#I feel like it’s difficult to think when Marinette is quite expressive on both hero and civilian to some degrees

[wolflover2426]

Just a thought but what would a Cat Walker but it’s Ladybug act or what facet of Marinette’s character will center on that?

I feel like Marinette has a healthy balance of herself as Ladybug and vice versa so I’m wondering just what facet of her character would bring life to create a Cat Walker version of a Ladybug hero.

[miraculousluvbug]

WINGLESS | Ch. 2

***WARNING: Season 4 Spoilers Ahead

***New to Wingless? Start at Chapter 1!

CH. SUMMARY: Of all the people Rena could let slip that she knows Ladybug's identity in front of . . . it had to be Chat Noir.

< < < THREE MONTHS AGO < < <

Ladybug swung from building to building, the exhilaration of a job well done fueling the fire in her veins. Traffic it would seem had resumed immediately, the sounds of wheels on pavement and cars obnoxiously honking ricocheting throughout the city’s architecture. This didn’t surprise Ladybug, seeing as the city had grown quite accustomed to akumas blocking the roads. Once the tips of her toes touched a rooftop, it wasn’t long before she was joined by another pair of boots.

“That went well,” commented Ladybug as she swiveled to face her teammate.

Rena Rouge folded her arms across her chest and popped a hip, lips puckered in a frown. “Are you kidding, girl?”

Ladybug’s face fell. No, she wasn’t kidding. She honestly had felt it went well. Was she missing something? Did a disaster strike while she was focused on her lucky charm? Had her Miraculous ladybugs not corrected all of the damage? Were there civilians hurt somewhere--

Abruptly, Rena clapped her hands on Ladybug’s shoulders and squealed, putting a halt to Ladybug’s internal meltdown. “That went amazing! We’re like a well-oiled machine, you and me. I still can’t believe I get to do superhero stuff!” At the sound of Alya’s impromptu shrieking, some pigeons nearby took flight, cooing what Ladybug imagined was a bird version of crotchety old people grumbling. Not even the least bit deterred, Rena leaned forward into Ladybug’s personal bubble, eyes wide with excitement. “But what I really can’t believe is that I’m doing it all with my best friend!”

Ladybug relaxed her posture and let out a breath she hadn’t known she was holding. But she quickly regretted it when she got a nice, big whiff of crepes, urine, and cigarette smoke. Ah, Paris. Home, sweet home. However, noticing her thoughts were veering dangerously offtrack, Ladybug shook herself mentally.

So nothing had gone wrong. Rena was just being Rena and drawing out the suspense. Ladybug patted her friend’s right hand--which was still firmly squeezing her shoulder--and smiled sweetly.

“It sure is convenient that I don’t have to hide from you anymore,” the spotted-heroine remarked. “I think half the time I took so long to get to a battle because I always had to come up with excuses.”

Rena grinned with a knowing glint in her eye. “I might be impressed if your excuses were actually good.”

Rolling her eyes, Ladybug turned away from Rena, causing Rena’s hands to fall to her sides. “Hey, you try having to come up with five hundred different reasons you have to flake on your friends and see if you fare any better.”

Rena was about to sass her best friend some more, but the words caught in her throat at the sight of Ladybug hugging herself. She recognized this stance. Ladybug’s head was in what Rena deemed the “Guilt Grotto.”

Rena stepped forward to wrap Ladybug in a warm, girl-you-better-get-your-head-out-of-the-guilt-grotto-or-I’ll-tickle-you embrace when there was movement across the rooftops in her periphery. She craned her head to the right to find the familiar silhouette of Chat Noir vaulting his way over, a goofy grin clearly plastered across his face the closer he got.

In a matter of seconds, he landed squarely beside Ladybug, startling her. Ladybug, the epitome of grace that she was, did a series of awkward hand gestures before falling back on her bum, shrieking.

Chat Noir didn’t even look a teeny bit remorseful.

“Looks like I got here just in time!” he quipped, bowing and sliding his baton back into place on his suit.

Rena held out a hand for her friend as Ladybug voiced her question: “In time for what?”

Chat bounced on the balls of his feet. “Well, for the akuma, of course! You guys were having a quick team meeting, right?”

Rena and Ladybug shared a look. So that’s what he was so happy about. Ladybug opened her mouth to reply, but Rena beat her to it.

“Actually, we already took care of the akuma.”

Chat Noir visibly deflated. His ears drooped and his belt tail started to swish back and forth. “Oh.” He turned to the edge of the rooftop and hunkered down, letting his legs kick to and fro in an attempt to get rid of some of the adrenaline.

Ladybug winced. Chat did not sound happy. Hesitantly, she sat next to him. Rena then took a seat beside her, making her the middle. “Sorry, Chat. I know you like battling akumas more than I do.”

Chat nodded before murmuring, “Thirteen.”

“Hm?” Ladybug scooted closer to him to hear him better, their legs nearly touching. She leaned to her right to get a better look at his face and tilted her head innocently. If she were Marinette then, she might have fallen off the rooftop altogether, but she was Ladybug, and Ladybug had way more poise.

Chat didn’t answer immediately. Whatever it was that he was about to say, Ladybug knew it must be something important if he, the guy who was always upfront about his feelings, found it difficult to say. The guy who told her . . .

It’s precisely when something is important that it’s important to say it.

No matter what.

Ladybug gingerly rested a hand on his arm, hoping he understood what the gesture meant. It’s okay. Take your time. I’m ready to listen.

After a few more moments of staring at his feet, Chat Noir lifted his head so his eyes bore into Ladybug’s. They creased with . . . Was that worry? Sadness? Fear?

“Thirteen,” he repeated, a bit louder. “That makes it thirteen times you and Rena have battled an akuma without me. Since Montparnasse Tower.”

Ladybug was speechless. As she stared ahead, eyes unfocused, she tried her hardest to recall all the akuma battles. It was challenging as her memory loved to fail her when she needed it most. Had he really not been in any of those battles? Had it really been thirteen times?

Had he . . . had he really been keeping count?

Ladybug didn’t know what to say, but she knew she had to say something, anything. But what could she say? Was she sorry?

No, she couldn’t be sorry that the akumas had been defeated, that the victims had been rescued, that she had been able to do so quickly because Alya had been spending a record amount of hours by her side.

She couldn’t be sorry about any of that. She was only sad that he felt sidelined.

That was not her intention.

But she knew what the solution to that was.

And she would rather die before she let Chat Blanc see the light of day.

Somehow, knowing her identity had led to him being akumatized. Somehow, whether it was in an alternate timeline or when their memories had been wiped by Oblivio, she knew that what he said at Montparnasse Tower--that to know him was to love him--was truth. And Chat Blanc had told her what their love did.

Their love destroyed the world.

Their love had killed her.

Their love broke the moon, for crying out loud.

But, most importantly, their love hurt him.

Chat Noir had told her he loved her, many times, and she had even been considering giving his pun-spurting, jokes-at-the-worst-times self a chance. But being forced into combat with her akumatized partner had violently squashed any hope she had for them, for LadyNoir as Alya coined it on her blog. Ladybug would be damned if she allowed that to happen again. And if that meant encouraging him to move on even though it broke her heart . . .

Well, it wasn’t supposed to be easy being a hero.

Ladybug had this entire conversation with herself in a matter of seconds. She was careful not to let her face expose any of her innermost feelings, instead sporting an expression of neutrality. What she ultimately decided to do was tell him the only truth she had to offer. He hated secrets and she hated lying. What a pair they made.

“I wish it could be different,” she whispered.

And oh, how she did. She desperately yearned to tell him who she was, to know who he was, to tell him about Alya and Nino and all the other people she had entrusted with a Miraculous.

She wanted him to know how she grew up, what kinds of things she did at school, how she was utterly ridiculous when it came to her rotten luck (and she tried very hard to push a certain blue-eyed blonde out of her head the moment that phrase came to mind). She was sure he would snicker at all the times she made a fool of herself in front of Adrien, of all the ways she made her own life a living hell with her clumsiness.

Or perhaps he wouldn’t laugh. Perhaps he would pat her shoulder and uplift her with words of encouragement. She didn’t know. After the stunt he pulled with the balcony of candle-lit roses, the boy was a wild card, an enigma. He was complex.

And it thrilled her.

But no matter how she felt about him, they couldn’t know each other that way.

Sighing quietly, Ladybug brought her knees up to her chest and turned away from Chat Noir. If she had been watching him when she responded, she might have seen him look longingly at her, but she didn’t.

Rena Rouge did, though.

Wanting to make her friends feel better, Rena added, “Don’t you worry your pretty kitty head about it. I’m sure all those battles would have taken way longer if we weren’t already together.”

Ladybug and Chat Noir both stiffened. Chat’s gaze flicked from Rena to his partner over and over before they finally rested on Ladybug. “Uh, what does she mean by that?”

Ladybug shot a glare in Rena’s direction, but her eyes softened when she saw that Rena genuinely appeared surprised.

He didn’t know? Rena’s eyes asked Ladybug.

He didn’t know, Ladybug’s affirmed.

One would think Rena was Lady Luck because her pendant had decided that that moment was the best time to beep, and she couldn’t agree more. Now she had an escape route from this conversation. “Welp,” she clapped her hands together, “I’m gonna go chill in that fine-lookin’ alley over there.”

Before Ladybug could agree, Rena sprang from her spot and promptly disappeared. She was a regular magician, and her latest trick was leaving Ladybug with a rabbit to put back in the hat.

Or, er--a cat back in the bag. Whatever.

“What she meant by that . . . ” Ladybug began slowly, like she was addressing a wounded animal. Which, maybe she was but just, you know, emotionally wounded.

“Yeah . . . ” prompted Chat, signalling that he was not going to drop this.

Ladybug quickly jumped to her feet and began her ritual of frantic pacing. “Look, I’ve been wanting to tell you this for a while, but I didn’t know how to because I knew it would raise questions that I couldn’t answer--”

A blonde boy in white leather with somber blue eyes appeared in front of her and she dug her heels into the cement, skidding to a stop.

Chat Noir was behind Ladybug now, his voice soft and curious. “Bug?”

Ladybug was frozen in place for a few more seconds before she shook her head hard enough to give herself shaken-baby syndrome and nodded, satisfied that the aggressive head-shaking had rid her of he who shall not be named. She whipped around and started.

Chat Noir was incredibly close.

She didn’t know he had gotten this close.

Geez, his eyes were really cat-like.

He also had a really cute nose--

Ladybug, FOCUS!

Ladybug took a step back. She made it her mission to ogle his bell instead of looking into his dumb kitten eyes. “You--” she began, but Ladybug’s throat was suddenly dry. She gulped. “You know how much I hate secrets and lying. And I know how much you hate secrets and lying. So I’m not going to lie to you. But I may not be able to answer the questions I’m sure you’ll have, so please . . . ”

Ladybug grabbed one of his hands then and held it firmly between her own, pleading with every fiber of her being that this would communicate how much he meant to her even though she knew what she was about to tell him would make it seem like he didn’t mean anything.

Please forgive me, Ladybug’s heart supplied.

When he didn’t immediately take his hand back, she looked up at him. She looked into those dumb kitten eyes and knew without a shadow of a doubt--

She was a masochist.

This was going to hurt. He didn’t like when she was the only one to know Rena’s identity. He definitely wasn’t going to like that Rena knew hers. This would be so much easier if she wasn’t ogling those big, emerald green, beautiful, brazenly dumb kitten eyes.

But she was a masochist. And she needed to see them while they still held love for her.

“I told Rena Rouge who I am.”

There. She ripped off the band-aid. Straight to the point. Zero room for interpretation. After all, her worst arguments started because of her clumsy miscommunication.

Ladybug braced herself for an explosion. She had played this moment in her head a couple hundred times since exposing herself to Alya.

Yelling. There was always yelling.

Sometimes, he stomped away while doing that weird T pose where his fists didn’t connect to his hips . . . a pose she herself was guilty of, too.

Others, he chastised her about her thoughtlessness--to which she responded that she definitely thought about it long and hard that day.

Ladybug braced herself for an explosion because she was sure there was going to be one, especially after seeing him upset about her always running off to Master Fu. He hadn’t even known there was a Guardian for a while.

What she hadn’t braced herself for was the expression on his face.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

His head was bowed.

His eyes were closed.

A lone tear slid down his cheek.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

Her heart thudded against her ribcage, screaming at her to run because he wanted her Miracul--!

No! She refused to finish that thought.

Her head yelled back that he wasn’t akumatized right now, that she wasn’t back there, that she wasn’t with him. She desperately tried to shove the image from her mind. This was more than she could bear. She just--she couldn’t take it! She couldn’t take it because . . .

Because . . .

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

Because he looked just like him.

Thump-thump. Thump-thump.

He looked like Chat Blanc.

-----

Heya! Thanks for reading. ❤ Check out my Instagram for Wingless updates. I'm also posting pieces of a Wingless cover with each chapter update!

(2/?) Previous | Next

[chatonne-rousse]

Orange You Glad I'm Not Seeing Green (Nope, Totally Not Jealous At All)

A continuation of my Gifts from the Heart series, the whole of which is written as a gift for my dear friend @sketchy-panda.

Read it on Ao3 here.

Follows Great Minds (and Kind Hearts) Think Alike, which can be found here.

*********

The first forty-two minutes had gone so well.

Marinette was acting weird, but a normal, endearing weird - the kind of weird that warms his chest with affection and makes him smile. There is no one quite like her, and Adrien knows her friendship is a sweet blessing indeed. Even if it takes a moment or two to decipher her jumbled sentences sometimes. Even if she's a teeny tiny bit of a disaster.

When Ms. Bustier had paired them up for a literature project, he was thrilled. Adrien would never scoff at the chance to spend time with his dear friend, much less to enjoy a window of escape, however short, from the echoing silence of his own home. He'd turned to her with unabashed excitement to find her cheeks and ears pink and a strange mix of joy and terror in her eyes.

"Yay!" she'd squeaked, the word accompanied by awkward jazz hands. This had prompted a nudge under the table from Alya that didn't escape his notice. With that, she'd taken a deep breath, set her shoulders, and asked if he'd like to come over after school to work on it together.

Would he ever! The wave of happiness that had risen in his chest must have shown on his face, but when Marinette's smile had softened to match, he realized he didn't care if he grinned like a fool in front of the class. An afternoon with a friend - a friend! - was such a rare treat. And he's already read The Three Musketeers, so he'd been sure this would be a breeze.

And it was. Until six minutes ago, when they realized that the plate of cookies they'd been snacking on had dwindled to one. This discovery came by way of both of them reaching for it without looking, hands meeting over the plate amidst blushing cheeks and murmured apologies. With an awkward laugh, he'd taken the final cookie, carefully broken it roughly in half, and offered the slightly larger piece to his wide-eyed project partner.

Their fingers brushed in the handoff. She breathed a thank you. He smiled graciously.

It all happened so quickly after that.

Before he could take a bite of his cookie, her elbow had knocked into her glass, sending orange juice across her desk, her lap, his stocking feet.

"Disaster!" Marinette had shrieked, prompting Mrs. Cheng to peek through the open trap door a few moments later, looking first at her daughter dancing frantically around her now-toppled desk chair and then to a bewildered Adrien, still holding half a cookie in one hand and Marinette's keyboard, rescued from the rogue wave of orange juice, in the other.

She'd just smiled. "I'll bring up some towels, dears."

Adrien could only nod.

Now, Marinette stands in front of her sink, wiping the front of her pants with a damp towel and sighing every thirty seconds. He's barefoot, his socks whisked off to parts unknown, ostensibly to be laundered, though he'd protested that wasn't necessary. Their cookie and juice supply has been refilled, and calm has settled over the room again. Sort of.

"I'm so sorry, Adrien," she says quietly, a tinge of misery at the edge of her voice. "I'm so clumsy."

He tries to make her smile the best way he knows how. "It's okay, Marinette. Orange you glad it didn't get on your drawings for the project?"

She stops trying to clean off her jeans and raises her eyes to his. "Did you just...?"

His eyes gleam. "You know, workers in the orange juice factory will lose their jobs if they can't concentrate."

Her surprised giggle is incredibly gratifying. He takes it as a green light to continue. "Do you know what language oranges use to talk to each other?" When she shakes her head, he gleefully answers, "Mandarin!"

"You'd fit right in, then!" Marinette laughs heartily, the sound making his grin widen until it hurts. (It's worth it.)

"Well, I am very a-peeling. I have a real zest for life."

She groans, though she's still laughing, and facepalms with the hand holding the towel. Adrien watches as she realizes how sticky it is against her face, throws it on the counter, and blushes when she makes eye contact with him once more. His own smile never dims. Making a friend laugh like this is one of life's great joys. Laughing with a friend like this is one of the greatest.

Finally, she washes her hands at the sink and he takes a moment to right her desk chair, gazing around the room to the sound of her drying her hands. Magazine photos of him still remain, though they mix on corkboards and wall collages with pictures of friends and family. His own face smiles - truly smiles - back at him from several of them. He remembers each of these days, shining memories with beloved friends that he treasures. He's glad Marinette treasures them, too.

His gaze slides to the corner of her desk, near her sewing machine and a large box he assumes is full of sewing notions, and his breath catches. There, on twin display stands to keep them upright, are two figurines he doesn't know how he missed earlier. Ladybug holds her yo-yo in her right hand, Chat Noir's baton is held in his left. Their tiny plastic hands clasp in the middle, just as they were molded to do for the 1st Anniversary Special Partners Edition figures he would know anywhere.

Marinette sits back down in her desk chair, looks at him, then follows his gaze to the figurines. Adrien turns his eyes to her.

"I didn't know you were a superhero fan, Marinette!"

She laughs a nervous laugh as a blush rises to her cheeks. "Me? A fan of Chat Noir? Psssh." She waves a hand as if to dismiss the idea.

He isn't sure if he should be offended or gratified. He'd certainly prefer the latter.

"Why wouldn't you be a fan? I am. I think the heroes are awesome."

"You do?" she breathes, eyes wide.

"Of course! Paris is lucky," he elbows her arm gently and winks, "to have them."

Her giggle makes him smile again. He always feels so light and so carefree here, in her warm home, with her friendly parents and a plate of cookies and the sweetness she seems to radiate in his presence. Paris is lucky to have superhero protectors, but he's lucky in his own way to have found this kind of gentle contentment in a world denied to him for so long.

"I guess we should get back to the project--"

"Where did you get them?"

They each speak at the same time, twin blushes and stammered apologies following just as with the cookie incident.

Marinette breaks the ensuing awkward silence first. "One of my best friends gave them to me."

"I'm not surprised," Adrien responds with a grin. "Alya might be the biggest fan in Paris!"

The blush on her cheeks spreads to the tips of her ears and her eyes widen before she blinks. "Oh, um...it wasn't Alya." Marinette looks at her hands in her lap and then back up to him. "But she does have this set. She's kind of obsessed."

Strange, he'd never heard about any other best friends from Nino or Alya, though that didn't mean Marinette didn't have a very close online friend or someone in the design community she just hadn't talked much about before. He hopes this person knows what a good friend she has in Marinette, that she treasures her like Marinette deserves to be treasured. Though of course she'd gifted her with the set of figurines, so this friend at least knows quality merch when she sees it. Adrien's heart warms at the thought of Marinette having such good friends. She deserves nothing less.

"Adrien? Are you okay?"

He blinks twice, shaking himself from his reverie. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine."

"Are you sure? You were far away for a minute there."

He smiles warmly. Marinette is so thoughtful. "I promise. I was just thinking what a great best friend she must be to have given you such a cool gift."

"Oh," she says quietly, looking at the figures again, though Adrien is still focused on his friend. He watches as her eyes soften and her smile turns gentle before she speaks again. "He definitely is. There's no one better."

Her gaze snaps to his again. "I mean! I'll bet you're better! At being hot. I mean cool! I mean..." She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath. "So! The Three Musketeers, eh?" She pulls her notebook back in front of her and opens it to a random page that contains nothing having to do with Alexandre Dumas. She laughs nervously, resolutely staring at the page and not the boy beside her.

The boy who hasn't breathed since her quiet "oh." The boy whose brain is still stuck on one word.

He.

Adrien can feel his smile turn brittle at the edges and forces his face to remain neutral, but it's difficult all of a sudden.

It shouldn't bother him. It shouldn't affect him at all. Marinette is friends with Nino, Kim, and Max, and he doesn't think twice about it. Why should he? This is different, though, somehow. An unknown entity. A boy friend he's never heard of who makes her expression soften like that, with memories of private jokes and gift exchanges and laughter. Probably. That's probably what it's like with Marinette and her other best friend, who isn't Alya and whose name he doesn't know.

An odd feeling twists his stomach. Adrien doesn't like it.

"Well," he starts, sliding his own notebook over and opening to the last page they'd been working on before the orange juice spill, "he has very good taste in Ladybug and Chat Noir merchandise. I have that same set myself."

"You do?" she squeaks, and their eyes meet again.

"I do. But I didn't take mine out of the packaging." He chances a cheeky half-smile at her, the knot in his stomach loosening just a fraction at the smile she returns. "Mine will be pristine when the set is worth millions someday."

When she laughs, the tension in his chest dissipates like springtime dandelion seeds, floating away on a sudden breeze of fresh, sweet joy.

Maybe Marinette's mysterious best friend can make her laugh like this, but right now, Adrien is the one sitting beside her - something rare and precious and not to be taken for granted - and it makes no sense to do anything other than enjoy the moment.

[yannowhatigiveup]

My One And Only - Chapter 12

Previous | Next

We’re finally onto the long chapters! Yay! We’re also catching up to where I currently am spin the story so frequent updates will be a thing of the past, sorry. Oh and before you read this chapter I gotta say something,

|| TW: This chapter does cover some topics that may be sensitive to some viewers. Viewer discretion is advised ||

Rose was probably the one who gave Lila Marinette’s phone number since Lila asked sOo NicELy and Rose was too kind. So kind that she’s oblivious to the fact her kindness is hurting others.

•~•

Marinette then looked for something to put in her hair. She decided to put her hair into a ponytail tied with a long, dark red, silk ribbon. She finished her outfit and she realised she had plenty of time left before school started. Marinette noticed a notification for a message, rolling her eyes as she saw who it was from, Lila. Marinette took a deep breath before going to read it. 'It can't be that bad, right?'

Wrong.

————————————————————

Lie-la: I said that I would take everything from you and i am a woman of my word but...I'm kinda bored. This is taking far too long. You should go kill yourself, it's not like anyone would care anyway. Go to the top of News tower and jump, no one will care. I surely won't. You don't deserve happiness. Just cross to the other side. Jump. No one will care. No one ever did. They're all fake, I'm just doing a favour for you. Jump. Kill yourself. No one loves you, no one cares. Jump, jump and fall to your miserable death. On News tower at 6:30, jump. You'll be able to get a good view of the world before you die. Not like I care. Jump. Kill yourself. You're a burden, everyone hates you. Just jump, die. Bleed, bleed out and die. Jump. Die. Kill yourself. Don't forget to leave a note. HAH! Who am I kidding? No one will read it anyway. Just kill yourself already.

Marinette only needed to read it once. She had a blank expression on her face, she wasn't going to give in to emotion, even though she wanted to. Tikki, noticing the change in emotion, flew over to Marinette. She caught a glimpse of her owner's screen before gasping and going to hug her.

"Thanks, I really needed that Tikki" Marinette sniffed before gathering herself. "Come on, I don't wanna be late!" She exclaimed, plastering a smile on her face. Tikki was unsure but went in Marinette's bag anyway. Marinette ran down the stairs, grabbing a croissant and said bye to her parents. She then sprinted to school, ignoring all the 'hello's on the way to the locker room. Alya, realised this and easily became suspicious.

"Hey Girl!" She said as Marinette approached. "You feeling good?"

"Yeah, I'm fine"

Alya and Nino looked at each other, confused, then Alya looked to Chloe who only shrugged her shoulders. Obviously there was something wrong. Then Alya got an idea. She pulled her phone out and texted the only person she knew Marinette would open up to. Damian.

Me: Hey can you check on Mari today?

Damian-boi: Why? Is something wrong?

Me: I think so but she isn't opening up

Damian-boi: I'll invite her over

Then, when Alya was putting her phone away, she saw Mari look at her phone and smile. 'He'll find out what's wrong'. Nino and Chloe also noticed that Marinette had smiled for the first time that day, she only had a blank expression, tired even.

"Did you send her a message or?" Chloe asked confused.

Alya shook her head. "I didn't but I'm sure Mari now has something to look forward to later"

Chloe looked at Nino, wanting answers. He shrugged his shoulders. Either way, they were glad that their friend had a burst of happiness. But she deserved so much more.

~~~

Damian was sitting on a seat by one of his hotel room's window, reading a book from the bookshelf provided. Though, it was merely a distraction. He sighed while putting the book down, he wanted to ask Marinette on a date he just couldn't figure out how. 'Why is this so difficult?' Then a message popped up on his phone.

Césaire: Hey can you check up on Mari today?

'Is Angel ok?'

Me: Why? Is there something wrong?

Césaire: I think so but she isn't opening up

'I'll talk to her later'

Me: I'll invite her over

He sent a message to Marinette then he put his phone down, to say he was slightly concerned would be an understatement. True he had only known Marinette for a few days, but he was willing to do anything to make sure she was happy and safe. Damian knew Marinette would do the same. He wanted to come up with a plan to make her happy. And that's what he did. But he did look up the Parisian heroes first, eying Ladybug closely. 'She looks very similar to Angel, wait a damn minute...'

~~~

The bell went and Marinette headed towards Miss Bustier's classroom with Alya, Chloe and Nino not far behind. Since Marinette was quite far ahead of them, Lila managed to sneak a comment in without Marinette's friends hearing.

"I spoke the truth earlier, you are better off dead" Lie-la sneered.

Marinette flinched slightly, Lila saw this and was convinced the Marinette had heard her. She put a clueless and innocent expression on her face but on the inside, she felt victorious. Marinette on the other hand, felt horrible and absolutely gutted on the inside but had a blank expression on her face. She wanted to break down and cry right there, but she couldn't. If she would, Hawkmoth would akumatize her and there would be no stopping the villain she would become. As she thought down, she remembered that she would be going to Damian's later which was something to look forward too.

Alya had noticed that Marinette seemed even more down than when she first came in school. "Girl, you ok?"

Marinette shot as sad smile at Alya. "Just Lila being Lila" Mari muttered to her best friend. Alya had a mix of sadness and anger towards that liar, she obviously said something to make her best friends sad. Alya still had time before Miss Bustier arrived so she shuffled to get up, only to sit back down again after Marinette had shook her head. "It's nothing serious, I don't want more backlash"

Alya sighed. "Fine but after school I will confront her". Marinette knew there was no way to get convince her best friend otherwise. 'I just have to last till the end of the day' Marinette thought to herself.

Her thought was easier said than done, Lila had managed to say some hurtful comments every time Marinette was in view without any of her friends noticing. The school day went slower than a garden snail, much to the bluenette's dismay. She wanted to get out of there, away from Lila and just break down. Lila had never managed to get this far into her skin, she swore she could feel the words stabbing her heart. It hurt. Just as the school bell went, indicating that school was over, Marinette got up and tired to leave the classroom as fast as possible. She was so close to the school doors, she thought she would be able to leave without seeing Lila. That thought was interrupted by something cold, incredibly cold, running down her back.

"Oh my god I'm so sorry Marinette!" The liar apologized though, Marinette knew that Lila had done this on purpose. 'It's 4°C, why else would she have an ice cold drink?'

"Lila what the hell!" Alya shouted gaining many, including Lila's, attention.

"I-I didn't m-mean I-it" she stammered, crocodile tears forming in her eyes.

"Alya stop shouting at Lila! It was an accident!" Rose's stern voice echoed.

Marinette ignored the conversation, or argument, that followed. She was ice cold and needed to change. Right now, the only place she wanted to be at was Damian's. She reached her parents bakery, ran up the stairs and grabbed anything that had long sleeves. She wore a rosewood over sized, turtleneck jumper with over the knee boots. By now she was warmer but not as warm as she needed to be, though she really didn't care. Lila knows where the bakery is so Marinette didn't feel safe at that moment. The bluenette then rushed downstairs, her parents weren't around 'Probably packing for their flight tonight'. Her sprinting had slowed to a casual walk as she approached the hotel doors, her face blank and expressionless. Marinette got in the lift, pressed a button and got out when she reached his floor. She stopped in front of his hotel door and took a deep breath before knocking.

~~~

Damian closed his laptop. He had done some research on the Parisian superheroes, Ladybug specifically. He made a mental note about how similar both Angel and Ladybug were before he heard a knock at the door. 'Angel probably'. He went over and opened the door to see a frail looking Marinette, she never looked like that. That made Damian suspicious and worried. "Come in Habibti" He gestured for her to sit on the settee in his room and instead of replying, she gave him a sad smile and walked in. 'Whoever hurt her, be prepared to face my wrath'. As she sat on the couch, Damian locked the door and sat next to her. He noticed how she was avoiding eye contact so he placed his hand under her cheek, turning her head to face himself so she couldn't break eye contact. A pink blush lightly dusted her cheeks. "Angel" he began. "I am no good with emotions, I'm sure you know that by now. But that does not mean I can't tell when you're hurting. Please, tell me what is wrong"

The worried tone in his voice and the true concern in his eyes made the walls in her mind crumble. She began to speak up in a shaky voice. "W-well...today Lila kept saying things and this morning she..." her voice trailed off as she reached for her phone, opening the conversation which had that message and handed it to Damian. The hand used to reach for the phone was the hand that was cupping Marinette's cheek, she inwardly frowned but she watched as Damian read the message.

Damian face was neutral when Marinette first gave him her phone but it quickly changed. She watched as his face went from expressionless to visible anger, though, it looked like he was holding back from revealing anymore emotion. So she looked at his eyes, the eyes were the key to every soul and in his eyes she saw his true emotions. He was absolutely livid. His eyes were pools of rage. "I'll skin that fucking harlot alive" Damian snarled.

He widened his eyes in realisation to what he said and gently put the phone on the coffee table. He turned to Marinette and opened his arms for her. She needed much more than a hug in Damian's opinion, but in Marinette's, Damian was all she needed. She jumped into his arms straight away, burying her face in his chest while letting her tears flow. Seeing her so miserable made his heart break. One of his hands rubbed circles on her back while the other stroked through her hair, he also murmured comforting words into her ear. He'd deal with Rossi another time, right now he needed to focus on Marinette but he'd be damned he'd let Lila get away with hurting her.

Soon, the bluenette's tears turned into quiet, steady breathing. Marinette felt a lot better now, each comforting word from Damian had erased the meaning of each snarky comment from Lila. Anything and everything Lila had sad meant nothing to Marinette anymore, being in Damian's arms was the only thing that mattered.

"Thank you" she whispered, her face still buried in his chest.

"I'd do it again in a heartbeat, Habibti" Marinette hid her blush. Damian hummed to himself, as if he were thinking if something.

"What is it?" She asked, pulling away from the hug.

"Why don't you and I go for a walk? Just the two of us" The bluenette didn't hesitate.

"I'd like that"

~~~

The walk was like a breath of fresh air. Damian took her to a nearby cafe to get some hot cocoa for takeaway and they strolled the streets of Paris. Their saunter lead them passed the Louvre, passed the Seine and ended on the Eiffel Tower, on the highest floor a civilian could go. The two looked over Paris, leaning forward on the banister, the sun setting beautifully. Damian looked at Marinette, she was still staring at the city's silhouette in awe. Without thinking, Damian's hand reached for the ribbon in Marinette's hair, tugging at it slightly to let her hair down. The bluenette squeaked in surprise, the red ribbon once in hair hair was now wrapped around Damian's finger.

