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Marinette didn't know how to react.
Normally she was pretty good at reacting, just as a general thing. However, when one of Paris's heroes is sitting on your balcony looking lost, it's kind of hard figuring out how to react.
At first neither of them said anything. He sat there perched on the balcony railing, and she had her head poked out of the trap door above her bed. They stayed like that for a while before Marinette disappeared back into her room, only to re-appear wrapped in a blanket, and another in her arms. Pulling herself up, she held her blanket close to her chest and walked over to him. Wordlessly she wrapped the blanket around his shoulders and smiled, offering him all the warmth she could give.
He didn't even know how he had ended up here. It had started earlier in the day, he supposed. Grades had been sent home, and Adrien had been pretty content with himself. He had given his father perfect grades time and time again, and all he wanted was some form of reaction from the man was that so much to ask for?
Apparently it was.
His father hadn't seen fit to grace the boy with even a word of praise, not over the com link in the house, or over a video call. Nothing. Just Nathalie coming by his room, giving a "Good work on your report card, Adrien," before she was gone.
He should be used to this by now. Used to receiving little to no praise for all the effort he put in to be the perfect son for Gabriel Agreste, but even as used to the neglect as he was, he found himself calling for a transformation, fleeing the cold halls of the Agreste mansion. Eventually he found himself racing across the rooftops of Paris.
Eventually he found himself on her rooftop.
He was moving on autopilot, and something inside him had brought him to Marinette, his Princess. Whatever it was that brought him here, it was not disappointed.
Marinette, wonderful Marinette, always looking out for others. She hadn't even asked why he was there, hadn't told him to go away or anything. She sensed that he needed someone, and had been more than happy to be that someone for him.
After she had wrapped the blanket around him, she stepped back. That he did not want. He wanted her warmth as close to him as he could get it, so he followed her. Stepping down from the railing, he stood at her side and bowed his head to rest on her shoulder.
"Chat... are you okay?"
He didn't say anything. All he did was shake his head ever so slightly before pressing against her even more.
The wordless exchange was all she needed. She may not have known what was affecting her partner so much, to send him here to her rooftop, but it clearly cut him deeply. So doing what she could, in an attempt to comfort the boy that suddenly looked so vulnerable, she slipped an arm around his shoulders. "Come inside, it's a bit cold out right now," she smiled, then opened the hatch into her room and held it out for him.
He hesitated for a moment before he slipped through the hatch, landing on her bed soundlessly. With all the grace of a cat, she wryly thought. He waited for her though, immediately looking up at her to make sure she would follow, a sort of fear showing in his eyes like a silent plea to not leave him alone.
It broke her heart to see her friend like this. The boy normally all smiles with jokes to give at the drop of a hat looking as lost as he was... it was something that she never wanted to see again. She wanted to see that smile, and hear him laugh at his own terrible jokes. She wanted him happy again. It made her take the stairs in a jump, and she landed with a lot more fuss then he had, but oh she had not been expecting what would happen when she returned to his side.
Not even waiting for her to settle after her jump, he pulled her into his arms and held her tightly, wrapping the two of them in the blanket she had shrouded him in. Entangled in the way they were, they fell down onto her bed, and honestly that surprised Marinette the most.
Well it was all pretty surprising, but having Chat Noir with his arms around her, both of them laying on her bed? Oh god... it was embarrassing and she couldn't help the heat that burned in her cheeks. She gave a flustered sputter as she tried to sit up, but his arms were like a vice, clinging onto her firmly.
"U-uhh Chat..." she began, but stopped when he looked up at her. All her resolve faded away with just that look, the need he had in his eyes. "Okay," she murmured, then sat up slightly, propping herself up on a few of her pillows, making herself more comfortable.
As soon as she had stopped moving, Chat crawled closer, slipping his arms around her middle, pressing his head against the warmth of her stomach. Holding her closely, he settled, nuzzling his face into her shirt. A flash of memory came to mind. Of a time long past of when his mother would hold him like so, whenever he had needed her comforting embrace. When he just needed to know that someone cared about him enough to indulge him in his selfishness.
Marinette would have never called him selfish though, not for seeking out the comfort of another. It was something people needed. Sometimes the world would crumble, and you just needed to lose yourself for a bit in the arms of another. She had been there. Many times she had found herself in the arms of either her parents or even Alya, all because she just needed someone else to hold her burdens, if only for a little while. And while Marinette had no idea what might have been burdening the blonde boy in her arms, she was more than happy to lighten his load in any way she could.
There they remained for what seemed like an eternity, just in the comfort of each other's company. Marinette wasn't sure exactly sure what to do for the longest amount of time, but eventually she started running her fingers through his hair. He had flinched at first, startled, she supposed from the contact, but he settled into it and seemed to melt against her.
Smiling softly to herself at how cute he was right now, she continued, pulling her fingers carefully through his hair. Time passed even more, and she found herself relaxing. Smiling more, she leaned down and pressed a soft kiss to the crown of his golden head. "It'll be alright," she whispered softly, curling around him protectively.
Chat Noir was silent for a moment, eyes having snapped open. He was frozen by her words and yet... they warmed him to the core. Smiling softly, his eyes slid shut and he snuggled closer to her.
"Thank you, Princess."