Noblesse Oblige

Chapitre vingt-sept

Author stuff: So, I haven't really needed to post any trigger warnings in this fic, but I'm going to post one up here.

Trigger warning! Hanging as a form of public execution is not only mentioned but carried out in this chapter. Also mentions of death and dying.

Puppy update! My pup hates fireworks and wouldn't you know it, from 20 June to 20 July, that's all we have here. If y'all hear about a series of unexplainable deaths, I had no involvement whatsoever. It's purely a coincidence. Yes, purely a coincidence.

Also, to cheer you up from the end of this chapter, there's another oneshot for this called the write way. It's just a cute little thing that I wrote up. It's available in Once Upon a Forest on here.

Chapitre vingt-sept

Hanging by a Thread

"As if he wouldn't try something," Tom said, huffing. Marinette untangled herself from him and went to the bars, gripping them so tight her knuckles turned white and her fingers went cold.

"Is he here?" she said, a little more hopeful than she felt.

"No," Rose said, shaking her head. "We don't allow him. He threw a hissy fit when we told him that he couldn't. I think your mother ended up knocking him out."

"He won't be too happy when he wakes up," Nathaniel said, muttering.

"The duke announced that you're guilty," Juleka said. "You'll be hanged tomorrow. Papillon wasn't happy about that. I think he wanted something more... gory."

"Thank god Chat was already unconscious for that."

"I'll tell them that I'm Chat Noir, and Marinette was covering for me," Tom said, standing up. "You lot get out of here. I'm going to get the guards' attention."

"Papa, no," Marinette said. "You can't do that."

"I can and I will, sweet thing. You're still young. You have your whole life ahead of you."

"Sir, I don't think it'll be possible," Nathaniel said. "Papillon and Felix seem hell bent on this."

"This whole thing is a trap for Chat," Juleka said, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"Are you sure?" Rose said. "Do you think he knows?"

"It's Chat," Nathaniel said, rolling his eyes, "of course he knows."

"But he can't think straight when it comes to..." Rose said, her voice trailing off when her eyes landed on Marinette.

The dark haired girl swallowed hard, knowing where the sentence was leading. She felt her eyes heat up again. She fought back the urge to cry again. That stupid boy...

"Do you need us to bring you anything?" Rose said, reaching through the bars to take Marinette's hand.

She shook her head, turning to look at her father. He shook his head as well.

"We're fine, thank you," Tom said.

The three said their farewells, hugging Marinette through the bars – Nathaniel tighter than the others – and disappeared into the darkness.

For several moments, neither of them said anything. They let the silence fill their time as they waited for the other to speak. More than once, Marinette opened her mouth to say something – anything – but was at a loss of what to say.

She leaned against him, allowing his warmth to wrap around and comfort her. She stayed like that for a long time, until he had started to doze off and snore. That was how she knew time had passed at all — the in and out daze of wakefulness and sleep.