secondcoolestusername

[secondcoolestusername]

A black cat’s bad luck Ch. 7

The sudden weight of the body left him breathless, but he didn’t release his grip. His heart was hammering in his chest.

Max lived on the third floor of the building. He didn’t know how Chat Noir would’ve survived that fall if he wasn’t here in time. 

When he appeared at his window, his face looked white a sheet, seemed barely conscious, and in bad shape, with his side torn open and with blood dripping down his suit. That’s why Max didn’t hesitate to open the window before he dropped to his death. He could always bind him when he was in a better shape and ask him questions before handing him to the authorities. Markov could help. He hoped that it wasn't a trap and that he wouldn’t end up like Ivan.

Chat Noir groaned in his arms.

Max anxiously glanced at his clean bedsheets. Surely, Chat Noir could understand not wanting to wash blood off his sheets, right?

Suddenly, Chat Noir shuddered in his arms before going limp. Then, a beeping sound came from him, and Max only had time to identify the sound of it before a green light washed over the superhero.

It was like watching a car crash. He knew he should look away, or close his eyes to preserve the poor guy’s identity, but somehow, Max couldn’t tear his eyes away.

Something small and black fell, but Max quite didn’t care for that.

His horrified eyes met the face of Adrien Agreste.

“Is that…?” Kim had a shocked face.

“Yes, but you promised you wouldn’t tell anyone,” furiously whispered Max. His parents were downstairs, doing their own business. He couldn’t possibly tell them he was keeping a fugitive/model in his bedroom. There would be too many questions.

Kim sat beside the bed, opening his first aid kit. He looked too big for the chair he was in. If Max wasn’t so worried, he would’ve laughed at the ridiculousness of it. “Kinda hard to say no when you threaten me with that robot.”

Markov made a plaintive sound from his corner.

Max decided not to comment and watched his friend’s delicate work.

After the grand revelation, he had shook himself and proceeded to attach a scarf that he had found at the bottom of his wardrobe around Adrien’s side to create pressure. Then, when Max was seventy-five percent sure that Adrien wouldn’t die of blood loss, he took a large garbage bag, laid it on the bed before hefting him on it. He was very light even in Max’s opinion and Max wasn’t a very strong person. He wondered if his friend ate enough at home even by model’s standards. 

He also gingerly laid the weird black cat-like comatose creature on a pillow near Adrien but out of sight, just in case. 

He hadn’t known what else to do besides that and the only one he knew who was an expert at first aid was Kim, an athlete who constantly got hurt. He had asked him for help and threatened him for his silence, but Max trusted that Kim wouldn’t have talked even if Max didn’t threaten him. Because that’s what best friends do.

“So, how did that happen?” Kim rummaged through his box for some cotton. In this angle, his handsome face was scrunched up in concentration.

Chat Noir got attacked, clearly. And he came to me. Then, he transformed back into Adrien. I didn’t know how to help him. So I called you.

“It was an experiment gone wrong,” Max lied through his teeth. “He didn’t have to volunteer for it,” he added hauntingly, moving the focus elsewhere.

Kim paused in his movements. Max’s anxiety went up a notch. He tried not to be too obvious even though Kim wasn’t facing him.

“Thank God I wasn’t dumb enough to accept your previous requests for me to be your lab rat,” Kim laughed and continued his work. Max slowly breathed out as his laugh washed over him. “I was actually asking about knowing a famous model. How did that happen?”

Max asked himself if talking about the project would put Adrien in a more compromising position. “He was the text I received a few weeks ago.”

“Your new best friend?” Kim pulled Adrien’s shirt in a sharper movement. The change of subject threw Max off. 

There was something in his tone of voice that made Max think twice before answering. He would’ve said “Yes” to piss Kim off, even if it wasn’t true, but Max felt like this time, Kim was waiting for an actual answer. Maybe Adrien’s presence sparked an uncertainty in Kim. Maybe he felt that Max was ditching him to spend time with a cooler boy. The fact that he had spent most of his time working on Adrien’s robot rather than spending time with Kim might have led him to believe that. Well, that dumbass was wrong. There was no need to be jealous.

“Of course not. You know you’re my best friend, Kim.” Max answered. At this moment, he felt very vulnerable.

Kim stopped his actions again. Max couldn’t see his expression, but he hoped that it was what Kim wanted to hear.

“What got into you? Why are you being cheesy like that?” Kim laughed. There was a hidden note of relief, and his resuming movements were less aggressive than a few moments ago.

Max smiled.

A.N.: If you read that far and I peaked your interest, find me on ao3!

[secondcoolestusername]

A black cat’s bad luck Ch. 6

Even in his groggy mind, he knew that going back at his house was a bad idea. Too far, too much parental authorities. Luckily, Chat Noir had a second place in mind.

He kept as close to the shadows and roofs as possible. Halfway from his destination, the scissors disappeared, which was hopefully a good sign.

In a last effort, he landed lightly against a window to avoid crashing into it and grabbed onto the sides to stop him from falling backwards. He lightly thumped the glass with his forehead and groaned in pain.

He hoped it was the right house. He felt so sleepy. He closed his eyes just for a few minutes.

There was a familiar irritating beeping coming from God knows where, but he didn’t have the energy to find out what it was.

Chat Noir lost consciousness before he knew that he was falling.

A.N.: If you read that far and I peaked your interest, find me on ao3!

[secondcoolestusername]

A black cat’s bad luck Ch. 5

It was inexplicable.

Running like he was the wind. Running on rooftops like he was on the top of the world. Running with her best friend and with Paris’ most beloved ladybug. And most importantly, running without feeling like he was dying.

That was epic.

Carapace - thank you Ms. Bustier for those long hours of french lessons - never would have thought that green was his color, but his suit was comfortable, fashionable and would give him a little bit of defense from being too bruised and sore! At least, that’s what Ladybug promised. He was still doubtful, the material seemed too… thin.

Well, he would cross that bridge if he came to it.

They all looked so cool together. He felt pretty cool. He worried that he would accidentally trip on a roof tile and ruin the picture. He tried to not think about it.

One foot in front of the other.

While they followed the trail of destruction left by the akumatized, Ladybug briefly explained to them their superpowers. It seemed easy enough. He was basically a green Captain America. Awesome. He was kind of worried with their team dynamics, but she looked like a natural leader. They should be fine.

For a second, Carapace was brought back to the times he hung out with Alya and Marinette. He imagined Marinette under Ladybug’s mask. The idea was so ridiculous, he shook his head. Marinette was shy and clumsy. Ladybug was confident and graceful. They were the complete opposite of each other. There was no way she could be Ladybug.

They heard a distant scream of outrage ahead of them. They looked at each other in apprehension and quickened their pace.

Sketcher was in the middle of a wide open space. His eyes frantically jumped around. His appearance seemed more haggard than the last time Nino glimpsed at him, before he had tackled Alya down. He wondered what got him so worked up.

“Look, he’s missing his protractor and his scissors.” Rena Rouge - which was an awesome name that Carapace suspected she didn’t come up on the spot with - piped up.

