marsi !!

audio by 6lair on tiktok

ladybug has him and nathaniel (caprikid) in a secluded alleyway, and she’s telling him “you have to, you have to, you’re too drained, you’ll hurt yourself and your kwami permanently if you don’t,” all while he insists he can keep going, he needs to keep going, to help fight.

but when caprikid points out the potential damage to his kwami rather than him, the holder, rooster bold finally caves. ladybug tells caprikid to stay with him, makes him swear not to tell anybody rooster’s identity and assures rooster bold that it will be kept secret. caprikid promises, though he looks a little anxious with the new secret to keep.

the “secret” of it all becomes the least of his worries when ladybug leaves to rejoin the fight and he watches rooster bold detransform into none other than his best friend in the entire world. His best friend, the boy he’s been in love with for two years, bleeding from the nose from the exertion and looking almost embarrassed as he cradles his tired kwami in his palms and avoids eye contact.

nathaniel is practically frozen. he watches marc fish a small bag of dried corn feed from his pocket and start feeding orikko, swiping at his bloody nose with flushed knuckles. marc grimaces, his other hand petting over orikko’s feathers as the kwami eats.

“i promise i’m not usually this much of a let down as hero,” he says, almost self-chastising. “I’m pretty lame outside of all of it, but most times i’m more useful than this.”

he looks ashamed, like using his power until he’s bleeding and exhausted was some humiliating failure to prove himself. nathaniel aches at the thought.

marc is rambling now, it seems. he does that sometimes.

“i’m gonna work on it, i’m sure i could train myself to go longer than this. this is the last time you’ll have to babysit, i swear. i’m so sorry i’m keeping you from everything-“

nathaniel doesn’t let him go on any longer. his gloved hands come up, albeit a little shaky, and he watches himself cup one of marc’s cheeks, blood smear and all, and then the other. marc’s words die in is throat, and he sits there, breathing quietly as the flush of his face burns brighter.

“it’s not babysitting,” caprikid tells him. “you can’t-“ his voice breaks, and he swallows, finding his footing again. “you can’t push yourself so far that you’re hurting yourself, marc.”

he sees the flash of shock in those green eyes, the recognition that this is someone who knows his name. someone who knows him in some capacity. he can deal with that later.

“you’re too important to be doing that, you’re-“ he pauses, his thumb swiping over marc’s cheekbone tenderly as he studies his face. the confusion written in it, the parted lips.

he leans closer, resolute. “you matter more than the rest of this. i can’t… i can’t see you doing this to yourself. please, please, don’t push it too far. you’re doing great. you always do. don’t be in a rush to be what you think is better when the best is already there. don’t hurt yourself trying to prove that you’re capable. we see that in you already.”

marc might be making a wordsmith out of him yet.

he watches those green eyes rim with tears, and he almost starts apologizing, but then marc is hugging him, his arms wrapped around his shoulders and his hands lost in the fur of caprikid’s collar. “okay,” the writer whispers. “okay. thank you.” it’s a croaked, teary thing, and nathaniel hugs him back like he’s something precious, something to hold close to his heart.

Its not that he used ONE power for too long

It's that he pushed through to use MULTIPLE powers, one at a time but multiple

Mentally begging Orikko for just a little more strength

Ladybug doesn't notice until he's bleeding i uniform.

She didn't notice at first, a bit of red on his face, must be his mask

But then he coughs and his hand is red and Caprikid is the one that noticed and he cries out for Ladybug and she comes and Rooster is fighting Cap to let him go, he can do it

He stays there the whole seventy years before he’s offered a deal- Becoming a spirit hunter and bring escapees or ghosts evading their fates to hell. For the most part, it doesn’t tug on any of his strings. He drags evil, demented people back down to where they belong, re-serving a justice long deserved. It feels.. cathartic, he supposes.

But every now and then, there’s someone like the person he could’ve been. Someone who was sent there or meant to be based on a technicality or an unfair binding or a mistake. They beg and they plead and they show no signs of being deserving of their fates. Just as he hasn’t.

But it’s his job, and he doesn’t want to go back to those halls anymore than they do. It hardens him overtime, makes him snappish and cold. Every beg to avoid torment makes the bags under his dead eyes grow, and sometimes, the drag of his own chained-hook (used for apprehending the feistier of spirits,) makes his skin crawl.

But it doesn’t matter- None of it does. He can’t, won’t go back. Won’t face that fucking spider eating him alive again if he can help it.

I love love LOVE your idea of him meeting charles even though initially envisioned something entirely different-

ugh him being cold and angry all the time and then meeting a dying boy who’s literally cold and being able to be gentle for the first time in ages, reading to him in gentle tones and keeping him company.