#I can see marinette reaching for the ibuprofen

[ilovemycatkafir]

hello, hi, I just had the thought of adult Marinette and Adrien have kids, yeah? They're still heros.

Obviously in the safety of their home they can transform, by coincidence, their kids never sees them transform or detransform. They are either in another room or has their back turned to their parents.

But the kids do clearly see that the heros of Paris like to stop by their house, parent them, eat their snacks, and nap on the couch. Sometimes in that order...

Cue Adrientte's kids thinking they have four parents because ✨️lack of communication and kwamii magic✨️

[boldlyanxious]

A Year of Glitter

Part 6- teen rated

Glitter series

Masterlist

Marinette had not been expecting a knock at her window. It was late and she should already be in bed but she had kept herself up playing the newest version of Ultimate Mecha Strike. Luckily she didn’t have to work tomorrow. She did have some errands to run and at this rate if she didn’t finish up soon she would have to struggle to get them done during the open hours if she were to get any sleep. She shuffled over to the window with a bit of a smile. She had a very good idea who was there. She only wished she was wearing something cuter than her ratty old tee and leggings. Her hair was probably a disaster too.

When she opened the window it was very clear that Red Hood would not care about her appearance but she was very worried about his. He struggled to get through the window being careful not to bump what she suspected were many injuries. Last time he climbed through the window she had been impressed with the ease with which he slid his large frame through. Now he struggled to get through the opening and he seemed to be in pain no matter which way he moved. She looked over at her couch. It was perfect for her. It fit in the space and had been a good price. She could fit on it laying down if she curled her legs up. He would not fit on it; she instead made the quick decision to get him into her bed.

She was very happy she had not gone for the twin bed. It would have been fine for her, she was not very big but that size frame would have broken under the weight of his larger frame. He was barely helping her remove his armor. She was worried about how injured he might be if he couldn’t even remove it. She found one spot on his arm that had been slashed through the armor and would possibly need stitches. She finished removing the armor from his chest and moved down to removing the armor from his legs when he finally moved to remove his helmet. He smirked at her as she looked up at him.

“If I had known a little cut was all it took to have you push me into your bedroom and undress me, I would have done it sooner,” he said.

Marinette’s face burned. She shoved him into the bed harder than was necessary or was probably wise, considering his injuries. But he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her down with him. He groaned loudly when she landed right on top of his chest. She tried to move off him but his other arm went to her hip and held her there. She had definitely imagined herself straddling him on her bed as she was now, but in her scenario he hadn’t been injured and bleeding in her bed.

“I’m hurting you worse. You are going to have to let me go so I can help you,” she said.

“I think a kiss will make it all better.”

“You are bleeding and probably need stitches. Kissing won’t help with that and you clearly have other injuries that will need to be treated.”

“Trying to get me out of the rest of my clothes, I see. I’ll let you look at them if you try my way too. Kiss it all better.”

She could tell it was still hurting him when he pulled her arms so she was against his chest but she moved closer and kissed him anyway. He used one hand to wrap around the back of her thigh and hold her close and with his other arm he lifted himself up on his elbow to meet her. She pushed herself to him but she tried to keep her weight off since she didn’t know where he was hurt under his clothes. He pushed her closer with the hand on her thigh so she slid up, pulling herself to him by his shoulders. She held his face in her hands and returned his kiss. After a moment he shifted to get off his elbow so he could wrap his other arm around her. She could feel his lips make a wince as he went flat on his back and she shifted on top of him again.

She tried to move off him again but he turned to the side so he was on his arm that wasn’t still bleeding. She couldn’t get herself to care enough about his injuries while he was so focused on kissing so she moved into a better position and returned her focus to his kisses. She loved the feel of being against his side without the armor. She gasped as he slid his hand up her back and rested his thumb just under her breast. She forgot all about the possibility of hurting him when his thumb moved back and forth. She jumped a little at the touch and that was the final movement to get him to groan and suck in a breath.

“Oh, I hurt you,” she said, jumping up. “You were already hurt and I made it worse.”

“It was my idea to test if kissing would make everything better. I did forget about how much I was hurting for most of the time.”

“I never should have gone along with it. I’ll go get my first aid kit.”

She returned quickly and nearly dropped the kit when she saw him. He was still wearing his very flattering jeans, but he had removed his shirt. She would like to pretend the shock was from the bruising down his back and across his chest to the hip on one side but it was definitely not what had rendered her speechless. He seemed to know that as he smirked at her and walked right up to her.

“To get a proper test of my suggested healing method you will have to apply the kisses directly to the affected area. Are you up for it?”

“I think your arm needs stitches. I’ve only done them once. Do you have someone who can do it for you if I bandage it?”

“I probably do, if it isn’t something you are comfortable with. Are you going to help me with the bruises?”

“What if you have broken ribs? You just want me to kiss you all over.”

“I’m almost certain I have at least one cracked rib but it isn’t so bad.” He stepped right up to her again and whispered huskily. “I absolutely want you to kiss me all over. I think it would help me feel better.”

“Let’s take care of that cut first. Do you want anything for the pain? I have ibuprofen.”

“That is probably for the best. I have a feeling you are about to hurt me.”

“I will have to clean it pretty good, but I will kiss it and make it all better.”

“With a promise like that I can handle anything.”

He leaned over to kiss her one more time before turning so she could clean and bandage his cut. Marinette knew it was probably hurting him but he didn’t make a sound. He just watched her carefully cleaning it. He held still except for his hand that he reached over to place on her leg. He just left it sitting there but would move his hand across her knee periodically. She didn’t know if he was just enjoying touching her or if he would do that when the pain was sharp. She closed it with butterfly clips and then covered it with a bandage. When it was covered she leaned down to his arm and kissed it carefully.

He moved his hand to her hair and pushed it away from her face. After the third time she kissed along the laceration he pulled her to him and gave her a heated kiss. She returned the kiss enthusiastically but pulled away quickly. She had him hold her makeshift cold packs made from various frozen foods that wouldn't be too harmed from melting a bit, to his bruising on the side as she turned him around to reach his back. She cleaned the skin first to make sure there were no abrasions but then she started at the top by his shoulders and kissed her way down his back. Almost the entire thing was bruised. It was very dark in some places and she hated to think about what had happened to cause it. When she got to the bottom she slowly folded the top of his pants down slowly so she could kiss the very bottom of the bruise. She was delighted at how he sucked in his breath when she did it. She was fairly certain that she was the cause and not the pain.

They adjusted the ice packs to his back and he laid on them and a pillow so she could get started on the front. Red Hood held her still this time for several minutes to kiss her before letting her get along with her healing kisses. He groaned when he released her and Marinette had to catch her breath before she continued. She took a moment to run her hands down his bare chest. The man had to have been forced into a life of crime because every bit of him she could see was absolutely criminal.

She did the same with his chest, cleaning and checking for any broken skin. There were a couple small cuts on his neck that she didn’t bother with bandages but she kissed very thoroughly moving across to his shoulder and his chest. She moved with her hands and mouth down his whole chest and to his side. He was getting restless. She didn’t think he was acting like he was ticklish, more like he was trying to stop himself from stopping her and taking charge. She didn’t know which way she preferred but she was enjoying taking her time. Being still was what he needed to heal so it was for the best.

He looked as disappointed as she felt when she finished. She collected the bags of frozen foods and moved them to the fridge. She would have to find a way to use them pretty quickly. She turned back and he was right behind her. He pushed her against the fridge and had his turn to take charge. Marinette clung to him trying to only hold the places she knew weren't bruised. They were both breathless when he pulled away. They spent a moment just standing there against each other before he shifted.

She knew that signaled he would be leaving now. She wanted to ask him to stay but it was probably a bad idea. Even if he just slept here it opened a whole new level to their interactions that she was not ready for. The kisses were nice. But at the end of the day even amazing, passionate kisses were just kisses. She wasn’t ready for more and he wasn’t pushing. They didn’t even know each other’s names. The one thing she knew about him for sure was that he was a crime lord. She wasn’t one to judge, but she wasn’t really sure if she could see a future there. Even any sort of relationship without a future could be complicated.

She helped him get his armor back on and he kissed her soundly before he put his helmet back on. She could no longer see his eyes when he looked back at her through the window but she knew he was looking in hers. She also knew she was fooling herself by even thinking that they didn’t have a relationship. Even with no names and no strings there was every possibility of this being complicated.

Taglist

@theymakeupfairies | @emjrabbitwolf | @vixen-uchiha | @trythisagainlove | @adrestar | @tbehartoo | @zynna | @technicallyburninggarden | @rianoel | @certainmuffinbagelcalzone | @jayjayspixiepop | @moon5608

[authenticcadence18]

Ladynoir July Day 10: Breakdown

When Ladybug is hit by an akuma blast that makes her forget all about being a superhero, Chat Noir must give her a breakdown of how her powers work and how amazing of a hero she is so they can save the day!

@ladynoirjuly2020

AO3

...

“M’lady….M’LADY. Please, I need you to wake up!! Come on!!!”

Marinette had a headache.

Why was someone shaking her shoulders?

….was she lying on the ground?

“…ibuprofen...I need ibuprofen…..” she grumbled, opening her eyes warily.

“Wait...Chat Noir?”

“LADYBUG!!!!!” Chat didn’t think twice before wrapping his lady in a tight hug, tears of relief swimming in his eyes.

“I’m so glad you’re okay!!!!”

Marinette shifted uncomfortably in his arms. “Ladybug? What are you talking about? I don’t see Ladybug anywhere.”

Chat Noir stiffened, and he slowly retracted himself from the hug.

“....oh no.”

He examined his partner closely. She still LOOKED exactly like his lady, even if she was acting a little strange.

“Do you know who you are?” he asked tentatively.

“Of course I do!” his partner replied. “I’m M--mmpH!”

“DON’T!!!!!” Chat hissed, pressing a hand against Ladybug’s mouth in a panic. “You can’t tell me your real name!!!!!”

Marinette cocked her head at him, puzzled, before pushing his hand away. “Why not?” she asked. “I don’t have any other name to tell you.”

Chat’s heart sank. “...the akuma victim got you after all….” he muttered sadly, ears drooping.

“Akuma??” Marinette flinched and whipped her head back and forth (and then winced because it still hurt like crazy). “Where?? What akuma?? Where’s Ladybug? Don’t you and her usually take care of this sort of thing??

“Wait….did I get HIT by an akuma victim???”

She held her hands in front of her face and examined the spots covering her body. “Oh NO, did they turn me into some sort of Ladybug clone?? I don’t think I’m really the Ladybug-type, per say...where’s the real Ladybug??”

Chat took a few seconds to breathe deeply and blink away the spots of panic hovering in his vision.

“...before I answer that, I’m going to ask you a few questions,” he voiced gently, trying to hide the shakiness in his tone. “I don’t want you to elaborate on them, though! Just think about them in your head and shake your head yes or no. Can you do that for me?”

Ladybug gave him a thumbs up.

“Do you remember your name?”

Ladybug nodded.

“Your family?”

She nodded again, smiling a bit fondly this time.

(Chat Noir tried to ignore the pang he felt in his chest at her expression.)

“How about where you go to school? Or what you’d like to be when you grow up?”

His lady continued nodding, though the final question made her wince a little bit.

Chat chuckled lightly. “Yeah, no one ever likes to be asked what they want to be when they grow up, sorry!”

“So what’s going on, Chat Noir?” Ladybug asked. “Why am I dressed up like Ladybug in the middle of an akuma battle? Why can’t I tell you my name?”

“Because you aren’t dressed up like Ladybug, you ARE Ladybug,” Chat replied.

Marinette’s eyes widened, and she frantically shook her head.

“What???!?!! No way!!! That’s crazy!!!! I think YOU got hit, not me!!!! How can I be Ladybug??? I’m not cut out to be a superhero!!!!!”

“Woah, woah, please don’t freak out!!!” Chat said, unable to fathom how differently his lady was acting (and trying to shake the nagging sense of familiarity he felt after listening to her hysterics).  

“I can break everything down for you,” he continued gently, placing a comforting hand on his lady’s shoulder. “We’ll just take this one step at a time.”

Marinette took a deep breath, struggling to hold back tears of panic and anxiety. “...alright…” she replied softly.

“You just got hit by a blast that made you forget a part of your life,” Chat explained. “I tried to take the hit for you but...I was too slow…”

He gulped, swallowing down his guilt.

He needed to be strong for Ladybug right now, not wallow in self-pity.

“...I was hoping it wouldn’t affect you, or maybe it would just make you forget about some after school club you’re in, but it must have made you forget all about being Ladybug.”

“.....I guess my memories of Ladybug ARE a little fuzzy…” Marinette mused quietly. “I can’t picture her face...all I remember is she and you saving the day.”

“You remember you and I saving the day,” Chat replied with a soft smile. “You’re an amazing hero, Ladybug. Even if you don’t remember it right now.”

“But…” Marinette blinked a few times, trying to corral the thoughts swimming around her brain. “...if I’m Ladybug, that means I have to help you capture the akuma to get back to normal….and I have no idea how to do that anymore. I don’t even remember how my powers work. What are we going to do?”

Chat took her hand and squeezed it. “Fortunately for you, I have a BIT of experience wearing the ladybug miraculous. I’ll give you the breakdown of how it all works, and then we’ll go save that akuma victim and get your memories back! What do you say?”

Marinette pondered the situation for a moment.

“Well…” she began hesitantly, still uncertain about it all.

Then, memories of balconies, candles, roses, and one somewhat-hard-to-recall but nonetheless eventful brunch flashed through Marinette’s mind. Her eyes widened with clarity.

“I may not remember being Ladybug, but I remember YOU, Chat Noir. So if you think I can do this….”

She squeezed his hand in return and gave him a smile, one filled with both determination and care.

“...then so do I.”

Chat Noir beamed.

“...there you are, m’lady.”

...

“That’s it!! We did it!!!!!”

Chat Noir and Ladybug both let out cheers of joy as the akuma victim’s bright green costume bubbled away.

“Don’t forget to capture the akuma!” Chat said.

“Oh, right!!!” Ladybug awkwardly shot her yo-yo in the direction of the purple butterfly and snatched it out of the sky.

“Uh…bye bye, little butterfly!!!”

She opened her yo-yo and then watched in awe as the purified butterfly flitted away.

“Alright, now you throw your lucky charm into the air and shout ‘MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!!’” Chat reminded her. “Then everything will go back to normal.”

“Alright!!” With a cheer of excitement, Marinette threw her lucky charm into the sky.

“MIRACULOUS LADYBUG!!!!!!”

Ladybugs whipped out of her yo-yo and carried the akuma victim back home (presumably to reconcile with those she’d felt wronged by). They soared down into the streets, over buildings, and finally around Marinette herself.

“Hey….I REMEMBER NOW!!!!!!!”

Ladybug took in the sight of her gloved hands and yo-yo, relishing in once more feeling comfortable in her own skin.

“Chat Noir!!!! I remember!!!!!!!” She flew at Chat Noir and hugged him fiercely, memory after memory of him being her amazing, supportive, wonderful partner flooding back into her mind.

She didn’t realize just how hollow she’d felt without those memories.

“Thank you, kitty….I couldn’t have gotten my memories back without you….”

Chat Noir didn’t respond for a few moments...now that the urgency of defeating the akuma was dealt with, all the emotions he’d been repressing came rushing back.

“....if it weren’t for me, you wouldn’t have needed my help to get your memories back in the first place…. “ he managed to mutter.

Ladybug pulled away from the hug so she could look her partner in the eye, heart aching at the sight of tears swimming in his eyes.

“Hey,” she whispered, reaching up to brush a tear from his cheek. “I’ve seen you take hits NUMEROUS times because I didn’t reach you fast enough or because you jumped in the way to protect me. Does it hurt my heart every time it happens? Of course. But I understand that sometimes, getting hit by akuma victims is a part of our job description.

“These things happen, kitty. It’s okay. All that matters is that you were there for me when I needed you most.”

A surge of longing to cheer Chat up, to make him understand just how thankful she was for him, suddenly filled Ladybug from head to toe...so she inclined her head up and brushed a soft kiss against his cheek.

“There…” she whispered with a small smile. “Feel better?”

And for just a moment, Chat Noir found himself free of the fears burdening his mind, fears that revolved around Ladybug losing her memories for good due to his inability to save her.

“....maybe a little….” he replied with a small smile.

The fears would return later.

But for now...being with his lady was all that really mattered.

...

I'm writing some one-shots for Ladynoir July! What days will I write for? How many fics will I be able to finish?

...only Ahtohallan knows.

(thanks for reading!) 

(and thank you @youruinedmylifebynotbeingreal for being my beta!) 

[drpepperwithcream]

Kwami Buster happened a while ago...

And this happened after it because I say so :)

Adrien is gushing to Plagg about how awesome Marinette was.

“It was only a matter of time before she got a miraculous! She was the perfect one for the job!”

Plagg is getting physically sick at his gushing and he’s also in physical pain that he’s gushing over Marinette and she’s also Ladybug, and that Adrien nearly figured it out, but he had to make sure his owner knows the rules.

His brain also hurt trying to figure out how the flipping heck she pulled it off.

“Marinette, Marinette, Marinette, why don’t you go tell her how awesome she is instead of me?” Plagg says sarcastically before stuffing his face full of cheese.

“Plagg that’s a great idea!”

Plagg sighs for a solid ten seconds.

Meanwhile.........

Marinette doesn’t feel the effects of using all the Miraculouses until a few hours later after she returns them.

It starts with her losing focus and forgetting what she’s doing.

Then a headache, her movement speed slows, she becomes drowsy, and a bit lightheaded.

She finally stands up from her chair to get some ibuprofen or something else.

Marinette takes a couple steps then she collapses to the floor

Tikki is freaking out.

“Tikki, I don’t feel so good...”

“I was worried that this would happen. Do you want me to get Master Fu? Or somehow get your parents?”

“No... just... stay for a bit okay...”

Tikki grabs a pillow for her. “Try to stay awake Marinette. I-I don’t know what I’d do without you...”

Tikki is feeling guilty and is starting to cry.

Marinette tiredly brings a finger to wipe her tears.

“This isn’t your fault, Tikki...” Marinette brings her kwami closer and kisses her forehead. “I’ll be fine in a bit. You’ll see...”

After about an hour of laying on the floor, Marinette gets enough strength back to go downstairs, make herself some tea, and go to her balcony.

