08/23/24
3 Reviews, 6 Favs, 6 Follows
Marinette knew her dark prince would come soon but knowing how he likes to lurk, she always had a steady heartbeat not to get spooked.
She saw a bat flying to her open window before it morphed into a cat man.
"Good evening, my princess bride," Claw Noir said.
"Good evening, Lord Noir," Marinette said.
"Always welcoming with open paws," Claw Noir said.
"Heh, you always find ways to make an entrance" Marinette scratched his chin.
"Yeaaaaah" Claw Noir closed his eyes purring.
"Aww….did you miss being petted?" Marinette asked.
"I'm just having this emotional need" Claw Noir nuzzled her.
"Good kitty" Marinette pets him.
"I miss you, my dark princess. This kitty was so desperate to be petted by you for so long" Claw Noir purred.
"I miss you too, kitty. I'm sure you told your old friend Adrien Agreste how much you wanted to come home" Marinette teased his real self.
"Yes, still adapting like usual," Claw Noir said.
"And I hope you haven't been biting necks too much in Mexico. I know it's in your nature but it sounds like biting is a stress reliever" Marinette said.
"That's the downside of being a vampire" Claw Noir said.
"Perhaps use a chew toy for that" Marinette teased.
"Really Purrincess?" He raised a brow.
"Animals like dogs or cats, they chew their chew toys to relieve stress or anger. Like how many times have you bitten necks recently?" Marinette asked.
"A lot but I got control of my fangs. I studied the neck area to determine what kills or not kills the victim. 3 ounces of pressure to the vagus nerve makes the victim go unconscious" Claw Noir said.
"Thank goodness" Marinette pets his hair.
He purred by her petting, "But you're right. Maybe I do need a chew toy to bite with to reduce my stress"
"That would be hilarious to see you chew on it," Marinette said.
Claw Noir rolled his eyes but smirked, "Anyways, I came by to see you, my love. I know you told me as Ladybug but I like having Claw Noir meet his princess face to face"
"I understand. There needs to be a balance in double lives" Marinette said.
"Two extra lives in my nine lives" Claw Noir chuckled.
"Anyways, did you try the beach like a real vacation in Mexico?" Marinette asked.
"Totally. While I was greeting our friends as I was home, I forgot to show them my pics on my phone in Mexico. I just didn't want Alya begging me to post these pics on her blog" Claw Noir said shyly as he took out his iPhone to show the pics.
"Hmmm, looks like you tried out surfing" Marinette saw a picture of him surfing.
"Yeah. It was actually fun. I never had surfing in my own timeline" Claw Noir said.
"I see" Marinette shrugs.
"But I did take a few photos of dolphins too with a waterproof camera. Other than that, I had fun at the beach, both daytime and dusk" Claw Noir said.
"Next time I'll come along," Marinette said.
"We'll see. New York, Florida, Washington DC, London, Spain, Italy, and Mexico were amazing. Italy sure holds its culture history" Claw Noir said.
"It sure does," Marinette said.
The feline held her close to him, "You're so dangerously beautiful"
"Maybe I'm growing claws" Marinette teased.
"Meow, my lovely princess bride is becoming wild" Claw Noir flirted.
"Heh, just don't bite my neck, kitty. That was one time when I saved your life that night. I was very selfless to save your life as myself and many times as Ladybug" Marinette said.
"Technically, I bit you twice. The neck and the arm" Claw Noir corrected her.
"Without turning me. But it's still the same to save your life" Marinette said.
"Yes, I may be immortal but I can still die or be killed" Claw Noir.
"Not unless through the heart you can. Snake venom, poisonous gas, frozen in ice, poison, anything like that doesn't work on you. You were lucky to breathe in poison gas last time" Marinette said.
"Yeah, I was" Claw Noir replied.
"But sometimes I feel scared to lose you, kitty. The same way you're scared to lose me" Marinette hugs him.
"I know my princess, I worry that new threats might come," Claw Noir said.
