Chapter 12: An Unexpected House Call
.
-oOo-
.
Adrien dropped his bag on the floor and practically dove through the gathered crowd of concerned artists, shouldering people aside without care before dropping to his knees and reaching for his friend. He almost snatched her out of the hands of the young woman who was gently patting her cheeks and trying to revive her.
"Marinette! Marinette, c'mon, you have to wake up!" He realized as he gathered her to him that his own hands were shaking and his heart was pounding in his ears. 'Wake up wake up wake up you have to be okay please wake up! Don't do this to me, I'm sorry I wasn't paying enough attention to you, I should have noticed how sick you are! I'm a terrible friend!' He cradled her head and shoulders in his lap with one arm and gently patted her cheek. "C'mon, Marinette."
Over his head he vaguely heard Madame Fortier break through the crowd of people and say in a voice clouded with confusion, "Monsieur Agreste, how do you know Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng?" He was too focused on his friend to bother replying, though.
The young black woman that he'd seen with Marinette in class all week, and who had been trying to rouse the fainted girl, spoke up for him; "They're friends, Madame. They went to school together."
He didn't register any further conversation from them; at that moment, long lashes fluttered against the pale purple crescents under Marinette's eyes, and she groaned in discomfort. "What happened?"
Relief made Adrien flush warmly. "Oh, thank god. You fainted… Are you okay, Marinette?"
Her eyes fluttered open and unfocussed blue pools wandered the ceiling momentarily before finding his concerned gaze. "Adrien?" Her tone was faint and disbelieving. She shivered in his arms, and he realized that despite how pale she was her cheeks were flushed deep red and burned against his palm where he had forgotten he was cradling her face. "What happened? My head hurts." One of her slim hands drifted shakily up toward her forehead.
"You fainted and bumped your head when you fell." The black girl supplied. She was kneeling in front of Adrien on Marinette's other side. She carefully brushed Marinette's bangs back, apologizing when her fingers glanced over the knot of swelling beginning to form near the sick girl's hairline, resulting in a groan and wince. "You're going to have a very impressive shiner. Here we go." She accepted a chemical ice pack wrapped in paper towels from Madame Fortier and gently pressed it against Marinette's head.
Marinette's shivering doubled, teeth chattering before she clenched her jaw to prevent it. She shifted in Adrien's arms and began to carefully sit up, accepting the ice pack and holding it in place. He kept his arm in place to guide her up to a sitting position, and then shifted his hand to the middle of her back between her shoulder blades to lend her support. 'I knew she was sick, I could see it all morning. How could I let her be hurt? I should have been here for her: if I'd been here, she wouldn't have fallen.' He shifted on his knees so he could be more comfortable but didn't relinquish contact with his friend.
Around them the crowd of other students began to disburse.
"I'm Claudia Minagawa."
Adrien dragged his worried eyes away from the side of Marinette's head where she held the ice pack and met the young woman's gaze. Her friend gave him a smile and a wave. He slowly released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "Adrien Agreste. It's nice to meet you."
Claudia grinned at him lightly. "I know who you are: you're the son of the founder and CEO of Agreste Fashions. I see you in the halls at work sometimes."
He smiled at her. "Oh, you work there too?"
"Yes, Marinette and I are both interns in Teen Fashions. It's nice to finally meet you, too." She leaned back on her heels and prepared to stand. "Mari-honey, I'll put all your things away for you. You stay here with Adrien and take it easy."
"Thanks Claudia." Marinette offered her a wan smile and shuddered again as shivers wracked her body.
As Claudia rose and moved away to pack up their art supplies, Adrien carefully withdrew his hand from Marinette's back long enough to shrug off his rain jacket. He draped it around Marinette's slim shoulders and she glanced at him in surprise. "It's not much, but the lining is warm. I hope it helps."
Her cheeks darkened slightly, and her voice was tremulous when she said, "Thank you. I'm so sorry to be a bother."