Carapace didn’t know what she was talking about. Only a transparent ruler as tall as him was protruding from his weird backpack. He was holding a large pen on his shoulder like a bazooka that weighed nothing.

“You’re right,” Ladybug confirmed. “The question is how did he lose them?”

Rena Rouge looked around. “A trap?”

Carapace was thinking the same thing. To his knowledge, there wasn’t a fourth member in their team.

Ladybug hummed, “If it is, he’s a very good actor.”

Sketcher finally spotted them and noticed the newcomers. “Which one of you was it that took my stuff?” He howled.

They quickly scattered when the pen made a booming sound toward them. The roof they were on exploded.

“What’s the plan, boss?” Rena Rouge whipped out her flute mid-air.

Ladybug smiled. “Glad you asked.”

A.N.: If you read that far and I peaked your interest, find me on ao3!

[secondcoolestusername]

A black cat’s bad luck Ch. 4

The moment Ladybug disappeared behind rubbles, followed by the blogger and the tall guy’s escape, Chat Noir jumped from his hiding place and used his staff to whack the villain behind the head as hard as he could.

He fell like a brick.

Chat Noir breathed in relief. He sneaked a look around and sure enough, no one was here, too scared to stay around to be chosen as the villain’s next target. The anxiety of being seen still pickled at his skin.

He had considered his options. The only way he could use Cataclysm was that what he had to destroy was not a living being, and preferably not moving.

Also, Chat Noir was supposed to be hiding and be discreet. Directly destroying the object containing the akuma was too suspicious, and he was certain Ladybug would know it was him. He didn’t want her to be more mad at his intervention. So, he would compromise by destroying the quiver, that would in turn destroy everything in it. She would probably think that he lost it or something.

With trembling hands, he said to himself, “Cataclysm.”

The power rushed to his hand. He thickly swallowed. Don’t mess it up. Don’t mess it up. He prayed internally.

Chat Noir’s hand went for the quiver.

Then, everything happened at once.

The akumatized shot up, apparently having gained consciousness, making Chat Noir miss the quiver. Instead, he touched the protractor.

Chat Noir’s mind only knew panic at this moment.

He reared back, fearing for the worst. It seemed like there was suddenly an audience watching them, looking at every one of his actions. He choked up, wanting to gasp, say a curse word, or curl up in a ball. He felt disoriented. So he did the only thing he knew to do.

He ran in the opposite direction.

The last thing on his mind was the fact that the bad guy still had weapons to hit him with. Thus, that’s what happened.

A large pair of scissors flew past beside him. Pain flared in his left side. He stumbled.

Only the fear of being seen and recognized kept him going fast.

He picked up the thrown weapon which was surprisingly light and ran with his tail between his legs.

When he dared to look back, the akuma victim had a ruler erected behind him, as if to protect his head from future hits.

Chat Noir hoped that what he did was enough.

A.N.: If you read that far and I peaked your interest, find me on ao3!

[secondcoolestusername]

A black cat’s bad luck Ch. 3

Alya was getting worried.

Hell, ever since she arrived in Paris, she was worried! In her old life, she was considered a little abnormal, which was apparently what you were when you were a tad bit obsessed with superheroes. But hey, everyone had their own hobbies, how about they minded their own business?

Naturally, it brought her an immense amount of joy when the first friend she made didn’t look at her weird the moment she quoted a fictional character. Marinette seemed like the total opposite of Alya, but that didn’t stop her from immediately liking her from the beginning. And then, Alya found out that superheroes exist in Paris? Hell yeah!

From then on, Alya was the proud creator and manager of the ladyblog. She was the number one provider of upclose videos of Ladybug fighting or whatever she would do and provided. Alya was open minded.

But, as if nothing could only be good in her life, Marinette… Marinette got sadder. Just a few hours after knowing her. That’s one of the things that worried her. Alya didn’t know her long enough to know which one was her regular self, so she didn’t say anything, but she couldn’t let her friend feel down.

So, she hung out with her, which seemed to help. Alya didn’t leave her side whenever she could. They were always seen together. It was so bad that Alya hoped Marinette didn’t think that she was annoying. Sometimes, when Alya felt that Marinette was in a good friendly mood, she would bring Nino along because the more the merrier, right?

Nino and she didn’t interact at the beginning, but she knew what being alone felt like, and one look at him told her that’s what he was. Alone. Everyone in class was already in their own groups, leaving Nino in the front row with his right seat empty where Chloe’s ‘friend’ would have been seated if he had bothered to come to school, which he hadn’t.

He always wore those headphones and Alya wondered if it was because he didn’t care about the others or if it was because he cared too much about the fact that no one talked to him and he didn’t want to look like he cared.

Once, when Marinette ran late, Alya sat down beside Nino who threw her a confused glance. She smiled and cupped her hands on her ears, making a motion of taking off invisible headphones. He compromised by sliding one side of it behind his ear.

“Hey, if you don’t mind me asking, what are you listening to?”

Nino blinked in surprise, before his cheeks darkened. “Oh you know, some music.”

Alya nodded. “Like normal stuff or mash-ups?” She thought about the Pitch Perfect movie.

Nino scratched his cheek. “I guess mash-ups? But more DJ style.”

“Yours?” Alya questioned jokingly. At Nino’s embarrassed silence, she raised her eyebrows. “Woah really? That’s awesome!”

Nino blinked at her. After a moment of hesitation, he took off his headphones, which left him with a weird hair spike, and handed them to Alya, “Uh, you-- you wanna hear?”

Alya was touched at the fact that he trusted her with something that looked like he was passionate about. From this moment, they were friends.

At the beginning, Alya tried to divide her time between her two friends, but it was harder than it looked like. So, she introduced them. She figured that they each needed another friend too, not that Alya wasn’t enough of a friend.

Of course, they were cautious at first, overly polite, like all friends of friends were with each other, but they were becoming more and more comfortable with each other’s presence. Marinette seemed to have more difficulty adjusting to having a bigger circle of friends.

But, in an act of friendship, she had designed and created a new cap for Nino, which was similar to his old one, except it was more sturdy and it was embroidered with a small vinyl disk on the front. Nino was quite pleased with it. In return, he created a couple of songs for Marinette that he thought she would like. Sometimes, when Alya came into her friend’s room, the songs would be lowly playing in the background. Alya was happy with this progress.

When she wasn’t hanging out with Marinette and Nino, she ran the ladyblog, always watching the news in case there was an akuma attack and she would need to quickly get on scene to film the ladybug hero.

Ever since Chat Noir’s disappearance, Ladybug had been fighting alone. It slowly chipped at her strength. And everyone could see that, even Hawkmoth. Even though Ladybug gained in superhero experience, the duration of the fights got longer, like Hawkmoth’s strength was feeding off Ladybug’s tiredness. Nonetheless, she was always so ferocious, badass and agile. For the longest time, Alya was sure that she didn’t need Chat Noir’s help.

And now, she was getting worried.