"And you better not lose Felix too. He's still your relative" Marinette said.
"He's one of my last living relatives after all" Claw Noir said.
"He has his mom and grandmother. Technically not last yet" Marinette said.
"And his living ancestor. But the point is he's still stubborn to date a girl. Ever since the pressure and trauma Lila put him through, he had self-doubt to not wanna date a girl" Claw Noir said.
"Can't say I blame him" Marinette said.
"The same way you had trust issues because of Chloe. I don't blame you because you were protecting yourself" Claw Noir said.
"Yeah. I'm just happy you're back home, kitty. I did convince you to take a vacation and a break from hunting supernatural beings which you did. Lila may be your first kill but there are things worse than her when she was alive for over a century" Marinette said.
"Yeah. Threats are always unpredictable" Claw Noir said.
"And let's hope your ass remains alive," Marinette said, remembering the time he was almost killed.
"Of course" Claw Noir then leans in to kiss her.
The purring tickled her a bit when he was happy, especially kissing her on the lips. Marinette could tell how much he missed kissing her again.
"You look very happy like a cute kitty" Marinette scratched his chin.
"Yeaaaaaah" Claw Noir chuckled.
"And I hope you're not too annoyed with bad guys calling you a hooker too much," Marinette said before scratching the back of his head.
"I am, I may need to change my costume," Claw Noir said.
"I like this better," Marinette said.
"Mmhmm?" Claw Noir nodded.
"Can you imagine if you went back to soft paws, you'll be too cute like a kitten to make dumbasses go "awww" at you?" Marinette asked.
"Yeah, that would make the perfect trap," Claw Noir said.
"But there are some who are dead inside to feel anything. Which is why this look is like a badass for you to kick ass" Marinette said.
"Truth to be told, I kind of miss being Paw Noir" Claw Noir said.
"You gotta put the past behind you, kitty. Your old reputation still exists in history books" Marinette said before laying down on her chaise.
"Guess I'm being sentimental" Claw Noir laid next to her.
"And you still keep an old black and white photo of your parents and yourself together. You should do something with it like an ofrenda from Mexico. Like help them cross their souls into the living world to see you" Marinette suggested.
"If I could, but I haven't handled magic before, Princess" Claw Noir said.
"Seance is always your way to communicate with your parents, kitty. But you try something new for them. They love you and so does the late descendants from the 1900s" Marinette said.
"You're right" Claw Noir replied.
She kissed his cheek, "Now get some sleep in your coffin, my lord"
"And you too, Purrincess," He said before leaving.
x
At the mansion, Adrien brushed his teeth and fangs, not caring if he couldn't see his reflection but the floating toothbrush and the visible toothpaste shape of his fangs.
"Well, it was fun visiting my princess," He thought.
After rinsing his mouth, he comes back to the bedroom where Felix was simply waiting for him to go to sleep.
"No hunting at night?" Felix asked.
"Another time. Every time I hunt, it's just too easy. I need a very hard challenge than that" Adrien gets in his coffin bed.
"Life isn't always as easy as it looks, Adrien. Not even the undead too" Felix said.
"Yes, it is" Adrien replied before closing the lid and going to sleep.
But Felix wasn't finished as he opened the coffin lid, "Or maybe because you are the scariest supernatural being to them"
"The only one around here so far" Adrien opens his eyes.
"My point is that the reason it's too easy for you is that you are way too strong and a badass to them. If you want a challenge, you need a new strategy. Like sneaking and lurking for example to make this spooky" Felix said.
"Maybe I need more practice," Adrien said.
"Just don't get overworked again. Maybe next time you can borrow Argos' chew toy to relieve your stress of biting" Felix teased.
"As if! I'm like a cat and bat, not a dog!" Adrien replied.
"But to Lila, it was like you became her pet. Due to hell hath no fury on her" Felix snickered.
"That's what she gets when she becomes foolishly vindictive and can't take no for an answer. Now go to sleep. Tomorrow is Saturday and I like sleeping in more" Adrien said before putting his arms crossed on his chest.