He immediately shook his head. "You're no bother. You're my friend. I'm happy to help you." She smiled a little more sincerely this time, but her eyes were still a little glassy and unfocused. "Marinette, I noticed that you feel pretty warm…"
"What are you talking about? I'm freezing!" She protested, tugging his jacket around her shoulders.
He huffed a laugh. "No, I mean I think you have a fever."
"Oh…" She sighed, lowering her ice pack to her lap and pressing her other hand to her own cheek. "Yes… I did wake up with a fever."
"You should have taken the day off and stayed in bed." He couldn't understand why she came to class if she knew she was sick.
Marinette sighed. "I took some Tylenol for the fever this morning. I have to make it through work today."
Adrien was already shaking his head again well before she finished her sentence. "Absolutely not! You have to go to a hospital: you hit your head when you fell."
"No, I can't go to a hospital! I don't have time." Marinette shifted and began trying to climb to her feet. Adrien leapt up to make sure she was steady and wouldn't fall again. "I have to go to work."
"Marinette, head injuries are serious, and a high fever shouldn't be ignored either!" He hovered near her as she staggered over to where Claudia was just finishing packing up their things. "Please go to a doctor!"
She ignored him as she shrugged off his rain jacket and passed it back to him, then began to take off her art smock, plucking at the ties and tugging her arms from the sleeves. She was able to get the smock off, but when she reached for her own rain jacket her knees buckled. If Adrien hadn't been right there, she certainly would have hit the floor again. Reacting without thought, he scooped her legs out from under her and lifted her off her feet. She seemed to weight next to nothing, and that made his heart pinch.
Her eyes were large and shiny when she stared at him in shock, lips parted in a small "o" of surprise. He shifted her more closely against his chest for a more secure grip, and gave her a look of exasperation. "You need a doctor."
Her surprise faded as her brows drew together and lips closed to a pout. "I'm not going to a hospital."
Adrien rolled his eyes. 'Was she always this stubborn?' "Claudia, can you please talk some sense into your friend?"
Claudia was looking at them with the utmost amusement in her dark eyes. Her smile was apologetic. "Sorry, but I have another class to get to after this, and I have to attend it: there's a test."
Adrien frowned slightly in thought; his heart still heavy with a nagging sense of guilt that he knew was a bit irrational but was still very real for him. 'I could see that she wasn't well, and I was still going to walk away from her, just because of Chloe's unfounded fears about my renewed friendship with her. I could never forgive myself if I let Marinette go and she was injured further, or if she became even sicker because she won't rest and recover. If I'd been paying more attention, if I had come back to talk to her instead of putzing around in that office and avoiding her, I would have been right there when she fainted to catch her. I feel like it's my fault she hit her head… I have to make that up to her.'
Realizing what he had to do, Adrien nodded in acceptance. "Okay, I'll take you home. I'll call my personal physician to come over and have a look at you."
"That's not necessary!" Marinette began squirming in his arms, trying to get down. Adrien simply tightened his grip on her to be sure she was secure. "Really, I'm fine!"
He frowned at her in disbelief. "Marinette, you have a fever high enough that you fainted. You hit your head on the concrete ground. You haven't stopped shivering. Your face is flushed and you're obviously exhausted." He adjusted his grip on her when she stopped wiggling. "You really should go to a hospital."
"No hospitals!"
"Then at least let me take you to an Urgent Care." He wheedled.
Marinette pursed her lips stubbornly and pressed the icepack back against her growing goose egg. "No. Put me down."
Gauging her determination Adrien decided to comply so that she wouldn't get more upset with him. He carefully lowered her feet to the ground and let her find her balance, though he kept his eye on how steady she appeared. Just as he was about to ask why she was so determined to not take the day off of work, Claudia approached with both of their portfolio bags slung over her shoulders and Marinette's tackle box clunking against her own.
"Here are your things, Marinette." Claudia handed Marinette's purse to her. Marinette accepted it and pulled the slim strap across her body, hand carefully cradling the weight of it against her hip for a moment. Standing on her own again, Adrien noticed she had already begun to shiver. "I'll put your portfolio bag in my locker and you can get it back for class on Monday." She passed Marinette her rain jacket as well. As the unsteady girl began pulling it on, Claudia said, "I'm sorry I can't stay and be more help, but I have to get to my next class. Thank you for taking care of her, Adrien."
