Shadowteer

Chapter 36

Puppeteer wrapped her arms around herself and snuck out of her room, hoping not to bump into Shadow Man not because she didn't want to, but because Manon didn't. She went around exploring and entered the training room, unaware of the figure in her shadow, looking on with a frown on his face. She found a training room, her eyes on the machines and equipment until she finally decided on a bench press, laying herself down on it. She took a deep breath and gripped the barbell firmly, raising it high above her chest.

"You shouldn't be doing that without a spotter, you know." She gasped and felt the bar slip through her fingers, letting out a small relieved sigh when he places his hand on it and it disappeared into the shadows. His eyes were on her now; an almost devilish smile on his hidden face. "You could get hurt and I can't risk losing you again, doll."

"Oh please, get yourself some guns like I have and maybe I'll consider it." She rose an arm and flexed it in front of his face, laughing at the perplexed look on his face.

"Well, doll, you really should find yourself a good pair of eyes cause all I see no 'guns', only you and you aren't a killer. I kinda am but you, nah." She mimicked his voice and grabbed him by the cloak, placing her lips firmly against his. He returned the gesture with a gentle chuckle for a moment before both teens managed to gain control of their bodies and pull away from each other. Manon brought a hand to her mouth and wiped Chris off her lips, scowling at him.

"What the hell? Why did you do that?!"

"Me?! You kissed me, not the other way around!"

"Pssh, that was the Puppeteer! I would never willingly..." She saw the smirk on his face and stopped mid-sentence, feeling warmth she desperately wanted to destroy in her face. She put her hair into a bun and cleared her throat. Then in a small voice, she said, "we need to talk about this, you know?"

"About what? The fact that we left for only a few months and came back to find out our akumas are... Together?" He let out a fake gag and she smiled slightly, stepping forward.

"And what's so wrong with being together?" His expression softened and she sighed when she heard him whisper nothing in his smooth accent. She threw him a water bottle and he caught it instinctively, watching her keenly as she finished her workout in silence. After about thirty minutes of groans and Chris fighting back a blush, though she wouldn't see it, she sat down on the floor and took the bottle from his hands, gulping it down with a small content sigh. He could feel her right thigh pressed against his left thigh as they sat in silence, thinking of what to say. He hummed the time to "Party Rock Anthem" and she joined him, adding some weird dance moves and hand gestures until they were a laughing mess on the floor. "Dammit, douche, stop distracting me!"

"How am I distracting you, beautiful?" She punched him in the shoulder, growling when he stuck out his tongue and she folded her arms. He copied her position and stared at the floor. "There's nothing to talk about, Manon."

"But Chris-"

"Just leave it, okay?! Dammit, I shouldn't have come to Paris, but I had to because I felt like if I didn't get closure if I didn't see your annoyingly cute little face again, I would die. I came here, and I didn't meet that cute little six-year-old Manon. I met... This bombshell of a fifteen-year-old and I just stayed, I kept holding on, pushing my flights back until I couldn't even imagine going anywhere too far from you and I got addicted." He swallowed and pressed his arm against the wall, pushing himself to rise when he felt a hand on his. He looked down and saw her inches away from him, her lips apart and her eyes holding tears that were on the verge of breaking through. He knew it was the exact same thing on his end but he pushed the thought away, feeling a slow but steady stream of self-derogatory insults stream into his mind. He knew it was Nightmare and he knew that all rational thinking pointed at him fighting back but he was tired; tired of having to push through everything in his life, having to fight back when life gave him a kick. Why couldn't the world just end so he could go to hell and rot there for the rest of eternity? "Addicted to you. Damn, Avicii's song is perfect for this shit. Spoiler alert; everyone dies in the end and I would rather not take you to hell with me."