only we can control.” Marinette lifts up a fist, holding it out to Kasey and Louise. “Right?”

Kasey laughs, loud and bright and shiny like her, and crashes her own fist into Marinette’s. “Right!”

“Definitely.” Louise says, much more quietly, but with no less feeling, adding her fist to the group.

Marinette reaches out and pulls both girls into an awkward hug over the desk. “I miss Sam, too. Just because she showed her true colors doesn’t mean we didn’t think of her as a friend. But it’ll be alright, because we’ve still got each other.”

Marinette has to hold back a yelp (and Louise fails to) when Kasey throws her own arms around them all and squeezes tight. “You’re really something else, Marinette. I’m so glad we’re all friends.”

——-=——-

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