"It's no trouble." He assured her. "Stay here just a sec? I need to grab my bag." It was still sitting on the floor where he'd dropped it and his phone across the studio.
"Of course." Claudia was sharp, and she understood his concern that Marinette still wasn't steady enough on her feet to be left alone.
Adrien pulled on his rain jacket as he crossed the studio to his bag and picked it up. He whispered a quick apology to Plagg when he spotted the tiny cat god's eyes glaring out at him from the gap left by the partially open zipper. He snagged his phone off the ground and quickly checked it over, relieved to find it hadn't cracked when he dropped it. There was a message from his waiting driver. He selected it on the lock screen then held his thumb against the home button to unlock the device.
I'm waiting outside, Adrien. Are you running late?
Adrien thumbed out a quick response. I'll be out in just a moment. Got held up helping my friend. We'll be giving her a ride home. He sent that off and dropped his phone into the gym bag, zipping it closed so he didn't have to put up with Plagg's glaring at him. He might wind up regretting that later. Plagg didn't like being ignored: Adrien might find a hairball in his gym clothes for his trouble.
When he rejoined the girls, Madame Fortier was standing with them. "Will you be alright, Mademoiselle Dupain-Cheng?"
"Yes, Madame. Thank you for asking, and for the ice pack." Marinette assured her. "I probably shouldn't have pushed to come in today, but I really didn't want to miss class."
"Your health is more important, dear." The older woman said kindly. "Please rest up, and if you're not recovered on Monday, just send me an email. You can always make up the studio time later in the semester."
Marinette nodded. "Thank you, Madame." The instructor smiled again in parting and moved across the studio and into her office.
Claudia patted Marinette on the shoulder. "Feel better, Honey. Give me a call if you need anything this weekend."
"Thanks Claudia." Marinette smiled at her as Claudia hurried off.
"Well, c'mon." Adrien gestured Marinette to precede him out of the studio. They walked together down the hall to the stairs. "Let's get you home. I'll be giving you a ride so we don't have to walk in the rain."
"You really don't have to…" Marinette tried to dissuade him. Just has Adrien was about to respond, Marinette took her first step down the stairs to the first floor. He had been watching, so he was ready when her knee buckled and failed.
Reacting instantly, Adrien lurched forward and scooped her legs out from under her again. He was balanced with one foot two steps down and the other at the top of the stairs, Marinette clutched against his chest with her bottom resting against his outstretched thigh.
Marinette just dropped her face against his collar bone. "Oh my gawd, I promise I'm not this weak and uncoordinated." She whined, her voice tremulous with embarrassment.
Adrien chuckled. "Don't worry about it." He shifted her slightly, stepping forward so he could descend the rest of the stairs, and he felt the moment she finally gave in; her body relaxed and sank against him, and she put her arm up and around his neck to gain a more comfortable position. At the door to the street outside he knocked the handicapped button with his knee and passed through the automatic door, angling carefully so he didn't knock Marinette's feet against the frame. Marinette tugged the hood of her jacket over her head to ward off the cold rain, and also pulled Adrien's hood up for him.
Adrien jogged across the plaza to the curb where his town car was idling. The driver saw him approach and quick hopped out with a large umbrella to open the door for them. Adrien lowered Marinette's feet to the ground and gently held her elbow while she carefully scooted into the car. Adrien scooted in after her and the driver closed the door…
None of them saw the camera aimed at them out the window of a car idling around the corner.
.
-oOo-
.
Inside the town car, Marinette leaned back against the plush leather seat and closed her eyes. Her head had begun to throb uncomfortably and she couldn't tell if it was due to the fever or the swelling bump near her temple. She was aware that time was slipping away from her, and if she couldn't shoo Adrien away quickly enough, she would definitely be late to work again. If that happened her future in fashion would be as good as flushed down the toilet.