She tells her parents she’s not feeling well, and they tell her they’ll keep her dinner in the fridge if she gets hungry.

Marinette feels a bit better in the fresh air... but that only lasts for a few minutes and her hand starts shaking as she’s trying to drink her tea.

She gets dizzy and she sets her cup down and leans back in her chair.

Tikki gets worried again, but Marinette tells her it’s okay, words slurring.

Tikki is helping her finish her tea by holding the cup for her which also keeps her awake.

Nighttime eventually comes and Marinette is just staring up at the stars and the moon. She can see her kwami in her peripheral vision.

They’re talking about constellations and how the moon is cool as a crescent shape, Marinette’s voice ranging from understandable to intangible. Her vision is also blurring.

Tikki is about ready to fly to Master Fu about Marinette, but she wanted her to stay with her.

Marinette eventually passes out. Tikki finds out she’s asleep, but she’s worried about if she’ll wake up.

Then Tikki spots a familiar feline hopping the roofs of Paris, coming straight here.

She hides behind one of the plants and the one and only Chat Noir lands on the railing.

He starts to call her name but then sees that she’s asleep. So asleep that he didn’t wake her.

Chat Noir simply smiles at the sight.

Then she starts shaking and his smile fades.

He opens the roof hatch then picks up Marinette, she was cold from the chilly night air.

Chat brings Marinette in her room and tucks her in her bed, making sure to cover her with an extra blanket.

He goes down to Mari’s desk and grabs and paper and pen and writes a note for her.

Chat puts it on her corkboard by her bed then admires Marinette who is peacefully sleeping.

And low-key wants to cuddle her again.

(According to production code, Kwami Buster comes after Startrain, do what you want with that information)

His face is full of happiness and he’s so proud of her, she’s amazing, and he wished he could tell her that now as Chat but she’s tired.

Chat Noir leaves and Tikki cuddles Marinette.

The next day, Marinette does feel a bit better, but she is still drained.

Her mom checks on her and sees she doesn’t feel well and let’s her stay home.

Marinette sees there’s a note on her cork board and grabs it.

Hey Multimouse, I wanted to tell you that I thought you did an amazing job fighting that akuma. Hopefully, you’ll tell me all about how you did it when you’re not asleep. And don’t feel too bad about the miraculous, I’ll talk to the Lady. Technically, Hawkmoth doesn’t know you’re Multimouse, so you’ll probably get the miraculous again when we need you. Hopefully, it’s soon because I would love to work with you again. Get some rest, you deserve it :) — Chat Noir

The note warms her heart. She reads it again before tucking the note in her diary box.

Tikki tells her that she fell asleep on her balcony and that he tucked her in.

Marinette’s heart warms even more. He’s getting croissants next time he stops by.

Meanwhile....

Adrien is upset that Marinette isn’t at school, he wanted to tease her somehow

Alya told their teacher that Marinette was sick when she took role.

He felt bad. He hopes the miraculous and fighting wasn’t the reason she’s sick.

He then came up with an idea.

Adrien made Marinette a get well soon card.

He went around class asking everyone to sign it.

Lila comes over and she’s like “What’s going on here?”

“We’re signing a get well soon card for Marinette.”

While Lila lies about how she used to have some sort of serious illness, Adrien yeets out of there. He has all of his other classmates’ signatures.

Adrien then looks at the card and thinks Marinette deserves more.

He goes over to Alya and asks her what kind of flowers Marinette likes so he can get her some.

“She likes any flower, but don’t get her (insert random flower here) she’s allergic to those.”

After lunch, Lila comes up to Adrien while he’s looking up flower shops on his iPad and in her arms she’s holding a bunch of (insert flowers Marinette is allergic to here)

“Adrien, I heard you were getting Marinette some flowers so the class and I pitched in and we got her these.”

Adrien’s nope alarm goes off

“That’s... very sweet of you Lila, but Marinette is-“

She also pulls out a closed envelope “I also got her a card too! I know you’re busy with photo shoots after school, so I can deliver all of this to Marinette.”

The nope alarm goes all the way to a funny umbrellas calm kangaroos no!

Lila tries to reach for the card he made.

Plagg hates Lila. So he presses a button on Adrien’s phone and it buzzes.

Adrien takes the chance to get the flip-flop out of there. Making sure to grab the card he made.

“Yeah, I definitely do not like that girl, just be sure that when you give the baker girl her flowers and card you get something for me.”

“Thanks, Plagg.”

During class, Plagg sneaks out of Adrien’s bag to the lockers and finds Lila’s locker.

As much as he wants to use his cataclysm, he doesn’t want to destroy Paris.

So instead he accidentally dumps milk from the cafeteria all over her locker.

And tried to practice his juggling skills with three eggs but he accidentally dropped them in her locker, whoops.

And the flowers that she got somehow lost all their petals, he doesn’t know how that happened.

And the card she made in the envelope is torn up and thrown away, he didn’t see a thing so don’t ask him.

Plagg’s doing it because he wants to make sure that this brat doesn’t hurt the baker girl while Adrien runs all over town trying to find the perfect flowers for his “just a friend”

But he’s mostly doing it for fun!

Before he could draw the poop emoji on her locker in permanent marker, the bell rang and Plagg groaned in annoyance.

Plagg sneaks back into Adrien’s bag, just as he bolts out of school to avoid his bodyguard so he can get flowers.

Adrien goes to a nice flower shop, and spends a half-hour picking out an assorted bouquet of pink flowers, double-checking Marinette won’t be allergic to any of them, then goes straight to Marinette’s.

Good thing he can hide behind the flowers while he sneaks by his bodyguard to go to the Dupain-Cheng Bakery.

Adrien greeted Mr. Dupain and Mrs. Cheng, he tells them he brought Marinette a get well soon card signed by the class and some flowers.

Mrs. Cheng offers to go up with him to check on Marinette.

Adrien smiles at the banter Marinette’s parents have before her mother takes him upstairs. He’s glad she has a good family. Her parents are his favorite and they are his OTP as well.

Sabine calls for Marinette as she finds a vase. She tells Adrien to check on her.

Adrien goes upstairs and finds Marinette watching the Ladybug and Chat Noir movie on her computer. She’s sitting on the floor all wrapped up in blankets.

“Marinette?”

She squeaked. He thought it was cute.

“A-Adrien? What are you doing here?”

“I heard you were sick, so I wanted to bring you a card signed by the class, and I also got you some flowers.”

Marinette blushed. “You got me flowers?”

He sat down next to her as he gave her the card and bouquet.

“Adrien, you’re beautiful! I mean, they’re beautiful! Thank you!” She smiled and hugged him. “You didn’t have to do this.”

Adrien was surprised but he hugged her back. “You’re welcome, Marinette. You deserve it.”

His phone rings and it interrupts their hug.

Marinette can see the frown on his face. “Do you need to go?”

“Yeah, sorry. It’s my father, I need to get home before he freaks out.”

“Adrien,” Marinette grabs his arm as he gets up to pull him back down. Marinette is flustered for a second, then she kisses his cheek. “Thank you.”

Adrien smiles at her. “You’re welcome. Hopefully, I’ll see you tomorrow at school. Get better soon.”

They say bye to each other.

Marinette is a blushing mess after he leaves.

Adrien’s smile gets bigger as he walks down the steps.

Marinette’s parents offer him some pastries as a thank you.

Adrien hurries back to his bodyguard so he can get taken home.

And for the next hour or two, Adrien’s hand is touching his cheek where Marinette kissed him.

“You know,” Plagg starts as he eats a pastry. “You don’t need an excuse if you want to visit the baker girl. If you like her, you should visit her more often.”

“You’re just saying that so you can get more cheese-filled croissants.”

“That may be true, but then how come you started blushing when I mentioned her.”

Adrien blushes harder.

“You didn’t say that you didn’t like her, either.”

Bright red Agreste. “SHUT UP, PLAGG!”

Plagg continues to tease Adrien because he feels like it and will bring it up every now and then because he thinks it’s funny when Adrien gets flustered.

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (37) Discovering

Before we get into this chapter, I want to state there’s Alya salt in here. I really like Alya, I do. I think she’s a great character, because she’s not a perfect person. So don’t think I dislike her because I’m being critical of her.

Ao3 | FF.net

—

In the hospital, one does not have the luxury of independence.

Marinette never did consent to using the bedpan, but she was slowly getting used to John escorting her to the bathroom, and helping her do her duties. It was embarrassing, and she hated it.

On such an occasion, Marinette cried as John undid the ties on her robe. “What’s wrong dear?”

She sniffed. “I just hate being like this.”

“I know it’s pretty strange having someone watch you, but it shouldn’t be too long before you’re on your own.”

She winced slightly, finding her confession sad. “Actually…I’m used to being watched now…I’m not used to using a toilet.”

John just gave her a reassuring smile. “Then I’m glad you insisted on using the toilet instead of bedpan. You are making the conscious decision to create human habits. After substantial trauma, like what you’ve suffered, many people would really fall into dehumanized behavior. Not cleaning up after themselves, not using toilets, eating expired foods, really just not taking care of themselves in general. So for you to say, ’no, I want to use the bathroom like a big girl’ instead of ‘whatever, I’ll just lay here’ is really encouraging to me.”

“I still want to lie in bed.”

“I would be surprised if you didn’t.”

Once she was done, John helped her back into bed. “How’s your pain level?”

“Fine. My back aches.”

“Do you want some Valium? You can have some in an hour.”

“Can I have something lighter?”

John smiled. “Man Marinette, you really know how to reassure a nurse. Ibuprofen sound good?”

“That’ll hit the spot.” She couldn’t help but laugh.

John smiled too, only for it to fade slightly. “So, Marinette. I have to let you know, there’s someone here that’s been wanting to see you, but we had to make sure you were up for it.”

“Oh? Who’s that?”

“Would you like me to tell you? Or do you want to be surprised?”

She screwed up her lips. “Is it Adrien?”

“It’s not Adrien, unfortunately.”

She frowned slightly.

“I hear she’s a friend of yours.”

“It’s not Lila, is it?” She asked with fear.

“No, that’s not her name.”

Marinette shrugged. “I guess surprise me. I’m out of guesses.”

“Alright, I’ll go get her.”

Sabine, who had been sitting patiently nearby, took her hand and nodded in reassurance.

In the minutes that ticked by, Marinette grew uneasy. There weren’t many female friends she was comfortable seeing right now.

While Salo’s torment was still the most prevalent thing in her mind, the sting of betrayal from Lila had never subsided. How hypocritical of her classmates to come here and wish her well after they humiliated her and betrayed her? What would they have to gain?

Would it be from guilt? Or just because they didn’t want to be on Ladybug’s bad side?

“I think I changed my mind,” She told her mother. “I don’t want to see anyone.”

Sabine nodded in understanding. “Alright, I’ll stop them before they come in.”

But she was a little too late, since John had returned, with Alya in tow.

“Hey girl…” She said softly.

Marinette shook her head. “No, no I can’t handle this. Not her. I can’t—“ Her throat squeezed, and it took a few tries to swallow.

“Marinette,” Alya spoke, her voice thick with emotion. “I know the last time we talked, things weren’t great…”

“I don’t want to talk to her,” Marinette interrupted, telling John.

“Please, just hear me out!” Alya begged.

“Why should I?” Marinette stared her down with a ruthless gaze. “You never listened to me. I was just jealous of Lila when I told you she was lying. I was a coward when I wasn’t ready to confess to Adrien. I wasn’t journalistic when I warned you about posting stuff on your blog. You were always telling me I was wrong. So why should I listen to you now? Because you know I’m Ladybug? Because you’re my biggest fan?” She shrugged, gesturing her to answer.

“Well…” Alya started, but then stopped. She was really speechless. She shrugged. “You’re not wrong. I wasn’t always a good friend. But I love you, I love Marinette, more than Ladybug.”

“Then why didn’t you believe me? Why weren’t you there for me when I needed you? Why was Lila telling the world I wasn’t actually in pain?”

Alya frantically wiped her tears away, trying to speak, but finding it too hard to.

Sabine just sighed sadly. “Alya punched Lila in the face in our living room.”

“Twice,” Alya sniffed. “Once in the living room, and once at school. After that, I wasn’t really allowed to be around her.”

Marinette shook her head in disbelief.

“The day you went missing,” she began her tale. “Your mom called Nino and I. We were scared that because of what had happened at school, something was wrong. Maybe you had been akumatized or something. I didn’t know. So we went to everyone’s house, gathering a search party, and we looked all over Paris. Around dinner time, we returned to the bakery to regroup. Adrien’s dad was there, because Adrien hadn’t come home either, and that akuma was still on the loose. Then…she came on the TV.”

Marinette’s anger had begun to subside, as she listened intently.

“I got this sinking feeling in my gut when I saw Ladybug and Chat Noir tied up like that. My brain just kept echoing ‘what if? what if?’ and then…the masks fell. I was horrified. I honestly don’t remember much of what happened after that. I know there was yelling, and I punched Lila…but everyone knew the truth. Lila confessed she had lied.”

“So she found new targets.” Marinette supplied.  

“Exactly.” Alya continued, “Not long after, she was starting her web at school, talking with other students and some of our more…optimistic classmates into her lies. I just snapped. She was on the ground, bleeding, and then I heard Hawkmoth in my head.”

“You got akumatized over me?”

“I fought it off. Because I knew it wasn’t going to help. But I got his attention.”

A strange tingle tickled at the back of Marinette’s head. A moment in the rain, screams of terror. It all sort of blended together with everything else that she had been through.

She willed it away with a shake of the head. “I thought everyone believed her. I thought they believed it was…some sort of performance? I don’t remember what she said. But she convinced everyone it was fake.”

Alya shook her head, “No, not everyone. Just a tiny sliver of people. A loud sliver of people. You know Lila, she’s got that…wicked charisma that just ropes people in. She’s a manipulator, and she has to be in the lime light.”

“Yeah, I know.” Another flash of something familiar, Lila with bloody hands over her mouth.

Was it a dream? Or a hallucination from the drugs?

“Nino and I watched every scrap of the stream. We worked with detectives and analyzed everything we could. We even did our own searches around town. Rena Rouge and Carapace were spotted too.” She took her laptop out from her bag and opened it up. “And on the blog, I had some volunteers help summarize and write out all the dialogue. EUROPOL used it for clues to find you.”

A question that should have been asked a while ago came to mind, but she hadn’t even considered it yet. “How did we get out? Who rescued us?”

Alya bit her lip and looked at Sabine, who in turn looked at the nurse.

John shrugged. “You may as well tell her now. She’ll have to find out at some point.”

“Find out what?”

“Marinette...you and Adrien were akumatized.”

Marinette felt her skin grow cold and her hands become clammy. She reached for her water to help swallow the lump on her throat. “Oh.”

Oh? Oh? That’s the best she had? Ladybug! Akumatized! That’s the worst thing that could happen!

Not only had she failed as a superhero, her enemy had to bail her out!

Hawkmoth had saved them. And given that Tikki was still with her, he hadn’t even taken the Miraculous.

Was she that pitiful to him? Or did he have something much worse in store?

“I don’t...I don’t remember.” She whispered after drinking. He cup rattled in her hand.

“No one does.” Alya reminded, gently. “Don’t worry about it.”

“Did we hurt anyone?”

Sabine reached over and squeezed her knee. “You gave me your earrings, and I did a Miraculous Cure.”

“But did we hurt anyone? I lost my memories, but no one else would have!”

John squeezed her shoulder. “Marinette, you need to take a deep breath. Your blood pressure is rising.”

“I don’t care about my god damn blood pressure!” She shouted.

“Okay, this conversation is over,” He declared. “Alya, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

Marinette grabbed him back, digging her fingernails into his arm. “Not yet.”

John sighed. “First you wanted her to leave, now you want her to stay?”

“I need answers. Everyone knows everything. But I’ve literally been in the dark this whole time. What happened? What did I do?!”

Alya took a calming, considering breath. “Okay, I’ll tell you everything, but we’re going to cover it slowly and calmly. I don’t want you to hurt yourself.”

“I can’t be hurt any worse than I have been, stop treating me like a fragile old woman!”

“Please calm down.”

“Calm down?! No! I’m not going to calm down! I was akumatized! My identity was exposed, my miraculous stolen, I was beaten and tortured for god who knows how long! I watched the love of my life slowly die in my arms! And Hawkmoth finally got me! I have failed all the way across the board! So what else, huh? What did I do? Go on a murder spree!? Because not only was Paris disappointed in me, but are they scared of me now, too? What’s next!? Prison? The guillotine?!”

“Marinette, you’re hysterical.” Sabine warned.

“Oh shut up, I’m allowed to be!” Marinette snapped, her voice cracking. “And I’m only getting angrier the more you all withhold information from me! So speak!”

Alya nodded. “Yeah…yeah, you…you guys killed some people.”

Marinette clenched her eyes shut, nodding harshly. “Yeah, okay. Like, Salo and her men? On camera?”

“Yes, and—and some others.”

“How many?”

“You don’t want to know.”

“HOW MANY, ALYA!?” She shrieked.

Alya covered her eyes with her hands, scared to look at her friend and admit this out loud. “Final body count was 47 people. Mostly people who worked for Salo and Edward Savage, but also some police officers and some civilians that got caught in the crossfire.”

Information is what she wanted. And it’s what she got.

But god, did it hurt.

“They all came back then? With the cure?”

“As far as we know, yes.” Sabine soothed. “No one has tried to press charges or anything either.”

“What are they saying about us? What are they telling Paris? Will we...will we have to leave?”

Sabine shook her head. “I haven’t had the stomach to listen to the news.”

“Most people have been very supportive of you both, especially Nadja Chamack,” Alya provided. “There’s been a lot of back and forth and critics having their opinions. But it’s mostly garbage. They’ll be forgotten.”

“From what I’ve seen,” John interjected. “This isn’t like most political arguments where there’s hidden information. Everyone knows what happened. Everyone has the same information. Anyone arguing otherwise is being brutally shut down. It’s kind of the silver lining to this all being broadcasted.”

Sabine squeezed her daughters hand. “No matter what, you have plenty of people ready to support you. So don’t worry about Paris. Worry about you and Adrien.”

Marinette looked to Tikki, who patiently sat in her hands. She grazed her thumb over her cheek absently as her mind wandered.

“All these resources, EUROPOL, the police...if no one else was able to find us, how did Hawkmoth? And why didn’t he take my Miraculous?”

