Marinette's on autopilot as she purifies the latest akuma, and it's obvious. It's also becoming clearer and clearer with each fight that Papillon's orders protect her completely… well, clear to her. Mr. Noir maintains that it's just dumb luck that she doesn't get herself killed every other fight.
Speaking of Mr. Noir…
"Young Lady, where do you think you're going?"
She rolls her eyes, and turns to face her partner (well, more like second father, not that she needs another one). "Home, duh?"
"Don't take that tone with me!" he crosses his arms. "You were far too reckless in this battle!"
"I knew what I was doing, Mr. Noir," she frowns. "I'm fine. Really."
"You are this time, but what about next time you jump into a blast? You're lucky the akuma got tripped up, or you'd be-"
"Fine. Like always. See you!"
With that, Marinette gives a quick salute and races across the rooftops, landing on her balcony and detransforming with a smile.
"Isn't it a beautiful night?" she sighs.
"Morning."
"What?" Marinette looks at the tiny kwami on her shoulder. "Tikki, what do you mean?"
"It's four in the morning, Marinette. You were out way too late!"
The girl in question rushes inside, and spying a clock, finds that yeah, Tikki was right.
"Well. Shit."
"Don't swear, Marinette!"
…
Adrien collapses into bed, exhausted. "Well. This is just great. Hey, Nuru, how much longer before I actually win a single fight?"
"Depends. How much longer until you stop being a crazy necromancer and actually use the Miraculous for its intended purpose?"
"After I save my Mom."
The kwami crosses his arms. "You don't want to win anyway, unless you win it all. If you just defeat the heroes, your damage will last. You're insane, like, really, really insane, but you're not a bad person. Well, sort of. And you don't want to hurt anyone."
"Yeah, yeah, you're right. But this is getting hard. I mean, it's a good thing I don't have school tomorrow…"
"You have the race though, in the morning!"
"Race…?"
"Yeah! You said you'd be there to watch those kids from your class compete after your girlfriend said she'd make a banner, remember?"
"She's not my girlfriend! Well, yet…" Adrien shakes his head. "I better get some sleep."
Nuru smirks. "You're not getting any sleep until I get fed, Adrien!"
"C'mon, I'll feed you in the morning…"
"You'll feed me right now!"
With a long-suffering sigh, Adrien pushes himself out of bed, and heads off to feed his kwami.
This is going to be murder in the morning…
…
It is.
It really is.
As he carefully conceals the rings under his eyes, his body aches from sheer exhaustion.
The only reason he's not sleeping is because… well, Marinette. As dumb as it sounds, he puts seeing her way above sleeping, as far as priorities go.
So he finishes the makeup, with the expertise of a professional model, and...
Well.
The room is filled with butterflies. It's beautiful, with the multicolored wings flitting through the air, but… well, it can't be left like this!
He transforms quickly, and sends the butterflies into his backpack, throwing it over his shoulder, and releasing the transformation.
"You're late," Nuru informs him.
"I had no idea," Adrien mutters, racing out the door.
When he gets to the race, Marinette's already there, with the banner. As soon as their eyes meet, she turns away very quickly.
Adrien walks up to her quickly. "I'm sorry I'm late… are you angry?"
She looks at him, confused. "What? No, I, um… well, you see…"
"Hold this."
Alix shoves a watch into Marinette's hand. "Wait! The banner…" Alix is already gone.
Adrien isn't sure he follows what happens in the next few minutes, but in the end, Chloé somehow gets her hands on the watch, and breaks it.
And… well, this is kind of perfect, isn't it?
"Adrien…? You have a kinda creepy look on your face, are you okay?"
He shakes his head, looking at Marinette. "Come with me real quick? This seems like breeding grounds for an akuma, and I'd rather you not be caught up in it if that happens."
She stares at him for a moment, slightly red. "Um… okay…"
As he takes her hand, pulling her out of the courtyard, Marinette is internally screaming.
There's definitely something off about Adrien. If she wasn't so exhausted, she might be able to place it, but even as it is, she can tell it's there.
He smiles as soon as they're out of the courtyard, and…
"I have to go, um, don't move?"
He races off, leaving her standing there. Okay, yeah, there's something very weird going on with Adrien.
…
Nuru gives a long look. "You're literally exhausted, Adrien. It's messing up your judgment. A lot. I'm pretty sure your girlfriend thinks you're out of your mind right now. If you make an akuma right now, I guarantee you'll lose control."
"Oh, give it a rest, you always try to convince me it's a bad idea."
"This time I'm right, Adrien! Look, this isn't the first time I've been misused, okay? And if you make an akuma, and lose control, people could die."
"I don't believe you!"
"Adrien…"
"Nuru! Transform me!"