Beside her, she heard the rustle as Adrien whipped out his cell phone and the soft click as it unlocked, followed by the quiet buzzing of haptic feedback. In the insulated back seat of the town car, Marinette could hear the soft ringing through the phone's speaker. After just a few quiet rings, a woman's voice said, "Good morning, Vogel Medical Clinic. How may I direct your call?"
Adrien said, "Hello, this is Adrien Agreste. I need to speak with Doctor Vogel personally."
"Hello Monsieur Agreste, you have perfect timing. Doctor Vogel is on his morning coffee break. I'll put your call through to his office right away. Please hold."
Marinette wanted to roll her eyes, but that would have required more effort than she was willing to put forth at this point in time. She sighed deeply and tugged her jacket around her more tightly, shivering. Adrien must have noticed; Marinette cracked an eye open when she felt his weight shift on the seat beside her, and watched as he leaned forward to turn up the heat on the dial in the passenger compartment. He cast a small, sunny smile at her that would have make her heart skip a beat under better circumstances: as it was, she tried to smile back, but it probably appeared more as a grimace when the car hit a bump in the road that lanced pain through her skull. She clenched her eyes shut again and tried not to shiver.
She heard a click through Adrien's phone, followed by a man's lightly accented voice saying, "This is Doctor Johann Vogel."
"Hello Doctor Vogel, this is Adrien Agreste." Marinette could hear the polite smile in his voice.
"Monsieur Agreste, good morning." He sounded surprised. "I don't think you're scheduled to come in any time soon… What can I do for you this morning? Are you unwell?"
"Oh, I'm fine… However, I'm hoping you can find time to see a friend of mine today." Adrien said.
Marinette fought off her drowsiness and her aching head to begin frantically gesturing at Adrien. "I don't need a doctor!" She whispered at him.
"Today, no. I'm afraid my schedule is quite full all of today." The doctor's voice drifted below Marinette's ability to hear when Adrien shushed her.
"You fainted and hit your head. You definitely need a doctor." He whispered back. Then at conversational volume into the phone, he said, "Hold on just a moment, please, Doctor. We're getting out of the car."
Marinette glanced out the window and indeed they were already pulled up at the curb outside her apartment building. Adrien's enormous driver was just reaching for the door with a huge umbrella already open and ready to shelter them. The driver opened the door and Adrien's warm hand cupped her elbow to gently assist her in getting out of the car: even with a throbbing head and feeling like garbage, the contact made her heart flutter a little bit. Adrien followed her out of the car and the three of them made a quick procession to the protective awning over her apartment building's entryway.
As Marinette was carefully pulling out her keys, (Tikki had them ready for her, bless her kind heart, and handed them to her with a worried look in her eyes), Adrien said to his driver. "Thank you for the ride, Gus. You can head back to the office. I'll call you if I need a ride later."
Marinette was struggling to fit the key into the lock with shaking fingers. As Gus stepped away to return to the town car, Adrien's warm hand closed over hers and withdrew the keys from her grasp. "This one?"
Marinette could only nod. Her jaw was clenched to keep her teeth from chattering. Adrien smoothly inserted the key and tugged the security door open, solicitously guiding her inside with a hand at the small of her back.
"Sorry about that, Doctor Vogel." Adrien shifted his gym bag and tucked his cell phone against his ear with his shoulder as they crossed the apartment lobby, jabbing the button for the sixth floor on the elevator panel.
Now that they were out of the confined quiet of the town car, Marinette could no longer hear the doctor's responses. The elevator dinged and the gate retracted. Adrien unzipped his jacket and guided her inside before turning to look at Marinette. "My friend came to class today with a high fever. She said she took some meds to bring her fever down in order to get through her day. What did you take for your fever?" he asked Marinette directly. She told him. "Acetaminophen… She fainted at the end of class and fell and hit her head on the ground… Twenty seconds or so? … No, she seems pretty lucid. Speech is clear."
Abruptly Adrien stepped a little closer to her. Surprised that he was invading her personal space, she tried to step back but hit the wall of the elevator. "Do you have any blurry vision?" He asked her, golden brows furrowed with concern. He lifted his hand with his index and middle fingers and his thumb extended. "How many fingers am I holding up?"
