Happy NaNoWriMo, my lovelies, and I've finished outlining the story. Get ready for lots of consistent updates :) Please please comment! It really keeps me motivated.
All the way until Saturday, Marinette was forced to stay in her bed.
"Why?" Marinette asked on Wednesday.
"Just to make sure," said Tikki, but Marinette saw the evil glint in her guardian's eyes.
Marinette mumbled something about not needing a lesson on humility, scrunching her covers up higher.
At Tikki's loud, clear, "What was that?" Marinette just smiled brightly, but inside, she couldn't help but think about Chat Noir.
She wondered if he thought she gave up on it, just after a few nights. Was he waiting at their spot by the bakery each night, only to leave and keep patrolling the streets? Did he think she wouldn't come back? The idea of sad kitty eyes left her restless in bed. She would have tried sneaking out, but every three hours, Marinette's nurse - a young, black man named Mr. Coteau - would come back in to check on Marinette. Including the middle of the night. This not only left her unable to escape but also exhausted and very, very grumpy.
The time did, however, grant her the opportunity to sew as much as she wanted. Marinette spent every free moment perfecting her costume, sewing by hand as efficiently as she could. By the time she finished on Thursday morning, her fingers were sore. But her dark red jumper, loose enough to move comfortably but tight enough that she wouldn't get caught on a random branch or open nail, was worth it. It covered in black polkadots, just like the ladybug she claimed to be. Along with that, though, she used some of the extra black scraps of fabric to widen the mask.
Marinette tried it on in the mirror after her shower, proud of her work. As she pulled her hair into two low buns, she couldn't help but appreciate that even she wouldn't recognize herself if she didn't know any better. The mask covered most of her face, and her jumper wasn't a tight fit, so her specific body shape couldn't be recognized. There wasn't much she could change about her height or voice, but she could at least make sure no one would scream, "Princess!" if they saw her.
Because she had more time, Marinette convinced Luka to bring her black fabric, too. He still wasn't talking to her, which confused Marinette further, and she lamented his silence while sewing a costume for Chat Noir, too.
A week alone, except for the few moments of Tikki and the young, black nurse coming in to check on her, reminded Marinette of those first days in the castle. So she sewed, and she sewed until her fingers were blistered and even bleeding. She ignored the pain until Friday night, when the nurse came in, and she hastily shoved her hands under the blankets, hiding both her fingers as well as Chat's outfit.
He came to give a temporary goodbye.
"Well," he said, reviewing the charts in his hands, "I think that's it. You're cleared, and you should be able to go on your date tomorrow."
"What date?" she squeaked.
He gave her an odd look, lifting his dark brows. "I'm sorry, Ms. Tikki simply told me to relay that information. I don't know much beyond that."
Marinette shook her head. She'd completely forgotten. Tomorrow was the first official date between her and her new friend Adrien Agreste. "It's okay. Um, thank you for taking care of me."
"Of course, Your Highness. Do you need anything else?"
Her fingers stung. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a bit of dried blood on her sheets. "No, thank you."
He clipped his notebook shut, making Marinette jump slightly. "That's all from me, then. Let me know if you have any further issues. I'm just half a castle away." He smiled kindly.
"I will. Again, thank you so much for your help. Have a good night, Mr. Coteau." Marinette willed him to leave.
"Good night, your highness." He almost left, but he stopped at the door, his hand hovering over the handle. Slowly turning his head, the nurse stated, "You're kind, Princess. I believe you'll be a great queen someday." And he shut the door behind him.
Marinette felt something within her stir at those words, but she shoved it down before she could mull over them too long. They didn't feel pleasant, per se, but not bad, either. She decided that the best thing she could do would be to go find Chat Noir. She only hoped he'd be waiting for her.
Climbing down her tower was more painful than Ladybug expected. Her gloves held back some of the pain, but she went as quickly and quietly as she could, while carrying a little bag on her back that held Chat's outfit inside. She followed her usual trail into town.