This akuma victim, Sketcher, mercilessly gave blow after blow, which Ladybug parried, but each attack left her more drained than the last.

From what Alya could see, his magic weapons could grow big when he took them from his pencil case at his belt and when he was done with one, he would put it in the large quiver at his back, for easy access. A large eraser and a huge pair of scissors were already resting at his back. Their size didn’t slow his quick movements.

The retractable pen in his hands seemed to be pushing out an invisible force at its mouth whenever Sketcher wanted to, something that was hard for Ladybug to anticipate. Alya wasn’t as clever as Ladybug, but even she could see that she would need a hand to be able to take his pencil case.

She didn’t narrate the fight, not wanting to distract them, and feeling the tension in the air.

In a quick escape, Ladybug got far enough to summon her Lucky Charm.

As a phonograph fell from the air, it left her in a vulnerable position and Alya could only scream “Watch out!” before Sketcher sent a protractor with enough force to send her crashing into a building. It came back to him like a large boomerang.

He turned toward Alya. She stayed stuck in place, the hand holding her phone started to tremble. From the corner of her eye, a red figure emerged from the rubble, jumped and disappeared behind buildings. Suddenly, she could only focus back as he flung the unorthodox boomerang toward her.

Something crashed into her from the side as the protractor whizzed past above her. She was still disoriented when her hand was grabbed and pulled, forcing her to stand. “Stay low!” A voice ordered. She did and they ran.

They were either very fast runners or Sketcher decided to pursue the most interesting opponent between Ladybug, and Alya and her savior.

Nino gasped for air while holding onto the alleyway’s wall. “Are you crazy? You were so close to them! And you didn’t react when that thing was about to hit you at the speed of light!”

He used his cap to cool down. His glasses were fogging up. She peeked at her unscathed phone, panting. In the commotion, the recording somehow stopped.

She pocketed her phone and started to giggle, still thinking about her near death experience. Nino had recklessly saved her. She wanted to scold him for putting himself in danger. Alya glanced at Nino’s disheveled state behind her own foggy glasses. The cool and composed Nino that she knew was so different from this one, it only made her laugh harder.

Nino shook her head. “You need help, woman.”

“She’s not the only one who needs help,” a small voice croaked out from ahead of them.

They jumped, immediately on alert, but automatically relaxed at the sight of bright red. Ladybug tightly smiled at them. She was heavily leaning on her left leg.

Showing vulnerability in front of civilians? It must be bad, Alya thought.

“What do you mean?” Nino blurted out.

Ladybug took a breath. “Ever since Ch-- Chat Noir turned tail, I had to fight the akumas by myself. Hawkmoth must know that I’m nearing my limit, so he sends stronger akumas more often.” She faltered. “I now realize that I can’t fight by myself anymore if I want to protect Paris. Therefore, I need help.”

She had a fierce look on her face, a wild contrast between her defeated state.

Nino asked, “How?” At the same time, Alya went with, “Why us?”

Ladybug only threw her a sad smile. Her hands went to her back and they each came back with an identical hexagonal box. “Here are the fox and the turtle miraculous, which respectively grants the power of illusion and protection. I trust that you will only use it for good and keep the secret between you two.”

“No one else can know?” Nino mused quietly.

Alya glanced at him. Nino was patting his cap, a pained expression was painted on his face. She stared at the boxes with a wave of guilt. All her life she idolized superheroes. A few months ago, she would’ve jumped at the opportunity of finally being extraordinary. She thought that being one was an unreachable dream. But all she could think about now, was that she was starting a new chapter in her life, and she couldn’t tell her best friend about it. She could see that Nino was also thinking about Marinette being excluded from their adventures.

Ladybug noticed the unenthusiastic look on their face, and got a sympathetic look on her face. “I know the feeling of wanting to confide in closed ones, but it’s important. The masks protect us and them.”

At this, they nodded. Even if they only knew Marinette for a few months, they would gladly protect her from any harm. They opened their boxes, and a mix of green and orange light illuminated them.

A.N.: If you read that far and I peaked your interest, find me on ao3!

[secondcoolestusername]

A black cat’s bad luck Ch. 2

A vibration in his pants pocket woke him up. Max tried to discreetly yawn in his hand, and adjusted his askew glasses. He hoped that he didn’t obviously look like he had been sleeping, but no one was looking at him weird, so he figured he was safe. Ms. Bustier was teaching as passionately as one could in a class full of tired students.

It’s been a few weeks since Ivan’s death and class morale was obviously down ever since. For most of them, the pain didn’t hit as hard and was rapidly dulling because, to be honest, Ivan was hard to be liked and he was aggressive. No one was really close to him. The ones who seemed most affected by his absence were Mylène, who was a close friend of him, and, surprisingly, Marinette. Or maybe not so surprisingly. Marinette was the kind of girl that always wanted to get along with everyone. Everyone liked her (except for Chloe). She was sweet, thoughtful and mindful. At the start of the school year, she immediately took the new girl Alya under her wing. It was at the same time that she became more reclusive and her mood, less bright.

Mylène had taken a few days off, and returned with a calmer personality and tired lines that never really seemed to leave her face. She stuck with the girls of the class and would get this faraway look on her face when she was left alone. Marinette had stayed around, but she often avoided talking to them, or when they did interact, she would avoid eye contact. She kept to herself and her body became restless, fingers always fidgeting her earrings.

The one time that her attitude was weirder was when Chloe wanted some attention, so she started to say how fortunate that Ivan the brute wasn’t here anymore to take so much space. She didn’t even have time to finish her sentence, before Marinette was beside her, striking her face. She didn’t throw another one, just silently walked away. Chloe stared at her in pain and in shock, never having seen her act like that. Hell, everyone was staring at her with big eyes. She acted so out of character that Mr. Damocles only heavily warned her, something that Chloe, too shell-shocked, didn’t argue against. After that, Chloe didn’t dare to cross her, choosing to either ignore Marinette, or to sneer in her direction. Needless to say, things were tense.

Alya was the only one she could talk to normally and with time, it looked like Alya succeeded in bringing Nino into their little group. Maybe someday, Mylène and Marinette were going to be back to their old selves.

All around him, some of his classmates were clearly listening with only half an ear, few were diligently writing down some notes, and some others were taking naps.

With a bit of wiggling, he succeeded in slipping his phone out of his pocket. Kim, who was reassembling his mechanical pen, stopped in curiosity, but continued, to avoid attention, for which Max was grateful.

The first time Max did this, Kim wasn’t subtle at all with his staring. It resulted in his phone being confiscated for the period. After that, Max tried to throw him a dirty glare each time Kim couldn’t mind his own business, but when that didn’t work, he made sure to tell him that if he got his phone confiscated again, Max would make sure that Markov would give him wedgies for the whole year. The robot hadn’t had the opportunity to do it yet.

On the screen, a notification took place. It came from a website Max made more for himself than anything. A website where he documented every invention he made, the errors the gadget had and how it could be ameliorated. It helped with the construction of future projects. Sometimes, people would somehow end up on this, and praise him, leave constructive criticism, or ask for advice about this field of work. Most of them would just compliment Markov, his most successful work. Reading them always pleased Max and gave him a quick ego boost, that’s why he set up his phone to receive the messages on his lock screen.

