Chapter Text
There were times when Marinette really hated omega heat cycles and their effect on alphas like herself. This was not one of those times.
Juleka, head pillowed on Marinette’s chest, made a tiny noise of pleasure at the way her hair was being stroked, and Marinette’s heart swelled.
“Do you need anything else?” she asked, thick and sweet, pushing Juleka’s hair away from her eyes and getting distracted by the softness of it.
”Nah,” Juleka whispered, looking flushed and miserable as she clung to Marinette’s torso. “’M okay.”
Marinette offered her the water bottle she had on hand anyway, and Juleka took it but didn’t drink.
Juleka had forgotten her suppressants this morning, as the class had discovered halfway through English, and Marinette had been sent to take her to the nurse’s office for emergency replacements.
Marinette really should have headed back by now, but had been lobbied into playing fetch-and-carry first for the nurse, then Juleka herself, and had then been lobbied into being Juleka’s body pillow, hot water bottle, and scented candle in one while they waited for the dose to kick in.
So here she was.
It was probably all horribly against regulations, but the nurse was standing by and Juleka was miserable and what were regulations on that, really?
Chloé had been asked to take Marinette’s place, but had pitched a fit over the mere suggestion, which was mystifying; being here meant helping out a friend, skipping class, and cuddling with a pretty girl all at once. It was a win-win-win.
For Marinette, anyway.
For Juleka…
Juleka twitched sluggishly up to tuck her nose into the crook of Marinette’s neck, emitting a tiny, swallowed, discomfited mewl as she did so.
Marinette switched from stroking her hair to rubbing quiet, soothing circles over the arch of her friend’s back and hummed a soft tune in the back of her throat.
Juleka sighed and sank back into stillness, only her fluttering heartbeat and quick breathing left to suggest that she hadn’t fallen asleep on the spot.
“You don’t feel fidgety?” Marinette whispered, unable to raise her voice above that. Chat did, she knew from long patrols, and she’d been led to believe that was the norm.
(She wondered, for the fourth time since she’d left class two hours ago, just how Chat dealt with his heats, and whether or not he had anyone to help him through them. For the fourth time in the past two hours, she firmly pushed the thought away.)
Juleka shook her head, a tiny motion that was almost a shiver and that nudged her nose against the column of Marinette’s throat. “No, th’ suppressants just make me tired.”
Marinette hugged her tighter, chest squeezing sweetly at the touch and the rattle in her voice.
“Julie, Julie!”
Marinette instinctively tightened her grip, then loosened it when It was Rose’s voice that registered.
Rose herself appeared a moment later, busting into the infirmary and crawling up on the bed next to her paramour. “Are you okay? I’m so sorry I couldn’t—”
Juleka batted at Rose’s tiny hovering hands and caught one with a reassuring smile. “Hi.”
Rose visibly melted. “…Hi.”
Marinette looked away, searching the room for the nurse and feeling a hard knot of jealousy gather in the back of her throat that she refused to touch.
(She still didn’t know if there was anyone to help Chat.)
Instead, she found Adrien and Mylené standing in the doorway.
Meep.
She waved, embarrassed, and tried not to visibly sink at the identical warm, almost laughing grins that crossed their faces.
(Yeah, yeah, her being putty in Juleka’s hands was cute, she got it. Ugh.)
“It’s break already?” she said, studiously ignoring many things, from their grins to the lovers practically canoodling on top of her to the urge to pull the blanket covering Juleka over her own head. “What did I miss?”
“Not much,” Adrien said, soft and warm enough to send a little shiver down her spine. He handed her a page of handwritten notes and a chip for her tablet as Mylené snuggled in on her other side. Taking in the sight, he paused a moment, and then added, “You look cozy.”
‘Cozy’ was one word for it.
‘Covered head to toe in pretty girls’ were a few more.
Marinette had exactly zero objections to any of it.
She beamed and spread her arms as if to offer a him hug, cocky and happy and inviting. “Always room for one more.”
“I’ll… keep that in mind,” said Adrien with a wry look, in a tone that said he was going to do no such thing.
“Offer’s open,” said Marinette, ever the optimist, as Adrien leaned over her to touch Juleka’s shoulder in quiet support and then turned to leave.
He just waved as he exited, probably to hang out with Nino or something, and vanished.
Marinette sank back onto the pillows with a disappointed sigh.
When she opened her eyes again, she was met with not one, not two, but three very knowing, teasing grins.
Gnurk.
Why did she want these people to be her pack again?