hurricanerelic

[hurricanerelic]

Kitty’s Key, set 2

<Previous  Next>

4. Birthday

Marinette really didn’t want to use the fact she was Ladybug to find out where Chat was before he posted. That was cheating and she wouldn’t do that. However, if she happened to see Chat running across the rooftops, likely to his spot for the day, then it was fair game.

She followed the cat as closely as she could, ending up at a little café with outdoor seating. He was under the awning, wearing a green hoodie and sunglasses and a hat over his ears.

Marinette smirked at his disguise. Clever cat.

She marched over to him, but he didn’t see. He was on his baton, probably hinting out his location to whoever was following his account.

By the time he put it away, Marinette was sitting at the other end of the table.

It was clear he wasn’t expecting it. “H-hey!” he said, smile quickly replacing the shock on his expression. “Catch me early, did you?”

“I saw you leaping on the rooftops,” she said. “Want me to get you something?”

He waved it off. “Nah, I’m fine. It won’t be long before I’m swarmed and can’t eat anything anyway.”

“Fair enough,” she said. “Nice disguise, by the way.”

Keep reading

[hurricanerelic]

Kitty’s Key, set 1

I’m not gonna do Marichat May. I’m not gonna do Marichat May. I’m not gonna do…

I’m gonna do it. XD Here’s the first set.

1. No Powers

This was probably considered a gross misuse of his powers. Honestly, he should be going through this without the help of Plagg. But the fact was that he did have Plagg and he did have powers and it would be a shame not to use them if he was ever in trouble.

And Adrien Agreste counted being the prize for some contest that would give the winner a photoshoot and a date with him “being in trouble”.

“This is a really bad idea.”

“Well, it’s either this or subjecting myself to my father’s will,” Adrien countered.

“Yeah,” Plagg moaned. “But did you have to get me involved.”

“You can stand it.”

“But I don’t want to have to help you run from rabid fangirls.”

“You’ll live.”

He pouted.

“I’ll give you the extra good camembert for a solid month.”

Plagg froze mid-air, like Adrien knew he would. “The really good stuff?”

“For the entire month of the contest,” Adrien repeated.

Again, Plagg paused, likely pretending to mull it over when Adrien already knew the answer.

“Fine. But for the record, I still think it’s a really stupid idea.”

Keep reading

[hurricanerelic]

fallingforyou

this fic got out of hand when I was writing it and I have no regrets

a sequel of sorts to this fic here but can be read alone | read on AO3

Don’t you see me I

I think I’m falling,

I’m falling for you

// Fallingforyou – the 1975

***

It must be written in a rule book somewhere, that a friend should not think of a friend’s lips much longer than necessary, no matter how tempting and pretty and moist they are.

    Granted, this friend was nothing short of amazing in the time that he’s know her—she was responsible, sweet, thoughtful, considerate, AND pretty, attributes that Adrien was finding quite devastating, not for her but for himself, given his current predicament.

Keep reading

[hurricanerelic]

It’s Called Black Magic

My Big Bang Fic is finally here!  Whoop!  If you’re looking for 45k of MariChat, you’re in the right place, and be sure to check out this playlist by @the-original-book-worm and this art by @mrsashketchum both of which go along with this fic.  Also a shout out to @greenparispavement for her awesome betaing.  All three of you are fantastic human beings.  Also, if you need incentive to read this fic, Chat Noir forms a boy band at one point, so there’s that.

Chapter One - I Got the Recipe

Marinette collapsed against the back of the library chair, sighing with relief.

“I can’t believe it’s finally over,” she groaned, stretching her arms above her head.  "This project took, like, six years off my life.“

Alya snorted in agreement, scanning their poster board for any mistakes.  "At least twelve,” she amended.  "Every geography class takes off six years.  This stupid project took off at least double that.“  

Marinette’s back cracked audibly, and she relaxed into a more comfortable position.  "We’re going to die by twenty two at this point.”

“Thank you, geography, for saving me from having to experience grey hair, wrinkles, and menopause.”  Alya bowed gratefully to their holy poster board before stuffing her things back into her backpack.  "Now for the non-boring part of our hangout.“

“What’s the non-boring part?” Marinette wondered, carefully rolling up the poster.  "Are we getting ice cream?“

Alya’s grin was terrible, and Marinette wasn’t sure whether she should be afraid or excited.  "You know how we’re moving my nan into the nursing home, right?”  Alya flattened an aged piece of paper on the table in front of them.  "Well, I found this when we were packing up her stuff.  Nan says it’s a love spell.“

Marinette raised an eyebrow, pulling the paper towards her.  The writing was half worn off, and parts weren’t even in French, but from what she could understand, it did seem to be a spell.  She glanced back up at Alya.  "Isn’t your nan, you know—”

“Bat-shit crazy?” Alya finished.  "Oh, yeah.  Totally.  But she claims to be a witch, and she translated the spell for me.“  She waved her phone, which supposedly contained the translation.  "According to her, if the person who drinks the potion does so with love in their heart, the deepest feelings of love and admiration will be awakened in their one true love.”  Marinette snorted, and Alya pressed her lips together to keep from giggling.  "It’s true.  At least, according to Nan.“

"So basically this potion makes whoever drinks it’s true love fall in love with them?” Marinette recapped, and Alya nodded.  "You going to try it on Nino, then?“

"No.”  Alya looked appalled.  "I mean, the chances of this thing working are basically non-existent, but how awkward would that be?  Some random person showing up , claiming to be my true love?  No, thank you.“  She shook her head, ponytail flopping forcefully.  "I don’t care if Nino’s my one true love or not.  He’s my right now, and I’m not about to potentially ruin that with some spell that might not even work properly.”

