The rain had started late Sunday night, coming in sleeting sheets slow, yet unrelenting. Soaking everything to its core, everything including Mari, who trudged into the library campus, her dark mood clearly etched on her sodden face.
"That's it, I'm buying my own car!" Mari huffed as she flopped into the cosy green sitting chair next to Ayla, before pushing a mop of wet black hair out of her face in disgust.
"Dad was out with deliveries, so I had to walk here. My shoes and my socks are soaked! And you know how much I absolutely hate that. I hate the wet and I hate the cold! And just… UGHHH!" Mari groaned as if she was in physical pain, dramatically throwing her head back into the softness of the high back of the green chair.
"Well, I'm glad to see you're in a good mood today." Ayla chucked into the takeaway coffee cup she held protectively between her hands, reusable of course. Her and Nino were big into the environmental movement. Not that Mari wasn't but she was just so, so forgetful and after acquiring about six of the damn things she had given up, deciding what little she did earn from her part time job could be better spent.
Mari stared at the coffee longingly before replying to her closest friend. "I mean I wouldn't say I'm in a bad mood, but I'm certainly not happy, and I don't think I'll even have time to go home and get a different pair of shoes before I have to start work. Not that there's much point of me even staying for class, I'm going to be so uncomfortable that I won't even be able to concentrate."
"Cheer up girl, it could be worse you could have a chapter review quiz today that you totally blanked about, besides…" Ayla lent down beside her laptop bag which was resting against the ridiculous orange chair she had chosen to sit in, pulling out a second coffee cup. A suspiciously familiar pink cup with an adorable black cartoon cat etched on the side.
"You do have the most wonderful best friend in the world, who's always got your back. Here you left this at my place last time you came over and I held onto it." Ayla passed Mari the blessedly warm beverage.
Mari took it in both hands greedily trying to suck the warmth from the cup into her very soul before taking an appreciative sip. The crisp but sweet taste of her favourite tea filled her mouth. Peppermint and liquorice, who would have thought they would make such a perfect pairing.
"Mmmm, oh my god Ayla you are the best" Mari hummed in appreciation. "I may just be able to get through the day now." The tension slowly left Mari's body as she continued to sip at her tea, going over the class notes she had saved on her tablet from the week before. An attempt to refresh her memory.
The girls sat in silence each caught up in their own work as the time before classes slowly ticked by. Before they knew it the alarm on Mari's phone brought them back to attention, letting them know their morning refresh session had come to an end, with class to start in ten minutes.
Ayla stood from the ghastly orange chair before stretching her arms high overhead. "Well, come on let's get to class, hopefully I read enough for me to pass my quiz. These Monday morning study sessions were seriously one of the best ideas you've had Mari. Honestly it's just what I need to get back into the swing of things for the week."
She smiled sweetly up at Mari as she bent to gather her laptop bag and coffee cup, soft auburn curls falling like a veil around her face and shoulders.
"Yeah, I know what you mean it just kinda helps me regroup my thoughts and remember where I'm up to." Mari slipped her tablet into her large tanned leather shoulder bag. Her go-to for work and school, just big enough to fit everything she needed, while still having room for Tikki to rest comfortably inside.
"Umm so I've got two morning classes, then I've got to go straight to work." Mari chewed on her lip as her brows furrowed in worry thinking about her day.
"So I guess I will just message you after, yeah?" Avoiding eye contact Mari glanced downwards, not even noticing as her hands anxiously twisted the shoulder strap of her bag absent mildly.
Having noticed the drop in Mari's tone of voice Ayla stood up from gathering her things to look closer at her friend, something clearly bothering her. Ayla had a fair idea about what it was that had Mari looking the way she did, but knew she had to broach the subject carefully. So that hopefully Mari wouldn't brush it off, like she did most things that bothered her.
"Hey?" Ayla reached a tanned and elegant hand out and placed it on Mari's shoulder before continuing. "You know you can talk to someone if he's still bothering you right?" Like, you don't have to put up with that at work. Tell the boss or even one of the other girls you work with."
