Of Glitter and Gold

Chapter 42

Marinette's laying on a hill, watching clouds lazily drift past, as spring blooms around her. Damian sits nearby, watching her.

"I never got it." Her head still stuck in the clouds, eyes wistful. Damian doubts if she even spoke, the noise was the only disturbance of the peace. She turns and their eyes meet.

"The clouds." Marinette turns her gaze back up to the sky.

"They're so pretty, and soft, like something you dream of being able to touch but when you look closer, see what it really is, it's just water. How can something so special be made up of something so... "

"Common?"

"Yeah." The breeze flutters Marinette's dark locks, Damian feels it ruffle his own hair. He needs to get that haircut.

"I have a better question."

"Still at it with the competition, I see." Damian rolls his eyes at that but asks his question nonetheless.

"Clouds are nice but the better question is why do we bother looking for such beauty?"

"Of course you would be the one to say that-"

"No, I don't mean to sound pessimistic, just- look." Damian moves himself closer to Marinette before laying down and pointing up at the sky. Away from the tall skyscrapers and exhaust filled streets the sky is far clearer than in the city.

"Why is it that when a child, or anyone for that matter, like an overly optimistic, annoyingly righteous teenager, like yourself, looks up at that blob of water vapor you see shapes and animals and faces? Why make those connections? It's not the clouds that are special but the meaning we assign to them." Marinette's head tilts to the side, their conversation switches to French.

"Why draw if you're never going to look back on your work? You do it to pass the time, or maybe relax, but what was the point in creating if not to admire it? We might not shape the clouds, mark the cracks on the trunk of a tree, paint a butterfly's wings but don't you think it deserves to be appreciated?" Marinette picks one of the small wildflowers growing on the hill and holds it above her face as it twirls between her fingers.

"Yes they exist out of necessity, the color on a butterfly's wings say 'don't eat me, I could be poisonous' but don't you think all those years of evolution, fighting for survival, after all of that to result in something as beautiful as a butterfly, shouldn't it be appreciated?"

"Way to get philosophical." Damian snorts, and Marinette is quick to defend herself.

"You asked."

"Alright then. If the butterfly wants to keep people away, then why is it so beautiful? It wants people to stay away, wants them to keep their distance and yet it still attracts curiosity. Doesn't that defeat the purpose of the wings?"

"Well that's a stupid question."

"Shut up... fine. You know what I don't understand?"

"What?"

"We don't hate each other anymore."

"No, I don't think so."

"Then why are you still a pain in my ass?" Marinette laughs freely, Damian relishes in it.

"You mean the teasing?" She laughs again finding his questions hilarious.

"I suppose."

"Well, you- you're just- I'm-" Damian's head turns in time to see her brows furrow, her lips pursing in concentration. Her nose does the scrunch, he loves that scrunch.