Marinette nodded sagely, giving up on her self-assigned task of figuring out whether the smudge in the corner of the page was the word “retrouver” or a doodle of a dinosaur, and returning her attention to Alya.  "That’s a very grown up decision, Al.“

"I’m a very grown up person, in case you haven’t noticed.”  Alya flipped her hair dramatically, and Marinette grinned.  "So, back to the spell.  Apparently the effects last a week, and they set in during the first time the true love is asleep and wear off during sleep a week later.  According to Nan, sleep is very important for a lot of magic.“

"As it should be,” Marinette agreed.  She glanced down at the paper again, a plan forming in her head.  "You said it only lasts a week?  Do you think, maybe, it would work on Adrien if I drank the potion?  You know, if the potion even works?“

Alya’s grin grew even more wicked.  "I think there’s a high possibility.”  Marinette stifled a squeal.  She wasn’t fourteen anymore, and loud squealing was generally frowned upon in the library.  "Wanna give it a shot?“

Marinette’s gut was telling her yes, but her head was pointing out that maybe, just maybe, making Adrien fall in love with her via a potion might not be the most morally sound decision.

But then her heart jumped on board with her gut with the reminder of all she’d done for the Adrien Cause—please refer to her long list of lawfully ambiguous decisions including: 17 counts of breaking and entering (for good reasons), 46 counts of stealing his phone (for equally good reasons), and 1 account of going full out superhero in a jealous rage (which wasn’t technically breaking any laws, as far as she knew)—and suddenly her gut and her heart were beating up her head in a back alley for pocket change.

"I’m in.”

Read The Rest On AO3

[hurricanerelic]

Teaser cover for my next comic :3

Not sure when I’ll get the first page up, but once I get my schedule situated, it’ll be another weekly update.

Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir

“Tech-Rex” - By emzurl

Next >> Page 1

[hurricanerelic]

This is the official archive to my Miraculous Ladybug fan-comic “The Price of Life”

Summary: Gabriel has managed to successfully take Ladybug’s earrings, and Chat Noir’s ring. His wish to bring back his beloved wife Adele has been made, but at what cost? Updates Sundays AWST!

1 || 2 || 3 || 4 ||

[hurricanerelic]

Supercut

Summary:

Marinette loves her friends and Adrien can’t deal. Post-reveal, pre-relationship.

Also on AO3 and FF.net

Marinette Dupain-Cheng loved with a fierce sort of affection that gently destroyed him.

She wasn’t grand gestures or loud declarations or flashy devotion.

She was thoughtful moments and quiet attention and unwavering loyalty.

It took Adrien an embarrassingly long time to recognize it for what it was.  When everything he knew was detachment and afterthought his compass for affection was nearly non-existent.  He knew Nathalie’s cold comfort and his father’s broken promises and Chloe’s noisy fawning. He knew conditions and strings and if-thens.

He didn’t understand second chances.

Striving. Everyone in his life was striving.

They put their careers, their hopes, their reputation on his shoulders and poked and prodded and pulled until he smiled just right and spoke just so and moved just there.

And he didn’t know any different.

Until he did.

She loved in the little ways.

She loved in passing moments and quiet gestures and thoughtfully in a way that was almost careless.  In a way that was so very Marinette.

Adrien had always been careful, but in the five weeks since he found out the Truth he felt like his shoes were made of glass and every next step could be the one to shatter him.

A problem when every shy smile, confused blush, and rapid fluttering of blue, blue eyes made him feel like dancing, glass be damned.

Marinette was Ladybug.

In removing the mask he had been gifted with the knowledge that his best friend was never really as far away as she seemed.  Ladybug was untouchable.  Marinette was so very, very there.

It somehow made everything more vivid, more terrifying,

just more.

It had been painfully awkward of course. Because of course it was when she was so adamant about keeping their identities a secret.

Fortunately for him, Marinette never was good at telling the restrooms apart.

Keep reading

[hurricanerelic]

Some very cool UNUSED Ladybug weapon designs from the Miraculous Ladybug Art Book! (Coming to the US Late 2017)

[hurricanerelic]

Board game night

A/N: This was sitting in my completed folder forever, so I thought I’d just post it. based off of @taytei‘s post

Marinette generally believes she is unlucky; she trips over things, knocks things down in the worst possible way, and generally makes a mess of things. Being Ladybug hasn’t given her anymore grace, and the luck in the suit doesn’t appear to transfer out of the suit. This is one example where she believes she is terribly unlucky. Unlucky to have given in to Chat’s urge to play games. Unlucky to have selected this particular set of cards that she made with Adrien, Alya, and Nino the last time they played. Unlucky to have pulled this specific card in front of Chat. Unlucky, unlucky, unlucky. That’s what this was: unlucky.

Of course Tikki pointed out that it was extremely lucky to have this particular set of circumstances happen. It was very lucky that she was unwittingly so close to her crush, and rather lucky that if it Chat had been anyone else at all, that the card would have simply been skipped.

Marinette would follow up with the simple retort of “How is it lucky that I’ve been rejecting my crush on a weekly basis?!”

Tikki naturally follows up with the whole, at least you don’t have to figure out who you love more now, they are the same person.

Marinette would attempt to hide her blush, bury her face into the pillow, and be done with it.

Of course, this entire situation could have been avoided if she simply brought a different board game, or if she remembered to bring blank index cards with the game. Or if she simply never agreed to do this whole board game swapping with Chat Noir to begin with.

Not that she regrets it at all.

It was really fun to see all sorts of different board games that Chat Noir had in his collection. Marinette really couldn’t say no after his offhand comment on how he had no one to play the games with. Sure enough, the first few times they played, many of the pieces were still packed away in the sealed plastic bags they came in. Besides, Marinette had to admit that it was pretty enjoyable to just hang out with Chat as Ladybug without needing to worry about patrols or Akumas. It quickly became their weekly de-stressing ritual, a time to not really think about school, or Akuma’s or whether or not they’ll ever find Hawkmoth.

Marinette decided to simply snatch the first game off the shelf. A game she was playing earlier in the week with Alya, Nino, and Adrien. They actually had quite a bit of fun creating various cards and then trying to figure out what or who they were.

They had each brainstormed a set of cards and shuffled everything together, so no one actually knew what most of the cards were. Marinette was amused that someone had created cards for each of them. Adrien trying to figure out that he was Adrien was exceptionally funny, and it took him nearly twice as many questions as any of the other cards to figure out he was himself, or when he was a cactus. He couldn’t seem to think of a plant that didn’t exist in a forest.