Alya spoke in a gentle and hushed tone as she stepped close to Mari. Offering her comfort with her presence, the way only the closest of friends could. Her love and concern for Mari radiated from her, like a fire on a cold and stormy night, reaching into every corner with its comforting warmth.
"Oh no, it's fine. He means well, he's just… a bit different, and he's got a lot going on. I think he just needs a friend." Mari placed her own hand over Aylas and looked up into her hazel, almost green eyes and fixed her with a smile. A very fake smile, one that Ayla seen right through. But she knew not to push the subject in fear of upsetting Mari further.
"Well, okay if you say so. But yeah call me when you finish or something, okay?" Without saying anymore Ayla wrapped her arms around Mari giving her a quick hug and kiss on her cheek which Mari returned before both girls hurried out of the library in different directions.
….
Mari was never more grateful for the little space heater below her work desk then she was that day. She slipped into the high stool and sighed with content when the heater began to chase the chill from her poor frozen feet. She hurriedly kicked off her little black shoes, letting the heater get to work drying her still damp socks. Before signing into her work computer to check any for any important emails she may have missed during her days off.
One of the many benefits of her new job being that when they were quiet there wasn't much else to be done. Which meant her boss was more than happy for her to work on assessments in between customers. Smiling to herself Mari grabbed out her mini sketch pad she carried with her, practically wherever she went and let her pencil flow over the empty page in front of her.
As she sketched Mari thought to herself about how much easier it had become for her to find inspiration and let her creativity take over since she became ladybug. The Miraculous could affect their holders in different ways Tikki had said, depending on the Miraculous they held and the personality of the holder. A pang of guilt shot through Mari at the memory.
Despite what Tikki said, she still thought it gave her an unfair advantage against the other students in her class. Tikki promised her it only helped bring her gifts to the surface, they had always been there. That Mari's passion and love for her art would have unveiled them with her constant practice and determination, it was just that the Miraculous sped up the process so to speak.
Mari was shocked abruptly out of her daydreaming and sketching by an unwanted arm slung around her shoulder.
"Hey beautiful, how was your weekend?" Mari's startled bluebell eyes left her page to look at the voice. The voice that of course belonged to Jake, because of course who else would it be.
"Umm, hey Jake how was your weekend?" Mari forced a smile to her face, always trying to be polite and knowing that he was going through a rough time at the moment.
"Oh you know, it was okay. Would have been better if I had seen you." His voice was smooth as he tried to batter his eyelashes at Mari but failed miserably. He hardly had lashes as it was let alone enough to batter them at someone successfully. Instead it just looked as if he was trying to rapidly blink debris out of his eyes.
Mari quickly slid her shoes back on before she stood from her desk to escape the unwanted contact and moved over to busy herself with organising their wall of phone covers.
"Ha ha. I'm sure you still had a great weekend, don't be silly. I told you before I am decidedly uninteresting, I would bore you to death."
Before the conversation could continue customers began to trickle into the store, keeping both Mari and Jake blissfully busy in Mari's opinion. Though Mari's job was technically selling phones and service contracts to customers it was only a small amount of what she actually did.
Often it was helping people with technical issues on phones, tablets, fancy smart watches and they even had a few customers bring in laptops. Mari always did what she could to help but really, they weren't a repair shop and she had very limited knowledge when it came to IT stuff.
Still, Mari never complained about the wide range of customer issues she helped to solve. Her favourite customers were always the older ladies. Always so cute and sweet and so thankful for Mari's help, even if it was something as simple as turning the volume up on their phone or showing them how to open a message one of their grandchildren has sent them, in hopes of bringing them into the wonderful world of instant messages.
….
The rest of the afternoon passed in a blur with the stream of customers only ebbing once they closed the doors for the night.
"Wow, what a day huh? Did you want to do the till and I will write up the end of day reports? Or did you want to swap today?" Mari had turned to face Jake as she reached her arms overhead and stretched out her back trying to rid herself of the worries of the day.
