What If Oxygen Is Poisonous And It Just Takes 75-100 Years To Kill Us?

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So... Mark once again went and made fun of the Darkiplier simps, eh?

Behind those eyes

AO3 link

Words: 2,828

Summary:

Toxinelle. Ladybug. Fancybug. Cockroach.

No matter what her name was. The main thing was that behind these names and masks, there was the baker girl. His secret longtime crush. The only person who he cared for after his mother had died.

Maybe she was willing to give him a bit of her time?

Toxinelle. Ladybug. Fancybug. Cockroach.

No matter what her name was. The main thing was that behind these names and masks, there was the baker girl. His secret longtime crush. She's always been there.

The only girl in the entire world who could bring a beaming smile to the face and a vibrant pink blush to the pale cheeks of the famous Adrien Agreste.

The only girl who could make the obnoxious dumbass Griffe Noire act softly and gently.

The only person who he cared for after his mother had died.

And now she was holding his hand so dearly, lacing their fingers together, as if they just got married, gently guiding him through the portal, back to their world.

But she didn’t let go of his hand once they'd arrived in their universe. As if she really cared for him.

Could it be just wishful thinking? Maybe she forgot she was still holding his hand.

Or could it be that she actually enjoyed holding his hand?

His — Fleabag’s —hand! A hand of a person she had seemed to absolutely despise just a few hours ago.

But recently she'd started using every chance she got to casually touch him, as in, patting his cheek playfully when he started fooling around to impress her with his silly puns (he certainly won't wash his face where he touched him ever again), or invading his personal space to tell him with the most flirty look he'd ever seen on anyone that he needed to change his outfit – she's done it so naturally as if it was the most normal thing to do, as if they've been in love since forever and were now discussing where to go on their honeymoon.

She didn't get mad when he said the new superhero name she chose for herself was lame — so unlike the way she'd usually treated him when he'd said something really dumb.

She'd even laughed that silvery, jolly, good-natured kind of laughter he'd never heard before upon seeing him in his new outfit, making his heart flutter at the realization that it was him who made his badass not-to-be-messed-with partner make this celestial sound.

Should he try his luck? Adrien kept asking himself, looking at their connected hands.

====

They've known each other for quite a while now, but that doesn't mean they've always gotten along well.

====

There, in another universe, when she casually dropped her transformation in front of him, revealing her true identity, he couldn’t help but gasp.

What a beautiful sight!

Could he really be so lucky? He, the embodiment of bad luck?

He blinked, but the amazing girl didn't vanish. She was still there.

She was just as beautiful and sad and lonely as he'd assumed her to be by watching her day by day through the bakery window.

(He'd been dying to talk to her for so long, to know the reason behind her sadness. Now the realization hit him like a truck: his beloved baker girl was doomed to die soon, just like himself).

And she was so distraught, poor thing. She cried and sobbed, making Adrien's heart bleed for her.

There was no one in the whole world there for her, besides him. He must comfort her at all costs. There was no way he would leave her to cry her beautiful eyes out. (Although they were red right now. But he knew that behind these blood-red irises, they still were clear summer blue.)

So Adrien extended his hand hesitantly and put it on her shoulder, hoping to convey through this ever so light touch how much he loved her.

More than anything in the world, he would love to hug her, but he wasn't sure she would let him. A simple touch might do for now.

She made a quick move with her shoulder, as if waving away an annoying fly, and he had to retract his hand.

Of course, he should have known. What else did he expect?

Too much he'd done for her to be resentful, after all.

He didn't catch her when she'd fallen from the sky earlier that night. Then he tried to steal her miraculous for the umpteenth time.

He'd been making fun of her and calling her names such as lame and a cockroach on a daily basis.

Who on earth would have believed that his compassion was genuine this time?

And then they had no more time to linger on her identity and his feelings for her.

====

But now things were different.

They were alone now, sitting on the rooftop, freshly recruited for the Resistance, discussing their next meeting.

And they had all the time in the world.

Maybe she was willing to give him a bit of this time?

So when she started heading in the direction of her home (it was thrilling to finally know where she lived), humming cheerfully, she was held back.

“Ladybug, wait!” Adrien called, capturing her hand. Oh, it definitely will take time to get used to her new name. Of course it'd be great to call her by her civilian name, but there was a little problem: he didn't know it.

She stopped humming abruptly and directed a questioning gaze at him. She didn't make a move to free her hand from his grasp, and Adrien was immensely thankful for it. He needed to feel her touch.

Once their eyes met, Adrien suddenly got that strange sensation he'd already dealt with before, when they were in that goodie-two-shoes’ room in another universe: as if his face was catching fire.

How does he say that? Where does he even start?

Because the harsh reality was that he, Adrien Agreste, a famous model, and also Griffe Noire, a formerly universally feared and dreaded villain of Paris, was just an awkward teenager, and observing his crush through the limo window was basically the only experience with girls he'd ever had.

He shifted from one foot to the other as if there were a hot stove instead of the rooftop beneath their feet.

“What do you think about me?”

