MariChat May

Day 1: You're injured. Please stay the night. Please.

I woke up to the sound of thudding on my rooftop.

If I had been any other person, I might have mistaken it for a small animal or something caught in the wind. But I'm Ladybug.

And I just wanted to sleep. I was already woken up from one akuma attack, and I didn't want to deal with a burglar.

I may be jumping to conclusions, but it's better to be prepared than not. I mean, if it's a burglar on my roof, is it better to grab something to defend myself just in case, or wait until they break in?

Please tell me no one chose the second one.

Anyway, I was on high alert now, having heard scuffing. Like someone's moving around.

I grabbed one of the hard-covered books I kept by my bed and moved so I wasn't visible from the skylight. I stayed in a crouch as the intruder moved closer, and eventually onto, the skylight.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

A pause.

Knock knock knock.

Another pause, less time this time.

Knockknockknock.

"Marinette?" someone whispered.

Someone familiar.

I still didn't move an inch. I stayed in place until I thought it was safe to come out, but still kept my book in my hand.

I didn't need to get up one stair before I saw a black mass huddled on the glass.

Chat Noir.

I rushed to the skylight, jumping on my bed without a second thought. I quickly unlatched it and pushed, realizing my mistake as the hero fell to the side and gave off a small whimper.

"Sorry," I whispered.

He didn't move for a minute, catching his breath, and I began to worry. He should have bounced back by now.

"Are you okay?"

He took one more breath and slowly sat up.

"Yup. Fine as a feline."

My face scrunched up at the obvious lie.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Is there another akuma?"

He waved my concern off with a flick of his wrist.

"Everything is okay. I just had trouble sneaking back inside after the akuma attack earlier."

I let out a deep breath, glad that was the only problem.

"Good. Well, not really good for you, but you're not hurt and there's no akuma. So I guess it is good for you, but-"

Chat chuckled. "I get it, Marinette."

He immediately grabbed onto his side, hissing in pain. I was onto the roof next to him before I realized it happened.

"What happened? For real this time." I demanded.

He sighed and his head dropped.

"I timed things badly after the akuma. I was heading home and detransformed mid-air. I hit a roof pretty hard and couldn't really move for a little while. Then, I had to recharge and the pain didn't really go away, since it wasn't related to the akuma at all. But there's no need to worry about me, Mar-"

I snorted, attempting to get him up.

"You're coming inside and staying until you're capable of getting home. I'm not taking 'no' for an answer."

He dug his heels in, probably wanting to keep up his image of being the hero. I kept pulling, gently of course, until I realized it was futile.

I looked up at him, giving him the best kitty eyes I could give.

"Please come inside...you're injured and I don't want you to get hurt worse. Please."

That's what it took to put a chink in his armor.

I dragged him inside and got him situated on my bed before racing downstairs to get an ice pack and heat pack and anything else he might need. Including a pastry or two.

When I came back up, he was already back to saying that he was "okay" and "fine to go home".

How did I really know he wasn't okay?

Not a single pun.

I gave him the eyes again.

"Please, Chat. You're injured. Please stay the night. Please."

He internally debated it, with pros and cons on both sides from the look on his face. When he sighed again and gingerly moved to sit down, I grinned triumphantly.

"Thank you. Now, pick an ice pack or heat pack and you get a cookie."

Hey, y'all! This is the first day of MariChat May. I'm so glad I managed to find out about it in time to do it this year. I hope y'all enjoy.