Oh she regretted everything.
Her headache seemed to be getting worse not better and she wished she wasn't prone to being so responsible.
She should have gone back to the apartment and stayed there, but no she had gone back to the apartment for her sketchbook and art supplies and had gone straight to work.
So now she was sitting in the front room of the vet clinic, swaying the swivel chair back and forth and absentmindedly scribbling away in her sketchbook not really committing to anything besides swirls.
"Why are you here? I gave you the day off." Mister Fu emerged from the room behind her.
"I had nothing else to do. I figured you could use the help."
"I already have it all taken care of. I was just about to lock up, I've been here all night."
She didn't look up from her sketchbook as she replied, "I can leave if that's what you're trying to say."
"That's not exactly what I meant."
"Why can't anyone say what they mean?" She knew that sounded harsher than she meant to be, but the headache was getting worse the more she focused on the conversation. She knew it wasn't fair to take all of her self-directed anger out on the older man. It wasn't his fault that she had seemingly lost the ability to communicate with Plagg when it seemed so important.
She knew she had to have some sort of conversation with him about where everything stood. Where things could stand... if he would even talk to her after last night.
"You can stay here if you need to."
"Thank you."
She didn't want to go back to her apartment, she didn't want to go and try to talk to Plagg just yet, she just wanted to sit here and think.
There was the sound of the glass door clicking shut and she was left alone.
Her phone buzzed, echoing the unnaturally loud in the quiet space and she jumped at the sudden sound.
"Hey, where are you?"
"At work, why?"
"You sound awful."
Did she? She didn't really think so she'd been focused on her headache.
"Thanks, N."
"Your sarcasm is noted, why are you in a mood?"
"Headache... I... may our may not be slightly hungover."
"And you're at work?"
"The headache isn't that bad. I just need quiet."
"Go home."
"I'm fine, seriously."
"Go. Home."
"What did you actually call me for?"
"To find out where you were, Stubborn. I'm coming to get you. Since you clearly won't go home by yourself."
"I'm fine-"
"Sorry I can't hear you what was that?"
He hung up.
Tikki glared at her phone and stuck her tongue out at the screen. "Really mature Nooroo. Real mature."
She put her phone on silent and flipped it face down, going back to the scribbles in her sketchbook.
There were days when everyone and everything just gave you a huge headache.
Plagg was willing to bet that this was going to be one of those days where he ended up wanting to murder someone.
He should have known how the day would pan out when he woke up with a missed call from his mother.
He had more than half a mind to ignore it because it just seemed like too early to start a fight with her about anything, he promptly deleted the voicemail, knowing full well that this wasn't going to be the last time she tried to get in touch with him.
"Good start to a day, huh?" Jinx just blinked and swished her tail back and forth.
"You're talking to your cat. Technically you're talking to yourself. Officially insane." He muttered under his breath. He'd just chalk that up to lack of sleep.
No noises were coming from the living room which meant there was a fairly good chance that Tikki had followed through with the plan to murder Adrien and Marinette.
He went to go and assess the damage and found... nothing...
No one was even in the apartment besides himself. That was disappointing.
"Looks like it's just us... you're talking to your cat again."
Plagg retrieved his cell phone from the kitchen counter, grabbing a leftover chocolate chip cookie from the tray as he made his way to the door.
He shut the door before he acknowledged the ginger-haired girl leaning against the wall across from the apartment.
"Stalker."
"I wasn't stalking. I was going to knock eventually. I reconsidered because you would have shut the door in my face."
Plagg just turned and walked towards the main door of the apartment of the apartment building.
Trixx detached herself from the wall and fell into step besides him. "I would have tracked you down sooner but you pretty much went off of the grid. No one else would tell me anything besides the fact that you turned into a chicken and ditched everyone."
Plagg glanced sideways at her.
She looked pretty much the same as she had the last time he'd seen her.
Pale skin, hazel eyes and a permanent smirk. Waves of orange hair tossed over one shoulder to expose the tattoo of a fox that started on her neck and disappeared underneath the sleeve of her leather jacket.
"I have other things to worry about besides my so-called old 'friends' "
"He speaks!" Trixx gasped in overexaggerated shock.
Plagg rolled his eyes and came to a stop; the phrase "ignore it and it will go away" didn't apply to his mother's letters or to Trixx Rossi, … he couldn't resist trying to get under her skin just to push his luck. Just to see how much it would take to set her off. Old habits die hard.
"They let you out of prison."
She recoiled at the statement, actually taken aback.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." She snapped.
Mission accomplished.
He resumed walking, turning away and muttering under his breath just loud enough for her to hear.
"Which time?"
He could hear her heavy footsteps as she gained on him and he only just managed to sidestep and avoid getting kicked in the shin by her combat boots. "Would it kill you to say one nice thing to me?"
"You might kill me if I don't."
"Okay, forget nice. Aren't you going to say anything to me?"
"Where's your twin?"
Her hazel eyes flashed and she practically snarled at him.
"We're not related! Rossi is a very common Italian surname. Don't compare me to Lila."
"You two would get along really well. . You're both compulsive liars."
She rolled her eyes at him. "I remember a few times my lies saved your skin. I believe the words you're looking for are Thank you, Trixx."
He said nothing.
"You're supposed to say 'you're welcome'."
"You wouldn't have to save my skin so much if your lies didn't get us into trouble in the first place."
"I'm one of the good guys, come on I used to have your back all the time, I'm actually making an effort to officially apologize. The least you could do is listen to me."
She actually sounded on the verge of tears and he halted in his footsteps for a moment to face her head on as they finally reached the sidewalk outside the apartment building.
No tears. At least not yet and he resumed his clipped footsteps as she fell into step besides him once more.