“Marinette, you’re going to be late!” Tikki snapped Marinette out of her memories.

“Oops. Ready to go Tikki?” At her nod, Marinette transformed into Ladybug. Stuffing the game into a bag and slinging it over her shoulder, she crawled out of her skylight and swung off into the night.

Ladybug set down on a rooftop overlooking the Trocadero and looked around for Chat Noir. Realizing that he wasn’t there yet, Marinette pulled a blanket and laid it down, before setting the game out and waiting for her kitty. It didn’t take long for him to announce his presence.

“Why hello there, my Lady.” Chat Noir sauntered up to the edge of the blanket. Ladybug just gave him a deadpan stare. As soon as he reached the blanket, he plopped down. “So what are we playing today?”

He looked over the box and looked up in surprise. “Huh, I was playing this game earlier with some friends.”

Ladybug was already rummaging through the box. She pulled out a headband and tossed it him. He snatched it easily out of the air, affixing it to his head “So you know how to play?”

Chat Noir nodded. “We ask yes or no questions and try to figure out who we are.”

“Or what.” Ladybug added. At Chat Noir’s confused expression, she elaborated. “My friends made some cards that aren’t people.” Chat Noir nodded.

“So you want to make this a competition?”

Ladybug grinned. “Sure, what do you propose?”

“Who ever guesses what they are in the least number of questions wins the round, whoever wins the most rounds at the end wins the game?”

“And what do they win?”

“Hmm… How about the loser has to go on a date with the winner.”

Ladybug wasn’t amused, and gave him a light glare.

“Wouldn’t you win in either situation?”

“Yup!” Chat waggled his eyebrows.

“Okay, how about if I win,” Ladybug pondered for a moment. “If I win, you don’t get to make cat puns for a month.”

“A MONTH?! Cruel punishment, my Lady, I can’t go that long without them. I’ll do it for a week.”

“Two weeks, and that’s final.”

“Fine. If you win, I go two weeks without cat puns. If I win, I get a date with you. Deal?” Ladybug still had second thoughts about the date, but she was also fairly confident she was going to win.

“Deal.” Ladybug stuck out her hand.  Chat Noir shook it.

“If you win though, I’ll still accept going on a date.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes. “Dream on, kitty.”

And the game was on.

Chat Noir decided to start first, drawing a card from the pile he fixed it to his headband.

“Its upside down.” Ladybug cracked with a smile.

Chat rolled his eyes, and righted the card.

“So am I a… person?”

“Yes.”

“Am I a girl?”

“Yup.”

“Am I famous?”

“You could have been. But no, not really.” Ladybug answered. Chat frowned a bit at that, trying to shuffle through his memory of people that he would know.

“Is my hair blonde?”

“Not technically, before the akumatization, yes.” Ladybug slapped a hand over her mouth. She let out just a bit too much information.

“So I am an akuma.”

“Yup.”

“That wasn’t a question,” Chat shot with a smirk. “Did I kidnap anyone?”

“Nope.”

“Am I Stormy Weather?”

Ladybug smiled. “Yes you are, pretty good. Let’s see if I can beat you.”

She drew a card and started. Chat Noir twitched a bit when he saw the card. His face pulled into a grimace for a moment, but quickly recovered. By the time Ladybug had looked back Chat had his easy grin on again.

Am I a person? Yup. Am I famous? Yes. Am I a girl? Nope. Am I a movie actor? Nope. Am I an artist? Yes you are. Musician? Nope. Fashion Designer? Yeah. Am I Parisian? Yup.

“I’m Gabriel Agreste?”

“We have a winner!”

“Pfft, I wish I had M. Agrete’s design talents.” Ladybug let out a small sigh.

Chat noted that, seemed like Ladybug was a fashion designer. “I do believe I won the round through.”

“We still have several rounds to go, Kitty, don’t get cocky yet.”

“We’ll see,” Chat replied with a crooked grin.

He drew the next card, but Ladybug stopped him.

“I don’t think you know him. He’s one of my friends.” Ladybug took the card and put it on the the bottom of the pile. Chat was curious to see what the card was, but he received a new card before he could take a look at it.

They continued to play, frequently trading round wins back and forth. Chat won the next one with a lucky guess on Mayor Bourgeois, but suffered losses when he assumed he was a human, but was in fact Fang (What? Fang is famous? He’s Jagged Stone’s pet, of course he’s famous), then he couldn’t remember many details about Dark Cupid and lost another round there to a lightly blushing Ladybug.

“Alright, since it’s even right now. Next round is the last round?” Chat offered, stifling a yawn in the process.

“Sure, ready to lose?”

“Ah, but I’ve been doing just as well as you, bugaboo.”

“You won’t this round.”

“We’ll see.” Chat drew a card and affixed it to his head and started the questions. Am I a person? Nope. An animal? Nope. A living object? Yes. A plant? Yes. Do I have leaves? Technically, but no one thinks of them as leaves.

“Do I have a trunk?”

“Not technically?”

“That doesn’t help.”

“Shush. Next question.” Ladybug couldn’t quite keep her grin suppressed, she was almost certain she was going to win the round at this point.

“Am I tall?”

“Sometimes. You can also be really tiny.” Chat Noir looked stumped at the hint.

“Am I found in a forest?”

Ladybug shook her head. Chat looked a little uncertain as he struggled to think of the answer.

“Am I a…” He suddenly lit up. “I’m a cactus?”

“Yup, you got it.”

“What can I say, I’m sharp.”

Ladybug groaned. “After that many hints?”

“Well, it’s your turn, milady. 9 questions or a date is on the line.”

Chat watched as Ladybug drew a card and affixed it to her head. The moment he saw the card he froze. Marinette.

It was like a fog was lifted. Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

As in the girl who sits behind him in class. The one who had similar dark blue hair, and bright blue eyes. The one who was always kind of shy and blushy around him, but had the confidence to stand up to Chloe when she started saying hurtful things to anyone in the class. This was the girl who managed to keep calm enough to direct her fellow students out of harm's way, yet she got caught in every. Single. Attack...

Oh.

“Is it on the right way?”