Sabine and Alya shared a subtle look. Marinette hadn’t wanted them to withhold information, but how were they supposed to tell her that her new father-in-law was also her arch-enemy that they had been battling for years?

“I think it’s best if he tell you that. I’m sure he’ll appear sometime.” Alya winced.

Before Marinette could grill her more about the vague answer, there was a knock on the door before Gabriel entered. He had a dress bag over his arm and a gift bag in the other.

“I’m not interrupting anything, am I?” He asked gently.

“Just an interrogation,” Sabine said lightly.

“What do you want?” Marinette demanded.

“Just to say hi, and ask how you’re doing.”

“Hi. I’m peachy.” Though her tone said otherwise.

“Would you be opposed to gifts?”

Marinette blanched. “I don’t know if I deserve any gifts.”

“Of course you do.” He entered the room fully. “One isn’t quite ready yet actually, but I thought it might cheer you up.”

Marinette managed a weak smile as he set the gift bag in her lap. “Here, open this first.”

She pulled out the wrapping paper, only to find a small white box. Inside, a brand new, top of the line, very expensive, smartphone.

“It’s already set up. It should have all your contacts, as well as myself. This way if you need anything and someone’s not here, we can get it for you.”

Holding the device in her hand, Marinette felt some tightness in her chest subsiding. That horrible feeling of dependence waned with the world at her finger tips. Because besides being able to contact people, she’d be able to see for herself what was going on in the world. What people were saying about her.

“And one other thing,” he stated as he draped the garment bag over her legs. “I hope you’ll forgive me, but I studied your sketchbook. I wanted to get this as close as possible to what you imagined.”

He undid the zipper, revealing a light pink garment. A dress, with a silvery lace bodice, that continued into the transparent wrist length sleeves. The skirt was full and unfurled from the bag. Right in the front of the skirt was an intricately hand stitched Phoenix, in rose color thread.

Her dream wedding dress.

Speechless, Marinette reached out to touch the pink silk, tears gathering in her eyes.

“Do you like it?”

“It’s beautiful.” She breathed. “I...I don’t know...why?”

“Why what?”

“Why would you do such a thing? For me?”

“Marinette?”

“I don’t know why...you’re even talking to me? I—I’m the reason Adrien’s so hurt. You know that, right? It was my mistake?”

Sabine squeezed her shoulder. “Marinette...”

Gabriel leaned closer to get to eye level. “You didn’t torture him. You didn’t kill anyone during a drug deal. You’re not a fault.”

“But—“

“Listen.” He sat on the bed next to her. “I know I’m not the easiest person to understand. And that’s my fault. You don’t have to accept this dress if you don’t want to. I still want to give it to you, no strings attached. Because your marriage to Adrien is legal and binding, which makes you my kid now too. And I’m fiercely protective of my kids.”

She clenched her eyes shut, willing herself not to cry. Her fingers tangled in the fabric and crumpled it. “I can’t wear this...it’s so beautiful...and I’m hideous.”

“You’re not, girl.” Alya assured. “You look rough, not gonna lie, but you’re not hideous.”

“All things in due time,” Gabriel patted her hand. “When you are both ready, we’ll have a proper ceremony. Alright? Whatever you want.”

She nodded heavily. “Thank you...thank you...”

[pandawritespoorly]

With Time: Chapter 24 - Sick Day

Author’s Note: Hey, look, and update that's on time. Good way to start off the new year I suppose! I hope the decade has been going well for you guys, and if not, I hope that this angst-free chapter can be, at the very least, something that makes you happy.

Chapter Summary: Falling in a snowdrift tends to have negative consequences on one's health, so the Quantics check on their favorite designer.

First | Previous | Saturday

The moment the bakery opens, Allan walks in. He smiles at Tom and Sabine, waving as he heads in the back. He walks a little faster than what is probably necessary, but he’s worried. 

He’s calmed down some - making something helps - but he’d like to check on Marinette himself. Falling in a snowdrift in this sort of weather is not good for your health.

Looking at his phone he sees a text from Felix.

 Felix: Allan, do not wake up early solely to check on Marinette. I am certain she is fine, perhaps she has a cold at the very worst. Her parents would have let us know if she was seriously ill.

 The Mom Friend: to late

 Melodie: Oh Allan.

 The Mom Friend: I just want to check on her quick.

 Kid Mime: ill head over to

Kid Mime: its ok allan

 The Mom Friend: but stil

 He pushes the trapdoor open gently, “‘Nette? You up?”

No response. That’s fine. She’s probably sleeping. She’s fine. She’s just sick. Probably. 

…

It wouldn’t hurt to check.

He climbs the ladder, breathing a sigh of relief when he sees her curled against the wall, clearly breathing and perfectly fine.

Maybe she isn't fine. She might be sick. It’s just a cold. A flu at the worst.

It could be something worse. She fell into a snowdrift and stayed there for a while.

How long has she been sleeping? Sleeping for too long could be bad. He almost wakes her up, then he hesitates. Maybe she’s only just gone to sleep. If that’s the case, maybe he shouldn’t.

Is there a way to tell how long someone has been asleep?

He’s standing at the top of the ladder, hesitating for too long. Oh come on. She’s fine. She’s fine, you know she’s fine. It makes the most sense given all the facts.

But what if she’s not? He’s no doctor, but when he thinks of the consequences of prolonged exposure to cold he thinks of three things: a cold, the flu, and pneumonia.

Pneumonia.

That can kill people.

Maybe he should wake her up.

He’s still hesitating when the trapdoor opens. He doesn’t have to turn to know Claude has arrived.

“Do you think she has pneumonia?” He doesn't look from her when he asks the question, but Claude can hear the anxiety in his voice.

“No, Allan. I don’t think she has pneumonia.”

“But maybe-”

“Shhh. Allan, she’s fine. Get off the ladder.”

“We aren’t doctors-”

“So we can’t diagnose her with anything. We’ll assume it’s the flu for now, and if it seems bad we’ll get her to a doctor. Come on.” Claude gently coaxes him down the ladder, “How much did you sleep last night?”

“Maybe four hours?”

“Maybe?” “Okay, about two an’ a half…” he sees Claude’s look, “It wasn’t just ‘cause of Mari. It’s just… once I get started…”

“You don’t stop. Oh, Al’.” Claude has safely helped the other boy onto the floor, and they lead him to the chaise, “Sit down at the very least. Mari won’t mind. I understand if you can’t get yourself to sleep, but you deserve to rest.”

“...how long do you think she’s been sleeping? Would it be worse t’ wake her up too early or too late?” he startles at his last words, sitting up further, “I don’t like the sound of ‘too late’ maybe we should-”

Claude squeezes his hand a little, “Allan. Marinette is fine. It’s only a cold. Maybe the flu.”

“Right. She’s fine. Everything is fine.” he doesn’t sound entirely convinced, but he nods anyways.

Claude nods too, claiming the desk chair to work on a few things he’d brought over. They’d only grabbed their backpack, which had only a portion of their homework, but Allan had needed someone. Claude hadn’t been doing anything important anyways - just trying to find the most annoying memes he could possibly send to Felix.

After about 45 minutes, he looks up from the finished packet to see that Allan has fallen asleep against the chaise lounge. He’s rather precariously near the edge, and that just won’t do.

When they stand to move him further onto the longue, they notice that he’s holding his phone loosely. After adjusting his position and putting a blanket over him, Claude swipes the phone quickly, returning to the desk chair as he unlocks it.

He opens to the search results for ‘early signs of pneumonia’.

Allan, sweetie, no.

They close the phone, leaving it on the desk and opening his own to inform Felix, Adrien, and Allegra of the current status of their two most anxious friends.

 Kid Mime: ive ben here for a bit

Kid Mime: al is napping

Kid Mime: hes worried that mari has newmonia

 Melodie: Allan, honey.

 Kid Mime: mari is still asleep

Kid Mime: she seems fine

 Felix: Allegra and I can join you in an hour or so.

 Hug This Boy: I might be able to sneak away around lunch? If I finish the shoots early.

 Melodie: Gabriel does realize you’re a child, not a machine, right?

 Hug This Boy: You already are worried about two of us, there’s no need to make it three.

 Melodie: Watch me.

 Kid Mime: i have 2 say im with her on this

Kid Mime: im gunna kidnap u

 Felix: That’s illegal.

 Kid Mime: that makes it exciting

 Felix: I know when I’m fighting a losing battle.

 Hug This Boy: Do I get a say in this?

Melodie: Of course. We wouldn’t make you do anything you don’t want to do.

 Kid Mime: subtle

 Hug This Boy: What a concept.

Hug This Boy: Maybe I can get behind this.

 Melodie: I wasn’t going for ‘subtle’.

Melodie: More something along the lines of ‘GABRIEL AGRESTE IS A TERRIBLE PARENT WHO WOULDN”T KNOW THE MEANING OF LOVE/CARE IF IT PUNCHED HIM IN THE GUT’

 Kid Mime: pretty close

 Hug This Boy: Maybe putting it a little lightly, but that’s the gist of it.

 Melodie: Oh you poor baby.

---

Felix and Allegra show up, entering the room quietly.

“Good. They’re both still sleeping.” Allegra comments.

“Did Allan tell you how many hours of sleep he had last night?” Felix inquires.

“Two and a half.” Claude says matter-of-factly.

“Honey.”

“And how is Marinette?”

“She’s been sleeping the whole time. She feels a little warm, but that’s about all I can tell without waking her up.”

Allegra hums, climbing up the ladder to check on the girl herself. Marinette hasn’t moved much and is resting contentedly. Putting her hand to the sick girl’s forehead, Allegra can tell that Claude was right. Definitely a little warm.

Marinette’s eyes open slightly, squinting at the braided blonde.

“Hi honey, how’re you feeling?”

Marinette shakes her head slightly, giving a thumbs down.

“Well, I’m sorry to hear that. Are you gonna get up or are you going back to sleep?”

She gives a half shrug. Being awake sounds nice, but her eyes keep slipping shut.

“Alright. We’re all here. Except for Adrien.”

Marinette mumbles something bitterly, but all her friend picks up is ‘Gabriel’. She’s got some ideas of what Marinette might have said.

Allegra turns to the boys once she’s off the ladder, “She’s awake-ish. I’m not sure how long that’ll last, but she’s awake enough to hate on Gabriel Agreste.”

“Is that honestly her priority right now?” Felix asks.

“It’s always a priority,” is all he gets as a response.

Claude has produced a cup of water from who-knows-where, and he carries it up to Marinette.

“Hi sweetie, are you still awake?”

She shrugs, forcing her eyes open to squint at them. Once she sees the water she reaches for it, but gives up halfway.

“You sure you can hold this? You’re barely awake.”

Her glare is probably supposed to be defiant, but when she keeps having to force her eyes open, it isn’t exactly effective.

“Sure. You can have this when you’re sitting up then.” he returns to the ground and places the water on the desk, turning to Felix and Allegra as he spins in the desk chair, “So what have you two been up to?”

“Nothing that you are unaware of,” Felix sits on Marinette’s case against the wall.

“We got back a little early. I’m glad to be back - not that the trip was bad, it’s just nice to be home.” Allegra rests against the chaise, glancing at the sleeping boy on it momentarily.

“What do ya’ think Mari was doing outside?”

“It does seem odd, given her predisposition to staying indoors when it is as cold as it was yesterday.”

“We can ask her when she wakes up more.”

“She might just try to sleep through it. She’ll probably be even more tired than normal so…” Claude shrugs.

Before the others can say anything, there’s a shuffling from above. Marinette props herself up and blinks down at them.

“Hello,” Felix greets her for the first time that day.

She only blinks, still trying to decide if she made the right decision by sitting up.

“You can have the water now!” Claude grabs the water from where they placed it, carrying it up to Marinette, who is able to grab it this time. She’s visibly shivering.

She finishes it off, placing it on a shelf beside her. It takes a moment, but she is able to give a soft, “Thank you.”

“It’s no problem. How you feelin’?”

She sticks out her tongue, “Bad.”

“Could you specify?” Felix calls up.

“Tired. Cold. Ache.”

“Temperature?” Allegra chimes in.

Marinette frowns as she tries to remember, Claude taps her arm and points out the thermometer.

“38.2 (100.8℉),” They read out for her. She’s beginning to slump slightly, probably debating whether or not she should rest.

“Do you want any ibuprofen or anything?” Allegra offers.

Marinette hums, drooping further. She straightens slightly, trying to seem alert and looking apologetic.

“Still tired?” Claude cocks his head at her, smiling softly.

“...no…I’m ‘wake...” she has propped herself up, relying heavily on one arm, and is sitting up fairly straight. If it weren’t for her head resting on her shoulder, she might have looked a little more convincing - if you also excluded all other factors.

“Really?”

“Yup…” She remains sitting, and feigns attentiveness.

Claude is resting against the wall next to her, looking doubtful, but he doesn’t comment.

“So what were you doing outside yesterday?” Allegra asks. If she’s going to pretend she can hold a conversation, then they may as well try.

Marinette mumbles a little, her arm seemingly failing to support her as before. She leans against Claude lightly, as though she is both in denial of her weariness and worried about somehow upsetting them.

“Still with us, Mare?” “Mhm.” She forces her eyes open again, 

“Somehow, I remain unconvinced.” Felix comments.

This time, she doesn’t respond. Leaning forward, her eyes slip shut again, and Claude moves her to lean against him - it’d be more comfortable than falling on her face. The group thinks she’s finally asleep, but she sits up again.

“Alright, that’s enough, Marinette,” Allegra is firm, but her voice is gentle, “You need to rest.”

Marinette doesn’t seem to quite register this, but goes to rest on Claude’s lap regardless. He combs her hair with his hands, hoping to lull her to sleep. 

After a few moments, she seems to have finally returned to rest, and he turns to the two below him, “Either of you have any homework left? I’ve got mine done.”

“No, I finished it.”

“Mine has also been completed.”

“Do you think Allan and Mari got theirs done?”

“He’s probably all set, but Marinette’s kind of up in the air. Usually I would say yes, but with it being winter…” Allegra trails off, giving a lopsided shrug, “We can ask when she’s not sick.”

“We should make sure that both of them get something to eat. Allan likely skipped breakfast, and the chances of Marinette eating without prior prompting are very slight.”

“True.”

“Same goes for Adrien. I wouldn’t put it past Gabriel to starve him if he doesn’t do well enough.” Allegra mutters bitterly.

“Allegra.” Felix warns.

She crosses her arms, clearly not done with it, but willing to put it aside. For now.

---

It’s another hour before Allan wakes up. He sits up, noticing that Allegra and Felix have arrived, “Oh. Hi. How long have you guys been here?”

“A while. How are you feeling?”

“...how is Marinette?” He ignores the question.

“Allan. How are you? Marinette’s fine.” Claude gestures at the girl still napping on him.

“What’s her temperature? Has she woken up? Has she eaten? What-”

“Allan.” Felix interrupts, “Marinette is fine. She woke up not too long ago. We are currently more concerned about you. How are you feeling?”

“Better, I guess. Napping helped. I don’t do well without sleep.”

“We know.” Allegra consoles, “That’s why Claude came over - they knew someone needed to check on you.” “Yeah, Al’. We’re not going to let you worry yourself into a pit.”

“Thanks.” He smiles softly, and they accept the victory.

“Also, Marinette did wake up. She had some water, her temperature was 38.2 (100.8℉), and she said she felt, ‘Tired. Cold. Ache.’ if I quote her directly.”

“Then she fell asleep on me!”

“Alright.” Allan takes a moment to consider this, “That’s not so bad.”

“Mhm!”

“Did you eat at all this morning?” Felix looks at him meaningfully.

“I might have maybe… put it off?”

“I’ll grab some food.” Allegra stands to get something from the kitchen. The Dupain-Chengs have told them multiple times that they’re welcome to eat when they’re over.

Marinette stirs slightly, eventually sitting up properly as Allegra re-enters. Allan looks to Marinette as he accepts the food from Allegra, “Thanks. How you feelin’ ‘Nette?”

She only wrinkles her nose, sticking her tongue out again. She seems to register that he wasn’t awake last time, “Hi…? You’re  ‘wake now?” Everything is spoken questioningly - she doesn't seem to be entirely sure of anything.

“I am.”

“Despite what he may tell you, Allan isn’t very good at self-care. He’s got the idea, but forgets the ‘self’ part,” Claude adds.

“Yah…’ve ‘noticed…” Marinette looks at the boy carefully.

“I’m all good now though.” He reassures her.

She only makes an ‘I’m watching you’ gesture at him, glaring suspiciously.

“Oh, you’re one to talk, missy!” 

“Mom-off.” Claude whispers.

Allegra interrupts the silent dispute of stares, “Alright, both of you have made your point, but I’d like to point out that while neither of you are in perfect health-” Allan makes a noise of protest, but Allegra raises an eyebrow to silence him as she continues, “Marinette is the only one here with a temperature, so…” She trails off, her statement clear. 

Marinette’s response is to stick out her tongue defiantly, Allan mimics her.

“‘M fine.” The girl insists.

“Sure.”

“I consider it unlikely that you will be able to stay awake any significant amount of time in your current state.” 

---

Despite Felix’s guess, Marinette managed to stay awake for a few more hours. Not that they tried to keep her up, or even that she was really trying to stay awake, she just couldn’t sleep. They’d moved downstairs and were watching movies on the couch when Adrien arrived.

“Hey, I got done early. How are you guys?”

“Allegra, Felix and I are average, and currently keeping an eye on the two that are in denial, which is Allan - who took a nap so he’s better - and little miss I-fell-in-a-snowdrift over here - who refuses to sleep. Or she just can’t.”

“Alright. Mari, how long did you sleep?” Adrien looks to her.

“Yes.” Is all he gets as a response from her. She’s clearly exhausted, but sleepy is a different story.

“How are you? I’ve got pitchforks at the ready for your father.” Allegra asks.

“I’m fine.” He shrugs.

Marinette isn’t having any of that. She points a finger at him and says, “Eat.”

Allan checks the time, “Actually, we should probably all eat somethin’.” 

“Alright! Snack time!”

“A meal would likely be a better idea.” Felix interrupts.

“Food time!”

“That works.” Everyone gets something to eat, though Marinette only takes a noticeably small amount of fruit, but no one comments. She’s also given water, which she forgot to get for herself. They finish eventually, moving back to the couch. Marinette is between Adrien and Claude. She isn’t focusing much on the screen due to her exhaustion.