Ladybug puckered up her kissable lips (which for once were strawberry pink, without dark red lipstick on them), simultaneously scrunching up her freckled little nosie, as if pondering her response, and Adrien's heart melted at the sight.

“Well, I think you're cute,” she said after a moment's thought, and Adrien couldn’t help but notice that her voice was now more soft and high-pitched than before.

It was not bad, was it? It was an impressive progress, especially coming from a person who until this night had seemed to hate him to his core.

However, he wanted more. He wanted to be her entire world. Her whole universe.

“Is this all?”

“What else do you want to know?” she asked nonchalantly, but Adrien could still see two pink-coloured spots on her cheeks.

“Willyoumarryme?” he blurted out in a single puff of air.

Seeing Toxi’s incredibly blue (at last! at long last they were summer blue and not the murderous colour of blood) eyes grow as big as full moons was a breathtaking sight which was rewarding in and by itself. But it also affected him like a cold shower.

“I mean, would you like to go out with me?” he corrected himself hastily, scratching his neck nervously.

(Say ‘yes’! Please say ‘yes’!)

She scrutinized him for a long moment, as if she saw him for the first time.

“Are you asking me out or what?” she finally asked incredulously.

“Yes, I… Yes. Do you agree?” he managed to say, his voice slightly trembling.

“Why would you suddenly need me so much?”

“Because I lo… I like you. I really do.” He decided to tell the truth.

“You don't even know me outside of being Toxinelle,” she retorted.

“Of course, I do,” Adrien blurted out impulsively and regretted it immediately.

“Oh, you know, it's… it's complicated,” he muttered, squirming under Bug's quizzical stare like a deer caught in the headlights.

(She didn't need to know that she'd been watched by a secret and very smitten admirer who at some point had thought of conveying a letter to her via his bodyguard, but had too much trouble getting his feelings down on paper.)

She looked away and shook her head slowly.

“Just drop it, Fleabag. If you really know me, then you probably also know that I'm completely worthless”.

Excuse me, what?

He's been admiring her from afar for months, but despite the distance between them, he also knew for sure that she was the most fantastic girl. How could she—she, who was his idol, his dream come true—say something that mean and unfair about herself, was beyond him.

“Please don't ever say something like this!” he pleaded fiercely. “You're the coolest girl I know.” Not that he'd encountered many girls, but this didn't make his baker girl any less amazing.

“Haven't you told me a billion times before that I'm lame… in each and every universe?” Ladybug whispered, pressing her clenched fists to her face, and Adrien suddenly recognized, much to his horror, the same miserable expression he'd already seen on her when she'd told him there was no way for them to save themselves unless they found the butterfly miraculous.

Ouch!

Adrien had heard before that words can kill. Now he had to learn it the hard way.

That was cruel.

But that was also true. He wouldn't even begin to deny it.

He knew he deserved to have his own mean words be thrown back in his face. But it still hurt.

Was there anything he could do to revert the time? Undo the damage he has done? Heal her bruised heart?

“I was an idiot,” he stuttered after a rather long and awkward silence. “I'm so sorry, Bug. I know I don't deserve your forgiveness. You don't owe me anything. But I want you to know, I never really meant it. I was bitter after my mother's death, and I… I guess I just wanted others to feel at least a tiny fraction of the pain I was going through. So I was saying mean things to everyone around me. I felt oddly satisfied to see people hurt and upset. I was just a self-absorbed asshole, Bug.”

She listened to his short speech in silence. Then she finally looked up, a sad smile curling her lips.

“If anything, I was just as much of an asshole, Fleabag, calling you stupid and whatnot,” she confessed, placing her hand on top of his, and this simple touch made his heart skip a beat. “I've been severely bullied for years at school. But coming home didn't bring me any relief, because once there, I got yelled at and mistreated by my parents. So, when the Supreme had given me my miraculous, I used it for revenge. Now, I could fight back. I could stand up to my oppressors. I still had no friends. No one loved me. But at least, no one messed with me. And look where it got me, kitty cat. I nearly died from the side effects of misusing my miraculous. It acquired me zero friends, but nearly killed me. So when it comes to being a jerk, I suppose we're even.”

Adrien's throat tightened as he listened to her bare her soul to him.

Just the thought that someone dared to treat his baker girl in such a cruel way filled him with utmost rage. And just to think that he was one of her bullies not so long ago!

He gave her hand a light squeeze.

“Do you forgive me, Bug?” he asked, his voice hoarse.

She smiled the same broken smile and nodded silently.

“Do you still think I'm cute? After all we've been through together?”

“I do.” This short answer made Adrien's heart do funny little things in his chest. “And you, do you still think I'm cool?” she added, looking away.

“I do,” he echoed.

(Yes, a billion times yes!)

“Then I must suppose we're even,” Ladybug repeated her recent words, this time offering him a genuine and warm smile.

“So, is this a ‘yes’?” Adrien gulped and clarified: “I mean, do you agree to go out with me?”

She watched him intensely in the eyes.

“Do you really want it, kitty cat?” she asked in the same voice someone would ask you if you really want to date a yeti.

“Yes. I really do.”

(Why is it so hard to wrap your head around the possibility that someone might really like you?)