Of course there are many Marinettes in Paris, some corner of his brain offered. How many of them played this game, even made a card with ‘Cactus’ on it. The card had fallen off his hand band, and looking at it now, it was definitely Nino’s handwriting. He looked back up at card. Yup, definitely Alya’s handwriting there.

Adrien mentally facepalmed. Marinette was Ladybug. She used the same excuses he did: disappearing to the bathroom when an Akuma struck, claiming victim to an Akuma when declared missing, never being in the same location as Ladybug.

“Chat?”

“Huh?” Chat blinked. “Oh, yeah. It’s on the r-right way.” Chat wanted to kick his brain. He shouldn’t be stuttering. Just because he knew the identity of his Lady, and just because that identity is also really amazing, doesn’t mean that he should be stuttering.

“Is there something wrong?” Ladybug asked, reaching up to the card.

“No!” Chat quickly stopped the ascension of her wrists. “No, nothing is w-wrong.”

Ladybug gave him a curious look. “Are you sure?”

Chat nodded, not quite trusting his voice.

“Okay. Ready to go?” Chat slowly nodded, swallowing slightly. “Am I person?”

A nod. The most amazing person.

“A girl?”

Another nod. Definitely an awesome girl.

“Am I famous.”

Chat furrowed his brow. Ladybug is very famous, but the card doesn’t say Ladybug, but Marinette is Ladybug. Ladybug is Marinette. “Not yet, but I’m sure you will be.”

Chat’s hands twitched slightly, almost actually facepalming himself. Why would he say emphasize the you. He was being reckless.

Ladybug looked a little bit confused. “Was I an Akuma?”

“Nope.” And you probably never will be, he added silently.

Ladybug looked stumped.

“Am I a journalist?”

“Nope.”

Ladybug pouted, but it quickly melted into a grin.

“Am I an artist?”

“Yup.” Definitely an artist. Her clothes, her sketches, just everything. “Three more questions.”

Chat watched as Ladybug scrunched together her eyebrows in deep concentration. Just another familiarity, that same scrunch when she was looking over costumes for their video project, trying to adjust designs so that they looked nicer or fit more comfortably.

Just another thing that gently said Marinette to him.

“Do I paint?”

Chat blinked, abruptly brought out of his thoughts. “Nope, but you sketch quite a bit.”

Ladybug went back to pondering her identity.

“Alright, I have no idea who I am. I can’t think of any almost famous artists.”

Chat burst out into a grin. “Really? You can’t think of any soon-to-be famous fashion designers, buginette?”

“No?”

“No really brave, talented and sometimes shy people come to mind?”

Ladybug raised an eyebrow but shook her head.

Ladybug raised her hands towards the headband. Chat’s eyes widened. Her identity! She didn’t want him finding out, but if she sees the card, she’ll know. Chat quickly raised his hands plucking the card off, pulling the headband off in the process. He quickly shoved the card and the headband into the box. “Well, look at the time. I better high tail it out of here.”

Ladybug stood frozen, watching Chat put away the parts with a franticness that she had never seen him do before. When she finally found her voice again, she called out, “Chat!”

He didn’t listen. He gently thrust the box into her hands. “See you tomorrow!”

“Tomorrow? We don’t have pat--.” Chat wasn’t listening, he was already turning around. “Chat! The--”

Chat was already vaulted onto the next roof, quickly using his baton as if he was chasing after an Akuma.

“--Headband…”

Ladybug stood on the roof staring after the retreating form of her partner for sometime before she went home herself. Something about that last card… did it reveal her identity? Is that why he took off in such a rush?

--v--

“I messed up didn’t I Plagg.”

Plagg inhaled the cheese he had been savoring. “Probably. I don’t get why you didn’t just let her know you found out her identity.”

“She didn’t want me to know her identity, I panicked!”

“Yeah, and you took off with her headband.”

Adrien’s hand immediately reached up to touch the band confirming its presence. He fell back onto his bed with a groan.

“Just go talk to her tomorrow. It’ll only be worse if you keep this from her.”

Adrien propped himself up on his elbows, giving a Plagg a curious look. “When did you get so wise? I thought you only cared about cheese.”

“I do only care about cheese. You moping about this is destroying my appetite,” state Plagg.

Adrien nodded, then flopped back onto the bed.

--v--

Adrien felt a not so gentle nudging on his cheek the next morning, and snapped awake to see Plagg glaring at him.

“Cheese.”

“Mornin’ to you too.” Adrien stretched out and yawned. Looking at the clock it was still a little bit earlier than he would usually get up. “Why are you up so earlier?”

The only thing Plagg liked more than Cheese was sleeping. In fact, most of the time Adrien would tuck a still sleeping Plagg into his shirt pocket before heading off to school.

“I wanted some more cheese.”

“Don’t you know where the stash is?”

“It’s out.”

“It’s out?! How did you go through so much camembert?”

Plagg just shrugged. “I need more cheese.”

Adrien shook his head. Thirty minutes later, he was walking out the front door, bag in hand and Plagg munching away on some camembert inside of it.

As they drove to school, Plagg popped out, talking quietly. “So are you going to tell Marinette?”

Adrien reached into the bag and pulled out the headband.

“I think I will.” Adrien was nervous that she might not like him for finding out her identity, or that she might suddenly get shy if she knew it Adrien Agreste behind Chat’s mask.

“Good.” Plagg dove into his jacket pocket as the limo pulled up to the school.

Adrien stepped out. Alright, just have to find Marinette, and tell her I know her identity. Except, as per usual, she came in only minutes before class began, looking more frazzled and tired than she normally did.

“Hey, girl, you alright?” Adrien heard Alya ask.

“Yeah just--” Marinette yawned.”--tired.”

“Stayed up for a design again?”

“No. I--My friend was acting strange last night. I hope we’ll be alright.”

Adrien almost turned around and said, Of course we’ll be alright, my lady, but that probably would only cause Marinette to freak out more, and Alya to dig into why the two of them were seeing each other out of school. Add Marinette’s inability to talk to him, Adrien really didn’t want to give Alya a reason to investigate them.