Damian didn't think that Marinette could get even more beautiful than she already is but he stood corrected while watching Marinette's hair flow beautifully in the wind. Not only that but the way the sunset's light landed on her, how it reflected in her eyes, made her so bewitching, so captivating. 'God...you can't turn back now Wayne' He collected every piece of confidence he had in him and spoke up. "Angel, can I ask you a question?"

"Well you just did, didn't you?" She giggled as he playfully rolled his eyes at her. "Sure what do you want to ask?" Marinette looked at him, her bluebell eyes seeming more spellbinding then he had ever seen them. He couldn't trust his voice, he would only mess up. He stared at her intensely, his right hand moved to hold her cheek. She didn't pull away, she leaned into his touch while blushing ever so slightly.

'May I kiss you?'

Marinette's eyes widened in surprise, her blush now being much more visible. She looked as if she had heard the question pass through his lips though he hadn't said anything at all. It's almost as if they communicated, telepathically. Marinette nodded, answering the unasked question. Damian slowly pulled her face closer to his, they both closed their eyes as Damian pressed his lips against Marinette's. They were just as soft as he suspected. The bluenette wrapped her arms around Damian's neck, the one on her face was now in her hair and the other was wrapped around Marinette's waist, pulling her closer to his body. The kiss wasn't passionate. It was soft, tranquil and tender. And Marinette liked it. She liked him. No, scratch that. She loved him. And he loved her back.

The two only pulled away when their need for oxygen became greater than the desire for each other. When they did they make eye contact, their eyes both reflected each other's feelings. Love. Marinette stepped closer and snuggled her face into Damian's muscular chest, like how she did earlier but this one felt much more heartfelt, filled with more affection. She hummed, closing her eyes with her arms still wrapped around his neck while his were wrapped around her waist.

"So I guess this is where I ask you on a second date or-" he paused hoping that Marinette would choose the option he was about to give her. "I ask to court you"

She giggled. "I wasn't aware that this is a date but I'm not complaining". She then looked up at his face and smiled. "And I would be much more than happy to court you"

He smiled back. 'Damn her smile is contagious' "So do I have the privilege of being your boyfriend now?" Damian smirked at her.

"Well If that's the case, then I have the honor of being your girlfriend" she hummed.

Hearing that made him feel guilty. He hadn't told her his last name, and she respected that. "Damian Wayne" he mumbled.

She looked slightly confused and tilted her head.

"I don't want to keep secrets from you so I am telling you now" he breathed in. "My name is Damian Wayne. I apologize, I should've told you sooner I-"

Her eyes widened in surprise and understanding. "No need to apologize I understand"

"So this doesn't change anything between us?"

She giggled while she put her head back on his chest. "Why would it?"

Damian let out a sigh of relief. He would've leaned in to kiss her again if he didn't notice an object heading straight for her at incredible speed. His left hand went out to grab it, which he did with ease. Marinette pulled away from the hug to see what Damian had caught. It looked like something from an akumatized villain. He sighed. "I guess it would be best to get out of the villain's way"

She looked at the object in his hand, then back at him. Without thinking, she blurted out "Remember would you said about secrets?"

"What about it?"

She stepped back and muttered a few words then there was a blinding red light, he had to close his eyes for a second. When he opened them, he was face to face with the spotted hero herself. The hair once flowing in the air was now back in the pigtails the hero is seen with all the time. 'Angel is Ladybug, I was right' Though he did have his suspicions, it still surprised him nonetheless. She smiled at him.

"Y-"

She cut him off with a chaste kiss on the lips which lasted longer than she anticipated, though she had to go on her tip toes which Damian found amusing. She also managed to take the object out of his hand. "I promise to explain everything later. I'll meet you back at the hotel when I'm finished, alright?"

"God, you really are an Angel". The blush on her face was very noticeable. She smiled at him before using her yo-yo to bring her to the akumatized victim. He watched as her silhouette jumped from rooftop to rooftop. Once she was out of sight, Damian looked back at the sunset. He chuckled to himself. "I guess when you bumped into me the other day, you gave me some of your Lady Luck".

———

Taglist: @little-bluestar, @miracleofadisaster, @frieddonutsweets, @jjmjjktth, @genderfluidmoma, @starlit-dreaming, @icerosecrystal, @lolieg, @kashlyn, @mochegato, @eggadoodle, @walkingthroughonautopilot

[ladybugout-au]

Marinette placed the final box of baked goods on the stack, pulling up the strings she'd set underneath them so she could tie everything together. "Alright! That should do it!" She put her hands on her hips, looking proud of herself, though faltered as she realized, "Oh, but what if there aren't enough options? What if they have an allergy?"

"That was everything your parents could part with," Tikki reminded her.

Marinette whined. "I know. They're kind of leftovers too, but I didn't want to just swoop in as Ladybug and go hey, I have some new heroes I'm meeting, do you mind if I buy some of your baked goods for them because I know they would've insisted that I take a bunch of the fresh stuff for free." Rubbing the back of her head, she gave a one-armed shrug. "It was just easier to ask for anything that was still good but they didn't want to sell exactly."

"I guess so," Tikki hummed, though it was obvious that she didn't really get it. Marinette supposed that a kwami couldn't really understand the value of money and briefly imagined Tikki with a tiny purse of coins.

Shaking her head of any amusement that brought, she walked over to her mirror, feeling her face and checking the tightness of her pigtails holders. "Tikki, how's my hair look?"

"Won't your hair just go back to perfectly-brushed pigtails when you transform anyway?" Tikki asked.

Marinette supposed she was right. Thanks to her transformation, many a Parisian had been saved from seeing their hero sporting a bedhead during early morning akuma battles.

"...Alright," she decided, carefully undoing her hair ties and fluffing up her hair. "In that case, hair down it is."

Tikki blinked, flying over to ask, "What do you mean?"

Marinette glanced at her in the mirror. "Because then I can at least feel like I'm doing my hair up for it! I have to look nice!"

A tilt of the head was her response. "It's not that I'm not happy that you're taking this so seriously, but why the fuss?"

Gasping, almost in offense, Marinette replied, "I have to make a good first impression! I'm Ladybug, and they need to know that I appreciate them being here!"

"Marinette," Tikki said steadily, waving her arms out to gesture at her. "They already know Ladybug. I'm sure—"

"But not like this!" Marinette retorted, standing straight and raising a finger as she made her point. "I want them to feel welcome and like they can come to me for advice on fighting or keeping their identities a secret!" She hesitated, then dropped her gaze to the ground and added nervously, "I-I mean, I know I might not the best at those, but I can still try, right?"

Tikki moved immediately in front of Marinette's face, using her tiny paws to raise her chin up. Flying a small distance away, she assured, "You're a great Ladybug! I'm sure they'll appreciate you no matter what happens!"

Marinette smiled at that, at least feeling a little more mentally prepared to face the new heroes now. "Thanks, Tikki." She turned, facing the boxes of baked goods again and readying herself. She stepped towards them, paused, then scratched her cheek sheepishly as she asked, "But seriously though, do you think these will be enough?"

"Marinette!"

"Okay, okay, I'm going! Let's go!"

——-

Ladybug could feel Chat Noir following her only five minutes after she'd left the house, though was aware that it wouldn't exactly be hard to see her - despite the extra black she'd added to her bodysuit at the start of her blog - with all the boxes she was carrying. That was fine with her, as she'd needed him to be nearby anyway; they were still partners, after all.

As she landed on the rooftop she'd agreed to meet everyone at, she heard Chat Noir landing behind her. He announced his presence with an amused, "Setting up a picnic, m'lady?"

She raised a brow at him. "You could say that. The new heroes should be arriving in—" She pulled out her yoyo to check the time, realizing just how long she'd spent fretting over her first impression. "—uh, soon. Very, very soon."

At least she still got there first, she figured.

"New heroes?" Chat inquired, his flirtatious tone disappearing. "I didn't know they'd be here tonight."

"I messaged you before I left," she pointed out, purposefully leaving out the detail of the kwami group chat. She idly wondered if Plagg could be bribed into sending her flirty messages from Chat.

"I saw," he insisted with a bow, "which is why I hurried to you so you could tell me what it was about in person!"

She had no comment on that, too busy setting the boxes out and checking to make sure the baked goods hadn't been jostled on her way there. Chat Noir sat down next to her, helping himself to one of the sweets and not making any comment about the bakery logo on the box, probably as they'd saved said bakery quite a few times, so it wouldn't be weird to know it enough to buy from there.

The moment her yoyo confirmed that it was time for the other heroes to show up, Ladybug heard the sound of someone landing on the rooftop. She glanced up, seeing the bee hero standing there with an air of professionalism hovering around her.

"Ladybug. Chat Noir," she greeted formally, giving them each a nod.

Ladybug stood up with a start when she realized that she was still sitting near the boxes. "Hello!" She walked over, extending a hand out to her. "Glad you could make it."

The bee hero gave her a nod, accepting the offer for a handshake. "Of course. This is my job after all. It would have reflected poorly on me if I hadn't shown up on time."

Ladybug beamed. She was far different from the "original" bee hero, but that wasn't a bad thing, and she was looking forward to seeing what it'd be like to have another serious person on the team.

The turtle hero then landed nearby, though Chat Noir was too preoccupied with approaching the bee heroine, even taking her hand in his despite her flat expression. She tried to shake his hand like she did with Ladybug, only to realize that apparently wasn't his intent.

"I guess we'll beekeeping you on the team for a while now?" Chat asked. "It'll be a pleasure working with you."

He bent down, placing a kiss on the back of her hand. She pulled away from it, raising a brow at him while Chat stilled and looked confused.

"Uh—" the turtle hero cut in, finally earning Chat's attention. Ladybug watched as the turtle hero seem to fidget in place before pointing at the hand kiss display that had just occurred. Tentatively, he asked, "He's not going to do that with everyone, right? I'm—I'm dating someone."

Chat's face turned red with embarrassment, his body immediately recoiling from the bee heroine. Ladybug covered her mouth with both hands in an attempt to hide her chuckle, though it was difficult.

She waited until she was calm to approach the turtle hero, offering her hand for her second handshake of the day. "Glad you could make it."

He smiled, happily shaking her hand with a simple reply of, "Thanks." Then, glancing over her head, he asked, "Are you a new hero too?"

She presumed he was talking to the bee until she turned around, jumping in surprise as she noticed the fox hero standing nearby. She hadn't even heard him land, but supposed it made sense for a fox.

"Hey," he greeted casually. "Sorry, I didn't want to interrupt when you were talking to everyone else."

"O-oh, it's okay!" she assured, hoping it wasn't too embarrassing that she'd been caught off guard. She approached, sharing her last handshake with him. "And now that everyone's here, we can get introductions out of the way! You're...?"

"Cadmeancio," he replied with a calm smile. "I hope I'll be able to help you, Ladybug."

She smiled back, then glanced to the turtle hero. "And you?"

He stood proud, both arms up like he was flexing despite his sheepish expression. "Heavy Matal."

Ladybug turned to the bee heroine, who understandably predicted the question and answered before she could get it out, "Fukiya."

"Alright, so Fukiya—" Ladybug pointed at her, then the other two heroes as she continued, "—Heavy Matal, and Cadmeancio."

The three nodded at her. She couldn't help feeling a tinge of excitement; she had new team members now, and they were permanent holders that she wouldn't have to go out of her way to give miraculouses to.

Sitting down on the rooftop, she gestured to all of the boxes and exclaimed, "I brought these, so help yourselves! I can give you the rundown while we eat."

Cadmeancio and Heavy Matal happily sat nearby, letting out a harmonious, "thank you," as they peered into the individual boxes to look for a treat. Fukiya was the only one who remained rigidly in place, hands resting at her sides even as she looked around at the assorted boxes.

"Fukiya?" Ladybug called, earning her attention. "Everything okay?"

"Ah—" Fukiya let out a neutral hum. "I'm not really... allowed to indulge in..."

Chat waved a croissant from his seat besides Ladybug. "You've got superhero status now! You don't have to worry about anyone else or what they'll—"

Ladybug cut him off by clearing her throat, facing Fukiya to clarify, "What Chat means is... obviously we have to maintain our secret identities, but you can still be yourself around us, and you don't have to worry about anything you've been forced to do or not do when you're not transformed."

She offered what she hoped was a welcoming smile. She was worried at first, given how Fukiya looked at her like they were in a staring contest, but she relented quickly enough, sitting down and searching for the perfect treat amongst her options.

Ladybug breathed a sigh of relief, then slid herself back just enough that all of the new teammates were in view. Clapping her hands together to earn everyone's attention, she began, "I imagine your kwami filled you in on most of the details, but just to make sure everyone's on the same page..."

Cadmeancio and Heavy Matal shifted to face her, Fukiya already having been in the right position.

Ladybug continued, "With LadyBugOut in place and Hawk Moth seeing us as even more of a threat, you three are here to be new, permanent heroes to help cover any weak points we might have." She gestured vaguely at them. "That said, you don't have to show up to ever single battle; if you can show up, show up, but don't worry if you're in the middle of something. I want all of you to warm up to having miraculouses instead of being forced to get used to them right away."

"Isn't it serious?" Fukiya asked, arms crossed. "We should be prepared for anything."

"We have time," Ladybug assured confidently, "and forcing anything to happen won't get us the results we want." She would know. "So just... take it slow, okay?"

Fukiya looked like she wanted to argue, but closed her eyes and let out a breath, apparently thinking better of it.

"Should we come anyway if you need us?" Heavy Matal questioned with a tilt of his head, though his voice was hesitant as if he wasn't sure if he should suggest such a thing.

Ladybug, however, was happy for the question and gave him a grin. "Oh, if you can? Definitely, and as long as you're on the blog, you'll get notified of any akuma!"

He nodded his head, understanding the exception, then went back to munching on one of the sweets he'd picked up. Given that his and Fukiya's curiosity was satiated, Ladybug glanced at Cadmeancio, almost expecting him to have questions as well.

When he seemed more interested in the box the sweets were in, staring strangely fondly at the logo, she called out with interest, "Cadmeancio?"

He looked up at her, waving a hand dismissively. "Sorry. I've—" He paused, and she appreciated his attempt to choose his words carefully. "—I've been to this bakery a few times. It's really good."

"Oh." She eyed the box again, her gaze locking to the three little wrapped-up containers she'd placed in the middle of one box in particular. She perked up, internally thanking Cadmeancio for the transition. "That reminds me—well, sort of..."

She pulled each container out by the ribbon she'd wrapped around them, each with a distinct color that matched the new heroes. Once she had all three held against her chest, she began passing them out to each hero, each of them taking them with care and setting them on their lap.

"These—" Ladybug gestured at the boxes. "—are power-ups, and they—"

Suddenly, Chat choked off to the side, covering his mouth as he forced himself to swallow. Ladybug looked over at him blinked, concerned, but he was recovered quickly enough, standing up and taking her arm.

"Bugaboo, can we have an original-heroes-only meeting?" he asked quickly, though the nickname didn't make it sound any nicer.

"Uh, sure?" She let him take her as far away from the three heroes as possible, waiting until they were out of earshot to whisper, "What is it?"

"Those—" He still seemed stunned by something. "—those are the power-ups? They're getting them?"

She nodded. "Yeah. I don't see the—" She paused, remembering the day that they'd first gotten their powers. "—wait, you're not jealous, are you?"

"Why are they getting them right away?" he asked, completely evading the question. "Master Fu—"

Ladybug held a hand up to silence him. "They don't know about Master Fu, for the record, and it was Master Fu's idea to give it to them. I don't know, it's just..." She shrugged for lack of an answer. "He must trust them?"

"That—that doesn't make sense," he said. "Aren't you curious?"

"No," she replied bluntly. When Chat looked struck by it, she continued, "It's none of my business. I trust Master Fu and I trust who he chose."

"But—!"

"Besides, those power-ups aren't just about when we need them for fighting akuma." She hesitated, needing to take a breath before getting into any serious topics. "Chat, we can't do everything ourselves, and five is better than two in this case. Those power-ups could do a lot of good and we might not be around where they could be good. I've had a lot of close calls since I started helping outside of akuma, and stopping that helicopter from crashing into a building would've been a lot less stressful with the power of flight. We don't even know if another Frozer could show up again, and then the others would be out of luck. Then, there's the possibility of another Syren, or an akuma fleeing into the sewers, and we got Frozer and Syren the day we learned that Hawk Moth had the peacock working for him!"

"So you're worried about Hawk Moth striking back, but you still want them to take it easy?" Chat argued.

"Yes, because I want to give them the warm-up time that we never got. That led to a lot of mistakes, and I—" She stopped, noting that she wasn't comfortable divulging so much information to Chat about how her experience went. "...I just want time for the new teammates to ease into battle and get to know us naturally."

He looked put off by that. "Isn't our relationship natural?"

She forced her mouth shut for a few seconds, not wanting to say anything she'd regret. The fact that he was asking in the first place said a lot about their differences.

Then, finally, she sighed and gave a shrug. "Not completely, no."

He gaped.

"Chat, we got forced together by every single akuma that came our way. We didn't choose to work together, we just had to, and I don't want our new teammates to see us the same way! Superheroing is a job, but teamwork means that we have to care about each other as partners, and I want to ease into that."

She only just refrained from mentioning that her relationship with him had been strained for a while now because of the requirement of working together, knowing it would only cause more arguing. The fact that she and Chat had needed to work together from the beginning made everything go too fast, and she couldn't believe it took so long for her to realize it.

"...Look," she said before Chat could cut in, her voice lower at the realization that she might've been too loud earlier, "I know you were upset that I knew Master Fu when you didn't, but that wasn't my choice. He didn't want to tell anyone about his existence in the first place. We got blindsided by Mayura and we've almost lost our miraculouses multiple times, so it'd be nice to have more heroes who have the power to help if we need them—"

"We don't need anyone else," Chat insists, holding her hands in her. "Remember, m'lady? You and me against the world."

She didn't indulge him this time, pulling her hands away to raise them in defense. "I'm sorry, Chat. That's—that's not how it works. I don't want to be in a situation like that again."

"Where we have dozens of akuma against us, or where it's just down to you and me?" he challenged.

She took a breath, giving him a once-over as she gauged his body language. Shaking her head, she took a step back, not meeting his eyes as she replied, "Both."

She turned away before she could see any hint of his reaction. As far as she was concerned, the situation wasn't about her and Chat; it was about Paris and doing whatever they could to protect it.

She'd been initially apprehensive to return to the new heroes, fearing that the obvious hushed argument made her look bad, but her new teammates were simply waiting where they were before, their looks non-judgmental and the containers in their laps open to the contents, as if they'd all synchronized the motion while she'd been preoccupied.

She smiled, hope replacing nervousness as she went to sit down with them. She was tempted to eat a treat or too, but resisted, opting to pull out her yoyo so she could reach inside and retrieve her box of potion-infused macarons for the sake of instructing them on the powers.

Before she could, she felt a warmth near her shoulder and turned her head to see Cadmeancio, offering her a concerned look while his hand hovered over her shoulder. Though she wondered how obvious her feelings really were, she wordlessly gave him permission and he let his hand drop, giving her shoulder a small squeeze.

She felt good about this. This team could really work.

Chat Noir was thankfully too busy inhaling a slice of cake to notice the gesture. Ladybug didn't know if seeing such things made him antsy, but she preferred not to find out.

Focusing on the little box in her hands, she pulled out a green macaron and began, "Okay, so green is for water..."

[bitch-its-me-alv]

Rose Gold Days Pt3

@crystalangelluna @k-poplunardreams @iwritelikeimrunningoutoftime @lilypos03

Pt2  Pt4

Dick was having a good night on patrol, it was a quiet night, maybe with two or three simple thieves that he handed over to the police without much fuss.

His mother was visiting that week, having found an important clue to the terrorist Hawkmoth's reasoning, she stayed at the mansion while the bats computer accelerate the investigation. The protective spells his mother always put on him were doing their thing under the keblar suit and all the latest generation armor.

With his father it was the same, awkward demonstrations of love and many fun workouts. The highlight of his life recently was when Bruce told him that he was proud of him.

It had been a few weeks ago, Mari was out of town, so Nightwing and Batman had gone on patrol together. Bruce always stayed on the roofs of buildings, running and using the hook simply for the widest jumps. But Dick liked to swing, pirouette on the air and land theatrically, a part of the circus boy would never come out of him.

Batman could see that, and he simply allowed him to do his tricks while probing the streets.

After stopping a gunfight in the middle of the street, batman and nightwing were back in the cave. With dick chattering about his possible occupation as a cop when he grew up. In the middle of talking about how much he wanted to help civilians inside and outside the suit, his father interrupted him with:

 “i'm proud of you son”

To simply ruffle his hair and continue the routine after the patrol. Dick froze in the middle of the batcave garage until Alfred asked him if everything was okay.

That night, by video call Marinette saw her son with the biggest smile of all, while talking to her about his plan to become a police officer. He hadn't even taken off his suit when the call ended a few hours later.

When nightwing entered the batcave thinking about the family's plans for the night, he certainly didn't expect to see a dirty and beaten 9-year-old boy next to his parents.

He seemed to be nervous, scared, and angry, looking at batman and ladybird as if they were going to bite him. As soon as he fully examine him, nightwing got excited

“Do you guys got me a baby brother?!”

Everyone in the cave got nervous. Batman put a hand between the boy and his son, fearing that Nightwing would get too close to Jason, or Jason would try to hit him.

Ladybird tried not to show too excited at the prospect of her beloved Nightwing with a little brother.

And Jason was just trying not to collapse on the ground, definitely stealing the Batmobile's tires was not a very good idea, now he would die in the hands of the vigilantes, what a way to die for an orphan.

“Nightwing sweetheart, we are going to talk to Jason here. Please wait up stairs.”

Nightwing didn't argue, he could spy on them perfectly on his trapezium in the hidden room. The echo in the Batcave was impressive.

He began to think what kinds of activities they could do if they started being siblings. Would they allow him to be vigilant? Would he go to school with him? 

Was it a requirement to be a black-haired boy with blue eyes to be adopted? Why did Mari and Bruce want to keep those traits on the line?

Nightwing was so focused on his thoughts that he didn't really hear anything they were saying until his father entered the room.

"Nightwing come down for a moment, we need to talk. Nothing serious, I just want to know what you think about it." Batman spoke. Nightwing only took a few somersaults to hit the ground.

Batman took a few seconds in silence to admire his son's abilities. Although Mari also did gymnastics and stunts, he was still disturbed and impressed by the movements of Ladybird and Nightwing.

"So ... Jason ... He ..." Batman couldn't find a proper way to start.

"Will you guys do it my little brother? Can we play on the trapezoids together? Will we go to school together? Say yes, pleaaaaaaaase.“ Nightwing grabbed his cape by the shoulders, in a futile attempt to shake him. Just managing to hang up on Batman… he still wasn't very tall to say.

Batman visibly deflated, relieved that his son took the idea of having a brother well. Of course he didn't expect any backlash, they were talking about Nightwing / Richard, a teenager who was all charisma, smiles, and justice.

Batman carefully dropped the vigilante. "So if so, we should go with Mari and Jason. Remember that he is new to this situation, it is understandable that he is nervous, if he wants to tell you where he comes from it will be his decision.”

"I'm not ten years old anymore batsy, I can manage to meet my little brother without problems."

"We'll see"

Ladybird put a hand gently on his shoulder.

"You can reconcide your answer if you're not sure Jason. We don't want to pressure you into anything, we just want you to be better"

Jason hugged his legs sitting in the main computer chair. "As long as I have food and a roof everything is fine, ladybird" His eyes were opaque, tired of life on the streets for a child.

Ladybird felt her chest clench a little more. "Jason, honey. We want you to join our family. Not only are you an act of charity, you may not feel comfortable with many things, but we want you to be well above all things.

Jason relaxed, but not quite. Ladybird knew it would take time. He was not like Dick, who upon arrival needed hugs and conversations about his nightmares.

Jason was a little more battered by life, neglect and general evil in Gotham, but he was still a child who needed guidance and love.

She was sure he and Dick would connect very well.

*Seven days after Jason´s arrival*

Jason was still insecure around adults, but he instantly became attached to Dick, much to his delight.

Despite his trademark smile, and the constant comforting touches that Jason was not used to. It was great to have an older brother, and a house, food, and real parents ...

He was fortunate that it was winter break, so Dick spent the whole day showing him around the mansion, and telling him anecdotes about his life at the mansion and before the Dupain-Cheng Wayne adopted him.

As for Bruce and Marinette, they were patiently waiting for Jason to get used to it.

They had both agreed that raising another child was going to be difficult. But they already had some experience, Bruce was in his best mental and emotional space, and Marinette had better control of the terrorist situation in Paris along with more experience in motherhood.

The rules about becoming a vigilante or hero were in place.

Bruce worked on his communication, and Marinette lessened her maternal paranoia.

*Two months after Jason´s arrival*

As soon as Jason settled in with Bruce and Mari, Dick had the brilliant idea to take another family photo, after all they now had a new member.

Jason began to express himself smoothly, showing a special interest in weapons and books.

Perhaps in another family things would have become complicated with his interests. But Bruce was a spoiling father with Marinette backing him up.

So the library of the mansion was very well dusted, three more shelves with different books were added. The Batcave's armory expanded, and Mari quickly put her protection spells on Jason, as soon as he began practicing under their supervision.

During free afternoons, Jason would be in Bruce's office, reading by his side while Bruce worked on the paperwork.

Other days he would be with Dick playing video games or sharing a mystery series in the projection room or in his own rooms.

And he would also meet Mari in the gardens, lying in a hammock while Mari sang for him and worked on his sketches. Or in the second kitchen, with Dick and him waiting to try the desserts she made first.

As family activities there will always be meals, movie nights, outings, and training.

Jason had already decided that he also wanted to be on the vigilante job. Motivated by his time on the streets, and decided to protect the children who suffered like him, but did not have the same luck.

When he saw that the painting on the main stairs had been changed, for the family portrait in which he had posed. He felt something warm in his chest, an inexplicable sensation that made his eyes water.

Twelve-year-old Jason Dupain-Cheng Wayne Todd was very happy with his family.

School sucked, but Mari and Bruce were always on the lookout for him. He was very good in his fighting classes, handling weapons and in parkour.

He didn't have many civilian friends, but the Titans and Roy were everything Jason wanted.

Dick was starting his police training, so he wasn't in the mansion all the time now, but he had no plans to walk away while Jason was still at school.

His mother had given Dick the miraculous dog, his kwami Barkk, always accompanied him, even in his new training.

Jason had been handed the Miraculous Ox, with his Kwami Stompp when he had earned his right to be on the field.

Red Hood appeared in support of Batman despite Marinette's concerns.

Batman did not want magic in the vigilantes, and his family could respect that. But it was not an impediment for the kwamis to be active.

Bruce was very pleased with the development of his second son on patrol. And Jason was more than happy to swing between buildings and hit thieves.

Things were calm and happy, the Dupain-Cheng Wayne family happily unaware of a certain ten-year-old stalker who was watching his hero, Batman, Nightwing and Ladybird closely.

Yeah… Jason literally wouldn't know what hit him next time.

Certainly meeting your new brother kidnapping him wasn't a good start. But no one would say that to Timothy Jackson Drake, so it will be quite a show.

[ladyanput]

Seeing Green Ch.15 {End}

Warning: light gore.

Once they landed back in Paris, Marinette felt a sense of finally being home, but it wasn't as overwhelming as it used to be. Part of her yearned to go back to Gotham, to be with Damian and the others, there was a sense of belonging there, now that Paris was once again safe.

Oddly, no one once mentioned anything about Marinette being Ladybug. In fact, when she talked to them, playfully suggesting about Ladybug's identity, they all began saying their thoughts, but not once mentioned her. Odd, but she didn't push her luck. Maybe the Miraculous Cure had been extremely generous and wiped their minds? One less thing for her to stress about.

Once she got back to school, her, Miss Bustier, Lila, and Marinette's parents were immediately summoned to the principal's office. Mr. Arquette did not look the least bit pleased, his hands folded neatly as they all shuffled into his office and took a seat.

"I received many disturbing reports while you all were in Gotham, reports that I should have known would happen since I left those children in your care." Arquette spoke, his voice firm and cold as he glared hard at Miss Bustier. "You abandoned a student in the middle of a dangerous city, you left your students roam as they pleased with no supervision, one student stole the money from another, a student was kidnapped and you never once reported it to myself or her parents, much less the police. You even had the audacity to say that her kidnapper did nothing wrong. Caline, you've been on thin ice for quite some time now, but this gross negligence is the final straw. One of the students was even assaulted at the Wayne event and you did nothing to break it up and just stood back and watched. I don't believe we have a place for you here at Saint Louis anymore, not after your behaviour."

"Please, you don't understand, it's all a misunderstanding! Marinette manipulated Adrien and-" Lila began, looking tearful.

"And you," Arquette turned his steely gaze on Lila, cutting her off before she can try and spin another flimsy web of lies. ", You have crossed many lines. Lying about medical records, of how to contact your mother, long series of absences, and I heard much about your deeds in Gotham. Your mother is almost here, Miss Rossi."

"What?! No, she can't-" Lila was on her feet within seconds, her body trembling. Caline, herself, looked quite shaken as well, as if she were about to be sick.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, I am greatly sorry for what you've had to endure all of these years. I should have taken a more firm stance on things, I should have gotten someone else to attend the trip with your class." Arquette turned to Marinette, his expression turning to one of regret. He stood, then rounded his desk, kneeling next to her chair. "I take full responsibility for what happened to you in Gotham."

"No, Mr. Arquette, please. No one thought I would be kidnapped, and luckily Batman saved me." Marinette put in quickly, feeling a sense of relief, now that Miss Bustier would no longer be around. That pressure of being the perfect example was finally lifted from her shoulders. "You're a great principal, you couldn't have known. But I appreciate your actions now, you're more than making up for this."

His shoulders seemed to relax and he nodded before returning to his desk. It wasn't long before Lila's mother showed up, and then the show truly began. 

"You've been lying to me? Me?! Your own mother?!" Mrs. Rossi screamed at her pale faced daughter, before pulling a few brown envelopes out of her bag and holding them up. "Do you know what these are?! These are court orders! Court orders from Jagged Stone, Clara Nightingale, and the Waynes! What were you thinking, having your friend slander their names all over her blog?! You basically accused Jagged of being a pedophile by saying he wrote a song especially for you, that you're his muse!"

"She is also saying she's the personal muse to Gabriel Agreste, ever since she became his model." Marinette put in helpfully, and sat back as she watched Mrs. Rossi got red in the face and continued to berate her daughter.

"And now you'll be going to live with your aunt back in Italy, if these lawsuits don't bankrupt me! I'm only a secretary, Lila, what made you think we could travel like that?!"

Marinette merely watched as Lila was reduced to tears, and expelled from the school. Mrs. Rossi dragged her daughter out and Caline Bustier was promptly dismissed to go and collect her things.

"What will happen to my class?" Marinette asked the principal once she and her parents were about to leave.

"Well, they will get a new teacher, it might be a bit difficult with only a few months left before you all graduate." Mr. Arquette admitted, looking thoughtful.  At the tense silence, he cleared his throat. "Miss Césaire will be thoroughly punished for her actions as well, in Gotham. Assaulting another classmate is completely u acceptable. I was told by her parents she is already being punished as we speak."

Marinette left that school, her parents figuring that she needed a day off after all that had happened. So she silently went up to her room and collapsed onto her bed, finally processing it all.