As she got closer, however, anxiety lifted in her heart. What if he wasn't there? She passed by a shoe-maker's shop, and her reflection, though barely seen, was visible enough to show her hunched figure. If he wasn't there, Ladybug didn't know what she would do. She didn't know these streets. She couldn't find the clockmaker's place. And she left her phone back in her room, so GPS wasn't even an option. Would she turn back? Would she try to see Alya? She couldn't do much without him. What if he -
Chat Noir walked into the street light.
Ladybug's heart jumped, but her anxieties melted away immediately. He was looking right at her. This was the most Ladybug had seen of him, and she could finally see him clearly. His head was a bit stiff, but his face lit up at the sight of her, the way the stars in the sky currently twinkled. She ran over, her bag bumping on her side with each step.
"You're here," she breathed, flushing momentarily by the breathless way her voice came out. It was just from the walk. Yeah.
Somehow, he grinned wider. "I couldn't paw-ssibly leave you hanging, now could I, my Lady?"
Ladybug rolled her eyes, but she put her hands under her chin to frame her face. "I got a little caught up in something, but, um, I brought you this." She pulled her bag around and held out his costume to him.
"What's this?" he asked, holding it up.
"I, um, made you a Chat Noir costume. To match mine, I guess." She flushed.
"Huh." He turned it over in his hands and spent a few seconds admiring it. The fabric seemed to melt in with the shadows, and Ladybug felt a momentary surge of pride in her work. She was immediately humbled when she heard Chat's emotionless, "You made this?"
She nodded, but her throat closed up. It was stupid of her to make him something like this. She should have just let him do his own things and forget it and focus on something a bit more productive like -
"It's the cat's pyjamas," he teased. Ladybug let out a nervous giggle. "Unless you don't care about me stripping down here, I'll start wearing this next time. Right now, I have news." His countenance fell immediately, and Ladybug really wished she hadn't gotten sick and been allowed out sooner. Well, able to leave sooner.
"What happened?" she asked as she put his outfit back into her little bag, feeling very serious.
Chat looked down at empty alleyway, and he started walking towards it. Ladybug followed close behind. Head stiff, Chat said, "It's the clockmaker. I haven't been back yet. But... He's dead."
She stopped. "What?"
Chat continued forward, his voice monotone. "Yesterday. I think we should go see if he left anything behind that could give us any clues to the Akumas and what they want."
She picked her feet back up and caught up next to him. She thought back to the interactions between him and the clockmaker, the way they clearly had known each other, somehow. "Okay. We can do that... But you knew him, didn't you? Are you okay?" She reached out a hand to touch his left arm, but he jumped before she could.
He stared at his arm for a moment before walking on the other side of her. "I'm fine. I just really need to understand why the akumas are going around and killing random people."
"Are we sure it was an akuma?"
He gave her a side glance. "You really don't read the papers, do you?"
Ladybug stayed silent. She had to get her hands on the news, as soon as possible. She wondered if she'd be able to convince Jenna, or maybe even Luka, to slide her a newspaper. Chat stayed silent, too, then, until they arrived, the only sounds that followed them were their soft footsteps on the hard ground.
He didn't stop in front of the building. He was somber, quiet, all the way through the building.
The house was as gross as it was last week. No one had entered it, apparently, since he left. No police tape. Nothing. Maybe he didn't die here? Ladybug didn't understand the silence.
Ladybug searched throughout the kitchen, and in the living room. Besides some random boxes of pasta, moldy bread, and cheese in the fridge, there was nothing in the main rooms. Not only was it gross, but that icky feeling lingered. The kind that trickles into one's bloodstream and taints them from the inside. Ladybug's spine tingled, and the feeling that someone or something was watching her. Something evil. She walked down the hallway, knowing Chat had headed back there when they first arrived.
He stood hovering over a dingy bed, his back to her. She reached out a hand, feeling the spookiness from the room, and softly whispered, "Chat?"
He whipped around, a panicked expression briefly showing on her face, but it was replaced so quickly with a worried one that Ladybug almost convinced herself she hadn't seen it. But his eyes were red. But dry.
"What is it?" he asked.