It turns out that sitting in class was much more painful for Adrien knowing that his Ladybug sat behind him. Instead of daydreaming about a girl in a red suit, it was easily replaced with the girl behind him. Every few moments he itched to turn around and look at her. He knocked his pencil off the table a few times just so he could get a glance at her when he picked it up, and he caught her staring at him intently sometimes; her blush and aversion to his glance was a little endearing, and just a bit too much for the Chat in him.

By the time lunch came around, Adrien was sure a time slowing Akuma cast a spell over the school without anyone noticing.

“Hey Nino, Adrien, you want to grab lunch with us?” Alya asked.

“Yeah, of course!” Adrien answered immediately.

Nino raised an eyebrow, Adrien smiled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his neck. He may have said that a bit louder and a bit more enthusiastically than he intended.

“Right.” Nino then turned back to Alya. “Sure thing, dudes.”

They decided on heading over to Marinette’s place for food, especially when it occurred to them that Adrien had never actually had any food from the bakery.

“Hey Marinette?” Adrien asked tentatively as they left the school. Alya and Nino were walking a short distance ahead of them, but Alya seemed especially interested in the pair of them, frequently turning around to look.

“Ah… Ye-eah?”

“Can we t-talk in private at your house?” Adrien was surprised when he stuttered a bit too. He took a small breath and held a bit. It didn’t ease the jitters at all.

Though Marinette didn’t seem to fare much better. She stumbled a bit and a bit of a blush appeared on her face. “Of c-course, we have private to be places.”

Adrien blinked.

“I mean, we have places to be private.” Marinette’s blush grew to an impressive Ladybug red, covering more of her face than her mask did. “For private talks. At my home.”

Adrien nodded. Okay, he was going to do this.

Marinette continued walking for a moment, then she took off, running up to Alya. Adrien watched as she shooed Nino away.

--v--

Marinette couldn’t believe it. Adrien wanted to talk to her in private. There were a whole score of reasons that he would want to do that, and most of them probably weren’t good: maybe he found out about the phone incident; or it was finding out that she wrote the valentine poem, and he was rejecting her; perhaps it was about the scarf, though Marinette wasn’t actually sure why that would necessarily be a bad thing, unless he hated her for lying to him about his father getting it and then rejecting her forever. Her future with Adrien was doooooooooooomed.

Maybe she was overthinking things, but she wasn’t exactly sure how to react. It took a moment to realize that Alya might be able to help her. She immediately took off, leaving Adrien behind. She latched onto Alya’s arm and dragged her foward a few steps.

“Nino, go hang with A-Adrien for a bit.” She turned back to Alya, not waiting to see if Nino had followed through with her dismissal. “You have to help me.”

“Girl, what’s wrong? Said the wrong thing to Adrien, or did he ask you out?”

“No, he wants to talk to me in private at home. What do I do? What if it’s something bad? What if he rejects me forever and we don’t get married and have thre--”

“You need to calm down! It’s probably nothing big. He’s probably just embarrassed about going over your house or eating at the bakery. Maybe he’ll find a way to pay your parents for the pastries and stuff they let us have.”

“Okay. It’s probably just Adrien asking about things like this cause he’s been home-schooled and hasn’t had these experienced.”

“See nothing bad.”

Marinette nodded.

“Or he’s asking you out.”

“What!?” Marinette shrieked. “What do I do then?”

“Chill girl, just say yes. Easy.”

“Yeah, easy. It would be easy if I could actually get words out around him.”

“Just pretend he’s me!”

Marinette deadpanned. “You are nothing alike.”

“Right, cause I’m much prettier than him.” Marinette rolled her eyes. “Fine, pretend he’s like Max, or Kim or someone else. Someone similar.”

“Someone similar?” Chat almost immediately popped into her mind. Similar hair, similar green eyes. Tried to shake it out of her head. They weren’t similar in personality, they were still too different.

“Well, you better figure out someone quick, because we are here.”

Marinette was brought out of her thoughts as the bell tinkled overhead, the smell of fresh baked bread washed over them.

“You can bring him to your room,” suggest Alya.

Marinette stared at her wide-eyed at that suggestion. “No! That is the worst idea. We’ll… we’ll go somewhere else. Anywhere else.”

“Better find someplace quick.”

Marinette nodded. A quick greeting to papa, before heading on back and upstairs to her home. Maman was already waiting in the kitchen, a few treats laid out for her classmates. After grabbing a quick snack, she tried to summon up her courage. A gentle pressure on her hip from her purse reminded her that Tikki was with her. Okay, you can do this. It’s probably nothing serious. It’s might be just a question about the quiz or homework. You can do this.

Marinette walked up to Adrien, who seemed to be marveling at the croissant he just took a bite out of. Marinette felt a small swelling of pride and a large swelling of butterflies in her stomach.

“Hey A-Adrien?”

“Hmm?” Adrien looked up.

“Want to go pri--err--somewh-where private?”

“Oh. Ye-yes.”

Marinette beckoned him to follow and gave one last glance to Alya. She gave her a thumbs up and a wink, mouthing something like you go, girl! Marinette hoped that vote of confidence would transform into actual confidence by the time she got up.

It turned out that she didn’t really have much of a choice for rooms to use, her mother was currently using the master bedroom to rest a bit during a lull in lunch rush. So that left her room, but she also didn’t want Adrien to hang out in her room; she had too many photos of him. As Marinette walked to her room, she had the perfect solution: the balcony!

She quickly directed Adrien through her room and up to the loft that held her bed, making sure Adrien didn’t have time to see all the photos of him. Adrien raised an eyebrow when Marinette climbed onto the bed and stood up. His confusion quickly cleared when she pushed open the skylight and clambered up. Turning around beckoned him up.

Marinette gazed through the skylight, watching as Adrien climbed onto her bed. She noted that Adrien was in her bed. Well, on it. But he’s in her bed! She felt a little bit of heat on her cheeks and banished the thoughts from her head.

Instead she tried following Alya’s advice, picture she’s someone else; Pretend she wasn’t talking to her super amazing crush that was in--on!--on her bed right now. Pretend she was hanging with Chat during their weekly board game sessions. The thought of Chat brought her back to reality. She gathered some courage and held out a hand to Adrien as he looked up. He seemed a bit surprised, but took her hand anyways.

