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"Yeah, uhm, Alya..." Fake cough, fake cough. "I'm a bit under the weather. Gotta stay home. Tell Madam Bustier I'm... like, really, really sick."
"Damn, really? I'll see you later, then."
Adrien looks back at Alya, worried. "Is 'Nette okay?"
"Nah, she's sick." Suddenly Alya grins, cat-like and scheming. "You should go see her. You know, bring soup or something?"
Adrien nods, accepting the idea. That sounds good. To be honest, the idea made him feel a bit giddy. He's never helped a friend, nor anyone, who was sick, for that matter. A new friend experience! But - of course - he feels bad Marinette is sick. Buuut, it's not bad to see the bright side in things, no?
Alya, realizing Adrien was totally going to visit Marinette, rushes to text her in an excited warning.
heeey girl you will not believe what i just did for you!!!!
what ??? *_*
adriens coming oooover after school ur welcome btw x
Marinette left her on read. Alya wasn't surprised. Marinette was probably a flustered mess and freaking out!
Marinette in fact was freaking out. Not because of embarrassment, no, but because she was bleeding out upon her bed. Not death, sure, but stitching yourself up while battling deathly fights every other day does take its toll. "No! No! Alya, why!" She screams into her pillow, Tikki floating up to her side. "What are you going to do, Marinette?" She asks, sweet as always. "Can I help?"
"I don't know, Tikki! I- well- blood! Blood first."
Washed up, clothes changed, and Adrien's pictures torn from her walls, she feels a little better. The akuma was a bear-based fiend, crying over hunting or something, and she got clawed. Gnashes in a perfect trio were embedded into her side, and she had just barely stitched them up. Blood still dribbled between the red, inflamed skin and thread. She would need to pour so much disinfectant and alcohol. Oh, god, it'd hurt so much, wouldn't it?
No, no. She should do it now. Now. Yes.
Thirty minutes of painstaking disinfecting later, her wound now (slightly less inflamed) was stinging just barely less. And looked much cleaner, on the bright side. She poked the angry skin and flinched. "Tikki, it's so sensitive. What if he h-hugs me?!"
"You think he would? You're sick remember?" Sarcastic quotation marks at the word sick.
"AGH! Tikki!" Marinette flops into her chair, and cries out in pain. "Ohmygod-- ohmy god Tikki- that-" She curls, clutching her gut and whining in pathetic pain. "That hurt. So bad." The pain rung in her ears.
It slowed. And she was okay again. Tikki hung at her side, worried and doting on her. "Maybe you should lie down..."
"No, no... I got to look sick."
One messy job of blushy makeup, faking dark circles under her eyes (actually, she pretty much already had them...), and changing clothes (again!) into pajamas, she was ready. Curling into her covers, trying to increase her body heat, she waits.
"You remember he's coming after school, right? It's morning." Tikki asks, already knowing the answer.
Marinette's reply is simply just a yell of frustration.
Hours of waiting and drawing later, the bell rings. Marinette jolts up, then nearly screams because ow owchowch owwwww why do stitches hurt so bad!
Her parents, fooled by the ruse of heating her forehead with a hairdryer to false a fever, welcome Adrien in to come up to her room. Before he enters, Tikki makes her escape to Marinette's bag, and Marinette rushes to her bed, getting on her phone, pretending like she was fine and totally not injured beyond what a normal high school girl would ever!
"Marinette?" His voice, oh, wow. He was pretty in almost every way.
Marinette sits up when he peeks through the trapdoor, and absolutely seethes because god it hurts, hurts so much she doesn't know how to even act normally. She gives Adrien a pursed smile, trying to seem- no, to feel at least a little normal. This is just the perfect fantasy come to life, no? Man of her dreams taking care of her while sickly?
"I heard you were sick... I- I haven't had a friend get sick before, but Alya suggested I visit, so I bought as much stuff that I thought would help." He stares for a moment as if finally noticing how weird she was acting. "Oh, jeez... you look deathly pale."
THAT STUPID BLUSH FAILED.
Now she didn't look feverish and now he'll think she skipped school and haaaate her and she'll die, she'll wither, she'll-
"No wonder you had to call out sick. I hope you don't feel too bad. Soup?" He asks, handing her a thermos. Marinette takes it, a little shyly, trying not to outright sob as she moves to sit on her pink little couch with the parasol. She pats the spot next to her and tries to speak as strongly as she can, but Adrien is staring at her looking almost scared. "Thanks, Adrien-" her voice is shaking! "Wha- what? What's wrong?"
"Why are your hands so cold?"
Marinette awkwardly coughs. "'Cuz I'm... aha... sick, you know..."