She wants to sleep, but she can’t. Whether due to ladybug-habits, or just being sick she isn’t sure.

The tired girl frowns, she really wants to sleep. Everything hurts and she feels terrible. Not to mention how cold it is. It’s winter, and snowy, and it’s cold and she’s tired.

Well, maybe it isn’t so cold. Especially with all these people. Hibernating in groups is a good idea, and this is a group.

Wait, humans don’t hibernate.

Whatever. Adrien is here too, and he’s always warm, and she’s still tired.

Her eyes keep slipping closed. She’s so focused on the fact that she can’t sleep, that she doesn’t realize that she’s finally on the edge of it.

Adrien does. He sees how often her eyes are closing, and purrs softly - not enough for the others to hear - that would be hard to explain - but enough that he knows that the girl leaning on him will be able to tell.

As he expected, her eyes begin to stay closed for longer, before she eventually dozes off entirely. 

He doesn’t stop purring, not wanting to risk waking her up. He’s glad she’s finally gotten back to sleep. It’s for the best. She needs rest.

---

Author’s Note: Babys. Love these ones.

I'm not entirely satisfied with some of the dialogue in this chapter, but I don't have time to edit it. I'm sorry if you don't like it either.

These past few chapters have been really calm. It'd be a shame if some angst got in.Hey, look who remembered it was Saturday! I can't take all the credit for that, there's been plans coming up for today and so since I know today's the day, I also know that I should be updating. Woo! Not updating at 8:00 pm this time buddies! Speaking of those plans (starting a DnD campaign if you're curious, I'm excited), I probably won't be able to respond to comments as quickly do to that. I've mentioned it before, but I have a seperate account for writing (thanks anxiety), and all the things I'd need for the campaign are on my personal account. After I update I usually stick around and write for a few hours so that I can respond quickly, but I'm not sure how long I'll be able to do that. It depends on how early I get this up I suppose. Anyways, I may be able to respond via my phone, but I promise I'll still be responding to comments, it might just be delayed. I love talking to you guys!

Uhh, I feel like there was something else I was going to add in, but my little tangent made me forget. Oh well, I can edit this once I remember.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave any thoughts, theories, constructive criticism, or anything really in my ask box, in replies or through reblogs. I love seeing what you think!

First | Previous | Saturday

[sentient-stove]

more more more more hellhound au

I think that this chapter goes to @falling-oceans for being supportive and I’m 85% sure that they were the first person to read it.

thanks.

Chapter five- Awakening (i’m surprised no one has noticed that from chapter three on, I’ve been stealing chapter titles from that one vampire novel.)

   When Adrien had heard the crying in the bathroom, he had assumed that Ladybug was still transformed and she was just in shock about... about who he was.

   He was not expecting to see Marinette.

   So he did the only logical thing.

   He passed out. 

   When he woke up, his arms were wrapped around something warm and his first thought was that Marinette was sleeping with him, but when he opened his eyes, the couch cushion that he had pulled off from under him rolled to the floor.

   He sat up and stretched, yawning as his canines flashed in the dim lighting.

   I'm hungry.  I wonder if Ladybug has any food.  He shrugged the blanket off and got up, heading into the small kitchenette and opening the freezer.  As he riffled through the freezer, he pulled out a pack of bacon and set it on the ground.

   Am I supposed to thaw this, or do I just throw the frozen pack in a pot of water, holy damn, I don’t know how to cook this.

   Adrien picked up the pack and ripped it open, frozen crystals scattering across the ground as he pulled the raw bacon out with bare hands.

   “What are you doing?”

   Adrien started, dropping the empty package.  “Sorry Ladybug.”

   Marinette rolled her eyes and dragged a hand across her face, sighing.  “Please Adrien, we’ve sat next to each other for the past two years, you can call me Marinette.”

   “Right, sorry Marinette.  I.. It’s just crazy finding out that my celebrity crush/fear and the girl that I liked last year was the same person.”

   Marinette’s eyes widened in shock.  “You liked Ladybug?”

   Adrien nodded nervously, a blush spreading down his face and into his neck.  “Well, that was before I became a Chein and Ladybug became a Huntress.  Things would be complicated to say the least.”

   “Adrien, you know Ladybug only hunts criminals.”

   “Then why did my father hire you to hunt me?”  Adrien asked and he put the chunk of frozen bacon into the pan.

   “He doesn’t know it’s you.  And let me cook the bacon, you have to let it defrost in the microwave.”  Marinette took the frozen chunk out of the pan and placed it on a plate that she slid into the microwave.

   “Can I meet your kwami?”

   He went to respond, but a buzzing from the couch interrupted them.

   “Miraculous, simply the best, up to the test when things--”

   “That’s my phone.”  Marinette vaulted over the counter and grabbed the pink phone from between the cushions and pressed it to her ear.

   “Hey Mama.  No I’m fine… I crashed at a friend’s house.  No, I didn’t have a boy over…”  She glanced at Adrien before resuming her conversation, “I’ve got some work stuff I need to do today, but I promise that I’ll be home for dinner tonight.  Okay, I love you too, bye.”  she hung up and threw the phone back onto the couch and then walked back over to Adrien.

   “You going to call your dad?”

   “No, he knows that I was going to be out for the weekend.  I promised him that I’d be back Monday.”

   “He’s certainly changed a lot from when you first had simple desires to go to school.”  Marinette grinned up at him and put a few slices of bacon on the pan, adjusting them with tongs.

   “So you just don’t put the whole thing on?”

   “No, you have to separate the slices, they literally come that way.”  Marinette held back a giggle and turned the slices over as he watched, enraptured by the whole process.  Marinette pulled the first round off and continued to cook the bacon.

   “Do you want to talk about last night?  I noticed that your wounds are almost healed, I think that that’s the fastest healing I’ve seen on a Chein d’enfer.”

   Adrien grabbed some of the bacon and bit into it, savoring it’s warmth as he closed his eyes.  “I think I’m just lucky.”

   “Something like that.  How much bacon do you usually eat?”

   “Like a slice?  Father doesn’t like foods high in fat.”

   “Really?  During the summer, I can go through a kilo at a time.”  Marinette aggressively bit into her slice, chewing furiously.  “I thought that you’d have a similar metabolism to me.”

   “Why?  Are you an unregistered?”

   Marinette stiffened a bit and gave a nervous laugh.  “Ha! That’d be hilarious, me, a Chein?  Huntress hunting her own kind!”

   Adrien nodded suspiciously.  “Right.”

   “We need to figure out how I’m going to throw your dad off your tail---literally--- so that you can continue to lead a semi normal life.”  Marinette sat on the counter as she turned off the stovetop, her legs swinging back and forth as she munched another strip of bacon. 

   “You’ll help me?”

   “Of course, that’s what friends are for.”  

   “Could I ask for a small favor right now?”

   “Yeah, sure.”

   Adrien lifted up his shirt, showing a still very open wound.  “Slate hit me harder than I expected and I think it needs stitches.”

   Marinette stared at the wound for a moment, gears turning and Adrien dipped his head.  “Sorry.”

   “No, it’s fine!” She squeaked, jumping up and reaching into a cabinet and pulling out a medical kit.  “I’ve stitched up worse on myself here, just go sit on the couch and take off the sweatshirt so blood doesn’t get on it.”

   Adrien complied and Marinette sat down next to him, deftly threading the needle and dipping it in rubbing alcohol.  

   “This will sting.  A shit ton too, so just, try not to scream too loud.”

   Adrien nodded. “Right.” 

   Marinette paused for a moment, biting her lip.  “I really don’t want to do this.  I always feel bad when I have to deliberately hurt someone.”

   “It’s okay, you’ll just be stabbing me back to life.”

   She snickered and stuck the needle in, feeling him tense up as she continued her work. 

   “I probably should have given you a ibuprofen.” 

   “It doesn’t do much- ach! - anyway.”  Adrien gave a sharp gasp as Marinette sewed another stitch.

   “Almost done.”

   “Great.”  Adrien hissed the word, pressing his hands together tightly as she finished up, tying the string and sniping it free. 

   “Sorry.”

   “It’s nothing.  Really, thank you.”  Adrien reached for his shirt and pulled it on, wincing.  “It’s always weird that you feel worse after being taken care of?”

   “Mmhmmn.”  Marinette stood and put the needle in a glass, pouring rubbing alcohol in to disinfect it.  “You have any plans for today?”

   “No.”  Adrien shook his head and looked up at the ceiling.  “Is there a door besides the skylight?”

   “Yeah, past the bathroom.”

   “Thanks.”  Adrien smiled briefly and then started walking for the door, Plagg popping from out of the wall and following behind him.  When he got to the door he turned and saw Marinette staring pensively out the window.

   “Marinette?”

   She snapped out of it and looked at him.  “Lock turns to the right.”

   “No, I wanted to say that your secret’s safe with me.  Please don’t tell Father about mine.”

   “Of course.”

   Then he opened the door and was gone. 

[thewritewolf]

Rekindle Chapter 22: Sick

Adrien takes care of Marinette while she is sick with a mysterious illness. 

Sorry for the long delay. I promise I’m back into the swing of things! ;-;

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30  31

@marichatmay

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3

The door squeaked as Adrien opened it and a spear of light pierced the warm darkness of their bedroom. He winced at the noise, but Marinette remained still save for the rise and fall of her chest as she lay sprawled across the bed. The call had been made, even if he had to do a bad accent to appease his paranoid mind. Her work was now aware that Marinette was sick and couldn’t make it into work today. Someone else would have to do their dirty work for the day.

He froze halfway towards her, realizing that she was mumbling in her sleep. Craning his head towards her, he strained to make out what she was saying. There was something about magic and sorcerers and monsters. Was she having a nightmare?

The bed sunk as Adrien sat on the edge. He put his hand against Marinette’s forehead, growing more concerned as he realized just how warm she was. Despite this, she smiled blearily at the contact, eyes fluttering open.

“Hey, hot stuff.” She mumbled. “You come here a lot?”

He couldn’t help but chuckle as he looked around their shared bedroom. “Yeah, I guess you could say that.” The quick smile died on his lips as he saw the sweat on her brow and how difficult it was for her to keep her eyes open. “How’re you feeling, Bug?”

“Not great. Tired. Hot,” she admitted with a cough. But then the bleary smile was back. “On the bright side, at least I have my boyfriend to nurse me back to health.” She weakly squeezed his hand and he idly ran his thumb over the back of her hand.

“At least there’s that…” He carefully stood up, making sure not to disturb her as he rose from where he had been sitting on the side of the bed. “Are you feeling up for some soup?”

“Yay! Soup!”

He shook his head with a smile and closed the door behind him. In the kitchen, the kwami were arguing on the countertop.

“Are you sure, Stinky Sock? You might have missed them if you saw a dustball that looked like a piece of cheese while you were in there.”

“Hey!” Plagg pointed his paw indignantly at Tikki, glaring. “That happened once and it was an honest mistake!” He crossed his paws over his chest. “If you’re so sure I missed them, then go ahead and check for yourself.”

“Maybe I will!” Tikki huffed and phased through the wall.

“What was all that about?” Adrien asked when he was alone with his kwami.

“Pigtails didn’t stock up on medicine. We’re out, so your girlfriend will have to tough it out this time.” Though Plagg said it matter-of-factly, his tail was flicking back and forth in irritation and he was frowning into space.

Adrien sucked in a breath. Tikki emerged from the wall with a pout, watching Adrien. “It looks like cheese boy over there is right.” She sighed. “Do you think you two could go get some medicine? Maybe some comfort foods too while you’re at it. Marinette doesn’t get sick a lot, but it tends to linger when she does.”

He exchanged a look with Plagg, who rolled his eyes. “Sure,” he said with a nod. “I’ll head out after I’ve made the soup.”

“I’ll keep an eye on Marinette.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow at that. “Are you going to be okay watching her by yourself?”

“I’ve done it before.” At his shocked look, she shrugged. “It’s been a while since she’s had another human on hand to take care of her. I pick up the slack when I can, but I can’t tell you how happy I am that you’re in her life now.”

“Thanks, Tikki,” he smiled at the red kwami, gently petting her head with his finger. “That means a lot to me.”

She giggled. “Don’t worry about it.” She quickly turned serious again as she glanced worriedly toward the bedroom. “Just hurry back, okay? I don’t like the idea of leaving her alone when she’s like this.”

“I’ll be back before you know it.”

The soup didn’t take much longer to finish and within the hour he was transformed and leaping across Paris as the hero Chat Noir.

------------------------------

It had become almost routine for him at this point. Pull out cash from an ATM, then pay for whatever their household needed as Chat Noir. Sure, it had flaws, mostly in how other people reacted to seeing a superhero walking through the aisles of a supermarket or drugstore, but he usually got around that by going to the stores at night.

That option sadly wasn’t available to him today. At least, it wasn’t if he wanted to be quick and get Marinette some medicinal help for her fever. He braced himself to interact with a lot of people and wasn’t disappointed in that regard. Thankfully, most people were content to just take pictures of him shopping. Probably because they were bemused at the weirdly domestic sight of him shopping for ice cream, cold packs, and ibuprofen.

While he was being rung up at the checkout lane, the cashier raised an eyebrow. “Rough morning?”

“You could say that,” Adrien replied with a sigh.

“You know, I’m sure the hospital has plenty of this stuff if you’re that worried about her.” He scowled. “Although, it serves her right, if you ask me.”

Surprised, Adrien asked, “Who’s at the hospital?”

“What, you haven’t heard? It was all over the news this morning.”

Adrien winced. After their date last night, his entire world consisted of their apartment until he left late this morning. What could have possibly happened in that small time frame?

“Nathalie Sancoeur turned herself in at a hospital. Apparently, she got really sick, the docs don’t know what it is, and she’s under police supervision until she is fit enough to stand trial.”

It felt at once like a punch to the gut and as if a heavy load had been lifted off his shoulders. The feeling of betrayal had faded, but that scar was still fresh. But she was the last figure from his childhood still around - the last remnant of his family since Gabriel’s trial was just a formality before he’d get locked away for life. Still, the peacock miraculous was in grasp - assuming the police hadn’t taken it.

His eyes widened with sudden realization and he nearly dropped his bags in shock. It couldn’t be a coincidence that Marinette got sick at the same time, right? Did something happen that got them both sick?

While paying for the groceries, Adrien asked, “Can you tell me which hospital she is at?”

------------------------------

“...And that’s all I know so far.” Adrien glanced between his council of two kwami, who were sharing meaningful looks of their own with each other. “Well? Is my gut right, or is this just a coincidence?”

“Well,” Tikki began hesitantly, “If something had happened to the peacock miraculous, then it could have rippled out and affected Marinette.”

“But why? Wouldn’t it only have affected Nathalie?”

“All the miraculous are connected, Adrien. They form a balance between one another - perhaps not as potent as the balance between me and Plagg, but still.”

He rubbed his eyes. He was struggling not to panic, but it was getting harder the deeper he got into things beyond his knowledge. “Okay… But why didn’t it affect me then?”

“Nooroo and Dusuu’s powers were centered around creating things - whether it be super powers or monsters. That tied them closer to me. And if something did happen to further damage the Peacock miraculous, then that would just fed into Plagg’s powers of destruction.”

“Aren’t you lucky, kid.” Plagg sat on Adrien’s shoulder. “We should probably check in on old Nathalie. If nothing else, we need to fix the Peacock miraculous.”

“Will that make Marinette feel better?” Adrien glanced hopefully between the two.

Tikki gave him a reassuring smile. “Marinette will feel better either way. This is just a backwash of energy making her sick. She’ll be fine in a couple days, especially now that I know what the problem is.”

“Nathalie, on the other hand…” Plagg grimaced. “The faster we rescue Dusuu the better her odds are of recovering.”

Adrien looked longingly toward their bedroom door. Tikki seemed to pick up on this and reassured him, “Don’t worry, I can take care of her for a little while longer. Hurry back, but remember to drop off the Peacock miraculous with Master Fu!”

“Right,” Adrien nodded. “Plagg, claws out!”

------------------------------

It was midafternoon by the time Chat Noir finally stood before Nathalie once again. The warnings that the kwami had giving him about misuse of the miraculous were confirmed as he saw how pale and weak she looked. Despite being only skin and bones, she was still handcuffed to the hospital bed.

Adrien nodded to the pair of police officers. “Gentlemen. Can you give us a moment?”

One of them seemed about to protest, but he was elbowed by the other. “Of course, Chat Noir. We’ll be just outside if you need us.”

Once he heard the door shut behind them, he turned his attention back to Nathalie. She hadn’t spoken since he entered, but her eyes had never left him. Was it anger or regret he saw there? He pulled up a chair and sat down next to her.

“Adrien.” There was no hint of a question or accusation in her voice. Just a statement of fact. Somehow, he wasn’t surprised.

He knew he should ask for the miraculous. It would be the smart thing to do. Even knowing that, he couldn’t help but repeat the question he had asked her during their last confrontation. “Why would you side with him?”

Her lips curled up in distaste. “He promised that he could bring back someone I cared about. It doesn’t matter now. None of this does.”

To his shame, he had no idea who she could be talking about. Despite how much she micromanaged his life, he knew next to nothing about hers. But she was right - it was too late for that now.

“You can at least try to make things right.”

“No, I don’t think I can.” She reached into her pocket, and Adrien tensed up, expecting her to vanish once again. Instead, she pulled out her hand and Adrien reach out with his. She dropped a long sliver of a teal crystal in his palm.

“What… what is this?”

“That,” she said, pointing towards the crystal, “is a fragment of the Peacock miraculous.”

[freedom-shamrock]

Catching Chances - Chapter 1

Also on AO3 Chp 1   Chp 2   Chp 3   Chp 4   Chp 5   Chp 6   Chp 7   Chp 8   Chp 9   Chp 10   Chp 11   Chp 12 Marichat May day 1 prompt, you're injured, please stay the night

Marinette leaned on the kitchen counter, stretching her back while she waited for the cocoa to heat up on the stove.  She'd been on a designing bender for the last three hours, and she really needed to do something about making her home office suitable for that sort of thing.