"There's nothing out there," she whispered. Did you find anything in here?"
Chat's eyes flickered to the bed before swirling around. "Haven't found anything yet! Let's keep looking."
Ladybug thought about where she kept her secrets. The image of bedsheets tied together in her closet came to mind. She walked to his closet as Chat opened the bedside drawers and pulled out what looked like pictures. But when Ladybug opened up the sliding door, she yelped.
"Who are you?" she demanded.
The man, huddled in the corner, a stack of paper-clipped papers held tightly against his chest. He was short, and bald, and very, very skinny. Ladybug briefly decided that if he had to choose his hero name, he should choose one about a rat. Or another rodent.
"I'm no one," he man squeaked. Maybe a mouse, she decided. "I'm just here, to get my uncle's paperwork."
"At this time of night?" Chat's dubious voice from behind her sent shivers down her own spine. "I don't believe you. What are those papers?"
"Just paperwork!" the man panicked.
"Paperwork, my ass. He didn't even know where his passport was." Ladybug briefly flickered her eyes to him. What did that mean? "Give them to me. Or else."
The man tried to snort in disbelief, but he just sounded like a scared pig. "Or else what?"
Ladybug could feel a heat, a strong energy, something, coming off of Chat. If it had been anyone else, she probably would have stepped away. But then she realized she didn't actually know the man under the mask, and she didn't really know what he was capable of. Maybe she should back away. But the rat-man moved too quickly for her to make any sort of decision, and suddenly, Ladybug felt something soft slide across her forehead. Within seconds, she was blinded as warm liquid oozed into her eyes.
The man laughed a high, loud laugh. It was like a hyena, and there was no humor to it. It sounded the way that Alya had laughed one day after she broke her ankle. The doctor's called it shock.
She heard the rustling of papers and stepped towards the sound, but her foot rammed into something had, and she fell, hard, onto the ground. She'd tripped over the bedpost.
"Ladybug!"
She turned her head to the sound of Chat's voice. "I'm okay!" She crouched on the ground. "Stop him!"
Chat let out a disgruntled groan before heading back over to where Ladybug crouched on the ground.
"The one that got away," Chat joked. He forced something soft in Ladybug's hand. She used it to wipe away the blood in her eyes and then hold it over her forehead. Ladybug felt frozen at his expression. Kind. His eyes were just so green, especially against the bit of red still rimming his eyes.
"Yeah, he did," she whispered. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't trying to be a distraction."
"Don't be silly," Chat reassured her. "You weren't a distraction."
"I wasn't trying to get in the way. If I hadn't, he wouldn't have gotten away. I'm so, so, so sorry, Chat, and... I'm just sorry."
He didn't say anything further, but he gave a smile so soft that she had to look away.
"Wait," said Ladybug, seeing something white on the ground peaking out from under the bed. She pointed to it. "What's that?"
Chat bustled about for a few more moments before he looked at what she pointed at. "It's a paper," he said. "What-"
He pulled it from the ground and looked at it. "It's a house," he said, confused. "I think it - Ladybug!" Ladybug slowly tried to sit up straight, ready to look at the paper with him, but when a dizzy spell hit her, Chat quickly folded the paper, stuffed it in his pocket, and ran back to her. "We need to get you help," he said.
"I'm okay," she stated. "I need to get home, though."
"Okay, of course. Of course." Chat bent over and went to pick her up, but she just lifted up a hand. He paused, and said, "I can carry you. Where do you live?"
Ladybug gave an ugly snort. "I have to head back myself."
"I promise I won't try to find you after," he said. "You're safe."
She went to shake her head, but her head gave a slight spin again, so she controlled herself. "No, I think I just need to wrap this up, and take my time heading home. I'll go by myself."
Chat gave a huff of frustration, but he ripped off his belt and took a clean - or at least what looked like a clean - towel from the bathroom and moved expertly as he wrapped the towel over her forehead and tightened it.
Ladybug saw his intense expression and felt guilty. "I really don't think it's very bad, you know. Head wounds are just dramatic."
