Chapter Text
Marinette stomped down the hall, which wasn’t very effective in getting her away from the laughing jerks at the speed she wanted, but the angry goblin under her skin screamed and trashed for attention she desperately didn’t want.
She reached the cupboard under the staircase with enough brain space to not slam the door on Félix’s face, who she had seen getting up to follow her as the first tears welled up in her eyes. A single safe house amidst the uncaring and impenetrable towers.
After entering the small cupboard, he softly shut the door behind his back. Marinette’s gaze was fixed on his shoes as he stood against the door. The right one was propped on top of his left toe, rocking from side to side like a metronome; Marinette could almost hear its tick-tick-tick-tick–
It came to an abrupt stop when Félix moved to step one foot in front of the other. Face averted, Marinette nestled her head in her folded arms, shoulders raised in defiance to any form of comfort even as she scooched to give him room to sit on the closed chest.
She didn’t want to talk about it, but she also didn’t want to be alone with her thoughts. Of the impatient tap tap tap’s; of the muffled giggles rising up as she fumbled through her words; of the loud THUNK as her whole wind energy project fell to the ground because some stupid shrimp thought it’d be funny to put glue on the turbines’ blades.
Weeps echoed off the small perimeter, the tears rethreading her cheeks with a new layer of paint.
A hand hesitantly pressed on her shoulder and Marinette let Félix turn her by the shoulders, dropping her head on his chest.
“I hate it here.” She clutched at his shirt as the hiccups jerked through her chest. “Everyone wants to see me fail. Why am I even here?”
Wordlessly, Félix tightened the hold around her.