Just as his phone buzzed in his pocket.
"You're still here? I told you to go home."
Tikki clutched at her heart, eyes flicking upwards to meet her cousin's disapproving expression.
She'd been so absorbed in her failing artistic endeavors that she hadn't even heard the door to the veterinary clinic open.
"Nooroo! You almost gave me a heart attack!" She exclaimed still clutching her chest.
He ignored her and she was about to pester him again but just then there was a giddy scream and Tikki's attention was drawn to the person who up until this point had been silent.
"You didn't tell me you two looked so much alike, I can definitely see the resemblance." Tikki blinked in surprise, watching the blonde-haired woman who was looking at her with a curious tilt of the head that reminded Tikki very much of a bird or maybe that was just because of the peacock feather headband and the blue sweater.
"I'm Duusu." She chirped, extending a hand to Tikki across the counter.
Tikki had never been one for handshakes so she smiled and offered the girl a small wave instead.
"I'm Tikki."
"Oh I know! Nooroo has told me so much about you." her American accent became more noticeable the faster she talked. Glancing around the room her sapphire-blue eyes alighted on Tikki's closed sketchbook.
"What were you drawing? If you don't mind me asking."
"Oh," Tikki picked at a corner of the piece of paper subconsciously. "Just a butterfly." The reply sounded casual enough to her and Duusu didn't seem to pick up on her slight hesitation but Tikki saw Nooroo shoot her a concerned look out of the corner of her eye. Which she attempted to ignore even when Nooroo edged around the counter and gave her hand a reassuring squeeze.
Duusu seemed to pick up on the odd form of tension and cleared her throat with an excuse. "Do you mind if I go and look at the animals?"
"No, not at all," Tikki used her freehand to indicate the door that lead into the separate room. "It's unlocked."
As soon as Duusu had disappeared ii the other room, shutting the door behind her'; Nooroo reached for the sketchbook.
Tikki go to it first, hugging it to her chest, self-=conscious and protective as she shot her cousin a serious look.
"It's my akuma and I'll deal with it, by myself."
For a split second a mixture of hurt and concern flashed across her cousin's face but he said nothing. Just gave her hand another reassuring squeeze and moved back to the other side of the counter.
"Well then I guess I should probably hold off on telling you-"
Tikki set her sketchbook down on the counter again, eager for a change in topic. "What?"
"Dussu came here to offer you a job."
A beat silence where all she seemed capable of hearing was the own rush of her heartbeat, maybe she hadn't heard him correctly through the blood rushing in her ears.
"What?"
"She runs a bird sanctuary just outside of New York, well technically her Dad owns it right now but she's set to inherit the property in a few months because her dad's planning on retiring soon. I know how much you hated me having to go to America for rehab after my ice skating injury so I started poking around to find jobs that would fit your skill set. This is the first lead I think might work."
She blinked at him, utterly speechless.
Was... was he asking her to go back to New York with him?
If he had asked her that six months ago she would have said yes in a heartbeat... now though?
She spared her sketchbook a quick glance, the black and purple butterfly staring back her from the page as she blinked against the memory of a flash of lightning... now? … now it was complicated.
"You obviously don't have to decide right now, she's in town for a few weeks and then she's touring around Europe for about a month before going back to the States; Her dad isn't going to retire until April or May so she won't really need an answer from you until then."
Tikki blinked again, still speechless.
Dussu rejoined them having been drawn back by the lack of conversation. "I was supposed to tell her all that, you ruined my big announcement!"
Tikki cleared her throat, the sound of Dussu's less familiar voice jolting her back into reality. "I-I'll think about it."
Tikki headache seemed to have returned in full force and all she wanted was for peace and quiet and to be alone. "It's... a lot to process."
"We'll leave you alone then." Dussu replied, coming back around the counter to give her a hug. "It was really nice meeting you, we should get together sometime again before I leave town."
"I'd like that."
He disconnected the call and caught Trixx staring at him.
"What?" He snapped.
She smiled at him, an actual smile not a smirk or a sneer when she spoke she sounded amused.
"Honestly I don't know why you even try to get along with that woman."
"Yeah well she doesn't make it easy."
Trixx picked at the leather of her fingerless gloves and laughed, a small and quiet laugh. When she looked back at him the expression on her face and the light in her eyes was just so honest that he felt like he was looking at an entirely different person.
"You're a good person."
"You're not half bad yourself.. most of the time."
Now she did smirk at him, though she was still amused. "That was almost a compliment."
"Don't push it."
She shrugged one shoulder at him, tucking a strand of orange hair behind her ear. "I'll take what I can get," she stuck out her gloved hand into the space between them. "... Truce?"
"What's the catch?*
Another real smile. "you have to meet me halfway."
Now that she was alone again the silence seemed loud but she wasn't willing to do anything to break the silence on her own. She opened up her sketchbook and added an akuma sketch. Smaller butterflies joining the larger one resting on the sentence of the page.
Her eyes narrowed into tunnel vision of pencil lines and black and purple butterflies. Some of them too small to look like anything but smudges.
The longer she stared at them, the more frustrated she became with them and with herself and her inability to express her frustration in words.
It was everything.
It was New York.
And college
And work
The possibility of moving
Of starting over
Of leaving.
… Of leaving Plagg.
Someone who had been a stranger a mere months ago.
Someone who she considered as maybe more than a friend.
Someone who probably, most likely had a girlfriend.
Someone who she shouldn't be having feelings for.
And... yet here she was ignoring him for no other reason than the childish thought that she was scared of facing the possibility of rejection from him.
She exhaled a deep breath and slammed the sketchbook shut again.
Resting her chin on the book as her headache flared up once more.