"Three." Marinette managed to say through her chattering teeth.
"She's cold, shivering…" Adrien reported into the phone. "That's the fever? Okay."
Suddenly his hand was under her chin, gently tipping her head back so that he could look into her eyes. Marinette struggled valiantly against her squealing inner fifteen-year-old self to not react, but he was so close to her, his hand so warm, and eyes so so green… She couldn't help but blush. "Eyes are a bit dilated but not too much so, and they're not uneven. She's pretty flushed, though that's probably from the fever, too."
The elevator dinged their arrival at the sixth floor, and Adrien stepped back slightly, holding out an arm to ensure the door remained open while they exited and moved down the hall to her apartment.
"Her balance is good now, though she was a little wobbly before." Marinette tried to take her keys back, but Adrien stubbornly held on to them, asking her softly, "Which one?"
"Give them to me, I can open the door." She tried to snatch her keys from his hands with a quick grab, but he held them up and out of her reach.
He grinned at her with the most benign smile that both made her heart pound and drove up her blood pressure. He laughed, "No, no, no. I'll do it. Which one?"
Marinette huffed in exasperation. "I'm okay, really. You can go, now. I'm sure you have a bunch of things to do today. I will stay home and take it easy." She wouldn't: her fingers were crossed behind her back. She had to go to work, and she definitely had to be on time.
"No, I can't leave you! The doctor said that someone should stay with you…"
Marinette tried to say something more to get him to leave, but he interrupted her with, "Shush!"
She gasped. "Don't you shush me!"
Adrien eyed her candidly. "Yeah, she does seem a tad irritable." He said into the phone.
"I am not irritable." Marinette snapped.
He blinked at her with the barest amused curve of his lips. Marinette growled and tried her hardest not to pout, but felt like she failed. She finally got a grip on his jacket and tugged his arm down where she could reach the keys. She probably tugged him a little too hard, because he fell into her a bit and they both crashed into her door together.
"Ow! Geez, you're really strong…" He rubbed as his shoulder where he'd impacted the wood.
Marinette just tittered uselessly under her breath as she wrestled the keys from his grasp and found the right one to open her door. All the while she could hear the doctor's deep musical laughter through Adrien's phone.
Finally she got the key into the lock and twisted it to let them in. She threw the door open and stormed inside… or tried to. She didn't make it to the end of her hall before her legs quivered. She had to stagger sideways and catch herself against the console table in her entryway before she could tumble to the floor. 'Damn this fever! Damn it! I feel so weak, I can't stand this!' She felt the beginning sting of frustrated tears at the backs of her eyes.
Adrien quickly set his gym bag on the floor and came to her rescue. Again. He thumbed his phone over to speaker and guided her arm up and around his shoulders, holding her hand in place at the crook of his neck with the fingers that weren't clenching the phone. He wrapped his other arm around her back and carefully rested his hand in a gentlemanly neutral spot at her waist. "I'm sorry, Doctor Vogel. Could you repeat that? I missed the second half of what you said…"
"I said, your friend is probably going to be okay. From what you've told me, it sounds like she fainted before she hit her head, not because she hit her head. The blow to the head would be more concerning if she lost consciousness because of it, but you indicated that she came to quickly and was immediately lucid… Incidentally, when was the last time she ate?" He asked.
Marinette slid gratefully onto her couch before responding to Adrien's curious glance. "Uh… I suppose it was Wednesday evening. I had dinner with my parents."
Adrien's stare grew more horrified than Marinette truly felt was warranted. He relayed her response to the doctor, who hadn't heard her due to her speaking softly.
