Wolves

Ch 12

I woke up at 4:50 in the morning. I glanced at Chat, still unconscious and wrapped up in blankets. I placed a hand on his cheek, still fairly cold but much closer to body temperature. I scooted off my bed, leaving him there to warm up. I sat on my spinny chair, burying my face in my arms, my knees up to my chest. I had no tears left to cry, there was so much going on, if I didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have to feel this pain.

Once I gave myself a chance to breathe, I went back to check that he was warming up. I placed the back of my hand on his forehead and did the same with my other hand and forehead. We were roughly the same temperature by now. I checked his pulse. It seemed at a normal rate.

I moved so his head was resting on my lap, I noticed he had some hair in his face and I moved my hand to move it so I could see his face but I noticed his nose twitch at the hairs. My hand shot back in surprise before bringing it back and swiping the hair from his face. He started to stir and blink open his eyes.

“Chat?” I asked, I couldn’t believe he was awake. “Chat!” his eyes searched around the room, getting his bearings before landing on me.

“Marinette?” His voice was weak and horse.
“Yes?”

“Wha-what happened? Are you okay? How did I get here? Please tell me you didn’t follow me to the Akuma.”

“Yes, I’m fine, Ladybug defeated the Akuma and brought you here. What happened was the akuma knocked you unconscious and threatened to kill you if she didn’t get both miraculouses. She um, this is hard to explain but she tried to freeze you, entirely.” I took a shaky breath. “Chat, you almost died, I tried my best to keep you warm but it was really scary for me.” He wiggled himself mostly out of the blankets so he was sitting up with me, he was shaking from the left over cold and fatigue.

“You need to rest.” I chided.

“I know, but so do you, you look exhausted and hurt and pretty much everything other than fine.”

“I can assure you that I’m fine, you need to warm up more, I’ll go make you some soup, I’ll also grab something for your kwamii, what do they eat?” I started to get up.

Chat grabbed my arm and I started to protest that I’m fine when I saw his eyes. “Marinette, how do you know about kwamiis?” I started searching for an answer.

“Well, umm, Ladybug told me when she brought you, she told me that they need to eat and that yours might be hungry.” I am on the verge of lying as I said this and I felt awful.

“Oh, that makes sense.” Chat bought it. “Um, well, my kwamii’s name is Plagg and he likes cheese, preferably camembert but really any would do.”

“Okay, I think we have some.” I continued down stairs and started warming some soup as I searched for the cheese. I was relieved that Chat was awake, he’s my teammate and I can’t be Ladybug without him.

I found the cheese was in the very back of the fridge, behind the vegetables. I need to bottle up these thoughts, I just need to focus on helping him heal, he’s done so much for me that I must return the favors. The microwave beeped and I took out the soup and placed the cheese on a plate. I didn’t know how much Plagg eats so I just put all of it on.

I brought them upstairs and had to do a weird balancing act to open the trapdoor. In hindsight, I could have just set them down but the door was already opened and nothing broke.

Chat hadn’t moved much since I left him, when he saw me, he shifted, indicating come to me so wouldn’t have to walk all the way but I shot him a look warning him not to move. I sat the cheese down on my desk and brought the soup up to Chat.

“How are you feeling?”

“I’m feeling alright, if you want I could get up.”

“In a moment yes, you will get up, and take a shower to warm up, but first you need to eat something.”

“Fine.” he accepted the soup and grabbed the spoon, his hand shaking.

“Chat, do you need help? It’s alright if you do you know.”

“I know, I can do this.” he sounded determined but he looked exhausted.

“Here, just let me help you.” I held out my hands. He hesitated before reluctantly handing them back and letting me feed him.

“I could have done it eventually.” Chat pouted in between bites.

“I’m sure you could’ve, but you're still healing, I don’t expect you to be better right away.”

He finished the soup after a moment and I helped him off the bed.

“Do you want to take the cheese with you so Plagg can eat it sooner?”

“Sure.” I grabbed the plate for him and helped him to my bathroom. I set the plate on the counter and turned on the faucet.

“Okay, I’ll just leave you here, call me if you need anything.”

“Thanks purrincess.” he moved his arm from my shoulder and placed his hand on the wall for support. I left the bathroom, shutting the door behind me.

Before getting back to Tikki I grabbed some cookies for her.

“Hey Tikki.” I lightly call.

“Marinette!” she flew over to me.

“Sorry I took so long, you must be hungry.” I held out the cookie and she started to eat it.

“Do you think Chat will be okay?”

“Well, I think so, it might take a while, but I think he’ll be alright.”

“I know, I’m just concerned because the lucky charm couldn’t even heal him fully.”

“The lucky charm can only do so much Marinette, it removed the ice but it’s going to take a lot to heal.”

“I understand, sorry, this is just a lot to handle.”

“It’s okay Marinette.” I heard the shower turn off downstairs.

“He’ll be up at any moment, you need to hide Tikki.” she zipped to a hiding spot and I continued on pinning the fabrics. After a few minutes, I heard a knock on my trapdoor.

“Come in.” I called, finishing up my work. Chat entered, holding the plate. His hair still looked a little damp but was dry enough. He set the plate down and made his way over before stumbling a bit. I rushed to help steady him.

“You need to sit down, you're still healing.” I helped him to a chair.

“Th-thanks.”

“So how are you feeling now?”

“Alright I suppose, sorry if I burdened you with taking care of me. If you’d like I think I’ve got enough energy to get home.”

“No, it’s fine, you're not burdening me, I just want to make sure you are doing okay. If you’d feel more comfortable at home then you can leave tonight but I want to make sure you heal nicely.”

“Okay.” he turned his flushed face.

“U-um, do you need anything?” I asked, also looking away.

“No, I’m fine.” I felt his hand slide over mine. My breath cough and I could feel my heart fluttering in my chest. Still looking away, I turned my hand so that our fingers were interlaced. I wanted to stay that way for a while, his presence was comforting and made me forget about my death in a month.