He read the message, and… he was speechless. Kim must have noticed the change in his expression because he tried to grab the phone as discreetly as his large body could allow. He did take it, but only because Max didn’t fight him.

From user/guestAdrien: Hey! I know what I’m about to say is going to be pretty weird, but hear me out first, please. I have a little problem and I didn’t know who to ask, so I asked google. I searched for hours and by luck, I found your… blog(?) if it can be called like that. I looked at everything that you did, and I need help with something that’s maybe slightly challenging by what I’ve seen you do.

 I’m in need of a robot that looks like me, and would preferably act like me. I’ve seen Markov and it’s quite impressive, but I believe that you can extend your talents. Don’t worry about the funds, I will have all of it covered. Trust me, whatever your price to build this thing is, I can give you.

 If you’re interested in working with/for me (I hope that you will) contact me at my personal email: adrien_a@gmail.com

 Have a good one.

That guy Adrien was right. He never thought of achieving such a thing and he could never back down from a challenge like that.

“That’s weird, you never had one of these before,” Kim mumbled.

Max swiftly plucked his phone back, “I didn’t think you could read.” That insult was overused, but it brought the intended mock offended look on his friend’s face.

He prepared some papers and pencils.

It was time to sketch.

He was in the park, the sun was warming Max’s lanky frame and the bench he was seated on. He was going over his blueprints, looking for things to modify. People were leisurely strolling all around and there were few children who were playing with a balloon further away. No one really paid attention to Max, which suited him fine; he was preoccupied.

He had contacted Adrien to accept his job offer, which led to them exchanging phone numbers to communicate with more ease. With the few messages they exchanged over the few days, Max deducted that Adrien was pretty socially awkward. Either that, or he was good at pretending not to be an axe murderer, which Max did impulsively point out. Adrien only argued that he would be better with a sword, so a sword murderer was more accurate - Max still didn’t know if he had been joking or not - but to ease his fear, they had settled on a date to meet and to possibly discuss more about the project. Man, Max couldn’t believe how difficult it was to plan something with someone who was constantly busy.

A shadow appeared next to his feet. He looked up and immediately felt nervous. A familiar looking guy with a cap and some sunglasses stood in front of him, and those accessories made him look like he was up to something bad or selling something illegal. Max hoped that he wasn’t Adrien.

“Hey, I’m Adrien. You’re Max, right?” Crap.

He slowly righted his blueprints, preparing for a swift escape. “What’s with the… outfit?” He was almost scared to ask.

Adrien had a poker face, “It’s sunny outside.”

Max couldn’t stop himself. His eyes pointedly jumped skyward. He wouldn’t call that a sunny day.

Adrien huffed. “Look, I really want to work with you, so if I tell you what’s up, will you keep it to yourself?”

Max got even more nervous. Way to help your case, ‘Adrien’. “It depends if it’s legal or not.”

Adrien’s face shifted and Max realized that he was rolling his eyes. He then lowered his sunglasses. The mix of blond hair peeking from under the cap and green eyes answered his question.

“I’m hiding from being recognized by my fans. Now, can I see those sketches?”

A.N.: If you read that far and I peaked your interest, find me on ao3!

[secondcoolestusername]

A black cat’s bad luck Ch.1

Of course it was too good to be true.

Being a hero? Impacting people's lives? Finally having the freedom he craved for years? All of this was given to him for a few hours, and he had already messed up.

Honestly, if you asked Adrien how he ended up doing it, he would come up blank. In the heat of the moment, it happened so quickly that even he couldn't possibly have stopped it. No one could have.

He had been too eager.

At least, he would never have to ask himself what would happen if he used cataclysm on something that was not an object. Something that was very much human.

On Ivan.

A name that Adrien knew about, much, much later, when he was in his room, replaying the scene over and over again in his mind, while Plagg soberly munched on a piece of Camembert. The news about this afternoon played on TV.

After the incident, it was like time paused, while everyone was watching. Whether from the cameras or from afar, shock hung heavy in the air. Then, his polka-dotted partner frantically picked up the ball of paper that was hidden in the pile of coal-colored dust, ripped it in half, and cleansed the butterfly. Why didn’t the item get destroyed too? It was a mystery to him. Everything was so new to them. Why hadn’t the powers come with a manual?

Chat Noir’s eyes fell on his clawed hands, the dust that clung to them because of his suit's static, blending with its colour. There was no strong smell and it felt like sand, too heavy to really be pushed by the breeze. He numbly looked at his partner and dared to hope that she had a solution to what he had done.

The girl took a minute, wiping her tears, and muttered a string of "It's gonna work, he's coming back". Chat Noir himself felt some wetness on his cheeks. He didn’t feel like he deserved to spill tears for his victim. He swiped them away with his arms. He dimly wondered if she knew the victim.

Chat Noir half-expected her to whirl toward him and rip him a new one. He wanted her to. At least, he would be able to look her in the eyes and make a proper apology for not knowing that he wasn’t superhero material.

He waited for the opportunity that never came.

The lucky charm went in the air, the wave of ladybugs washed over them in a colourful spectacle.

Chat Noir turned tail and ran, as the dust still clung to his fingers.

Adrien thought that he knew how the media worked; after all, he had been a celebrity ever since he was a child. He knew about what to do and what not to do to escape any scandals.

Except that he never-- never harmed someone in his career. So, he supposed with a heavy heart, that the mix of grieving and anger toward Chat Noir he saw in the news was understandable.

He closed the TV.

"The police informed us that you should be careful if you see Chat Noir in the streets. We don't know what he's capable of, so do NOT approach him. I repeat, do NOT approach Chat Noir. If you do see him, please contact the authorities."

There was a knock on the door that woke Adrien up, and Natalie's voice sounded muffled behind the door. "Adrien, time to wake up."

Adrien didn't move for a few minutes, contemplating in his bed, and then went to get dressed.

In the dining room, Natalie stood by the door, scrolling through her tablet, while Adrien installed himself and reluctantly munched on his breakfast. When he was done, Natalie looked at him. "Come on, Adrien, your driver is already waiting for you."

"Um, Natalie?" His voice was loud in the dining room, startling him even. He played with his silverware. He couldn't look at her.

After a long silence, Natalie prompted dryly, "Well, Adrien?"

Adrien enunciated, forcing the words out, "Father is right. I shouldn’t go to public school."

There. He finally said it. His father didn’t hide his distaste and disapproval of his own desire to go to public school. Yesterday, he would have done anything to change his father’s mind. But the fight had been diffused all around Paris. A deep crippling fear gripped him. What if someone recognized him without a mask? What if someone from his school knew Ivan? With his luck, he was sure that at least one person from Françoise Dupont High School knew him. His stomach twisted.

Adrien glanced at his hands, short nailed and clean. He had a fleeting thought that maybe yesterday was a dream, or rather a nightmare, but deep inside, he knew the truth. Adrien slumped, then straightened reflexively. He had to do it. He couldn't possibly go outside and pretend nothing happened after what he did.