She was finally free of Lila. Hawkmoth was defeated, and she had both Nooroo and Duusu back, after having fixed the Peacock Miraculous. 

When she heard her phone buzz, she picked it up and smiled to herself.

{Damian} I miss you, Angel, I hope your flight landed safely.

{Damian} I miss you already Angel. And Plagg's taste in cheese is the smelliest ever. Alfred is threatening to throw him out.

The smile on her face didn't drop for the rest of the evening, as she spent the entire evening messaging Damian.

…

Ladybug stood firm at the podium, her teammates standing with her as they faced the flashing of cameras with stoic expressions, press members shouting out questions. She merely stared at them, waiting for them all to quiet down. The crowd quickly got the clue and did such.

"Today, I am here to announce that Hawkmoth has finally been defeated. The terror he reigned over Paris for so long is finally over." Ladybug announced, and this only caused the crowd to go into a bewildered frenzy once again. Ladybug waited, and the media was quick to quiet again, realizing they had to be polite with this one. "Gabriel Agreste, formerly known as Hawkmoth, has been arrested and placed into the custody of the French authorities."

"What about his son, Adrien Agreste? Was he in cahoots with his father?" A reporter blurted out, and it took everything in Ladybug not to flinch at that name.

"Adrien Agreste was not in league with Hawkmoth, he and his mother are innocent." Well, as innocent as one could be. Adrien had been arrested, but anyone could see the boy needed mental help due to all of the mental abuse and grooming that had been forced upon him by his father. So Adrien and his mother, who had indeed woken up, had moved out of the country, where Adrien was getting good care in a good facility, not that he'd ever leave it, not after all he had done.

"What happens now?" A young reporter asked. Ladybug recognized her from her school, Estelle Desrosiers, a sweet girl who always sought out the truth, but was respectable about things. So Ladybug gave her a gracious smile.

"Well, Miss Desrosiers, the Miraculous will be retired and I shall be leaving the city. There are dangerous villains in the world and the world needs the help of the Miraculous to stop it. They're here to keep the darkness from taking over." She spoke firmly, and everyone could see the hero they had all grown to love and admire. There was much outcry at her stating she was leaving, but she stopped the noise and set a hand over her heart. "I love Paris, I love France. This is my home more than anything, but I cannot stay, cannot sit by as the rest of the world suffers. So thank you, Paris, and embrace your newfound freedom. And here's my final Bugout!"

With that, she and the rest of her team took off, followed by the cheers.

Back in her family apartment, Alya was seething as she sat between her parents on the couch, watching the live broadcast. That should be her up there, basking in the glory of defeating Hawkmoth with Ladybug, if Ladybug had actually used her head and gave her back her Fox Miraculous! No one was better suited to be a hero than Rena Rouge! Or it should at least be her at the front of that media stand, asking all of the important questions, getting the big scoop. But her parents had made her delete her blog. She had lost every single electronic she'd had, due to her actions in Gotham and her recent attitudes towards everyone. She had even screamed at her little sisters to the point she had made them cry.

The future was not a bright one for Alya Césaire.

…

Graduation had quickly arrived and when Marinette left her class, she didn't once look back. Sure, they had all apologized, save for Alya who had been expelled and needed to repeat her senior year, but they had thrown her aside so easily for a complete stranger. The kind of trust she had had with them was never going to exist again.

As she arrived back at her place to pack her bags, she saw Luka, Kagami, and Chloé in her room, waiting for her. They each gave her a grateful smile, before they began giving the Guardian back their Miraculous.

"I'm going to miss you." Chloé whispered as she nuzzled Pollen, then handed the hair clip over to Marinette, who tucked it safely into the Miraculous box. "And we'll miss you too, Marinette."

Marinette smiled and opened her arms, Luka, Chloé, and Kagami moving in for a group hug. The four of them held onto each other tight, before finally letting go.

"Have fun in Gotham." Luka whispered, ruffling her hair gently before he kissed her temple. "Keep in touch."

"I will." Marinette tucked the Miraculous box into the hidden compartment in her suitcase, then made her way downstairs, embracing her parents tightly, tears welling up in her eyes. She was finally leaving the nest, leaving the home that was full of such love and happy memories. But she still felt something deep inside of her calling for her to go back to Gotham, her new home.

Once she got in the taxi, she settled back and glanced down at her phone buzzed, biting her lower lip to hold back a giggle.

{Damian} Once you land in Gotham, go to the Wayne Botanical Gardens. I have a surprise for you, Angel.

"I'll be home soon, mon prince.."

…

Marinette stepped into the greenhouse and grinned at the sight of Damian standing there, next to a checkered blanket and a picnic basket. She dropped her purse and ran towards him, hugging him tightly as he lifted her up and spun her.

"I missed you, Angel." Damian whispered into her ear as he set his giggling girlfriend back onto the ground, then motioned towards the picnic. "I thought I'd surprise you, to welcome you back home."

"And here I thought you and your brothers were gonna throw me a party." Marinette grinned, taking a seat beside him. When he began setting out the food, she felt her smile only widen. "You really spoil me."

"Well hopefully I don't spoil your appetite too much. Jason decided to go into the kitchen today and bake you a 'welcome back' cake. Pretend to like the inedible mess." Damian gave her a wry smile as he poured them both a cup of sparkling juice, before holding his up as a toast. "Welcome home, Angel."

"Glad to be home, mon prince." She tapped her plastic cup against his and took a long drink, unable to wipe the smile from her face. The hour passed with them joking and eating the food Damian had brought, Marinette glanced at the time and sighed. "We should get back. I really want to see everyone, I've missed them."

Marinette stood and stretched her body, groaning softly as she managed to loosen a few tense muscles, then took a step towards the exit.

"Marinette."

She turned towards Damian. Damian met her gaze, then raised his gun. A shot rang out and Marinette stumbled back a few steps, clutching at her chest as a bewildered look on her face.

"D- Damian..?" She dropped to her knees, then was jolted onto her back when he shot her again.

"I thank you, Marinette. The Miraculous are much more powerful than I would have ever thought." He smiled thinly as he made his way over and knelt down next to Marinette, who was choking on her own blood.

Marinette stared up at the boy she thought she was so deeply in love with, tears beginning to slide down her cheeks as she tried to reach up for him.

"I'm glad you were at least useful. You really are a ditz, aren't you?" He stood and ground his foot into the gunshot wounds, making her let out a choked scream.

Marinette's mind was in a whirl, struggling to breathe as her world began to dim.

So she had just been a pawn…? Been used to get the Miraculous…?

He had lied to her?

How could she have been so stupid?

As the light left her eyes, the only thoughts were on betrayal, and the fears of what would happen to the Kwami, to Tikki.

When her body went limp, Heretic grinned.

…

Damian rushed his entire way to the Botanical Gardens, silently cursing Mr. Freeze with every inch of his being. Because of the bastard, he was two hours late in meeting Marinette. He knew she'd understand, but still, no one deserves that. He feared she was angry because she wasn't answering her phone.

He rushed through the roof doors, when a strong coppery smell hit him, a smell he was very familiar with. His body instantly tensed as he reached down the small knife in his pocket, carefully making his way into the greenhouse as his eyes darted this way and that.

And what he saw made his heart stop.

Marinette was sprawled out on the floor, staring skyward, with two gunshot wounds in her chest, a puddle of blood beginning to congele around her. Hovering over her was a loudly weeping Tikki.

"Tikki,what happened?!" Plagg burst from Damian's coat pocket and rushed towards her, hugging her close as his dearest friend broke apart in his arms.

"I- I don't know! I was asleep, I was so tired because I- I'm still trying to help Nooroo through his trauma, and I just woke up! What happened to her, Plagg? She can't be dead, she just can't be! I can't lose her, please, tell me she's not dead!" Tikki wailed.

"Marinette…?" Damian knelt next to the body, cupping her face ever so gently. He felt tears burn his eyes as he rested his forehead against hers, desperately wishing for the reality to not be true. She was gone, he had lost her and he hadn't been here to protect her. The tears began to flow as he let out a sob and hugged the body close. "No, please, Angel, please don't go.."

He sat there and rocked as he sobbed. Eventually, he got the will to call his brothers. They'd have a horrible call to her parents.

…

Tom and Sabine wept as their little girl, their only child, was lowered into the ground. Damian felt numb, like nothing was really worth it anymore. But beneath that numbness was an angry ready to burst forth and cause the death of whoever caused this. The police hadn't found anything, no DNA, no fingerprints, nothing except for Marinette's. Why couldn't they do their goddamned job and find the murdering bastard?!

"Diana, what are you doing here?" Bruce's surprised tone brought Damian's attention, and he watched as Diana Prince approached them, looking grim.

"I am here to honour a brave and dutiful Ladybug. My mother had wished to attend as well, but we did not want to cause much ruckus." Diana admitted, looking down at the casket being slowly covered in dirt. She let out a long, defeated sigh. "But one so young… No one should ever die so young."

"Why would your mother care about this?" Damian snipped, but Diana took no offense, seeing how torn up the boy was. Many people lashed out in their grief.

"She was a previous Ladybug." Diana admitted, noticing Plagg peeking out from Damian's coat pocket. She smiled down at the Kwami and knelt, pretending as if to tie her shoe. "Hello Plagg."

"Hello there, Princess, you've certainly grown." Plagg said rather sadly, before looking away. "Tikki.. She's not doing so good."

"I have no doubt." Diana nodded and stood once again, turning towards Bruce. "What will happen with the Miraculous now?"

"They need to ensure somewhere safe. You said that your mother was once a Ladybug, yes? Perhaps you can take the body back home? I know it would be greatly protected there." Bruce glanced over at his son, who was staring at his ring. "But the Black Cat Miraculous…"

"It can stay here." Diana assured him softly. "You never separate a Black Cat from their Chosen." 

"It was the last thing Marinette gave to me." Damian murmured and Diana felt her heart break at how defeated he looked.

"Keep the ring safe, Damian. And Plagg, help Damian as well." Diana reached down and stroked Plagg's head gently once she was sure no one was watching. "I shall take the box home to Themiscyra."

"Thank you, Diana." Bruce turned his gaze back to the grave, his hands curling ever so slightly into fists. "I know Marinette would appreciate it while we hunt down whoever is responsible for this."

"Once you do find out who it was, make them suffer." Diana hissed, a dangerous threat in her eyes. "Or I shall."

…

That night, Diana took the Miraculous box, sans the Black Cat ring, and returned to Themiscyra.

That night, in a graveyard in Paris, several people approached the grave of Marinette Dupain-Cheng and began to dig.

…

Marinette felt as if she were floating, the entire body full of warmth and strength.

She opened her eyes and realized she was seeing nothing but green.

Then something took hold, something indescribable. She burst forth from the green water, letting out a scream of rage as memories began flooding back, memories of her murder. Eyes almost blind to anything around her, she charged towards a faint figure in front of her and body slammed them. When another person came forward, she flipped them over her head. She broke another man's arm and leg.

"Hold her down!" A feminine voice snapped out, and quickly Marinette found herself being restrained on a cold floor, snarling and snapping, screaming out for Damian's blood.

But eventually, that madness faded and she found herself staring at a beautiful woman who knelt over her.

"Who… Who are you?" Marinette croaked out, her entire body still shivering, tears beginning to flow from her eyes.

"Oh Marinette, do not weep. My name is Talia." The woman stroked the hair from the young girl's face, smiling kindly down upon her. "Do not fret, I shall take care of you from now on. You are in safe hands."

{To Be Continued in the sequel}

Taglist: @realrandomposts @interobanginyourmom @ladybug-182 @ladylb @zalladane @mochinek0 @persephonebutkore @urbanpineapplefarmer @vixen-uchiha @angelofmusickaterinapetrova @thewheezingbubbledragon @northernbluetongue @thequestionablyhuman @ginamarie1512 @maude-zarella @2sunchild2 @saphiraazure2708 @ayuchan07 @virgil-is-a-cutie @thepeacetea @miraculous786 @enchanted-nerd @ficsforthestars @emo-elaine13 @caffeinetheory

[spartanxhunterx]

Bug And Shell(d): Lady Wi-Fi

If there was one thing Nino hated, it was leaving Ladybug hanging during an Akuma attack. Being temporally separated was one thing, it was another thing to come in a whole hour after it had started to only be around for five minutes.

Still he probably would have been on time had Marinette not so desperately needed the bathroom and been gone as long as she was. It wasn't her fault of course, it's not like she knew he was Carapace and purposely made it difficult for him.

He'd run out the classroom the second the bell rang, transformed and got to the fight as quickly as possible.

Besides the Akuma wasn't that dangerous, it was just a kid... But if that didn't get Nino's big brother instincts going off then nothing would.

Hawkmoth akumatised a child.

Throwing his Shield into his face was the only thing he would ever give Hawkmoth.

That was neither here nor now. So he would have to let it go for now.

Luckily he hadn't needed to use Shell-ter so he had managed to get back quick enough to make it seem like he hadn't even left school. Despite it being over he didn't want people to question how he went in and never came back out without being seen. Which was why he was walking back out the front doors of the school while adjusting his bag.

 "Nino wait." Feeling a hand grab his wrist he turned to the source of the voice. Alya .

 "Hey dudette, what's up?"

 "Come with me." As quick as that she began to drag him away and he had to refrain from trying to pull out her grasp. He wasn't uncomfortable, it was just that you gained a few... Reactions when fighting Akuma. "I need your help."

 She dragged the two of them down the school steps and onto an out of the way bench. Nino took a seat on his side before propping one foot on his other knee as he leaned back with folded arms.

 "So what did you-"

 " Shh. " The finger on his lips was enough to silence him, if only because of the surprise.

He watched as Alya dialed someone, put it to Her ear before letting out a growl before locking her phone.

 "I hate when she goes awole." Ah. Marinette right. Both Alya and Marinette had become fast friends since the their first meeting and while it didn't diminish his and Marinette's friendship, it was more special to her. "She's not calling me back where is that girl?"

 " Seriously, Adrien's kinda the same too. But I suppose you gotta get crafty when 'Mr. Control freak' is your daddy-o. " Alya's faced scrunched up at that and Nino hoped she wasn't noticing that he also went missing quiet a bit. He had a legit reason of course, Adrien too, Marinette... Well he wasn't sure her reason but he doubted it was anything bad.

Alya's phone chimed and he leaned over closer to seen what it was as she turned it towards him. A short clip of him and Ladybug... Ugh, Carapace and Ladybug, showed them comforting the victim and giving a nervous wave to everyone.

That had happened roughly ten minutes ago, so he was a little surprised that the news crew managed to air the recording already. It was probably done from the news van if he had to guess.

 "That's it!" He blinked as Alya opened Marinette's bag, took out a sticky note and her tablet before she began to write on the note. " I'm think I just sniffed out who the real Ladybug is! "

For a second Nino's brain froze and very suddenly he didn't want to hear what Alya was going to say. It was far, far too risky to learn his partners identity.

As she finished writing the note, which he did not even try to look at, she leaned close to his ear and whispered. "Chloé."

Something bubbled in his chest. He let it out in the form of a humored laugh before placing a hand on Alya's shoulder.

 "Chloé's not Ladybug, She too..." He twisted his other hand in a thoughtful manner. "Self absorbent, harsh and uncaring to be saving Paris every couple of days."

 Not to mention that the girl had been saved by Ladybug after begin thrown off the Eiffel tower by stoneheart. But that was not something Nino could say as it was something Carapace knew, not Nino.

 "I know I'm Right, and when I prove it, you'll see." Nino watched as she got up and left with Marinette's belongings, no doubt going to return them.

Once she was out of sight he poked his jacket were he knew Wayzz was hiding. The little being stuck his head out cautiously, only flying out once he deemed it safe.

"I know Alya's wrong about Chloé being ladybug but I can't help but feel like this is going to cause a problem."

The turtle Kwami look at him for a moments before floating down to sit on his shoulder. "Indeed but it is important to remember that you are all young, you are going to be a little irrational but what is important is you learn from it."

 Nino chuckled before petting Wayzz on the head, a gesture he seemed to enjoy. "Always so full of wisdom aren't you dude? A Box of Macaroons in one of our favorite flavours if we're right."

" Deal. "

-

 "I'm telling you Alya, if Chloé's Ladybug then that makes me Hawkmoth."

" Very funny Nino. "

Nino was not having a good morning, first being dragged away to this corner by Alya and now having to watch her trying to get evidence that Chloé was Ladybug. Despite the fact that there was actually evidence to prove the contrary.

 "Look man, I'm not gonna stop your theories and whatever but don't drag me into it," taking note of her expression he pointed over the where Adrien was just climbing out his car. "Look why don't you ask Adrien, he'd be on board to find out who Ladybug is and he Chloé's friend. So it's a win-win for you."

 Even if Nino knew it was already a lost cause.

"You know what? Maybe I will." At least she was out of his hair.

-

NOTE TO SELF: DON'T MAKE DEALS WITH POWERFUL GOD LIKE BEINGS!

You will lose, period.

It was bad enough that an Akuma attack was happening in the middle of School but what was worse was that it was Alya who was akumatised. All of this was over her incorrect hunch of Chloé being Ladybug.

Not only that but Chloé had gotten Alya suspended for a week, just cause she took a picture of her locker. Sure it was rude and a little invasive but not worthy of being suspended.

Still he was a little greatful at being at ground zero today, at least he wouldn't leave Ladybug hanging for long, if at all.

Ducking into an alleyway he transformed. To avoid suspicion he jumped up the nearby fire escape until he was on top of the building.

As peaceful as it was, he had a job to do.

he knew it was Alya who was akumatised, he knew she was after the truth of ladybugs identity and that she heavily suspected Chloé. Her Akuma name was Lady Wi-Fi.

Nino had figured that the names were quite literal towards what the Akuma could do.

Stoneheart? Big guy of stone who's cause was the matters of his heart.

Lady Wi-Fi? Well, he's going to assume some Wi-Fi based powers. But first he needed to find her.

fortunately he knew where to start.

He took off running on the rooftops, head twisting left and right just in case she decided to surprise him out of nowhere. Nothing, not even the standard level of panic the civilians had when an Akuma was running rampant, cause one wasn't doing so publicly.

He hoped Ladybug was out and about looking as well, just to make it easier to pinpoint her down. Jumping down to street level, and startling a few locals, he looked up at the building he had brought himself towards.

The Le Grand Paris hotel. Chloé's home.

Alya would come after Chloé, all he had to do was wait for her to show up. As he stepped up to the hotel he nodded to the doorman who had held the door open to him, seeing heads turn to him was an odd sight and he had to double check not make sure he was actually transformed.

"Mr. Bourgeois. A word."

Paris' Mayor turned away from those he was addressing, seeing him dismiss the others before stepping closer to him.

"Ah, Carapace. What business brings you here?" He could see the man was fidgety, having a hero nearby often meant trouble followed, though through no fault of there's of course.

"Akuma I'm afraid, I have reason to believe they'll be coming for your daughter Chloé." He saw the way the man twitched, saw that worried and fearful look go in his eye before it was plasted over by neutrality.

"Oh dear, what can I do to help?"

" Since I believe they'll come for Chloé I feel it would be best if I stick near her, keep her safe even before they arrive. "

"Yes, yes, of course." The older man began to guide the younger one to the elevator. "Please do see that she's kept unharmed, I don't think I can take it."

 "Of course dude, that my job after all." As the elevator closed he slumped slightly. "Of course I wouldn't be here if your daughter didn't cause problems." After this he was so going to get two boxes of Macaroons, one for him and one for Wayzz.

Once at the top floor he walked up to Chloé's door and gave it a hard knock three times then waited. The door opened slowly, Chloé was half peaking out, as if hiding her body behind the door. Her eyes widened upon seeing him but there wasn't fear in those eyes. No recognition that she was in danger, she held the look of someone who got exactly what they just wanted.

"May I come in?"

" Of course " She opened the door and... Oh, that's why she was hiding. She was wearing a replica of Ladybugs suit, from the boots to the jacket it was highly accurate.

How had she managed to do that?

"Although I won't complain, what brings you to my home?" Nino's eyes darted over the room, taking note of all the electronics, just in case Alya could control them.

"Lady Wi-Fi, the Akuma, I believe she may be after you." She could see Chloé flinch, no doubt remembering her impromptu flight off the Eiffel tower courtesy of Stoneheart. "So I decided to do two things at once, one," he held up a finger as he stopped in the middle of the room. " protect you, two " he help up a second finger. "Prepare an ambush, hopefully Ladybug can get to us before Lady Wi-Fi and we should have this in the bag."

" Oh... Well make yourself comfortable I guess. " Chloé picked up a replica of Ladybugs Yo-Yo and began to go through basic moves with it. Huh... Didn't Alya say she saw something like that? Probably what started this whole mess.

"Gotta say, I'm impressed with your outfit, highly accurate. Where'd you get it made?"

"Personal tailor." she brought the yo-yo up to her hand and held it before resting a hand on her hip. " What do you mean highly accurate? It should be perfect. "

"Your missing the fifth spot on the centre of your back, on top of which those two segments on your back should be separated as two individual pieces, as that's where Ladybugs wings are. "  His eyes glanced over as he circled her. "I also think there should be a red stripe on your boots and red spots on your shoulders, other then that it's mostly accurate."

" Ridiculous, utterly Ridiculous. I told them it was wrong. "

Oh, boy. He just unleashed the beast, it was going to be a long, long day.

-

Around an hour had passed since he arrived, Chloé had spent a good amount of that time either yelling down the landline or practicing her yo-yo skills while talking to him... About Ladybug.

Of course she had taken pictures of him too but had said it was for reference. Meaning she was probably also going to get a Carapace suit made too.

Nino never took Chloé at the cosplaying type, admirer sure but not to this extent. Ah well, imitation was the highest form of flattery after all.

Oddly enough there hasn't been a peep out of Lady Wi-Fi once, there had been some reports of Ladybug flying around but not once had the Akuma turn up. It was really getting on his nerves now.

Seeing that Chloé was occupied with the Yo-Yo he stepped out onto the balcony for a bit of air. His goggled eyes scanned the nearby buildings, maybe he'd see the Akuma lurking about.

He saw Ladybug And he continued to scan over the other buildings before his head snapped back to his partner. He brought one hand up to his mouth to whistle while he waved the other to entice her over.

It was the flash of bright light behind him that made him turn around before his partner could get over to him.

There she was, Lady Wi-Fi, odd, she didn't look too different to how she normally looked. Save for the black and purple clothes and black mask.

Oh, she already had Chloé locked in place... By a pause sign? What did she have weird recording style powers? Didn't really fit with the Wi-Fi theme if he was honest.

As She leaned on Chloé's shoulder Carapace opened the door and pulled his Shield off his back, launching it towards Lady Wi-Fi. She ducked at the last second and stayed down until the shield passed back over her and into Carapace's hands.

"Sorry to interrupt your stream." He adjusted into a defensive stance , half ready to throw the shield and half ready to defend himself. "But I'm afraid you've got a glitch."

" Oh look, the tiny turtle has come to save his love bug. " His face scrunched up and he had to fight down a gag.

"Eww, no. Chloé's not my type. Besides she's not Ladybug."

The doors behind him burst open and his partner landed before him, wings flapping wildly in what he could only assume was agitation. Her Yo-Yo spun rapidly at her side, forming a defensive barrier between her and the Akuma.

"That's Ladybug."

Lady Wi-Fi looked between both his partner and Chloé and while he wanted to just launch his Shield at her a second time he had a feeling Alya would not hesitate to use Chloé as cover.

"But! I thought you were Ladybug!?"

" Really? The girl I saved is actually me? " At least for a moment Alya seemed to sputter, as if trying to find some foothold to continue her argument.

he watched as she swiped her phone, the pause button on Chloé disappearing and the girl went tumbling across the room with her previous momentum. That looked like it hurt.

"What does it matter?" Lady Wi-Fi let out a laugh as she leveled her phone at them. " Now that I have the real Ladybug I can unmask you. "

She threw several blasts and Carapace used his Shield to block them, each blast dissipated upon contact with his Shield instead of being subject to whatever she had been trying to cause.

He felt his partner hit his back, trying to gain his attention. "Follow my lead." Then she leapt over his shoulder allowing her wings to guide her just to the side of Alya and make it past her.

waiting no time he followed suit by charging straight forwards and jumping right over her head, switching into a roll at the last second to keep as much momentum as possible before he sprinted down the hallway after his partner in...

Magic controlled victim fighting?

It didn't have a good ring to it.

"So." He spoke as he jumped down the entire flight of stairs, Ladybug herself was using her wings to flutter from wall to wall where she pushed off each for that extra bit of momentum. "What's the plan?"

" We get down to the basement, her phone requires a Wi-Fi signal and the lower we go... "

"The worse her signal becomes." he finished, head darting upwards to see how far up the Akuma was, he ducked under the incoming projectile before he began to move faster. "No signal, No service."

"Exactly." The two of them stopped as they hit the lowest level, weapons raised and ready to deal with whatever Alya could throw at them.

Nino didn't want to think about the possibility of failure, imagining an army of Akuma who could literally freeze you in place. An army of Stonehearts was bad, he didn't want to think about what an army of Lady Wi-Fi's could do.

"Did you really think I was Chloé?"

He paused and spared a glance over his shoulder, giving Ladybug a 'are you serious right now?' look. "Now ain't the time bug."

" Right, Sorry. "

Both of them waited a moment longer and both grew more concerned when Lady Wi-Fi didn't show up. She had been right behind them both, they couldn't have lost her on the stairs.

The banging of one of the doors made him groan. "She didn't take the bait, we gotta go." He began to run up the steps two at a time, Ladybug flying tightly around each corner, pushing off walls as they ascended.

Both of them shot forwards, Ladybug was hovering with her wings, kicking off each surface to maintain above the stairs level, Carapace jumped up two steps at a time.

"Seriously though, do people mistake Chloé for me? "

"Didn't fool me for a second. "

Carapace cursed internally at seeing the first locked door, then the second. He was just annoyed after the fourth.

Both hero's stopped at the first unlocked door.

"Get ready." He raised his Shield slightly before kicking the door open, it collided with the wall and the two of them stepping in ready to-

It was empty. "Odd I expected an ambush." He hummed in agreement, he certainly would have set up an ambush.

"What I find strange is the phones."

There were phones everywhere, one on each table and even a few just scattered on the floor. It looked both haphazard and creepy all at once.

Just where had these phones come from?

A flicker of light came from one of the phones before Lady Wi-Fi herself emerged from it, hand already in position to launch something at them.

"Surprise!"

The split second reflex to raise his Shield in front of him was very welcome. The blast destroyed itself against his Shield and he and Ladybug jumped away from each other to force the Akuma to have to separate her attention.

He vaulted over a low barrier, tucking his legs up as he went over. As soon as his feet hit the floor he moved into a roll before taking cover behind the table he had just upturned.

Given that Alya had been one of the least destructive Akuma's yet, he was entirely unprepared for the table to be thrown at him by the sheer force of her weapons blasts.

left slightly disoriented he hardly had time to see Lady Wi-Fi gloating at him, at least, not until Ladybugs Yo-Yo Wrapped around her completely, tying her up tightly to the point she flopped over on the table face first.

"I don't think so." As he began to stand up Ladybug strutted forwards, confident that this was finally over.

At least until Lady Wi-Fi disappeared and reappeared from a different phone before immediately flickering between a few of them.

"Ha! You think a little wires going to stop me?"

Ladybugs eyes flickered around the tables before she spun her Yo-Yo next to her. With a flick of her wrist she launched the Yo-Yo at the table next to her, Crushing the Phone beneath it's strength.

Each Phone destroyed left the Akuma with one less avenue of escape, any time a phone she had been near was about to be destroyed she teleported to a different Phone so she wouldn't be hit.

When the last phone was destroyed Lady Wi-Fi started to make a break for the kitchen area. But Carapace wasnt fooled by the 'retreat', not by a long shot.

Pulling his tool off his belt he pressed a sequence onto the Turtle shell pattern on top. Ever since Stoneheart he had spent hours figuring out his second tool so that he could utilize everything at his disposal.

he threw it after the retreating Villain Victim, it sailed over Ladybugs shoulders and even past Lady Wi-Fi as it shot towards the door.

Lady Wi-Fi looked back over her shoulders, smirking at him like she had won. But looking back forwards almost caused her to trip over her own two feet.

The tool had done exactly as Carapace had wanted it to, each of the 'leg holes ' had shot out their wires, causing the Turtle feet looking tips to embeds into each corner of the wall. Making the tool into a poorly made barricade.

But what truly mattered was that the top 'shell' had lifted slightly and from underneath it a small circle had come out from beneath making the tools shell larger, then another from behind the enlarged circle. Then another.

By the time Lady Wi-Fi got to the door it had already covered most of the doorway, leaving little space to get past it.

She banged her hands onto the near invincible barrier before turning back to Ladybug.

"Good job Carapace, you've got nowhere to go now Wi-Fi. "

As Ladybug zeroed in on her the Akuma eyes darted around until they landed onto the Phone that had been knocked to the floor when Carapace had upended the table.

"That's what you think." Disappearing into a flash of light Lady Wi-Fi emerged from the other phone, directly behind Carapace.

Shield-less, Tool-less and caught completely by surprise he didn't have time to turn around before he felt the sharp kick hit his back.

He did, However, manage to make his fall into a roll to avoid the magic blasts.

Spinning so he was facing Lady Wi-Fi he stared her down, with nothing to use to go on the defensive he switched to the offensive.

Jumping from his crouched position he reared back his arm as he drew closer to Alya, as his feet hit the ground he stabilised his legs, putting more power into his legs and hips as he swung his fist forwards.

Lady Wi-Fi barely moved out of the way and the side of his fist touched her cheek as it sailed past her. His fist collided with a pillar and a spider crack was left behind that extended up half the marble.

Instinctively Lady Wi-Fi Gulped.

-

On the other end of the connection Hawkmoth flinched slightly. He was only given all the more reason to stay hidden away.

-

Without waiting a second Carapace forced his weight into his other leg before wildly swinging the same hand towards the Akuma. Nearly back Handing her in the process.

with each attempted swing and block Lady Wi-Fi was pushed back more and more. Her moves became more sporadic and desperate the longer she couldn't use her phone.

And sometimes desperation leads to creativity.

Seeing the working phone beneath her Lady Wi-Fi kicked it across the room just as Carapace Shoulder barged her into the wall, damn near knocking the wind out of her.

She gave him a weak smirk as she disappeared into the code again and emerged in the other end of the room. Hand ready to launch her next attack.

Fingers gliding across the screen she launched a lock symbol, intent to incapacitate the Turtle hero.

The boy hero was like a deer in a headlight.

"Carapace Move!"

Ladybug, who had been waiting for a good moment to intervene safely, barged her shoulder into Carapace, forcing him to tumble to the gound, the lock symbol attached to Ladybugs right wrist and dragged her back to the wall behind her. Quite literally locking her in place.

"Excellent work, Lady Wi-Fi, now get me my miraculous."

" Of course Hawkmoth, a deal is a deal after all. "

Pulling up a pause sign she aimed it at Ladybug, she could deal with the Turtle once she was fully stuck.

Carapace didn't think about his next action, not the results or the consequences.

He shot up, body spinning to put his back to Lady Wi-Fi as she launched her shot. He brought his hands up and firmly placed his palms over her ears covering her miraculous.

His body froze solid as the blast hit him. Ladybug could only stare at him while her head was locked in place.

'His eyes were nice to look at'

Wait what? Not now Brain! She forced a blink while she tried to force her growing Blush to lessen.

