The next morning, Mari was still sitting in the same spot. She'd closed her eyes a while ago, too tired to keep them open but too awake to actually sleep. That didn't stop her from seeing it all all over again; all the death, all the torment she'd been put through and the people of Paris had been put through.
She'd remembered the drowning the most - watching the waves crash down and the bodies slowly rise to the top. She'd seen so many bodies that day. Then there were the fights where you couldn't see all the bodies and instead heard the screams. The fire akumas generally brought that about. Entire streets burnt down in minutes one night.
"Pigtails," Plagg called again, resting atop her head where he'd been for the past few hours. "Please get off the floor."
Mari sighed, hearing him for the first time. She opened her eyes and felt sort of emotionless, staring off at the couch again. She stood slowly, feeling her muscles ache and her joints move for the first time. "I'm sorry, Plagg," she said, reaching up and petting the top of his head. "It's just been a rough while."
He didn't say anything to that, simply buried his head further in her hair. He knew she had been through a lot and words of comfort right now would feel like a dismissal of some sort.
Her phone dinged and she looked down at it as she made her way over to her room. 8:07 am.
Damien: Is 9 o'clock an agreeable time for me to come over with the kittens?
Mari: Yeah, that's fine.
Mari plugged her phone in and took a quick shower, changing into a pair of sweatpants and a tank top for the day. She didn't really have the mental capacity to pick out something nicer. She'd brushed her hair and left it down, yawning as she made herself some steamed buns for breakfast.
Before she knew it there was a knock on the door and she was letting him inside, him being obviously more well dressed than she was at the moment. "Good morning," she said, smiling tiredly at him. "And hello to you." She cooed at the crate in his arms where two little black kittens were staring up at her.
Damien knew something was wrong the moment he saw her. She was dressed only for comfort while her general day to day had been a combination of both comfort and style. Her hair was down and he hadn't seen it leave a high ponytail all week. He'd dismiss that as just being the weekend if not for the deep bags under her eyes and the general far away feeling he got from her. That she wasn't really there but was in the room.
He got that from Jason a lot and occasionally Dick. Dick having witnessed Jason's death and Jason having died. He tried to remember what Tim did when they got this way. Keep them company but don't pry - make sure they're around others so they know where they are. He did not know what Marinette had been through in her years but he would be looking more closely at her past later. He told himself it was for safety purposes.
"Good morning," he eventually said, realizing he'd been silent for a few moments. "Where would you like me to put them down?"
Mari look around before deciding on the living room. "You can set them by the couch. Let me just make sure the bathroom is closed off before we let them out," she said, moving to the open bathroom door and closing it. She also closed the bathroom door. Looking at her kitchen she thought. "Should I baby lock the cabinets?"
"Baby proof," Damian corrected, setting the carrier down on the couch "It would most likely keep them away from some more adventurous hiding spots."
Marinette nodded, looking around. "I can go to the hardware store then as well today at some point." She walked over to the carrier and sat on the floor in front of it, opening the door. "Bonjour," she cooed, letting them come out on their own. "Are the little ladies or little gentlemen?"
"They are both male," Damian answered, smirking a little at the image of her with the kittens.
"Then you shall be Toulouse," she decided, giving the one closest to her a few scratches. "And you shall be Berlioz."
"You decided that quickly," he noted, eyebrows raised.
"They're from the Disney film aristocats. I was always sad I couldn't find a Toulouse toy when I was younger. It was only ever the girl cat," Mari said, a frown on her face that quickly changed to joy when the kittens walked up to her.
"I have not seen that movie," he eventually decided on answering. He did silently think to himself that he would watch it now though.
"Should we go get their things from the store?" Mari eventually asked after having given the kittens a sufficient amount of scratches. She stood, pocketing her phone and wallet, keys dangling around her neck on a lanyard.
"Yes, they are just around the corner if you're comfortable walking," Damian noted, walking towards the door. He noted the shoe rack by the door and the slippers next to it. "Should I have taken off my shoes?"
"I usually prefer people do, but I don't make a habit of asking in case it's rude. I'm not sure how people feel about it in America yet," Mari said, slipping on a pair of sneakers.
"I do not believe it is offensive," he told her, holding the door for her and waiting for her to lock up.
She nodded and they fell into silence. She was lost in her own thoughts once more as they went downstairs and headed towards the pet store.
Generally they worked in silence and this wouldn't worry him if not for the way she was looking off in the distance. "Are you feeling homesick?" he eventually asked, venturing that that would be what it is. She had been in the city long enough for it to potentially not feel like a vacation now. She could be missing her friends and family back in Paris.
Mari shook her head. "I'm fine, just didn't sleep well," she said, giving him more of a grimace than a smile. It wasn't a lie persay, just a bit of a stretched truth.
Damian nodded, not really believing her but not seeing it as his place to ask further. He opened the door to the pet store and let her walk in ahead of him.
