Originally uploaded Jan 7, 2024
"Ugh Tikki, why won't this headache go away?" Marinette crossed her arms on her desk and put her head down on top of them, shutting her eyes. "All I want to do is take a nap and the day isn't even half over yet."
"You could lie down on the couch for a little bit," said the kwami, looking concerned. Marinette sighed and dragged herself out of her chair, headed toward the living room. She pulled a blanket off the stack by the couch and laid down, propping herself up on a pillow against the armrest.
"I'll just take a little bit of a nap," she mumbled, "then I'll get back up."
Tikki flew silently across the room to turn off the lights. It had been several months since Hawkmoth's defeat and almost a month since Marinette had graduated college. No longer living above the bakery but instead out in Paris, she sometimes missed having her parents close by to help her when she felt sick. Fortunately, Adrien had moved in a couple of weeks ago, shortly after their 1-year dating anniversary. With their hero work primarily finished (they were always down to lend a helping hand when needed, of course), the two had revealed their identities to each other. After some fumbling and a whole lot of stuttering, they were both elated to learn who the other was. Plus, it was a relief to no longer have to make up excuses for missing dates or being late – it turns out they had been with each other the whole time anyway, just in different outfits.
Several hours later, Marinette woke to the sound of a key in the lock of the front door.
"Hey Mari, so I got those groceries and was thinking of making soup for dinner tonight-" Adrien stopped when he noticed his half-asleep girlfriend on the couch. Sleeping during the day was pretty unusual for her. "You feeling okay Marinette?"
Marinette, still half asleep, managed to shake her head. "Don't feel good," she mumbled, burying her head back in her pillow. Adrien set the grocery bags he was carrying in the kitchen, then moved back toward the couch. He brushed the hair out of her eyes with a sympathetic look.
"Your forehead feels really warm, can we take your temperature?" he asked. She nodded, and he fetched the thermometer from the bathroom and helped her put it in her mouth. Adrien put the groceries away while the thermometer worked and went back to check it when it beeped.
"Your temperature looks pretty normal, but you'd better take it easy for the day, just in case." He said. Looking at Tikki curled up on the back of the couch, he added "You probably both should." Marinette protested slightly, wiggling as though trying to get up. Adrien whispered "Hey, hey, it's okay, naps are okay. Sleeping is good, I'm proud of you for taking care of yourself." Giving his girlfriend a kiss on the forehead and tucking her back into the blanket, he headed to the kitchen to start on dinner. Cooking was something he had really come to enjoy now that he had mastered the basics, and the chilly weather was perfect for making a big pot of chili. He hummed quietly while he worked, turning on only the light above the sink to keep the nearby living room dark. While the chili simmered away on the stove, Adrien figured a shower was in order. He was feeling a bit tired himself, but told himself it was just the setting sun after a day of running errands and planning for the week ahead. Unfortunately, the hot shower just seemed to make him even more tired, but at least he was done with work for the day.
After drying his hair, he gently shook Marinette awake. "It's time for dinner," he whispered. He made them both bowls while she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Tikki, disturbed by the blanket moving, mumbled something they didn't hear and flew off toward the bedroom, Plagg not far behind. Adrien put on an episode of a show they had already watched together, figuring if one or both of them fell asleep on the couch at least they wouldn't miss anything new.
Marinette managed to eat half the bowl of soup before she had to give it up. The bad feeling in her head had started to spread throughout her body. When Adrien asked her if she wanted some medicine, she just shrugged, her mind not feeling as present as usual. When he brought her some cold medicine she took it, hoping it would help whatever was going on. When the episode was over, Adrien guided her toward the shower, then cleaned up the dishes and put away the leftovers while she got ready for bed. When she got into bed and pulled the comforter up around her, he was not far behind. He whispered a goodnight to the kwamis on his way (who were both in their own bed in the living room), double checked the door was locked and the stove was off, and headed for bed, hoping whatever sickness was getting to Marinette would pass by the morning.
The sickness did not, in fact, pass by morning. Marinette woke up to her alarm and quickly shut it off. She laid still with her eyes closed for three breaths, then decided she wasn't ready to get up yet. It was her day off work and while she usually got up at the same time every day, today she just wasn't feeling it and turned her alarms and phone off entirely before drifting off to sleep.
She woke up to being nudged by Adrien, who was also still in bed. A look at the clock on her nightstand told her it was already early afternoon. She groaned and sat up slowly, sitting on the edge of the bed to get her bearings.