"Not what I went for..." She could hear Alya's voice coming closer. "But oh so much better."

As she stepped into view Lady Wi-Fi placed a camera up above them and she was sure all of Paris was now seeing them stuck like this.

 "Who is Ladybug? Is she a super hero or a super weirdo? Why don't we find out?"

She was about to reach for her mask before Hawkmoths symbol appeared on her face agian, her eyes darting to Ladybugs mask and Carapace's hands.

 It seemed that it was only now that Lady Wi-Fi realised exactly what Carapace had done. She could see the outline of Hawkmoths mask on her face, her eyes darting to Carapace's Miraculous and back at her.

"New plan, who Is Carapace? A true protector or just some Ninja turtle knock off."

As she reached for His miraculous, Ladybug lifted her left, unrestrained, hand and wrapped her fingers around his wrist, leaving his miraculous locked in place.

 "Try again Wi-Fi."

That seemed to tick her off and although she did try to pry Ladybugs hand away it was a fruitless endeavour. Once more Hawkmoths symbol appeared over Lady Wi-Fi's face.

With a few flicks of her wrist she sent lock symbols to every possible exit before dismissing the locks that held those two in place just before she disappeared into her phone.

Carapace blinked and pulled his hands away as Ladybug began to pace, he looked around seeing the lack of an escape and a partner that was getting more panicky.

At least he thought she was getting panicky. He wasn't sure he had learned a lot about his partner.

"What's going on, how long was I out?" He leaned down and picked up his Shield from where it lay ever since he had been launched across the room, he attached it to his back as he made a slow walk over to his other tool.

" where do I begin? We're locked in here, Alya's on the run who knows where, you were out for only a few minutes and she nearly had your miraculous. "

He paused as he rested his hand against the metal wall his tool had constructed. "We're still new to this bug, still learning, mistakes will be made, we just have to learn. "

"How are you so wise?"

 "Thank Wayzz, he's the one imparting his wisdom onto me. " Carapace looked around As he attached his shrunken tool to his hip.

Each door and window had lock signs and there were a few cameras around, well the magical ones anyway.

 "This is bad, no direct way out. "

"Not a direct one no." Ladybug pulled her Yo-Yo from her hip. " Lucky Charm! "

-

Outside the building the people who were gathered there waited in uneasy agitation, the scare that was Lady Wi-Fi coming out of Chloé's phone had left a few of them nervous.

What none of them were expecting was the explosion like sound to erupt from the front door of the hotel before it was kicked open by the two Hero's.

They left the smoking Microwave behind as Ladybug flew up towards the top of the hotel, Carapace holding onto the buisness end of her Yo-Yo, Legs pounding against the building wall as he ran up it.

Both heroes disappeared over the edge of the building and for a moment no-one heard anything until the entire Wi-Fi tower came crashing down onto the pavement.

It wasn't much longer that the wave of Ladybugs flew all around the hotel before flying off to other affected places, Ladybug herself flew away not much longer and everyone who had been outside began to feel a little awkward.

Could they just go back inside now? Like that?

Chloé especially began to feel self-conscious about still being outside in her Ladybug replica suit, she began to fidget slightly.

"-one on! Please!" Heads turned to the front doors of the hotel as Carapace exited the building. Hot on his heels was Alya, she was trying very hard to have her phones camera angles well enough to capture Carapace's face in the shot. "Just one question, please?"

" I'm sorry Miss ladyblogger but I can't, I have secrets and reasons for those secrets, besides... " He turned back to her, half ducking his head as he realised Alya was still recording. "Its getting late, you should get home before your friends and family worry about you."

That seemed to be the cue people needed to get moving, Hotel staff and guests went back into the hotel as if nothing had happened. Carapace turned to Chloé as she was walking past her, stopping her before she got far.

"And Chloé, don't ever be ashamed to dress up, I'm sure Ladybug was flattered to see you wearing her outfit."

Alya's eyes darted down Chloé, surprise and realisation setting in before her eye took on a more critical look.

She went to open her mouth but Chloé shoved her finger in her face. "I know it's inaccurate! Don't judge me Césaire! "

/-\

A/N: This took forever to transfer from AO3 to Tumblr, anyway, for any not on AO3 (shame on you) and wants to read this, I'll update the master list in a moment.

[edendaphne]

“Discordant Sonata” Ch. 11

(Feat. beautiful artwork I commissioned from the amazing @corgi-likes-chat!) **Edit: I moved the image above the cut so it could be admired by everyone who scrolls by 😍

Time for some Ladynoir! :D

>Read it here on Ao3<

>Read it here on Wattpad<

CHAPTER 11: CAMBIARE

Music glossary:   Cambiare: a musical instruction indicating some kind of orchestral change, such as using a new instrument.

(Mood music: Love Like You (Piano cover) - Steven Universe)

Ladybug squirmed nervously on her own family room sofa, sitting face to face across from her very own parents. Her skin felt prickly and uncomfortable, and if she didn’t know better, she would’ve suspected Tikki of lacing her suit with itching powder as a prank.

The aforementioned husband and wife were none the wiser about her substantial anxiety, for they were far too shocked (as well as star-struck) about the sudden appearance of Paris’ beloved hero at their doorstep that morning. Their eyes were glued to her, following her hand as she raised a glass of orange juice to her mouth, as if it had never occurred to them that Ladybug would ever have to eat or drink. She would have found it hilarious if she wasn’t so utterly terrified about asking them to let Chat stay at their house until he was fully healed.

She’d shown up at their house an hour before the bakery opened, claiming that she’d seen Chat Noir’s signal on her communicator and had become worried; and that she was looking for him. They ushered her in and explained what had happened, and had quickly agreed when she asked them if they’d be willing to house him for a little while longer.

The superheroine took a long gulp to calm her nerves, then continued in her most professional voice, “Thank you for understanding. I’m ever so grateful that you’re willing to help us in these difficult times. If I were able to take Chat Noir into my own home, I most definitely would. But as it stands, our identities remaining a secret, even from each other, is of utmost importance.”

“Of course, Ladybug, we understand!” Sabine chirped emphatically. “We’re happy to help! Especially after all you do every day for our city; it’s the least we can do. Chat Noir is welcome to stay for as long as he’d like.”

“Thank you for entrusting us with this information,” Tom chimed in. “It’s good to know that he’s not under Hawkmoth’s control anymore.” He crossed his arms with a frown. “I just can’t believe that evil man would try to kill his own ally!”

“You and I both,” Ladybug replied, unable to conceal the sadness in her voice. “It seems Chat Noir was attempting to mediate peace between both sides; but as you can see, it backfired terribly.” She added sadly, “If only I’d known, I could have fought alongside him against Hawkmoth.”

The girl couldn’t suppress the heavy sigh that escaped her lips. She’d always tried to maintain an assertive, optimistic air about her while in the company of other people. But these weren’t just “other people”; they were her parents . Somehow, here, at this moment, with the people she was the most comfortable being vulnerable around, maintaining that composure was remarkably difficult. The emotional wounds were too fresh, the fear too overwhelming.

“Don’t blame yourself, Ladybug,” Sabine replied comfortingly, reaching forward and squeezing the hand on her lap. “You’re doing the best you can, but you can’t do everything . That’s why we want to help however we can.”

“Yes, you can count on us!” Tom exclaimed. “So, do you have a phone number or…? Is there a way for us to keep in touch with you?”

Ladybug brought out her yo-yo, opening it to show them her communicator. “Chat Noir and I can call each other from our weapons. They also serve as tracking devices between us. It’s how I found you today; I can follow his signal when he’s transformed.”

“Tracking signal?” Tom asked curiously. “Couldn’t you use it to find Hawkmoth?”

She shook her head. “It only works for miraculous holders who are allies. That’s why it works between me and Chat now… and why Hawkmoth can’t trace him anymore. He won’t be able to find him here.”

“I see,” Tom answered, pursing his lips into a thin line, brows furrowed in consternation.

Ladybug could tell that her father still seemed ill at ease about something, adding a bit of tension into the air. She brought the glass back to her lips and took her time sipping the juice, filling the silence until he could sort out what he wanted to say. The question hovered on his tongue, as if he was worried he’d offend her, but ultimately he couldn’t ignore his concern.

He rubbed the back of his head nervously when he finally spoke, “I’m sorry to ask this, but… Are you absolutely positive that Chat Noir is a good guy now? Do you truly, honestly know that he won’t betray you?”

A sliver of doubt briefly flashed inside Ladybug, its sharp thorns trying to worm their way inside her heart.

She mercilessly squashed that knot of apprehension in her chest, utterly furious at herself for allowing it to form in the first place. After all, Chat Noir was literally in the next room, recovering from his brush with death.

She chased the hated feeling away with all her memories of him, thinking about the way he made her feel; how protective she felt of him. During her daily life, her thoughts often drifted back to him, wondering if he was safe, wondering if he was happy. She thought back to how he had confided to her as Marinette just a few hours prior. She couldn’t allow any hesitation whatsoever to take hold; not after all they’d been through together so far. Despite their history, or maybe because of it, Chat had absolute faith in her; and she had to have the same amount of faith in him. She needed to believe that he was strong enough to overcome his past. That he wouldn’t allow himself to be manipulated by Hawkmoth once again.

Tom’s question was a reasonable one. Her father loved his family fiercely and would do absolutely anything to keep them safe. Last night had been evidence enough of that. However, she wasn’t sure if she could explain to her parents just how important Chat was to her, or how they were so intrinsically linked by fate. She yearned to be able to tell them more. After all, how could she possibly express that she was, and forever would be, connected to him?

She fixed Tom with a piercing gaze, voice laden with sincerity. “I trust Chat Noir with my life.”

Tom and Sabine looked at each other with matching smiles.

“Well, that’s good enough for me. Like my wife said, he can stay for as long as he wants.”

“We’re so happy that you finally have a partner,” Sabine said, reaching over and squeezing her hands again.

Ladybug smiled and squeezed back, letting out a small sigh of relief. “You’re both extremely generous. I really can’t thank you enough. I don’t think he has anywhere else to go. Not anywhere that would be safe for him, anyway. I’ll talk to him and see what he says. If he agrees to stay, I’ll be sure to visit from time to time to see how you’re all doing.”

“Sounds great,” Tom replied. “Let us know if there’s anything else you need.”

Ladybug eyed the guest bedroom door, pointing to it. “Actually, do you mind if I–”

Sabine nodded. “Please, go right ahead. We need to start getting everything ready for opening hours anyhow.”

“Thank you.”

They all rose and shook hands, with Sabine offering a motherly hug afterwards. The familiar, loving arms encircling Ladybug offered her more comfort than Sabine could possibly know. Making a mental note of doing something extra nice for them this week (she owed them big time), she made her way to the guest bedroom.

She had scarcely turned the door handle when she was knocked to the ground as the door swung open, a stupefied, rather ruffled (yet thankfully, fully clothed) Chat Noir inelegantly tumbling on top of her with a deadpan “OW.” He propped himself up on his arms, hovering above her, both of them wearing matching bewildered expressions, complete with dropped jaws.

“L-LADYBUG!! W-what a pleasant surprise!” he stuttered, face red, looking quite like a cat who’d been caught in the act of unfurling an entire toilet paper roll.

Her face paled. “Chat! Are you okay? Did that hurt?!”

He cracked an impish smile and replied with a playful chuckle, “You mean, when I fell from heaven?”

Quickly recovering from the abrupt non-greeting, Ladybug’s wide eyes narrowed and she quirked a teasing grin. “Why, Monsieur Noir, you couldn’t possibly have been eavesdropping, could you?” she teased.

“N-no, mademoiselle! Not me, not at all! Why would I do such a thing?” he forced an innocent laugh, which only succeeded in making him sound even more guilty.

“Sooo, you were just leaning on the door for no reason whatsoever?”

“T-that’s right, Milady! Nothing suspicious about that, of course!”

She made a brief hum, trying to conceal her amusement. “I must say, I’m not entirely convinced, Chaton.”

Chat pouted his lips. “You wound me, Bugaboo! I just happened to overhear that my favorite superhero had dropped by.”

She raised an eyebrow. “I believe I’m the only superhero you know, silly.”

“Well… you’re still my favorite,” he winked at her with a roguish look that caused her breath to catch, a rush of heat and color flooding to her cheeks.

A brief wheezing noise jolted them from their banter, and their heads whipped around to meet the Dupains’ flabbergasted stares, mouths hanging open like oven doors.

For a few awkward moments, the ticking of a wall clock was the only sound that resonated across the room, louder than Ladybug had ever heard it tick.

“UMMM, here,” Chat finally broke the silence, scrambling to stand up and offering his hand.

“Um… Thanks,” she replied.

A few more seconds ticked by, and Ladybug indistinctly wondered if this was what it felt like to be in a police lineup.

“SO! Uhh…” Tom began with a sputter.

“We’re just gonna–” Sabine muttered haltingly, pointing towards the living room exit.

“Yes!! Go right ahead! Please excuse us, THANKYOUFORYOURHOSPITALITY!!!” Ladybug cried, grabbing Chat by the bicep and practically dragging him into the guest bedroom, then closed the door behind them with a (louder than she intended) thunk.

(Mood music: I Was Lost Without You (piano version) - Mass Effect Soundtrack )

Ladybug leaned backwards onto the closed door with a mighty “PHEW!”, closing her eyes in thankful reprieve. The talk with her parents had gone much better than she’d anticipated, despite the ridiculous and abrupt parting. All that was left was to convince Chat to stay. Maybe he’d listen to Ladybug, since her words carried more authority than Marinette’s due to her status as a protector of the city.

“So, you found me,” Chat’s lilting voice brought her back into the moment. She opened her eyes and saw him across the room, arms crossed and leaning against the far wall. He wore his usual carefree smirk, but she noted his tensed shoulders and the position of the cape, purposely positioned to hide the bandages and bruises on his arm. Trying to downplay the severity of his injuries, she realized.

Ladybug put her hands behind her back and pursed her lips, replying impassively, “I did.”

Nervous butterflies filled her insides. Chat had told her as Marinette that he didn’t want Ladybug to find out he’d been hurt. Would he be upset that she’d shown up out of the blue? The thought of him not wanting to see her sent a cold, uncomfortable trickle down her spine. This wasn’t how she wanted their partnership to kick off. Instead of a joyous flurry of excitement and camaraderie, it had all turned somber and ominous, with the added burden of having to be even more cautious and alert than ever from now on.

UGH , this was so hard!! She hated that she couldn’t tell him her identity, or know his. It would make things so much simpler if there didn’t have to be any more secrets between them. Fu had explained why he shouldn’t know her identity; the risk of akumatization was still too great. But why shouldn’t she know his? Wouldn’t knowing who he was in real life make it easier for her to be able to look out for him? She made a mental note to visit Fu as soon as Chat recovered so they could discuss the matter further, along with the myriad of other questions about their current situation.

Putting those concerns on hold for a later date, Ladybug asked Chat hesitantly. “How are you feeling?”

Smiling wide, he replied, “Great! Fit as a fiddle, Bugaboo! Don’t you worry your gorgeous little head; I’m always ready and at your service.” As if to demonstrate, he stepped away from the wall, and bowed with a flourish.

“Is that right?” she asked, quirking an eyebrow.

“Of course! See for yourself.” He shifted his stance, suppressing a wince that she might’ve missed had she not been looking closely; and he stood hand on hip in the trademark cocky pose she’d seen countless times before, almost imperceptibly bearing most of his weight on one leg.

“Uh-huh…” she replied skeptically, eyeing him up and down. “So why are you walking with a limp?”

Chat’s face scrunched up like he’d sucked on a lemon. Shrugging, he fumbled out, “I– uh… stubbed my toe on the bedpost?” He pointed back towards the bed and gave her the phoniest, most ridiculous cheshire grin; and had it been any other occasion, she would’ve busted out laughing at his antics.

Instead, she frowned. “Chat…” she said with a disapproving tone and he winced in response.

She walked slowly towards him, stopping just past arm’s length.

“You know you can tell me anything. The most important part of being partners–of being friends – is trust and honesty.” She lifted her hand, placing it gently on top of his hidden arm. Her voice got softer, more solemn; she continued, “I’m sure you’ve had to hide a lot of things from Hawkmoth; out of fear. But you have nothing to fear from me. I promise.”

He looked away, expression changing completely, becoming downcast. Looking almost ashamed somehow, which made Ladybug’s heart ache. Chat slowly removed his cloak, revealing the heavily bandaged arm underneath, and set the garment down on the bed.

He bit his lower lip, absentmindedly rubbing his wounded arm. “How did you find out that I was… th-that I wasn’t okay?”

“I–” Ladybug’s gaze dropped, staring intently at the floor. “I don’t really know how to explain it, but… I could feel that something was wrong. Like an intuition, or a sixth sense. You and I are linked, and that connection is stronger now that we’re officially a team,” she explained. “I just couldn’t shake off that vibe, that feeling of wrongness. I had to look for you and see for myself. Your signal drew me here, and the Dupains explained everything.”

“I had no idea…” Chat said quietly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’m really worried about Pl... my kwami. Plagg. He’s…” He cleared his throat; his hands fidgeted restlessly with the belt around his midsection. “I-I can’t detransform. I have no idea how long I’m gonna stay like this. Th-that’s never happened to me before. Keeping up the transformation is... i-it must really be taking its toll on Plagg and his powers.” He looked at her with eyes full of concern and fear. “I just… I don’t want anything bad to happen to him.” His eyebrows quirked upwards, as if daring to hope for answers. “Has… the Guardian ever mentioned something like this happening in the past? With other miraculous holders?”

She nodded. “I’m told that it’s a failsafe to protect the wielder. You’ll remain transformed until you’re fully healed.” She disliked having to omit so many of the details, like Fu’s involvement in this case and the special potion that he prepared for Plagg, but there was no way to share that without revealing her identity.

He breathed out a sigh of relief. “That’s really good to know. Thank you,” he uttered with a tiny smile.

Ladybug smiled back tenderly, noticing the way some of the tension left his shoulders, his posture relaxing somewhat. Chat’s concern for his kwami touched her, reminding her of her own relationship with Tikki. It made her feel better that they’d had each other throughout these horrible past few years.

“I’m really sorry I didn’t contact you. I didn’t want you to worry. You’ve already been through so much because of us– because of me. Yesterday I promised that I’d never give you any more trouble again.” He swallowed thickly, looking away, blinking rapidly as if trying to fend off tears that were threatening to form. “But I guess I can’t even do that right. I’m sorry.”

Chat’s entire person radiated shame and self-loathing. It was obvious that he placed her well-being above his own, both physical and emotional, as if his own was irrelevant or unimportant.

But how could he possibly be upset at himself for almost dying? Why in the world would he be apologizing and thinking that he was an inconvenience to her?! Was this something he had to do often back at home with his father?

Her mind stopped in its tracks. Her brows furrowed, realization dawning upon her like freezing rain.

She understood.

This was all he knew.

Apologizing was second nature to him. Apologizing for any actions that were perceived as mistakes. Apologizing for having opinions. Apologizing for having feelings. Years upon years of having to hide his inner self for fear of repercussion.

Chat having an opinion was of no matter to Hawkmoth. As far as he was concerned, Chat’s emotions were inconsequential, trivial at best.

And the worst part was: Chat had believed him. He’d had to ignore his thoughts and beliefs since who knows when, convinced that his feelings truly did not matter. She realized this now, and it hurt. The fact that he’d managed to avoid becoming a cold, cruel person in spite of this was astounding, to say the least.

When was the last time his emotional needs were met? Did he even know, or remember, what that was like?

Ladybug’s skin felt icy, yet her insides were scorching with fiery indignation. Towards Hawkmoth. Towards herself. Her heart squeezed painfully in her chest and she couldn’t contain herself anymore.

She cried, practically yelling, “NO, don’t you be sorry!!” She surged forward, crossing the remaining distance, her own eyes quickly becoming wet.

Chat’s confused gaze shot up to meet hers, eyes still glossy.

“This was all my fault! I shouldn’t have left you all alone after the akuma attack! It was.. UGH!! I was so stupid!!”

Ladybug crossed her arms tightly, curling in on herself, as if she was trying to become as small as she felt inside.

“I got so distracted by everything that had happened and didn’t even consider that you’d be in such danger. I should’ve met up with you later and figured something out, helped work out an escape plan, or something! I should have known!! I should’ve– AUGH!!” She covered her face with her hands with a choked sob, tears finally falling freely. “It was my fault that you got hurt! I’m the one who needs to apologize!!”

Chat paled, stiff as a board as he watched her crying, shaking form.

Hands shooting up to grasp her shoulders, he exclaimed in distress, “My Lady, no!! No, please don’t think that! There’s nothing for me to forgive! You had no way of knowing! Oh, please don’t cry, Bugaboo… Not for my sake. It wasn’t your fault. Never!”

He pulled her into his arms, both of them trembling slightly. He gingerly stroked the back of her head as she lay against him, sobbing quietly.

“Hawkmoth is to blame here, not you,” he cooed. “You’ve already done so much for me.”

“But I could have prevented this! I almost lost you!” she insisted, sniffling and hiccuping uncontrollably.

He squeezed her tightly. “Hey, I’m still here. It’s okay. It was a close call, but I’m alright now, I promise,” he reassured her. “There’s nothing you could’ve done to prevent it, believe me. He would have found me sooner or later; of that I’m sure.”

“I should’ve at least been there with you when you faced him,” she retorted.

She felt him shake his head. “I’m glad you weren’t. I couldn’t live with myself if anything had happened to you, too.”

“You… you don’t think we could have defeated him, together?” she asked hesitantly, looking up at him through a blurry lens of damp eyelashes.

“It’s hard to say.” Chat frowned, his view distant. “I found out that he’s done... something to augment the strength of his miraculous. Something risky and unnatural. I don’t know what or how. But it’s affecting him; him and his miraculous. He’s immensely powerful, but also incredibly unpredictable. Volatile. I think he’s losing control, not just of his powers, but of his own mind.”

Ladybug wasn’t sure how to respond to this revelation. An intense chill gripped her, clawing insistently from the back of her neck, and she couldn’t help but nuzzle closer against Chat’s warm chest, careful not to irritate the deep gash on his torso.

What could Hawkmoth have done to achieve such a feat? And why? A storm of questions inundated her brain, the sheer amount almost dizzying. There was so much uncertainty and danger in their future, and, truth be told, she wasn’t just scared; she was absolutely terrified. What could two not-quite-adults possibly do against this kind of a threat? She hadn’t felt this unsuited to bear the title of Ladybug since the day she first accepted the earrings.

As her tears slowed and her sight became less obscured, she froze as she caught sight of what was poking out from under Chat’s collar. Deep purple, almost black bruises around his neck, the passage of time having darkened them to their current sickly hue. She hadn’t noticed them last night, as he was so covered with blood, dirt, and scratches that one could scarcely tell one wound from another. And they certainly weren’t this color.

Her stomach twisted and her eyes widened in horror as she realized the implication of such an injury. How could that monster do such a thing to his own son?!?

She whimpered softly, trying to choke back another sob.

It wasn’t fair. It just wasn’t fair!!

Why should he have to suffer so much more than she ever had?? Or more than anyone else she knew, for that matter? How could the universe be so unjust, so incredibly cruel?!

Her eyes conjured up a new flood of tears, and she didn’t even register that she’d reached up to stroke the bruises on his neck, pulling down on his collar slightly so she could examine them; caressing them as though she could make them disappear if she only wished for it hard enough.

Chat gasped slightly at the contact, cheeks reddening at the intimacy of her touch. She could feel his chest rise and fall, his breathing shifting into a new rhythm.

She spoke, voice soft and airy, almost a whisper, her breath ghosting against his neck, “I wish I’d known it sooner; known what you’ve had to go through all these years.”

Chat smiled sadly, letting out a short, thoughtful noise. “To be honest, I’m not sure if I would’ve been ready to accept your help back then. I think I had to figure out for myself just how far my father had fallen. That we were chasing after something that wasn’t meant to be.”

Ladybug made a mental note to ask him about said objective some other time, when he wasn’t under such physical and mental stress. Surely the goal was something extremely significant for Chat to have blindly obeyed Hawkmoth for all these years. But what was it?

Ladybug pressed her lips together into a thin line. “I just… Hawkmoth needs to be stopped. I won’t let him hurt you again. I need to be better. I need to do more .”

“You’re already doing plenty, Buginette. And you’ve managed it all by yourself all these years; don’t sell yourself short,” he replied earnestly. “You’ve helped me so much already. Way more than I deserve.”

A sharp pang of sorrow struck her heart upon hearing him speak this way yet again. Before the night of their ballroom dance, she’d thought that Chat’s ostentatious bravado and cockiness were merely due to arrogance and egotism. It had made it easier to fight when she believed her enemy was just a rotten smart aleck.

But now she knew better; it had all been for show.

Did he have any other loved ones in his personal life? She really hoped so. Although, she suspected that if he did, his past actions would make him feel like that love was ill-deserved.

If only there was a way that she could help him realize how genuinely amazing he was. Just… how wonderful and unique and precious. This desire, this need to make him understand this, took root inside her heart, almost like a tangible weight that would refuse to go away until appeased.

Ladybug gently cupped Chat’s jaw and turned his head down to face hers. “Kitty… That isn’t true. You deserve so much more. You’re kind, selfless, and brave. I’ve never met anyone like you. Or anyone who’s overcome as much as you have. The only thing you don’t deserve is the horrific treatment you’ve suffered at the hands of that monster. Your worth is immeasurable, whether you realize it or not.” She paused, her eyes bored fiercely into his. “But I know it.”

Chat gaped at her, his face full of emotion. “Ladybug…” he murmured, voice rough and strained, as if he were trying to hold something back.

Ladybug stared into Chat’s impossibly green eyes, which were currently looking at her as if she was the dearest treasure he’d ever held. The chill down her spine changed into an almost overwhelming heat, and yet she couldn’t help but immerse herself in the fire of his gaze.

She stroked his cheek with her thumb, her brows turning upwards sorrowfully. “If only there was a way I could help make up for what you’ve lost. Some way to help the other ‘you’. The one behind the mask.” She sighed and whispered, “I wish I could tell you who I really am...”

Chat’s face reddened further and she felt him stiffen a bit. “I-I…” he trailed off, unsure of how to reply.

He swallowed thickly, and seeing the movement of his Adam’s apple was enough to make Ladybug become hyper-aware of how far she’d gotten into his personal space. She jolted upright, apprehension drenching her like a bucket of water, and her hand jerked back as if shocked by electricity. She winced, internally freaking out that her words and actions were unwelcome or too forward.

Why did I even bring up our identities?? God, I must be making him so uncomfortable!! Why do I always blurt out stuff like a total idiot when I’m with him?!

“S-sorry, I shouldn’t have–” she stuttered, looking away and wiping furiously at her tears. She started to step away from him, immediately missing the comfort of his broad, warm chest.

“Wait!” Chat interjected. He stopped her from pulling away fully, holding her hand and keeping her close, almost touching. He gently lifted her chin with his other hand, so she would meet his eyes again. She left out a soft gasp, her cheeks heating up under his intense gaze.

“My Lady…” he uttered longingly, voice low and thick with emotion.

Piercing emerald eyes held hers captive, so mesmerizing and beautiful that she wasn’t sure she’d be able to look away even if she desired to. It felt as though he was staring past the mask and straight through into her soul, able to understand it. Able to understand her.

He continued fervently, “I swear to you that as soon as you feel it’s safe to do so, I’ll be the first to reveal my identity to you. Just say the word. I trust you, one hundred percent.”

A pleasant wave of goosebumps covered her entire body, and she could only reply with a timid smile, a bright blush creeping on her cheeks yet again.

This wasn’t how she’d planned for their reunion to go. There’d been a lot more tears and a lot less professionalism than she’d expected. Regardless, they’d cleared the air and paved the way to move forward. Together.

Ladybug squeezed his forearm lightly, trying to blink away her remaining tears. “I’m sorry… I’m supposed to be the one comforting you, not the other way around.”

“Let me,” he replied, stroking her cheek softly and wiping the wet streaks. “And let yourself accept it. You’re incredibly strong, Buginette. Both physically and mentally. But you’re not invulnerable. And you’re overworking yourself. You didn’t get any time to recover from everything that happened to you yesterday. I want to take care of you, too. Just tell me what you need and I’ll do it, without question. Anything at all.”

The girl couldn’t help but blush at his honesty and forthrightness, almost too flustered to realize that he’d given her the perfect opportunity to ask for the thing that most heavily weighed on her mind at the moment. Almost.

Well… here goes.

Ladybug squeezed his hand tightly. “Chat… Will you stay? Here, with the Dupains?” she asked hopefully. “I just… I need to know you’ll be alright. Please?”

Upon hearing this, Chat visibly shrunk into himself a bit, brows turning upwards in concern. He replied nervously, “I-if that’s what you want. A-and as long as they’re really okay with it. Yes, I’ll do it. I can stay.”

She smiled broadly at him, elated to hear him agree. He was staying! He was going to be okay!! A healing wave of relief washed away the immense worry about his safety, and she felt significantly lighter. Practically throwing herself at him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave his cheek a long, loud smooch, eliciting a small gasp from him.

“That’s great!!” she cried happily, pulling him into a tight hug. “The Dupains will take good care of you, I promise! I’ve already talked to them about it. They’re willing to let you stay for as long as you need.”

He hugged back, albeit a bit flustered. “A-are you sure it’s alright? I’m just... scared of anything happening to them because of me.”

Ladybug pulled away enough to be able to look into his eyes. “I understand why you’d be worried, but believe me, everything will be fine. Hawkmoth would never think to look for you here. Taking care of your wellbeing is the priority, and they want to help us. They’re good people. It’ll be good for you to be around them. And…” She reached for his hand, squeezing it. “You’ll be safe. That’s what’s most important to me right now. You deserve to be able to sleep at night without being afraid.”

He looked upon her tenderly, gaze full of wonder and affection. He sighed and uttered, voice laden with awe, “You’re incredible… ” He cleared his throat, face turning bright pink, and stammered, “Th-that is… You’re all amazing. I’ll make sure to be the best houseguest ever.”

Ladybug giggled, her own cheeks flushed. “I don’t doubt it, Chaton,” she replied fondly, squeezing him back into the biggest hug she could manage. Chat’s arms wrapped around her waist in response, clinging onto her like a lifeline.

Ladybug sighed happily, and she heard, as well as felt, that same low, throaty purr she’d come to recognize immediately. She loved it.

It felt great to be able to rest easy knowing exactly where Chat was and that his life wasn’t in constant peril. Knowing that he was being cared for instead of being abused, or being forced to do something he didn’t want.

They stayed that way for a few minutes, just reveling in each others’ companionship. They’d earned this short reprieve.

But of course, as much as they’d both wanted it to, this moment couldn’t last forever.

Ladybug exhaled through her nose wearily, giving him one last squeeze. “I should go.”

Chat pulled away but still kept her close, standing almost chest to chest against each other. He gazed at her with eyes full of yearning and fascination.

“When can I see you again?” he asked softly. “I’d love to spend more time with you.”

Fire spread through Ladybug’s chest, quickly rushing to her face, and she had to fight the bout of speechlessness that threatened to overcome her. Her eyes dropped from his own like stones, only to land on his toned abdominals, which caused the burning to intensify. Again they fled, darting around, searching for something else to focus on, anything, until they finally settled on the hardwood floor.

Why was she reacting this way to what he said?! He just wanted to spend time together! That’s what friends do, right?! So why was she getting so hot and bothered over it??

Despite her brain temporarily short-circuiting, she miraculously managed to remember that Chat Noir was supposed to remain beside Tikki for the next two days, and should stay here at home.

