Aged up characters
Mari: 20
Damian: 23
Marisquad:20-25
"Marinette why don't you ever wear your hair down?"
That was a question many people asked her.
From friends to random co-workers who saw her almost every day.
Marinette herself was unsure of that answer for a long time.
Only two people had ever seen her with her hair down, and that was on accident.
Adrien and Kagami.
7 years ago.
As of right now........
No one.
She realized that it was a matter of mental/spiritual awareness.
Marinette had long since gotten rid of her pigtails.
They were cute.
But not anymore with the hell she had faced.
If Marinette was mad, her hair was tightly wound into a braided bun that barely moved.
If Marinette was sad her hair was in a loose braid, but tight enough to not fall undone.
If Marinette was happy, genuinely happy - a rare sight - her hair would be in a ponytail.
Marinette loved the bat family.
They got off to a rough start due to trust issues and Marinette's saltiness against the Justice League (for reasons about Hawkmoth's former reign before defeat.)
But after a while (and lives were saved) they opened up to her, and she to them.
Especially Damian.
But as much as she loved them, she never let her hair down.
She just couldn't.
She knew why.
Letting her hair down would be a symbol of pure love and trust towards a person.
Not even limited to romance.
A sign that Marinette would truly open up her heart and soul, vulnerable to the other person.
Marinette's weakness over anything else was love.
Because it was a force that harmed her and took a toll on her.
Her parents' inability to see her as their daughter anymore.
Her "childhood friends" betrayal and abandonment.
Master Fu revealing that he had his memories the whole time, and wanted to see who she would become.
Cat Noir leaving her.
Marinette loved her friends.
But she just couldn't let her hair down.
Damian was the only person who never asked her that question.
Somehow he knew.
He understood in a way no one ever could.
When she didn't reply after he indirectly confessed being in love with her.
Not that she didn't reciprocate.
She didn't know how.
And after sitting in silence, he left to let her think.
He knew she needed time and space.
He'd be damned if he pushed her.
Two weeks after that she came to his room in the middle of the night.
Of course they were both wide awake.
Not that they would ever be normal sleepers again.
She laid on his bare scarred chest, listening to his heartbeat.
He held her close and stroked her hair.
Still braided.
Marinette tried to the best of her abilites to explain to him that she felt the same, but she got stuck.
Her overthinking habits flared up again.
She got sweaty and stumbled over the few quiet words that barely got out her mouth.
She hated herself so much in that moment.
She was scared.
She wanted to cry.
She did cry.
Damian wiped her tears and kissed her cheeks.
He soothed her to sleep.
Just them together.
In comfortable silence.