Marinette’s hand tingled with warmth as she hauled him up.

“Wow, you are strong!” Adrien seemed a little bit surprised.

“From hauling bags of flour through the bakery.” Marinette felt burning heat in her cheeks again. She was surprised she didn’t burn off her skin with the amount she was blushing. She wouldn’t blush around Chat. Marinette silently berated herself.

“No-nothing else?”

“No? I mean, I get some exercise now and then.”

“‘M sure you do,” Adrien barely breathed out.

“What?”

“Nothing!”

“Oh, so what did you want to talk about?”

“Oh uh.” Adrien rubbed the back of his neck again. “I have to uhmm… I have to return something to you.”

Marinette looked a bit confused. “Did I give you... What are you returning?”

“Uh.. Here.” He let go of Marinette’s hand, and it was just then she noticed they had been holding hands the entire time. Marinette clutched her hand to her chest. Maybe she could get away with not washing it forever? No. That’s gross. Just ask him out, then he’ll always hold your hand!

Adrien reached into his bag and pulled out a black band out of the bag. It looked like a headband for her game.

Marinette blinked.

And blinked again.

She snapped her eyes up to Adrien’s face and her eyes widened.

“I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to take the headband. I just. Your identity. And You wanted to protect it. But the game, and it was kinda unlucky. Well, the game wasn’t really unlucky. Just that part. That you drew your name and put it on. And like everything just snapped into place. I’m really sorry, and please don’t hate me…”

Marinette could only stare at Adrien as he rambled on. Slowly she reached out and took a hold of the headband. “Chat?”

Adrien stood a bit taller, before dropping into an exaggerated bow. “At your service, milady.”

“Hey, do you have cheese? Tikki only has her sickly sweet cookies in here.”

Marinette jumped a bit as a black head poked out of her purse.

“PLAGG!”

“Hi, nice to meet you. Do you have cheese?”

“I-uhh…not on me?” Marinette gazed upon Chat Noir’s kwami.

“Sorry, Marinette, I’ll deal with him, you two can go back to talking.” Tikki tugged on Plagg’s ear to pull him back into the purse, then zipped it up.

“You really are…”

“Guess the cat’s out of the bag.” Adrien smirked.

Suddenly it was very easy to pretend she was talking to Chat.

“Are you mad that I found out, princess?”

Marinette shook her head. It was a bit weird hearing princess come out of Adrien’s mouth, but it certainly sent a bolt of warmth through her. “It was an accident. I figured we would know each other’s identities sooner or later. I just…”

“Just...?” Adrien pushed.

“Did you mean what you said last night? About me--well, about Marinette being ‘brave, talented, and sometimes shy’?”

“The brave and talented part certainly. You were always very shy around me.”

“But I’m not really brave like Lady--”

“But you are Ladybug, even when you aren’t in the suit. You stand up to Chloe, even when she isn’t being mean to you. You kept your cool when Darkblade was attacking. It’s all there.”

Marinette looked up and Adrien was gazing at her so sincerely. A plea to please believe him.

“Do you really think I’ll be famous one day?”

“You’ve already won a contest with your talent. Of course you’ll be famous one day. Maybe you’ll even have your own line.”

Marinette’s face slowly stretched out into a grin. “Would you model for me?”

“Of course I would!”

Marinette decided to push a bit further. “Would you model for me alone?”

Adrien’s eyes shot wide open. His face rapidly reddened. “I--uh-” Adrien spluttered. “If yo-you want?”

Marinette smirked, especially at the voice crack at the end. “Oh who knew the kitty couldn’t take some flirting.”

“Hey! I’m not really experienced with this stuff! All the stuff I know comes from anime.”

“Anime?” Marinette burst out laughing. “Is that where you get your lines from?”

“Hey now.” Adrien folded his arms, slouching a bit.

“Sorry for laughing, it’s just,” Marinette sobered up, “That explains why your flirty was so over the top.”

Adrien shrugged.

“So… what now?”

“I believe you owe me a date.”

“A d-date?” Marinette internally cursed. Her stutter returned; she had been doing so well.

“Does Friday evening sound good?”

“YES!” Marinette coughed. “I mean, yes. Friday is fine.”

“Excellent. Our patrol still on tomorrow?”

Marinette nodded.

“I’m really glad that you’re my Lady!”

“And I’m glad you’re my Chat!”

Adrien beamed so brightly at that. Marinette could only stare as a warmth spread through her. His adoring eyes seemed to have a magnetic pull, and Marinette leaned a little bit closer to him. He tilted his head down ever so slightly.

“MARINETTE, ADRIEN!” Alya’s shouting erupted from the room below. “We need to get back to school!”

The two of them sprang apart, blushing as they looked anywhere but each other. Adrien coughed awkwardly. “Right school. We should uhmm go.”

“YES!” Marinette blurted out. “Err. yeah, we should go.”

Adrien held open the skylight. “After you, princess!”

Marinette had to hold back a squeal of excitement. She was actually getting a date with Adrien, and he already was her best friend!

Neither Adrien nor Marinette managed to pay much attention to class for the rest of the day.

[hurricanerelic]

writing-prompt-s:

Valhalla does not discriminate against the kind of fight you lost. Did you lose the battle with cancer? Maybe you died in a fist fight. Even facing addiction. After taking a deep drink from his flagon, Odin slams his cup down and asks for the glorious tale of your demise!

Oh my god, this is beautiful.

A small child enters Valhalla. The battle they lost was “hiding from an alcoholic father.” Odin sees the flinch when he slams the cup and refrains from doing it again. He hears the child’s pain; no glorious battle this, but one of fear and wretched survival.

He invites the child to sit with him, offers the choicest mead and instructs his men to bring a sword and shield, a bow and arrow, of the very best materials and appropriate size. “Here,” he says, “you will find no man who dares to harm you. But so you will know your own strength, and be happy all your days in Valhalla, I will teach you to use these weapons.”