(Oh, wait—)

Bug bit her lip.

“I need some time to think things through,” she finally said, and if Adrien didn't know her well enough, he could've sworn he heard a hint of guilt in her voice.

(Or did she really sound… apologetic?)

His face fell. He just couldn't help it, disappointed as he was.

But there was still hope in her words, wasn't it? Like a beacon of light in the dark.

“May I hug you then?”

“What?” she yelped, her eyes reminding of blue lunar discs once again.

“No need to be scared,” Adrien reassured, raising his hands in front of him. “I promise, I'm not going to steal your miraculous.”

“No, it's not that,” Ladybug explained in a small voice. “I think I just need some time to get used to all this… affection.”

He felt a sudden prickling in his eyes.

Much to his delight, Ladybug started leaning forward hesitantly, so he ventured to take the initiative.

He leaned forward, too, and closed the gap between them by placing his hands on the small of her back.

Adrien could feel her heart flutter like a scared little bird trapped inside of her ribcage.

“I won't let the Supreme do you any harm,” he muttered into her hair.

“I'm not afraid of the Supreme that much,” she confessed in a hoarse voice. “I'm more scared that my life won't change for the better.”

“It's already changed, you know. You already have a friend. You have teammates who are willing to help you the best they can. You might also get a boyfriend if you want to.”

Ladybug flinched slightly and pulled away to look him intently in the eyes, but no word left her lips.

How much Adrien longed for her to scratch him behind his ear or pat his cheek again. Unfortunately, every day is not Sunday.

“I should be heading home, or else I'll get yelled at again,” Ladybug said eventually, unsurprisingly enough, not in the least enthusiastically.

Adrien hated how hollow her voice had sounded when she'd said this. He felt his fists clench by their own will.

“May I visit your bakery?” he asked. “I can talk to your parents.”

“You?” she chuckled. “You barely talk when detransformed.”

Adrien felt another twinge of disappointment.

He just wanted to be useful to her.

He just wanted to protect the girl he loved.

Why is he constantly getting dismissed?

She put her hand on his reassuringly.

“Thank you, kitty cat, but drop it. They've always been like that. I've gotten used to the way they treat me a long time ago.”

He looked at her with sad kitty eyes.

“Please take care of yourself,” he pleaded.

(Although it should be me taking care of you).

She nodded and started turning around to leave.

“And—umm—Toxi, I mean, Ladybug. Just one question, before you go. May I get to know your real name?”

So many sleepless nights were spent by him trying to figure out what magical combination of sounds the beauty from the local bakery might have as a name. What wouldn’t he give to actually know it!

Who would've thought that it'd turn out to be—

“Marinette,” she said, looking down at the roof beneath her feet, as if confessing to a crime.

Adrien couldn’t help but squeal at the sound of that name.

It was anything but common. Beautiful and poetic, even though old-fashioned (Adrien wondered if she was named after her great grandmother), as if tailored specifically for this extraordinary girl.

He heard that name just two seconds ago and couldn’t imagine her being called differently.

He already knew there were many more sleepless nights to come when he'd be lying in his giant bed, savouring her name like a lollipop, saying it out loud again and again.

It'll drive Plagg insane. It'd be the only instance when I might be glad his mouth is gagged (although it won't last long, Hesperia having told us he knows how to help the poor kwamis out of their predicament. I'm probably going to learn a lot about myself once it's done).

====

She'd been long gone, yet Adrien still stood where she'd left him, staring after her, star-struck, and muttering to himself.

Toxinelle. Ladybug. Fancybug. Cockroach. Bug. Marinette. Buguinette.

So many names she had. And he loved all of them.

Because they belonged to the one and only baker girl.

saying “i wouldn’t be a good parent” is a morally neutral statement and i’m sick of whenever i say it people replying “noo no you’d be a GREAT mother i know you would!!!” like… no! being a good parent requires a certain set of skills and traits and i know that i don’t have them and that’s a good thing!!! i think people should figure out if they would be good parents BEFORE having kids and maybe we’d have less shitty parents in the world! fuck!

alright gang, the rumors are true. The Edge of Sleep is now live (US only ig) on Amazon Prime Video. and i get what some of y'all are saying, "there doesn't need to be marketing because of mark's rabid fanbase!"

But guys. Guys. This is not a YouTube project. I hate to say it but even 30+ million Markiplier fans is not enough for what needs to happen here, unfortunately. This is ultimately about breaking out of the YouTube-fanbase sphere and getting this show to mainstream viewership. That's the goal-- this is about showing that a "YouTuber project" (even though Edge of Sleep was made by a professional production company and isn't really that) can have appeal beyond a preexisting audience. It's about, big picture, legitimizing the contributions of online creators in making films and television products for casual viewers.

So yeah, it's time to break out not just The Plan, but The Strategy. What is that, you ask? You'll see--check back tonight. This is a call for all hands on deck.

We ride at sunset-- the edge between day and night when the world starts to go to bed. We ride at the edge of sleep.

Reblog if you’re over 20 and still read/write fan fiction.

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reblog only if you’ve received less than 1000 boops! we can all get each other to “max”