Day #3: Dirt

You know, being a compulsive cleaner wasn't easy for Marinette nor Ladybug, especially for poor hero bug who wanted to keep herself in the air all the time, was fucking scared of touching the Akumas, and still wanted to save Paris. On the other hand, Marinette had more safe spaces, and she preferred that.

At some point, you just resign to your eternal struggle and learn to deal with it, or at least that was what the hero girl decided.

However, the worst part of OCD is the feeling of loneliness and desperation of not being understood. It makes sense though, not even she could explain it. Not that it makes it less painful.

Now, she's dealing with another normal day. Having to get to class at least 30 minutes before everyone else got to class so she could disinfect the room, clean her space, and with that, level down the cloudiness of her head. On the worst days, she'll make everyone pass her cleaning scan or wouldn't be able to get out of the house. But today it was good.

It was… Until an explosion blew up all the classroom's windows, throwing tons of dust and dirt in her. Wasn't she so lucky?

Not much time passed before the stray cat she well know appeared from that same hole in the wall to search for injured civilians, and found her. Chat Noir saw the girl in the up corner of the classroom, trembling, her arms protecting her legs, intense crying, and looking so so little. The hero immediately ran to her, but still respecting her space.

"Marinette! Are you hurt? What happened?" He asked worried, kneeling in order to be able to face her. Not that she was lifting her head.

"I… I, Chat, can't, can't-" Marinette tried to respond, her voice with big stuttering and totally cracked out of fear. For her luck, Chat knew what she was trying to say and had some knowledge of how to deal with that.

"Everything's going to be alright, princess. I just need you to breathe as I do." Chat tried to make her look at him, but Marinette was frozen on-site.

"Too-too much… I" She stuttered.

"It's okay princess, take it slow, I'm a patient cat. We had what it takes to make it." Reinforce Chat with a low sweet voice, making Marinette feel… Safe. Or at least safe enough to reduce her cry and do the breathing exercises with the boy for the next couple of minutes.

Why hasn't she ever told her hero partner she has OCD? When he sees too experienced in the field of getting her out of the panic attack, too understanding and too comfortable. She even would have wanted to hug him if she didn't feel them both so dirty and full of bacteria.

After what may have been an eternity, the black-haired was able to regain calm and the ability to form coherent sentences, so she was able to communicate like a medium functional human being.

"I need to clean myself, and also you, please," Marinette asked, already with her head up and intertwining looks with Chat Noir. He nodded and stood up, following the girl's instructions to get her alcohol spray, a towel, a bottle of water, and a new pair of dischargeable gloves out of the backpack.

With that emergency pack, the out of costume hero was able to start to clean herself.

"I hope Ladybug is doing okay with that Akuma, I mean. It's Ladybug, I bet she doesn't need me to deal with anything." Said Chat who was waiting for Marinette that was now washing her hair with the little water she had, probably just to make a little of chit-chat, but returning the girl to reality. Paris was totally unprotected because both heroes were in a classroom just because she wasn't even able to deal with a bit of dirt.

"I think you should go," Marinette said, maybe a little too harsh, but with total fear in her voice.

"Did I say something wrong, princess? Are you okay?" The blond guy expressed his concern, trying to get closer at her; but stopping when he saw the mortified look on her face.

"Paris needs you, Chat Noir."

"Hey, I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable, I don't want you to-"

"I'll be okay, you can leave me," Marinette answered, trying to force him to leave, not predicting what he would say next.

"I don't want you to be alone." Those simple, but full of sincerity and understanding, words went through her down to her core. Lighting a comfort she hadn't felt in forever. Tears escaped from her eyes without control, but freeing her also at a certain level. She knew something had just changed forever. "Princess! Please don't cry, I'll go, I´m sorry."

"No!" Marinette stopped him while connecting their gazes again. "It's not your fault, actually… You were the best, thank you." A sincere smile appeared on her face, and Chat knew he had lost.

They were just a couple of infinite seconds where they both dedicated themselves to admire the other one.

"However… You really should go save Paris, I can handle me from here." She assured him, making the hero get out of whatever thoughts were running in that cat's mind of him.

"Oh, yeah. You're right." He accepted but still didn't make a move, like gaining the courage to continue talking "I… Can I look for you later? You know, as a hero I can't just let a civilian out in their luck and-"

"I would love to, please." Marinette answered.

"Oh, okay. Okay, cool." Chat said awkwardly and with a little blush on his cheeks. "So, I'm going to go save Paris and that..."

Marinette watched the catboy leaving from where he came from, but now leaving with a part of her. And that made her feel accompanied.

So, at the end of the day. Being a compulsive cleaner truly sucked, but if she had her kitty with her, maybe that could make things better.