Noir Spots

Numb Little Bug

sorry this took so long to write

It kind of felt like a void that kept screaming at me

---

Numbness was like a drug.

It was everything and nothing, making the bad go away, and the good with it. Cold fingertips stroke bleeding hearts, stealing away smiles and rotting souls with a beautiful pain that makes it irresistible to refuse. Hours of silence in a thunderous room turn to days of unbroken splinters turn into weeks of sullen smiles that scare the mirror.

It was miserable bliss.

Autopilot clicks on with a screaming sigh, keeping decay at bay with only the basic necessities. Meals are small, naps are long and unending, bathrooms are meant for nothing more than relief, nails turn red with blood instead of polish as they are bitten down in place of food.

The sweet, soft touch of Death would be present, stroking limp hair and hollow cheeks feels much more like life than the real thing. Darkness was all consuming, wrapping its claws around the moon and her stars.

But then the lights turn on, Darkness disappears, the sun has appeared.

Suddenly blue fingertips returned to a rosy pink, light once again shines against the moon.

Safety, warmth, protection, home.

It was an incredible feeling, until the moon falls...and falls...and falls.

Right into the arms of Adrien Agreste.

Marinette swallowed the cry building like a crescendo in her throat, she couldn't panic, not in the arms of the enemy.

"Hey there Princess, fall from your tower?"

A few weeks ago Marinette would have swooned at the sight of Adrien swooping in dramatically to save her, she would have stuttered over her thank you, blushing brighter than her Ladybug suit, all while imagining her future with him and their kids and hamster.

Now his green eyes felt like poison in her veins.

Marinette felt frozen in his grip, the expression on Adrien's face that of a predator that caught its prey after a long chase.

She had to play it cool, she had no clue what Adrien wanted, why he was even in a fake suit in the first place.

"T--thank you." Marinette whispered, ashamed that she didn't have to fake the tremor in her voice.

"No problem, I'm always around to save a damsel in distress!"

The implications of that made Marinette shake, she hoped Chat Noir saw it as shock.

Marinette waited for him to set her down, but his grip remained tight. It felt like a snake wrapped around her, squeezing the life out of her.

"Can you set me down please?" Marinette whispered. She subtly tried to pull herself out of his grip...one arm loose...two arms--

Chat Noir didn't say anything, instead he smiled and jumped off the building with a single 'whoop!'

Marinette screamed and grabbed onto the one person she wanted to let go of most.

Chat Noir kept jumping from building to building. The girl in his arms screamed the whole time as he carried her around Paris.

It was so much different than flying on her own or using her yo yo.

It felt like her lungs were going to give out, like her heart was going to explode.

Every jump, every landing, everything made her want to cry and throw up and cry some more.

Finally, Chat Noir landed on the rooftop they used to start their patrols at. The same one she took Noir's Miraculous.

Marinette looked around as her stomach finally settled.

Candles, blankets, picnic.

It was a recreation of the first date had set up for Ladybug--the one she had gone to as Marinette.

"Oh wow." Marinette said, praying Chat Noir couldn't see through her terrible acting skills.

The fake superhero grinned, showing off his fangs. Marinette gulped.

"Isn't it purrfect? It's just like our first date!"

Marinette smiled nervously, shifting awkwardly from foot to foot. She needed to get out of there before something bad happened.

Marinette tried to focus on something else: the place where the Black Cat ring should've been. Clearly he didn't have it anymore--Noir did, but he still was able to move like he did.

She needed to talk to Tikki.

But first and foremost, she needed to get out of this situation. Fast.

---

Chloé was having the worst day of her life.

She had failed as a hero, failed as Noir. She let a civilian die. She couldn't protect her partner. She couldn't even finish her stupid math homework.

If student A lets student B die, then what is the possibility that student C will hate her forever?

Chloé groaned, slamming down her pen and standing up.

"I need some air." She announced to Plagg, who sat on the couch watching Rupaul.

"There's air in here, kid!" Plagg yelled back.

"Air that doesn't smell like you robbed a cheese factory." She muttered, pulling open the doors to her balcony with a bit too much aggression.

Once outside, it felt so much better breathing in the crisp night air than smelling Plaggs cheese farts.

It was calm, quiet, and for the first time since she received her Miraculous she was able to take a deep breath and just think.

She took in the cool night air, the slight breeze that carried the smell of the Seine all the way to her balcony.

The breeze was so nice, it felt like it was blowing her problems away, all the way to the sky where the full moon resided. Then the moon would smile, warm as ever, and help her forget her troubles.

It was peaceful.

Then she heard the screaming.

No, no, no, no.

Not another akuma!

Chloé swore under her breath before running back inside to get Plagg.

"Plagg! Turn off Rupaul and get your ass together! We've got another Akuma to defeat!"

Plagg moaned woefully, letting himself fall out of the air like a deflating balloon into her palm.

"We already did that today, remember how well that went? You really wanna do that again?"

Chloé glared at the Kwami in her hand.

"Plagg, if you keep complaining I'm going to spoil every tiny detail of Rupaul" Chloé growled.

Plagg shot up, "Evil woman!"

Chloé shot him a glare and he immediately shut his mouth.

"Plagg! Claws out!"

Noir leaped up onto the railing and off the balcony, using her connected batons as a staff that launched her towards the direction of the screaming.

---

guys i got my meds switched again and im feeling jazzed