She skittishly twiddled with the ends of her hair, stammering, “Oh! I- umm! My schedule? I-I have to– I need... school shopping! For school! ‘Cuz it starts next week! A-and, uh... You need to get in my bed. UM, I-I mean... I need to get in your bed. Wait, NO!!” she squawked, waving her hands around like a madwoman. “THAT IS, YOU NEED TO GET BACK IN BED!! T-to get some rest!!! S-so how about… Saturday?”

She facepalmed audibly. WOW, Marinette, just wow. Real smooth. First you amaze him with your incoherent blubbering and bawling, and get his shirt all wet. And now you astound him with your sterling display of eloquence. Great job making a good impression of a person who’s got all their crap together! UGH!

Was there any chance he wouldn’t notice if she spontaneously combusted? Why couldn’t one of her powers be for the earth to swallow her whole?! And why in the world was she acting this way with Chat Noir?! He was her partner! There was absolutely no reason for her to get so flustered!

Despite her less than sophisticated demeanor, Chat chuckled affectionately, bringing her out of her mental freakout. Smiling widely, he tilted her head upwards by the chin so their eyes would meet yet again. “Saturday sounds wonderful. I’ll look forward to it.”

“Y-yeah… Cool…” Ladybug breathed out dopily, struggling to remain upright despite her legs having suddenly turned to gelatin.

He gently tucked some stray hair behind her ear. “Thank you, by the way,” he murmured, “For looking out for me. For being so nice, for going out of your way to make sure I’ll be alright. Just… thank you. For everything.”

Chat’s eyes were soft and kind, yet intense and bold; they twinkled with a look she’d never received from anyone else before. It was new and exciting. Thrilling. Tempting. They captured her, like a snake charmer, drawing her near, and she couldn’t look away. And yet, here she was, wholeheartedly willing to become ensnared by them, inextricably drawn to his melody.

“Anytime,” she whispered breathlessly.

His hand made his way up from her jaw to cup her cheek, sending an intoxicating shiver down her entire body.

Faintly, she noticed the proximity of their faces… When she gotten so close? Her gaze flitted to his mouth all on its own, and everything else went out of focus. Chat seemed to notice her action, and he bit his lip slightly with a blush. Her hands trailed idly up to settle on his chest of their own accord, and she wondered if he could hear her own heart pounding. It didn’t seem to matter much right now. Nothing really did. Her whole world was the sound of his breathing, the curve of his smile, the feel of his hand on her skin.

Chat’s other hand settled on the small of her back, and he drew her towards him. He let out a shaky sigh, placing his forehead against hers, eyes squeezed shut, and swallowed hard.

He was hesitating. Was he afraid? Or… was he waiting for permission?

Her brain screamed at her to stop everything and analyze her thoughts before proceeding or making any decisions, while her heart urged her to stop overthinking everything and just do what felt right.

But was there even a “right” choice? Nothing about this moment felt wrong. In fact, she felt completely at ease. Although, to be fair, it was difficult to feel or discern anything outside of the whirlwind of butterflies currently swarming in her stomach.

Even though nothing had come of it, or might ever come of it, she was still in love with Adrien; of that, there was no doubt. So then, what was it that she was feeling right now, with Chat? She felt like she was being tugged in opposite directions, a cacophony of voices arguing and shouting, their words indecipherable.

While her heart and her mind were busy battling, however, her body moved on its own as if possessed, inching closer and closer towards the subject of the aforementioned internal conflict.

Her own arms snaked around Chat’s waist and his eyes flew open, accompanied by a deep blush that quickly colored his face and extended to the tips of his ears. His breath was shaky and a bit shallow, and she realized that he was having an internal debate of his own.

Did he want this? Did she want this? What even was “this”, anyway?? This whole situation was entirely new to her, and, so it appeared, seemed entirely new to him as well.

A thought occurred to her. It was so simple, but of course, it was anything but.

Why not just ask him?

After all, she had absolutely no clue what she was doing, and apparently he didn’t either, so neither had an advantage over the other. What did she have to lose?

Before she had a chance to ask, however, it was Chat who spoke first.

“My Lady… d-do you–”

A rattling door handle startled them apart, and just like that, the trance broke.

Sabine entered the room holding a small tray, but froze in her tracks upon seeing them. She let out a brief croak, but nothing else, as if her vocal chords had run away and left her behind. The couple stood there staring back, beet red with an exceedingly guilty look on their faces.

“MAMA–MA– MADAME!!” Ladybug yelped. “How nice to see you!”

“Oh, I-I’m so sorry!!” Sabine finally managed to stammer. “I didn’t mean to interrupt anything! We’ve got fresh baked cookies and they’re still warm, so I thought I’d–”

“COOKIES!! I love cookies!” Ladybug interrupted, clasping her hands together. She stood stiff like a telephone pole, as if anchoring her feet heavily onto the ground would prevent her from floating away due to the embarrassment of having been caught in such an intimate position with her formal mortal enemy. She squeaked, “What a great idea! We should go to the kissing– I MEAN, TO THE KITCHEN!!”

Chat fared no better at his attempt to appear innocent. His mouth was pursed into a crooked pout; his eyes darted around like a kid attempting to hide stolen candy behind his back.

Sabine quirked an eyebrow inquisitively, eyes darting between them both. She replied, “Alright. I’ll let you wrap up in here and meet you at the, ahem – the kitchen.”

(Mood music: La Veillée - Yann Tiersen)

Sabine closed the door behind her and Ladybug let out a long, pitiful whine, hiding her face behind her hands, hoping that somehow she’d find a portal to another dimension within.

Chat wrapped his arm around her shoulders and remarked with a snicker, “Don’t be so nervous, Bugaboo! You’re starting to sound a lot like my friend, Marinette.”

Ladybug’s head whipped up like a spring and she let out a shaky chortle, a too-wide smile plastered on her face. “HAH! That’s funny! HAHAAA!! The Dupains’ daughter!! Cute, isn’t she?”

GOD, WHY DID I SAY THAT?! WHAT IN THE WORLD IS WRONG WITH ME?!!

Chat chuckled in amusement. “She sure is. She’s a big sweetheart, but she can be a bit excitable.”

Ladybug groaned internally, feeling her eye twitch. Understatement of the century.

She cleared her throat in an effort to snap herself out of her stuttering stupor and get the thumping in her chest under control, before she did something stupid.

Not trusting her traitorous mouth to not embarrass her further, she simply took Chat’s hand and made her way out of the bedroom and towards the sweet embrace of crumbly, sugary, chocolatey goodness. The one thing that always stayed the same in her life, no matter how confusing everything else got.

“I wonder where she is, anyway,” Chat mused aloud. “I’d love for you to meet her. I think you two would get along really well!”

Ladybug almost tripped on thin air, but managed to continue her speed-walk to the kitchen while internally screaming.

From the living area, Tom overheard what Chat had said and replied, “Oh, that’s a great idea! I’ll go fetch her so she can say hello! Maybe we can even get a picture of you two!”

Ladybug suppressed a shriek and dropped Chat’s arm like a sack of potatoes and whipped around to respond. “OHHH, you know what?? I just realized that I’m late for a, uh– dentist appointment!! I’d better go! Sorry I won’t get to meet your daughter! Next time, definitely!”

She rushed over to quickly shake hands with Tom and Sabine, thanking them yet again, then ran back to where Chat stood perplexed.

“Feel free to call or message me anytime,” she said to him. “My kwami will let me know if you’re trying to get in contact with me.”

He grinned back widely and replied with a wink, “Can do. Goodbye for now, My Lady.” He took her hand and, with a slight bow, gave it a soft kiss. He gazed at her with the same look as before, back in the bedroom. A look full of fondness. Respect. And… something else; that other emotion she couldn’t quite identify. Could it be…?

No… There was no way. She was just flattering herself by even entertaining the thought. Chat was just… a very affectionate friend. Someone who didn’t receive a lot of physical closeness in his daily life. It shouldn’t be a surprise that he’d be so touchy-feely with her. There might be some mutual attraction, sure (something that she still needed to sort her feelings about). But to imagine anything more would be delusional.

Regardless, his boldness always managed to knock the air out of her lungs, and she couldn’t help but be rendered speechless.

All at once, however, Ladybug could feel her parents’ stares from the back of her head, which Chat most certainly had not noticed (or if he did, he didn’t seem to care).

Pretty certain that her body had abruptly burst into flames, Ladybug stepped away with an awkward giggle and a small wave. “See you Saturday! We’ll have fun and make out–I mean HANG OUT!! SORRY, I’MJUSTGONNAGONOW, BYE!!!” she screeched, practically running into the door in her haste.

“Wait! What about your cookies?” Sabine called.

Ladybug skidded to a halt, throwing her hands in the air. “R-right!!! ‘Cause I love cookies!” She sprinted back to the countertop to grab a small handful, then bolted back towards the door. Squawking one last garbled goodbye, she swung the door closed, albeit unsuccessfully, the latter bouncing off the doorframe from the excessive force. The remaining three listened to Ladybug clamber down the stairs and exit the building in a span of time that would ordinarily be considered impossible.

About sixty seconds later, a pajama-clad Marinette descended the stairs from her bedroom with a loud, theatrical yawn, stretching her arms above her head. She called out, “Good morning, everyone!”

Tom replied, “Hey sleepyhead! You won’t believe who just stopped by!”

Maintaining her ruse, she answered innocently, “Hmm? Was it Alya? It seems a bit too early for her.”

Sabine chimed in, “Oh sweetie, this was definitely the worst morning for you to sleep in! Ladybug was here! At our house! She left a minute ago; you just barely missed each other!”

Marinette gave out a dramatic gasp, bringing her hand to her mouth, accompanied by a loud groan. “Oh noooo~! I missed Ladybug?? Darn my luck! Oh well, maybe next time!” She promptly changed the subject, plucking a cookie from the tray on the kitchen counter. “Oh, yum! You made cookies!”

Tom scrunched his eyebrows. “Uh... Marinette, we always have cookies.”

She giggled nervously. “O-oh yeah! Definitely one of the best perks of living in a bakery, that’s for sure!” She shoved most of the cookie into her mouth, thus preventing herself from blurting out any further absurdities. If anyone happened to notice how shaky her fingers were as she munched on her pastry, nobody commented on it.

They sat around the table, eventually settling into comfortable chatter, and enjoyed a proper breakfast accompanied by a wide assortment of teas. Afterwards, it was time for Sabine and Tom to say their goodbyes and officially open the bakery for the day. Chat made good on his promise to Ladybug and cleaned up after the meal, tidying up the kitchen and doing the dishes, with Marinette offering a helping hand to keep him company.

Afterwards, Marinette moved to the sofa and motioned for Chat to follow. He grinned widely and eagerly complied. The couple made themselves comfortable and resumed their friendly conversation.

“So, Ladybug stopped by to see you, huh?” Marinette asked, immediately noticing the way Chat’s cheekbones turned pink upon mentioning her alter ego. “What did she say? Other than asking my parents to let you stay here for a while.”

“I– she, uh... She just wanted to say hi and see how I was doing, and, um…” he stammered. “Like you said, she asked your parents if it would be okay for me to lay low at your house for a little bit. Then she mentioned she had an appointment and had to leave.”

“And… that’s it?” she asked.

Chat turned bright red at this point, his eyes wide and hands tightly gripping his knees. “P-pretty much.”

Marinette laboriously suppressed a wry smile, but decided to let him off the hook and stop making him wriggle nervously with her secret teasing. “I’m glad you guys got to see each other. And I’m relieved that you decided to stay.”

He smiled shyly. “I’m a bit shocked at how generous you all are, to be honest. N-not that it surprises me that you guys are so nice, of course; I already knew that,” he clarified. “But it’s just… it’s a huge favor to ask from anybody. Especially for nothing in return. I’d still like to pay you back somehow, but I’m not entirely sure how to do that.”

Marinette reached over and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly. “It’s okay, Chat! You don’t have to do anything. Really! It’s just like a sleepover. Friends do sleepovers all the time!”

Chat twiddled his fingers nervously. “I, uh… I’ve actually never slept over at someone else’s house before. Not even Chlo– uh… not even my closest friends.”

Marinette made a small, thoughtful hum. “Well, thankfully we’ve got all day to prepare for the biggest, most amazing sleepover you could ever imagine! Starting with me kicking your butt in ‘Ultimate Mecha Strike 3’!”

Chat’s face lit up with an excited twinkle in his eyes and a mischievous smile that she couldn’t help but find utterly adorable. “Oh, we’ll see about that!”

They laughed freely and began setting up their game on the television.

As Marinette got the controllers out, Chat asked bashfully, “Umm, before we begin... do you happen to have any Camembert? For some reason, I’ve been craving it like crazy.”

Marinette raised an eyebrow. Camembert? That was… kind of an odd and rather specific request. Why Camembert, of all things?

Just then, a thought occurred to her. Since she was fairly certain that it wasn’t a pregnancy-related craving, she realized that that must be his kwami’s preferred food. Since Chat couldn’t detransform to feed him, the need for that extra energy must be manifesting itself through cravings.

Poor little guy is working so hard... He must be exhausted!

Making a mental note to stock up on all kinds of cheeses, she grinned at Chat with a cheeky wink.

“One cheese-fest, coming right up!”

[dfcfanfics]

So What the Hell Did I Do This Year?

As if I have to tell any of you this... 2020 was one completely messed-up year.  COVID, elections, full-on national insanity... 

It was also the Year of No New Miraculous Content (outside of the New York special, which I have not watched yet, and about which I’m not completely sure where it officially fits into canon.)  So my stories have been in something of a post-Season 3 holding pattern much in the way that the show has.

Luckily for me, that post-Season 3 status (the Adrigaminette triangle) is rich with storytelling possibilities.  Just about everything that I wrote this year revolved around that dynamic and how it might end up resolving.

LONGFICS:

Stuck In A Bakery (With You) (Complete) (AO3)

When a medical crisis appears to threaten the Agreste household, Gabriel's first impulse is to send his son far away from potential danger. (One does not risk the company's most valuable asset, after all!) While visiting Marinette at her house, Adrien gets the word that he's about to be spirited away to stay with distant relatives for the duration.

But this is the Dupain-Cheng household... and they may have other ideas as to how a less traumatic self-quarantine might be arranged.

My big story for the year, and going by the numbers, my biggest hit yet.  I was a little bit wary of writing a COVID story in this context, but I decided to try something a little different; short, rapid-fire chapters, posted one-per-day for quite some time.  I was cooped up, I was feeling creative, and I felt like entertaining people in the same boat.  

This one was a slow-burn for the ages.  With Our Heroes in captivity and Hawkmoth dormant, Marinette and Adrien explore what they mean to each other, share a bathroom, do their best to avoid hurting Kagami (as Adrigami was an in-progress thing when the quarantine hits) and decide what comes next.  Tom and Sabine manage the business in troubled times while supporting the budding relationship, Gabriel and Nathalie insert themselves into events, the classmates do their best to grasp what’s going on, and a good deed done wrong proves most impactful.

No one gets sick or intubated or buried, even as the realities of the virus and its impact remain present. This is not Pandemic Porn. This is fluff and comfort and two nervous kids learning about each other up close.

Throw Me Around Like One Of Your French Girls (WIP)  (AO3)

Reflecting upon an unpleasant encounter, Marinette makes a small realization... as Ladybug, she can defend herself with ease, but what happens if she's facing down unwanted physicality as Marinette? It's a good thing that she happens to know a classmate who's studying the martial arts, if he'd be willing to teach her some things?

A short multi-parter, a pleasant distraction from the continuing It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time. Fluff, fashion choices, twisted arms, friendship, tension and tap-outs.

The next variation on the triangle’s developments.  It started as a small rumination on what happened in Felix (namely Ladybug punching his lights out), with Marinette learning some Aikido from her handsome classmate.  With Adrigami still happening, Marinette feels much more relaxed around him... and with Marinette relaxed around him, Adrien is increasingly captivated by her.  (Lukanette is Not Quite A Thing Yet in this, though certainly possible.  Luka is Mr. Not Appearing Much In This Year’s Stories Of Mine.)

Unlike in Stuck In A Bakery, Kagami can and does meet with both of them throughout. There is a definite connection each way, and a need to pass the Bechdel Test -- Marinette refuses to let her and Kagami be solely defined by Adrien.  .   

Still in progress, approaching its climax, kind of on hold because Delicate’s been more on my mind.

It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time... (technically WIP) (AO3)

A week ago, the friendly relationship between Adrien, Marinette and Kagami seemed to be blossoming on all fronts... But that was a week ago.

Now, Marinette is wondering what - if anything - in her life can be salvaged.

Then there's a knock at her door... and, suddenly, so many things are changing all at once.

A short flight of fancy, several small parts to come.

Round three in the Adrigaminette triangle -- and this one really _is_ Adrigaminette in nature.  

A highly stressed, frustrated and emotionally troubled Marinette has all the plates in the air right now.  Her wish-he-was-her-boyfriend is seeing her new friend Kagami, she’s not entirely sure if Luka would be an adequate substitute, she has her new Guardianship to contend with, and everything seems to be falling apart at once.

So, when Kagami shows up on her doorstep because Adrien abruptly dumped her... thinking isn’t the first thing on her mind.  Acting is.  And act, she does!

This is NOT a dump-on-Adrien fic, however, no matter how much it may seem so at first.  Adrien gets his turn to express why he did what he did, how he felt he was being unfair to Kagami by continuing, and why he’s just as troubled Marinette is... but Ladybug and Ryuko asking Chat what _he_ thinks they should do complicates that greatly, as you might expect.

I say TECHNICALLY WIP because I feel like it stands well just as I left it... but I feel like I could add another epilogue chapter or two to it at some point.  And perhaps I will.

Delicate (WIP, NSFW!)  (AO3)

A university-aged Marinette hears a cry for help on a quiet Saturday night, while walking home. Her glory days as Ladybug were years ago, but she still has her Miraculous, so... she investigates. What she finds startles her... among other emotions.

This is the one that I had told myself I would never write.  

I’ve been dismissive of aged-up fics in the past that were aged up simply to enable sex scenes without triggering the dreaded Underage tag.  Not as in “no one should ever write those,” but as in “this isn’t my cup of tea as an author.”  But a scene jumped into my head, and it inspired a thought... if Marinette and Adrien _did_ jump straight to age nineteen for the purposes of my story, what happened in those years in-between?  

“Porn Without Plot is like Faith Without Works” was one of the first tags on this one.  Yes, Our Heroes bump uglies in this one... frequently.  But don’t let that scare you off.  There is a lot of exploration here that doesn’t involve bodies, such as: 

Why isn’t Marinette actively Ladybug any more?  Why did Adrien disappear for two years -- and what happened on the night that caused it?  Why is Plagg absolutely furious at Adrien?  How will Adrien explain any of this to his onetime partner -- or to Marinette -- or to both at once, once he recovers from the shock of knowing that they’re one and the same?  And what will the other Kwamis think about all of this?

Lighthearted at its core, angstful when necessary, sexy without being explicit, full of difficult conversations and circumstances.  It’s not about what they’re up to; it’s about why. 

ONE-SHOTS:

A Little Promise I’d Made Myself (Complete) (AO3)

It's New Year's Eve in Paris, and at Rose's house, the classmates (among many others) are having quite a party. Adrien is sipping on his punch, watching merriment ensue, and wondering what the right next move is for him... until he sees a certain classmate sitting by herself, looking less than enthusiastic.

Can these crazy kids find a way to make it work?

Of course they can.

I’m cheating with this one -- it was posted in the last week of 2019.  But it’s New Year’s Eve and this is a New Year’s Eve story and I’m pimping it out, dammit.

Revisit this one and picture That Kiss when midnight arrives wherever you are, okay?

Perhaps I Failed To Think This Through... (CRACKFIC, complete) (AO3)

Gabriel Agreste's first transformation startled him with the changes to his physical form, the raw power at his command, and the endless possibilities that his magical proxies might provide.

But it's always a good idea to try a test run first... and maybe run your designs past a focus group, or something.

Crackfic based around Gabriel’s first attempt at villainy once gaining the power of Nooroo.

It... doesn’t go well.

Some Said He Had No Sense Of Humor (Complete) (AO3)

While wandering down in the room containing Emilie's chamber, Nooroo makes a very startling discovery. He reports it to Gabriel... who demonstrates absolutely no surprise. Little does Nooroo know that his day of surprises is just beginning... and what Gabriel truly has in mind, he will never see coming.

Crackfic based around Emilie’s coma... or lack thereof.  What if Emilie really wasn’t in magical stasis -- and for the least predictable of reasons?

As always... I send my warmest regards to my readers.  Your feedback and comments are always welcome, and they make writing these stories worthwhile.  Stay well, stay happy, stay away from hairy men in trenchcoats, and stay tuned for what next year will bring.  It _has_ to be better than what this one did... right?

[my-miraculous-headcanons]

Domesticity : Part 2 of 2

[AO3] [Part 1]

Being sent to the future along with a majority of his classmates wasn’t something Adrien had expected when he went to school that morning, although that on its own wasn’t too much of a big deal if he really thought about it. In situations like these, he would normally tell himself to take a deep breath and keep everyone from getting too nosy. After all, they don’t want to mess up the future by letting their curiosity get the best of them. (And oh, did Adrien know quite a bit about curiosity. Out of them all, it would pain him the most to keep his nature under control.)

Of course, that is what he would normally do. 

In this case, however, he found it extremely difficult to keep even a semblance of calm. Because, instead of simply popping up in their classroom six years into the future, they instead were plopped down in a completely different location, which just so happened to be a big, light pink bedroom, currently occupied by two sleeping figures.

Both of which were quickly and easily recognised.

“Holy fuck,” Alya whispered breathily, eyes wide with shocked bewilderment. “Is that— No way, Marinette and... and Chat Noir?”

“Holy fuck,” Nino echoes, confirming that Alya most certainly was not hallucinating, and that the older version of their dear friend was, in fact, resting in bed with Paris’ beloved feline superhero.

Internally, Adrien is repeating the sentiment, while also thanking whatever higher power out there that’s responsible for making sure Marinette was not early that morning.

Out of the class, the only ones to have arrived early was himself, Alya, Nino, Ivan, Mylène, and Alix. As a result, they were the only ones present when the akuma had appeared out of nowhere and began zapping whole classrooms. There wasn’t enough time to even stand up, much less figure out who the akuma is or why they were akumatised. All they had heard was some nonsense about current events, what the future may hold, and then zap! The schoolroom had disappeared, leaving the pink bedroom in its place.

“Maybe we should wake them up,” Mylène suggests, nervously holding onto Ivan’s arm. “I mean, it’s Chat Noir, right? Maybe he’d be able to help us?”

“Not to mention we’re kinda trespassing,” Alix adds. “I wouldn’t exactly be happy if a bunch of uninvited guests just stood around and watched me sleep.”

“Yeah, alright,” Alya agrees. “But hold on a second, let me just...”

And with that, she whips out her phone, leans a little closer, and takes a picture, capturing Marinette’s peaceful, adorable face snuggled up against Chat Noir’s side, and the hero’s... wide, alert eyes, staring directly at the camera, with an expression that screams danger.

Quick as a flash, a clawed hand retracts itself from Marinette’s waist and latches onto Alya’s wrist, squeezing hard enough to weaken her fingers, making the phone slip smoothly from her grip and clatter onto the floor.

Everyone stops breathing.

“And just what,” Chat Noir growls, baring his teeth and showcasing prominent fangs that he most certainly didn’t have in their own time, “do you think you are doing, Mlle. Césaire?”

From this point, Adrien had expected things to snowball from there. Knowing himself, and how horrible he tends to be when he wakes up in the morning, he had believed that things were going to get overly dramatic and a little bit messy. However, he finds himself surprised, because despite his older self clearly being quite a bit ticked off, the man remains patient, waiting for Alya to stutter through an explanation.

“I just wanted— I was going to— I thought Marinette would, uh, would react funny if I. Um. If I showed her a picture like that. I wasn’t going to, like, post it on the Ladyblog or anything, because she’s my best friend I wouldn’t— would never make her a target, so—”

He lets go of her wrist, closes his eyes, then sighs, looking drained despite having just woken up, and thankfully no longer appearing angry. He reaches a hand up to rub at his eyelids, and Marinette, still curled up against his side and resting on his chest, scrunches her eyebrows, bothered by his continued movements. Unconsciously, the hand she has resting on his shoulder whacks him lightly, and she grumbles a bit under her breath. 

Chat smiles and dutifully freezes in place, arm still raised and fingers resting on his forehead.

“I’m guessing this was an akuma attack,” the man says. Most of the class nod their heads in response, but Adrien remains completely still and silent, not quite sure how he’s supposed to process the facts placed in front of them.

“Well,” Chat Noir says. “Give me a second to pry Marinette off. I’ll lead you to the kitchen, and we’ll talk there.”

Adrien would like to say that things happened in a blur after that statement, but the truth of the matter was that everything from that point was branded into his mind with crystal clarity. Chat had managed to gently wrestle himself away from Marinette’s grip, but in the process, everyone had gotten a look at what was hidden under the thin covers— and oh, not a single one of them were spared the shame that burned their cheeks. 

Adrien, despite being fifteen like the rest of his classmates, was used to seeing women in rather provocative clothing, but the sight of an older Marinette in lacy underwear, however brief, had definitely sent his heart racing. He didn’t know what to think of that. That the many gorgeous underwear models he’s surrounded by left him completely unaffected, but Marinette in anything even remotely suggestive made his blood pump and his breath hitch.

Once Chat Noir finally escaped the bed’s clutches, he locked eyes with Adrien for a split second. In that time, he had smiled knowingly, and winked, before moving on.

“Follow me, everyone. Quietly.”

With that, everyone files out of the room. Chat Noir closes the door behind them, taking one last look at Marinette’s sleeping form, then leads them through the hallway and towards the kitchen. He gestures for everyone to seat themselves at the counter, and starts rummaging through the fridge. 

“I’m guessing you guys think I’ll be able to help with your predicament,” Chat Noir says, pulling out a carton of milk and eggs. “I’m afraid I’m gonna have to disappoint you, though. The time passing here should be in line with the time passing from where you came from, so until Ladybug defeats the akuma, you’ll be stuck here.”

Alya’s quickly tapping this information away onto her phone, which thankfully did not crack from its previous fall. It’s useful knowledge to have in case of any similar akuma attacks in the future.

“Um, I have a question,” Nino says, raising his hand. Chat doesn’t notice it, his back turned towards them as he fetches some measuring cups, but hums for him to continue. “Okay, so, uh, mind explaining what the hell you were doing in bed with our girl?”

Chat snorts. At this point, he’s taken out a bowl, and is sifting some flour into it.

“We watched some anime and fell asleep,” he says. “Get your minds out of the gutter, you dirty teenagers.”

Nino and Alya squawked indignantly, while Alix burst into laughter and nearly tilted right off the kitchen stool.

“But, um,” Mylène stutters. “What exactly is your... relationship with Marinette?”

“Platonic,” Chat Noir answers without a moment of hesitation. He looks over his shoulder and laughs at their surprised expressions.

“What? I told you to get your minds out of the gutter.”

“Platonic my ass,” Alya cries out. “You think I’m going to believe my girl would willingly sleep, decked out in sexy lingerie, next to a guy friend?! Get real!”

Chat Noir doesn’t offer a real response to that, instead continuing to laugh, and starts whisking the bowl in front of him, now filled with egg, some melted butter, flour, milk, and sugar. 

“You,” Adrien starts, then stops with a nervous swallow. He hasn’t spoken at all up until this point, but he can’t bring himself to not ask this. “Are you trying to tell us that you don’t find Marinette attractive at all? Like, whatsoever?”

The smirk Chat Noir sends his younger self is sharp and devious.

“Do you?”

Adrien splutters, face immediately turning red because yes, both in his own time and in the current future, Marinette is very attractive. Clearly, this was his older self’s way of answering the question. Adrien isn’t entirely sure he appreciates the method.

If he feels Nino and Alya’s gazes burning into the side of his face, he chooses to ignore it. 

“...Minou?”

Everyone turns to face the direction of the hallway, where Marinette’s groggy voice rings out through. 

“Why’d you get up so early?”

“Early? It’s past nine, Marinette,” Chat Noir calls. “Before you come to get your pancakes, put on something opaque, please. We’ve got guests.”

There’s a long pause.

“We have WHAT?!”

Marinette’s voice rings loud and clear, all traces of sleep washed away. Seconds later, a door slams, presumably her bedroom’s, as she rushes to get changed into something more... appropriate.

Not five minutes later, the sound of a door roughly swinging open echoes down the hallway, and loud stomps warn them of Marinette’s incoming arrival. Despite the warning, when she pops into view it still feels abrupt, her eyes wide and worried. Her tense shoulders relax, however, when she finally determines the identities of her guests.

“Oh,” she murmurs. “Akuma?”

“Yeah, they’re from the past,” Chat answers. He turns to face her, bowl in one arm and whisk in the other. “That was a while ago, they’ll probably be back in maybe... the next thirty minutes? Maybe a bit longer? I forgot how long it took us to take akuma down back then, and I don’t know how long it’ll take Ladybug on her own.”

Marinette hums thoughtfully, then smiles.

“Well, I don’t mind. I forgot how cute my class was back then, it’s funny seeing Nino with short hair again! And wow, Alix! You’re tattooless!”

She pulls out a chair from next to Adrien and drags it around to the other side of the counter, seating herself to face all of her former classmates. She opens her mouth, but whatever comes out from that point on, Adrien can’t say. His thoughts wander, from how pretty Marinette looks in the ankle-length blue sundress she put on, to how at ease his older self looks in front of the stove, flipping pancakes.

There’s something about the scene that makes him feel warm. He wants to say it looks homey, which by all rights it is, but that’s not the word he’s searching for.

He’s snapped out of it when a plate of blueberry pancakes is placed in front of him. His older self winks, then places a plate of strawberry pancakes in front of Marinette.

“Alright, that’s everyone. I’ll bring out the syrup and honey.”

Adrien wrinkles his nose.

“Honey? You don’t put honey on pancakes.”

“I know,” Chat says, wholeheartedly agreeing. “Marinette’s a complete heathen!”

Marinette grabs a dry washcloth from beneath the counter, twists it, then snaps it at Chat’s butt. He jumps and shuffles away, laughing at her playfully offended expression.

Adrien smiles.

Chat comes back with the syrup and honey in one hand, and a plate of his own pancakes in the other. Unlike Adrien’s, they’re raspberry. Marinette grabs at the honey before it even touches the countertop, slathering it all over her pancakes, and wrinkles her nose as Chat Noir slathers his own in syrup.

She doesn’t make it a secret that she hates maple syrup. She must have only bought it because her friends liked it. Or, maybe more specifically, Chat Noir liked it.

With no more unoccupied chairs, Adrien’s older self stands casually beside Marinette, leaning his elbows down against the counter and brushing his shoulder against hers. Ivan starts talking, something he says getting Marinette to smile in delight, and Chat’s eyes seem reluctant to look at anything other than the joy on her face.

Oh, Adrien realises as he pours some syrup onto his pancakes. Domestic, that was the word. 

They acted like they lived together. Like they belonged nowhere else but at each others’ sides. Like, even if their relationship were to never venture into romantic territory, they’d happily spend the rest of their lives together, grow old together. 

It seemed nice.

“Almost ten,” Marinette observes, glancing towards the clock above the refrigerator. “Chat, didn’t you have a job to get to at ten-fifteen?”

His older self chokes on a piece of pancake, and Marinette slaps a palm against his back while he coughs and splutters. 