"You okay?" She heard Adrien ask as he sat up. "Actually," he said hoarsely, "I am not okay." She could hear it in his voice that the sickness that had gotten to her had spread to him, too. Marinette nodded, not feeling up to talking. She made her way slowly out through the living room to the kitchen, noticing that the kwamis were both still in bed on her way. She started up the coffee machine, becoming aware of a scratchy uncomfortable feeling in her throat. Hoping that the hot drink would help, she poured herself a big mug full and moved to the couch, leaving the lights off. Adrien, following the smell of the coffee, did the same.
"Movie day?" She whispered when he sat down beside her. Even the slight talking hurt, and his silent nod told her that Adrien was feeling the same way. They both spend the afternoon on the couch in their pajamas, drinking coffee and water and periodically nodding off while a tv show played in the background. By early evening, it was clear that neither was getting better as the day went on, and both decided to call out of work for a couple of days, just in case.
"Thank goodness for large batches of soup," Adrien croaked later that night, when they were feeling good enough to try to eat food. Unfortunately, about an hour after they ate, Marinette regretted it and her dinner made a reappearance. Adrien patted her on the back while she cried in the bathroom (she always cried a little when she threw up, the feeling was the absolute worst) and helped her brush her teeth and drink some water. She was vaguely aware of him tucking her into bed, whispering a soft "love you" as he kissed her forehead and turned off her alarm for the next day. Then she was asleep, a trashcan next to her side of the bed just in case.
The next morning, she woke up briefly to movement on the other side of the bed as sunlight peaked through the curtains.
"It's okay, it's just me," Adrien whispered, lightly scratching her back, and she drifted back to sleep.
When she woke up several hours later, she was feeling well enough to climb out of bed. Adrien was still very asleep, so she gave him a kiss on the head and closed the bedroom door behind her so he could keep sleeping. She found the kwamis awake in the living room, both looking under the weather themselves. That was the downside for the kwamis of being so connected to their Chosen; when their person got sick, they did too. Marinette got both of them a snack from the kitchen and opened the blinds on one of the kitchen windows.
"How long was Adrien awake?" She asked Tikki.
"Until about 8 o'clock this morning," the kwami replied around bites of cookie.
"He was up all night?" Marinette asked, who was pretty sure she had gone to bed somewhere around midnight. Tikki nodded.
"He said his throat hurt too much to sleep, so he just played some videogames and watched a movie. He didn't talk much."
"Poor Adrien," murmured Marinette, knowing that her chatty boyfriend hated a sore throat especially when it made it hard for him to talk. Her throat was feeling better this morning but her nose had gone all stuffy, which made her breathing feel weird.
After a slice of toast, Marinette figured that a hot steam-filled shower might help clear her nose a bit, and thankfully the humid steam did help some. She changed into clean pajamas, as she had no plans to leave the apartment for the day and wanted to be as comfy as possible. Despite the colder weather outside, she opened a window in the living room and one in the bedroom (careful not to wake up Adrien), hoping some fresh air for a couple hours would do them both good.
Around 7pm, Adrien stirred and emerged to where Marinette was playing video games in the living room. She had been playing a calm farming game most of the day, not feeling up for the excitement of her usual fast-paced games. They hung out together for a bit, not saying much. Marinette managed to eat a little soup and keep it this time, which was a relief. She threw in a load of laundry before going to bed, so that all of her pajamas would be clean. She also had to open a new box of tissues, having gone through so many in the few hours she had been awake.
The next day was relatively the same, with Adrien stuck awake all night and coming to bed in the morning, and Marinette sleeping in late and taking a nap in the afternoon. By the evening she felt almost guilty about sleeping so much, but Tikki reassured her that sick people just needed more sleep, it was important for getting better. Marinette managed a short walk around the neighborhood before it got dark, but it was pretty much all the energy she had. She didn't even bother to fold her clean laundry, just left it in the dryer and pulled things out when she needed them. It's not like there was anyone around to judge her for wearing a wrinkly shirt anyway. Adrien woke up as she was eating some dinner in the kitchen, rereading one of her favorite books.
"You're eating again, that's good," he said, rubbing her back and kissing the top of her head on his way passed.
"Yea, I'm starting to feel a little better, which is nice," she replied, stretching her arms above her head. "You're getting yourself one weird sleep schedule," she teased.
"I know." Adrien said with a slight laugh. "Going back to work is going to be rough, I'm going to have to nap over lunch." Marinette chuckled at the thought of Adrien napping under his desk at work, curled up like a cat. They each had one more day off work before they were due back, and were hoping it would be enough time to recover and manage a couple workdays before the weekend came back around.
That evening they were feeling awake enough to play a board game for a while, and the kwamis even made an appearance to cheer them on while they played. As much as Marinette hated being sick, she had to admit that sometimes, even sick days could have their perks. After all, when else would people be so proud of her for taking so many naps in one day?