They gathered what was needed - litter boxes, litter, food and a water dish and several toys - and headed back to her apartment. By the time they got back, Marinette had simply given up on trying to appear anything but what she was - exhausted.
Damian helped her set up the things for the kittens and then sent off a text to his brothers informing them of the girls current state of being. He wasn't sure that he could help but he also wasn't sure she should be left alone right now.
His phone buzzed in his hands and he looked down.
Just tell her you don't want to deal with us at home and ask if you can work there. - Grayson
"Would it be acceptable if I work here for the day? My siblings are being exceptionally irritating today," he asked, figuring that if Grayson suggested it there was nothing socially unacceptable about it. He seemed to have that part of life under control. Everything else was up for debate however.
Mari shrugged, not really caring either way. "That's fine. I'm going to be working though," she said, picking up her tablet and sitting down on the couch. She was still just exhausted if she was being honest with herself, but she also didn't really have it in her to try to sleep right now. She knew all that waited on the other side of her eyelids was unpleasant.
Damian took a seat on the chair, pulling out his laptop to do some work as well. He might as well at least try to do that, even if it wasn't the real reason for him staying.
After a few hours of silence, him typing and her drawing, he looked over at her again. She was still awake, but she looked like she hadn't really come back to herself yet. It'd been like she'd just woken up from sleep all day. "May I ask you a personal question?" he inquired.
Mari almost jumped, having forgotten he was in the room with her. She looked at him warily. "You can. That does not mean I will answer."
Damian nodded, considering that fair. "Why do you seem so off today?"
Mari thought about whether or not she wanted to answer that. This was supposed to be a fresh start - a path towards healing. "A lot of the bad things that have happened to me, happened in a mansion similar to yours. It brought back a lot of unpleasant feelings and flashbacks."
Damian nodded, considering whether or not he wanted to continue the discussion. "Were these bad things because of the hero situation in Paris?"
"It's public knowledge now, who the villain was and who Chat Noir was," Mari pointed out. "Are you telling me you didn't look this up even once?"
He shook his head. "I believe Todd has briefly looked it over, but not in depth. I did not as it was a resolved situation and seemed personal to you. Friends do not investigate friends, correct?" he asked, repeating what Jon had told him when he'd explained that he'd been considering looking at the report on Dupain-Cheng.
Mari smiled at that. "Correct, but doing it for security purposes is fine. Doing it to be maliciously nosey isn't," she added, pausing. "Hawkmoth - the villain - was Gabriel Agreste. His son, my boyfriend at the time, was Adrien Agreste. Adrien was Chat Noir, and in the end he betrayed me, Ladybug, and all of Paris by siding with his father. In the days leading up to his arrest, I was locked hostage in their home for about a week."
Damian nodded. "So being in a house that large reminded you of that time?" he asked, although it was more rhetorical. It made sense.
"Yeah, it wasn't a great time for me. And thinking of being in that house makes me think of the akumas, all the times people died around me or I died," Mari added, finding it surprisingly easy to talk to Damian. Maybe it was the fact he held himself the same way she did - always alert, always cautious.
"My siblings have confided in me that they wish to spend time with you outside of work," Damian started, and for a second it felt like he was just abruptly changing the topic. "Would it make you more comfortable if I told them that being in the manor makes you uncomfortable and they would need to be here or in a social setting?"
Mari smiled softly at that, the first display of emotion outside of exhaustion for the day. "That would be very helpful, thank you," she said.
Damian nodded, shooting off a text to the family group chat that held everyone including not official siblings and his father. He then immediately turned off notifications for the chat, knowing they would be incessant in their questions. "Would it make you uncomfortable to continue the discussion?"
Mari thought about it for a few moments. "I believe it's mildly helpful for me to continue. What else do you want to know?"
"Were you a hero?" he asked, bluntly. He could tell she had more about her than just being locked in a house with the terrorist himself. She was hardened, both emotionally and physically. And she had quite a bit of training.
Not shocked, somehow, she blinked. "Pass." They both knew that confirmed it regardless. "Are you?"
"Pass."
She nodded. They both had their secrets, and they didn't trust each other on that level yet. "I've died a lot," she eventually said, not sure where to go with this.
"How many times?"
"I stopped counting after fifty," she said, pulling her knees up to her chest, setting her tablet down on the couch next to herself.
He nodded, not sure what to say to that. "Jason died once. He probably won't tell you what happened, but he'd probably be a good person to talk to about it."
"I think you're doing a pretty good job of it," Mari said, yawning. After a few more minutes of silence she felt her eyelids finally dropping, her body giving way to the exhaustion she was trying to keep at bay.
She was asleep when Damian finally left, tossing a blanket over her and making sure every door and window in the apartment was locked on his way out. He gave the kittens a few pets as well, obviously.