I JUST HAVE SO MANY IDEAS AND WANT TO GIVE YOU GUYS MANY UPDATES YOU ARE ALL SO AWESOME 3 STILL WORKING ON THE AU ITS OVER 4K WORDS SO PREPARE YOURSELF
~Sleep deprivation leads to great things~
Marinette really didn't know how exactly she'd been able to survive through the day after fighting an akuma with rising signs of a fever. While she was fighting, the enhancing magic did wonders to help, but after detransforming she felt like collapsing again.
What made it worse was that the akuma was coffee-based. Yes, coffee. Except the coffee that the akuma spouted out was acidic and poisonous and deadly and a big pain. And yet it somehow managed to make the villain all the more energized, like with real caffeine. Marinette only had one class after the attack (yes, they were so used to the attacks that school was not cancelled), which was one of the cases where she was extremely lucky because she basically dropped dead. She couldn't have afforded to miss a whole day of school due to her attendance record which was currently in shambles.
Alya was there for her and promised to send a picture of the notes that they did in class that day. Although she, too, was extremely worried when Adrien showed up and greeted the girls, and Marinette didn't bat an eye. It was all played off as her growing fever, though.
In any case, Marinette was almost home now. She practically dragged herself along on the street, not minding when the occasional bystander looked worried or horrified at the usually-cheerful girl's state. Finally Marinette reached the front door of her family's bakery and sluggishly opened the door, walking in with a slouched back. Was her backpack always this heavy?
"Mari- oh, dear!" Sabine rushed over from the counter and put a hand on her daughter's forehead. She didn't even need to reach up due to her short height this time, because Marinette's slouch had just intensified. Her mother retracted her hand moments later, slightly warm.
"Huh? Oh… mom!" Marinette threw her arms around her mother's neck. "Oh, you wouldn't believe what happened. Me an' Cha-"
A hard and frantic thump at her thigh reminded her of Tikki. Although she couldn't tell why she was hitting her so hard… oh! She must be hungry! What did she eat again… cucumbers? NO! Cookies!
"You definitely need to rest, Marinette," Sabine said, pulling away from her daughter and lightly grabbing her forearm. She began leading Marinette up the stairs. "I don't know what you've been through, but you look terrible. I'll come in about a half hour to give you some medicine and a cool cloth, okay? It looks like you have the beginnings of a fever. Right now the bakery needs help handling."
"Thanks mom," Marinette said, climbing up the stairs with difficulty. "Man, my backpack weighs like a hundred pounds," Marinette muttered. "And my legs are so sore…!"
Once Marinette was in her room with the trapdoor shut, Tikki flew out of Marinette's purse. "Okay, Marinette, time for rest," she advised. "You almost blew your cover there! You're ridiculously deprived of sleep."
"Ridiculous…" Marinette cringed. "That word reminds me of Chloe. Ah!" Marinette slipped her backpack off of her back with a thud and her face brightened a little. "That feels so good! Now I should probably rest…" Marinette stumbled over to her chaise and lay down, yawning widely and closing her eyes. She waited for sleep to take her.
…and waited…and waited… and waited.
After a few minutes of fruitless attempts to go to sleep by closing her eyes, Marinette finally snapped them open and shrieked, pulling at her pigtails. "It's like I overdosed on coffee!" She exploded. "I don't even drink coffee! It must be the akuma! Aurgh!"
Marinette blearily sat up and rubbed her head. She was tired but couldn't go to sleep. The only thing she hated more than this was… was… Hawkmoth himself!
Marinette looked around the room and saw Tikki dozing on the computer table. A small smile graced her face; looks like the little kwami was tired, too.
That was when there was a loud thump on her balcony and another shriek escaped from her lips, which she immediately covered with her hand. She really wasn't herself, and she really needed rest and she was really tired and- was everything always spinning? And were there always floating specks on the wall? No matter, they were pretty.
Marinette shook her head and got up from her chaise with wobbly legs to see what was on her balcony. If she had been herself, she would've made sure Tikki was ready in case it was something dangerous. But of course, Marinette wasn't herself and that meant she was making stupid decisions. However , she was lucky to see that it was just Chat Noir.
"Hey Pri- whoa, easy there!" Chat leaped off of the railing and steadied Marinette- who was just about ready to faceplant into the ground. "Are you okay?" Marinette leaned back and Chat instantly balked as he realized that no, she was not okay, especially when she was staring at him with lifeless blue eyes and smiling off into space creepily.
"Chat~" Marinette said in a sing-song voice. "Thanks for asking, I'm feline great!" Marinette then hiccupped and giggled at her own pun. "Did'ja hear that? I made a joke…heh…"
Chat's expression grew more worried. In any other circumstance, if Marinette had made a cat pun, he probably would have dropped dead. But this time, he could practically feel the heat emanating off of her, and his suspicions were confirmed when her forehead could be felt burning, even through his glove.
"Okay Marinette," Chat warily said, easily scooping the girl up in his arms, "we're going to get you to rest. Okay?"
"No!" Marinette suddenly blurted and leaped out of his arms with newfound strength that left Chat shocked. "I can't! I just lay there and nothing happens at all. I feel like- like when Chloe tries to do something. It's not working."
Chat snorted and covered his mouth with a hand. It was a bit mean, yes, but the joke was still funny. Knowing Chloe's history, he (albeit slightly guiltily) found Marinette's joke befitting of Chloe.
Marinette then ran her hands through her hair. "I know I need rest! I'm probably saying something stupid right now- whoa~!" Her jaw slackened and then she giggled. "There's two Chats~! That's so weird!"
Chat Noir's eyelids drooped in exasperation (but mostly amusement). He totally had to take a picture to show Marinette later. Snickering, he pulled his baton out and snapped a picture of a woozy-looking Marinette pointing at something and smiling widely. In fact, when he looked closer, he could see in the background…
He looked up for confirmation. Yes, there was something small and red on her desk. "What's that?" Chat pointed a clawed finger at her desk and Marinette turned around. "Oh!" Marinette turned back around to face him. "That's Tikki! You should know, you also got a kwami…"
Chat suddenly froze.
"…or so I hope. You're not some weird hybrid cat boy, right?" Marinette then snickered. "Cat boy… hah…" Marinette then started to sway on her feet. "Tikki was tired, but she actually got to sleep… me, I can't…" Marinette fell backwards and Chat instantly leapt forward again to catch her. Straightening her up, he looked at Marinette's peaceful and serene face, her lips now slightly parted with even breaths puffing in and out.
She was… beautiful. And his face suddenly burned with the realization that she was-
"Marinette?" A voice called up from the trapdoor and steps followed, growing louder by the second. Chat instantly snapped out of his stupor and panicked. What do I do?! I can't just leave her on the balcony…!
"Marinette, are you asleep?" Sabine opened the trapdoor to see Marinette sprawled out on the floor of her rom, in an awkward position with a blanket tossed on top, a happy look on her face as she slept.
Sabine shook her head and rolled her eyes.
A/N:
I would love seeing some art..! if you do art, that is. And let me know! Also my Instagram is creative_notreally, if you want to ask me to draw something, I'll do it since I love art as well \(^w^)/ (specially when its from you guys lel)
