Nino couldn't remember if he had ever seen as much snow as this in his life before.
He had been skiing before and he had seen 3 meters of snow before, sure, but he wasn't sure if he had ever seen a blizzard like that.
The snow almost seemed to darken the sky, as thick as the blanket of frozen water particles came down on the earth right now.
The four friends had decided on having a little Christmas party just for fun at Marinette's place but as it seemed right now, it would turn into a sleepover.
Well, if Ladybug and Chat Noir didn't succeed at defeating this Akuma before it was too late to go on the streets, that was. Nino pressed his nose on the window and looked up into the sky, his eyes wide.
It had to be an Akuma, Paris had never seen that much snow. Normally, it was already doomsday when ten centimeters dared to stay lying on the ground for more than a night. Usually, that meant a total hazard and mass panic as well as the complete collapse of any known infrastructure and public transportation.
Plus, this flood of snow had only come within the last few minutes, maybe half an hour without them noticing.
"I'll, uh, go see if the bakery's safe!", Marinette called out and vanished through the hatch. Adrien followed her in a heartbeat, mumbling something about the toilet, before vanishing as well.
Alya accompanied Nino on the window and looked outside with him, rubbing over her chest where her Miraculous normally rested.
They had had to give it up again, to make sure it wouldn't fall in the wrong hands, but at least they were allowed to keep it a few days in a row now, to make sure Paris stayed safe on their patrols.
Nino hadn't even realized he had rubbed his wrist before Alya took one of his hands and interlaced their fingers.
"It's scary…", she mumbled and he was about to reassure her it was just snow when she added to it, "Not being able to do something. Back when I didn't have the Miraculous yet I didn't mind but now, knowing I could do something… It's scary not to…"
"Already gotten used to it?", Nino asked, nodding slightly. He knew the feeling.
"Gotten used to jumping into the fight? A long time ago.", he laughed at her joke but felt her squeezing his hand, "But actually taking part? Helping and having these powers? Almost too fast…"
He sighed and squeezed her hand back, lifting it up to press his lips against the back of her hand.
"I know, Als… I feel the same."
She leant against him, resting her head on his shoulder and looking outside, their hands interlaced between them and their bodies perfectly fitting against each other.
Nino sighed as he watched the blanket of snow below on the streets rising unnaturally fast, not as fast as one might think but fast enough to see the difference in height when he observed a fixed point like a car for a minute. The snow constantly fell, never lessening and never slowing down as Nino watched, his hand coming up to cup Alya's face when the doors on street level started filling up and vanishing beneath the rising pile of snow.
"It feels weird…", Alya said once again, snuggling her cheek into his palm and lightly pressing a kiss to his wrist.
"It does.", Nino fought off the urge to rub his wrist again and stared out into the white, irritating memories of his own time as an Akuma, the two times as an Akuma, coming up within him. He bit his lip, watching the last doorframe drowning.
"Let's go further back? I got a feeling the snow won't stop rising and I'm not sure if the windows will withstand the pressure."
Alya nodded and let him guide her back, further into the room, where they settled on the floor with a few blankets and pillows Nino had grabbed from the chaise.
They wrapped themselves in a big two-person blanket and looked out of the window, the sight now not as threatening anymore when their eyes followed the dancing snowflakes, hundreds and hundreds of white spots floating and whirling in their own rhythm against a grey sky.
"… You okay?", Nino asked, his voice dying in his throat before he swallowed.
"I'm okay.", Alya replied, snuggling against him and hiding her face in his neck before glancing outside again, "I'm okay as long as you're here."
"… Feels like the panther cage all over again, huh?", he joked, even if his heart beat faster.
A short silence followed, then Alya nodded and he could feel her squeezing his hand once again, searching for comfort and reassurance.
"… Like the panther cage, yeah…", she mumbled, hearing the windows downstairs already groan under the weight of the snow. They were just lucky Tom and Sabine were outside of Paris to cater an event, so they wouldn't have to see their beloved bakery faltering under the snow.
Nino pulled Alya tighter against him as they heard the rustling of the snow falling onto the surface of the snow pile growing closer. The girl slid closer to him and rested their hands on their lap as their hips bumped against each other, resting her head on his shoulder. He in turn just reached around her, pulling her on top of his lap to cradle her close. He knew how much Alya hated to be caught somewhere, with no way out. And even if Marinette's room was big enough, they could hear the house groaning and creaking as it tried to withstand the force of the snow.
Downstairs, the first window cracked with an audible sound throughout the staircase. Nino faintly remembered Marinette having mentioned to go downstairs but he knew she'd be safe. She probably met Adrien on the way up again and was now in the living room with him.
Or maybe she stayed in the stairwell. Or something else. For some reason, Nino was sure Marinette and Adrien were safe.
The windows on the first level creaked now, and they could see the snow rising up to the round window of Marinette's room. Slowly, the room lost light and got painted in grey, the blanket lying itself over the windows like a grey veil.
Slowly, the room got darker and the creaking noise got louder as the house got buried beneath the pile of snow, covering the windows and drowning everything out.
The noises from outside had long been blocked out by the meters over meters of snow and the room slowly lost every light. Nino couldn't bring himself to stand up and turn on the light since Alya buried her face in his neck, shivering on her whole body. So he merely searched out his phone and put on his flashlight, laying it screen down on the floor so they could have a bit of light.
Despite the light, the snow slowly swallowed all the sunlight and they sunk into darkness.