Work Text:
Prompt: Time Loop
“What would you do if you were stuck in a time loop?”
Marinette blinked sleepily at Tim. She hummed, confused, “What?”
“What would you do if you were stuck in a time loop?” Tim repeated, voice soft as he kept his eyes trained on her.
This time her hum was thoughtful as her eyes slid closed again, shuffling closer to him until she could tuck her head under his chin.
“I’d probably try and figure out a way to escape it.”
Tim’s chest rumbled under her cheek causing her to smile.
“How would you go about doing that?”
“I’m not sure. Probably something similar as to when we use the snake miraculous? Keep going and going on repeat like a broken record until eventually it falls into place, and we succeed.”
“Yeah. Yeah that makes sense. The rabbit miraculous is like that, isn’t it?”
“It is. Though you do have a bit more control than a time loop. At least, from what I presume a time loop would be like.”
“Like the ones in movies?”
“Yeah,” Marinette pulled away, keeping her arms around him, but enough to look at his face, “like Groundhog Day perhaps.”
“Have you even seen that movie?” Amusement lined Tim’s voice as his eyes crinkled in the corners.
Marinette shared his smile as she giggled, “does that matter? I’ve heard of it, and people commonly use it as an example.”
“How would you know if it was true then? Or if it’s at all like how you think?”
Marinette shrugged, slightly jostling the blanket that was draped over them, “assumptions.”
“Fair enough,” Tim chuckled as he fixed the blanket around her.
“Why do you ask?” Marinette peered up at him curiously.
Tim didn’t answer, just brought his hand up and let it drift over her cheek, love shining in his eyes. His smile turned to goo as he brushed the bangs out of her face, leaning down to press his lips to her forehead. He let himself linger as he felt the petite girl in his arms lean into the touch, her own eyes falling closed. He breathed in her sweet scent. She always smelled of lavender and baked goods, even after moving out from the bakery. It was a scent that was so purely her that it never failed to calm him. He finally moved his lips away but rested his forehead to hers.
“What…” he paused, causing Marinette to open her eyes and look at him. He was so close that she could see the very light dusting of freckles on his cheeks, the multiple colours of blue that lined his eyes, the stray eyelash that had fallen to just below his right eye.
“What?”
“What would,” he swallowed before continuing again, “what would you do if to stop the time loop you had to do something you didn’t want to.”
Marinette stared intensely into his eyes. Tim watched entranced as hers flicked across his face searching for… something. He wasn’t sure what exactly that could be but eventually they settled onto his eyes again and she smiled at him. It was one that held the weight of a bone deep exhaustion that couldn’t be solved from just a good night's rest, or even a month.
“Sometimes, for the greater good, we have to make sacrifices that tear us apart and leave us broken. Shells of ourselves. I’ve watched it happen, as I know you have to. At one point, I saw it happen to myself,” she interlaced her fingers with his, “we signed up for this life though. You by donning the cape, me by keeping it. We sign up to lose people, lose each other, lose ourselves. We put ourselves in positions the normal person could never do because the decisions we make can save the world or end it. It’s hard not to follow your heart, I know, but sometimes you have to put the world before yourself.”
Tim swallowed tightly as he nodded, pulling her close to his chest.
“Tim?” Marinette whispered as she felt something wet fall on her head as he buried his face in her hair, “you, ok?”
Tim nodded as he held her tighter but then she hissed through her teeth and he remembered to be gentle, releasing her a little.
Marinette fixed her shirt that had risen slightly, revealing the bandages underneath them, and returned the hug.
“Why do you ask?” She repeated the question from earlier.
“No reason,” Tim whispered, “let’s just… can we sleep now?”
“Yeah,” Marinette snuggled up to him, “yeah we can.”
After a while Marinette’s breathing evened out but Tim remained awake staring at the light gray door. A light emerged from it, growing until it was a wide enough oval to allow the bunny hero through.
“Tim,” Bunnyx spoke into the otherwise silent hospital room, “are you prepared now to do what needs to be done?”