The sad day comes when another child enters the hall. Odin does not slam his cup; he simply beams with pride as the first child approaches the newcomer, and holds out her bow and quiver, and says “nobody here will hurt you. Everyone will be so proud you did your best, and I’ll teach you to use these, so you always know how strong you are.”

————

A young man enters the hall. He hesitates when Odin asks his story, but at long last, it ekes out: skinheads after the Pride parade. His partner got into a building and called for help. The police took a little longer than perhaps they really needed to, and two of those selfsame skinheads are in the hospital now with broken bones that need setting, but six against one is no fair match. The fear in his face is obvious: here, among men large enough to break him in two, will he face an eternity of torment for the man he left behind?

Odin rumbles with anger. Curses the low worms who brought this man to his table, and regales him with tales of Loki so to show him his own welcome. “A day will come, my friend, when you seek to be reunited, and so you shall,” Odin tells him. “To request the aid of your comrades in battle is no shameful thing.”

———-

A woman in pink sits near the head of the table. She’s very nearly skin and bones, and has no hair. This will not last; health returns in Valhalla, and joy, and light, and merrymaking. But now her soul remembers the battle of her life, and it must heal.

Odin asks.

And asks again.

And the words pour out like poisoned water, things she couldn’t tell her husband or children. The pain of chemotherapy. The agony of a mastectomy, the pain still deeper of “we found a tumor in your lymph nodes. I’m so sorry.” And at last, the tortured question: what is left of her?

Odin raises his flagon high. “What is left of you, fair warrior queen, is a spirit bright as fire; a will as strong as any forged iron; a life as great as any sea. Your battle was hard-fought, and lost in the glory only such furor can bring, and now the pain and fight are behind you.“

In the months to come, she becomes a scop of the hall–no demotion, but simple choice. She tells the stories of the great healers, Agnes and Tanya, who fought alongside her and thousands of others, who turn from no battle in the belief that one day, one day, the war may be won; the warriors Jessie and Mabel and Jeri and Monique, still battling on; the queens and soldiers and great women of yore.

The day comes when she calls a familiar name, and another small, scarred woman, eyes sunken and dark, limbs frail, curly black hair shaved close to her head, looks up and sees her across the hall. Odin descends from his throne, a tall and foaming goblet in his hands, and stuns the hall entire into silence as he kneels before the newcomer and holds up the goblet between her small dark hands and bids her to drink.

“All-Father!” the feasting multitudes cry. “What brings great Odin, Spear-Shaker, Ancient One, Wand-Bearer, Teacher of Gods, to his knees for this lone waif?”

He waves them off with a hand.

“This woman, LaTeesha, Destroyer of Cancer, from whom the great tumors fly in fear, has fought that greatest battle,” he says, his voice rolling across the hall. “She has fought not another body, but her own; traded blows not with other limbs but with her own flesh; has allowed herself to be pierced with needles and scored with knives, taken poison into her very veins to defeat this enemy, and at long last it is time for her to put her weapons down. Do you think for a moment this fight is less glorious for being in silence, her deeds the less for having been aided by others who provided her weapons? She has a place in this great hall; indeed, the highest place.”

And the children perform feats of archery for the entertainment of all, and the women sing as the young man who still awaits his beloved plays a lute–which, after all, is not so different from the guitar he once used to break a man’s face in that great final fight.

Valhalla is a place of joy, of glory, of great feasting and merrymaking.

And it is a place for the soul and mind to heal.

[hurricanerelic]

Out of the bag

A quick piece based off of this prompt In which Chloe accidentally pull Plagg out of her bag, and then doesn’t realize the consequences. [AO3 Link] ---

Chloe wondered what on earth could have made Adrien so obsessed with Camembert. The smell alone had made her gag when she opened the package out of curiosity. Now she can’t believe that she was carrying a package of that stuff in her bag. This wasn’t exactly the thing she had in mind when she told Sabrina to find out his favorite treat. It turns out that boy never ate anything sweet, and seemed to always carry bits of camembert in his bag.

She shot a glance at the bag, almost imagining smell lines emanating from her designer bag. Of course, that was impossible, she had taken the precautions to make sure her precious bag wouldn’t get contaminated: two layers of plastic bags and the package still sealed up. Not that her bag getting contaminated would be a bad thing per se, but she really didn’t want to have buy a new bag when she just got this one.

Chloe shot a glance up at the clock. Lunch just wouldn’t arrive soon enough. It would be another hour. An hour of sitting through this dreadful class and boring teacher before she could go and bribe-er-gift Adrien with cheese in the hopes that he’ll finally go out on a date with her.

A small movement caught her eye. She looked down at her bag. Did it just shift by itself? Chloe decided to ignore it. It was probably nothing at all, just boredom and fear of camembert smelling bags getting to her.

“Alright class, make sure you turn in the worksheets before the end of class,” Miss Bustier announced.

Chloe collected the worksheets from Miss Bustier as she passed them out to her row, she immediately slid both over to Sabrina. She would take one back eventually and copy Sabrina’s worksheet, but for now she didn’t even really want to look at it. She had other things to be doing. Like imagining where Adrikins will take her on a date!

“Hey uh Chloe. Do you have pen I could borrow?” Sabrina looked sheepish.

Chloe glared a Sabrina for a few moments, she just interrupted her glorious daydreams, then she rolled her eyes. “Of course.” She looked down, her fountain pen sitting on the table. Not that one. No one could touch that precious pen. She reached down into her bag to grab an extra expendable pen.

Her hand brushed against something soft. She didn’t have anything soft and squishy in her bag. Unless... She widened her eyes and yanked the wheel of cheese out of her bag.

Except it wasn’t cheese. Cheese wasn’t black. Nor did it have bright green eyes staring curiously at her. It blinked at her.

A moment passed before it registered she was holding a live creature. From her bag. Something alive was hanging out in her bag. Something covered in the gag inducing smell of Camembert.

“EEEK. A RAT. KILL IT KILL IT KILL IT NOW.” She flung it away from her as fast as she can. She immediately reached for her bag again for something to wipe off her hands. Except she couldn’t reach into her bag. The rat came from in there. She’ll have to burn her bag now.

