Work Text:
Nathaniel woke up as he would do on any other day.
Except it felt wrong in some way.
It only took him a couple of seconds to realize that the surface he woke up on, despite trying to hide it with a soft blanket placed above him, was hard and uncomfortable, almost like plastic. He sat up almost immediately, noting how there was no ceiling lights at all.
What the hell?
Nathaniel swung his legs off what he thought was supposed to be a bed, despite it just being a plastic box with a singular molded pillow carved into it. He glanced around the almost entirely empty room. There was a desk and chair, also made from plastic, but nothing else. The only way he could see anything was through the light filtering in through the window, if they even qualified as that. Just like the furniture, it was just a hole in the wall with plastic molded over it to act as accents.
He took a deep breath, wandering to the center of the room as he tried to collect his thoughts. Nathaniel didn't get far before his foot hit something, almost making him trip. The redhead caught himself at the last second, spinning around to see what it was since he hadn't noticed it earlier.
There was a small indent in the floor. Tiny enough you wouldn't see it if you weren't looking.
What room designer would add something like that though? As a matter of fact, who would design a room without a door?!
Nathaniel jumped as he felt the entire building begin to shake around him. Before he knew it, the floor began to separate beneath his feet, briefly showing several more stories below him. He yelped and lunged to the side before an entire half of the room swung away. Nathaniel flinched and shut his eyes tight as more light flooded the room, blinding him after he had already adjusted to the darkness.
"Oh... Look who's awake."
Nathaniel froze. He recognized the voice.
But it couldn't be... It was so long ago... He hadn't seen or even heard of him since then...
He shrieked as a warm thing brushed alongside the entire left side of his face, crawling away as fast as he could. Nathaniel finally looked up, breathing starting to get quicker as he finally comprehended the situation.
Emani, now an akuma, stared down at him. He grinned, seeming to enjoy the way he towered over the redhead. Nathaniel gasped for air as Emani finally retracted his hand, shaking in terror at the knowledge that he's barely the size of that.
"E-Emani?!"
"Vim Vitae, actually. Come now, Doll. You know how much I hate it when you cover your eye like that."
Nathaniel's mouth bobbed open and shut as he struggled to come up with a response. How could he? Shrunken down to the size of a doll with his toxic ex-boyfriend the only other one in the room with him. Anyone else would be just as terrified!
"I'll let you get some rest," Vim Vitae cooed, his tone so, so warm and protective, he just wants to stop thinking and let Emani love him-
Nathaniel pinched himself, terrified that he's slipping into that mindset again. Fuck, it's barely been a full minute.
Vim Vitae chuckled, seemingly noticing his inner dilemma. He moved slightly, although Nathaniel wasn't able to see what he was doing quite yet. It quickly became apparent when Nathaniel was shrouded in darkness again as Vim Vitae slammed the dollhouse he stashed his ~~Little Doll~~ obsession in shut.
He shut his eyes, trying to calm his breathing. It must be something with the dollhouse. Surely.
Nathaniel won't be able to deal with it if he crumbled right back into what Emani brainwashed him to be that fast on his own.
The lights outside the dollhouse shut off and the sound of a door closing reached his ears. Vim Vitae probably left the room. Nathaniel laughed dryly to himself. This reminded him of Pixelator, when that akuma (who was also a stalker. Go figure.) trapped people in his house after he zapped them.
At the very least, this place had actual scenery instead of being a blank white void.
Nathaniel shook his head. He was getting distracted. He needed to get out of here before the dollhouse brainwashed him into being a doll. He ran his hands along the ground until he reached the seamline where the two halves separated again.
Bingo.
He was giddy with excitement for a moment before he realized something.
The edge.
Nathaniel hadn't considered that. He remembered seeing multiple floors before. But no stairs.
Could he even survive a fall that high?
But he couldn't just sit here and wait either! Even though it would be so easy... Letting Emani take care of him, guiding him through every decision he needed to make in life, trusting him with those important-
No! He was getting out of here now!
Besides... Emani wanted him like a doll, right? He must share other characteristics of them as well then. Like how they can't be injured.
He hoped this doesn't make the brainwashing worse.
Nathaniel cautiously stood up, closing his eyes, because he knew if he saw the edge through the darkness, he was going to chicken out.
"You... You're a doll. Just a plaything. You can't be injured. You can't.... make your own choices." Nathaniel shook his head as soon as those words left his mouth, darting forward without a second thought, unwilling to let his mind deteriorate any further.