“Shit! I need to shower and leave!”

In almost a practiced motion, Chat spears his remaining pancake, luckily untainted by maple syrup, and slips it onto Marinette’s stack, then leaves his empty plate in the sink. After that, he books it down the hall.

Marinette smiles and shakes her head at his antics. 

“I’ll get his clothes and towel, be right back.”

She gets up and walks away, leaving the children to their privacy.

“Oh my god,” Alya says. “Oh my god, this is real. They’re like, married, or something. Platonic? Platonic?”

Ivan nods in understanding and pats Alya on the back, trying and failing to hide his amusement.

“Marinette seems happy with how things are.”

Mylène nods in agreement.

“They don’t need to hold hands and kiss each other to be happy with how they are.”

“Okay, okay, but counterpoint,” Alya says. “Chat Noir didn’t say he didn’t find her attractive, when Adrien asked.”

“Alya,” Adrien chides, leaning back to look at her past Nino’s shoulders. “He didn’t say he did find her attractive, either.”

Well, technically he did say that, but only Adrien knew that particular detail. 

“Besides, finding someone attractive doesn’t mean you should date them. It’s not like it’s uncommon to think your friends are pretty.”

“He’s got you there, Als,” Nino chuckles. “Lets just leave them be, okay? No meddling, let the flow take the reigns this time.”

“Wow,” Alix deadpans. “That’s deep, Nino.”

“Shut up.”

Marinette comes back shortly after, announcing that Chat had already left, and no Alya, just because she knew Chat had to leave didn’t mean she knew his identity, stuff your mouth and quit asking questions. 

When the pancakes were gone, and the plates were cleaned, Marinette had once again checked the clock.

“You know,” she says thoughtfully, more to herself than anyone else. “I think Chat actually started visiting me around the time that akuma happened, six years ago... Maybe he met himself when he left? But... no, can’t be. Nobody really remembered the future in detail.”

“Wait,” Alix questioned. “We’re going to forget this?”

“Hm? Oh, no! Or, well, kind of? You had vague ideas of what happened and who you met, but nobody seemed to remember things in detail. I guess it’s... possible that Chat Noir met with his future self. That would explain why he started randomly visiting me based on a ‘feeling,’ or whatever he called it.”

Marinette sighed, then looked up in surprise, having heard her phone receive a message. She quickly checks it, mouthing to them that it was Alya— older Alya. Whatever she reads surprises her, and makes her smile. She pockets her phone not long after.

“Well, don’t worry too much about it. You’ll remember all the details eventually. Alya’s already texting me about it. And by that, I mean she’s interrogating me.”

Beside him, he sees Alya— the younger one— open her mouth to say something, but before anyone can get a word out, a blinding light surrounds them, and things... go fuzzy.

When they open their eyes, they’re back in class, confused and disoriented, surrounded by the remaining students who hadn’t been caught up in the akuma attack. 

Adrien remembers a pretty blue dress and matching blue eyes, pancakes, and warmth. 

When Marinette finally bursts into the classroom, stuttering apologies, he finds his focus completely on her, no matter how hard he tries otherwise. An itch digs under his skin, impossible to ignore, that intensifies every moment his thoughts and gaze land on her, and he has no idea what to do.

Three days later, on a solo patrol, he lands on Marinette balcony without even thinking. Like a rush of water pouring over him, the itch washes away, finally giving him the answer to solving his problem.

He knocks on her skylight, and waits.

(Somehow, he knew she would invite him in.)

(Somehow, he knew she would keep inviting him in.)

(It’s just a feeling.)

[positivementalaxolotl]

A Little Lesson In Trickery: Adrien Agrest Isn’t Good At It.

It had been a long night. Ladybug and Chat Noir had just ended another fight and separated back to their homes.

Well, not quite.

Marinette went home, but Adrien? He was suppose to already be asleep so no one would be checking on him, and frankly he had a lot to think about. He technically did go home, but only for a quick refuel and prepare in case he needed to again. He knew he wasn't suppose to use his powers for selfish reasons but... This wasn't entirely selfish right? Keeping himself in a stable mindset would help him in battle, help save Paris and the people in it, so it would indirectly help, right?

Leaving again, he jumped from building to building feeling the air wisping by his face. It was a chilly night but he still needed the fresh breeze flying by. In a way, staying off the ground helped him beccome more grounded. Reminded him that he was more than his father saw in him, that he could do more than look pretty and smile.

He could be happy, even after the previous day. He and Kagami were so happy together, he thought it might've been fate, but no matter what he did he couldn't completely get over his first love, Ladybug. Adrien had made the mistake of telling Kagami the focus of his desires in life and broke her heart. Hearing that he loved someone else but was trying to forget and use her... It hurt so much more.

Luckily all it took was a few sentances between them and they still thought of each other as very close friends. He cared about Kagami and hurting her was the last thing he wanted to do, but some things are inevitable. All they needed was a little time and after that hopefully they'd be able to resume what they had. Comfortable companionship, nothing romantic.

Actually, speaking of his lady, she seemed off that night. Something was obviously on her mind, but she dismissed it as soon as she was asked what was wrong. After the battle he had tried again but she pretended like she was about to transform any second, when she clearly had several minutes left. Instead of pushing it, he decided to give her time. Whatever it was it was serious and made her distracted, he didn't want to remind her of whatever happened.

His long journey through the night had him on a very familiar street. He hadn't exactly been paying attention to where he was going, his cat senses would be able to lead him back home, anyways. Jumping from building to building hadn't stressed any of his stamina or made him any more tired, if anything he felt much more clear and rejuvinated. But his better mood was quickly washed away when a familiar girl on a familiar balcony on that familiar street was seen. She seemed upset, almost like she had just finished crying- maybe she still was. As a super hero of Paris, and his dear friend Marinette being a Parisian, he felt a duty to to at least offer an ear. Though it was more because he didn't want to see her hurt.

He jump to the building next to the balcony and leaped onto the railing, startling the girl sitting on her lawn chair, covering herself with a blanket and a cup of what he figured to be hot cocoa. "Marinette? I'm sorry to *jump* in like this. I promise I didn't mean to startle you."

The girl seemed panicked for a moment, looking around. She looked over to her planter box full of roses though and took a very visible sigh of relief. Was the box loose? No matter, he had other things to focus on right now. "No, it's fine. Though I am surprised to see you out here." She said, sniffling and wiping her eyes before continuing, now looking away out of embarrassment from being caught crying. Such a small world apparently. "What are you doing out here? Is there an akuma? If so you have better things to be doing than staying here."

The statement had a ring of sounding to it that he thought might be her wanting him to leave, it worried him but there wasn't anything obvious in her expression or words that convinced him she did. "I was just taking a walk, don't worry. Well, less of a walk and more of a leap around." He gave a soft smile, walking over to her as she seemed to relax more. Perhaps she didn't want him to leave. She certainly seemed welcoming enough. Not that he would stay if she didn't, but he wasn't sure if she did. "But... Is everything okay? I'm... I know I'm a super hero and all but that's more than saving Paris from monsters. It's saving it's civilians from being alone too." Obviously he couldn't help everyone who needed someone, but he wanted to whenever he could. Sitting next to the lawn chair, he looked up to her. "If you don't want to say anything or if you don't want me here-"

And then he was caught off by the girl in question. "No, I'm glad you're here. If anything, you came at the perfect time. I'm just having... A difficult time right now. So much drama, I'm sure you don't want to hear any of it. And I don't blame you, if I were in your shoes I don't know if I would be able to handle any more drama." She tried to joke, though it was so half hearted it went over Chats head that she was trying to even giggle to herself.

"Not want to hear any of it? Marinette, you attended my pitty party when Ladybug didn't show up to the rooftop date I set up for her. Even if I didn't want to be there for you, it's really the least I could do." If Chat squinted, he swore he would be able to see that Marinette had a flash of an expression of guilt plastered to her fae, before quickly hiding it. Though he was sure it was just from it being so dark. He was better able to see because of the Paris lights and his cat-like vision, but even that didn't make it perfect and clearly visible. "Spill all the beans you want, I won't force you but you seem like you want to get something off of your chest."

Marinette finally fully smiled, feeling accompanied and supported. She never really imagined Chat caring about her as more than a civilian he had to save, but he seemed to be a lot more serious about the job, and perhaps he really wanted to be her friend. "Bean? Like a cats toe beans?"

Laughing escaped both of out heros lips, both masked and unmasked. Disquised and unrecognizable. "Not what I meant but I'll take the credit."

It was nice, being able to be so light hearted in a horrible time in her life. At least not everything in her life was terrible at the moment- No. She needed to not think like that. She had plenty to be happy about...

Chats smile slowly faded as Marinette got lost in thought. He remained patient though, waiting for her to go on.

"A lot is going on in my life right now. Lila Rossi? We've saved her a few times from akumas but... She's going after me. She keeps threatening me and trying to get everyone to hate me- and today I think... I think it worked. None of my friends are talking to me and Lila just keeps snickering at me. Even Alya is taking her side. She tried to explain it to me but none of it was relevant because I knew she was lying. But I'm the only one so I look like the asshole..." She sight, pulling her knees to her chest and hugging them, tears spilling again. Chat noticed everyone had isolated her that morning, but Lila had told him that something had happened and she wanted to be alone, so he believed her. He needed to talk to her tomorrow at school. "I guess I exaggerated a little bit... There's still one person who talks to me. But unfortunately it's my boyfriend..."

Chat tilted his head a bit, much like a cat would when it saw something interesting or confusing out the window, though in Chats case it would be the latter. He knew she was dating Luka, but why was that a problem? And *Chat* didn't know she was dating anyone. "Your boyfriend? I didn't know you were with someone. Why would that be an issue?"

Marinette sniffled, reaching over to her round table with a box of tissues, only then did Chat notice the wads of tissue that littered her balcony. "Because... I've kind of been using him. I'm in love with someone else but I realized they loved someone else and I wanted to move on. Though I guess I moved on in a terrible way and I don't want to hurt him. I want to stay his friend but what if he's mad at me for using him? That I never moved on from Ad- erm... The boy I'm in love with?"

The blonde in leather listened intently, memorizing every word. "I'm sure he wouldn't be mad- I mean, you're still trying to figure out what you want. As long as you talk to him I'm sure he'll be okay. Some time apart to think and make things clear will help too." He smiled up to her, moving from the cold floor to sit next to her on the chair. "If it helps, I recently went through something similar- yesterday in fact. Really, it's the reason I needed some fresh air. I was with a girl that I tried to make myself think I loved, but... No matter what I could only think of Ladybug and how unfairly I was treating this poor girl by using her as a crutch for my feelings. If you need time to move on properly then you can't take shortcuts- I know that now and hopefully you do too." He did know what he was talking about. He had experienced this first hand.

"Thank Chat." The darker haired girl sniffled out and layed back, looking up at his with puffy red eyes. They were a beautiful shade of blue. "You really did help me. How... How did things end out?"

Now sitting criss-cross and pressing his elbow to his knee, Chat rested his chin on his palm. "We're still friends. We're taking some time but we hopefully will be able to get our heads on straight enough to continue being friends." The reminder that they were friends made his smile a little wider, a tiny bit more genuine. "If I may ask, who are these people you're talking about? Maybe I know them and I can help."

Marinette figured that there was no way that in all of Paris he would know Luka. Adrien was kind of a celebrity so it would be hard to say that Chat hasn't at least heard of him. "Well... My boyfriends name is Luka. He really is sweet, he's just not the one. And the boy I'm in love with..." She took a moment, could this in any way reveal who she was to Chat? She suddenly remembered back a few months ago, Bunnix had taken her to another timeline where Chat Noir was Chat Blanc, how it was all because she somehow let Adrien know who she was and he somehow got the news to Chat who somehow used that to get her and him together- though she didn't know how. But there was no way that could happen here, right?

"The boy I love- it's silly... There's no chance."

A hand reached over tilting her head from the point where it looked down in shame that he had feelings. Her gaze was met with Chats and he already knew what he was going to say. "It's not silly. I'm in love with a girl that repeatedly tells me no. As much as I wish I could change my heart, I can't." He gave a reassuring, support smile before letting her chin go and sitting back.

Taking a deep breathe, the girl nodded. It was several moments, seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, years... She didn't know how long, but it was a minute.

"Adrien Agrest- He um..."

The boys ears perked up and his face heated up. Wait, him? Did she mean like- someone he introduced her to? There were the people at the fencing class that he helped introduce her to, he brought her and a few other friends to some photoshoots and such with plenty of people... "W-What about him?"

"He's the... He's the guy I love. I know it won't happen, but I can't help it." He sighed, flinching to prepare for the hurt in her heart to settle in, though she's surprised when she truthfully feels better. Chat is quiet for a moment so she looks up, though the sight before her is a surprise. Chat is blushing- or is that the lighting? No, there weren't any pink lights nearby, maybe she's just tired- it was getting pretty late. "Chat are you oka-"

"Yup!" The questioned kitty swiftly and quite loudly confirms. "I'm just peachy! *Cats* just got my tongue is all!" He laughs just as volumously and as Marinette notices, forced.

"Do you not like Adrien?" She tilts her head, mirroring Chats previous action, a very cat like motion. "I know a lot of people think that because he's rich he's stuck up but I know him personally and he's actually-"

"No, no that's not it! I actually know him personally too!" Realizing his mistake, Chat quickly covers his mouth. Big green eyes looking much wider than before as he panicks. Will she figure me out?

"Oh... Then what is it? If I didn't know any better I'd think you were blushing over there-" It seemed a thought crossed Marinettes mind, but it was obvious she had to force it to the back burner.

"I erm... I don't know how to say it-" He had to respond or else she would figure him out- no more secret identity then no more Chat Noir Adrien, No more Chat Noir Adrien, no more freedom. "I have a crush on him too!"

He mentally facepalmed- why would he say that? Now when she figured him out she would think he was so self absorbed- though at least he wouldn't have to break her heart-

She paused, staring. "Oh." She made out after several minutes, then remained silent for several more. It was awkward for them both.

"Erm... You know, as I said I know him personally and him and Kagami broke up- it seems that these days a lot of people are trying to get over someone else." He tried so desperately to fix the situation.

"Are you saying he likes me back?" She seemed to get the slightest glimmer in her eyes of hope- and Chat knew that he had to squander it- fuck.

He hated to do it so reluctantly, he responds. "No, unfortunately he doesn't. He likes... Someone else." He looked away and bit his lip, seeming so upset that he had to hurt her. "Though he talks about you a lot! He does like you just... Just as a friend. A very good one, one of his best friends! He just wishes you could talk to him and be more open... Maybe if you tell him how you feel you'll be able to feel more comfortable around him. He's not the kind of guy to shame you for it or anything." Chat could only offer more and more words and a smile that he could only hope helped her feel better.

It does. Only a little bit but it does. She sunk back down and looked up to the sky. "So many girls are after him. Chloe, Lila, hundreds of fan girls. I knew I didn't have a chance. Though... Being friends is better than nothing. Perhaps he'll fall for me in time, perhaps not, but with so many options for him I can't blame him for not picking the weirdo girl who always makes strange noises around him."

He frowns. He really is letting her down, maybe at school he should tell her- no. He wasn't doing that again. But then the girl spoke up again. "If I tell him how I feel about him, you have to too. I'm not taking your advice unless you're confident enough to yourself."

She had a point- but how was he suppose to do that? Obviously he couldn't do it at the same time as her because he can't be two people. But maybe when she came over to him the next day he could mention he had to turn Chat down? Yeah yeah, that makes sense.

The girl yawned and stretched. She was exhausted and needed some sleep. "Hey Chat, I need sleep for tomorrow school- I mean, school tomorrow."

Without a second thought, the boy scooped the lady up bridal style, already walking her to the hatch- she's obviously surprised since she thought that she would be walking herself to bed- but she didn't have the energy to complain. So she nuzzled his shoulder as a thank you and quickly fell asleep in his arms. He was able to get her to bed without a hitch and decided that was enough torturing people for one night, so he headed home- Plagg happily ate the leftover cheese he got from the start of the night.

------------------------------

The next day started and Marinette was full of energy. She trusted Chat and knew he wouldn't lead her astray or lie to her, so she felt confident that Adrien wouldn't make a laughing stalk of her.

She put in her lucky hair ribbons and a nice denim jacket- heck, if she's doing herself up all special she might as well wear that skirt she's been dying to try out on herself. ANd she has to say she erally likes it with her cute t-shirt and cardigan. She looked soft and pastel but modern as well. She actually felt... Cute!

Heading to school with a nice breakfast in her stomach, she marching with her head held high and a bright smile, texting Alya that she was going to tell Adrien.

Of coarse Alya also thought that Adrien was still with Kagami, so she told her not to- it would make her seem like she was trying to steal him away from her, but she made sure Alya knew that she had no intent on actually going out with him. She just wanted things off of her chest. Alyas response did surprise her but after the previous days events, she understood it. Alya was hesitant to be the fault of Marinettes heart break and wasn't as sure about Marinettes actions or intentions. Thanks Lila.

Maybe this could even clear her name? Instead of stealing Adrien away, she would be helping him find happiness in someone else! And perhaps that someone was Chat.

As she walked through those doors, the girl looked around until a familiar head of blonde hair came to view. She smiled to herself and walked over to him, gently tapping his shoulder. He seemed to be having a conversation with Nino who looked- apologetic. He tipped his hat Marinettes way then noticed how she looked. "Oh uh- MariDude. I'm sorry about yesterday I just- erm... You know, Lila is really persuasive. I didn't mean to make you think I turned on you or anything, I was just confused and didn't know who to trust. I'm so sorry that I like, ever doubted you."

Adrien smiled to his friend, proud that he stepped up to his mistake. "Yeah, I noticed you were down but Lila insisted that you just had something going on. I didn't know you were going through *anything* let alone another one of Lila's hissy fits. I... I should have at least tried to talk to you and hear it straight from you."

Marinette was surprised and gave a soft smile. At least Someone besides Luka was there for her from the beginning. She couldn't help but reach over and hug the two tightly. It was a warm and forgiving embrace- after all, everyone makes mistakes and Lila tricked everyone, so the fact that Nino was going against what everyone else thought was enough for her to believe him. "It's alright you two. I'm just so happy you don't hate me-"

This seemed to surprise them both, pulling away. Nino and Adrien held onto each shoulder, speaking at the same time as if they had rehearsed this- but they were so genuinely surprised there was no chance they did. "We could never hate you, Marinette!" One of the two boys adding 'Dude' to the end.

She sniffled, wiping her eyes. Adrien hated seeing her hurt, but this time the tears were accompanied with a smile that he himself had worn as well. "Thank you so much, especially you Adrien since it seemed like you talked to him... I guess I'm really lucky, huh?" It was a small feat, but one that made a big difference in her mood. Both boys were happy to see her so happy.

"Anyways, I'm going to go tell Alya what Adrien told me. It's almost time for class so I'll meet you two in class." And with that, Nino walked off to find where Alya was. Marinette and Adrien alone together now.

They were quiet for a moment. Was Mari really about to do this? How could she? How couldn't she? She promised Chat that she would- "So... How is everything?" She decided to start. Maybe she could just bring it up casually?

The boy laughed a little- now very aware of what she was doing. How did he not see it before? It was so obvious that she liked him, though he was locked in a big house with home school so he didn't have a lot of people skills. "I'm doing fine, Marinette. A lot has happened these last few days. Photoshoots, dating, breaking up and then Lila..."

So he hadn't told him yet? Or maybe Adrien just didn't want to talk about it. Maybe she forced Chat to talk to him too soon after he broke up with Kagami- how hurt was he? "I'm so sorry to hear about that! You and Kagami sounded so happy together. If you want to talk about it you can." Now she knew that she was procrastinating what she had to do, but she couldn't help it.

The boy nodded though and decided to take the offer. Talking about the same thing twice to the same person as two differen't people? Who would have thought that would happen to him. "We were very happy together, but I can't say that I was with her for good reasons. It was a distraction from the person that I'm in love with. But I know deep down that it would never happen... I just need to learn to get over it."

"Why wouldn't it ever happen?" She asked, curious. No, Chat had confirmed that it wasn't her- but she had to support him in whoever it was! If he was in love with Chloe or someone else she had to be there for him! "Anyone would be crazy to turn you down. You're the biggest sweetheart I've ever met!"

Her grin was immeasurable. She was so truthfully joyful and it brought a grin of his own onto the playing field. "Well the person I love isn't exactly on my level... They're so much more popular than me. They'd never have the same feelings for me that I have for them. They've been there for me ever since I met them but they like someone else." It was a sad truth- to Adrien at least.

But Marinette wouldn't let him think that way. Opening her mouth to speak she-

RING

The school bell rang and Adrien looked around, as if confirming that he wasn't imagining it. "Sorry- maybe we can continue this conversation at lunch?" He started. Marinette nodded and the blonde started up to class. Marinette still needed to head to her locker so she did so and packed up her things. While away, she got a text from Alya, apologizing for her attitude the day before and that morning. Today couldn't get much better, could it? She finished getting her text bbooks together and headed to class where her normal arrangement of seats were a little mixed. Nino and Alya were sitting next to each other and Adrien was by himself. Likely what happened? Alya told Nino that Marinette was going to tell Adrien her feelings for him. Chloe was in the room, getting excited and jumped at the opportunity to sit next to her "Adrikins."

She was a little disappointed- until Adrien had explained to her that the seat was taken. He had saved her a seat- in fact as soon as he aske Chloe to get out of the seat, he looked and waved over Marinette, to which Chloe scoffed.

"You're really going to sit with that lying idiot? Did you hear what she did yesterday? And she even tried to blame Lila, saying she was a liar! Yet you're going to choose that pompous brat over me? Ridiculous!"

Adrien shook his head. "Chloe, did you even think about if Marinette was right? You only jumped to the same comclusion as everyone else *because* of everyone else. You like to follow trends. You hardly even *know* Lila so why would you even believe her?" He did little to even look at Chloe after that, trying to reassure Marinette that it was alright. "It's okay, Marinette. I'm still here for you."

Those words cause a whole change in her demeanor. She say next to the boy of her dreams, slouched and completely relaxed- even Alya was surprised to see her so lax. "Thanks Adrien, I can always count on you."

Previously mentioned blonde stormed off, declaring war against Marinette Dupain-Cheng and sitting next to Sabrina.

------------------------------

It was now the end of the day. Marinette and Adrien had such a productive day together and had so much fun with each other. She decided the end of the day would be the best time to tell him, so they could go home and think about what was spoken about and then tomorrow they could talk to each other about it and finally conclude to being best friends! That was all she wanted at this point in time. So now they were standing out in front of the building while Adrien waited for the Gorilla.

"Hey Adrien? Can I tell you something?"

The boy looked expectedly to the other, as if he knew what she was going to say. "Of coarse Marinette. You can talk to me about anything."

The girl nodded, shifting her weight from the front of her toes to the backs of her heels. "So long story short, Chat Noir gave me a surprise visit last night." The looked surprised, but it seemed a little off.

"Chat Noir? What was going on?"

She took a deep breath. She had to do this. "He told me that you and him know each other personally and that you're in love with someone else. I'm guessing he hasn't spoken to you yet?"

"Nope." The boy froze, stiff, blushing bright red at the reminder of what Chat had told Marinette. He was such an idiot- why did he have to say he had a crush on himself? Was he really that dumb? He knew he was smarter than that.

Bluebell eyes shifted around, half shut while observing the blonde in front of her. Adrien was acting strange. At the mention of his crush and Chat Noir, he was already a mess. Why would he be so distraut about Chat Noir? "Alright... Well, he's suppose to see- are you alright? Do you have a fever or anything?"

The boy only could glance away, coughing into his hand with big nervous energy. "No no, I'm fine I'm fine." He promised.

"Okay, if you say so..." She started, still worried. "Well he told me he would talk to you about something if I spoke to you about something." She took a deep breath.

Adrien wanted to just support her. He forced himself into a better composure before looking back to her. "Of coarse! You say whatever you want. I won't judge you."

The girl came back with a new found confidence. She had to do this for Chat. She couldn't let him down! Not after he helped her so much! "I wanted to tell you that- that... um... H-He's curious about the girl you like! He wants to hear all about her!" Shoot! Now not only was she avoiding the underlying issue but she was risking Chats feelings! He doesn't want to hear about her, he wants to tell him his feelings! Shoot shoot shoot-"

Now Adrien was panicking- he couldn't tell her he liked Ladybug! It was embarrassing enough to tell his now ex about it, but his friend that had finally given the chance to get close to and had feelings for him! He bit his lip and glanced away again-

Though to Marinette, Adrien had freaked out twice now when Chat Noir was mentioned. AFter thinking about it for a minute, it seemed to snap the puzzle piece into her brain. She knew what was going on!

"Adrien, did you tell Chat Noir you had a crush on a girl because you really had a crush on him?" She seemed genuinely curious and needed to know.

Poor poor Adrien getting mixed up in this whole situation. He didn't know what to say so he stuttered, trying to explain himself without revealing that he actually loved Ladybug or that he was Chat Noir! Imagine the betrayal she would feel if she ever found out that he pretended not to know her and still consoled her as someone else! Fuck fuck fuck-

"Adrien, you don't have to pretend with me. I'll support you, no matter who you love! That's what friends are for, right?" She seemed so happy to hear that Adrien knew who he loved. Who he wanted to be with. Even if Adrien was in love with another boy, she didn't care. He could be happy since she now knew they both loved each other!

Adrien just became silent. He couldn't get himself out of this one without either embarrassing himself or revealing his identity which was a big old no no. "Y-You caught me red handed..."

She laughed happily and hugged him tightly. "When Chat comes by, I think you should tell him how you feel! It'll really clear things up for you!"

He found it ironic that Marinette was saying this, yet she hadn't done so herself. "Alright I... Guess I will. But only if you tell your crush that you like him!"

Marinettes brows furrowed in confusion very suddenly. "I never mentioned even having a crush- how did you know?"

Now he was *really* panicking. He needed to get out of here. He was screwing everything up! He was about to get found out! But by some miracle the girl didn't seem to figure out. Instead she took her own notes of his body and came to her own conclusion. "Wait a second, did Chat already see you? He did didn't he? And then he told you I liked you! You two are already together huh? I oughtta grab that kitty by the tail and- and-" But deep inside, she knew she wouldn't do anything to Chat Noir He was so kind and sweet, and she already hurt him enough by liking someone not at all interested in her. Leaning forward and placing her forehead on the others chest, she could only sigh, embarrassed as all hell. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

Green eyes shut and he gave the wildly blushing damsel in distress an embrace. Supportive and caring... "It's alright. I still want to be your friend. I'm sure we just need some time. Or we could go into this friendship thing guns ablaze." He joked.

"Yeah. That sounds nice."

------------------------------

Tell me what you thought! I’m not new to writing fanfiction but I think this is the first fanfic I’ve written on here... Anyways, I had this idea stuck in my head ever since a post by @buggachat (Particularly >>>THIS<<< post) This is mostly an original idea, since I’d been thinking about it before. Buggachat is just so inspiring with some of their things though so some of that got shown here! (Erm I hope it’s okay with them- I uh... Didn’t exactly ask if they wanted a plug or anything but they deserve more love!)

[gryffindorcls]

Chat for a Day:  Chapter 4

I’m Never Going to Leave You

After closing the door behind her, Marinette suddenly felt lightheaded.  The adrenaline rush that had accompanied her exchange with Adrien was starting to wear off.  That coupled with the exhaustion from her sleepless night were starting to take a physical toll on her body.

The nurse picked up on her distress, and she was immediately offered a place to lay down.  Grateful for the opportunity, Marinette climbed onto the bed in the nurse’s office and closed her eyes.

Once the nurse drew a curtain around the bed and returned to her desk on the far side of the office, Tikki emerged from her chosen’s purse.

“Are you okay, Marinette?” Tikki asked in a barely audible whisper.

“I’m feeling a little sleepy right now.  My head kind of hurts, too,” Marinette mumbled without opening her eyes.

“You did stay up pretty late last night.”

“Yeah, but it was worth it.  I was confident today, Tikki.”

“Yes, you were.  I’m very proud of you, but it probably helped that Adrien turned out to be Chat Noir though.”

“True.”

“Did I really call Adrien Agreste ‘hot stuff’ and bop him on the nose?”

“Yes, you did.  You also told him that you loved him.”

“Hmmmm...yeah I did.  I’m definitely going to freak out about that later.”

“I wouldn’t expect anything less, Marinette.”

“I think I’m going to rest my eyes for a little…” Marinette cut herself off as she fell fast asleep.

***

Plagg was a Kwami of simple pleasures.  He didn’t require much.  All he ever really wanted was some (well...lots of) camembert, a comfortable place to sleep, and something to keep him occupied when he was awake.  Usually, finding something to do while Adrien was in school was difficult, and he often found himself getting bored inside of his boy’s bag. However, today’s little show had been very interesting to watch.  It was definitely quality entertainment.  

After watching Tikki’s bug deliver what had to have been an Oscar-worthy performance, observing his own chosen’s internal meltdown was simply icing on the proverbial cake.  Before it started, he knew this day was going to be great, but he wasn’t expecting it to be this amazing.  He knew he would be laughing about this for years to come.

While he would never openly admit it, Plagg really did love and care for Adrien.  He didn’t want to see his boy feeling hurt; however, watching him have an existential crisis?  He was totally on board for that.  Not only was it HILARIOUS, but it fulfilled his secret desire to see his chosen happy.  Adrien was finally going to get the girl.  It was the sappy “happily ever after” moment the kid had always dreamed of.

Despite the incredible stunt that bakery girl had pulled, Plagg knew that Tikki’s chosen had a tendency to be a little hesitant around Adrien.  He knew his boy wasn’t perfect (he was probably the most oblivious human being on the planet), but he was afraid that the little bug might get spooked and start avoiding Adrien.  Plagg had seen first hand just how much of a hopeless romantic his holder was, and having Marinette run away would crush him.  

While Plagg typically didn’t get involved in his wielders’ love lives, he refused to see Adrien disappointed...again.  The boy had enough people in his life who consistently let him down, and he didn’t know Marinette well enough to trust that she wouldn’t become one of those people.  He didn’t blame her for turning down Chat’s advances over the past year, but he didn’t want that to bleed into the duo’s civilian relationship.  

In all his years as a Kwami to a miraculous holder, Plagg had never seen two people more perfectly matched.  Without each other, this Ladybug and Chat Noir would never grow into the heroes that they needed to be to defeat Hawkmoth.  This relationship needed to be protected at all costs.  Therefore, as soon as he was able, Plagg zipped out of Adrien’s bag, phased through the wall, and flew down to the nurse’s office.

Plagg hid in an air vent and surveyed the scene below him.  The nurse sat quietly at her desk doing paperwork.  She appeared to be blissfully unaware of the world around her.  He spotted the curtained off section of the room and prayed that Tikki was hiding there with her chosen.

Plagg zoomed into the secluded space and whispered loudly, “Sugarcube?  Are you here?”

Tikki zipped out of Marinette’s bag and shushed her counterpart.  “Quiet, you’ll wake her up.”

He looked at the unconscious girl with a confused expression.  “What happened to her?”

“She didn’t sleep much last night after accepting the challenge from your chosen.  Then, once she found out that Adrien was Chat Noir...actually, I’m not sure what happened.  I think it was the push she needed to get over her anxiety around Adrien.  However, she has a headache now, and she’s been sleeping since she got here.”

“So, she isn’t scared of him anymore?”