She was startled out of her taut-muscle fog by a thump on her balcony. She frowned. Chat was normally pretty quiet when he came to visit, and he was absurdly graceful.  It was a little unfair, and she wondered if that carried over to the man out of the suit as well. Really the only time she saw him fumble a landing was when –

"Oh crap."  Chat only lost his grace when he was hurt. She pushed herself away from the counter and dashed for the door. She yanked on the handle as she flipped on the light, and the door jerked against the wall with a bang. "Shit," she muttered, dropping to her knees beside the magical-leather clad hero, currently curled in fetal position on her balcony floor.  "Chat?" she called, reaching forward to brush the sweat-slicked hair out of his face.

Chat groaned, pushing his face into her hand.

"Oh god, Kitty, are you okay?"  She shook her head. Of course he wasn't okay.  "Where does it hurt? What's wrong? Do you need an ambulance?"

"No... hospital," he managed, his words guttural and pained.  

She looked more carefully and realized both his hands were clutching at his left thigh.  She gasped when she realized she could see both pale skin and blood peeking out where his suit was supposed to protect him.  "What happened?" she demanded, worried about him. "Is there an akuma on the loose?" She hoped not, since her alert hadn't gone off.  

"No," he moaned.  "Mugger. Wasn't careful enough.  Sloppy."

"How bad is it?" she peeled his fingers away from the site, wincing as she got a look at his injury.  "It's not life threatening," she assured him. "But it needs attention."

"Sorry, Princess."  His breathing was heavy, and she couldn't decide if he was in shock, or if he was trying to control his pain with it.  "Need first aid kit. I can handle it."

"As if."  She stood up and let out a huff.  "Can you get into my bathroom?" She was strong, but as regular Marinette, she probably couldn't get him where he needed to be in a gentle fashion.  Firefighter carry would hurt if she had to resort to it.

"Gimmie a minute."  He closed his eyes.

"You want me to help you move, or should I go ahead and get out my supplies?"  She was torn between both options.

He waved toward her open door.  "I'll catch up."

She stood up and stared at him for a moment.  "If you change your mind, or you need help, just call, okay?"  She couldn't remember the last time she was this worried about him, and that included all the stupid crap akumas put him through.  She turned and jogged into the bathroom, pulling out the big kit she kept on hand because she was an amazing klutz.

She had everything laid out by the time he made it in to the little bathroom.  "I thought your suit protected better than that." She knew it should have, and that worried her almost more than the fact that he'd been injured to begin with.

"I'm underpowered," he muttered.  "I… can't tell you much. But, I haven't been able to properly care for the… entity that gives me my power."

"Why not?"  She guided him to sit on the closed toilet seat.

"It requires copious amounts of high fat cheese," he explained.

"Is it too expensive?"  She'd always gotten the impression that money wasn't an issue for him.

He shook his head, his hair flopping in clumps.  "I'm on a strict diet. Cheese is forbidden, and it's… hard to come by."

"You don't need to be on a diet," she snapped.  She focused on having gentle hands as she pulled open the suit and dumped disinfectant into his wound.  "No wonder you're always hungry when you visit." She dried the skin before attaching Steri-Strips to close the gash.  She was glad she'd read up on this sort of thing, or she might not have put on enough. She sighed. "This should be bandaged as well, but… I don't think I can work around the suit."

"I can do it now Princess."  He sounded tired, and she worried how much this had taken out of him. She slid the supplies closer to him.  "I'm going to go make you some food. You can detransform in here and take care of that."  She gestured to his leg. "I have a small brie. Will that work?"

He gave her a half smile.  "That would be amazing. Then I can transform back and let the suit work on healing me."

"You've done this before?" she asked.  

He nodded.  "Not often, but it has happened a time or two.  And it sucks, but I've managed it."

"On your own?"  How did she not know about this?  She was equal parts hurt and furious.

"Yeah," he admitted quietly.

She stepped in front of him and bent to hug him.  "Please come to me if you get hurt. I don't like the thought of you doing this on your own." There was no point in yelling or chastising him right now.

"Thank you for understanding," he said.

She straightened up and left the room, closing the door.  "I'll get your snack and your cheese. Oh, and you're staying the night."

"Princess, I really can't," he insisted.  A flash of green light shone under the door gap.  He let out a whimper.

She winced. More than ever, she wanted to toss the whole identities thing to the wind.  Without the suit, he had no magical pain control.  "You don't sound so sure of that, now." She'd better find some ibuprofen.

A tiny black cat floated through the door.  "He'll stay," he said firmly. "Now did I hear something about brie?"

30 minute speed write done primarily in the waiting room at the dentist.

[ashtheshortstack]

ML Fluff Month Day 22 - Whoops!

Whoops! (I forgot to post this yesterday!) 

Rated: T

Pairing: Adrinette.

For: @miraculousfluffmonth

ao3

Day 1 / Day 23

Marinette has always been a klutz; it was nothing new to her. However, it was something that Adrien wasn’t quite used to yet. To him she was Ladybug. Ladybug didn’t fall or stumbled on her two left feet. (Granted, she did the first time she was transformed, but in her defense, she wasn’t used to it yet.) He was still getting used to having to catch her whenever she fell as her everyday persona. She had to admit, he was pretty damn good at it.

Cat reflexes, she supposed.

Unfortunately, it was one of Marinette’s unluckier days. She had overslept, not having the chance to wash her hair. Ugh, gross. But, in being so late she hadn’t had time to eat breakfast, so she grabbed a bottle of water and an apple to nibble on quickly as she raced to school. To make matters even worse, Alya was at home sick, so she would have to spend a school day without her best friend.

Upon reaching the classroom, she should have known something would go wrong with the way that Chloe was glaring at her. What had she done to irritate the Mayor’s daughter this time? Marinette threw away her apple core, sipping on her water as she headed up the stairs. While looking in Chloe’s direction, Marinette was distracted and missed the first step.

Adrien, knowing how clumsy she was, started to reach for her, only for her water bottle to fly out of her hand and splash him. Taken by surprise, he started back, leaving Marinette to fall on the stairs. Instantly, he was on the floor beside her.

“Mari, are you okay?”

Quickly sitting up, she waved her boyfriend off. “Yeah, yeah. I’m fine. I fall all the time.”

Wait. Why was he looking at her like that?  

His eyes were wide for a moment before he tucked two fingers under her chin, examining her with a furrowed brow and a focused stare. It was then she felt something begin to run from her nose. She reached up to wipe it away, only to be startled when the side of her hand came back red.

Blood.

Oh. That’s why he was giving her that look…

Adrien immediately jumped into action. His eyes were darting around the room, before he turned to Nino. “Hey, man, you gotta a handkerchief or something?”

Nino gave a nod. “Yeah, dude, give me a sec.”

Marinette frantically shook her head. “N-No. I’m fine,” she went to wipe away the blood. “Really, I’m okay.”

Shaking his head, Adrien gazed at her with a sympathetic gaze. “You’re not fine, Marinette.”

The blood running down her face started to come faster. Panic quickly took over Adrien’s features, and he cupped his hands under her chin to prevent the blood from dripping to the floor.

In that moment, Miss Bustier entered the classroom. “Woah, what’s going on here?”

Glancing between Marinette and their teacher, Adrien spoke hurriedly, “Um, we have a bit of a situation here, Miss Busiter.”

“Here,” Nino piped in as he tapped him on the shoulder.

Miss Bustier bent down over to them and took the handkerchief from Nino, pressing it to Marinette’s nose. The latter was so mortified by the whole situation.

Chloe scoffed from above them at her desk. “Wow, Marinette, you can’t even walk up the stairs and now Adrien’s designer clothes are going to be ruined because of you.” Marinette was too embarrassed to respond, but Adrien shot a warning glare her way. Their teacher just chose to ignore the comment for the time being.

Adrien and Miss Bustier helped Marinette to her feet. “Adrien, take her to the nurse’s office will you?”

“Yeah, of course,” he said with a nod, guiding her out the door.

When the pair left the room, Marinette stopped him, handkerchief pressed to her nose as she gazed up at him. “I’m so sorry. This is so gross and now you have my nose blood all over you, and you’re probably disgusted. I would be so embarrassed if you had to date me, I’m so, so--” The flat look on his face stopped her babbling.

“Give me more credit than that, my lady. We’re superheroes, a little nose bleed isn’t going to deter me away from you forever. I know that you trip and fall a lot. It’s okay. I’m sorry I wasn’t able to catch you in time.”

“It’s not your job to catch me,” she retorted in a nasally tone.

He smiled at her. “That’s where you’re wrong.” Adrien took his bloodied hand and took the handkerchief off her nose, smile growing when he noticed the bleeding had stopped. “I’m always going to catch you whenever I can. As Adrien or as Chat Noir. Every single day that I can. I’m sorry that I failed you today.”

Marinette’s heart pounded in her chest. How did she get lucky enough to have the sweetest boyfriend in the world? Giving him a smile in return, she replied, “You could never fail me, you silly kitty.”

His smile blew into a shiny grin. “Let’s get cleaned up and get you to the nurse’s office, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she said with a nod.

Well, after a good thirty minutes in the nurse’s office, and a dose of ibuprofen, Marinette was sent back to class. She was surprised when Nino was sitting up in Alya’s normal seat, and Adrien was frantically gesturing for her to sit next to him.

He was so protective of her. It was actually really cute. Adrien constantly glanced over at her, making sure she was all right. Again, the thought of “how did she get so lucky” passed through her mind again.

That being said, the fact that Adrien was so overprotective, never made her suspect that he would get revenge for her. Or… at least set up a situation to get revenge for her.

Chloe was standing at her locker, and Adrien lazily moseyed his way towards her. The blonde turned him with a giant, plastic smile. “Adrikins! I’m glad to see that your clothes weren’t ruined by that Marinette Dupain-Cheng. I can’t believe you actually are pretending to date her.”

Marinette felt her heart flatten at those words as she dug through her own locker. Feeling herself physically deflate, a deep frown spread across her features. She glanced up, making eye contact with her boyfriend in question. Adrien leaned against the locker beside him, sipping on a bottle of water in one hand.

He scoffed. “I’m not pretending to date Mari, Chlo, I’m not that type of guy, you should know me better.”

Chloe obviously backpedaled. “Well, of course, I know you’re not that type of guy, Adrikins! We’ve been friend for years,” she emphasized with a glance and smirk in Marinette’s direction.

Adrien rolled his eyes in the moment that Chloe was glancing at Marinette. Chloe didn’t seem to notice, but Marinette did. When the queen bee turned her attention back to Adrien, Marinette had to hid a giggle behind her palm.

“Yes, we have. So, I don’t understand why you’re--”

“Hey, bro!” Nino chimed as he bumped into Adrien from behind. Adrien stumbled forward, his uncapped bottle of water splashing its contents on Chloe in front of them. Marinette’s jaw fell agape, and she quickly hid her laugh behind her hand. Chloe shrieked when the water hit her.

Adrien let out an over exaggerated hiss. “Whoops! My bad, Chlo,” he turned to his best friend behind him. “Nino, what have I told you about sneaking up on me like that, man?” he said, in an overdone scolding tone.

“Adrikins! Control your stupid friends!” Chloe snapped. She glanced down at her soaked shoes. “Ugh! My pumps are ruined!”

Glancing at Nino, Adrien then turned his attention back to Chloe with a shrug. “Guess you’ll have to tell your dad that your designer shoes were ruined because of me.”

Sabrina’s mouth dropped open, obviously realizing what Adrien was insinuating. Chloe was too oblivious to process the fact that Adrien had set her up.

He gave her one last shrug and a tap on the shoulder. “Sorry, again,” and walked over to Marinette.

She gazed at him in disbelief. “Did you really just do that? That’s not the proper Adrien Agreste that I know.”

Leaning against the locker beside hers, he smirked. “Yeah, but, today was too far. Chloe might be my first friend, but nobody messes with my girlfriend,” he chimed as he tapped her on the nose.

Her hands immediately went up to cup over her nose and mouth. “Don’t touch it! What if it starts bleeding again!?”

“Then I guess I’ll have to save you again, Bugaboo,” he teased in a whisper before discreetly pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

Marinette smiled and closed her locker as Adrien simply gazed at her. She crossed her arms and leaned against her locker. “You know, I might like this bad boy Agreste.”

The genuine laugh he gave her chimed like the first time she had ever heard it.  

[breeeliss]

[Miraculous Ladybug]: Sweet Deliveries

day 1 and already im like an hour late but fuck it what else is new?

first up is all of the week 1 prompts for @thinkoutsidethelovesquare ! im trying to warm up to nathanael as a character and i’ve also been meaning to push out more mlm in this fandom, so consider this me killing two birds with one stone. hope you enjoy~

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Link to Archive of Our Own: [AO3]

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Prompt: Day 1 - “Wrong Number” Pairing: Adrinath (Adrien x Nathanael) Title: Sweet Deliveries Summary: Wrong Number AU in which a sick Nathanael tries to ask Rose for things to help his cold and calls Adrien instead. Adrien, of course, exceeds all expectations.

Sweet Deliveries

“Are you sure you’re going to be fine taking the bus home?”

Rose was standing on her tippy toes, pressing the backs of her hands to Nathanael’s cheeks and forehead, frowning at the heat that was burning her skin. He smiled weakly — wincing against his sore throat — and zipped his sweatshirt all the way up to his chin. “It’s only a fifteen minute ride. I don’t want maman to have to take time off work just to come get me.”

“You’re running a fever you silly!”

“It’s just a tiny one,” Nathanael assured her, even as he began to feel lightheaded the longer he stayed on his feet. “I’ll rest up for the rest of the day and be back at school tomorrow.”

Rose frowned and gently smacked his elbow. “I better not see you in school tomorrow, Nathanael. I’ll march you right home!”

“It’s already so hard to concentrate in class, I don’t want to miss even more by being absent.”

“Maybe if you put that sketchbook of yours down for more than two minutes at a time….”

Nathanael jutted out his bottom lip and stared at her pitifully while Rose rolled her eyes half-heartedly. “Come on, give me your hand.”

“What for?”

She pulled out a pink pen and scribbled some numbers on the back of his hand. “When is your mother going to be home?”

“Late probably,” Nathanael admitted. “Late shift tonight.”

“Alright. I want you to call me when school finishes and let me know if you need anything,” she explained. “I have soup, medicine, tea, and snacks at my house and I can run them over quick. You only live a few blocks from me so it’s no trouble.”

Nathanael smiled softly. “You don’t have to do that, Rose.”

“Oh, let me fret over you a little,” she grinned, tapping him on the nose with the end of her pen. “You were looking so faint in class just now, it puts my mind at ease to lend a hand.”

They walked to the entrance of the school and Rose reached up to pull Nathanael’s hood up so that his ears wouldn’t get cold. He checked his pockets to make sure he had enough for the bus and waved over his shoulder. “Thanks for walking me to the nurse. I appreciate it.”

“Just make sure you come back healthy, okay? Juleka and I will take notes for you!”

Nathanael tucked his hands into the pockets of his sweater and shivered against his fever as he made his way across the street to wait for the bus back home. Luckily his timing was good because he only had to wait a couple of minutes before the mostly empty bus rolled up to the stop and left him with a double seater that he could use to prop his legs up. Usually he liked to use the bus ride home to get some sketching done, but his nose was so stuffed and his body was so hot that he merely rested his bag on his lap and used it as a pillow as he rested the entire ride home.

Mme. Mendeleiev had already sent notes home to his mother about the fact that he was slipping behind in physics because of his lack of attention in class. Nathanael tried to explain that it was more than that — the lessons went by so quickly and it was hard for him to keep his attention on all of the equations and demonstrations without switching to his pencils and sketching across his notes. His mother understood, but he had promised her to bring his grades up and prove himself to his teachers soon. He couldn’t very well do that by missing school, but he supposed that sitting in class with a fever wasn’t going to do anyone good.

When the bus finally reached his stop, Nathanael had gotten up from his seat and felt the dizziness hit him all at once, finally convincing him that maybe he was more sick than he’d thought. It felt like ages before he got to his building, thankful that his apartment was on the first floor of the walk-up.

His mother was on a double shift at the café until dinner, which meant he was on his own as far as taking care of himself, but he hoped that sleeping off the fever would be enough. He walked straight to his room, replaced his jeans with sweatpants, and crawled into his bed, falling asleep the minute his head hit the pillow.

About four hours later, he woke up and felt like complete death. A headache, a worsened sore throat, a persistent fever, and violent chills made him think that maybe Rose was onto something when she mentioned him staying home tomorrow. He checked his cellphone and saw that school had let out about five minutes ago and figured that it might be a good idea to take Rose up on her offer. He didn’t think there was any medicine left in the kitchen and he wasn’t sure if he was up to making himself some warm soup anyway.

Bundling the blankets around him into a warm cocoon, Nathanael copied Rose’s number from his hand into his phone. Her writing was really loopy and hard to make out at spots — was that a 5 or a 6? A 4 or a 9? — but he did his best and got sent to her voicemail.

“Hey Rose,” Nathanael croaked, his voice coming out scratchy and pained. “It’s Nathanael. I think I might need some things after all. Not much! But, uh….if you could pick up some medicine for a fever, some tea, and maybe some soup, I’d really appreciate it. I’ll pay you back for all of it, but I really don’t feel up to getting out of bed at the moment. Take your time! No rush! Uh….thanks.”

Normally he wouldn’t dream of putting anyone out of their way like this, but Nathanael was desperate and alone in his house with a sickness he was convinced was going to keep him bed bound for at least the next twenty four hours, so he tried to reign in the guilty feeling as best he could.

Nathanael turned the television on in his room and watched through some old re-runs of a few cartoons and sitcoms that he liked watching until he heard the doorbell ring. Perfect. That must be Rose. Medicine and soup sounded absolutely heavenly right about now. He wrapped all his blankets around him until he was covered up to his nose, forced himself out of bed, and padded across the apartment to the front door.

Of course the very last person he expected to be standing on his welcome mat was Adrien Agreste.

Nathanael suddenly felt silly showing up to the door with all his blankets tied around him like this.

“A-Adrien?!” Nathanael asked in surprise. “Um….hi? What are you doing here?”

Adrien was standing there as if it was the most natural thing in the world for him to be visiting Nathanael as his home. He lowered the scarf away from his mouth and frowned at the sight of Nathanael. “Aw, buddy, you look awful! Do you have the flu or something?”

Nathanael blinked and looked down at his feet self-consciously. “I’m not sure,” he admitted. “Might just be a nasty cold, or strep throat. Sorry, uh….what are you doing here exactly?”