Noticing the way Jake stared at her as she spoke had Mari quickly dropping her arms down to her side, suddenly self conscious.
"Ah yeah I don't care, whatever you want. Hey, so why did you stop wearing that cute little skirt? Isn't it like your uniform?" Jake questioned her, his look never meeting hers. Dark eyes greedily roamed over Mari's figure before him.
For the first time since starting work Mari felt truly uncomfortable, alone in the closed store with Jake. Grateful for the distance between them Mari spoke. "Ah yeah it is, but I spoke to James and he said it's fine if I wear slacks, as long as they look professional. I...Umm, hate the cold is all." The reply came out in a small squeak and yet Jake never took his eyes off her.
Discomfort rising, Mari took that moment to study Jake, in hopes of getting a read on what was going on through his head. His broad face was ruddy with a slight tan which somehow made his skin look almost jaundice. Thin pale lips pressed together into a straight line showed nothing of his mood. Though his height matched that of Mari's he was a great deal bigger than her, broad shoulders, almost constantly hunched now seemed intimidating, almost threatening.
Subconsciously Mari took a step backwards, feeling like prey which had just spotted it's doom, looming and impending, even from a distance. As she watched, Jake shook himself as if trying to rid himself of thoughts he didn't wish to be privy, then continued on as normal. Not noticing the stiffness in Mari's posture or the way her chest had begun to rise and fall in short shallow breaths.
Mari went about finishing the end of day requirements, still shaken, trying to convince herself that she had imagined the whole interaction. All the while keeping up small talk and hoping that her unease wasn't noticeable. "Umm well we're all good to go on my end, how about you" Mari cringed at the slight tremble in her words.
"For you lovely, I'm always good to go." From across the room Jake suggestively wiggled dark unkempt brows at her, his lips pulled into what could only be called a leer.
"Ahh, okay well I'll wait outside while you lock up." Mari rushed to the back room to grab her bag, hoping to avoid being alone in the dark with Jake.
As soon as Jake had stepped out of the shop Mari stumbled out a quick goodby, taking off before he had even finished locking the door. Walking quickly through the almost abandoned streets, Mari was thankful it had at least stopped raining for the moment. Holding the strap of her shoulder bag tightly Mari still felt uneasy as she darted her eyes around her surroundings as she walked.
Just because she was Ladybug didn't mean she was fearless, plus that experience left Mari rattled in a way fighting akuma victims never could. It had been a completely different kind of fear, one Mari had been blessed to have never encountered before.
The kind that made women avoid walking alone at night, or had them holding their keys between fingers as they darted from the safety of a brightly lit shop to their car, parked too far away and now shrouded in darkness. It was the fear of being vulnerable that many women knew too well Mari thought to herself sadly.
The ruffle of something close behind had Mari snapping her neck around, eyes anxiously scanning the streets surrounding her. Step faltering and heart thrumming in her chest. Panic began to set in as Mari noticed too late that dusk had truly set in, making it hard to see much beyond the shapes and muted colours of the high rise apartments that towered over the street on each side of her. The odd tree and cars that lined the streets offering more than enough cover for someone to hide behind.
Mari tried to push the thoughts away before continuing. She picked up her pace as she walked, straining to hear anything out of the ordinary. A rolling boom of thunder from overhead forced a short high pitched squeal from her constricting throat. Before she had recovered from the shock rain began to fall, splattering in quick succession against the pavement. The sound drowned out any other noise and limited visibility even further, leaving Mari feeling exposed and vulnerable.
Mari took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm herself, surely she was just imagining it. The side effect of an overactive mind, running away with stray thoughts, creating unlikely scenarios to worry over, as Mari's often did.
And yet the prickling on the back of her neck gave cause to second thoughts, especially once cold shivers began to run down her spine and caused her muscles to tense. Mari could practically feel the burning sensation of unwelcome eyes following her every movement, counting her every breath.