“I don’t think she was ever scared of him.  I think she was scared of being rejected by him, but as soon as she found out that Adrien was in love with her...well, that fear got smaller.  I don’t think it took away her all nervousness though.  It took a lot out of her to confess her feelings.”

“I can imagine.  Adrien did it several times.”

“Yeah, he did.  That will probably come up during her private freak out fest later.  At least they found each other.  Wait...your boy figured it out right?”

“Oh, yeah.  He’s already having his own freak out fest.  He’s been catatonic for the past two hours in class.  However, if I know him at all, once he snaps out of it, he will be in full-blown romance mode.  Your girl wasn’t lying when she said that she loves Adrien, right?  Because I don’t think he’ll be able to handle it if she didn’t actually love him.”

“She loves him alright.  You know, she never actually hated Chat Noir.  It’s just that she loved Adrien so much.  Now that she knows they’re the same person, she loves him even more.”

Plagg flew close to Tikki and took her paws in her own.  “We have to make sure this relationship happens.  We can’t let the momentum stop.  These two need each other.”

Tikki giggled.  “Awww, Plagg.  You’re such a big softie.”

“You know I care about all my kittens.  I mess with them because it makes them better heroes in the end.”

“That and you think it’s funny.”

“Yeah, I do,” Plagg said wistfully, “I really do...but that’s not the point!  You and I both know that they will become stronger once they’ve worked on their bond as partners.  They are two sides of the same coin.  Yin and yang.  They complete each other.”

“I know, I know,” Tikki responded, “I was even going to suggest to Marinette that she should reveal her identity soon.  Hawkmoth is getting stronger.  Now, that he has a partner, these two will need each other more than ever.”

“Exactly!  However, these two are in love, and that can be a tricky thing.  We need to ensure that this works out.  Adrien is the most lovesick kitten I’ve ever had, but I’m worried about your chosen.  I know you said she loves him, but can we be sure that she won’t turn him down again or let her nervousness get in the way?”

“I don’t think we have to worry about that.  She seemed pretty determined to get herself a boyfriend earlier today.  Marinette also told me that all she wants is for him to be happy.  She’s still anxious, but I’ve seen her push away fear many times.  Remember how she stood up to Chloe?”

“Okay, that’s good...but we should still help them right?”

“Oh, yeah.  Definitely.”

“Jeez, our kids are a mess this time.”

Tikki smiled and looked at her chosen.  “Yeah, but they’re our messes.”

Plagg sighed, “Alright, so your girl is passed out, and once my boy starts breathing again, he will be looking for an opportunity to get back to her.  We need to make sure that he has that chance.”

“Yes, and we also need to make sure that Alya stays away.  They need alone time.”

“Agreed...BUT your chosen had a full-blown personality change in front of the nosy girl  She was freaking out quite a bit this morning.  She’s probably calmer now, but still.”

“Hmmmm,” Tikki said pursing her lips, “That’s going to be a problem.  Alya is really protective.  If she thinks something is wrong, she’s going to check it out...unless Marinette herself tells her to stay away.  But she can’t exactly do that right now.”

Plagg thought for a moment. “Wait!  I know.  Do you know how to text using your chosen’s phone?”

“Yes, but using her phone without permission is an invasion of privacy!”

“Puh-lease.  You and I both know for a fact that your bug has no boundaries when it comes to cell phones.  May I remind you of that little stunt she pulled with Adrien’s phone?”

Tikki sighed. “No, you’re right.  And that wasn’t the only time she took someone’s phone.  She’ll forgive us.”

“Wait, are you telling me that she’s stolen more than one phone?”  Plagg did his best to hold back his laughter.  (He did not want the nurse to hear him.) “That’s hilarious!  She is a girl after my own heart. Can you imagine if she got the ring instead of the earrings?  She and I would have leveled Paris before Hawkmoth even started sending out Akumas!”

Tikki had already gotten Marinette’s phone out of her purse. “Hush, Plagg! I already agreed with you.  Let’s just get this done.  Who are we texting, and what do we want the messages to say?”

Plagg grinned.

***

Marinette still hadn’t come back from the nurse’s office.  Adrien could feel the emptiness of the seat behind him.  It was not helping him calm down.  

Physically, he was present in Miss Bustier’s classroom that day, but mentally he was gone.  Luckily, there was no lecture.

For the rest of the morning, his brain was flooded with panicked thoughts.  “Ladybug knows who I am.  She knows I’m Chat Noir, and I know that she’s Marinette...and Marinette is Ladybug...and I like Marinette and I like Ladybug.  So, I like both?  No, I only like one girl.  THANK GOD.  But...I left her in the nurse’s office all by herself.  She isn’t back yet...OHMYGOD.  What if something is ACTUALLY wrong?  I left her there, and now she’s dying...no, that’s stupid, Agreste.  She’s fine...but what if she’s not?  That means that I abandoned her in her time of need.  Now she’ll never love me, but wait...no, she already told me that she loved me…”

“She already told me that she loved me,” he whispered to himself.

“And he’s back!  Bro, we thought we lost you!”  Nino exclaimed.

“What did you say, sunshine?”  Alya asked.

Adrien’s eyes locked with Alya’s.  “Marinette told me that she loved me.”

“Yes, she did,” Alya responded while nodding her head, “and that’s just hitting you now?”

“Does...does Marinette like me?”

“I thought that was already established.”

A lovesick smile spread across Adrien’s face. “She likes me.”

“Ladybug likes me,” he thought.

“No, she loves you.  The girl is positively head over heels about you.”

“OHMYGOD! LADYBUG LOVES ME!” his mind screamed.

His brain started to shut down again.  Yes, he had heard Marinette say it earlier, but it was finally hitting him that the girl of his dreams was actually in love with him.  He could feel hot tears prickling the corners of his eyes.  He sniffled, and the tears threatened to fall.  He was at a loss for words.

“Bro,” Nino said putting a hand on his shoulder, “Are you okay?”

Adrien choked back a sob, “I...I’m so happy.  I love her so much.  This is the greatest thing that’s ever happened to me!  I need a minute...I’ll be fine!”

He took a moment to compose himself.  Words couldn’t begin to describe how blissfully happy he was.  He didn’t know it was possible to fall even more in love with a person, but he was proven wrong.

The world instantly looked brighter.  Ladybug had always been a light in his life.  However, now that he knew that Marinette was also his lady, it was like having his own personal star, and she was at the center of his universe.  He was ready to be with her, but first, he needed to figure out a way to see her again...soon.

“Adrien,” Alya began, “This is a pretty long moment.  Are you okay?  We can’t have two friends wind up going to the nurse.”

His response came quickly.  “I’m fine, but I need to get into that nurse’s office after class.”

“Why?” Alya questioned.

He smirked, “I’m going to ask out Marinette.”

“That’s awesome, dude!” Nino laughed.

Adrien and Nino miraculously finished their assignment before the end of class.  Finally, it was lunchtime, and Adrien desperately needed to talk to Marinette.  

As both boys stood up to hand in their work, Adrien’s phone buzzed.  He opened his device and looked at the name on his screen.  His heart started beating faster.

Marinette- Hey, you! :)

Adrien typed four different responses before hitting send.

Adrien- Hi!  Are you feeling any better?

He anxiously waited for a response.

Marinette- I’m fine. My head was hurting, so the nurse let me lay down.

Adrien- I’m just happy you’re ok

“What’s up, buttercup?”  Alya asked, “Is it Marinette?”

“Yeah, she texted me.  She told me that she’s alright and that she fell asleep in the nurse’s office,” he explained while looking at the message on her phone.

Alya looked relieved. “So that’s why she didn’t come back?”

“I guess so,” he shrugged.

Adrien’s phone buzzed again.

Marinette- Could you do me a favor?

He smiled.

Adrien- Anything for you, Princess.  <3

Marinette- Could you bring my backpack down to the nurse’s office?  I left it by my seat.

Adrien spotted her belongings and slung her bag over his shoulder.  As he did so, another message was delivered to his phone.

Marinette- I only want you to come down with my stuff. ;)

He almost dropped the phone.  Adrien could feel the heat of a blush creeping up his neck and face.  Alya and Nino noticed Adrien’s reaction and exchanged worried glances.

“Adrien, dude, what did she say to you?”  Nino asked putting a hand on his shoulder.

Alya looked at the phone screen and laughed.  “Alone, huh?  I can respect that.  My girl is on fire today.  I still think she hit her head or something, but I guess I can trust you to check up on her for me.  Looks like you got your chance to ask her out, loverboy.

Adrien still didn’t respond.  He stood shellshocked.  Ladybug wanted to see him, and she probably wanted to talk to him.  He knew this was his chance to tell her how he felt, so he stood up straight and reminded himself that he was Chat Noir.  He could do this.  She was his partner...his beautiful, amazing partner.

“Is this going to be a regular occurrence from now on?  Like, are you going to melt on the spot every time she says something to you?  You guys are going to be one of those couples, aren’t you?”  Nino remarked rolling his eyes.

Alya elbowed him.  “Shhhhh!  It’s adorable.  Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment?  Do not mess up my ship.”

Instead of responding to Nino’s questions, Adrien shrugged and said, “If you guys don’t mind, I’m just going to go see Marinette now.”

“Alright, sunshine.  We’ll see you after lunch.  Tell Marinette she needs to call me later.”  Alya finished her command with a wink.  She then proceeded to take Nino’s hand and drag him out of the classroom.

Moments later, Adrien left the room and started walking towards the nurse’s office.  On the way there, he had a strange mix of nervousness and excitement brewing inside of him.  It felt like an internal thunderstorm.  However, both of those feelings were quickly overpowered by the sheer adoration he felt as he thought about Marinette.  He quickened his pace.  He couldn’t wait to see her again.

Once he arrived, he slowly opened the door, and the nurse greeted him with a smile.  “Hello, young man!  What brings you here today?  Are you feeling well?”

“Oh, yes, ma’am.  I feel fine.  I’m actually here to bring Marinette her things,” Adrien explained politely.

The nurse nodded, “Wonderful.  What a gentleman!  The poor thing must have been feeling awful.  She fell asleep two hours ago, and she hasn’t woken up since.”

“Wait, she’s not awake?”

“No, she’s out like a light.  I was about to go wake her up.  I’ve already called her parents and told them to keep her home for the rest of the day.  They’re expecting her soon.  She’s right over there.”  The nurse pointed to the curtain and walked back to her desk.

Adrien pulled back the curtain and revealed a still very much asleep Marinette.  He looked at his phone to double check that the messages he received were actually from her.

“Perhaps she woke up for a few minutes and then fell back asleep?” Adrien thought.

Plagg then zoomed into view causing Adrien to glare at the tiny being.  Tikki joined him shortly after.  Upon seeing the two of them together, everything became much clearer.

“Or it was the Kwamis.”

Adrien looked at the magical duo.  “Now, before I begin, I’m guessing you’re Tikki?  Ladybug has told me quite a bit about you.”

The red Kwami giggled.  “Yes, I’m Tikki.  It’s nice to meet you, Adrien!”

Adrien smiled, but his expression quickly shifted to concern when he looked at Marinette on the bed.  “Okay, I just need to ask...is she okay?”

Tikki flew over to Adrien and hugged his cheek.  “You’re so sweet!  No wonder she fell in love with you.  She’s fine.  Marinette had a headache and she’s resting now.  You can wake her up.  I know she’ll be thrilled to see you.”

Adrien was flooded with relief.  “Thanks, Tikki.  However, before we let her join our conversation, I need to ask...who texted me?”

Tikki looked guilty and Plagg grinned.  “That’d be me, kid.  Tikki unlocked the phone, but those messages were all me.”

Adrien shot his Kwami an annoyed look.  “Okay, two things.  One...why are you not in my bag?  What if there was an emergency?”

“Kid, trust me.  Coming down here was an emergency.  You needed help that only we could provide.”

“Okay, we will have words about that later...and two...does this mean that I’ve been flirting with you for the past 15 minutes?  You don’t think the winking face was a little much?”

“It had to be believable.  Look, you should be grateful.  I got you some alone time to sort things out with your girlfriend.”

Plagg had called Marinette his girlfriend a few times in the past, so out of habit, Adrien responded by saying, “She’s not my girlfriend.”

Plagg’s grin widened, “Yet.”

Adrien’s expression softened into a lovesick smile.  “Yet,” he repeated in his mind, “She’s not my girlfriend...yet.”

“And there’s the face.  Don’t get all mushy yet,” Plagg said rolling his eyes, “You still need to get your ‘Princess’ home.”

Adrien’s eyes fell on Marinette.  Her arms were cradling her head and tendrils of hair had fallen into her face.  She breathed softly and steadily.  Seeing her under the fluorescent glow of the lights made his heart swell with affection.  At that moment, he knew that he would love her no matter the circumstances.  She was his everything, and he was never going to take her for granted.  If she agreed to be with him, he would do his best to always make her feel loved.

“She still needs to say yes to being with me,” Adrien whispered.

“Well, you’re never going to find out by standing there!” Plagg exclaimed, “Go wake her up.  Talk to her.  Be everything she needs you to be.”

Adrien knelt next to the bed and gently moved the hair out of Marinette’s face.  He rubbed her arm until her eyes fluttered open and locked with his.  She awoke with a smile.

“Good morning, Sleeping Beauty.  Did you have a good nap?” Adrien cooed in her ear.

Marinette blinked the sleep away from her eyes.  “My Prince Charming came back.”

“My lady, I will always come back for you.”

“So you figured it out?”

“You didn’t exactly make it hard,” Adrien laughed, “That was some show you put on.”

Marinette sat up and stretched, “Yeah, I was dying on the inside the entire time, but it’s okay.  Talking to you is much easier now.”

Adrien gave her a sympathetic look and reached for her hand.  “If it’s not too much to ask, what made it hard before?”

Marinette swallowed and maintained eye contact.  “I think...I was afraid that if I ever told you how I felt, you would disappear from my life.  I don’t know if I could have handled that.”

He squeezed her hand reassuringly, leaned over, and lovingly kissed her on the forehead.  This caused Marinette to giggle and blush.  He placed one of his hands on her cheek and she leaned into his touch.

“Marinette, I would have never cut you out of my life.  I’ve always admired you both in and out of the mask.  And to top it all off, you told me that you love me.  I would be crazy to throw something like that away.  I’m never going to leave you.  I’m here to stay.  I love you so much.”

“You do?”  Marinette had tears in her eyes.

“Yes, I do,” he stood up and pulled her to her feet, “Marinette Dupain-Cheng, I am deeply and madly in love with you, and it would make me the happiest cat on the planet if you would do me the honor of being my girlfriend.”

Marinette laughed, “Always so gallant, Chaton.  Yes, I would love to be your girlfriend.”

Adrien beamed and pulled her into a tight hug.  She pressed her cheek into his chest, and he nuzzled the top of her head.  

He eventually pulled away and took her hands in his own.  “Now, we are still at school, I’m sure that lovely nurse would like us to leave, and your parents are expecting you to be back any minute now.  Would it be okay if I walked you home, Princess?”

Marinette scrunched her nose and giggled again.  “Lead the way, kitty.”

<—Previous   Next—>

AO3

Fanfiction.net

[globerjk]

Marichat May -

Post reveal – Balconies - Secrets

Previous Entire story on AO3

“And you didn’t think of the media coverage?” Mariette asked in disbelieve. “You are the son of the host, the image of his company!”

She let out a sight while pacing. “Didn’t you think for a second that your civilian friend, the one that is very much invested in anything fashion related and that actually goes to your school wouldn’t notice that you were wearing the exact same garment?”

“Wow. I really am dumb” There wasn’t much more for him to say

“You think?” She stopped to face him.

“Marinette” He said taking her hands. “Can we maybe postpone the topic of my stupidity for later? I still have to figure out how to break the news to Ladybug. For now let me concentrate in us and what almost happened”

Chat, no, Adrien came closer “Marinette I think I’m falling in love with you and maybe I was imagining things but I felt like you were also leaning in” She gulped “Where you going to kiss me back?”

“I was.” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Because you like me back? As more than just your friend?”

She nodded. Marinette seem out of words at the moment but Adrien felt like he needed to keep asking her questions.

“Does the fact that you know me outside my costume affects that in any way?”

She nodded again and it was astounding that a simple little gesture could make his heart sink. If that sensation didn’t made him certain of his feelings for her…

Marinette quickly recovered her voice sensing his discomfort.

“Adrien, Chat or however you want me to call you for now on… you need to understand that knowing you outside the mask affects the way I fell about you, but no in a bad way ok? I promise” She said holding his cheeks.

“AS Chat you knew I was in love with another boy, I told you as much the first night you came to visit on this very balcony. But after we started spending so much time together I got confused at first and then kind of recognize a change to my feelings and started to get over the other boy little by little”

“Really mm” She covered his mouth. His eyes were getting bigger with hope.

“I´m not done” she resumed. “As I was saying… Chat is he one helping me move on, without even knowing and I was so ready tonight to leave the other boy behind... Or so I thought” She paused looking into the fading hope on his expression and releasing his mouth “but maybe I don’t have to” she finally finished with a smile.

“What are you saying?” Was he getting this right? Was she admitting to having feelings for both but choosing his first love? Did she need more time to think things over? Was the idea of having romantic feelings for a friend from school difficult to process? Did she feel like he took advantage of her somehow?

“What I´m saying is simply that we need to have a long talk Chat and that it’s almost 2 am on a school night. Please kitty, can you come back tomorrow with me for lunch?” She took his hand to reassure him seeing the disappointment in his eyes.

“I promise you that knowing your identity is not a bad thing, it sure will be difficult with Ladybug…” She trailed off “but for Marinette it’s a wonderful thing, ok? Just come back with me for lunch tomorrow” She got on her tippy toes and gave him a lingering kiss on his right cheek, closer to his mouth.

“As you wish princess” He bowed and kiss her hand bolting from the balcony a moment after and touching the spot she kissed all the way to the Agreste´s manner.

…

The next day the clock slowed down, or at least that’s what it felt like for Adrien and Marinette. When the bell finally rang the all but disappeared through the door together leaving their respective best friends wondering what had happened between them, especially since they were being awkward with each other all day long.

The walk toward the bakery was silent, but once they were on Mariette’s balcony the familiarity of the setting helped them relax.

“You must have known that I would at least catch you father's toast. That was obviously going to the news channels.“ Was the first thing out of her mouth.

“Yeah, but I didn't expected him to ask for my presence next to him, he never does.” Adrien defended.

“And what about the pictures? You were wearing one of the best outfits of the ball, photographers were bound to be all over you! Didn't you think those pictures would get to the media?”

“Would you have cut them out for your walls?” A very Chat Noir grin appeared on his face as he hold her gaze, giggling his eyebrows and earning him a punch

“You don't get to joke right now... You don't get to be funny”

“I never realized how strong you are. For someone so petit you throw a mean left hook!” Adrien said robbing his arm and for the first time it was true that it hurt

Her expression morphed and she seemed to lose her bravado. He looked so much like her dorky Chat that she couldn't help herself and blushed a deep red from neck to ears

“Marinette. I'll apologize to Ladybug for blowing my identity. Honestly, I didn't think it through. But I'm not sorry you know.... I've been very confused about my feelings for a while.”

He said daring to take her hands. Placing them near his heart, like he'd done before only as Chat and the warm feeling was amplified by a thousand. “Last night I finally had a moment of clarity and I want keep moving in that direction.”

"You still love her"

It was not a question

“Am I only second best?"

That was…

"Princess" The word somehow was scarier without the mask. "How can you even think that? You are the girl who made me question my feelings for Ladybug, for my partner and hero of Paris"

"One of the heroes" she said looking down.

"Okay, one if the heroes" Adrien corrected before continuing “You are the one making my reconsider my plans and expectations. I don't even get how, but you sneaked into my heart" He took a step forward "but I know that I don't want you to leave"

He tightened his grip on her hands causing her to finally look up and meet his gaze. When the boy summoned the courage to start leaning forward, Marinette stops him with by turning her face to the side.

He let her hands go with a heave breath.

“I just realized that I have been here for over an hour and you have not touch my nose once, and even if the conversation started as per usual for us when I was here as Chat, you seem to be getting less and less comfortable around Adrien”

Marinette stiffed next to him not daring to look at his face, nor to say anything.

“What's that about, I wonder? Could it have something to do with my perfect hair and my mask less handsome face?”

Now she began trembling obviously not relieve by his attempt at joking.

"Ohhh gosh this is it, isn't it... Time for me to confess... Ohhh I'm going to be sick" She muttered mostly for herself, but Adrian was able to catch every word. Too bad that he took them the wrong way. She needed to express herself better, as she was clearly confusing and hurting him since the night before.

"You don't like me like that” Adrien said sinking. “Me being who I am its making you reconsider. I asked you last night and you said you were okay with this, what changed?"

"Can you please not look at me while I say some things that I was kind of hoping wouldn't be an issue but apparently are?"

"You’re making me anxious" He said with a half-smile

"Please" He eyes were impossibly bigger and he was unable to deny her anything at that moment, he squeezed her hand and turned his back to her.

"You remember the very first time that you came to my balcony I mean for other than Akuma fighting?”

"Yes, that's the day I had a surprise picnic for ladybug. You mention that yesterday as well" He answered expectantly

"Remember that I was upset about a boy?"

"Yeah. Again, you mention him yesterday" This time his tone was not as soft.

"Ahhh Yes… and remember that I also told you that I was confused before the ball? Because of this other boy?"

"I... Yes. Marinette, this conversation happened not twenty four hours ago. Believe me, I remember perfectly" Adrien sounded defeated now. He took a big breath and asked the question he was dreading “You're still not sure if you prefer to be with me or to keep things up with Luka, right?"

"Luka!?” Her voice raised. “Who said anything about Luka?"

“Well, that's the boy you liked, I mean… It has to… it has to be, right. I mean, who else? Since when was hi the one who stuttered.

“Umm… what about you?” Marinette asked.

“ME!” He practically yelled turning around.

"I said I needed you on your back" She panicked moving her arms with no grace.

"Plagg, transforme moi” Marinette covered her eyes from the blinding green light. After opening them, was left facing her not quite yet boyfriend hero.

"Does this help?” Chat asked hopeful.

"It. It actually does. Do you mind?"

"Not At all princess, please continue because I'm pretty sure that my heart is batting so hard that it’s treating to burst out"

She took his hands again and stared into his eyes adoringly "I can't believe that Chat Noir is making me feel all this. I was so sure of the future I wanted with Adrien. Finding out that you are the same person is overwhelming.

"I understand. Now, please princess, please continue"

"Eager are we?" Something as simple as a mask and she was able to talk to his face and tease him again. "It was you, Adrien you, the boy I had a crush on"

"But you never said anything"

"It was pretty obvious"

"No to me it wasn't!" He defended

"What about my awkwardness and my stuttering?" She eyes him playfully.

"I always found those cute parts of your personality" He shrugged.

"The pictures in my walls?" She challenged.

"I ... You... What?" He started indignant "I asked you directly if you were interested and you said that you just liked fashion.” He place a hand to his chest faking being offended by her denial “You said this to my face!"

"And you believe that?" She opened her mouth in surprised, he really was this oblivious.

"Why would I doubt you?"

"Most of the pictures were candits and they didn't show the clothing very well" She giggled

"I think we've already stablish that I'm that dumb" he smiled.

“You are this wonderful mix of incredibly smart boy and dumb dumb Kittie. Hey, and what about the kiss I gave you after heroes’ day?" She insisted.

"Okay, I'll admit that felt pretty cool"

Chat had a dopey smile hands still between hers. He leaned forward and Marinette swallowed hard. This was it. Their eyes began to close, just a few millimeters and they would share their first official kiss.

"Marinette, Adrien! Lunch is ready" Came Sabine’s voice through the trapdoor.

"Ohh for the love of..." Chat groaned and call for Plagg to revert his transformation.

AO3 complete

[whitebear-ofthe-watertribe]

That Which Holds Us - Chapter 7

Pairing(s): Adrien / Marinette, Nino / Alya

Summary: It has been several months since Ladybug and Chat Noir discovered their true identities. Now that they are not trapped by secrets, they can finally be their full selves around each other and have never been closer. Marinette is going into her final year at university, Adrien is exploring new classes and passions, and their friends Alya and Nino seem to be moving towards a happy future together. It all feels like things could not be better.

But of course, nothing in life is quite so perfect.

When Adrien starts having vivid nightmares and visions about his mother, old questions begin to resurface. Will he be able to find the answers, or will these ghosts from the past tear apart the heroes of Paris for good?

Reminder, you can also read / follow this fic at AO3 here, and FF.net here.

Previous Chapters

Chapter Word Count: 5,820

Enjoy!!!

The venue that Nino was to perform at was conveniently near campus. The small old theater – location of hundreds, if not thousands, of plays and concerts over the years – stood on one side of a large courtyard. A grand fountain lay at the center of the courtyard, its water glistening in the soft beams of evening sunlight that streamed through the gaps between trees and buildings.

Marinette and Adrien made their way along the school’s pathways towards a small corner restaurant that they frequented for study dates. The air was comfortably warm, as if the heat of summer was trying to make one last appearance before the weather officially cooled.

Marinette shot Adrien a sideways glance, trying to discern what was going on in his mind. There were dark circles under his eyes, and though he concealed it well, she could sense the tension coming off him.

“So…” she ventured, feeling out whether he wanted to talk about serious things or not. “How was your day?”

Adrien shrugged.

“Shockingly normal,” he said smoothly. And unhelpfully.

Marinette frowned as she waited for him to continue, but when he didn’t, she pressed on.

“Well, normal is completely subjective, so what does normal look like for Adrien Agreste, superhero-slash-model.”

Adrien sighed, giving her a look that said he knew exactly what she was getting at.

“Fine,” he relented. “It was full of people complaining about how last night was a disaster, and how Chat Noir let everyone down. And then my father showed his face in the office for no other reason than to be snippy with me about disappearing before the dinner course had even been served. So, all in all, pretty normal.”

He put on a forced smile as they waited for a group of people to pass in front of them.

Marinette bit her lip in frustration. Adrien’s new blasé behavior wasn’t fooling her.

“Adrien, you know they’re all wrong about you, right?” she said finally, slowing to a stop on the sidewalk.

Adrien turned to look at her. His jaw tightened a little when he saw her expression.

“I’m alright, Mar,” he said, with a shrug and another forced smile. “I couldn’t care less about what they say, I’m just glad they’re finally catching on.”

“Catching on?” Marinette squinted at him suspiciously. “Catching on to what, exactly?”

“To the fact that I, the shinning son of Gabriel Agreste, am absolutely useless,” he chuckled humorlessly, avoiding her gaze as he turned to continue walking. “I mean it’s about time, right? Maybe I should consider retiring soon!”

 “Adrien, this isn’t something to joke about,” Marinette said, her feet carrying her forward once more to follow him. “You deserve none of that garbage, and you know it.”

“Don’t I?” he called over his shoulder with a wry smile.

And with that, Marinette was done.

Lengthening her stride, she shot passed him and whirled to face him directly, cutting him off mid step.

“Enough!” she snapped.

Taken aback, Adrien froze as he looked down at her.

“Don’t you dare start thinking you deserve any of what they’re saying!” she said, stepping right up to him and poking a finger into his chest. “You are incredible, and brave, and so strong. You’ve given so much for them, and they have no idea! But I do!” Her voice shook a little. She could feel furious tears welling up, but she forced them away. “I’ve been defending how worthy you are to everyone else today, now please don’t make me fight you, too.”

He stared at her as she glowered up at him.

She hated how he did this; after so many years of bottling up his emotions, there were always hurdles she needed to cross before he would open up. He had learned enough to eventually take down his guard and actually talk to her, but not before trying to pretend that everything was fine. She knew the part of him that didn’t want to put any burden on her would almost always be struggling with the part of him that wanted to be fully known and accept her help.

The longer she held his gaze, the more she saw his walls crumble. Finally, for the first time that evening, she saw his genuine emotions crack through the façade.

“I – I’m sorry,” he said finally, reaching a hand up to sheepishly rub at the back of his neck. “I’m sorry, Marinette. You’re right, I shouldn’t be joking about it.”

“It’s not that you’re joking about it,” she countered. “It’s that you’re joking to cover up the fact that you’ve taken their words to heart. That’s what is pissing me off.”

Adrien’s expression darkened as he considered her words. For a moment she thought he might dispute her point, but finally his shoulders slumped in resignation.

“I suppose that’s not… entirely… untrue,” he said finally.

Marinette’s anger began to melt as she stepped forward and pulled him into a hug.

Slowly, he wrapped his arms around her and held her tight, his cheek resting against the top of her head.

She could feel his heartbeat as she buried her face into his chest.

“When are you going to realize that I’m always right?” she said, her words muffled into his shirt.

Adrien let out a snort.

“Almost always,” he said.

She smiled. “Ok fine, almost always. But that’s still pretty close to always!”

“Fair enough,” Adrien pulled away to rub her arms affectionately as he gave her a grateful smile. “You’re at least ninety percent right on this particular subject.”

“Nope,” she rolled her eyes. “I’m at a full one hundred percent on this one, and you can’t change my mind.”

Adrien’s grin broadened at this, and he didn’t try to argue further. Then, taking her hands, the scrap of fabric she’d been pressing into her palm finally caught his eye.

“Hey, wait. What’s this?”

Raising her hand up to eye level, he frowned as he pulled the fabric away and discovered the place where the needle had punctured her. The skin was still flaming red, but the bleeding had mostly stopped.

“You’re hurt?” he scolded, examining the mark closely.

“It’s nothing,” she sighed impatiently. “I’m fine, really.”

He tore his gaze from her palm to shoot her a frustrated look.

“Oh, come on. You know I’ve had worse than this,” she snapped, trying to tug her hand back.

Adrien held tightly at her wrist.

“We fight supervillains on a near daily basis,” he said with exasperation, “and yet you still manage to inflict injuries on yourself doing schoolwork.”

“In case you hadn’t realized, any poise or grace I have as Ladybug is purely thanks to Tikki. I’ve always been a walking disaster outside the suit.”

“That’s not true!” he argued, but the incredulous look she threw him made him rethink his words. “Ok fine, that’s not completely true.”

“Only mostly true,” she said, nodding with finality.

Adrien rolled his eyes with a snort but didn’t press the point.

Marinette was relieved to see some of his tension begin to fall away a little as they joked. It was a small victory, but she would take what she could.

“It’s completely normal, you know,” she said as they walked towards the restaurant’s patio, her thoughts returning to their previous conversation. “To feel like you’re… not enough.”

Adrien sighed as they took their seats, but Marinette noticed that he had at least dropped his sardonic expression. She scooted her chair around the table so that she could sit closer beside him.

“I mean, you know more than anyone how much I’ve struggle with that, right?” she pressed on.

The corner of Adrien’s mouth twitched into a hesitant smile and he nodded.

“And do you remember how you always encouraged me, even when I was ready to completely give up on being Ladybug?”

“I can be painfully optimistic,” he snorted.

Marinette smiled.

“Yes, sometimes,” she agreed. “But that doesn’t mean that everything you said back then wasn’t true. We’ve always had to do some incredibly difficult things, and I supposed we’ve been doing this long enough that it’s easy to get tunnel vision.”

She reached out and pulled Adrien’s hand into hers.

“But the important thing is to remember who we are and what we fight for. The people of this city rely on us because we were chosen to do what they can’t. And when it all feels like too heavy a burden to carry, please remember that you aren’t in this alone.”

“I know,” Adrien nodded, his thumb running soft circles along the back of her hand. “I know that we’re always going to be there for one another, I just…” he sighed again, scrunching his nose as he struggled to find the right words. “I guess… now that I know that Hawkmoth has this power over me… maybe that’s what’s been making it so easy to just give in to those dark thoughts.”