"Hmm… The lack of food might be a contributing factor, but it's not that unusual if you're sick to lose your appetite." Doctor Vogel offered. "Adrien, I do think you should stay with your friend today. At least for the next twelve hours or so… Try to get some food into her if she can stomach it. Have her spend the day resting, napping if possible, but wake her every hour-and-a-half to two hours to be sure her symptoms aren't worsening. Ice the bump on her head each time she's awake for fifteen to twenty minutes. Let the fever run its course, unless it goes above forty degrees Celsius; then administer an appropriate dose of Tylenol or the like to bring it down a bit. If she's cold you can safely bundle her up in blankets. In fact it will help the fever burn out whatever she's fighting off. If symptoms worsen from the bump to her head, or her fever doesn't lapse within about two days, take her in to a doctor. Probably she's just fighting off an illness of some sort. I'm sure with rest and plenty of fluids, she'll recover soon. If symptoms from the blow to the head worsen, you can call me back. I'll send you an email with a full set of instructions."
Adrien nodded through the doctor's whole monologue of instructions, and Marinette's hopes of making it to work today sank to the floor and ran down the figurative drain. She could see the determined set of his jaw. There was no way he would let her step foot out her door now…
"Understood, Doctor Vogel." Adrien turned the phone back over to private and made a few more noises of acknowledgement before thanking the doctor and ending the call.
Miserably, Marinette slumped sideways on her couch and sighed into a throw pillow. "But I need to go to work…" She refused to admit to herself how whiney that sounded.
She turned her head when she felt the sofa shift and found Adrien sitting on the arm of the couch frowning down at her in concern. "Why is it so important that you go to work today?" He asked. "Why can't you take today off so you can recover?"
Marinette shifted on the couch to buy herself time to think. 'I can't tell him I'm on a final warning at work because I'm late and disappear all the time! He'll think I'm irresponsible!' "Fashion Week is coming up in like two weeks. I have tons of work that needs to be done; things I am responsible for." It wasn't the truth, but it wasn't exactly a lie either.
Adrien seemed to accept her reason though. "I understand. I have a ton of work to get done in the next two weeks as well. But if you don't feel well, you're not going to be productive anyway. You'd just sit at your desk like a zombie all day."
"I don't want to get in trouble for not showing up to work this close to Fashion Week," Marinette confessed. "My boss has been really stressed and high strung. I might get in trouble."
"I can take care of that." Adrien assured her. "I need to call in and inform my secretary that I'll be out of the office today. I'll have her inform your boss that you're out for a medical emergency today as well."
Marinette didn't have a response. She just pouted at a loose string on the sleeve of her sweatshirt.
"The doctor agreed that you need to stay in and rest today. I will be happy to stay here and take care of you, since you live alone."
She launched upright on the couch and objected. "Adrien, you don't have to do that! I'm sure you are really busy, you can't stay here and take care of me!"
He tipped his head to one side and cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "Why not?" The smile slipped off his face slowly. "Unless you're not comfortable with me being here: I can understand a strange man in your apartment making you uncomfortable…"
"Oh my god, you're not a 'strange man', Adrien; you're my friend," She rushed to reassure him. She hated seeing the friendly, faintly teasing light in his eyes dim with doubt. "Of course you don't make me uncomfortable."
"Then let me be a friend, and take care of you today." His smile was so gentle and so warm that Marinette knew she had lost the argument.
She sighed in defeat. "Okay."
"Excellent!" Adrien clapped his hands together once and rose off the arm of the couch, "Let's get you some food. Doctor Vogel said you should eat something."
He took three strides and was standing before her pantry, both doors open. Marinette was imagining the tumble weed rolling across the desert in one of those old American cartoons from her dad's childhood.
"Do you have more food storage than just this pantry?" Adrien asked. His face looked a little pale as he looked at her over his arm.
"Just the fridge: it's over under the counter." She gestured to the far end of her tiny kitchen. Adrien left her empty pantry open and moved around the island, then disappeared as he squatted and tugged open both sides of the under the counter refrigerator. "I got paid today: I was going to go shopping after work to get some things…" She squirmed uncomfortably, embarrassed at her pathetically scanty food stores. 'I am a superhero, not that I can explain that to him. It takes a lot of calories to fuel my magic and keep me going! I just… can't afford to eat enough, let alone keep a bunch of food around all the time! I don't make enough money.'