“Oh, right!” Adrien grinned. He picked up the two shopping bags that were sitting at his feet and thrust them forward. “You mentioned that you needed some things to help with your cold, so I went and picked them up for you!”

“Things?” Nathanael frowned. “Wait, I thought….Rose was going to get that stuff for me. I left her a message. Could she not make it?”

Adrien chuckled. “I think you might’ve typed in her number wrong. You called me.”

Nathanael’s eyes widened. He’d called the wrong number? “Are you sure?”

“I mean, I can play the voicemail for you if you want, but yeah I’m sure,” Adrien laughed.

“Oh, no,” Nathanael groaned, hiding his face in his blankets. “I’m such an idiot, I’m so sorry about that.”

“Don’t even worry about it,” Adrien waved off. “That sort of thing happens all the time. Mind if I come in, by the way? It’s a little chilly out here and I forgot my gloves at home.”

“Y-yeah sure!” Nathanael stumbled, moving aside the umbrella stand to give Adrien room to come inside. “Sorry about that. Maman isn’t home yet so make yourself comfortable I guess.”

Adrien respectfully toed off his shoes to leave by the door and made his way to the kitchen while Nathanael locked the door behind him. He sneezed into his blankets and climbed up on top of one of the chairs in the kitchen while Adrien busily unpacked his shopping bags and organized all of the contents on the table. He stared incredulously at all of the purchases and swallowed to soothe his throat. “What is all this?”

“Well, I wasn’t sure what was wrong with you, so I got a little bit of everything? I hope you don’t mind.” Adrien folded up the bags and left them on the countertop while he pointed at each thing left on the table. “So here’s some ibuprofen for your fever. I also grabbed some cold medicine — drowsy and non-drowsy because I wasn’t sure which one you liked best. I got you some ginger tea and honey too in case your throat is feeling a little bad. I went to the café near my house and picked up some chicken soup for you too. There’s two servings here so that you’ll have some leftover to heat up later.”

Nathanael felt himself gaping. “Wait just a min—”

“I grabbed some bananas and apples since maman always gave those to me when I was sick to snack on. But I know that’s boring so I also had Marinette pack me some chocolate croissants for you to eat when you get better. I also grabbed all of the books from your locker that you’d need for our homework — sorry I hope that wasn’t weird or anything — oh, and I also made copies of my notes in the library real quick so that you wouldn’t miss anything.” He stepped back from the table with a proud grin stretching the apples of his cheeks as high as they would go and clasped his hands behind his back. “Yeah! So, uh….hope that’s everything you needed.”

Nathanael twisted around the tins of tea that Adrien had bought him and gaped at the expensive brand written across the side. “You didn’t have to go and get all this!”

“I mean, I couldn’t find Rose after school, and you sounded so miserable over the phone when you left that message, I couldn’t just ignore it,” Adrien replied. “It was the least I could do, honest.”

“I don’t know how to pay you back for all of this though.”

“Is that what you’re worried about?” Adrien frowned. “Don’t even worry about that, paying for all of this stuff was nothing.” He blinked at the wording. “Er, sorry. That sounded a little elitist, didn’t it? I just meant that I was happy to help you out and get this stuff for you. You honestly don’t have to worry about paying me back.”

“But you went through all the trouble.”

“It wasn’t trouble in the least,” Adrien said. “I’m always eager to help a friend.”

Nathanael couldn’t tell if he coughed in surprise or whether he had to add cough to his list of symptoms. “Friend?”

“Of course. How could I just leave you suffering here like this?”

To be fair, when Adrien put it like that, it seemed like the only option was for him to come over with probably one of the biggest care packages Nathanael had ever received in his life. But he was sure that anyone else would’ve just called back and told him he had the wrong number so that he could figure out where he went wrong dialing Rose. To actually go out to stores, cafés, and bakeries for him — especially when Adrien and Nathanael didn’t really talk all that much — seemed so baffling and so touching that Nathanael didn’t quite know what he was supposed to do or say.

“I….thank you,” he finally said. “This is way more than I ever expected anyone to do for me. I really appreciate it.”

Adrien took off his scarf and jacket and hung it over the backs of one of the kitchen chairs. “Want me to make some tea and heat up the soup for you? My Chinese lessons don’t start for another half hour so I can hang around for a short bit.”

“Oh, you don’t have to….” Nathanael trailed off, because it seemed like Adrien didn’t mean for what he said to be posed as an actual question. He was already looking through the dishwasher for a clean kettle and filling it with water from the sink.

Figuring that there was no sense in arguing with Adrien at this point — he was already in his house and it was hard to stare at that sunny smile of his and dare to tell him no — Nathanael pulled his knees up to his chest and pointed out where the pots and mugs were.

It was almost endearing to see Adrien move around the kitchen. It didn’t seem like he spent much time in the kitchen himself — he struggled turning on the stovetop burners and he burned his finger on the handle of the pot when he went to stir the soup — but he was whistling while he moved around and kept asking Nathanael questions about the history project they had to turn in next week and what he got on their last visual arts assignment. They never really spent time talking much during class, but Adrien was a very simple, honest person. It didn’t take much effort to share a space with him. He brought up easy topics, and when Nathanael didn’t feel like talking he took the silence with ease. Nathanael had a smile on his face right up until Adrien brought his tea, soup, and medicine over on a tray.

“Do you like any sugar or milk in your tea?” Adrien asked.

“No just honey’s fine.”

Adrien carefully stirred in a spoonful of honey, slid the tray in front of Nathanael, and sat in the chair across from him. “Take the medicine first, you look like you’re about to pass out.”

Nathanael sighed and made a show of picking up the bottle of ibuprofen and shaking out two pills. “It’s probably one of those twenty four hour things. I’ll be fine for tomorrow.”

Adrien leaned his cheek against his hand. “Are you sure? I think you should stay home tomorrow. I’ll bring all your notes and homework again if you want.”

“Oh, you don’t have to do that, but thanks for the thought,” Nathanael smiled, and gosh he realized he’d been smiling ever since Adrien started boiling water for his tea. “I just hate missing school, you know?”

“Yeah, I understand,” Adrien laughed. “I came into school one day with a chest cold because I didn’t want to miss school and Nino all but pulled me by my ear to the nurse’s office halfway through our first class.”

“I remember that. He kept scolding you for the rest of the school day.”

“Yeah, that sounds a lot like Nino,” Adrien grumbled. “He gave me a lecture about not infecting the rest of the class with my sick. I didn’t think of that. But, I dunno, I guess when you’ve been homeschooled for most of your life you don’t want to miss out on actual school, you know? Where you get to walk to classes and have lockers and sit next to your friends and stuff.”

Nathanael didn’t much see what the big deal was about walking and lockers, and sitting next to friends wasn’t really why he prioritized coming into school everyday. But Marinette told him during visual arts one day about how Adrien pitched a fit to his father about getting the chance to go to public school after being homeschooled with very little friends before this. Someone as vibrant as Adrien didn’t really seem the type to thrive in a homeschooled setting anyway. Someone who splurged on soup for someone he didn’t really know well needed to be around people.

“I just don’t want to get marked down for any reason,” Nathanael mumbled in between sips of soup. “I already get in trouble for not paying attention in class. I don’t want to make it worse by not being there at all.”

“Do you not like the subjects?”

“It’s not that. It’s just really hard to concentrate sometimes. Especially in physics. Mme. Mendeleiev is always watching me to make sure I’m taking notes, and I try. But sometimes she just talks too quickly and it’s all gobbledygook to me. So I just draw and do other homework and try to catch up at home.”

Adrien pouted his bottom lip. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know physics gave you such a hard time.”

Nathanael shrugged. “I try not to make a big deal about it. It’s my fault anyway.”

“It’s not your fault at all,” Adrien insisted, pointing to Nathanael’s mug of tea to make sure he was drinking it. “I imagine it’s frustrating to try and pay attention in a class when things don’t make sense.”

“I was never much of a math or science person,” Nathanael admitted. “It’s always been like that.”

Adrien’s shoulders were slumped and his face was pulled into a deep frown, making him look more like a kicked puppy to Nathanael than anything else. It was almost strange to think that Adrien would be so upset on his behalf. Even Nathanael didn’t think it was too much of an issue, just inconvenient more than anything else. But suddenly Adrien’s face lit up, and he smacked his hands on the table so hard that he almost made the tea in Nathanael’s mug spill over. “What if I helped you?”

“Huh?”

“I’m really good at physics!” Adrien said excitedly. “Well. I mean. I do well in it. I like it, I mean. Not to brag or anything, God no! Just that I….well, anyway. If you needed help with assignments or with the material I could totally give you a hand.”

Yup, a puppy was definitely a good descriptor for Adrien. Nathanael could almost picture drawing ears and a wagging tail on Adrien right now and being perfectly content with the results. “You don’t know what you’re signing up for,” Nathanael insisted. “Honest. I’m probably hopeless.”

“I’m sure that’s not true,” Adrien waved off. “Look, you don’t have to say anything now. Just think about it. You have my number now. Just text me if you ever need any help. I’ll try to explain it slower than Mme. Mendeleiev does.”

There was no way that Nathanael could brush off that kind of kindness — and Adrien really was pulling out all the stops without even realizing the weight of what it was he was doing — so he nodded and ducked his face down towards his soup. “Alright,” he decided. “I’ll think about it.”

Adrien was only able to stay with Nathanael for a few minutes before he had to leave for his Chinese lessons. It was mostly Adrien talking about something silly that happened with him, Marinette, Alya, and Nino during lunch that afternoon, but Nathanael was fine to just listen and watch Adrien gesticulate through the whole story. Nathanael was slurping the last of his soup and feeling the medicine improve his fever a little bit when Adrien pulled his jacket on again. He stared at Nathanael for a moment looking pensive and unsure, but he shrugged his shoulders and pulled Nathanael into a brief hug.

“For good luck!” Adrien said as he pulled back and helped wrap Nathanael’s blankets around him again. “Let me know if you need anything else okay? I know your mother is coming back soon but still. Just in case.”

“I will,” Nathanael promised. “And….thanks again for all of this. I’m starting to feel a lot better.”

Adrien waved goodbye with both hands as he let himself out and locked the door behind him. Now that the apartment was empty, Nathanael couldn’t help but burst out into laughter, the tight bundle of warmth sitting in his chest the entire time finally unravelling and making him feel a lot less like the sack of garbage he felt like before. He finished up his lunch, shoved everything in the sink, and crawled back into his bed to try and rest off the cold.

He hugged his pillow to his chest and smiled into it before he fell asleep.

Nathanael had been one of the people who’d been in the class the longest, but he was perfectly fine with feeling like he didn’t strongly fit in anywhere.

He and Marinette had been drawing partners since they were six, Nino had been his back row buddy for as long as he can remember, and Kim had always been the one chasing bullies across the park to steal back the colored pencils they’d taken from him. But those young friendships weren’t nearly as deep as some of the others he’d seen. Marinette and Alya were practically inseparable, Kim and Max had more inside jokes than Nathanael even thought was possible, and Nino and Adrien were always huddled together by their desks coming up with secret handshakes and sharing headphones before class.

It never interested him to try and insert himself into those dynamics, and even though Rose insisted that wanting to be friends with people who already had established friend groups wasn’t intrusive in the lease, Nathanael stood by his word. He enjoyed the time he spent keeping to himself, and genuine kindness from his classmates was all he ever asked of anyone.

Of course Adrien Agreste went and took that normal brand of genuine kindness, injected steroids into it, and handed it back to Nathanael in a show of sincerity that he still felt undeserving of.

Adrien was an enigma. Nathanael watched him on first day of school as he did most of their classmates who joined them for the first time. Chloe was hanging off of his arm, he seemed to struggle making friends, and he stumbled around for a bit as he tried to figure out how this public school thing worked. But by his third day, Nino and Adrien were laughing with each other like they’d known the other for years. Everyone came up to his desk in the mornings to say hi not because he was a famous model, but just because he had a kind word and a warm smile for anyone who passed him. He was brilliant, excelled in his classes, did so much after school, and still had time to prove to everyone that there was nothing intimidating or reserved about him.

It was a wonder how someone’s presence could be so assuming and light up a room so brilliantly that people couldn’t help but be attracted to it. Nathanael wanted to chalk it up to natural magnetism, but he was really good at seeing beautiful and precious things in unlikely places and transferring them to all of his sketchpads. Adrien was something special, and Nathanael never thought that he’d be able to see that kind of specialness up close and personal in a way that left Nathanael’s head feel like it was swirling.

But….it was a nice kind of swirling. Sort of like when you spun around in circles for too long and left yourself feeling dizzy at the end of it, but still marveled at the way all the colors around you melded together into something breathtaking. It was overwhelming, but Nathanael wouldn’t necessarily mind more of that kindness.

Which led to Nathanael sitting in his room, thumb hovering over Adrien’s phone number in his cellphone.

His fever was gone, but his sore throat was still bothering him and he still felt generally weak and tired. So he decided to follow Rose and Adrien’s advice and stay home another day, which worked wonders since it meant he had a long weekend ahead of him. But he was looking through the physics homework that Adrien had brought him yesterday, and he kind of wanted to cry.

Adrien had the highest physics scores in the class, and he already offered to help Nathanael study. It seemed silly to say no to the help.

Nathanael took a huge breath, opened his texts, and deleted his message seven times before he sent it.

 nathanael: hey adrien, it’s nathanael! i hope school went well today. are you busy today? i was wondering if i could take you up on your offer to help me with physics? yesterdays homework isn’t making much sense.

 He carded his fingers through his hair, got up from his chair, and practically canon balled into his bed, hiding his head under his pillow.

Why was he nervous ? It wasn’t like Adrien was difficult to talk to or too intimidating to even look at. That couldn’t be even further from the truth, and it was evidenced by the fact that everyone always seemed to be at ease just by being around him. So why did Nathanael feel like his heart was about to burst out of his chest just from asking him for some private study lessons? It didn’t make any sense, but it certainly didn’t stop Nathanael from peeking out from underneath his pillow and waiting for the phone on his desk to illuminate with a new text message.

The moment it vibrated, he leaped out of his bed and unlocked his phone

 adrien: hey nath! are you feeling better? fencing practice was cancelled so i can come visit if you want.

 Visit? Have him come here again? Two days in a row?

 nathanael: oh gosh you really don’t have to if it’s too much trouble. im sure i can figure it out over text

adrien: lol it’s no trouble if im offering :P only if it’s ok with you ofc

nathanael: i mean i am feeling a lot better

nathanael: and i imagine this stuffs easier to explain in person?

adrien: haha so is that a yes? :D

nathanael: i guess so?

adrien: alright cool! i can come over in about an hour if you want. i just have to stop by my house and leave my fencing stuff. do you need notes and homework?

nathanael: actually that’d be amazing thanks

adrien: notes, homework, and your own personal study buddy coming right up! ;)

 Nathanael laughed at the long string of thumbs up emojis that Adrien decided to tag onto the end of the message, and he was almost positive that he didn’t know a single person in the world who could possibly get this excited about sitting down for an entire afternoon just to go over a pile of physics homework. He wondered if it was similar to the way Nathanael wished he could just take French and visual arts classes all day and got excited whenever he saw a nice charcoal set in the store.

When Adrien finally knocked on his door, he was practically bouncing on his toes and holding two boxes of pastries from the Dupain-Cheng bakery with a blinding smile on his face. “Hey!” he greeted. “Wow, you’re looking so much better. It was the soup, wasn’t it? It works wonders, I tell you.” He gently shook the boxes he was holding. “I brought more snacks!”

Nathanael raised a brow. “That’s….a lot of snacks.”

“I said the same thing,” he frowned in thought. “Marinette sort of pushed them on me when she heard I was coming over. She was really adamant about it too.” Adrien cleared his throat and shook his head a little. “Uh, anyway! They’re palmiers and opera cakes. I hope that’s okay? They were on sale.”

“That’s fine,” Nathanael chuckled. Something about Adrien’s enthusiasm was exasperating in a really sweet way. Even though it was a lot, he was sure Adrien didn’t even realize he was doing it. “I’ll get us some water. We can study in my room if you want.”

Nathanael hung up Adrien’s jacket, grabbed some water bottles from the fridge, and led them into his room that he spent most of the morning cleaning. The moment they stepped inside, Adrien immediately dropped his bag on the floor by Nathanael’s bed and sprawled across his carpet, his limbs thrown about as if he were at a close friend’s house. He dug through his things and handed off a folder filled with papers and post-its. “Here’s all the notes and homework assignments for today. Let me know if you can’t read anything.”

“Thanks,” Nathanael said, accepting the folder and breathing a sigh of relief when he saw how little homework there was for this weekend. “So, brutally honest opinion, on a scale of one to ten. How impossible was the homework from yesterday?"

“A 3 max. Not that bad, I promise,” Adrien assured.

“Says the physics nerd.”

“Excuse me, I prefer the term physics connoisseur,” Adrien winked with a smile.

“I guess I’m lucky if I get to borrow your help for a bit.”

“Nah, don’t think of it like that. I think I’m pretty lucky to get to study with you. We don’t hang out much and I’ve always wanted to talk to you more.”

Nathanael’s back straightened up almost immediately and he couldn’t pretend that that didn’t make his heart flutter just a little bit. “Y-You’ve been wanting to talk to me?”

“Yeah,” Adrien said. “For a while actually. I just wasn’t sure how to go up to you and just….ask if you wanted to hang out. I didn’t want to be awkward about it.”

“You? Awkward about making friends?” Nathanael snorted. “You’re so popular! Everyone talks to you.”

“I’ve never really had to make friends before this,” Adrien admitted. “I mean, I was lucky where Nino was concerned. He reached out first, and he’s just the best. But everyone else I guess just came up to me and started being nice, and I only ever knew how to be nice back and just put on a smile, and making friends after that just sort of came naturally. It’s been working so far, but I’m still kinda bad at starting conversations.”

Nathanael furrowed his brows. “I don’t know if I believe that….”

“I’m serious!” Adrien insisted. “You for example! I’ve never known how to talk to you. You always seemed to want to be left alone and I never wanted to bother you.”

“I mean…I’m not really the best at socializing,” Nathanael said. “People sort of already know that so they tend to give me a lot of breathing room so to speak. But….it’s not like I don’t want people to bother me.”

