A Masked Mistake

A Perfect Year [18: Midnight Rendezvous]

Marinette looked at her pale grey skin and greasy hair in the mirror. She had one hour until Alya came to drag her out of the apartment and to the New Year's party Kim and Ondine were throwing in their new apartment. She pulled down on her cheeks, her lips pursing as she checked out the right and left side of her face, she looked terrible. There were no other words for it.

She'd been working herself to the bone over the past week, wanting to fill the empty void Chat had left her with when he'd returned home. He'd wanted to stay. He'd begged her to let him stay, but she knew he had already missed enough being here over Christmas. It wasn't fair to take him for New Years as well, not when he was going to be coming home to her soon enough. They were merely weeks away from his homecoming and she really couldn't wait.

Christmas had been wonderful, even if she spent the night with her head down Luka's toilet, and she never got a chance to give Chat Noir his extra special gift that night. He didn't complain in the slightest at receiving it the next morning.

Her energy seemed to have been fluctuating a lot, wavering between being recharged to the max and dragging her sorry ass across the floor; and knowing she was going to have to be awake for majority of the day she'd giving herself the day off (positives of working for herself) and spent it watching reruns of 'Friends' in bed. Yet, she still felt completely drained.

"Marinette, don't you think you should see a doctor or something? Don't take this the wrong way, but you don't look good."

Sighing, Marinette looked in the mirror again, Tikki floating alongside her, her face laced with worry.

"I'm just stressed," she uttered, moving over towards her shower, "it's everything with work, and helping at the bakery. Then there's Chat's impending move, and keeping our identities secret. Not forgetting to add that Gabriel's about to go for retrial."

Stripping herself down, she stepped under the warm sprays of water as they battered against her body, her eyes closing voluntarily, yet involuntary staying that way.

"Marinette?"

The feeling was so nice she didn't want to move. The warmth of the water, the gentle hit of the spray on her bare body, her heavy eyelids closed.

"Marinette?"

She felt her breath steadying, the long drawn out exhales and comfortable feeling.

"Marinette?" A sharp pain hit her arm, her eyes dragging open and trying to focus on what had just attacked her, only to come face-to-face with her Kwami.

"Sorry, Tikki."

She continued to wash up, hair, body... a quick shave, before stepping out the shower into the cold confines of the bathroom. Luckily, the cool air woke her up a little and she managed to manoeuvre herself around enough to get her hair dried and styled before moving onto her make up, coating her face with as much concealer and foundation as possible, anything to give her a little bit of colour and a little bit of life.

She grabbed her straighteners running them through her hair before heading back into the bedroom and finding her dress for the evening. Alya told her she needed to dress up, her response being 'why?' After all, her husband wasn't there so what was the point? To be honest, she was tempted to stick on her Chat Noir onesie and go out in that. It was warm and fluffy, and comfortable. Instead she was going to be freezing her ass off in a little black dress that she knew would draw more attention than she'd want.

Alya had promised she'd look after her, that no one would come onto her or get too close, Luka agreeing to be her bodyguard just in case. But she didn't want a bodyguard, or her friends protecting her. She wanted to snuggle up on the sofa with her husband by her side counting down to their first New Year together, making out and then going to bed. Now that was a perfect evening.