Adrien popped up above the counter and turned to look at her again. She heard the fridge doors close as he put a smile on his face that seemed slightly forced. "Don't worry about it. I'll just order some lunch to be delivered for us. Soup sound good?"
Marinette nodded self-consciously. "I like soup."
"Okay, soup it is." His smile became more natural. "Meanwhile, why don't you head upstairs and get some rest?"
She nodded and winced when her head twinged again from the bump. "I really do wish you would just let me go to work." She grumbled under her breath.
"Not a chance! The only place you're going is to sleep." He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned at her in mock seriousness. "Now, will you walk up those stairs under your own power, or am I going to have to carry you up to bed?"
'That's not the way I ever imagined Adrien Agreste trying to talk me into bed.' Marinette pouted, but she carefully rose off the couch and made her way to her stairs.
"Do you need my help on the stairs?" Adrien asked. She did not squeal internally at the note of genuine concern in his voice.
"No, I'll be fine." She assured him, not turning around so he couldn't see how red her face was or the starry sparkle she was sure was in her eyes. "I'm not a complete invalid."
He chuckled, the sound low and warm. "I know that. I'm just worried because of how unsteady you were earlier." The worn floorboards creaked as he passed between the kitchen island and her freestanding worktable. "I'll order up that lunch and I'll come wake you when the food arrives."
She did finally turn around on her landing and offered him a grateful smile. "Thanks, Adrien." He was standing at the foot of her stairs with the diffuse light from the rainy sky outside illuminating him on one side. He looked like he was perfectly posed for a photo shoot, smiling gently up at her. She tugged the hood of her sweatshirt tight around the back of her neck for warmth, and for something to do with her hands. "I know I'm not being an easy patient, but I appreciate your help. I'm sorry to take you away from work."
He shook his head, smiling. "Don't even worry about that. It's not a big deal. I'm glad I can be here to help a friend. Get some rest."
She gave him one more small smile and carefully hauled herself up the stairs. She did have to lean rather heavily on the railing.
In her lofted bedroom she glanced around quickly to make sure there was nothing embarrassing out of place for Adrien to see when he would come up later to fetch her for lunch. Aside from a pair of pants that she kicked under the dust ruffle of her bed, there was nothing lying out to alarm anyone. A shiver racked her body, so she flung back the heavy comforter on her bed and crawled in. She rooted around into the blankets and pillows, drawing the covers in close around her head to hold in the warmth.
As the blankets warmed and her body relaxed, Marinette's eyes slid closed. She listened for the quiet sounds of Adrien moving downstairs and couldn't pull together the energy to freak out about the fact that Adrien was playing the part of her nurse for the day. Before she could dwell on that thought too long, exhaustion fell on her like a heavy dense cloud, and she sank into dreamless sleep.
.
-oOo-
.
Tikki couldn't do anything but shake her head as she gazed down upon her unconscious charge with amused consternation. "Stubborn girl," she whispered, fondly brushing dark, tangled bangs away from Marinette's pale face. "You should have listened to me and stayed home this morning to rest."
"But then Adrien wouldn't be downstairs freaking out about Marinette's perceived eating disorder and slash or state of alarming poverty."
Tikki glanced over her shoulder at Plagg, seeing he had happily made himself at home in a pile of Marinette's yarn for her crocheting projects. The ridiculous cat even had a bright green thread of yarn draped over his belly because he was lying on his back atop the skein.
"Hello Trouble." She smiled and gave him a slow blink.
He slow blinked back at her with a saucy grin. "Hi Sugar."
Tikki turned back to Marinette and tugged a plush throw blanket higher up the girl's tightly curled body before drifting over to her fellow god. Plagg sat up atop the bright green yarn and reached his hands out to her. She took them and they both closed their eyes as they leaned their foreheads together to commune silently for a few moments.
Plagg sighed deeply and slid his head down to Tikki's shoulder where he nuzzled against her. "I've missed you," he confessed.
Tikki lightly scratched behind his ear. "I've missed you, too."
"These two are killing me."
She laughed. "You're immortal."