-v-

Adrien jumped at Chloe’s earsplitting screech, calling for the killing of a rat. Adrien watched as Chloe threw a small black creature away from her.

Towards Marinette.

Of course Chloe would subconsciously throw a rat at Marinette. Adrien wondered if Marinette would freak out or something, except she probably wouldn’t. She was brave and confident, and that was NOT a rat. Adrien recognized the small black smudge and cat ears. It was definitely Plagg. How he got into Chloe’s hand, he’ll never know, but now he had to get him back.

As Adrien tried to figure out a way to scoop up the ‘rat’ and whisk him away, Marinette reacted faster. She flipped a shoe box to her side over, dumping out the contents sending out two bolts of black and green cloth out and a score of tiny trinkets. Alya stopped the cloth from unraveling onto the floor completely, while Adrien caught a tiny golden bell that was also tumbling off the desk.

Marinette took the now empty box and slammed it over Plagg. Adrien heart almost stopped when he thought that Marinette had crushed Plagg. Until she slid the box sidewise off the table and onto the lid. She righted the box before rushing out the classroom, barely getting out the “I’m going to release him outside Miss Bustier!”

Before Adrien could even register that Marinette had just made off with his Kwami the door was already wide open and Marinette was no longer in the room.

“Miss Bustier, I’m going to go uh help Marinette release the ca-rat!”

Without waiting for permission, Adrien bolted out the door too. He didn’t pause to put the bell into the pile Alya was gathering with her friend’s designer things, he just shoved his hand into his pocket. A quick scan showed Marinette was heading down the stairs towards the front doors. Adrien was planning on shouting out Marinette’s name to get her to wait, but his voice died in his throat when he saw a small red creature dash out of Marinette’s bag.

The red creature shared a silhouette with Plagg, giant head small floating body. The little red creature had black spots. It reminded Adrien of a--

Ladybug!

But if it came out of Marinette’s bag, then that would mean that Marinette had a Kwami, and that she was Ladybug! His Lady had been sitting behind him in class for this whole time! While Adrien was trying to process the news, he watched Plagg float out of the box. Ladybug’s Kwami rushed up and gave Plagg a hug, before it backed off and started scolding Plagg. Plagg just smirked and turned around, waving at Adrien. Marinette looked up to see who Plagg waved at. Then she noticed who it was and froze.

Blue eyes locked on to green. Adrien resisted the urge to smack himself. How could he have missed that those were Ladybug’s eyes. And the dark hair. The pigtails. Even her confidence standing up to Chloe, or her willingness to help out others was clearly Ladybug. He was too busy dreaming about those red and black spots to even notice a person so close to him.

Adrien’s lips curled up into a cat-like smirk. “My Lady!” He gave an exaggerated bow.

Marinette stared up at him with wide eyes. Adrien guessed she was still in shock, though a blush was starting to appear on his cheeks. Deciding that they had been standing their long enough, Adrien quickly joined her on the stairs.

“We still have a little cat to release, Princess.” Adrien gave her a wink. Threading his arm through hers, he tugged her along to a hidden corner in the school.

“I guess the cat is out of the bag now,” announced Adrien, pulling Plagg out of the box. That got a reaction.

“Ughh its really you, kitty.” Marinette seemed to finally recover some amount of functionality, though a blush still bloomed across her cheeks. “I still can’t believe it.”

“After that pun, he is definitely Plagg’s chosen. Nice to finally meet you Adrien. I’m Tikki.” Ladybug’s Kwami floated up and waved at Adrien.

“Nice to meet you too. Why can’t she believe its me?”

“Well... she has this hu-”

“Tikki!”

Tikki just giggled. “Fine, I won’t say. We’ll just leave you two to talk it out” Ignoring Plagg’s protests and complaints, Tikki tugged Plagg off by the ear, giving their chosen some space, they stopped just close enough to listen to the conversation though.

“Are you disappointed in me?” Marinette’s hands came up to her mouth almost as soon as she blurted it out, shocked that she had said it.

“Disappointed in my Lady? Never. You are confident and kind and generous and...”

“Okay! Okay,” Marinette giggled. “I get it.”

“Are you disappointed in me?” Adrien echoed Marinette’s question.

“No, I could never be. Not in you. Yo-you are like perfect and kind and wonderful and...” Marinette trailed off, her blush expanding across her face.

“Well my Lady, we better return to class.” Marinette just nodded in response. “Are we still on for patrol tonight Bugaboo?”

Marinette gave him a small smile. “Of course we are kitty, we can’t let Paris down.”

Adrien held out his arm again, but a tinkling sound made him pause. The bell he caught from Marinette's box early. He reached into his pocket and pulled out the small golden bell he caught earlier.

“I believe this is yours?” Adrien paused just before dropping the bell into Marinette’s hand. Inspecting it, he realized it was a pretty similar to the bell on Cat Noir’s suit. Then he remembered the black and green bolts of cloth that also tumbled out of the box. Adrien felt a rush of happiness, and a rumbling in his chest. He bit back the purr. “Making something for a special cat?”

“More like making something for a stray alley cat.” Marinette rolled her eyes. “You’ll get to see it soon enough.” Then Marinette tensed for a moment, and the blush came right back.

“Come on my Lady, lets get ourselves back to class before they start wondering where we went.”  Adrien smiled contently when Marinette looped her arms through his.

--v--

Chloe watched as Adrien and Marinette returned to the class. It was like watching two completely different people come back. The way Adrien looked at Marinette and Marinette actually interacted back. She didn’t miss the way Adrien’s hands lingered for a moment on Marinette’s arms as they separated to return to their seats, or Marinette’s eyes staring in wonder at the back of Adrien’s head.

It wasn’t fair. Stupid camembert. Stupid rat. Now Adrien was paying more attention to Marinette. What did they even do releasing that rat? Now she was left with a bag that smelled disgusting and probably covered in rat disease, and Adrien and Marinette seem suddenly really close.

What was up with that girl anyways, first her seat, then her position as class president, and now her Adrien?

Chloe loathed camembert as much as she disliked Marinette.