The pavement was now slick and treacherous due to the icy touch of the rain and Mari's panicked mind thought through her options, not thinking clearly she began to run. Despite the danger the wet sidewalk posed and the fact that she was in heels Mari ran, stray hairs which had escaped the confines of her bun plastered to her wet face, as rain soaked every inch of her.
But running had only made it worse, the shivers that trailed up her back now a constant tightness, warning her something, someone was following. It wanted her and it was gaining, fast.
Was it her scrambled mind, or did she hear someone whisper her name? Closer still the presence drew. Hot tears of pure fear began to fall down her face. Mari was sure she felt a warm breath on her neck. The thought made tears fall faster as Mari pushed herself to run harder, lungs burning for release as she pumped her legs as fast as they could carry her.
Adrenaline coursing through her veins, Mari continued to run. High rise apartments towering overhead seemed to block Mari from the rest of the world. Encasing her desperate attempts to flee in a protective bubble, blocking her struggle from the outside world. Around her streetlights began to flicker on as the sky continued to darken, but rather than providing comfort with their light they added to the errienes of the scene. Casting long shadows down the street. More potential hiding places for the one that pursued her.
Mari took hardly any note of her surroundings, hot tears blinding her eyes, making it difficult to see much of anything. The blood rushing in her ears blocked all but the sounds of the falling rain and Mari's hitching breaths. So blindly she ran that Mari didn't notice the raised crack in the sidewalk until it was too late.
The toe of her shoe caught and she went flying forwards, braced for the impact, fear bubbled inside her as she desperately tried to think of a way to defend herself. So blinded by fear, that never once did she consider the idea of transforming to save herself.
When the impact did come it wasn't the biting cold of wet concrete that she expected, but the solid warmth of another body. Rather than comfort her though, the presence of another person drove Mari further into panic, to a state of despair.
Sure that the strong arms that encircled her were those of whomever had been pursuing her. Mari fought against them, screaming out in protest, landing blows on any part of the person she could. Struggling wildly, twisting in the firm grasp as sobs began to escape her, wracking her whole body with their force.
Yet the grip held, pulling her closer to their warm body. One arm snaked around the back of her shoulders, pressing her firmly against a strong chest while the other reached for her chin, gently tilting it up to face them. Eyes squeezed firmly shut Mari continued to struggle, until a familiar, soothing voice made its way through her panicked mind, speaking her name. Slowly she ceased her struggles, body exhausted and shaking with her sobs, as the familiarity of the voice and the gentleness of the embrace began to calm her.
"Mari! Mari! It's okay! It's me! Shh, you're okay now." A gentle hand began to stroke the top of Mari's soaked black hair. Finally some sense had returned as she opened her eyes to find them level with a soaked white dress shirt which clung to the firmness beneath. Slowly her gaze traveled up the body to a strikingly handsome face Mari recognised at once.
"A-Adrien?" Mari stuttered between sobs. "What, what are you doing here?" She looked around in confusion, her mind working slowly as the adrenaline left her body and exhaustion at her ordeal taking over.
"Oh, ah I was actually checking out an apartment here. But Mari what's going on? Are you okay? Why were you running through the street half soaked." Adrien looked her up and down before scanning the streets critically, trying to find the missing piece of the puzzle. Marinette wasn't the kind of girl to go running wildly in the streets for no reason. Not that Adrien knew her well, he thought to himself, but their interactions had led him to believe she was a rather sensible girl.
"I, umm, I thought-" but Mari couldn't finish her sentence, instead she burst into another fit of tears as her small exhausted body all but collapsed, into Adriens strong, soft embrace.
"Hey, shh it's okay. Come on I've got my car nearby, let's get you out of the rain first." Adrien kept a comforting arm around Mari's shoulders as he guided her towards his waiting car.
The streets now dark with the enveloping night as the slowing rain fluttered lazily from the sky. What had once been icy pinpricks against Mari's skin now dropping only the occasional kiss of water against her soaked body.