"No, I'm pretty sure they're actually killing me." He growled softly as she continued to giggle. "I don't think we've ever had such oblivious kittens."
"They've had it rough. They're coming together again, now." She offered. "Finally."
His nose scrunched in irritation. "Would you believe Chloe almost had him convinced that he couldn't be friends with Marinette because it'll ruin her career?"
Tikki gaped at him. "What?! How could he even… What kind of hare brained, crack pate—"
"Don't worry," he chuckled. "I'm pretty sure when he saw Marinette on the ground he forgot all about Chloe; that stupid, manipulative, back-stabbing, selfish bitch."
Tikki couldn't even object to his choice of language. It was an apt description. "Well, they're reacquainted now, and I'm sure they'll draw closer together in the future. He wouldn't offer to take care of her like this if he didn't feel something for her strongly."
Plagg cackled and rolled off the ball of yarn to float up to the railing where he could spy on Adrien. The blonde was scrubbing his hands through his hair in distress over Marinette's very empty cupboards. "Oh his feelings are plenty strong. He was beating himself up about it for hours this morning, debating his desire for friendship against the threat to Marinette's career, and against his desire to not piss Chloe off."
Tikki landed beside him and smiled down at Plagg's charge. "He's an incredibly pure soul. You really picked a great one this time."
"Oh! Well…" Plagg preened, "He's alright. Little dense, though."
Tikki giggled. "He'll come around, I'm sure. Go calm him down. Marinette doesn't have an eating disorder; she just doesn't have quite enough income to cover her calorie needs. And she's been stressed out at work because her boss is out for her blood. Running around in the rain this morning was just the straw on the camel's back."
"Alrighty. You coming down?" He flicked his tail.
Tikki shook her head. "I'll watch from the plants." She waved her arm at the wall of greenery. "But first I'm going to tidy things up up here so she's not embarrassed when Adrien wakes her up for lunch."
"See you later, Sugar." He head-butted her chest affectionately one more time before zooming down to Adrien.
Tikki giggled softly when she heard Adrien's undignified squawk of alarm. "Plagg, hide! What if she sees you?"
"I checked: she's already dead to the world." He'd put on the annoying wheedle he liked to use when he wanted to get his way. Tikki listened as she worked quickly at picking up Marinette's loft. "Pretty sure a bomb could go off on top of her and she wouldn't notice. Hey! Are you ordering groceries?"
"Yes…"
"Oh that will never do; you should get at least three wheels of brie."
Adrien's sigh was painfully harried. "We're ordering groceries for Marinette, not for us."
"I know that!" Plagg's response was the perfect balance of defensive and indignant. "Cheese is high in calories and healthy saturated fats. Marinette is too skinny; she should eat more cheese. In fact, make it four wheels."
Tikki stashed the last pair of dirty socks in Marinette's hamper and skirted along the half wall to the enormous growth of plants that she and Marinette tended. She selected a nice hiding spot amongst the blossoms of a red Anthurium and settled in to watch over her cat and his boy.
.
-oOo-
.
Author's Note: Happy Holidays to all my readers! It's a little bit late, bit here is Chapter Twelve of Drawn Together. Adrien is surprisingly stubborn now that he's made up his mind (I wasn't going to make him suffer his agonizing indecision for TOO long) and his persistence is already driving Marinette up the wall. But he got his way and she's not going in to work, so she'll have the day to rest.
Next time: Nurse Adrien inflicts his gentle care upon Marinette and gets a nose full of what Marinette was up to late Wednesday evening for his trouble. Awkward...! Taco Night never happens, but no one told Alya and Nino that. And Chloe is 'disappointed' when Adrien doesn't show up for the movie he technically never agreed to go to in the first place.
As always, all the appreciation in the world goes to Katie H and ArtemisWinter for their invaluable assistance as sounding board and beta-reader, respectively. Also, deepest thanks to everyone who left a review with some thoughtful words. I read ALL my reviews and I try to respond to them individually as much as possible, so let me know what you thought, or if you want to speculate I am happy to hear your ideas.
Until next time!
Love-love, BIG love...
~Malkharah