His heart still dropped when his foot met air though.
Nathaniel stifled his screams when he fell. He didn't want to alert Vim Vitae to what he was doing. A single thought shot through his mind as wind rushed past his body.
Please work, please work, please work, please work.
His head slammed into the edge of one of the floors.
Nathaniel wasn't awake when his body collided with the table the dollhouse is sitting on, blood staining the wood beneath him.
---
Vim Vitae groaned as he stretched upon entering the room again. Hawkmoth had pestered him into fighting the heroes, but he just wanted to be with his Doll the entire time. Eventually, he got beat up enough that Hawkmoth excused running away. He could finally-
He blinked upon turning on the light. The dollhouse was open.
His doll was laying at the bottom of it.
Vim Vitae sighed fondly as he walked over to him, grabbing a tissue along the way. He scooped up his Doll in his hand, ignoring the way the redhead's limbs hung limply at his sides, bruised and bent in unnatural positions. Vim Vitae cringed upon feeling the hair matted with blood. Gross. He was going to have to give his doll a bath later.
But he was still alive. Thank God the dollhouse was in effect for a while already. A shame he tried to leave it before it could fully transform him, but at least his doll was in it for just long enough to save his life.
"What am I going to do with you?" Vim Vitae cooed, voice soft with fondness, pressing the lightest kiss he could against his doll's face.
Vim Vitae made a mental note to himself to fix him up and then place him right back into his room. He hoped he didn't try to leave again. He'd hate to have to tape his doll to the wall just to get him to comply.
Although, Nathaniel had already been in the dollhouse long enough already that he'll be the perfect doll by the time he wakes up again.
---
Marc yelped when he was suddenly dragged into an alley by a hand on his arm, not expecting that as he was walking back to his house to hide from the new akuma. He stumbled as the person let go of him, barely catching himself before he fell to the ground, blinking up at who grabbed him.
Ladybug stood across from him, a kind smile on her face, "This latest akuma sure is something. The object the akuma went into isn't on him." Her grin turned determined as she continued, "We need someone with the ability to track it down." Marc's eyes lit up with recognition as she held out her yo-yo.
"You!"
Ladybug and Marc both jumped, turning their heads up to the roofs above them. Vim Vitae tapped his foot angrily against the edge, arms crossed. The heroine jumped into action, standing in front of Marc and swinging her weapon to create a shield.
"Get out of here!"
Marc didn't need to be told that twice. He spun around and ran out of the alley.
"What the- Hey!" Ladybug cried out behind him.
He quickly found out why when the akuma landed in front of him, hand outstretched and fingers pressed against his forehead.
Marc blacked out.
---
When Marc woke up, he felt a tight pressure around his body. He struggled uselessly, trying to figure out what was going on.
"Stop moving."
The writer froze, slowly glancing up at the now giant akuma. What the- How was he- When did he get so big?!
Marc looked down at what was holding him, breath catching in his throat as he recognized fingers curled around him, pinning his arms to his side. A small tilt of his head revealed a floor that seemed miles away.
Vim Vitae didn't get bigger. Marc was the one who got smaller.
The akuma didn't bother to treat Marc gently, holding him in a tight grip as he walked into a room, filled with various sets for dolls, featuring one very extravagant dollhouse on a table in the center. There was also artwork hung up on the walls, which Marc immediately recognized as being Nathaniel's work, a mixture of completed ones and ones that Nathaniel hadn't quite finished yet. Marc paled when he noticed multiple Polaroid pictures strung up too, all of Nathaniel. Some even featured him and Alix, though they were crossed off with markers.
Shit, he had heard about him. Nathaniel's crazy ex, the one who would stalk him.
Vim Vitae grinned down at Marc as he brought him up to look him in the eyes, "I'm going to have fun with you." His eyes slowly trailed over to a corner. Marc nervously followed his gaze, gulping when he sees what looks like doll sized torture devices. "I won't bring you near the doll house," The akuma muttered, "You don't deserve the privilege of immortality like my doll does."
Marc tried to fight back, but he couldn't do anything as Vim Vitae started tying him into one. He vaguely remembered researching it for a story he had written. It was meant to stretch a person apart by their limbs, if he recalled correctly. He fought harder when that realization fully set in, but it didn't do much besides making Vim Vitae amused by his useless struggling.
Right ankle.