Natalie scrutinized him. She looked like she wanted to ask a question, but she didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth and nodded.

He smiled at her. "I'm going to practice my piano. Father was right after all, I'm sure he will be happy."

He will be happy, and everyone will be happy to never see the face of a murderer.

He played, unseeing the music sheet, body already used to this music's movements.

His old life was back. Natalie couldn't reach Adrien's tutor yet, so he had a free day, but she told him that he had to follow his old schedule once she was done.

It made yesterday's events feel like a dream.

"I think you should play something else," something landed on the piano with a thud, "you've been playing this one for a while." A yawn.

Adrien's fingers stopped. The silence was deafening after playing piano for such a long period of time. How long had he been playing?

"Finally." Plagg flopped on the piano.

Adrien touched the ring on his finger. He hadn't had the opportunity to consider the impact of Chat Noir's responsibilities. Could he... Could he still use his powers? Did he have the right? If so, would he have to fight as a vigilante? Go against Ladybug? After all, he was practically unintentionally a criminal now. There was also the possibility that he wasn't worthy anymore and that he had to give up his ring and Plagg.

His fingers clenched. Plagg was the only friend he had made that wasn't Chloe. Except, it didn't sound fair or healthy, keeping the kwami against his wish, despite messing up, just because he was his only friend. No, he couldn't do that.

He released his hands and petted Plagg. "Tell me what I have to do."

Plagg purred, closing his eyes. "Just keep doing that, it's perfect."

Adrien smiled sadly. "You know what I mean. Do you need the ring back? I just don't deserve it, after what I did, after that I did k-- I--" He pinched his lips.

Plagg suddenly sat up. He patted the boy's hand. “Adrien, it's alright, I know you didn't mean to. You're good. Uh, I mean, your heart is in the right place. But…" He scrunched up his face, struggling to find the right words to console him. Of course there was always a chance that Chat Noir would slip up. After all, it happened before with others Chat Noirs too, and with their bad luck, it wasn't going to end so soon. Adrien was just a Chat Noir that was a tad bit unluckier, that's all.

Also, Tikki was always better at talking about these things - feelings - to make their users feel better. All Plagg usually did was to destroy and the problem would be solved. But that option was out of the way here.

He sighed, "You don't have to give up on the ring if you don't want to. In the end, it's always your choice that matters. I will always follow you. Even if you stumble on the way." Plagg smiled toothily.

Adrien hid his face in a hand, touched by what Plagg said, but also relieved that this, at least, wouldn't be taken from him. "Thank you," he whispered. He didn't know for what exactly, but he was thankful.

Adrien didn't try to transform again. Yet.

The first day after the incident, he actually felt so guilty that he left the ring in a drawer. Plagg observed him from the bed and didn't say anything to stop or encourage him. When he didn't seem so distraught anymore, Plagg flew to him, demanding some Camembert, and when he finally got what he wanted, he thanked Adrien by cheerily singing to him for half an hour while he was doing homework. Adrien only shook his head exasperatedly. He seemed in a better mood, but still looked distracted, always rubbing his naked ring finger until it looked pink, glancing periodically at the drawer where he hid the jewelry, but never going to get it.

It continued, until one day, when they went to bed and Adrien closed the lights, the room was still for a few minutes. Plagg was just about to sleep when the lights turned on. Adrien scrambled to get the covers off of him, like there was a fire, and ran to the drawer.

The ring was back on his finger.

Adrien shot a shy guilty smile at Plagg, like he wasn't sure about his decision, but looked like he felt better now. "Sorry if I woke you up."

But still, he didn't transform. Not right away.

The next day, Adrien had some free time, so decided to go on the computer to read about the news, since he couldn't be selective about what he saw on the TV.

He expected to see the same clips of the last fight, but there was a new live clip from not long ago with Ladybug becomes solo?

Ladybug? That’s the name she chose for herself? He supposed that it made some sense. He clicked on it.

The video was shot a little too far from the battle, but the bright red polka dot suit made her easy to spot. Adrien watched, transfixed. He wondered if Ladybug would be able to beat it by herself. Maybe she needed some help - it seemed like they had been here for a while, judging by the amount of destruction around them.

Imagine the strength of YOUR power. You could do worse than that puny villain if you put your mind to it, a voice in his head snickered smugly.

Adrien clenched his fists, his ring digging into his hand. He couldn’t deny it. He did witness it after all.

In the end, after one hour and six lucky charms, Ladybug came out exhausted and victorious, but there was a tiredness in her face that seemed to run deeper. The cameraman trailed off behind the patient journalist and then they came to her, firing questions at her, too fast for the hero to process, much less answer them. She smiled awkwardly until the woman asked, "Most importantly, we want to know what will happen to Chat Noir."

Adrien’s stomach dropped.

Ladybug's expression told everything. All traces of kindness were gone in a blink.

"No comment," she snapped, and slung her yoyo. "Also please don't mention his name again." And then she was gone.

Adrien slowly put his forehead against his table, and felt like he was going to vomit. He knew that what he did was bad, but it HAD been an accident. He thought that Ladybug knew that. He thought that she would be the only one to understand, to defend him. To forgive him. But now he was sure of one thing. He could never ask for forgiveness. Not from her, not from anyone. It would be impossible to go back to the way things were. The urge to cry overwhelmed him.

He went to bed early, feeling lonelier than ever.

A knock woke Adrien from his slumber. His body was heavy, like he had slept for a week and needed to sleep for another one.

When he didn't respond, the door opened and there was the unmistakable silhouette of Natalie in the doorway. If she was surprised at the fact that Adrien decided to sleep earlier, she didn’t make it known. Or maybe she was unaware and just mindlessly woke him up in the middle of the night.

She let herself into the room and dropped her tablet in Adrien's lap. "Your father needs to speak with you." His father's face greeted him.

"Adrien, I am very disappointed by your actions the other day,'' he started.

Adrien was still groggy from his sleep and hurt about Ladybug's comment, maybe that's why the spark of anger grew bright inside of him. Couldn't his father just start with a greeting like a normal person? Why was his father like this?

"Not only did you go against what I wanted, but you wasted everyone's time." His father frowned and all Adrien wanted was to chuck the device back at Natalie or break it with his own hands, without his alternate ego’s help. "I presume it won't happen again then, according to what Natalie told me." It sounded like an indirect order, rather than a presumption.

"No it won't happen again," Adrien gritted through his teeth, careful to not sound rude. He hoped that if he did sound rude, they would assume he was still not fully awake and let it go.

His father just nodded and Natalie took the tablet, throwing a curt "good night Adrien", before he was alone again.

He tried to calm down, but it was like stopping a river with his hands. Curse his aloof father, curse his bodyguard and Natalie that always just followed his orders and doing nothing to help Adrien, curse his mother for disappearing, curse whoever chose him to be Chat Noir. Something small and familiar leaned against his hip, and he thought of his only way out, something he thought he wouldn’t say for a long time, "Plagg, claws out". In an instant, he was out.