Adrien reached out Nathanael’s hands. “I didn’t mean to offend you! It was just what was going through my head, I wasn’t trying to make assumptions.”

“It’s okay,” Nathanael laughed. “To be fair, I kinda thought you were really unattainable. Like you sort of give off all this positive energy and make it look so easy. I didn’t know how to talk to you .”

“Sounds like we’ve both been wasting a lot of time,” Adrien said. “I’ll admit, that’s kind of why I rushed over here yesterday.”

“Because you didn’t want to waste time?”

“No, because I thought it’d be the perfect chance to talk to you. I mean, it was mainly to help you because you looked miserable yesterday, but it was also just a great chance to get to talk with you. I-I hope that’s not weird or anything.”

Nathanael’s fingers were tangling themselves up in his lap. “No. That’s….actually really refreshing. I don’t think anyone’s ever told me they were that eager to talk to me. It’s not like I take up a lot of space.”

Adrien shrugged. “You don’t have to. I noticed you without you having to do that.”

Nathanael took a shaky breath in and was suddenly heavily aware of Adrien’s hands that were still gently braced around his wrists. He stared at him as if he hadn’t just admitted something that was making Nathanael think terribly indulgent but horribly silly thoughts that he was doing best to keep locked up tight in his head so as not to ruin the moment. Adrien had only been in their class for a few months and it was hard to believe that he’d been wondering how to talk to him of all people. But it was hard not to let his insides melt a little when Adrien smiled at him, and it was then that he realized that maybe this whole physics studying thing was a really bad idea.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and could literally feel the heat radiating off his face. “G-Good to know.”

Adrien must have realized that he was still holding onto him, because he moved back and rubbed his hands on the carpet underneath him. “Right! Yeah! So, physics! Uh….do you have the homework sheets.”

Adrien was a really patient teacher. He was good about letting them take breaks so that they could plan hangman and tic-tac-toe in the corners, and Adrien seemed to get a kick out of the fact that Nathanael was making silly comics of people running away in fear from his physics equations and interacting with all of the diagrams in the problems. It made focusing on the really complicated equations a lot easier, and Adrien was great at explaining everything in a way that was much more simple than what Mme. Mendeleiev liked to rattle off in class. It was the quickest he’d ever gone through his physics homework, and he even felt confident enough to try and do this weekend’s homework without any help. They managed to get through all of the problems together and rewarded themselves with pastries every time they got a problem right. It wasn’t often that Nathanael got to do homework with friends and he didn’t think that he’d ever find himself spread out across his carpet and laughing with Adrien while they stuffed themselves with sweets. It seemed like a strange dream that he didn’t quite know how he entered but wasn’t about to wake himself up from.

When they were finally finished with their physics homework, they were both laying on their backs next to each other, each with a box of pastries sitting on their stomachs, Nathanael allowed his giddiness to give him the courage to speak. “Can I ask you something? And you promise to answer honestly?”

“I’ll do my best.”

“Why did you want to talk to me so bad?”

Adrien kept his eyes on the ceiling and spoke around a mouthful. “I….don’t really know. I had a feeling you were a really interesting person, and I was right. And you just caught my eye I guess.”

“Why though?” Nathanael asked.

Adrien smiled nervously and didn’t turn his head to look at Nathanael. “You’re going to laugh. And I don’t want to make you uncomfortable.”

“Is it bad?”

“No! Not bad!” Adrien promised. “Just….well. I was really excited when you called me by accident. More excited than I thought I’d be. I guess.”

Nathanael moved his box, propped himself up on his elbow, looked down at Adrien. “Why were you excited?”

“I’m serious, you’re going to laugh.”

Nathanael bit his lip. “Try me. I might not laugh.”

Adrien blinked and for the first time looked like he was perfectly planning what he was going to say in his head. “What do you mean you might not? You don’t know what I’m going to say.”

“I don’t,” Nathanael admitted. “I know what I’m hoping you’ll say.”

“What are you hoping I’ll say?”

“I asked first.”

Adrien’s shoulders shook with laughter. “Fair enough.” He sat up from the floor and turned around so that he was facing Nathanael. “Just….promise that if I don’t say what you’re hoping I’ll say we can just go back to making jokes and eating junk food.”

Nathanael really really hoped that wouldn’t be the case. “Promise.”

Adrien took a huge breath and raked his fingers through his head as if to psych himself up. “Well, during the first week or so of school, my driver had forgotten to get used to my schedule and remember that he had to pick me up after school. There was a time where I was just sitting out on the stoop waiting for him to come pick me up and I saw you listening to music, humming to yourself, and sketching in your binder. I don’t know if you remember that.”

Nathanael liked to stick around after school a lot to sketch when he wanted to enjoy the nice weather a bit before going home. “I tend to do that a lot. But keep going.”

“I knew that you were in my class and I sort of remembered your name, but I like I said, I didn’t really know how to go up and talk to you. Plus I didn’t want to bother you.” Adrien stared down in his lap and smiled. “I, uh….well the first thought that popped into my head was that you were really cute.”

Adrien squinted his eyes shut and turned his head away as if preparing himself for a blow, but all Nathanael could do was hope that all of the sudden joy that was rushing from his head all the way down to the tips of his toes wasn’t too obvious. “W-Wait. Do you mean….?”

“Aw, don’t make me say it, it’s embarrassing and I didn’t rehearse,” Adrien groaned.

“So you do mean that!”

“I-I’m not making you uncomfortable, am I?”

Nathanael’s head dropped in relief as he shook his head. “No. No way. Quite the opposite, actually.”

“Wait, really?”

“I’m just as surprised as you are.”

Adrien still looked at Nathanael like he was starstruck. “Wait, there’s no way this is happening….”

“That makes two of us.”

Adrien licked his lips and scooted closer to Nathanael so that their knees were touching. “Can I try something?”

Nathanael nodded. “Uh. Sure. What is it?”

Adrien’s eyes darted down to Nathanael’s lips before dropping back down to his lap out of nerves, and suddenly Nathanael felt as if he were going to faint. Surely that’s not what he meant? This was just the over imaginative parts of Nathanael’s imagination getting away from him and making him anticipate things that weren’t actually coming his way. But Adrien finished surprising him that afternoon by buckling up all the courage inside of him and leaning forward to give Nathanael a sweet, short kiss on his lips, so short that Nathanael only had time to inhale sharply through his nose before it was over and Adrien was keeping his shoulders bunched up to his ears and keeping his eyes turned to the ceiling.

“Sorry,” he whispered out. “I panicked.”

“It’s okay,” Nathanael chuckled. “Do….do you want to try again?”

Adrien scrubbed his hands over his face. “I’m so bad at this.”

Maybe it was because Nathanael thought it was so sweet to see someone as personable as Adrien suddenly look like he wasn’t sure what to do with his hands or where to drop his gaze that Nathanael decided to take Adrien’s hands, lower them away from his face, and try to go something brave for once. He kept his hands around Adrien’s wrists as he leaned in and left a softer, slower kiss on Adrien’s lips, waiting patiently for Adrien to relax and gently open his mouth to kiss him back.

It wasn’t Nathanael’s first kiss, but it was his longest one — long enough for him to pick up little details about Adrien that he hadn’t noticed before. He had long eyelashes, his lips were a little chapped, and his bangs were long enough to tickle Nathanael’s temples when he tilted his head just slightly. He was also a really sweet kisser, one that made his toes curl in his socks and all his sighs come spilling into Adrien’s mouth. He wasn’t sure how long it had lasted, but he was practically counting the seconds that passed the moment Adrien ended the kiss and kept his lips just half an inch away from Nathanael’s, his breathes furling and mixing with his own.

“Man,” Adrien muttered. “Nino is never going to believe me.”

Nathanael couldn’t help it. He laughed with his whole body and felt like there was almost too much happiness running through his body. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to distract us.”

“Please. That was a great distraction.”

Nathanael tilted his head back towards their books. “Should we try and do the rest of it? Aside from the physics.”

Adrien winced. “Ehhh. I mean. It’s Friday. There’s no rush.”

Nathanael smirked. “And I’m guessing you don’t want to head home yet.”

“Kissing is more fun than homework.”

Nathanael blinked and cursed under his breath. “Aw, shoot. I might still be contagious. I’m sorry.”

Adrien shrugged. “Worth it. Besides, if I get sick, I can always leave you a message by accident so you can bring soup to my house.”

Nathanael rolled his eyes when Adrien cupped his cheeks and pulled him in for another kiss. He supposed that after all of this, taking care of Adrien tomorrow when he inevitably got sick would be fair turnabout anyway.

[miraculousstorytelling]

Something with plants prompt?

Well, seeing as this was a pretty broad prompt, I decided to have some fun with it.

“Hey, what’s this?”

Nino glanced over at the potted plant on his windowsill. “Oh, I’m keeping it there for my sister. Apparently, my window gets the right amount of light.”

“Yeah, but…” Chat Noir leaned forward to delicately sniff it. “What is it?”

“Catnip.”

Chat Noir raised a brow. “It smells really good.”

“I mean, I guess it smells alright.” Nino shrugged.

“No, I mean it smells really good.”

Nino straightened, alert now that he noticed the way Chat Noir’s speech was beginning to slur. “Maybe you should stop smelling it.”

“No, it’s fine.” He gently rubbed his cheek against the plant. “It just smells-”

Nino gently grabbed his tail to tug him away from the catnip. “Okay, I know you keep saying you’re not a cat, but just this once, I think you kind of are.”

Chat Noir reached out for it, frowning as Nino gently separated him from the plant. “But… Nino…”

Nino carefully set the plant outside and closed the window. “Let’s just see how you react first before I let you smell it again, okay?”

Chat Noir flopped back onto Nino’s half-made bed and sulked at the ceiling. “Okay, I guess.”

Nino sat beside him and pulled out his phone. “Let’s see…” He tapped out a quick search. “It’s only supposed to last for ten minutes, so if nothing changes in fifteen…”

Chat Noir stared up at him with wide eyes, pupils blown out. “I’m totally fine, Nino.”

“No, you’re really not, dude.” He set his phone aside and gently ran his fingers through Chat Noir’s hair. “How are you feeling?”

“Hmmm…” Chat Noir grinned and turned into Nino’s touch. “Warm. Kind of floaty.”

“Yeah, I don’t really think that’s normal.”

Chat Noir hummed in consideration. “Feels nice, though.”

Nino chuckled. “Yeah, that’s cause you’re high.”

“High on yooouuuu,” Chat Noir murmured into his palm.

Nino laughed and shook his head. “Seriously?”

Chat Noir nodded, looking a little more dazed now. “Nino. Ninooooo.” He rolled the name around on his tongue, almost tasting it as he repeated, “Nino.”

“Yeah?” Nino asked patiently.

“Nino…” Chat Noir reached up to grab a fistful of his shirt and tug him back down onto the bed. “You need to stay still. You’re moving around too much.” He laid his head on Nino’s chest.

Nino gently patted his back, easily settling into his new position. “Okay. I’ll stay still.”

“Good.” Chat Noir adjusted until he could hear Nino’s heartbeat. “Nino… Nino, Nino, Nino…” he half-whispered, half-sang.

“Mm-hm?” Nino answered, running his fingers through Chat Noir’s hair.

Chat Noir didn’t answer. Instead, he curled up against Nino’s side. “You know I’m not gonna purr, no matter how much you pet me.”

“I know. You’ve told me before.” Nino paused, fingertips still tangled in the ends of Chat Noir’s bangs. “You want me to stop?”

“No.”

“Okay.” Nino quietly resumed brushing his fingertips through Chat Noir’s hair.

Chat Noir frowned. “You know, I really don’t think the catnip’s affecting me that much.”

“Yeah,” Nino smiled down at him, a teasing note in his voice. “That’s why you’re so cuddly. Because you’re not high.”

“I can be cuddly.”

“I know.” Nino lightly tapped the tip of one of Chat Noir’s ears. “You’re not usually, though.”

“You’re just really warm,” Chat Noir mumbled into the fabric of Nino’s shirt.

“Well, I don’t mind,” Nino answered softly. “It’s nice.”

“Hmmm… So are you.”

Nino propped his head up with his free arm and grinned down at Chat Noir. “How are you feeling now?”

“Fine.”

“Not floaty anymore?”

“Well…” Chat Noir peeked up at him. “Maybe a little.” His pupils were smaller than before, but they were still alarmingly larger than normal.

“Let me know when you come back to Earth, okay?”

He nodded slowly and closed his eyes. Moments later, Nino realized the rise and fall of Chat Noir’s chest had slowed, and his limbs were much more relaxed.

“Did you fall asleep on me?”

Sure enough, Chat Noir was sound asleep.

Nino grumbed. “I had homework to finish.” He scooped up his phone to check the time, then settled back and closed his eyes. “I’ll give him fifteen minutes.”

Nino woke up to the sound of his alarm, momentarily disoriented by the new position on his bed and the unusual weight on his chest.

Weight on his…

Nino scrambled to shut off the alarm on his phone and checked the time. “Oh, man…”

Chat Noir grumbled. “Five more minutes.”

“Dude, we fell asleep.”

“Fell a…” Chat Noir sat up. “Wait, what?”

Nino showed him the time. “It’s morning!”

“I have to go!” Chat Noir scrambled to his feet, pausing briefly to rub his forehead.

Nino followed him. “Hey, you okay?”

“Yeah, fine. Just…” Chat Noir glared at the catnip through the window. “I feel a little hung-over.”

“It’s probably just cause of how you slept.” Nino searched around his desk. “I think I have some ibuprofen or something if you need-”

Chat Noir leaned in for a brief kiss. “Nah, I’m fine. Just running late.”

“Careful.” Nino grinned. “Don’t fall off any rooftops.”

Chat Noir turned back to give him a salute before leaping out the window.

Nino barely made it to class on time, baggie of catnip in hand. Adrien rushed in seconds behind him.

“You okay?” Nino glanced over at him.

“Just running a little behind this morning,” Adrien mumbled, rubbing his eyes.

“Didn’t sleep well last night?” Nino asked, setting down his things.

“Actually,” Adrien smiled, his voice low as he spoke, “I slept great last night.”

“Oh, hey, Alya!” Nino waved as she and Marinette approached, both looking somewhat paler than normal. “I brought you the stuff my mom recommended.”

“Thank goodness.” Alya dropped her stuff at her desk and leaned forward. “Is there enough for Marinette, too? We synced up.”

“Worst mistake of my life,” Marinette murmured as she sagged forward and let her forehead drop onto the desk.

Nino nodded and held out the bag for her. “Yeah, she said to brew it like tea.”

Alya nodded and pulled out a thermos. “So I heard. Lucky for us, I came prepared.” Steam rose from the thermos as she opened it. “Pour it in.”

Nino obliged, gently tipping the bag to pour the catnip into the hot water Alya had brought from home. “I don’t know how much to use.”

“All of it,” Alya and Marinette answered in unison.

Nino nodded and let the last of the catnip fall into the thermos.

Adrien perked up as the smell wafted down to the first row. “What is that?” He turned and leaned over the thermos to inhale more of the scent. “It smells nice.”

Nino glanced back at him. “Catnip. Supposed to help with, um… Pain.”

Adrien tensed. “Catnip?”

“Yeah. Why?”

“I’m, um…” Adrien leaned back. “I’m allergic to catnip.”

Nino sat beside him. “Really? How bad?”

“No, it’s fine. Just…a little itchy. I should…” Adrien ducked his head and stood. “I should go to the nurse.”

“Here, I’ll walk with-” Nino froze when he caught sight of Adrien’s eyes. Already, his pupils had expanded so much, Nino could hardly see any of Adrien’s typically green irises. Already, Adrien was beginning to look somewhat dazed. Exactly like Chat Noir had looked last night. Nino’s voice lowered as he continued, more an order than a request at this point, “Let me help you.”

“I’m okay.”

Nino jumped to his feet and wrapped his arm around Adrien’s waist. “Yeah, I get the feeling you’re gonna feel a little floaty soon,” he whispered into Adrien’s ear. “And you’re gonna need some help walking.”

Adrien groaned, slowly walking out of the classroom with Nino’s help. “You weren’t supposed to find out like this.”

Nino glanced back at Alya and Marinette, who both watched with concerned, though still pained, expressions. “He’ll be fine,” he called back to them. Once the door closed behind him, Nino glanced down at Adrien, who was now leaning heavily against him. “I definitely have a lot of questions for you, though.”

This one was cute. I obviously don’t know how catnip would really affect a human who reacted like a cat, but according to the little research I did, there’s different levels of reactions, so I went with “staring into the distance and dazed” for Adrien.

[p-artsypants]

Longest Night (34) Crying

Walks into room. Vomits. Leaves.

Ao3 | FF.net

—

Marinette was escorted back to her room. Her back throbbed and her throat burned with the need to cough. But she kept her head down, having nothing to say, and not wanting to see people watching her. She wasn’t an exhibit.

Back in her room, John helped her back into bed, raising the back, allowing her to sit up.

Dr. Boucher brought a little cup with pills in it. “A cocktail, for the lady.”

She swallowed them all with a swig of water.

Once settled, Sabine placed the Chat Noir doll on her lap. “Here darling, you must have dropped this earlier.”

Marinette stared at the doll with watery eyes. It wasn’t much, but it was a comfort to have him. She hugged him to her chest.

“One of those pills was a sleep aid. In about an hour, you’ll start to feel drowsy, if you don’t already. Plenty time to get some food in you.”

She didn’t fight. Didn’t protest. Just let herself be strapped back into the bed, attached to all the monitors.

Another nurse came in, bringing in a tray with a bowl. “Are you ready for some chicken soup?” She asked with a perky chirp.

Marinette didn’t respond as a bed table was swung in front of her, and the soup was placed in front of her. Soup with crackers, a cup with lime jello, and another cup with water.

It might as well be a five star meal from the best chef on earth with how her stomach rumbled. She took a careful spoonful, under the watchful gaze of the nurses, doctor, and her parents.

That immediately put her on edge.

She dropped the spoon back to the table. “I don’t want it.”

“Please eat it, Marinette. A little more,” Dr. Boucher urged.

“You eat it first,” she demanded.

“Ah, I see.” The doctor nodded. “I would be paranoid too, if I was in your place. John, would you get me another spoon please?”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely. Marinette doesn’t want to have another LSD trip from laced food. I don’t blame her. So we’ll put her at ease.”