"Sleep well, Dracula" Felix closed the coffin.
(Adrien's nightmare)
Adrien sees that he's back to his old timeline of 1887 and sees his younger human self giggling while his mother and father are there in the backyard of the mansion. The only happy memories with his parents he ever had until the scene changes to a repressed memory dream of the day he met Lila Rossi who was nothing but a stranger to him and he did not like to be around girls who harass him.
He saw her forming a creepy grin on her face, "Recognize your human life?" Lila giggled.
The scene changes to the catacombs where he sees Paw Noir vampire being dragged by goons to his coffin, "No! You cannot do this!" He struggled to no avail.
"Such lovely memories of ruining your life" Lila cackled.
"Lila! You're not getting away with this!" Paw Noir screamed.
"I already have. Too bad you won't see Mommy and Daddy in heaven. Where you'll be is in my hell world with me!" Lila laughed.
As she laughed, her eyes glowed a fiery yellow color. This was becoming a nightmare that deep down, Adrien felt scared to believe Lila would come back to haunt him for revenge.
"You can't escape me, Adrien! I will haunt you for eternity!" Lila cackled.
(End of nightmare)
Adrien banged his head on the closed lid before waking up, "Agh!"
This woke Plagg up in alarm, "Kid, are you alright?" Plagg asked him.
"Ow…..yeah. I'm okay" Adrien recovered.
The lid was opened by Felix, "Adrien what's going on? I heard you scream" Felix woke up.
"I just had a nightmare of Lila sending me to hell," Adrien said.
"That was just a bad dream. You're definitely very stressed out to believe she would come back to haunt you" Felix guessed.
"There's no way she'll return, her soul is damned," Plagg said.
"Damned or not, sometimes she can make a bargain with the devil" Adrien felt like he slept horribly.
"Don't believe dreams are like a prophecy" Felix hands him a bottle of blood to help him feel better from his fright.
Adrien drank blood rapidly at how much he needed it, "I don't know but I never get that many bad dreams like this"
"That's new for you," Felix said.
"I'm probably just too stressed out or she is just a memory messing my ass up," Adrien said before grabbing another blood bottle to drink out of stress.
"You need help," Felix said.
"I'm fine, Felix. Just go back to sleep. I'll feel better with soothing music to calm down a bit" Adrien lifts his old MP3 player with his telekinesis.
"Alright," Felix yawns and goes back to bed.
x
The next day, Adrien was at the park with Marinette. He explained his nightmare last night that felt like a repressed memory but he's not sure if it feels like a prophetic dream or just his stress messing him up.
"It seems these nightmares are triggered by trauma," Marinette said.
"I still don't understand. I put the past behind me. Way behind my ass" Adrien said before eating ice cream with her.
"Maybe you're afraid she'll rise from the dead?" Marinette guessed.
"Okay, I am. But I killed her that night. Her blood is on my hands but I couldn't let her continue deceiving for another hundred years" Adrien said.
"Adrien, you didn't kill her by revenge, you killed her to avenge your father's death. None of the descendants uncovered the truth but you did. It wasn't out of vengeance or bloodlust, it was Justice" Marinette said.
"It was, but what happened over a century ago still haunts me," Adrien said.
"Everyone goes through post-traumatic trauma all the time but they try to forget it," Marinette said.
"It's not easy, Princess" Adrien said.
"Name a few things that make you happy," Marinette asked.
"Aside from laser pointers and spending time with you?" Adrien wondered.
"Deeper" Marinette said.
"Falling in love with you?" Adrien said.
"Exactly," Marinette said.
"Making new friends? Socializing with new people?" Adrien said.
"Yeah, they might be able to help you cope with your loss," Marinette said.
"You changed me, princess. So did Felix too. Ever since I woke up from my hibernation, I was scared that there's no one to talk to because the people I knew in my time are dead" Adrien said.
"Yeah, but you're not alone anymore," Marinette said.