The cold night air hit him like a train, cooling down his cheeks that were warm from emotions. He leapt, flew, jumped, and ran, wanting to get as far away as possible.

He collapsed on a random rooftop when it was too much for his body, laying down to stare at the sky, breathing hard. Little rocks were digging into his back and cars down below were still aggressively honking despite the late hour.

The chilly air clung to him. It wouldn’t be long before adrenaline ran out and left him shivering in his thin suit. It was a cloudy night, and few stars could be seen. Chat Noir brought his hand to his face, the green paw of the ring cast a dim glow. Adrien couldn't believe that he went back to his superhero persona so easily, but he felt good in the suit, powerful. He honestly half-expected to have an emotional breakdown after his transformation.

He would never be able to stay away from it, that he knew with certainty now. But using his powers? That touched dangerous grounds that Adrien preferred not to think about. He would have to go without powers for now.

Chat Noir decided to rest his eyes a bit before returning.

He discovered that there was a tiny problem with it when he was about to throw his fist and call out his transformation phrase in his room in the middle of the day, and a knock on the door interrupted him, followed by it opening a few seconds after. Natalie glanced at him and Adrien immediately patted his head while the rest of his body tried to shift discreetly to a more normal position.

“Yes, Natalie?” Adrien’s mind glimpsed him in a situation where she couldn’t find him in his room because he was out as Chat Noir. She would notice the window opened, and she would panic then call the authorities. It would end up bad for him. Most likely him having some sort of excuse and rarely going out as Chat Noir because he would be heavily supervised, or just they would discover that he was Chat Noir, and he wouldn’t be safe anymore as a civilian.

(It also showed him an alternative where she didn’t knock and just entered, and because Plagg would notice her before he did, Adrien would call out “Plagg, claws out!” while dramatically punching the air, doing all of this in front of her without actually transforming because Plagg would be to busy hiding--)

Adrien internally winced.

Natalie must have concluded that everything was normal because she announced that there were last minute changes to his schedule.

After she went away as quickly as she came in, Adrien flopped on his bed. Despair filled him.

As much as his life was planned and restricted, there were also lots of last minute changes, and Adrien guessed that it wouldn’t be the last time Natalie barged in, or his bodyguard, or, even if the probabilities were next to none, his father.

Of course, he could always go out only for a few minutes, probably like the miraculous were intended for, and come back when the akuma was neutralised. He would seem a little secretive and would most likely have to create tons of excuses, but he would be considerably safe with his double life.

Except…

Adrien thought back to his childhood. Years spent inside this house too large for only five people. Even with all this space, he was scolded for running, jumping, talking loud in the halls. It was ‘childish to behave that way’ and he wouldn’t be raised like a ‘hooligan’. In the mind of a child, his home slowly changed to become a cage, a prison, somewhere to wait before his next leashed walk out. He knew about loneliness as much as he knew about piano, chinese or fencing.

Adrien was so tired of being confined and being told what to do.

He decided that no one could take his powers away from him, or restrain him for using them whenever and how long he wanted.

A.N.: If you read that far and I peaked your interest, find me on ao3!

[secondcoolestusername]

how does this not happen in like every episode

bonus face w/o butterfly (bc i think it’s funny):

[secondcoolestusername]

Apparently, i dont have the patience and the attention span to write longer fics, so i searched for a random prompt on the internet and i got "you bought a new coat that makes you look like a marshmallow and you’re scolding me for being outside in a sweater". Enjoy?

The first day of snow, Nino didn't have enough time to dig up his winter coat, so just settled for a thick sweater that was lying around in his room. Luckily for him, despite the heavy snow that was going on outside, it wasn't freezing cold. Only his face and hands were cold by the time he stepped in front of the school.

He must have left home later than usual because Adrien was getting out of the car when he spotted him.

Nino's steps faltered.

Adrien looked around and noticed him, waved awkwardly, looking too comfortable in his outfit.

Nino's pace slowed significantly, like approaching a fightened animal that could strike at any given time, and mumbled disbelievingly, "What is he wearing".

Adrien crunched up his face in confusion, "What did you say?"

Nino gestured to the big fluffy white coat, "That. What are you wearing."

One glance at it, and Adrien pulled it downwards, hesitancy coloring his features. "Well... It's a coat? Have you never had-", he cut off when he noticed Nino's thick sweater. "What do you mean 'What am I wearing', the real question is what are YOU wearing, you idiot! It's snowing!", he bursted with a scowl on his face.

Nino was still shocked at the fact that his best friend looked like a huge marshmallow, "It's not that cold."

Adrien's scowl morphed into a flat expression and took both his hands in a swipe.

"Your hands are saying otherwise", he searched and pat his pockets with one hand.

Nino, on the other hand (no pun intended), fought the urge to take his hands back, that were warming up in Adrien's heat, his face heating up too in surprise.

Adrien was rarely the one to intiate touches between them, and when he did, it was like unlocking an achievement. And it was weird, to be honest. On the plus side, his hands felt nice and dry. Like model hands, of course.

He was stopped in his thoughts when the big marshmallow triumphantly shook two smaller marshmallows: white gloves.

At least they are consistent.

Adrien tried to rub on some more heat for a few seconds, and decided that he would be the one putting the gloves, as if Nino had the mental capacity of a small child. Or maybe he thought that the cold affected it.

He didn't ask for anything, so Nino just quietly extended his fingers, waiting for a cry for help that didn't come.

Adrien put the first glove too fast, putting Nino's pointer finger and middle finger stuck in one pocket.

Nino pinched his lips to keep himself from smiling.

His friend grumbled under his breath as he corrected his mistake, carefully aligning the fingers before slipping them on. He did better with the other glove, having learned from the first one.

Adrien looked up from his work, a proud smile on his face, "I know they are not your style, but it's better than only wearing a sweater."

Nino flexed experimentally this fingers and coughed out, "Thanks."

A frown appeared on Adrien's face, "Next time, if you don't wear something warmer, I'll get you a ridiculous scarf", and turned to enter the school entrance.

Nino followed him, the promise/"threat" sparking a funny feeling inside of him.

Maybe he should wear his sweater for another day.

[secondcoolestusername]

i love her… @lunian

[secondcoolestusername]

Tried something new with the sentence prompt "Come over here and make me" Enjoy

"Come over here and make me", Adrien dared.

"Adrien!", Gabriel's eyes were wild, maybe the only real expression Adrien saw him wear in months. "You're going to fall!"

Honestly, Adrien wasn't really planning on jumping out of his window. He just wanted some social interaction other than Natalie or Gorilla, and being homeschooled didn't help him.

At that time his father seemed to be the next best choice and that was why they were in this situation.

But with him being half out of the window, Adrien basked in his short moment of power, full of adrenaline whether it was caused by his dangerous position or his bold act of rebellion against his father, and he wondered that maybe with a broken limb, his father would care for him a little longer before isolating himself again. It sounded like an appealing idea to Adrien.