Marinette’s grip on his hand tightened.

A waiter approached their table with bread and olive oil.

Marinette gave him a grateful nod and quickly ordered a house wine and some hors d'oeuvres she knew they both liked.

Adrien said nothing while she did this, merely nodding in agreement when she glanced his way for approval. He took some vinegar that sat on their table and poured a bit into the oil.

When the waiter left, she said, “You know how Master Fu always talks about balance? How our Miraculous were made to be used in tandem, equal parts of the same powers. They must always be used together in one way or another, or else things fall out of alignment.”

Adrien raised an eyebrow but nodded.

“Well, I think it’s pretty obvious that the whole balance thing extends beyond what we do as Ladybug and Chat Noir. We have been friends… partners… for so long that I feel like we have become as much a part of that balance as the power in the Miraculous, you know?”

She pulled one hand away from Adrien’s to tear off a piece of bread and dip it pensively into the oil and vinegar, watching as the two substances created a swirled pattern on the plate.

“Adrien, you are the one who has held me in balance all this time,” she said quietly, surprising even herself with the emotion in her voice. She inhaled a deep breath and continued. “You have always been there to pull me back into sync whenever something bad happens or when I’m doubting myself. When I’ve fallen apart, you held all my pieces together. You’re like… my personal solid rock. From the very beginning, when I knew there was no way I could be a hero, you knew that I had what it took. You held me together and helped me become Ladybug. And… I just want you to know that I’m here for you in the same way you’ve always been there for me. I know that I can’t fully understand the battle you’ve been forced to fight, but please know that I… I’m always going to be by your side, to help you balance out that darkness and to help you fight.”

Adrien’s eyes softened as he stared at her, and she felt her face growing hot at the depth of her own words. Clearing her throat, Marinette turned to the menu, trying to make it seem like she was suddenly engrossed in the scrawling words, but not actually taking in anything they said.

“I know exactly what you mean,” she heard Adrien say softly.

Before Marinette could respond, she found herself being wrapped into his arms.

“You have always been there for me,” he said, and she felt his warm breath as he buried his face into her hair. “Even from the beginning, when you didn’t know me that well and had no reason to care, you were still there for me. You hold me together, too.”

After another long moment, Adrien pulled back, his eyes brighter than they had been earlier.

Marinette smiled, running her hand affectionately down his arm.

The sun was setting below the city’s horizon, and the clouds towering high above were painted with the pinks and golds of its last light.

“Oh, I almost forgot!” Marinette exclaimed, tearing off another bite of bread. “You were trying to tell me something after you left your father’s office last night, right?”

To her surprise, Adrien’s face had darkened again, a crease appearing between his brows.

“What?” she asked, swallowing quickly and leaning towards him. “What happened? Was it something bad?”

But Adrien shook his head, taking a piece of bread for himself as he quickly schooled his features into a mask of unconcern.

“No, it’s nothing,” he said. “Don’t worry about it.”

Marinette gazed at him thoughtfully.

“Are you sure? You seemed pretty… I dunno, shaken?”

“Nah, it was just my father being his usual self,” Adrien shrugged, though he still didn’t quite meet her eye. “It doesn’t really matter anymore.”

“Ok…” Marinette said finally, though still not entirely convinced. “Suit yourself.”

*******

“Tonight’s gonna be a good one, eh boys?” Nino said, grinning.

He, John, and Antoine were crossing the large square. It was full of people enjoying what promised to be one of the last warm evenings of the season.

“I’m really looking forward to doing that new song, Antoine,” he continued. “It’ll be a total hit!”

Antoine gave him a halfhearted smile, shrugging.

“Eh, I guess,” he said, his attention turning to a couple young kids chasing each other around the large fountain.

Nino raised an eyebrow at John, who shrugged in response.

Antoine had been in a weird mood for days now. His enthusiasm during their rehearsal that afternoon had been rather lacking, and he wasn’t nearly as jazzed as usual about their upcoming show. He hadn’t said anything to either of them, but Nino could tell something was weighing on his mind.

“Seriously, you ok, man?” Nino asked, peering curiously at him.

Antoine shrugged again, not meeting his eye.

“Yeah, totally,” he said flatly.

Nino frowned. As they neared the fountain, he turned to John.

“Hey man, you want to go ahead and make sure everything’s ready?” he gave John a meaningful look.

John nodded, understanding passing across his face.

“No problem! See you guys in a bit.”

He hurried off, weaving between groups of wandering people before disappearing into the theater.

Antoine gave Nino a confused look as he steered them towards the fountain and pulled him down to sit at the edge of the water.

“Ok, talk,” Nino said, gazing expectantly at him.

Antoine frowned before turning away and shaking his head.

“It’s really nothing. You don’t need to make a big deal of it.”

“Oh, I’m not make a big deal of it,” Nino said lightly, leaning back on his hands. The marble beneath his palms was flecked with water droplets. “But whatever ‘it’ is, it’s clearly dragging on you, and I want to make sure my friend is actually ok before he has to entertain hundreds of people.”

He gave Antoine a sideways look.

Antoine gritted his teeth. After a long moment, though, his shoulders slumped. Leaning forward onto his knees, he turned his head to look at Nino.

“I’m sorry, man, I guess I’ve just been in a weird headspace lately.”

“Weird how?” Nino asked, frowning.

He waved a hand in the air, trying to find the right words.

“I dunno, it’s like… I’m not sure if I really get much joy out of doing these concerts anymore.”

He avoided Nino’s gaze.

Nino said nothing, waiting for him to continue.

“Like… I still enjoy doing music, but this just doesn’t feel like what I want to do anymore. I feel like I don’t know where I want to go in life, but regardless it isn’t this.”

Nino nodded, leaning his head back to look up at the towering clouds high above them. The last rays of sunlight framed them in brilliant gold. A gentle breeze picked up some of the spray from the fountain, blowing a soft mist onto the back of his neck and arms.

“I’d been wondering if you were feeling that way,” Nino said finally. “I mean, I know you’ve still been writing songs and all, but lately it just felt like your heart wasn’t in it as much as it used to be.”

“That’s fair,” Antoine said, his voice full of resignation. “I guess it’s just hard for me to imagine what else I could be doing with my life. Like, we’ve been doing this since high school. This is what I know how to do. So, does that mean I’ve already put myself into a corner?”

Nino gave a snort.

Antoine turned to him again, his eyes reproachful, but Nino just reached out to clap him lightly on the back.

“Dude, are you serious?” Nino said with a grin. “You’re one of the most talented people I know! You can do whatever you set your sights on.”

Antoine let out an irritated huff, rolling his eyes at Nino’s words.

“Are you sure you’re not just talking about yourself?” he asked.

Nino listed his head, frowning.

“I mean,” Antoine continued. “You have all these amazing dreams, plus the skills to meet them. You just got signed for that movie soundtrack, for crying out loud! You seem like you have everything figured out and I just… I want to know what that feels like.”

Sighing, Nino leaned forward to mirror Antoine’s posture.

“Dude, I don’t have shit figured out,” he said.

Antoine glanced at him, incredulous.

“I know it seems like I do, but it’s true!” Nino insisted. “I mean I’ve always wanted to do music and movies, but do you seriously think there aren’t times where I wonder if I’m doing it all wrong and need to be pursuing something else?”

“You always seem so happy to be doing what you do, though,” Antoine argued, his hands balling into fists. “You seem to love all the traveling and the performing, and I… I used to enjoy it, but I can’t get on that same level anymore. Don’t get me wrong, I still love visiting new people and places! I’ve always loved making music, so this just seemed the most obvious path. But it just doesn’t feel as fulfilling, I suppose. Like we crossed that line of ‘making it big’ and now what else is there to achieve?”

“Duh, selling out the biggest stadiums in the world?”

“Ha-ha-ha,” Antoine deadpanned. “As incredible as that is, it’s not quite the sense of achievement I think I need.”

“I get it,” Nino said, shooting him a grin. “You’ve always been one to shy away from the things a lot of people might find superficial.”

“I don’t even know if I can call it that,” Antoine shrugged. “I think it’s more about having set goals to reach, obstacles to overcome… something tangible to work towards.”

“Well then,” Nino hedged. “When was the last time you felt that sense of achievement?”

Antoine inhaled deeply, lifting his gaze up to the sky as he thought.

“I dunno… I’ve been teaching my cousin to play her guitar these last few months, and that’s been pretty rewarding.”

“Have you given professionally teaching people music any thought before?”

“Not seriously,” Antoine tilted his head thoughtfully. “I don’t think it’s ever really crossed my mind. I mean I had a lot of fun with it before, and it was totally amazing to see her get better and have that fresh excitement about it… but what if that isn’t right for me either? What if I get bored, or stop liking it? What if I end up right back here not knowing what I want to do with my –”

“Dude, you’re overthinking this,” Nino broke in, stifling a chuckle. “You’re treat all of this as if any decision you make will be the end-all be-all. But what’s stopping you from trying out a whole bunch of different things?”

“But how do I even start something like teaching?” Antoine asked, running an exasperated hand through his hair.

“I think the only thing stopping you is your fear of failure,” Nino supplied, slowly considering his words. “It’s like… you’ve got it in your head that everything in life has to be linear, and that if you go down one path then that means you suddenly block off all the other paths. And I think that is what you need to forget about.”

“How will I even know if teaching will make me happy?”

“The only way you can know that is just giving it a shot. And if it turns out that teaching also isn’t the right fit, then what’s to stop you from moving on to something new? You just gotta keep moving forward, man. Even if you do something and it doesn’t fulfill all your expectations, at least you’re still living life! And someday, after you’ve tried all these new things, maybe you’ll be able to look around and realize that’s where you’re supposed to be. And if you hadn’t tried all those things then you might have never discovered it.”

Looking around at Antoine, Nino could see a sardonic smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.

“Damn. You should be a motivational speaker with speeches like that.”

Nino snorted and elbowed him in the ribs.

“I’m serious, man!” he said as they both laughed. “I know it sounds like some gushy, optimistic bumper sticker or something, but really the best thing you can do in life is follow your joy. Follow your joy by trying new things, and then share that joy with others where you can. Don’t give up on yourself.”

Antoine shook his head, but the grin he wore was genuine.

“Thanks,” he said after a long moment. “I appreciate your trying to help. I’m sorry for how off I’ve been lately.”

“No worries,” Nino shrugged. “We all had a feeling you were dealing with some stuff. I’m just glad you finally decided to talk about it.”

They sat there for several quiet minutes, listening to the conversations and laughter around them. Another breeze blew mist onto Nino’s back, and he relished the cool feeling.

“It’s getting late,” Antoine finally said. “We should probably get going. Don’t want John going out onstage by himself.”

“Ah, I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Nino waved his hand, grinning. “He’ll probably have so much fun that he’ll decided he needs to go solo.”

“Let’s not feed his ego that much,” Antoine laughed.

Standing up from the fountain, they moved to leave when a familiar voice called out across the square.

“Nino!”

Turning, Nino spotted Adrien and Marinette sitting at one of the patio tables of a nearby restaurant. They waved and smiled as a waiter dropped off their bill.

Nino and Antoine returned the wave.

“Why don’t you go on ahead,” Nino said, sitting down once more on the fountain’s ledge and leaning back on his hands. “I’m going to say hi to those guys real quick, it’ll only be a minute. You can go help John make sure everything’s alright if you’d like.”

Antoine nodded.

“Tell them ‘hi’ from me,” he said before jogging off to the theater.

Nino let out a long breath, wishing he could do more to help Antoine. There had been plenty of times in his own life where he’d been stuck with similar doubts about his choices, but at least Alya had always been there to help talk him through things.

“Those were some very wise words,” said a voice beside him.

Turning, Nino found a tiny old man standing a few feet away from him, smiling kindly. He wore a bright floral shirt and his arms were fully occupied with brown paper bags full of groceries.

“Pardon?”

“Forgive my eavesdropping,” the man said, taking a step closer. “I couldn’t help but overhear your conversation with your friend. It is very kind of you to encourage him like that.”

Nino couldn’t help but grin.

“Thank you, Monsieur,” he said, sitting up straighter. “I’m just glad I was able to talk him through some stuff.”

“It is hard for everyone to navigate the many different paths that life takes us on,” the man said, nodding sagely. “It is important to have good friends to help you through it, and it is clear to me that you are, indeed, a very good friend. The people close to you are certainly fortunate to have you to rely on.”

“That’s very kind of you,” Nino grinned, feeling heat flood his cheeks at such high praise. “I’m Nino by the way.”

“It is good to meet you, Nino,” the man said, returning his smile. “My name is –”

“Master Fu?”

Turning, Nino saw that Adrien and Marinette had finished paying for their meal and were now standing beside them, looking curiously between himself and the man.

“Do you two know each other?” Marinette asked, smiling as she stepped forward to quickly peck Nino on the cheeks.

“Not officially,” the man said, smiling benignly. “We were just getting acquainted by chance.”

“What a coincidence!” Adrien said with a grin. “Master Fu has been a… well, a sort of life coach to both Marinette and I for years now.”

Nino noticed that Adrien was sporting dark circles under his eyes.

“Really?” he turned curiously to look at the man. “What kind of life coach?”

“Well, certainly not one you seem to need,” Master Fu said, shooting him a conspiratorial look. “It sounds like you have quite some words of wisdom under your own belt.”

Nino laughed.

“Only for my friends. I myself can always use whatever advice I can get.”

“And that, in itself, is an excellent form of wisdom,” Fu grinned. “Well, I’d better be off. Can’t let this butter pecan gelato go to waste!”

“Yes, I’d better get going as well,” Nino said, standing up and realizing that he towered over the tiny man. “I’m playing that theater tonight, and my bandmates are waiting for me.”

“We’ll stop by for tea soon, Master,” Marinette said.

Though her words sounded light, Nino thought he saw an oddly grave expression cross her face. But when he looked more closely, her light smile had returned.

“My door is always open. And that goes for you as well, Nino,” Fu said, turning to him. “I would greatly look forward to speaking with you more in the future. I’m sure there are… many things we could discuss.”

“I look forward to it,” Nino said, smiling and ducking his head in a quick bow of farewell. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Master Fu.”

“The honor was all mine.”

Master Fu shifted the bags in his arms to wave goodbye.

As he raised his arm, Nino caught sight of a familiar jade bracelet tied around his wrist. He froze, staring at it.

There was a glint of secret amusement in Master Fu’s eyes as he turned to leave, tucking his bracelet out of sight once again.

And as Nino made his way towards the theater with Marinette and Adrien, he had the sneaking suspicion that his friends were getting much more than simply “life coaching” from the old man.

*******

The air inside the theater pulsed with loud music from one of the opening bands as Marinette led Adrien through the lobby.

Nino had parted with them at the entrance, hurrying backstage to join his band.

As they rounded a corner, Adrien spotted the stage raised above a large cheering crowd. Fog and bright colored lights flashing through the otherwise darkened hall, giving the performers a neon glow. 

Marinette tugged him forward, her fingers entwined with his. She wove a path through the crowd and up to the front where it was standing room only. Finally coming to a stop, she let out a whoop and raised her arms to start swaying in time with the music.

Adrien gazed around, taking it all in.

The air was hot and humid, thick with a range of floral scents. A bar in one of the back corners was advertising a range of cocktails, and hundreds of people pressed in tightly together, some carrying drinks as they danced.

The band on stage was made up of four women wearing eclectic outfits that dripped with shimmering jewelry. Two of them were singing in a language he didn’t know.

The final notes of their last song rang through the hall, replaced quickly by a tidal wave of cheers. The performers bowed to them all before moving off stage. The cheering continued, pulsating in Adrien’s ears until it crescendoed to a deafening volume as Nino and his bandmates came into view.

Beside him, Marinette jumped into the air and waved her arms, shouting her praise.

Nino flashed a grin at the crowd. He pulled his keyboard into position at the front microphone.

“How’s everybody doing tonight?” he asked, his voice magnified to echo through the room.

He was met with a fresh wave of enthusiastic screams.

“We’re gonna play you a few of our songs,” he continued as he thrummed a few melodic notes. “We hope you’ll like them!”

A momentary hush fell over the room, broken by a couple scattered whoops, before Nino brought both hands down on the keys and filled the space with an upbeat rhythm. Once again, the hall erupted with screams and hollers of approval as people began jumping and dancing to the music.

Adrien and Marinette were pushed tighter together as the crowd surged forwards in excitement, drawing them closer to the stage.

Looking down at her, Adrien grinned as Marinette paid no mind to the tight space – she was using the little room they had to dance along with everyone else.

His eyes were drawn the curves of her waist and the entrancing way her dark hair caught the lights. Her cheeks flushed with excitement and her soft lips were turned into a beaming smile, dazzling him.

‘How is she so beautiful?’ he thought, momentarily in awe that he had her in his life.

Everything weighing on his shoulders seemed to evaporate as he focused on her. The joy she exuded was contagious.

He reached a hand out to wrap around her other side and pull her into a spin.

Marinette gave a squeak of surprise before dissolving into laughter as she caught on to what he was doing. Taking hold of one of his fingers, she lifted their hands high up and allowed him to spin her again, twice, three more times before draping her arms over his shoulders.

Adrien placed his hands on her hips, his fingers brushing along the soft, warm skin where her shirt rode up. He pulled her close, enjoying the feel of her against him and grinning as she closed her eyes and flowed with the music. For the first time in days, he forgot the troubles that awaited them outside. In that moment, the only thing he let himself focus on was the woman he had given his whole heart to.

As song after song played, they danced together in the little space they shared, beaming whenever they caught each other’s eye.

“Hey!” Marinette called to him after a while, raising her voice for him to hear her above the music. “Can you bend your knees for a sec?”

“Wha- why?” he inquired, tilting his head in confusion.

“Just do it!”

“… Ok?”

Adrien did as he was told, lowering himself until he was at eye level with her.

She regarded him thoughtfully for a moment before stepping forward and wrapping her arms around his neck. Her fingers laced into his hair as she closed her eyes and pressed her lips against his.

He melted into her touch.

Her breath was soft and warm on his mouth, and his whole body tingled as he returned the kiss. He tightened his own arms around her waist and straightened, pulling her against him as her feet left the ground.

Marinette laughed, breaking the kiss and drawing back a little to look at him.

Adrien returned her smile before burying his face in her neck. He inhaled deeply and held her there for a long moment before setting her back down again.

“I don’t know what I’ve ever done to deserve you,” he murmured into her ear. “But I hope you know I’m more thankful to have you in my life than I could ever put into words.”

“You’ve never had to do anything to deserve me, mon chaton,” she hummed back, reaching her thumb up to gently caress his cheek. “You’ve always underestimated how truly good you are, you know that? You deserve every happiness in the world just by being yourself.”

Adrien shook his head but allowed himself a small smile.

“I love you,” he whispered, knowing she could read the words on his lips.

“I love you too,” she said, her own words drowned out by loud cheers as Nino’s band pounded the last chords of a song before immediately jumping into the next one.

They held each other tightly. Her head rested against his chest as they swayed slowly in place, ignoring whatever tempo the crowd was dancing to as the music thrummed around them.

Adrien had no idea how long they stayed like that, safe in each other’s arms, but a sudden buzz from his pocket pulled him back to the present. Reaching to retrieve his phone, he checked it over Marinette’s head, careful to not disturb her as they continued to sway.

The message was from Master Fu. It seems he had been able to set up Adrien’s travel plans faster than expected – his flight to Tibet would depart in a little over one week’s time.

Once again, Adrien’s mind was flooded with doubt.

There was a part of him that deeply regretted not just telling Marinette everything he had learned about his father and the Peafowl Miraculous. It would have been so easy, and he knew that telling her would likely release of some of the burden.

But Master Fu had been right; Marinette had theorized that his father was Hawkmoth all those years ago. So, if he told her everything now, she likely would come to a similar conclusion once more.

He knew it might be unwise to keep Marinette in the dark, but this just hit far too close to home. What if she jumped right into action? What if she went immediately to his father’s office, demanding he hand the Miraculous over? What if she took him directly to the police under the possibility that he was aiding Hawkmoth? For that, he was not ready. He needed solid proof before he could bring himself to accuse his father of such villainy.

No, he could not tell her, not yet. Adrien needed to discover the truth on his own first.

Lol can you see where I had a self-therapy sesh with my writing in this chapter?

This was a pretty calm one in the midst of... well, everything that has happened and (no spoilers) everything that's coming, so I hope you guys enjoyed it! To the handful of you still reading my stuff after a million years of hiatus, thank you so much for you comments!! You have no idea how much I LOVE hearing form you!!!

[ruthlessribbons]

The Martyr

Chapter 6: Useless

Also on Ao3

Hey guys! Sorry I'm late with this update... life has been, so so fun.

This was chapter was a little more difficult for me to write so I hope you guys enjoy it!

“Cat? Cat Noir!” called a voice.

Cat Noir’s eyes slowly opened, searching for the voice that was summoning him. His vision was blurry and his head was pounding but he thought he could make out the image of Ladybug crouched over him, face riddled with concern.

What happened? Cat thought.

As his vision cleared, he looked around to see bystanders all throughout the street, watching as Ladybug crouched over him, trying to wake him up.

“Cat are you okay?” Ladybug asked, helping him to sit up.

“Of course, M’Lady,” Cat replied, rubbing the back of his head. “Just trying to remember what happened. What happened to the Akuma?”

Before Ladybug could answer they heard the sound of camera’s going off, taking photos of the scene in front of them. Ladybug frowned, pulling Cat to his feet.

“Let’s go somewhere private first,” she insisted.

Cat Nodded, and followed as she jumped to the rooftops, quickly finding a quite place in an alleyway about a block away from the Cafe.

Landing in the alleyway, Cat turned to Ladybug, who wore a stone-like expression on her face.

“So, what happened?” Cat asked again.

“Half way through the fight,” Ladybug began, looking down towards to ground. “The Akuma threw a car each at the both of us, and instead of saving yourself, you extended your baton to push me out of the way, letting yourself get crushed under the car that was thrown at you.”

That’s right, Cat thought. I didn’t have a choice.

Ladybug was still recovering from being thrown across the street by the Akuma, and wasn’t going to be able to react in time to avoid the car. He was too far away to reach her himself but Cat’s baton had incredible extension speed. He was lucky that his baton reached her when it did, otherwise Ladybug may have been taken out of the fight, which would have been bad for all of Paris.

“Well at least it ended well,” Cat said. “That could have been a wreck.”

Ladybug’s eyes shot up, staring Cat Noir down with an icy glare that could cause even the bravest of heroes to tremble in fear.

“M’Lady—”

“Don’t you ‘M’Lady’ me Cat,” Ladybug spat.

“What?” Cat said, taken aback.

“I thought you may have died!” she exclaimed. “That car hit you with such force that I thought I may have actually lost you this time!”

“Ladybug, you know I’m not going anywhere,” Cat assured her, reaching out to her.

“That’s not the point Cat!” she said, batting his hand awar. “Every time this happens you make it out like its no big deal. Like it’s a joke!”

“I don’t think it’s a –”

“Do you think I like watching you take hit after hit? Do you think I enjoy having to fight Akuma’s on my own? How many more times are you going to recklessly sacrifice yourself for me?”

“I’m just—”

“I just don’t understand why you don’t look after yourself more. Why you always have to throw yourself between me and any type of danger.”

“Ladybug calm down—”

“Do NOT tell me to calm down Cat. I was afraid you had actually died this time. Do you know what it would do to me if I had lost you? Do you?”

Cat Noir stared at her, dumfounded and unable to form a response as tears welled up in her eyes. Guilt flooded through him as he took in the weight of her words.

“I’m sorry M’Lady,” he said softly.

“Sorry? That’s it? That’s all you have to say?” she replied coldly, after a few moments of silence. “That’s your response to what you put me through?”

“I’m just trying to protect you,” Cat said calmly.

“Well if you spent less time recklessly sacrificing yourself then maybe I wouldn’t understand why half of Paris believes that you’re just a useless liability!” she yelled.

Cat froze, watching as her hands shot up to her mouth, fully aware of what she had just said. Cat’s expression slowly turned blank, careful to hide any emotion, as regret fully enveloped Ladybug’s eyes.

“You think I don’t know what the people of Paris think?” Cat asked softly.

Ladybug took a step back, afraid of the sudden change in Cat's demeanor.

“I hear what they say, know what they think,” Cat continued, an iciness creeping into his voice. “I know they just see me as just some stupid sidekick who either gets in the way or offers no help.”

“Cat—”

“I know that many of them think that Rena, Carapace or even Queen Bee would make a better partner than me. Hell, I have heard that so often that it’s made me question myself sometimes.”

Cat watched Ladybug’s lips quiver as her gaze drifted towards the ground, feeling the full weight of Cat’s words.

“The only thing that kept me believing that I was right for this job, was that I thought that you at least believed in me Ladybug,” Cat said.

“But I do—”

“Then why would you say that!?” Cat snapped, no longer able to contain his emotions.

“I didn’t mean to say that,” Ladybug pleaded. “I was just upset and I—”

“Couldn’t keep it in anymore?”

“No! I just don’t understand why you risk so much to protect me!”

“Because I have to!”

“Don’t let your feelings for me cloud your judgement Cat.”

Cat Noir blinked, taking a step back, offended by by her comment.

“Don’t insult me,” he whispered. “This has nothing to do with how I feel.”

“Are you sure?” she asked, the fire returning to her voice. “Because I see no other reason that you would constantly endanger yourself.”

“Because if Paris loses you, then that’s it! We lose!” he yelled. “Paris needs you! Without you there is no cure to reverse the damage. Without you we can’t cleanse the Akuma. Without you Hawkmoth wins. Every risk I take is to ensure that that never happens!”

Cat paused for a moment, watching as his words sunk in.

“You’re right,” he continued. “Half of Paris thinks I’m a liability. So, if I was lost, Paris would survive. Paris would move on. Hell, Paris might not even notice. But you? Paris needs you. It needs Ladybug. You’re their symbol of hope. And my job is to ensure that Paris never has to go through that.”

“Cat—”

“All I can do is destroy. I can’t fix things like you can. I can’t even inspire people the way you can. So maybe you’re right. Maybe I am just a useless liability. But at least I can stop Paris from having to endure a future that doesn’t involve you.”

Ladybug opened her mouth to respond but was cut off by the familiar beeping of her earrings, warning her that she was going to transform back soon.

“Well I guess that my cue,” Cat said softly, turning to leave.

“Cat wait!” Ladybug said, grabbing his arm.

Cat froze, waiting for her to speak, but not daring to look at her.

“Do you think I would be able to survive if you were gone?” she asked softly. “Don’t you think I would notice?”

“I always thou--,” he started to reply, hesitating. 

Ladybug took a step closer, hoping to get through to him.

“I don't know anymore.” he sighed, still refusing to look at her. “I just... maybe you are better off without me."

Pulling his arm free, he launched himself onto the rooftops, leaving Ladybug standing there alone.

Marinette had transformed back shortly after Cat Noir had left the alleyway. She had stood there for almost 40 minutes afterwards, waiting, half hoping he would come back, knowing deep down though, that he wouldn't.

Great job Marinette, she thought. You just hurt your best friend.

“Cat Noir will be okay,” Tikki said, flying up in front of Marinette’s face.

“I’m not so sure about that this time Tikki,” Marinette replied, still fighting back tears.

“He’s a tough kid,” Tikki assured her. “He’ll get through this.”

“I can’t believe I said that to him,” Marinette said, falling to her knees and burying her face in her hands.

“You didn’t mean to,” replied Tikki, flying down to meet her gaze.

“I made him think I didn’t have faith in him!” Marinette exclaimed. “He’s my partner and he thinks that I don’t believe in him!”

“You were upset, and scared at the thought of losing him. We all say things we don’t mean when we are upset.”

“But now he thinks I'm better off without him...”

“Then show him that its not true. He just needs some time to cool down, and when he does, you can show him. Show him how much he means to you. How much you need him."

Marinette looked up at Tikki, who was smiling sweetly and confidently at her. It was enough for Marinette to work up a smile in response. Nodding at Tikki, she stood up when she heard a ping from her phone indicating she had received a text. Quickly checking her phone, she realized it was from Adrien.

Adrien: Marinette, where are you? Are you Okay?

Marinette panicked as she realized that Adrien must have come back to look for her. She quickly typed her response.

Marinette: Adrien! When the Akuma was defeated I came out to look for you!

Adrien: Thank god you’re okay. I am back at the Cafe and I was hoping we could finish our day?

Marinette: Of Course! I’m just glad that you’re safe. Be right there!

Marinette made a B-line back to the Cafe, finding Adrien waiting at the front. Upon seeing Marinette he quickly walked over to her and embraced her in tight hug, causing Marinette’s face to blush.

“Don’t scare me like that Mari,” he said, pulling back.

“Scare you?” she said. “You’re the one who ran out into the middle of an Akuma attack to find help!”

“Yeah sorry,” Adrien said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I just felt like I had to do something.”

Marinette smiled softly at the brave boy in front of her. Studying his face though, she felt like something was off. What was hiding behind his expression? Was that… pain?

“Hey Adrien,” Marinette began. “Are you okay? You seem a little upset?”

“Of course! I’m fine!” he said, a little louder than Marinette was expecting. Marinette frowned, more worried than before.

“Adrien, did something happen?” she asked, stepping closer to him.

“I promise, everything is fine,” he replied, taking her hand. “I’m just glad your safe.”

Marinette, still unsure, smiled sweetly back at Adrien, who squeezed her hand reassuringly.

“Okay,” she said. “Just know that I am always here if you need to talk. No matter what it is.”

“Thanks Mari,” Adrien said. “Shall we head back inside?”

“Let’s,” she replied.

Heading back inside, Marinette and Adrien enjoyed the rest of their day, free of any Akuma attacks. Marinette was proud of how well she held together, especially considering how much of a mess she normally was around Adrien. It had been getting easier to talk to him over the years though, and the thought of having coffee with him still sent her mind through a loop. Just the chance to spend time with him was more than she could have asked for. Despite all that though, she couldn’t help but think about Cat Noir, wondering if he was okay. Adrien picked up on this a few times, asking if something was bothering her whenever her mind would drift to Cat, but Marinette would just say she was still shaken by the events earlier. After a couple of hours at the Café, they went for a stroll around the park near her bakery, smiling and laughing at all the children playing and falling over each other. Despite everything that had happened earlier, the day had ended well, and as it got dark, they parted with a hug and a promise to meet up again soon.

“What a day!” Marinette exclaimed, falling onto her bed.

I had been about an hour since she had parted with Adrien for the day, and after freshening up and changing into her Pyjamas, she was relieved to finally have a chance to rest her head. It had been a very eventful day after all.

“Did you at least enjoy your time with Adrien?” Tikki asked.

“Of course! It was like a dream to spend so much time with him!” Marinette said excitedly.

“And you even managed to talk coherently!” Tikki teased giggling.

“Oh, ha ha Tikki,” Marinette said rolling her eyes, a smile on her face.

Marinette turned on the T.V. to check the news, when she frowned, remembering back to the Akuma attack from earlier.

“I just hope Cat Noir is okay,” she murmured.

“Trust me, he’ll be okay,” Tikki said, hugging Marinette’s face.

“I hope you’re right,” Marinette sighed.

It was at that moment that she heard a knocking on the trapdoor to her balcony. Tikki quickly flew off into her hiding place as Marinette climbed the ladder, slowly opening the trap door, to see a familiar black cat staring down at her, a weary yes pleading expression on his face.

“Hey Princess, mind if I come in?”