Dear Bugaboo

The Distraction

Sorta filler chapter but I hope you all enjoy!

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Marinette sat at her desk with piles of papers and a few books messily scattered around. She yawned, tiredly rubbing her eyes in exhaustion and continued to study for the big upcoming tests on Monday. The only motivation that kept her going was the dance on Wednesday and a two-week break.

   Bluebell eyes glanced over at the complete ladybug themed dress and red mask that hung on her manikin. Marinette had only worn it only once to make sure it was sustainable (and that it looked fantastic on her). She was so excited to show it off all her hard work to everyone, especially her friends and family.

   "Oops," The bluenette murmured, standing from her desk's chair and walked over to the dress.

   "Can't have anyone see this yet. It is supposed to be a surprise, after all," she added, picking up a white sheet that was seemingly tossed aside and used it to cover the attire. Once the dress was hidden, Marinette returned to her desk with a long sigh.

   "Just keep going, Dupain-Cheng. Once you finish those long, ginormous, stressful, intimidating, tiring, horrible, terrifying, anxiety-filling, knowledge cramming, eye burning, brain-melting, never enough caffeine consuming, sadistic finals, then you have an entire two weeks to not think at all," Marinette said, crazily and felt her eye twitch a little.

   "Yeah...nothing too much at all," she added, sitting back down on her spinning chair and continued with her studies.

A knock came from the trap door.

"Come in," the bluenette quickly said, relieved that someone was interrupting her. She didn't want to keep staring at the same physic's notes that made no sense to her.

The trap door opened to reveal her younger cousin. Tikki entered Marinette's room with some handmade dolls.

"Hey, Tikki. Is there something you need? I can't play with you at the moment if that's what you're going to ask. I've got some important tests to study for," the bluenette explained, gesturing to the evil notes taunting her intelligence.

"I was just wondering if I could stay in here for a little bit. I'll be quiet, I promise," the redhead begged. Marinette blinked before rubbing her eyes again. Now that she got a better look, she could tell something was really bothering poor Tikki.

"Oh—uh, yeah...sure. Go ahead and make yourself at home..." Marinette trailed off, worry twisting at her heart. Tikki gave her elder cousin a big, grateful smile before wandering over to the chaise. Marinette carefully watched Tikki with whatever focus was left.

"Is there something wrong? Did your mom torture you into eating your vegetables while she ate M&Ms again?" the aspiring designer asked, curiously. The little girl sat on the chaise and looked over at Marinette with deep blue eyes.

"Mama tells me not to call it "torture" but more of "convincing," Tikki explained with air quotes before continuing, "But, that's not why I'm hankered in here."

"I think you mean "hunkered," Marinette corrected before realizing, "Huh, would you look at that. I did learn something from my Reading class."

For a moment, Marinette felt proud of herself before realizing that she went off-topic.

"Sorry," she apologized, asking, "Then, what has you so down in the dumps?"

"What has my head stuck in the gutter-"

"That's not what you think that phrase means-"

"Marinette!"

"Sorry sorry! Shutting up right now!" Marinette frantically spoke, zipping her lips shut. Tikki sighed, looking down at the wooden floor.

"Mama and Aunt Sabine are fighting again," she finally answered, causing Marinette's eyes to widen.

"Again..." the teen spoke in quiet disbelief. She couldn't believe that her aunt and mother were fighting again! This was the third time Tikki told her of the fighting. At this point, Marinette wondered how often they fought and how much her little cousin had seen of it.

   Marinette felt guilty that the redhead had to go through as much as she did these past few weeks.

   "Maybe, it's time that I investigate before Aunt Celine and Tikki leave..." Marinette thought before glancing at the teasing stacks of paper, "...but after my tests."

   "Let's make a deal," the teen began, catching Tikki's attention, "give me an hour to study and I'll take you out for some delicious ice cream as a break...for the both of us."

   Just as Marinette grabbed her phone and started to set a timer, her frame was trapped in a tight embrace. Bluebell orbs cast aside from the phone's screen to the child with a bright face.

   "Thank you! You're the best cousin ever!" Tikki chirped, releasing her older cousin and jumping, "I'll be super-duper quiet like I am not here at all!"

   Marinette let a soft smile spread from cheek to cheek and ruffled Tikki's hair. They both could use the distraction from the bad events that had happened within the past few weeks.

"No problem. Now, go play," Marinette said, pointing over at the chaise.

   "Okay! But, I've got a question before I do," Tikki said, a curious glimmer in her pupils.

   "What is it?" the bluenette asked, feeling prepared to answer any question the child gave her.

   "What does "head in the gutters" really mean? I've seen it used lots of times in your stories," Tikki asked.

   Marinette didn't know how to answer that.

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   "Good afternoon, mister patrolman! Or, is it morning? It's hard to know what time it is when there's no windows or clocks in any of these cells," Slade joked. Shan just rolled his eyes, agitated with the amused prisoner.

   "Sometimes, I wonder if he even knows why he's in here," Shan thought, walking away from Slade's cell. Slade watched the officer leave, not letting his crazed smile disappear. The criminal chuckled, pulling out a notepad from under his cot.

   "But, I do know that it's almost time to cause a riot," Slade said to no one in particular, scanning the notepad in excitement, "That's when the real fun will begin."

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