He carefully wiggled himself closer to the edge.

Gabriel shot a hand forward, his sharp inhale of breath was loud in Adrien's gigantic room. He had calmed down from his initial shock, but he was still out of reach, "Adrien, you're endangering yourself for nothing, this is no acceptable behavior."

Adrien dared to parrot him in a mocking voice.

Gabriel took a steadying breath, his eyebrows pinched like he was debating between being worried or just finish the job himself. With a sense of satisfaction, Adrien righted himself, staring back outside.

He didn't know what to do after. He didn't want to jump, but he also didn't want to go back down, like his father asked. It would just be humiliating and like admitting defeat. Adrien wanted this event to stay with his father forever, scar him mentally and to make him think. The only outcome that would benefit him was if Gabriel would accept to make some major changes on his life for his son now.

Except Adrien felt frustrated. It was likely never going to happen and his father's staff went to get help not long ago. On the other hand, his father was wrong if he thought that Adrien wasn't going to fight tooth and nail when they would be here to drag him from his spot. His days of being an obedience son ended now, he decided.

A shadow flew over Adrien, distracting him from his thoughts, and landed with a loud thump on the roof, just above him. It was too heavy to be a bird, even a big one, so Adrien twisted around with haste and precaution, conscious that he was far enough from the ground to cause damage if he did one wrong move, but not wanting to miss what caught his attention.

He had not been careful enough. The quick change of angle caused him to be disoriented, which in turn made him panic, scramble for a better grip, but, curse his bad luck, made him lose his grip instead. His body pitched forward. Adrien's mind went blank.

He didn't even have time to scream when something grabbed him by the elbow and stopped him from going further. He gasped for air, heart hammering against his chest, feet dangling, and very much aware that the only thing keeping him from his fall was the solid grip on his elbow. He realized after a few seconds of shock that someone was saying, "Rich people have weird hobbies man", while pulling Adrien upward. A laugh bubbled in his throat, but he didn't want to risk it, so he stayed as still as he could during his rescue.

The moment he had his feet on the floor of his room, his father was there to give him a rare hug, which he returned with force.

Adrien's body was trembling and it didn't go unnoticed by Gabriel, who frowned, "You see? What you just did was stupid and childish."

The warm moment was gone in a second. Adrien tensed up and pulled away from the embrace. His father was already back to normal. Adrien was disgusted at it. He had the urge to be as far away as possible from here.

Adrien shoved his father on his way to the door, irrationally angry at everything. When he passed the door, he broke into a run to the main entrance's doors, eager to get out of this place.

He ran, ran and ran.

When it was too much, he collapsed on the nearest flat surface, and tried to control his bubbling anger and his panting. He couldn't think clearly. He distantly realized that he ended up in the park.

A beep from his phone drew his attention. He took the time to sit properly on what turned out to be a bench and shakily thumbed his phone.

It was from the news. About him. His inevitable rebellion. There was a shaky footage, quite close to the mansion, of him prior to his fall. The shadow and the thing that saved him turned out to be a big turtle.

Carapace.

Of course Adrien knew him. With access to internet and lots of free time, he was bound to end up on the Ladyblog, with footage of almost every fight they were involved in. They were adored by everyone in this city.

Naturally, because of his "house arrest", Adrien never got the opportunity to meet them, let alone interact with them. With that being said, the video of Carapace being near him and saving him was quite surreal.

When his mind flashed to earlier, guilt flooded him, making him flush in shame. He was so focused on his father that he didn't even look at Carapace once or thanked him!

"Hey, you alright? That was kinda tense in here." Adrien turned to the voice, and Carapace was suddenly here, eyes sympathic behind his goggles. Surprised at his sudden appearance, Adrien glanced around and sure enough, some people stopped to gawk at the superhero, but the latter's focus seemed to be solely on him, unbothered by their audience.

Adrien barely knew Carapace, he shouldn't impose on him his problems, that was just mean, "It could be better." He settled for. Before Carapace could comment on it, he pressed on, "Thank you, by the way, for saving me because of my own stupidity."

Carapace blinked at the change of subject and huffed while leaning on the bench, "It's fine man, it's what we do, and you had a good reason for it, I'm sure, with what I saw."

Adrien didn't want to talk about it so he didn't comment, contemplating what else to add. Carapace was staring at him, and looked like he was thinking about something too, and before Adrien could ask about it, he walked away from him, "Come on, all of this rescuing exhausted me and you need to pay me back for my services."

He stopped when he realized that Adrien wasn't following, "Come on, I know a small bakery shop not far and I need to replenish my strength. Do you know how heavy you are?"

At this, Adrien snapped to his sense, and let out a indignant hey. He quickly caught up to the hero and punched his arm, careful not to use all of his strength. Carapace swayed a bit while laughing but didn't complain.

He had a nice laugh, thought Adrien.

After a few minutes of walking, Adrien remembered, "Oh crap, I forgot my wallet, I got out so fast-". But Carapace only waved him off, kindly smiling, "You'll pay for next time."

Adrien watched him, a light blush warming up his face, as his mouth slowly formed a shy grin.

[secondcoolestusername]

Here I am again, with another ficlet! 🎉 MLM March - Alternative Universe involving a coffee shop☕ (I apologise, I don't know how to put read mores 😧) Hope you enjoy!

"Come on, it will be fun", Marinette put emphasis on the last word, as she wouldn't stop pulling Adrien back and forth from his seat in front of the computer. "Alya, you and I hardly ever have time together anymore because of work", she whined.

Adrien sighed tiredly, "Marinette, you know I've got work to do." At that, she jumped on her feet and pointed an accusing finger in his face, "You are tired, you won't concentrate as much, you'll do a poor job of a work, your boss will notice it and probably fire you! You don't her to fire you, do you?" Adrien glanced at her from the corner of his eye, amused by this exaggerated ending, and his resolve crumbled immediately when he saw her with puppy eyes.

"I... I'd have to skip patrol tonight then, you'll be alone." But by the growing smile on her face, he knew it didn't matter to her. So he yawned, packing up his things as Mainette did a fist pump and announced, "There's a guy here that I know from school. He's pretty cool and can make good coffee. It will help with you being sleepy", that cut off Adrien's yawn, "and maybe I'll introduce him to Alya. I think they will get along great."

Adrien stood up from his chair and stretched. When he was done, he smiled at his friend, "Let's go then."

The streets of Paris were bustling with activities in the afternoon. Marinette, being used to it, walked gracefully through the flow of people, barely resembling her usual clumsy self. Adrien wouldn't stop throwing apologies left and right for accidentally bumping shoulders, and it took some effort to follow his friend with his eyes in this crowd. Finally, as they approached the coffee shop, they saw Alya in front of the shop, waving at them, then warmly greeting them. Adrien's cheeks red with embarrassment with the amount of people he bumped into. Alya noticed it and grinned, "You alright there, Agreste?" To which Adrien huffed and replied, "Shut up, Césaire."

