Splinter

"Ughhh, you stupid thing!" Marinette said, sitting in her pink chair on her balcony and looking down at her finger. "Why won't you come out?"

"Hey Marinette!" she heard a voice say.

"Uwah!" Marinette flinched and looked up above her to find the black clad hero perched on top of her roof. "Chat Noir, you scared me! What are you doing here today?"

"I was just prowling around the streets of Paris when I thought I heard a damsel in distress." He jumped down from the roof and landed in front of Marinette. "What's the trouble?" he asked.

"I've got this teeny tiny splinter stuck in my finger and it won't come out with my needle," Marinette explained.

"Aren't you good at sewing though?" Chat Noir asked.

"Yeah...but not so much with my left hand," Marinette replied.

"In that case, allow me princess," Chat Noir said smoothly. He took the needle from her left hand and the tweezers on the table nearby. He then kneeled down in front of her.

"So how exactly do I do this?" he asked.

"Gently insert the needle under the skin that's the closest to where the end of the splinter is right here," Marinette explained, as she pointed to the end of the splinter in her right index finger.

"Got it." He gently began to try to needle out the splinter, but Marinette flinched.

"Sorry, I must be hurting you," Chat apologized.

"No it's fine, keep going," Marinette reassured him. "Like they say, no pain no gain right?"

Chat chuckled. "So how did this happen?"

"I'm really not sure how," Marinette began. "While I was passing out flyers to advertise the new items my parents are going to be making for their bakery, I felt this sudden pain in my finger. I thought it was a paper-cut, but when I looked down I saw a small, paper-like splinter embedded in it."

Chat laughed, and Marinette rolled her eyes at him.

"I know I know, it sounds stupid. But of course, it's something that would ONLY happen to me," she sighed.

"Nah, it could probably happen to anyone," Chat assured her. "So what kind of new items are your parents making?"

"Well they're not really new items, just specialty versions of what we usually make," Marinette explained. "Like for Easter coming up in a few weeks, they're making special egg-shaped macaroons and coloring them in a tie-dye fashion. And my dad is planning on baking bread in the shape of eggs as well. They're also planning on making cookies in the shapes of rabbits and chicks too."

"Sounds really creative!" Chat enthusiastically. "I'd love to stop by and try them in a few weeks."

"Be my guest," Marinette said. "So I heard you and Ladybug are going to help out with the children's Easter Egg hunt in the park?"

"Yep, it'll be a blast! I love watching kids get very excited over games!" Chat smiled.

"Me too," Marinette smiled back, "but I do hope that no kids are akumatized during or after the Easter egg hunt. Sometimes competition can cause negative emotions from what I've seen so far with past akumas."

"I hope so too," Chat said, "Speaking of which...here's the demon splinter itself."

He held up the tweezers to show her the splinter caught between its tongs.

"Wow...I didn't feel anything at all," Marinette said, looking down at her finger. "But it looks like you had to dig pretty deep for me to not feel anything..."

"I'm purrretty good at distracting people," Chat said with a wink. "People don't notice pain as much when something else is on their mind. A lot of nurses use this technique on their patients when they give shots." He then wrapped up the splinter in a paper towel Marinette gave him.

"Ahhh, makes sense," Marinette said, nodding her head. "You planning on going into the medical field someday?"

"Hahaha, maybe. I'm not quite sure what I want to do as a career," Chat admitted, "though I do like the science field."

"I think you'd make a great doctor or nurse. You're really good at keeping people relaxed," Marinette admitted.

Chat smiled at her warmly. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind." He then stood up.

"Now I think my princess knows what to do from here right?"

Marinette nodded her head. "Yep, antibiotic ointment and a bandage. Thanks for helping me out Chat!"

"No problem! If you ever get another splinter in your hand again, just yell out my name and I'll leap over here without PAWSing for even a second," Chat grinned.

Marinette smiled and rolled her eyes. "I'll be sure to do that."

Chat took her left hand in his and lifted it up, "Until next time, my princess." He placed a quick kiss on the back of her hand, smiled at her lovingly, and leapt away.

Tikki then floated out of the flower pot she was hiding in and flew over to Marinette's side.

"Woooow, who knew Chat Noir would be interested in science?" Tikki said in an awed tone.

"Yeah...he didn't seem like the science type to me..." Marinette said in a hushed tone.

Tikki then floated in front of Marinette's face and studied her.

"Marinette, are you...blushing?" Tikki asked.

"Huh? What? No! Nah-uh!" Marinette said while fidgeting.

"Could it be that you've started to form a crush on Chat Noir, hehehe?" Tikki teased.

"What?! Noooo! No way! My heart will forever belong to Adrien!" Marinette said, turning a darker shade of red.

"Well would you look at this? You transform every day after school, saying you want to 'patrol' around the city, and then you stop by that pigtail girl's place along the way to either watch her on her balcony or to have a nice long 'chat.' If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're in looooovvee." Plagg said in a teasing tone. Adrien was back in his bedroom with Plagg eating camembert on his desk.

"I don't transform every day," Adrien mumbled. "and Marinette's just a friend."

Plagg took a huge bite of his camembert.

"I hate to tell you kid," Plagg said with his mouth full, "but what you're doing sounds like something more than friendship to me."

"Whatever you say," Adrien sighed. "I still love Ladybug more though...I think..." he thought, with his face turning slightly red.

This story was inspired by me getting a splinter yesterday. At the restaurant i work at we got brand new paper menus, and while I was piling them I felt a sudden pain in my finger. I thought it was a paper cut at first, but when I looked down there was a small, brown, paper-splinter stuck in it. Took me 40 minutes to get it out with hydrogen peroside and a needle using my left hand. DX So yes, paper splinters DO exist and are possible to get. Be careful when dealing with brand new paper guys.