“Is that what’s wrong?” Sabine asked her daughter. “You think they put something in the food?”

Marinette didn’t answer, only stared hard at the doctor. “Why do you need another spoon?”

“You have a pretty severe case of pneumonia, Marinette.” He answered calmly. “I don’t want to get sick too. Then I won’t be able to help you and Adrien.”

Marinette unfurled her fists. “I’m sorry…I just—“

“You don’t need to apologize to me, Marinette.” Carefully, he sat down at her side and took her hand. “What you went through was extremely traumatizing. You are a different person now, with different goals, coping mechanisms, patience and tolerance threshold. You are still Marinette, at the core, but you’re not going to react the way you used to, the way people expect you to.”

Hearing it put into words eased not only Marinette, but Tom and Sabine.

“The most prevalent change I can tell right now, is that your trust for basically everyone has dropped. It makes sense, in the environment you were in, but I would really like you to communicate with me. I understand trust is earned, but I just want to make you better. Okay?”

Marinette considered this, gnawing at her bottom lip. She looked at Tikki. “Is he telling the truth?”

Tikki floated up in front of her face, and kissed her nose. “You woke up somewhere strange, in pain, and scared out of your mind. But this is a hospital. The same one that your grandpa stayed at for his heart surgery. You had to convince him that the technology in the room wasn’t going to hurt him, and it ‘was how it was done.’ You remember, don’t you?”

A tear made a track down her cheek as she nodded. “Yeah.”

“I’ve been watching the whole time. Everyone has been gentle with you. There’s nothing to worry about.”

Marinette considered this, as every receptor in her brain told her to run run run.

John returned with a clean spoon, and handed it to the doctor.

Dr. Boucher scooped a bit of soup, showing Marinette the bite, then stuck it in this mouth. “Oh, wow. This is really good. I don’t really care for chicken soup, but this is tasty. Nancy must be working today.”  

With no rational reason to refuse the food, Marinette picked her spoon up again and started to eat. The soup settled pleasantly in her empty stomach, warmth flowing through her with each cautious, shaking sip.

She glanced at the doctor, who had yet to say anything since she agreed to eat. “Are you going to tell me what’s wrong with me?” She asked.

He smirked at her bluntness. “Physically, you’re very weak. Dehydrated, malnourished , and your muscles have atrophied. You’ve got infection in the wounds on your feet and on your hand where you were branded, so we’ve got you on antibiotic for that and the pneumonia. The flagellation wounds on your back have been stitched up, and are healing very nicely. Other than that, we are monitoring the lasting affects of the strangulation and electrocution. Because you were strangled earlier in your capture and there’s been no physical adverse effects except a rope burn scar, it’s unlikely that any will emerge. But let us know if you feel any pain in your neck at any time.”

“What kind of effects are you looking for?” She asked.

Dr. Boucher paused. “I hesitate to tell you, only because I don’t want you to be paranoid, but I also want you to communicate with me. Any of these symptoms could be related to something else, and not necessarily to your strangulation.”

“Okay.”

“Raspy voice, difficulty breathing, coughing, difficulty swallowing, and nausea are already present from pneumonia. Please let me know if you you get headaches, hallucinations, dizziness, trouble using the bathroom, or if your tongue or lips feel swollen. As for the electrocution, your muscles might hurt or contract without your permission, but we’re watching for seizures.”

“I do have a headache. Right in the back of my head.”

“Okay, I’ve given you some ibuprofen. That also could be stress related, or because your eyes aren’t used to the lighting. Let me know if it persists. Anything else?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Alright, that’s good then.” Then he took her hand uninjured hand and squeezed. “But Marinette, please don’t try to tough it out. If you feel pain, anywhere, let me know. I want you to relax and heal. We can help ease your pain, so you don’t have to deal with it right now.”

“I don’t want to be drugged up.”

“Would you rather be in pain?”

She didn’t reply.

“I understand your hesitation. We’ll try to find a balance.”

Marinette’s eyes started to feel heavy, but she reached for the jello cup. Still worried, she held it out to him so he could take a little bit to test. When he scooped a little out without hesitation, she deemed it safe to eat.

It was impossibly hard to watch your child being so on edge and distrusting to everyone. Sabine planned on bringing in homemade food for a while, at least as much as she could.

Finished with her meal, Marinette put the spoon down, and pushed the table away.

“Warm enough?” Asked John.

She nodded.

“Alright then, I’m glad you could choke that down. I’m proud of you, Marinette.” Dr. Boucher praised.

I’m proud of you.

Dr. Boucher was basically a stranger, but that struck a cord in her shriveled heart. “Thank you…” She whispered.  

“Get some sleep. I’ll check in on you in a few hours.” He patted her hand and stood.

“We’ll be here while you sleep,” Tom assured. “Someone will always be here to keep watch. There’s also police officers outside the door that refuse access to anyone not approved by us. You’re safe, my little croissant.”

She couldn’t fight off her exhaustion anymore anyway, so she closed her eyes. A small warmth, she assumed was Tikki, settled on her hand. There was shuffling around the room, people leaving or settling into chairs. The door shut. A paper fluttered. A cough. A beep. A hum.

—

Only a few minutes later, after Marinette had fallen asleep, Dr. Boucher returned, with Gabriel Agreste with him. “Tom? Sabine? May I speak to you in the hall please?” He spoke softly.

They nodded and left the room, closing the door softly behind them. He led them a little ways down the hall, out of earshot of the police, for patient confidentiality.

“I must admit, I’m pleased with the progress Marinette is making physically. The fact she was able to sit up and eat on her own is encouraging. However, I am very concerned about her mental health.”

“Absolutely!” Sabine agreed. “I’ve never seen my daughter act like that before! It was terrifying!”

“I had hoped that the behavior she had developed as a defense mechanism would go away once she was away from Salo. But it seems that she’s adopted it permanently. Did you notice how quickly she ate her dinner?”

“She wolfed it down! Like—“

“Like she was afraid someone would take it away.” He finished. “Mr.  Agreste, it’s likely that Adrien will be in this state of mind too. I’m not positive though. But I’d like you to be prepared.”

“Understood,” Gabriel nodded. “Is there anything we can do?”

Dr. Boucher thought for a moment. “It would be best to remind them of good things. Hobbies, favorite movies, favorite foods, things that they enjoy. They need to be able to have them and enjoy them, without the threat of them being taken away. That’s a very simple place to start.”

“We can do that!” Tom smiled, “We love having movie nights with Marinette! Adrien will fit right in!”

“That’s the other thing I wanted to talk about.” The doctor put his hands in his pockets. “The Marinette, and the Adrien you know…they’re gone. These are two young adults that have been forced to mature and adapt to survive in grueling conditions. They will heal, and things will get better, but for a while, you probably won’t recognize your children.”

Sabine covered her mouth to hold back a sob.

“But, they are still your children, and you have a responsibility to love them. Without that love and support, they will not recover. They will have to find a new normal. And that may be completely different from what life used to be like. Don’t force them to fit in any molds. Encourage them to do their best, but don’t punish them for failing. I promise, they are going to punish themselves.”

“What do you mean?”

“In all the hours of footage we analyzed, Salo hammered home the idea that they both failed Paris as heroes, and that everyone is disappointed in them. Of course we know that’s not true, but it will take a while before either of them believe either of it.”

“So…love them, spoil them, and be patient?” Tom summarized.

“Basically, yes. For now. Later down the line, we’ll work on getting them to reevaluate their behavior. You should probably warn any visitors that may see them that they could be rude or blunt.”

“We should be careful reintroducing Alya,” Gabriel suggested. “From talking with her, Marinette was not happy with her the last time they spoke. It could be dicey.”

“Who’s Alya?” Asked the doctor.

“Marinette’s best friend. Well…besides Adrien or Tikki. The Ladyblogger.”

“Ah, then she’ll also be vital to their recovery. If Marinette can see that her friend isn’t disappointed in her, it should help. But we should gauge how Marinette feels about her first.” He checked his watch. “I’ve still got to check on Adrien today. I think we’re in a good place for now.”

“Thank you Doctor. It’s nice to have some guidance.”

“Thank you for being so patient and willing! Some parents don’t want to think about their children’s trauma, or just belittle it.”

“There’s no way we could,” stated Gabriel. “We saw what they went through.”  

“Yes, but seeing something and experiencing it first hand are two different things. And you could always turn off the screen.”

No one argued against that.

—

Hours later, Marinette regained awareness. The room was silent, barring the humming of a machine nearby.

Opening her eyes, the lights were off, the room swept into a soft blue daylight. The bleak November sky was gray with rain.

She was alone, except for Tikki who slept soundly on her chest.

Obviously, time had marched on without her. Hours had passed. Maybe days. She couldn’t tell. It hadn’t felt like she had slept, the weariness still clinging to her like a wet blanket. But her parents had needs, and were thoughtful enough to take care of them while they assumed she’d be sleeping.

There wasn’t as much panic in waking this time. She knew where Adrien was, and that he was safe. They were both safe. Though safe was a loose term. How long would it take before Salo found them again? Or Hawkmoth? Or even someone new? She had no energy to fight. Anyone could burst through that window or mow down the officers outside the door.

What if the police were in on it? What if they were waiting for the right opportunity?

Was this what her life was now? Just a constant state of anxiety? Preparing for the worse at any moment? Unable to rest, to trust, to laugh, and love? That wasn’t a life.

She couldn’t move. Her body was just too weak. Everything hurt and it was all overwhelming. How long would it be before she could walk? What about Ladybug? Master Fu would surely take Tikki away. She was surprised he hadn’t yet. And then what? Everywhere she went, people would see her, and know only one thing about her:

The Ladybug that failed.

Tikki woke up to the small sniffles coming from Marinette. She blinked up at her charge and noticed a face full of tears. “Oh Marinette! Why didn’t you say anything?! Where does it hurt? I can page a nurse!”

“No…” Marinette pleaded. “I don’t want them.”

“But…you’re crying…”

“It’s not physical…” She moaned. That was a lie, but the physical pain was only TV static in the turmoil in her head.

“Oh…do you want to talk about it?”

She shook her head. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I’m not upset by it. Is there anything I can do to help?”

Marinette closed her eyes, centering herself. What would make this better? What would help? “Could I transform?”

“You really shouldn’t,” Tikki winced. “Why do you want to?”

“I want to go to the bathroom, but I’m not strong enough without the suit. Just for a moment.”

“We can get John in here, he’ll give you a bed pan.”

“Please don’t make me do that, Tikki. I couldn’t bare it.” She whispered.

“Or maybe he could carry you?”

“Please Tikki…I just need to do this myself.”

She looked so hesitant that Marinette was afraid she’d refuse. It didn’t really matter what she said, since Marinette could transform anyway, but Tikki was already so disappointed by her, she didn’t want to push it.

“Alright,” Tikki finally said. “Just be careful.”

“Thank you,” she breathed. “Spots on.”

Ladybug sat up in the bed, as the alarms started beeping again. She wasted no time in taking out her yo-yo, and hurling it into the bathroom to hook onto a railing. Then she stood, and used the line to propel her into the room, pulling the door closed behind her. She flicked the lock, muting the beeping from the other room.

With the lights off, she stumbled her way over to the bathtub, and crawled in. Then she dropped her transformation.

“Marinette?”

“It’s…it’s easier to think in the dark. Like this.” She offered as an explanation. “Will you keep watch?”

She couldn’t see Tikki’s face in the pitch black, but assumed she was frowning. “Alright Marinette, but only for a little bit.”

Then Marinette was alone.

She was back in that closet in the Catacombs. Back in the walls she had grown familiar with, back where things made sense. There was no future there. Just living day by day until death. Time was irrelevant. Just darkness and silence.

The door jiggled. “Marinette? Marinette are you in there?” Asked John.

She didn’t answer. She wasn’t there. She was in her cell.

But the jiggling stopped and John’s voice was muted. He was talking to someone, probably Tikki.

But it didn’t matter to her. She just wanted peace and quiet.

“Marinette, you can’t stay in there,” John urged. “I’m going to get the key, and bring you back out, okay? I really need you to stay in bed, hon.”

“Leave me alone!” She screamed. Her throat burned with the effort, bringing tears to her eyes.

She hated this. The constant surveillance, no privacy, no control! She just wanted it to be over! All of it!

The door jiggled again, and swung open slowly, before the lights flicked on, hurting her eyes. “Turn it off!” She begged. “Turn it off!”

Darkness again, and just a line of light from the cracked open door.

“Marinette?” Her mother asked.

She sobbed, hating the concern and love dripping from her.

“Marinette, darling. What’s wrong? Why are you hiding in the bathtub?”

“I…I don’t know. It—It just…felt right. I’m…homesick?”

“Homesick?”

“For…for my closet.”

Understanding hit Sabine hard as she gasped. But she couldn’t fault her daughter. It probably did feel weird being out. Slowly, Sabine lifted Marinette up so that she could slide into the tub with her. Marinette was just skin and bones, and fit between her legs so she could lean back and use her mother as a pillow.

For a long few minutes, Sabine just held her, letting her cry as she pet her head.

“I want to die.” Marinette breathed.

There were no words. What could she say? ‘It’ll be okay?’ That seemed so far off. And honestly, if she was in the same place, she’d want to die too.

“I’m so scared.” Marinette continued. “Mom, I’m so scared.”

“What about?” Sabine asked softly, kissing her forehead.

“What’s going to happen to me? Is Salo going to find me again? What about Hawkmoth?”

“You don’t have to worry about them,” she hurried to dissuade her fears. “Salo is in police custody, and Hawkmoth retired.”

“How do you know? Salo’s gotten away with everything! What’s keeping her from getting away this time?!”

“Shh, shh, it’s okay. The police chief talked to us in person. Salo is cooperating with authorities. Apparently…she’s a wreck.”

“…what? Why?”

“I don’t know. Apparently, she’s been begging to go to prison. He didn’t give me full details, but she’s not a threat to us. To you.”

Marinette sighed, letting this information sink in. And Hawkmoth retiring? That seemed unlikely.

“Do you want to go back to bed?”

Marinette shook her head. “I can’t…I can’t go back out there.”

“Why not?” Her tone was just soft curiosity, not demanding of answers.

“Because I don’t know what to do!” She sobbed. “I was Ladybug! The girl with all the solutions! But I don’t even know what’s happening tomorrow! I don’t know if I can go back to school or go to college or have a job! I can’t survive in the world like this!”

“Shh, hey hey, there’s no reason to get worked up. School and work can come later, if you want them too. You’re not going back tomorrow. Don’t think about that.”

Marinette swallowed and nodded in understanding.

“Here, how about this: What do you want to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Just one thing. An activity, or a place you want to visit. Doesn’t have to be right now.”

“I…I just want to be with Adrien.”

“Do you want to marry him?”

“Aren’t I already married to him?”

“On paper. But don’t you want that ceremony at the cottage?”

She nodded. “I do. I do want that cottage!”

“Then that’s one thing to look forward to.”

“But that’s so far away! What if—what if I can’t make it? Everything hurts! And I’m so ugly! I don’t want to marry him like this!”

“Hey, shh…” Sabine petted her. “We’re taking deep breaths okay?”

Marinette choked a few times, but started to calm down.

“Do you know what today is?”

“No.”

“Today is thanksgiving.”

“And?”

“And that means, tomorrow, we start getting ready for Christmas. We’ll have hot cocoa, and we’ll set up the tree. We’ll watch old movies and eat popcorn and put puzzles together. And Adrien will be with us too. You can snuggle together under a fuzzy blanket while watching the snow fall.”

Marinette hummed, eyes closed to imagine the scene.

“And your father will hold a sprig of Mistletoe over your heads and make you kiss.”

She giggled.

“And Nonna and Nonno will come over, and we’ll bake Christmas cookies.”

“The first batch of dough we eat raw.” Marinette declared.

“That’s right!”

“And then on Christmas eve, we look for the pickle.”

“Absolutely! We’ll see if Gabriel will let us hide it at the mansion. I think your father has exhausted all the hiding spots at our house.”  

“He hid it in the couch last year. In the couch!”

Sabine laughed. “Not as bad as when he put it in the pickle jar.”

“That took hours to find!”

Hope surged through Sabine. Though they were snuggled up in a bathtub in a hospital, this was a moment she recognized her daughter. This was reminding her of the good times. This was doable.

“So…you’ll hang around for another month?”

Marinette sighed again, this time with content. “You know what? I think I can now.”

—

His eyes were caked with crud. Even the soft light was too bright. Everything hurt and ached. It took effort to even open his eyes, feeling like they were glued shut. He twitched his fingers, feeling the soft fabric of a blanket, and what felt like a stuffed animal in one hand.

All he could move was his eyes, which blinked rapidly.

He was in a room. Well, probably a much bigger room, but his area was sectioned off with curtains. He was surrounded with various machines, and he felt something in his mouth and down his throat. It didn’t really hurt, but it wasn’t comfortable.

There was a man sitting nearby, with graying hair and a unkept beard. He wore designer glasses and a nice t-shirt, but still looked like a disheveled creature who was being haunted.

It took Adrien far too long to realize it was his father.

Which surprised him, honestly. He wondered if Gabriel had it in him to be worried about his son. He hadn’t come for them, after all. But perhaps even Gabriel Agreste, in all his infinite wealth and fame, was helpless in this crisis.

Well, that identified one person around him, and given Gabriel’s state, he likely wasn’t a threat. Likely.

There were voices from beyond the curtain, but nothing in his sight, as limited as it was. He found it impossible to move his neck.

“Adrien?” Said his father’s voice.

Adrien flicked his gaze over, just tiredly examining the man.

Gabriel opened his mouth to speak, but thought better of it. Instead, he took the stuffed animal away and held it in front of his face.

It wasn’t a stuffed animal at all. It was a little Ladybug doll. Gabriel pitched up his voice, pretending to be Ladybug.

“Good morning kitty cat! We’re in a hospital! I’m sleeping upstairs. You were in pretty rough shape when we came here, so you’re under constant surveillance. It’s really super important that you don’t try to move. We’ll be together soon though, so just try to relax. I love you!” And he made the doll kiss Adrien on the forehead.

Adrien looked at him blankly, he was not amused.

“Sorry…I just thought that would be a better way to break the news to you.” And Gabriel returned the doll to Adrien’s hands. “She made that, you know? Very creative girl that Marinette.”

He agreed, of course. But now he had answers. And now he could get back to sleeping.

And so he did.

—