Left ankle.
Right wrist.
"Emani!" A familiar voice cried out from the doll house. Both the akuma and Marc lit up upon hearing it. So that's where Nathaniel was. Marc was worried when the redhead stopped responding to his texts so suddenly earlier in the day.
"Little Doll!" Vim Vitae cheered, rushing over and leaving Marc alone. The writer rushed to grab the switchblade he always carried with him, in case of akumas (so hah, take that Marinette, he wasn't overly paranoid), to cut himself free.
Meanwhile, the akuma was bent over the doll house, cooing as he watched his doll rise up from the bed. "Are you feeling better?"
Nathaniel nodded, gazing up at Vim Vitae adoringly, "Now that you're here."
Vim Vitae giggled and rested a finger against the redhead's cheek, "Charmer."
Nathaniel beamed and hugged it, clinging to it with a whine when Vim Vitae tried to pull it away. "Let me come with!"
Vim Vitae chuckled, cupping his hand to let Nathaniel crawl into it, "Of course. Maybe you can even help torture the loser who tried to steal you away from me."
"Mm, who? The only person who I think about is you," Nathaniel said, almost in a daze as he scrambles into Vim Vitae's palm, looking up at him. His pupils briefly switched to hearts for a second before returning to normal.
Marc was already free and throwing off the remnants of the rope keeping him bound when they approached him, but he felt restrained all over again when he saw how Nathaniel is acting. "N-Nath?" Nathaniel doesn't even respond to his name, just sighing happily as he relaxed in Emani's hand.
Vim Vitae grinned, slightly curling his fingers around the redhead, "He's mine now."
"That- That's not Nath!" Marc retorted, "He isn't acting like himself! That's just someone you forced to obey you!"
"And isn't he better like this?" Vim Vitae said without hesitation, a smug smirk growing on his face.
Marc doesn't know why he even needed the reminder that Emani didn't love Nathaniel.
Without warning, Ladybug (Lady Rooster? She seemed to have unified the miraculous) and Chat Noir came crashing in through the window, the blond's hand outstretched towards the dollhouse.
"NO!" Vim Vitae snarled, turning to them and tossing Nathaniel aside in the process. Nathaniel yelped as he was thrown to the floor, only bouncing a few times time harmlessly. Marc sighed in relief. The akuma couldn't reach the heroes before the toy was collapsing into dust and Ladybug swung her yo-yo at the butterfly that flew out of the wreckage.
As soon as Ladybug cast her cure and they were all back to their regular selves, Marc rushed over to his boyfriend, pulling the still dazed boy into his arms, whispering, "Are you alright?"
Nathaniel stared off into space for a moment, shaking a little as he noticed all the pictures on the walls, knowing a good amount of them was after they broke up, before murmuring back, "I don't know."
"That's okay," Marc hugged him tighter, just wanting to convey that he'd always be there for him through his touch.
Emani seemed to rouse from being deakumatized, glancing over past the heroes, "Little Doll?"
Nathaniel flinched hard. He clinged tighter to Marc, hastily whispering, "Please get me out of here."
Marc nodded and Chat wandered over to offer them a ride to one of their houses. "You both have been through a lot today. I'm not at all surprised you would just want to relax with each other."
Emani tried to approach them, mouth opening to try to say something, but Ladybug stopped him by stepping ahead of him, almost growling as she said, "I'm sure the police would love to hear why you have all these pictures up. Why don't we go there now?"
---
During a battle the other day, the heroes of Paris, Ladybug and Chat Noir, ended up discovering that Emani Pulateur, a teenage boy who was akumatized, had been stalking his ex-boyfriend. They had entered his room to defeat him and that's when they discovered the walls covered in pictures of Pulateur's obsession. Ladybug took him to the police station immediately and the boy was taken into custody-
Nathaniel grimaced as he shut off the TV. It had only been a couple days, but the news was already all over the end result of that akuma. He was just glad some networks decided to respect his privacy and didn't mention his name.
Marc leaned over, draping an arm across his shoulders and pulling his closer, "You alright?"
Nathaniel sighed and nodded, melting into the writer's embrace, "I'm just glad it's over."
Marc gave him a small smile, "Of course. If anyone tries to talk to you about it at school again, I'll get Alix to go hit them with her umbrella for you." Nathaniel couldn't help bursting into laughter at that, Marc joining with giggles soon after.
Yeah. Everything would turn out okay.