"Unfortunately, that's true," Chat affirmed, but his worry had switched to a professional feeling. "Head wounds bleed a lot, even when they shouldn't. You could lose a lot of blood, maybe even die."
"Aren't you a bucket of joy and a bundle of knowledge," she mumbled.
"I happen to know a lot of things," he said, finishing off the tie. He held out a hand, which she took. "Are you feeling okay enough to stand? Or do you need to wait?"
Ladybug moved like a bobblehead, side to side. "I think I should be okay." He slowly helped her up, and she gave a tentative few steps. She was okay enough to go - she had to be. "Yeah. Ready to head back to the bakery?"
Chat's lips tightened, but he nodded.
Arriving at their spot, Ladybug couldn't help but feel a mixture of embarrassment, empathy, and care for the man next to her.
"Hey, um, thank you," she said, gesturing to her head. And his hand, which she still held.
He hesitated before he let go. "I really want to make sure you get home okay. Please let me walk you home. Or at least a street or two away. Please."
She gave out a sigh. Instead of immediately answering, she pulled her side bag back around and pulled out the costume, for the second time that night, to give to him. She looked up at him with big eyes.
"How about this," she said. "You give me your phone number. I text you, letting you know when I'm home safe. That way, you don't have to worry."
His lips tightened again.
"Please?" Ladybug asked. "You can give me a fake number. Or an email. Or something."
Chat's lips were practically nonexistent. Ladybug gave him her most pitiful expression, the one that used to let her get away with anything in front of her dad. She watched as the cogs in his brain spun. Finally, Chat gave an annoyed exhale and said, "Fine. My email is..." he hesitated, cheeks quickly becoming rosy. "... hamsterman32."
Ladybug forced herself to not laugh. "You, er, like hamsters?"
"Well, we should be off, now, then," he said, too loud. Ladybug smiled as he turned away.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Probably," Ladybug said. "Depending on how my head turns out."
"Keep me updated!" he said, his back to her. He gave a two finger salute to the air.
Ladybug smiled. Silly cat. But as she walked, she realized he'd agreed too quickly. Ladybug narrowed her eyes, and kept looking over her shoulder. But eventually, she realized that he couldn't follow her past the great walls. Otherwise, she definitely would see him. So she kept going, trusting that he wouldn't find out who she really was.
She really was okay, she decided as she slowly walked, feeling weaker every minute. She didn't need any medical attention, she knew as she climbed up her bedsheet rope, blood staining the fabrics. She was fine, she thought as her fingers struggled to pull those sheets inside and hide them back in her closet. She didn't have a thing to worry about, she knew as she weakly pulled her out phone and sent Chat Noir a message with a new email.
ladyofthenight: It's LB. Home safe. You?
hamsterman32: Nice name, my lady. Glad to know you're safe. I'm almost home. I'll message when I'm there. Hope you can't get me out of your head (wound... haha, see what i did there?)
Marinette rolled her eyes again and quickly deleted the messages, and threw her phone under her pillow. She decided she needed to clean herself up before she could sleep.
he showered quickly, sitting, washing her hair gently as her head throbbed. dried blood - and even some fresh blood - accompanied the water.
Marinette groaned. She couldn't hide this.
She looked at her shaky hands. Her pale fingertips. And decided to do the only thing that could possibly cover this up. She stood slowly, and with the last bit of strength she had, she pulled down, hard against the shower curtains, making as much noise as humanly possible, hoping it would sound all the way through the hallways.
Cringing slightly, Marinette screamed. She started whining as dramatically as she could, loudly, and called, "Help!"
Within seconds, there was pounding on her door. Luka's voice followed. "Marinette, oh my God, are you okay?"
Marinette felt stupid as she cried, "I need the nurse!"
Luka's voice was even more panicked. "What's going on? What happened? Can I come in?"
Marinette, still completely naked under her towel, flushed at the thought. "Um, no! I need the nurse. Please, hurry!"
With each word that Luka spoke, he sounded farther away. "Shit. Okay, Marinette, I'll be right back."
Marinette cringed. She was not looking forward to what Tikki had to say in the morning.