"Marinette." His voice is firm. "Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"
"I'm suuureEE?" Her voice goes up like nine octaves when Adrien moves to sit next to her, making her brain malfunction for a moment. "Sure." She restates, much more... you know, surely.
Adrien brushes against her and oh, wow, he's warm and wow, wow, wow his skin is soft and OW. OW. Owch because he's right against her injured side!
He might be able to feel the stitches!
She scoots away. He seems to be mildly hurt by the action, but when they're married with like four hamsters and she explains that she's Ladybug he'll probably understand. (Maybe blood loss is making her delusional.)
And Adrien isn't brilliant, but he's not dumb. When Marinette, taking her escape, stands, and gets a dizzy spell, Adrien realizes something is certainly wrong. Catching her, his face is scared and frowning. "Marinette, seriously, what's wrong?"
And then Marinette starts crying, pushing him away. His hand, that held tightly to her waist just moments before, was now lightly splattered with blood at the palm. Just a little splatter. Marinette could've claimed it was paint.
But she doesn't, and the two stare at each other for a long second (as in, many seconds).
"Marinette, you're bleeding."
She gives him an awkward smile, stumbling over her words. "It's... it's that time of the month?"
Not that Adrien was a personal expert of the woman's body, but he is not so much of an idiot that he doesn't know that period blood does not come out of the waist, and instead, comes out much lower. It's amazing, truly, what common sense makes you notice.
"Marinette, lift your shirt."
Never mind. Adrien has no common sense. He starts freaking out, rephrasing what he said. "Like! In a normal way! Not a creep! I swear. Ah, jeez, sorry Marinette...!"
Marinette laughs softly, then cries out, painful and distraught. "Agh, it hurts. Fine."
And then she lifts her shirt and Adrien can only stare in horror.
This was a hospital-level injury. Not just hospital, but like an emergency room level. Like. Immediate care. Not something a bedroom d.i.y cute bandaid montage would fix. "Marinette! We have to get you to the hospital!"
"No." Her voice, so familiar in so many ways and painstakingly commanding rattles through him. She was gorgeous when she stared so strongly, so powerfully, at him.
Wait, no, he shouldn't be thinking about that. Or how she looks totally hot like Ladybug even though she's wearing sweaty green pajamas that are maybe a little bit (really, really, really, very, very quite very) cute. "...Okay. Just, Mari... let me help."
And Marinette looks at him, truly looks at him, as if she's weighing the pros and cons. When she gets like this, logical and proper, it reminds him of a certain spotted superhero. "I- I, oh... fine..." She sputters, unable to deny him, especially with his oh so pretty eyes staring at her like that!
Adrien walks off a moment, then comes back into the room with a towel. Scratch that, because when he presses it ever so softly against her side it's not just a towel, it's a cold and wet towel. It actually didn't feel half bad on the inflamed wound, if it wasn't for the fact it was an overreactive inflamed injury, so it still hurt. "A-Ah, hell." Marinette curses under her breath, then clamps a hand over her mouth. She never normally cursed (does hell even count?). Adrien will so totally hate her now but maybe he'll forgive her and marry her and- okay, yeah, she is a little delusional currently, she'll admit.
He doesn't acknowledge her little "slip-up" and deftly gets between each sewing string stitch, leaving the wound cool and damp and clear of blood. He's had to patch up similar things on himself, since he's- wait.
Adrien has to patch up like this since he's Chat Noir.
Marinette- well, she must have a reason to be wounded like this, and what better reason is her being Ladybug?
Is it possible?
Marinette gives him a stiff, yet soft smile, clearly thankful. If Ladybug was to be someone, he'd like it to be Marinette. Would it be that off of a guess to assume that she could possibly be...?
"Thanks, Adrien."
He blushes, warm and fiery, and looks away. "Uhm, sure. Anytime. If you- uh, get hurt like this again, you can ask for help. I wouldn't mind." He gives her a small grin in return. "Anytime, seriously." His heart was racing. "But... please. Be more careful. I don't want you to get hurt... Marinette."
Marinette hesitates, face red to her ears, and then awkwardly nods. "I'll be safer. OH. UHM. Haha... what do you mean? Safer with what? I don't have anything to be careful about! Since, you know. I'm a baker. I'm just soooo clumsy. Uhm, yeah. I was at the akuma attack the other day and it just got me good!"
Adrien hides a laugh, deciding not to point out that Ladybug's cure would heal anything caused by the akuma. "Okay, Mari. Let me just finish fixing this up. And... then see an actual doctor. Okay?" He gives her a firm glare.
"...A-Alright."