mind over mask

fifty-five

Marinette's POV

"Remind me why we're doing this again?" I asked Damian as I readjusted the blindfold over my eyes tightly.

"We have to be prepared for any and every situation," he explained. I could hear him as he sliced the air with his katana, warming up for our excercise.

Ever since we had figured out each other's secret identities, we were glued at the hip. We were always together, in or out of the suit.

There were some raised eyebrows over Robin finally getting along with Ladybug, and even requesting to patrol with her, but the Wayne's didn't have a single clue what won Damian over.

We sparred every day before patrol, and we had only gotten closer and closer.

"Or maybe I'll go out without Tikki," I told him, mentioning the idea of yet another new suit.

"If you show me you're ready, I'll support you with that," he says. The air shifts, and I know that our lesson has now begun. He comes at me from my left side, katana in tow, and I dodge out of the way, rolling onto the floor.

I spring up, as I try to listen for his feather light steps.

"You have heightened senses, but you fail to trust them outside of your suit." Dami says, and he's suddenly at the other side of me.

I barely jump out of the way, I hear his katana whizzing by my face. I know he'd never hit me, but he's scarily accurate.

"It's hard to trust them when I'm not Ladybug." I say between breaths of air, frustrated that I have to rely on my sense of hearing for this.

I hate being blind.

Damian pauses, his stance now relaxed, "But you are Ladybug, in or out of the suit, that's who you are."

"That's easy for you to say," I grumble. He was Robin. He was the biological son of the Dark Knight, he had been raised into this.

On the other hand, I had to learn the hard way how to be a superhero. Master Fu did the best he could, but I had lost him as a mentor long ago.

"You'd be surprised," Damian says, and we continue sparring. For the most part, it's me dodging his moves, trying to tire him out before making my move.

I never get the chance to, my sight is like a crutch in this situation. Without it, I never gain the confidence to go offensive.

"It's almost time for patrol," Damian says, and I hear him placing his katana into its place on the wall. I take off the blindfold, and it slips out of my hand. Instead of catching it, like I know I can, I watch as it flitters to the ground.

"Are you going back to your apartment, or are you coming with me?" Damian asks, but he's asking more than that. He's asking me if I want to come down to the BatCave with him, as Marinette before I turn into Ladybug.

It's a show of confidence.

I bend down to grab the blindfold before he gets the chance to. I tell him, "I trust you. And to an extent, your family. But the more people that know, the less of a secret it is. It's more of a risk, because I don't want your family to get hurt from problems that aren't theirs. I mean, being the Great Guardian—"

I stop when I notice Damian isn't listening anymore. He's thinking. Hard. I can see it on his face.

It's like he's trying to remember something from long ago.

"You're the Great Guardian?" Damian whispers.

I didn't know why he was so silent all of a sudden, so I nodded.