They entered the shop and there was already a line. Marinette leaned in Adrien's space and said, "I'm going to find us a seat." Alya, who heard that from the other side, suddenly piped up, "Hey, uh, what about I go do it and you two stay in line." She stared hard at Marinette and they seemed to have a conversation with just their body language. "Together", she added after a few seconds. Adrien glanced back and forth between his two friends, not knowing what was happening. Then Marinette shaked her head, "Adrien, I'm sorry to ask you this, but could you go find us a table please?" He reluctantly agreed, confused and got out of the line. It wasn't hard to find one, so he placed his bag in one of the seats, but remembered that his friends didn't know what he wanted, so he quickly went to find them.

They were already at the front, the employee serving them smiling pleasantly and not politely at them. He must be the friend Marinette was talking about, Adrien deduced. He approached, but when he got close enough to properly see the guy, his steps faltered. The guy noticed that and did a double take, then the girls noticed the employee wasn't paying attention anymore, so they turned to look at what he was seeing. Marinette suddenly had a frown on her face as she stared at her two male friends, and Alya brightened and pulled Adrien closer, "Adrien, good timing, Marinette just introduced me to Nino, a childhood friend! Adrien, this is Nino. Nino, this is Adrien."

Adrien, who had a star struck look on his face, snapped out of his state and automatically offered a hand, cheeks slightly pink, "Hey, I'm Adrien Agreste. Not that you needed me to say it since Alya already said our names, so there's no point for me to say my name again." He trailed off, wanting to face palm right on the counter and then bury himself. Nino let out a small chuckle, amused, but otherwise shook his hand, “Nice meeting you, I’m Nino Lahiffe, like Alya said it.” And ended with a killer smile.

Between his embarrassment, Nino’s warm hand against his, Nino’s voice and his smile, Adrien was hot all over. After a few seconds, he realised that Nino was shaking his hand longer than necessary. The barista seemed to finally come to the same conclusion and quickly let go, regaining his cool despite his blushing cheeks. He turned to talk to Marinette, but kept his eyes on Adrien, “You befriended two newbies in one day? That’s a record.” Alya laughed, agreeing with him, but when Marinette didn’t respond, Adrien teared his eyes from Nino and saw Marinette with a too wide smile on her face, “Yeah, I am lucky to have them.” She laughed awkwardly, but then her smile turned more genuine, “You aren’t going to do your job Lahiffe? I swear I’m really going to complain to your manager this time.” Nino threw his head back, letting out a startled laugh and Adrien knew he was in love.

When the trio got their coffee, they went to their table. Only Alya and Adrien were talking, occasionnally throwing concerned glances at Marinette who was deep in thoughts. By the time they finished their drinks, Adrien was feeling slightly better from this well-deserved break. They cleaned after themselves and went to exit, Marinette still silent and Alya cheerfully waving goodbye at her new friend. Adrien was too embarrassed to look back, hands deep in his pockets, but as he was about to open the door, a hand landed on his shoulder and he saw Marinette, a small smile on her face. “Go ask him out, it’s painfully obvious, you dork.” Adrien blushed harder at the fact that he was so obvious. “He… What if he doesn’t…”, he stopped, unable to finish his sentence, but that just made his friend smile a little wider. “Trust me”, she murmured, “We will be right behind you.” She added that part louder.

Adrien stared at her and nodded determinedly. He started to walk toward the counter and Nino, who had his back turned, faced him and smiled when he saw who it was. “They ditched you?”, Adrien looked behind hurriedly and sure enough, the door was slowly closing, like someone just left the shop, leaving him to talk to Nino alone.

“Err…”, Adrien was at lost of words. Nino just kept smiling patiently. Adrien picked at a spot on the counter, “Do- uh, do you want to, maybe, it’s totally fine if you don’t, we have freedom of choice after all, but maybe we could- When does your shift end? I mean, do you want to maybe go somewhere after your shift? Just- just the two of us?” Adrien internally cringed, but looked up to see Nino’s reaction and his heart skipped a beat. The barista was grinning beautifully and nodding his head, “I finish in thirty minutes, you can wait at a table if you want to.” Adrien released a breath he didn’t know he held and tried to throw his flirty smile, “Do I win more points if it’s not coffee?” The laugh he received was music to his ears.

[secondcoolestusername]

First meeting MLM March

Implied Nino/ChatNoir? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

The first time it happens, it's a surprise for everyone. Somehow, Ivan became a giant rock monster that wanted to pulverise Max, but it all ended fine with the new superheroes' help to save the day. Nino was actually safe and sound during that day.

Except, it must have only been a one-time thing because after that, the times where there were an akuma fight, Nino would always accidentally (He swears he doesn't do it on purpose!) get in harm's way. Luckily for him, Ladybug is a pretty chill girl and she's always here on time to save him. There are pretty good buddies by now he would say, she is a good conversationalist, great girl. Too bad that, with the amount of time she saved him, he was bound to run out of luck.

This is why Nino just has one question when he finally regains conscience: Why me? He groans when his limbs protest against the uncomfortable position he is in. He feels the smooth but hard concrete floor underneath him when he pushes himself up. Nino doesn't know how he got here, but it looks like a car got flipped and now he's trapped between the buildings and this heavy-looking car. A small amount of light gets through the sides, but the holes aren't big enough to fit him, so his hands try to find a good grip underneath the car to hopefully push it down...

The car doesn't even have the decency to move a little. He huffs, exhausted at all the effort he spent, and checks his pockets for his phone... Which he can't find.

He groans again, cursing his luck, and let his head fall on the wall behind him.

After a few minutes, Nino thinks he hears a sound from outside his cage. He gets to his feet and carefully maneouvers himself to one side of it. "Hello? Is anybody here?", he shouts.

He strains his ears, but can't hear anything. It's not surprising. During the akuma fights, people always stay at home or quickly clear the area depending on the danger level. He tries to call out again a few times and he's about to give up when the car suddenly moves. For a moment, the lights blind him, but when he regains sight, the car that was trapping him is on its four wheels and Chat Noir is in front of him, grinning widely, "I heard a little birdie calling for help, are you good now?"

Nino only saw Chat Noir from afar and never interacted with him. So he can't help but fix his perfect straight teeth for a few seconds before saying, "Uhhhh, yeah, all good dude, thanks for the help, I appreciate it." Then he's not sure if he should wait for the hero to go, or if he should be the one walking away.

Chat Noir approaches, "Hey, you're Nino right? You're the one who's got all Ladybug's attention." While the words sound reprimanding, Chat Noir's big smile doesn't dim, so Nino takes that as a good sign. He scratches guiltily the back of his neck, "I sure am. I can't seem to stop getting in trouble," he glances at the cat ears, "It's catastrophic."

Chat Noir chuckles at that and crouches, "Well, as much as I'd like to continue our lovely conversation, I better go help my lady." After a thought, he winks, "I'll make sure to keep an eye on you. See ya, cutie." Then with a leap, he's gone.

Nino gapes at nothing, his face getting warm. Finally, he breaks out of his trance, stuffs his hands deep in his pockets and while getting home, decides that his luck isn't so bad after all.